Page 134 of Warrior's Reign
They closed slowly. Reign relaxed, allowing stillness to wipe away any trace of doubt.
“You were a poor choice, Reign Lozaro. My brother will understand the cost of his rebellion to the old ways soon.”
The guards attacked.
Reign ducked and whirled, swiping out a leg to trip the one directly behind. She grabbed his wrist and flipped him to the ground, swiping her blade across his unprotected neck. She knew Vykhan wanted to preserve their lives, but their orders were to kill, not contain, and with these odds if she hesitated she was dead.
Another lunged towards her and took her blade in the eye. They were fast; Reign was faster. The marks burned, writhing under her skin. She spun, deflecting strikes with the grace and speed of anAdekhan.
There was no time for wonder, though.
“Don’t engage in close!” Adevega shrieked. “Use your blasters, you fools.”
They were fools. Or maybe it was a gap in their training; most Yadeshi were taller and heavier than Reign—she was the size of their teenagers. They weren’t used to fighting someone small, fast and able to slip under their guard.
The remaining four backed away. Reign whipped out her blaster as they raised theirs as one and fired.
She went down on one knee under the onslaught. They were no fools; the fire came in a steady stream. They were attempting to overwhelm her armor.
Thirty percent drained to twenty in moments. She jerked her arm up and aimed; moments later a third warrior went down. The drain slowed incrementally, but there wasn’t enough time.
One separated from the others to engage her in hand to hand. They needed to disarm her or she could pick them off with their weaker armor. The bodyshields didn’t protect against physical combat, just energy.
Her neck, head, and hands were uncovered and for someone well trained, that was all the skin they needed.
The blaster assault eased up; they wouldn’t want to accidentally strike the one who engaged her now.
Reign shifted into a Form, then attacked. A well-trained warrior, he was still no Vykhan. Suddenly she was grimly grateful for the last several weeks of relentless training, the bruises Vykhan had given her to the point of Banujani having to intervene. He must have guessed that eventually her opponents wouldn’t be thugs or traffickers, but trained warriors.
:Reign,: Vykhan said. :We are coming.:
She said nothing, ruthlessly focused. Two of the remaining warriors peeled off and darted back into the forest, presumably to intercept. She fought for what seemed like an hour but could only have been a few more moments. In the distance—closer than she had dared hope—the crash of sudden battle rang out.
The opponent clipped her jaw and she tasted blood, momentarily stunned. She shook it off, a half second too slow, and found herself suddenly in a defensive sequence, losing ground as she was pressed between the remaining guards.
Her hand went numb, blaster falling with a thud to the ground. She swiped with her left hand, scoring a red line across his face. He leaped back, snarling, but whether he was a coward or simply pragmatic, she didn’t know. His intent had been to take away her blaster.
They resumed fire, Reign grunting in pain as the force of the energy strikes pushed her back several steps. At fifteen percent, her body was beginning to feel the blows like slowly increasing bruises.
She went down on one knee, the suit routing energy to protect her head. Reign tried to stand, and pain rippled through every never ending as if her insides were on fire. She screamed, vision darkening.
A roar echoed in her ears and she distantly wondered if that was the sound of her blood boiling, but the pain eased, an abrupt cessation of blaster fire though her body was still wracked with the aftermath.
She inhaled deeply, gritting her teeth and steeling her nerves, and lurched to her feet. Walked the steps to her blaster and stumbled to the ground to pick it up. Almost useless fingers grasped the weapon as a warrior in red silks and a curtain of silken hair whirled, taking down enemies with the inevitability of a hurricane.
The clearing flooded with more red clad guard moments later. Reign let her hand fall to her side, and listed to the ground. Blinked, and realized the odd taste in her mouth and sudden darkness was because she’d fallen on her face in the dirt.
Strong hands rolled her over. Reign groaned. The touch hurt. She hurt all over.
“I told you to wait,” Vykhan snarled. But he scooped her up in his arms, careful, holding her as Adevega and her people were surrounded and placed under custody.
49
“Reign, stay awake.”
She blinked, eyelids heavy. “Thought this was a good place for a nap,” she said, voice slurring.
“Only you would joke right now,” he said.
