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A desperate com came through from Efred. “They’re splitting up!” he shouted. “I can’t keep them together.”
Blant it! Why do these beasts have to behave differently than those on Yagras?
“Hill, hold your position.” I commed before anyone did anything stupid. “Saluda, come up their left flank. Efred, hang on. Saluda’s on his way. D’unter, D’irk, be ready to assist.”
My feet bounced, restless, on the footpegs. But I would herd them in the wrong direction if I moved now. “Hill, hold your position,” I repeated.
The shrieking intensified. The plan could still work if Hill, Efred and Saluda could get them to me.
“Hill here.” His controlled voice was a steady calm among the deafening screams. “I’m on point. Efred has the left wing and Saluda the right. Be ready, Protector.”
I’d been on the verge of launching for so long that the dorat pounced off my lap and made an easy kill of a passing linobee. My guess was it sought shelter from the churning ground. Red blood stained the linobee’s white fur pink.
Hmmm…Could Ginger remove that stain before turning it into mittens?
I shook the strange thought from my head as I watched the dorat strike one sharp claw down the linobee from chin to tail. Its entrails poured out as she brought her catch to me. Her clever gaze narrowed on mine and I stared at her for a moment.
Then it clicked. “You’re brilliant.” I patted her head. While I tied a line from my hovee to the linobee, I marveled at the fact that a dorat had claimed me once again. The fresh blood and stinking entrails made this plan fail-proof, all thanks to my companion.
Back on my hovee, with the dorat secured between my front legs, the ground rumbled. The vibrations shook loose rocks and snow around me. From behind the rock, I watched as Efred, Saluda and Hill darted in and out like starbugs around the five enormous worms, luring them straight to me.
Right hand on the accelerator, near ready to burst, I waited. My heart beat so loud it drowned the monsters’ shrieks. A lungful of air later, with Efred almost on top of me, I rocketed from behind the black rocks, dragging the bloody entrails of the linobee behind me like a gruesome kite. The giant white worms’ circular maws snapped at me, and I zig-zagged through the air, capturing their attention.
“Efred, Saluda, Hill, guard my rear,” I barked into the com. “If the formation breaks, return to herding.”
I slowed one tick and shortened the distance between my hovee and my prey. Their interest must not wane.
I scanned up, then right, then left. Where was the beast’s blanting entrance? My handlebar mirror showed the five hellsna moving as one behind me, tearing up everything in their path. They shook the ground so hard I feared the volcano would erupt. I hunkered down on my hovee, skimming the rockface and a wash of waterlogged snow slammed into me. With its thin, crusty cap shattered, icicle spears assailed my exposed head, and I flinched in pain.
“Reroute west!” I shouted into my wristport. When I glanced over my shoulder to assess positions, my jaw clenched as Efred’s machine tumbled amid the churning icy shards.
Blant, no brother’s going down on my watch!
“Efred, status update.” With no response, I reworked the plan. “Saluda, circle back for Efred and regroup with D’irk. Hill, with me.”
Each time I glanced in my mirror, the monsters’ undulating throats snapped and swallowed a little closer. The gore rotting intheir teeth smelled of decomposing bodies. I flew close enough that the vicious protrusions spiraling through their translucent bodies grew as large as battle swords.
Efred was a sitting linobee—if they smelled his blood, all would be lost. I had to give Saluda the time he needed to reach Efred.
I pulled the line, dragging the linobee toward me, severed it with the knife strapped to my leg and threw it high in the air. They writhed together, screaming for each tiny morsel.
The ground shook so hard that the vibration loosened the rocky ledge I’d been flying beneath, trying to find the entrance. Rock rained down on me, and I swore as I lifted my arms to cover my bludgeoned head. My hovee jerked and I prayed to Sola to guide me through this doomed mission. My footpeg ground against stone and then sheared off, shooting me off balance, and I ricocheted off the black volcanic rockface. A burst of heat shot through my leg, and I cupped the throbbing spot where a shard of rock had sliced through my pants and plunged into my thigh.
I longed for my old armor. The dorat jumped to my shoulders as I wildly twisted the hovee to avoid smashing into the steep volcano side again. One-handed, I slowed my hoverbike and did my best to lash a strap around my leg.
“Status, Protector?” Hill’s voice wobbled over the com. “You’re leaking fuel!”
Blant, the volcanic rock must have penetrated the fuel tank. I lifted my arm in a sort of half-wave at Hill. “D’irk, report,” I ordered as I swayed in my seat.
“Efred has non-life-threatening injuries. Hoverbike non-operational.”
I tapped the fuel gauge, urging the needle to move. It remained in the red. I’d be forced to call the team off if I didn’t find theentrance soon. The amount of blood I was losing loosened my grip on the seat.
Hill had teased and taunted the hellsna away from me, saving my sorry ass, riling the enormous worms just enough to follow. He appeared undaunted among the chaos. I would keep him with me a little longer.
“D’irk, proceed to the western cave entrance. Advise Sisip medical assistance is requested.”
My instincts, though fuzzy, told me I needed a little more time. I tapped the fuel gauge again. It didn’t fill.
