Page 86 of The Warrior's Oath
Halvax glanced back over his shoulder. “You’d be better served sending a cleanup team instead,” he replied, then sped his pace, trying as best he could to close the gap.
Korvin raced through the streets and alleyways, his runes glowing brighter with every step. This was a city and there were no muddy tracks or bent twigs to guide him. But he had something else on his side. Something the Dohrags had no way to take into consideration when they embarked on their ill-advised revenge.
Korvin had a bond with their prisoner, and that bond was leading him right to them.
Halvax had no such tool at his disposal, but the confused faces of citizens the raging Nimenni left in his wake were enough to steer him in the right direction. He just hoped he’d get there before it was all over.
The Dohrags had moved quickly, the group clearing the way as they hurried to their rendezvous. A small ship was waiting for them in one of the peripheral landing sites. It wasn’t a Dohrag craft but rather one they’d captured not long ago, refitting it for their purposes. Today’s job was as a makeshift retrieval ship.
No one was loitering outside—that would have drawn far too much attention—but when their five comrades were seen approaching, pulling a sixth person along with them, they popped the hatch and primed the engines.
Everything was going as planned. Their commander would have his revenge and they would be handsomely rewarded for their efforts.
Two blasts hit the guards just as they stepped out of the hatch, dropping them in rapid succession. The retrieval team hurried their pace, firing blindly behind them, forcing people to scatter for cover before daring to turn to see who was coming after them.
The guard who first saw the man with the glowing runes charging right for them, not swerving with their weapons’ fire but rather intensifying his pace, felt his stomach abruptly sink with the horrible realization who, and what, they had chasing them.
“Bohdzee!” he yelled, his panic clear in his voice.
The others didn’t even bother looking back. They had no option now but straight ahead, and fast, at that. With the prisoner in their midst their pursuer would not fire at them. At least they hoped not.
“Stop him!” one yelled to the ship’s crew.
That seemed to break the momentary panic that had frozen them all in place. Nearly a dozen troops poured out of the ship, weapons blazing. Korvin was unafraid. He was also positioned in such a way that only peripheral attackers might line up a shot on him. The kidnappers were unintentionally blocking him from the others, and he intended to use that to the utmost advantage.
Korvin fired off a volley to the left.
The two Dohrags at that end fell in a heap.
He repeated the same to the right.
Only one was foolish enough to give him a clear shot, but in his state of heightened rage, every sense and reflex was cranked up to eleven. The shot took the man’s head clean off, spattering his comrades with gore.
“Stop him!” the others yelled as they drew closer to the ship.
Korvin saw and drew deep from his runes, his legs pumping impossibly fast as he charged ahead. Nyota felt a familiar twinge as he grew close, but something else was present this time.
Something powerful. Something frightening.
Korvin’s runes were glowing bright when he reached the five who had taken his woman. He reached out his enormous hand and crushed the nearest one’s head like a grape, tossing his body aside like so much refuse. They had reached the ship, but no one could safely fire. Not with him right in their midst.
After the next four bodies fell in rapid succession, they rethought that safety precaution and opened up with their rifles and pistols anyway, consequences be damned.
Rounds struck their attacker, but he paid them no mind, his scorched flesh not slowing his rage-fueled assault. Korvin was a whirling dervish of violence, ripping limbs from bodies and heads from necks, using his knife when he could, his bare hands otherwise.
Halvax burst from a parallel alleyway onto the landing area, only a little shocked at the scene unfolding before him.
“Oh, Korvin,” he sighed, then raced to his friend’s aid.
Korvin had completely lost his cool and gone full-on berserker. Halvax had only seen this happen once before, and heaven help whoever was the focus of his rage. As dire as the moment was, he couldn’t help but admire the precision with which his friend was wielding his power, out of his mind with fury but also brutally technical with his implementation of their secret skills.
Thiswas why the Bohdzee were so feared. Their abilities lay not only in their training and dedication, but also the power they could channel through their special runes. Only a select few could control them. Those foolish enough to receive the runes without proper screening and subsequent training beforehand would typically die in the first weeks.
But those specifically selected for the honor were a different sort, and they soon transformed into nearly unstoppable killing machines.
By the time Halvax reached his friend, all the Dohrags lay dead or dying, all with the most horrible of injuries. Korvin breathed hard, his wild eyes scanning the area for additional threats.
There were none. All lay broken at his feet.
