by K. A Knight
Groaning, I flick my eyes open. My head is banging and all I can see is the grains of dust on the road in front of me, stained red from my blood. I must lose a couple of seconds again because when I come to again I see Drax a couple of feet away, his eyes closed and an arrow sticking from his back. Gasping, I push myself to my feet, my body protesting but all I can focus on is Drax. I stumble to my feet and over to him, my body swaying and blood pumping from my wounds.
“Taz!” Thorn yells. I must miss a few seconds again, which can’t be good, but when I come back to I see the others fighting Berserkers just down the road from us. I have no time to be scared or let the anger at them take hold. Shakily, I pull my sword and hesitate. I can't leave Drax alone but I can't let my guys fight this battle, no matter how good they are - Berserkers are better. I hesitate for too long and Thorn goes down, his body slumping against the ground, where it lays unmoving as a Berserker stands over him letting out a war cry. His blonde braids flying as he bangs his chest, his symbolic shield strapped at his side. Crying out, I stumble across the ground, intent on getting to Thorn to protect him, only to stop when I hear running feet from behind me.
Whirling, I see another Berserker warrior with his eyes locked on Drax. I fling myself across the distance and cover Drax’s body as the man’s axe is about to drop. Closing my eyes, I wait for the death blow. When it doesn’t fall, I lift my head. A knife sticks from the man's chest as he tumbles to the ground, his shield falling to his side. Not wasting any time, I turn, worriedly feeling for Drax’s pulse. It's weak, but still there. Sands below, there is no way for us to win this. Not with Thorn and Drax down and me half dead. Maybe, just maybe, if I hand myself over they will leave my guys alone? But I know better than that, so it looks like I have a choice. Try to run and save myself, or die fighting with them.
Pushing myself to my feet, I stand in front of Drax, both of my swords held before me. They die, I die. I won’t die on my knees either, but fighting with everything in me. I just pray we meet again, in another life where we have a chance to be together. Breathing deeply, I let everything else go. I become the monster, The Champion. I will die the way I lived, fighting to the last breath.
The next couple of minutes are a blur as I fight and slash like a demon. I ignore the pain and weakness and keep urging myself to go faster. I don’t know where the others are but I can't afford to worry. My whole world becomes protecting the man I love. I don’t hold myself back, no worries about my life anymore. I will take as many of these bastards with me as I can.
Chest heaving, I misstep and a punch hits the side of my head. Another rains down as I fall to the ground. The Berserker above me rains down hell, kicking every part of me he can. I crawl to Drax and cover his body as the man carries on with his attack.
I try to fight away the encroaching darkness but my body is shutting down. Maybe I'm dying, I think casually. It's sad that it is now, just as I started living. I wish I could see them one more time, tell Drax that I love him too. Tell all of them how lucky I was to know them. Have them hold me, just once more. But that’s not the way the world works. Death isn't pretty and people don’t always get to say goodbye, that’s why living every day, every second like it’s your last is so important. I regret now that I didn’t. I let fear and shame cloud everything until I was nothing more than a body, an empty shell, going through the motions.
I hear something in my body crack as the man carries on his assault. Leaning forward, ignoring the agony in me, I kiss Drax’s lips one last time, smearing my blood on him.
“I love you too,” I whisper, my voice cutting off as I cough up blood.
The last thing I see as I cover Drax’s unconscious body is Jax fighting like a demon to get to us. His horror-stricken eyes meeting mine as he calls out to me, heartbroken, the knowledge in his eyes that he will be too late. I try to let him know it’s OK, and that I’m sorry I got them into this. I spot Maxen behind him, standing over Thorn, roaring like a beast. A white, blinding light cuts through everything before everything goes dark. My last thoughts are for the men who hold my heart and a prayer that we will meet again.
◆◆◆
What the ever-loving-fuck? If this is death, does it have to be so bright?
I slam my eyes shut and wait before slowly opening them again, allowing them to adjust to the bright sunlight streaming in. With a gasp, I snap upright, remembering what happened. My stomach rebels and pain shoots through me but I push it away. Drax! Shit, where are they? I need to get to them, I need to know they are ok. In my panic, I slide off the bed I was laying on and try to stand, only to fall to the floor with a grunt. Looking down, I see I'm only in my bra and panties and a huge bandage is wrapped around me from ribs to the bottom of my stomach. Road rash from hitting the ground, after falling of the bike, covers my left thigh and bruises cover most of my body. I hate to think about what my face looks like. That's when the pain hits again and I nearly writhe on the floor with the force of it. It’s like my whole body is an open wound, the agony races through my veins as I bite my tongue to stop from screaming. I have a feeling that if I start, I won’t stop.
Breathing through it, I let my body adjust. When it’s at a more manageable level, I sit up slowly and grasp the edge of the bed to pull myself up to sit on it. Frowning, I poke at my ribs and stomach. Shit, shit, shit. Bad idea. Closing my watering eyes, I wait until the pain retreats again. Breathing deeply, I open my eyes again and finally take in the room I’m in.
Glass windows run from ceiling to floor, the source of the sunlight. My eyes linger on them, but I force myself to look around. The room is white and looks like hospital rooms from when I was little. I’m sitting on a single bed with a metal railing, which is one of the only two pieces of furniture in the room. The other, a chair, sits in the corner of the room with a red bit of material draped over it. Swinging my eyes around, I try to remember what happened. The last thing I saw was bright lights. So it has to have something to do with that. A red blinking light in the corner of the room catches my attention and makes me scowl. A camera is perched way up out of reach, fucking perverts. I look around for my weapons and only get even more pissed when I don’t find them. Standing shakily on my feet, I make my way to the chair, wondering if they are hidden there. It takes a while since I’m unsteady on my feet, but eventually, I reach it.
Fingering the silky material draped across the chair, I lift it. I cringe when I realise it’s a dress. Fucking brilliant. How the hell am I supposed to fight in this thing? The back is cut low, almost too where my bum would be and then falls in a waterfall. The train is so long I’ll probably slip on it, the front is higher neck. Unwilling to wear the impractical material, I look around for anything I can use as a weapon. I really don’t want to be caught half naked, but it’s better than not being able to move and fight.
Making my way to the bed, I slump back down, seeing nothing of use. Frowning at my feet that are leaving dirty footprints on the pristine checkered floor, I try to get my muddled brain to figure out a plan. My usual calm and collected self is nowhere to be seen, instead, I’m terrified about what has happened to my men. Ugh.
I slam my fists on the bed in frustration and the pillow moves with the force, showing something shiny underneath it. Looking around again, I put my back to the camera and pull the blade out from its hiding space. Despite the circumstances, I find myself smiling. Only four men know I sleep with a blade under my pillow. It means at least one of them must be alive. But how?
A buzz from behind me has me spinning, keeping the blade hidden behind my thigh. The door that I didn’t notice before, slides open and a man steps through with a hesitant smile on his face.
He’s older than the last time I saw him, wrinkles line his eyes and his cheeks are red from the sun. But that smile I would remember anywhere, the corners stretch so far I always imagined it would one day stretch over his whole face. He even still has the little white scar under his lip, from when I accidentally head-butted him.
; “Daddy?” My voice is rough, but shock courses through me, making me forget the thirst that is settling in.
How is this possible? What the hell is going on? His smile widens and he steps further into the room. I warily eye the man who raised me. He’s wearing a clean white dress shirt open to show the tank underneath, his black pants are tucked into brown boots. He’s bigger than I remember, more muscle. he has salt and pepper hair now, but still, those bright blue eyes. Eyes that I used to see every night in my dreams, eyes I begged for in my darkest, weakest moments. Now here they are, watching me. Looking exactly as I remember. How is he alive? Why now? Why him? Questions run rampant in my battered and abused brain, as my heart clenches from the pain of seeing the only remaining member of my family, one I thought long dead. He watches me cautiously, but his face is reflecting pure happiness.
“Hi, Princess, welcome home.”
About the Author
K.A Knight is an indie author trying to get all of the stories and characters out of her head. She loves reading and devours every book she can get her hands on, she also has a worrying caffeine addiction.
She leads her double life in a sleepy English town, where she spends her days at the evil day job and comes home to her fur babies.
Read more at K.A Knight’s website.
BOOKS BY KATIE:
Keep your eye out for Katie’s other works.
Their Champion Book Two
Coming later this year
Circus Save Me
October 2018
Auroras Coven
Coming later this year
Voyage To Ayama
Pre-Order coming soon, turn the page for a sneak peek.
If you want to stay up to date on everything K.A Knight, join my Facebook group and follow me on Instagram
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Voyage To Ayama
Dawnbreaker Book One
TRANSMISSION LOG 00015
DATE: 2032
MISSION: 43, COLONY
SHIP: DAWNBREAKER
DESTINATION: AYAMA
>…………….. Accepted
> Any news from Ayama? Rumours have gotten around, there must be a break in the chain of command. A rebellion naming themselves The Saviours has started, they claim to know. Advise on how to proceed?
CHAPTER ONE
A YEAR AGO
Our housing unit is still a mess from my birthday two days ago. I plop my bag down on the table and clear the remaining cake and presents away, I’ve just spread my books out on the metal table when the bing sounds from the comms unit. I groan, what now? My mother’s voice breaks through my thoughts.
“Indy you there?” Her velvety voice comes over the speakers, as if she is in the room.
With a sigh, I trudge to the comms unit in the kitchen, pressing the talk back button. “Yeah, everything OK?”
“Yes love, how was school?”
I’m betting she’s knee deep in some secret experiment right now, she has been for weeks. I barely see her or dad with the exception being my birthday, and school, really? More like college.
“Fine, I should be able to graduate soon,” I say smugly, thinking of the disbelief on my tutor’s face when he read my results.
“That’s nice darling,” her voice is distracted and I can hear her tinkering with things in the background.
“I’m also thinking of piercing my nipple, maybe both, and then chaining them together.”
“Hmm, whatever you think.” Her voice is far away and it’s obvious she's not even paying attention. My lips twist, she doesn’t mean to be ignorant, but when she’s working, she’s miles away.
“What’s up?” I ask in a defeated tone.
“Hmm, oh! Me and your father will be working late tonight.”
I snort, when don’t they? I don’t mean to be pissy. I know they have important jobs and I’m busy too; trying to beat Effie to see who can graduate first.
“Ok.” My chipper reply is forced. It’s strange for the first year on board I was so angry with them for pulling me away from my friends and boyfriend and well -- Earth. Now that I’ve grown up a bit, I can understand why, I just miss spending time with them.
“Could you bring us some cake? Your dad is moaning for some,” I can hear the smile in her voice and my dad shouting a reply in the background. I smile, despite the loneliness in me.
“Sure, be right there.” At least I will get to see them today, maybe I can get them to pay attention for long enough to tell them about my application approval to join flight training once I graduate. Grinning, I imagine their reaction. They will be so proud; my dad’s chest will puff up and he will say something stupid like “I never doubted you.” My mum will hug me and tell me how proud of me she is. The youngest pilot ever recorded, that’s my aim at least.
“Thanks, honey,” her voice is distracted again. I cut off the comms and grab some cake, putting it on a plate with a lid over it. I don’t bother grabbing my jacket, the ship has been warmer than normal lately, so my basic white t-shirt and functional pants - the cool ones with all the pockets - will be fine. I place my hand on the release scanner at the door to our private housing area and make my way to the labs.
When they first told me I would be coming to space, I imagined the ship to be tiny and cramped. It’s the complete opposite. The hallways are well lit and massive, bigger than my old school. The ship has its own swimming pool, theatre, dining areas, the labs and then housing. It’s split up into sections: upper, middle and lower. Original, I know. Upper is for crew only, the middle is where I am, it’s for the scientists and high up civvies. Lower is for the rest. Under the lower is the storage areas and I’m not sure what else. I suppose it has to be big, we are a colony mission after all; on our way to a new frontier -- Ayama.
The colony has already been started there and we are the third trip. Only the best of the best get to go; a fresh start they said. I should have expected my mum and dad to get picked, but it was still a shock when they sat down and told me. And the tests? Ugh. Every medical, psychological, and physical test you can imagine. Plus they tested my skills, intelligence, and what I wanted to do.
The journey is supposed to take five years, plenty of time for me to graduate and earn my pilots license. Then, at least when we get to Ayama I won't be stuck on the ground doing some menial job, not that there’s nothing wrong with that. But I crave excitement, always have. My mother says I’m an adrenaline junkie, my dad says I take after him. He’s a mechanic’s son, he studied engineering at university where my mother was studying. They met in first year and fell in love. The rest is history, as they say. My mother worked her way up, as did my father.
I smile and nod at people as I pass, they nod back with friendly smiles. Everyone around here knows me. My mother runs the labs and my father is one of the head engineers for the ship. My eye is caught by a flash of black. I notice a few guards stand around talking. I make eye contact with one; he’s tall. He’s probably a couple of years older than me and just filling out from his growth spurt. His eyes are what stop me though, grey. Unusual. His skin is a dark tan, not from sunlight, not up here, so it must be his natural skin tone. His hair is short and black and almost blends into the usual guard’s uniform. He turns away from me as someone nudges him.
Carrying on, I look in the labs as I pass. It's one thing I enjoy about space, people from all over the world got picked to go. The opportunity to learn new languages and meet new cultures was the only thing I looked forward to.
My mum’s lab is at the very end. It’s basically a giant square and runs the whole length of the end of the ship. I can see the airlock door up ahead, apparently for the lab's safety in case any part of the hallway is compromised. I stop when an alarm I’ve never heard before blares to life. The ship rocks, throwing me into the wall; that’s not supposed to happen. I run my eyes around, the guards are running down the corridor towards me.
Explosion in the main lab.
The speaker blare
s to life, the automation voice loud to be heard over the siren. Wait, main lab? No!
I whirl to my mum’s lab and run, the guards behind me. A panic like I’ve never known hits me. I sprint faster, pumping my arms the last few feet, my eyes honing in on the door. I’m driven totally by instinct.
I skid to a stop outside the door and try the scanner. It blinks red. I slam my hand down, again and again, trying to see through the glass.
“Come on!” I shout desperately. If I can just get the door open, I can get them out.
A bang on the glass has me freezing, my hand still on the cushioned scanner. My mum's face appears. I’m the spitting image of her, apart from my eyes which I get from my father. Her long brown hair is tied on top of her head. Heart shaped face, with brown eyes staring back at me. Tears are rolling down her face and I start to panic even more. My mother doesn’t cry. She’s the strongest person I know. The day I came home with a broken arm from Tommy pushing me off the slide, she sat me down and talked me through the pain in a logical way. She told me to never let anyone see that they get to me. My first heartbreak, my grandad dying, our blowout when I refused to come to space. Nothing, she keeps her emotions in check and thinks logically, unlike me.