Page 106 of Zayrik

We reached the hull breach point.

Through our bond, I felt another spike of pain. White-hot, electric.

Vask’s ship was locked, reinforced.

Didn’t matter.

Nothing would keep me from her now.

I lifted the plasma breacher and set the charge.

Despite the rage shaking my hands, each movement remained precise.

Her pain almost shattered my composure.

The hiss of energy build-up was barely audible.

Like the calm before a storm.

Like the breath before a killing strike.

Suddenly,BOOM.

The outer bulkhead peeled open like a tin ration lid.

We moved in.

Not warriors. Not males.

Something else.

Driven by bond and blood and fury.

Weapons raised.

Muzzle lights slicing through smoke.

Room by room, corridor by corridor.

Following the pull of our bond like a compass pointing true north.

Every breath in my body was coiled into one direction.

Find her. Find her. Find her—

The mantra pounding with each heartbeat.

With each pulse of our failing connection.

A comm ping flickered.

Left corridor.

Thermal spike.

Like a beacon leading to a nightmare.

“Signal match. Shock rod active,” one of the warriors reported. “Confirmed target zone.”

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