by Leslie Chase
By chance, he'd landed by the cages the human hostages were kept in, and Rorax's grin widened. The prisoners were watching the chaos with fear and alarm, drawing back from the bars as he staggered closer. Fortunately, they were far enough from the camp proper that the explosion hadn't touched them, and none of the pirates spared them any attention. That suited Rorax's purposes perfectly.
"This is your chance to escape," he hissed urgently to them as he ran over to the first of the cages. He could barely hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears, and if any of them answered he didn't notice. "Get to the ships, take them back, get out of here."
The cage he'd been in had been properly locked, secured so that a dragon couldn't escape it. These cages were simply closed with a twisted metal bar, too solid for a human to untie. With a grunt of effort, Rorax unbent the bar and threw open the door.
For a moment, no one moved. The humans stared at him, seemingly unable to believe that a dragon would free them. Then one darted forward, grabbing up the iron bar and lifting it like a club. Gesturing to the others he set off running toward the ships.
That was all it took. The rest of the prisoners charged after him, and by the time Rorax had pulled open the other cages, the humans inside were eager to join the fray. I hope they make it, he thought as the last of them ran to freedom. It'll be a hard fight, but better than staying here.
A shout from one of the dragons told him that the escape had finally been noticed. He spun to see a pirate charging into the humans, calling for help. Rorax grinned and roared, rushing forward to plant a punch that knocked the pirate onto his back. Before he could recover, the humans swarmed him, grabbing rocks and makeshift clubs. The pirate didn't have time to shift before he was overwhelmed, and Rorax moved on.
The blaze that spread through the pirate camp filled the air with dark smoke, and he could hardly see in the chaos. Someone was shouting that the Dragon Guard were here, others were screaming about treachery. The pirates were fighting each other now, and the humans were spreading the chaos as best they could. There wouldn't be a better time.
Shifting, Rorax took to the air. Another blast rocked the crystal towers around him, and he didn't know whether it was another missile strike or one of the fuel stores exploding. There was no way to tell friend from foe in the smoke-filled air, but that was to his advantage. He had no friends here, anyone flying had to be an enemy — and the pirates were as likely to attack each other as they were to find him. In this confusion, the weight of their numbers was more of a hindrance than a help.
The first shifted dragon he met, Rorax blasted with his flame. The pirate howled in outraged surprise, falling from the sky on fire and landing in a pile of loot. Something there must have been flammable, because the stockpile was instantly engulfed in a ball of flame. Rorax didn't pause to see whether the pirate recovered, moving on as quickly as he could through the smoke.
It was hard to get his bearings, but he thought he knew where the exit was. The exit, and somewhere beyond it was Laura.
I'm coming, beloved, he thought, breathing flame over the parked ships as he soared over them. From the darkness, a dragon swooped at him, and the impact bore them down into the ground — but before he could turn to defend himself, a third dragon crashed into the pair of them and knocked his attacker flying. Rorax lost sight of them in the billowing black smoke.
It was a distraction, and he turned his back on them. The whole battle was a distraction. The only thing that mattered was reaching his mate and saving her from Korgan.
21
Laura
The alarm blaring from the speakers on the bridge of the Emperor Turian's Revenge was unfamiliar, but Laura knew it couldn't mean anything good for her captors. They started shouting at one another in their alien language, throwing looks at Korgan as he strode forward to see what was going on.
Laura kept herself still with an effort. Dakar turned away from her, pulled in by whatever emergency had gripped the pirate crew. The last thing she wanted to do was remind him that he had a prisoner to keep an eye on. Instead, she tried to work out what was happening from the little she could see from her seat.
The screens were too far away for her to make out anything, but the confusion and anger in the voices of the pirates was clear. One of them hauled at the wheel, turning the Emperor Turian's Revenge toward their base. Another yanked the controls from his hands with an angry shout, steering them back on course.
Rorax. It's got to be Rorax, she thought, taking a slow deep breath and trying to keep her calm. This wasn't a time to get overexcited — if she had a chance to do something, it would be a short window of opportunity. She didn't want to ruin it by acting too soon, or being too distracted to notice her opportunity when it arrived.
Part of her thought that she was being stupid. There was no escape for her, not anymore; where could she go? Even if she could somehow get away from the half dozen alien warriors holding her prisoner, she'd be stranded on the surface of Mars without a helmet for her spacesuit. And winning a fight against them wasn't going to happen. In their humanoid forms, they were all bigger and stronger than she was, and skill could only take her so far.
If one of them shifted, she'd stand no chance at all.
Don't think about that, she told herself firmly. If I don't fight, there's no way I win. And fuck it, I'm not going to go out quietly no matter what the odds are.
The fight for the controls of the ship was over, Korgan pushing the struggling aliens apart and roaring commands. He sent two of his men up onto the deck and Laura had to suppress a smile as they left. That left four enemies on the bridge with her. Still more than she could handle, but the odds were getting better all the time.
If only they used weapons, I'd have a chance to steal one. But the dragon shifters didn't need weapons. If their strength and speed weren't enough, they could breathe flame that would cut through steel. A human couldn't match that. Of course, I don't need to, she thought. Fighting them on their own terms is a losing game.
Korgan pulled up a display on a larger screen, and at last Laura could see what was happening. The image focused on the exit from the pirate lair and as she watched, a ship burst out of the cavern, smoke trailing from its deck. Another followed, so close that the two ships nearly crashed into one another, and neither slowed down as they headed for the horizon.
Laura bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning. Probably none of her captors would notice, but she didn't want to take the chance. But the chaos amongst the pirate ships could only mean that Rorax had figured out some way to strike back at their captors and that made her want to shout for joy.
Korgan snarled something angrily at the crew, glancing at Laura before pointing back at their original course. The helmsman snapped something back at him, clearly unhappy, but obeyed. The Revenge swung around a pillar of red rock and headed on toward the rendezvous.
Laura didn't manage to look away before Korgan turned to face her, and he caught the look of triumph in her eyes. She looked away quickly, but not fast enough to stop him striding over and snarling into her face.
"Whatever's happened back there, I'll fix it when I get back," Korgan said. The quiet menace in his voice sounded strained now, as though a deeper, wilder anger was about to break through. Laura could see he wasn't used to losing control of a situation like this.
Don't push him, she told herself firmly. You don't need his attention, let him rant and move on.
"If there's anything for you to come back to," she heard herself say aloud. Shit.
For a moment, she thought he was going to hit her, but he restrained himself with a visible effort. There are advantages to him thinking I'm worth a fortune, Laura thought as he straightened up with a snarl.
"It doesn't matter," he said, and she thought it was as much for the crew's benefit as anything else. "With the ransom, we'll be able to rebuild any damage my idiot brother does back there, and the only warriors he drives off will be the weak ones I don't need. This c
hanges nothing!"
This time Laura bit her tongue, fighting down the urge to tell him that there was no ransom. Whatever was happening to his pirate camp, Korgan would have to repair it without a treasure trove of supplies.
But the ransom was all that was keeping her alive. As satisfying as it would be to see Korgan's reaction when he found out that she'd ruined his plan before he'd even met her, it didn't outweigh her desire to survive. So she kept quiet, and after a long pause, Korgan growled wordlessly and stormed off the bridge. One of the remaining aliens followed, leaving her alone with the pilot and Dakar.
We're still heading towards the rendezvous, and that's where I'll die if I don't do something before we get there, she thought. Rorax would be on his way, but she couldn't count on him catching the Revenge and coming to her rescue. Unlike the Bradbury, the Revenge was too big to hide in the dust, and Rorax would be able to see it for sure. But there were four dragons above deck waiting for him, and this ship was fast. She wasn't certain he'd be able to catch up with it, and if he did, he'd be exhausted by the time he had to fight the crew.
Even if he managed that, she wasn't sure it would matter. Dakar would kill her rather than let her go free, she could see that in his cold angry eyes. No matter what happened outside this room, Laura had to keep herself alive.
All right then, she thought, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. The lack of hope was, in an odd way, liberating. She couldn't win, so anything she managed to achieve was a victory. Two aliens, both bigger than me, both murderous bastards. No way I win a fair fight, so let's start an unfair one.
Diving off her seat, Laura was past Dakar before he realized she was moving. The big alien was still turning to follow her when she wound up and threw all her weight behind a punch to the back of the pilot's head.
A human would have gone down instantly to that attack, and might not get back up again. The alien shouted something as he staggered into the controls, catching himself weakly and turning to lash out at his attacker.
Laura ducked under his uncoordinated punch with ease, ignoring the pilot for now. It wasn't him she was after. Grabbing at the controls, she threw all her weight against them, knowing she had at best a moment.
That was all she needed. Whatever safety features the ship might have had before the pirates modified it, they were long gone. Nothing stopped her aiming the ship for the nearest rock and crashing into it.
The impact sent a shudder through the ship and threw everyone from their feet. Laura was the only one who had braced herself for the impact, and the alien she was fighting went flying forward. She saw him try to catch himself on his wings, but the bridge wasn't large enough. He hit the front viewport with a heavy crunch, and lay still.
Wheeling, she turned to face Dakar. He'd fallen into a control console, and was struggling to get to his feet as she rushed towards him. Blood poured down his face from a scalp wound, and his right leg didn't seem to be supporting his weight, but the hatred in his eyes reminded her not to underestimate him. If he recovers, I'll stand no chance, she thought, slamming into him with all her strength. It felt like punching a brick wall, but the force was enough to send him back to the floor.
"I'll grind your bones to dust, human," Dakar gasped as he grabbed for her, but Laura jumped back and his fingers closed on thin air. Beneath them, the ship shuddered. One of the thrusters failed and it lurched sideways, settling. The crash had done more damage than Laura had expected.
"Big words," she said as they both steadied themselves. "Couldn't keep me in my chair, what makes you think you can get your hands on me now?"
He roared at her taunt, throwing himself at her. But his balance was shot and his aim poor — she stepped aside and swung a punch into the side of his head. The alien stumbled into a bulkhead, trying to catch his balance. Laura was on him before he had a chance, slamming a kick into his injured knee and sending him howling to the floor. Another kick to the head dazed him, and another was enough knock him out. Letting herself relax, Laura slumped over his unconscious body and struggled for breath.
This was as far as she'd planned, and it had worked better than expected. Now it was all up to Rorax.
22
Rorax
Emerging from the cave, Rorax gained height as fast as he could, cursing the injured wing that slowed him down. In any civilized place he'd have been able to heal the wound by now — a quick dip in a healing pool would have fixed it. But the pirates didn't have the technology and he'd had to do without. Now he was paying for that.
He only knew the general direction the Emperor Turian's Revenge had headed in, but that was enough to start with. Flying high above Mars's red sands, he watched Korgan's pirate fleet scatter with a muted satisfaction. That was a good sign as far as his mission went. The pirates were weakened and their base in ruins — but that would mean nothing if he couldn't find Laura and bring her back to safety.
They can't have gotten far, not even in the Revenge. Where are they? It was hard to see a skyship in the distance, they left no wake or trail to follow. But a dragon's eyes were made to spot prey from the sky, and the Revenge was a much easier target to see than the tiny Bradbury. Flying high he soon saw the shape of the giant ship in the distance.
That meant that they could see him, too, silhouetted against the sky. Rorax knew he had no hope of sneaking up on his enemy. He'd have to face them head on.
Good. Enough of this deception and lying, I'm not good at that anyway. I'll tear my way through them and burn anyone who's dared hurt my mate. Soaring towards his enemy, Rorax felt his lips draw back in a furious snarl at the thought. Now I just have to catch them.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing like a hawk. On the deck of the Revenge, two of the pirates stood watch inside the ship's atmosphere shield. As Rorax closed the gap they saw him, pointing in his direction and shouting. Rorax redoubled his efforts as Korgan appeared on deck.
For a moment, he dared to hope that Korgan would turn the ship back and face him honorably, but no. His brother wasn't interested in a fair fight — the ship accelerated away, racing towards the horizon, and Rorax hurried after it. The ship wove between tall pillars of red rock that rose from the plains of Mars, and Rorax soared high above them, slowly gaining.
It would be a long chase, and his wings were already tired. By the time he caught up with the ship, Rorax knew he'd be weak. They couldn't get away from him, even a swift skyship couldn't outrace an angry dragon, but that didn't mean they couldn't prolong the chase further than he'd like.
No choice. After them. Korgan can play what tricks he likes, but my brother won't keep me from Laura's side.
Spreading his wings wide, Rorax conserved his strength as best he could. Racing after the ship would have him reach it quicker but it would also leave him too tired to fight when he arrived. This way, as tired as he'd be, he'd at least have one good fight left in him. Whether it would be enough to face Korgan and his whole crew, he didn't know.
It would simply have to be.
The jeers of the pirates didn't carry through the thin Martian atmosphere, but Rorax could see their gestures clearly. Challenges to hurry up, to come and fight, carrying the implication that he was a coward for hanging back. He ignored them — if they really wanted to fight now, nothing was stopping them leaving their ship and coming to him. He wasn't about to be goaded into a rash attack that would cost him whatever chance he might have of victory.
Korgan knew that. He stood on the deck of his ship, arms folded, watching Rorax approach with a cold fury written across his face. With the patience of a hunter, he would wait for Rorax to close the gap and then finish him. It would have been a tough fight with both of them fresh, and Rorax started to wonder how he'd manage against his older brother now.
Then everything changed in an instant. The Revenge lurched sideways, catching those on her deck by surprise and sending them scrambling for handholds. The skyship steered straight into one of the pillars of red rock and slammed into it at full speed,
buckling with the impact.
Rorax grinned as the slowest of the four pirates missed his handhold and went flying off the deck. Twisting in midair he started to shift, but everything was happening too fast for him. He struck the rocky ground while still only half-transformed, and what little control he'd had was lost as he careened across the landscape, his body torn and bloody.
The others fared better, hanging onto whatever they'd found to grip as the Emperor Turian's Revenge plowed to a stop in the rocks. Rorax soared high above them, closing the gap before they could recover, and furled his wings to dive. The nearest pirate just had time to look up and draw breath to shout before Rorax landed on him, talons pinning him to the deck and teeth tearing. His enemy thrashed helplessly in Rorax's jaws and then was still.
Looking up for the remaining pirates, Rorax saw two of them rushing towards him, shifting as they came. He launched himself across the deck at them, breathing fire into the face of the closest and driving him back howling. Before he could press his advantage, though, the other struck him in the side. The two of them tumbled across the deck, smashing everything in their way.
Twisting under his attacker, Rorax managed to dig his claws into the dragon's side and tear away some of his armored scales. His enemy roared in pain but didn't let go, hanging on as though his life depended on it. Rorax knew that if he didn't get out from under this enemy soon, the other dragon would join the attack. Outnumbered like that, the fight would get much harder.
But the dragon pinning him was strong and heavy, and seemed not to care about the wounds Rorax was inflicting on him. Rorax grudgingly admired his enemy's tenacity — if he'd stayed loyal to the empire, he would have been a great help. He made his choice and turned traitor, Rorax reminded himself. This was no time for sympathy with a foe who threatened not just him but his mate as well.
The third dragon reared over them, wings spread and blocking out the sun, and Rorax saw time had run out. He had to do something, right now, or the fight was over.