Page 62 of The Warrior's Oath
The bones were obviously too strong to break, or even damage from her kicks, but the muscles were taking a beating nonetheless and the Raxxian actually faltered on his cramping legs.
Korvin’s expression had shifted from one of worry to one of confused elation—at least until his opponent landed a powerful elbow strike, sending him flying. Korvin tucked in mid-air, rolling out of it as he hit the ground, his feet digging into the soil and launching him right back at the Raxxian, redirecting the momentum at his foe.
The Raxxian blocked the fist coming right at his face with ease. It was only as the other hand—the one holding Korvin’sotherknife—slammed into his chest, that he realized his mistake. It had been a decoy attack, and he had taken the bait.
The tip of the knife sliced deep, penetrating his sternum and opening up his heart as if it were soft butter. The Raxxian looked at him, stunned, then the light went out in his eyes.
Korvin didn’t pause to enjoy his victory. He turned his attention immediately to the remaining adversary.
Nyota was fending him off well, or at least as well as an untrained human could, and her blows were seeming to have some effect. Unfortunately, the Raxxian was simply too big, too strong. She was fighting with incredible ferocity, drawing power that should have been beyond her from deep within her runes, but even so it was only a matter of time.
The Raxxian’s meaty hand finally made contact, sending the much smaller woman flying. She hit the ground with velocity, the wind knocked out of her, but scrambled back to her feet, her runes glowing faintly as she charged the larger alien.
Korvin watched with awe even as he moved to help her. Abruptly, his own runes twinged, tugging hard through his whole body as he felt a fraction of his impressive power abruptly surge and vanish. But he didn’t have time to think about that. Nyota was in jeopardy.
The Raxxian saw her attack a mile away, a wicked grin on his face as he readied his lengthy dagger. The others were dead. That was bad, but it also meant there was no one to complain if he gutted this troublesome creature and dined on her flesh.
Nyota flew through the air. The Raxxian tensed, waiting for just the right moment to impale her and slice her wide open.
Korvin’s body slammed into hers, sending her flying into the brush just as the Raxxian swung his blade. The edge skimmed Korvin’s shirt, but the robust material managed to survive the cut, although only just. He hit the ground and rolled to his feet, the runes on his arm and wrist churning in his flesh as he rebounded and drove his fist into the Raxxian’s throat.
The alien’s body was strong. Thick. Protected. But that one spot, while covered with scales like the rest of his body, was susceptible to impact injuries. And Korvin had just delivered one of epic magnitude.
The alien fell to his knees, gasping for breath that would not come as the man who bested him loomed tall above. Korvin bent down and picked up the dropped knife and plunged it into the creature’s skull without hesitation.
The Raxxian went limp, crumpling to the ground.
Korvin wiped his hands on the alien’s clothing then gathered his knives, cleaning them and resheathing them before retrieving Nyota’s blade.
“You have fight in you,” he said, a sparkle in his eyes. “You fought well.”
She met his gaze, knowing she had just screwed up massively, but feeling a crazy surge of arousal flow through her as well as she stared into those beautiful violet orbs.
“Not well enough,” she said, electric sparks surging through her body when her fingers grazed his hand as she accepted the knife.
His pupils widened. She could see his pounding pulse in his neck, its intensity and rhythm matching hers. This wasn’t just exertion. And, clearly,whateverthis was, he felt it too.
A glimpse of the bodies at their feet quickly snapped Nyota from her reverie.
“What do we do with them? Did I just mess things up big time?”
“No,” he said, dragging one of the dead aliens into the brush and covering him with leaves. “You did not. This was a scouting patrol.”
“That’s bad.”
“Not as bad as you might think. Look at the uniforms. These Raxxians are from our downed ship, not a retrieval squad. They were survivors, like us. It is most probable that they have split up and spread out to recapture as many of the escapees as possible. It is their usual tactic, and that means a team like this can go many days without contact with the others. No one will miss them. Not yet, anyway. We still have the advantage.”
“Then what now?”
“Now?” he asked, looking up at the sky. “Now we follow the trail while there is light, then if we do not find them before nightfall, we rest and begin again in the morning. Beyond that, I do not know.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
The fight was done, but Nyota still felt her heart pounding hard in her chest. That sensation, however, was elicited not by combat, but rather by the crazy rush of stimulation she felt every time she grazed up against Korvin’s firm physique.
He seemed distracted by the contact as well, which for the seasoned warrior was both unusual as well as a little disconcerting.
They made quick work of the location. Rather than burying the bodies, Korvin arranged them spaced out and in different positions, simulating what the aftermath of an animal attack might look like. His plan was to let the local wildlife cover their tracks, providing them a meal while they provided a plausible cause of death that would also leave no trace of the knife wounds.
