Page 33 of Daring the Drakarn Warrior Lord
"I have wings. You have …" He made a show of looking us over. "What do you have, exactly? Fragile skin? Breakable bones?"
Vega bristled. She didn't draw a weapon. Didn't make any obvious aggressive move. Just shifted her stance slightly, weight on the balls of her feet, hands loose at her sides.
The warrior noticed. His grin widened. "Oh, you want to fight? This should be entertaining."
Lexa circled to the warrior's left while I went right. Vega stayed center, drawing his attention. Classic triangle formation. Surround and overwhelm.
The warrior's confidence faltered slightly as he realized he was being flanked. His tail lashed. Wings flared partway, an instinctive threat display.
"Three on one?" He tried to sound contemptuous but didn't quite manage it. "Cowards."
She attacked.
Not with a blade. With her boot, sweeping low toward his ankle. He jumped back, wings beating once to gain altitude. Fast. But Lexa was already moving, grabbing a loose stone from the ground and hurling it at his head.
He twisted to avoid it, and I closed the distance. My blade came free of its sheath with a whisper of metal. I didn't try to stab. Just slashed at his extended wing membrane, forcing him to fold it or risk damage.
He folded.
And dropped.
Vega was there when he landed, driving her shoulder into his midsection. The impact sent him stumbling backward. His tail caught on a jutting piece of rock, and he went down hard, wings tangling beneath him.
I pressed my blade to his throat before he could recover.
"Yield," I said.
He stared up at me, shock written across his features. His chest heaved. Claws flexed uselessly against the stone.
"Yield," I repeated.
"You …" He seemed unable to finish the thought. "You're human."
"True." I didn't move the blade. "Yield or we keep going. Your choice."
He yielded.
I stepped back, sheathing my weapon. Vega and Lexa maintained their positions, ready in case he changed his mind. But the fight had gone out of him. He just lay there, staring at us like we'd violated some fundamental law of nature.
Maybe we had.
We left him there and continued up the street. None of us spoke until we'd put distance between us and the fallen warrior. Then Lexa started laughing. Quiet at first, then building until she had to stop walking and lean against a wall.
"Did you see his face?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "He couldn't believe it."
"Good." Vega's expression remained serious. "Maybe the next one think twice."
I had trouble believing that would happen.
The encounter had cost us time but bought us something more valuable. Proof that we could compete. That three humans working together could take down a Drakarn warrior. It wouldn't be enough to win the Skalanth, but it was a start.
The prickling sensation between my shoulders intensified.
I stopped walking and turned, scanning the rooftops and upper levels. Nothing obvious. Just the usual spectators watching from safe distances. But the feeling persisted. Someone was paying very close attention.
"What is it?" Vega asked.
"Someone’s watching us."
