paladin. The Old Daishen chose her because she is pure of heart.”
Geddes rolled his eyes and lit another cigarette. “Alright,” he said at last. “Prove it.”
Luned put her sword away, quit the fire and went out into open air. Soon she was back, carrying the severed head of one of the Psarrion. Grimly, she threw it into Geddes' lap.
“Open it. Have a look.”
“No!” He sat staring at the gory object.
“You wanted proof. What do you expect to find, some monster alien? Open it.”
Geddes opened the visor and stared for a long time. “It's a man,” he said at last.
“Is that enough?” Luned was still standing by the fire.
“It's evidence.” Geddes looked up at her. “Not proof. Kali, I expect you won't sleep tonight? Then I will.” He threw the Psarrion helmet back to Luned, then unrolled his sleeping bag and stretched out.
Kali stood up and beckoned Luned to go outside.
“You don't sleep?” Luned asked.
“Not often.”
“They said that about you, about the Daishen. When did you last rest?”
“Two days, three?”
“Rest. I'll keep the vigil tonight.”
“Rouse.”
The word brought Kali fully awake in an instant. Luned was a silhouette against the rubble, looking out into the night, sword drawn in her hand. Kali did not move at once; animals that scampered from their holes in a panic were easily caught. She had seen it happen; Psarrion hunters, human prey. She waited, hearing only the wind beyond the ruins, becoming aware that her companions slept on around her. Then Luned beckoned, and Kali scrambled up the rubble. Barely sticking her head out of cover, she scanned the dusty horizon but saw nothing.
“What is it?”
“Listen.”
Kali tilted her good ear and hear a faint distant humming. In the dusty clouds, bright flashes blossomed. Kali had seen them before, and ducked back into cover, hissing at Luned, “Get down!”
The woman out of time did not need to understand the danger; she was a veteran and dropped instinctively. Electric flowers lit up the clouds. A hot wind blew overhead, followed by three quick cracks like thunder. Luned rolled on her back and glimpsed the silver wasps of Psarrion craft streak overhead. In their wake, the bombardment struck, explosions devouring the abandoned Psarrion bikes before hellfire swept over the ruins.
When it passed, Kali and Luned stuck their heads up from the debris. The ruins they had sheltered in had been flattened, pounded into dust as if by the fists of an angry god. Behind them, their companions began crawling from the wreckage. There were, miraculously, no casualties; the Psarrion bombardment had been targeted on the bikes, denying them to any hostile capture.
Luned shook the dust from her head and blinked at Kali. “If the quest is to fight the Psarrion...”
“Yes.” Kali picked herself up and offered Luned her hand, assisting the other woman to rise. “We're going back to the city. Whether it's impossible or not is beside the point; someone has to fight them.”
Far to the north, lost to view against the nuclear-winter sky, the ruins of Karak waited, the outskirts home to feral gangs, the inner city the domain of the Psarrion...
ALSO BY SAMUEL Z JONES
ROMANCING THE SWORD
Book One: Kingdom of The Void
Book Two: Far Hrinor
Book Three: Sins of The Father
Book Four: Masters of War
Book Five: Weapons of The Gods
AKURITE EMPIRE
Book One: The Red Knight
Book Two: Golden Firebird
Book Three: Beyond The Sunset
THE LORD PROTECTOR
Book One: Gaes of The Red Witch
Book Two: Fortress of Knighthood
Book Three: Number of The Witch
THE SORCHA STORIES
Book One: Sorcha's Story
Book Two: Sorcha's Revenge
Book Three: Sorcha's Revolt
OTHER BOOKS
The Flame of Freedom (with Gabriel Murray)
Sifu Dansac's Kung Fu Secrets
They Call Me Anonymous
Perihelion (with Marlo Forrest)
OMNIBUS EDITIONS
The Complete Akurite Empire
Romancing The Sword Epic Edition
The Sorcha Omnibus
Hardback and paperback editions exclusively from Lulu.com
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends