Page 81 of The Warrior's Oath
He would only get one shot before they were too high up. It had to count.
The ship rocked from the impact, smoke wafting from the damaged section as its course abruptly changed.
“You got it!” Nyota cheered.
Korvin did not look so pleased. The ship was damaged, but it had already cleared the treetops. If his shot flew true, their communications array would hopefully be down and the other Dohrags would be none the wiser for a short while longer, hopefully enough time to effect their escape.
But the ship had moved as he fired, and the blast seemed to have hit a more vital area than he had planned. Worse, it seemed they had not engaged their shielding unit at all. A rookie mistake he now chided them for. His shot had impacted with full force.
He watched the smoke trail grow, the craft lurching and shuddering as it flew past overhead.
“It’s going to crash! Everyone, run!” Halvax commanded.
The survivors didn’t have to be told twice, all of them following him as fast as they could while he charged off down the path. The trail would have been invisible to most, but he was not most people, and Korvin had left just enough sign of passage for him to be able to backtrack his friend’s path.
A small explosion rang out moments later, a flash of orange in the trees on the other side of the gorge. Korvin turned and looked back but only for a second. There would be no survivors.
He slung the rifle and hurried ahead, taking point while Halvax shifted to the rear. His friend might have been a fantastic tracker, but these were his tracks ,and he knew exactly where to lead them.
They ran as hard as their weakest member could maintain for as long as they were able, then ducked under a rocky overhang in a hillside to catch their breath.
“No sign of anyone following,” Halvax said, his gaze fixed on the trail and sky behind them.
“I hit the comms array, of that I am certain. It is entirely possible that no warning message was sent,” Korvin replied.
Halvax seemed pleased. “If that is the case, they will investigate it as a crash rather than a hostile act. At least, until they discover the human remains among their crew.”
Korvin’s head sagged a little. He had just killed one of the people they had come to save. One of the humans, no less. He looked at Nyota with pain in his eyes. There was now one less of her kind on this world, and it was at his hand.
She came and sat with him, wrapping his arm in her hands, knowing his thoughts and regrets without his having to say them aloud. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I fired the shot. The ship crashed because of my actions.”
“But you had no way of knowing that would happen. And if the ship had gotten away, he would have been as good as dead while the Dohrags would also have a pinpoint on our location. Don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t control everything in life, and sometimes things don’t go the way you want no matter how hard you try.”
Korvin’s frustration clung to him like sticky sweat on a Louisiana summer. “We have so few resources,” he grumbled. “Almost no weapons to speak of. We were prepared for the Raxxians and handled them accordingly. But if the Dohrags come back in numbers, we are woefully unprepared for that sort of adversary.”
Nyota slid back and looked him in the eye. “You want to help, and that’s noble. But our priority is to get these people to safety.”
His demeanor seemed to shift as he met her gaze. His mate needed him. Crushing the Dohrags could wait. “We’re close to Molok territory. If the Dohrags haven’t sent a commando team out by now, I am confident we can make it to safety before we’re discovered. But it may require a bit of creativity.”
“What do you mean?”
He turned to Halvax, who was already on his feet. “Like the battle of Pinzlar?”
“You read my mind, brother.” Korvin stood tall, commanding the attention of all present. “Listen to me well. We are near safety, but it will not be easy. You are tired, I know, but you must push through your exhaustion and cover ground. Nyota will guide you. Follow her lead. We will rejoin you as soon as we are able.”
“You’re leaving us?” Steve asked, panic in his eyes.
“You will be safe so long as you do as I say.” He turned to Nyota. “Follow our trail. You know how, I’ve seen it.”
Strangely enough, she knew he was right. “Be safe,” she said.
“Be stealthy,” he replied, kissing her hard, then breaking from her and running the other way, his comrade at his side.
Nyota felt the twinge of his departure tug at her Infala then turned her focus to the task at hand. It was what he would have done.
“You heard the man,” she said without a hint of doubt. “Follow me.”
