Page 86 of Princess

Trevor was putting something tight around my hands.I didn’t think it would matter.I forced the words from my lips again.

“Did we win?”

“Yes, now rest.I’ll get you to Kenneth.”

The world went dark.

Chapter Forty-One

Marinah

We waited quietly, hiding in trees or taking cover in the dense foliage.

“Eagle is coming,” one of the Warriors higher than my position called out.

I jumped down and intercepted him.

“They’re ten minutes behind us.Soldiers, not hellhounds.I think they’re holding the hounds back in case they’re attacked again.”

“Rest a mile from here, and we’ll meet you after we take care of the soldiers.”

“Got it,” he said.He waved his teams to follow him.

King’s arm went across my shoulders.“Ready?”he asked.

“More than ready.”

We faded into the swamp.

The camouflaged uniforms didn’t hide the noise the soldiers made when they trampled through the mud and undergrowth.King and I had discussed the red stripes before we left the island.If they laid down their arms and took a knee, some might survive.We had to end this war.If they opposed us, they would die.

Red stripes showed predominantly on the arms of the soldiers in the lead.The Federation’s fodder.Then came their well-trained military troops.We had hundreds of Shadow Warriors, but even though the soldiers outnumbered us, they didn’t stand a chance.

The chorus of cicadas, usually deafening, fell silent.

We attacked.

Gunfire erupted.

The thick, humid air filled with the acrid scent of gunpowder quickly.I ripped a man nearly in half with one clawed hand.Next, a woman’s head went flying with a strike from my other arm.We plowed through their soldiers, knocking guns from their hands and methodically killing them.

"Hold the line!"a human voice barked.

Bullets flew at us.Shadow Warriors went down.I kept moving forward.

I killed two men at one time by slicing their throats with my claws, picked up a woman and threw her at four soldiers.I was on them before they realized what happened.Even if I were trying, I couldn’t keep track of how many soldiers I killed.They fell around me; their dying screams filling the swamp.

I eventually noticed soldiers running away.

“Throw down your arms and go to your knees, if you want to live,” King shouted at the retreating red stripes.

There was a group of about twenty-five thirty yards from us.Several turned and dropped their weapons.The others quickly followed and went to their knees.All had red stripes on their sleeves.

Warriors chased the soldiers who kept retreating.

The men and women who surrendered watched their fellow soldiers die.

I growled low in my throat, and they turned.Their expressions showed that they expected death.I kicked a rifle out of a woman’s reach.

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