rocks and a stun rod with an effective range of just over one meter.
There’s another flash from the mountains, and this time Ramses falls down. Now his leg is bleeding.
I cry out and start to run toward him, but his other leg explodes open, exposing the bone through his pants and skin.
“Ramses!” I scream, running toward him, sliding down onto my knees, and pulling the blankets out of the bag. If the sniper wants to kill me, he can kill me, but I will do what I can to stop the bleeding while I’m still alive.
9 Ramses
T he last shot hits a nerve cluster in my leg. I know because the pain explodes out across my entire body, and because the leg goes dead. I try to push on, but the leg just falls limp beneath me, and I crash to the ground. I can smell my own blood thick in the air, and I can feel it dripping warm across my arm and legs.
Elise runs to me, and I try to tell her to run, but my voice just comes out as a low groan. She wraps something around my blown-out leg, and the cold starts to engulf me.
I don’t know how much time passes, but I drift in and out of sleep. Each time I wake up, I hope that Elise has come to her senses and abandoned me, but she’s always by my side each time I open my eyes.
And the last time I open my eyes, the sniper is standing above me.
He’s a Marauder, but it’s not Grius. It’s a Marauder that wasn’t on the file my father had me memorize...he’s too young. He must have been a baby when the fleet first departed my father’s birth system. He hibernated through the flight as a child? And he grew up on Darkstar….
“Ramses,” he says. “Elise.”
He slams the butt of the huge sniper rifle down into the bloody snow. Elise clings to my body and looks up at the Marauder towering above us.
“Who the fuck are you?” she snarls. “And what the fuck do you want with us?”
“I’m Kain,” he says. “I’m supposed to kill this one.”
He points down to me. His eyes are jade green, and against the snow they look as if they are almost glowing. His skin is a deep purple, and he’s wearing a long, white trench coat. His hood is covering his ears, but he has a strong jaw and calculating eyes.
“If you kill him,” Elise says, crying, “then kill me, too!”
The stun rod is poking out of my bag, but it’s about a half meter from my grasp, and I can’t feel either of my legs. I consider pointing to it, hoping Elise will use it, but I don’t want her to. If she goes for it, Kain might just kill her. It needs to be me.
“I’m not going to kill him,” Kain says. “Grius, my father, wants me to kill him to hurt Aegus. But I don’t believe that the sins of the father should be paid for by the son. I’ll take you and leave him here. If he’s as strong as he claims, he may just survive. It’s the best I can offer him.”
Kain holds out his hand toward Elise, “Come with me, please, and I promise you won’t be harmed.”
Kain steps between me and the stun rod. “I see you eyeing that thing, Ramses. I’ll let you keep it. You’ll need it to survive here.”
I snarl at him and dig my one good arm into the ground. I pull my entire body with just one arm, dragging myself across the bloodied snow toward the stun rod.
Kain kicks me with his booted foot, slamming me in the chest so hard that I flip over.
Damn it. I won’t be able to fight him. I won’t be able to stop him. I have to trust his word, that he won’t harm Elise. If she can survive until Sara gets here with reinforcements...she may just have a chance.
“You promise you won’t hurt her?” I ask, lying flat on my back, pain lancing across every nerve in my body.
“I promise,” Kain says. He seems like a total fucking bastard, but for some reason his word seems to carry weight.
“Elise,” I say, my voice a rattling rasp. “Go with him. Forget me. You know you can trust me….”
Grius and Kain don’t know that Sara is already on the way. I don’t want to tip them off to it either. I
There’s another flash from the mountains, and this time Ramses falls down. Now his leg is bleeding.
I cry out and start to run toward him, but his other leg explodes open, exposing the bone through his pants and skin.
“Ramses!” I scream, running toward him, sliding down onto my knees, and pulling the blankets out of the bag. If the sniper wants to kill me, he can kill me, but I will do what I can to stop the bleeding while I’m still alive.
9 Ramses
T he last shot hits a nerve cluster in my leg. I know because the pain explodes out across my entire body, and because the leg goes dead. I try to push on, but the leg just falls limp beneath me, and I crash to the ground. I can smell my own blood thick in the air, and I can feel it dripping warm across my arm and legs.
Elise runs to me, and I try to tell her to run, but my voice just comes out as a low groan. She wraps something around my blown-out leg, and the cold starts to engulf me.
I don’t know how much time passes, but I drift in and out of sleep. Each time I wake up, I hope that Elise has come to her senses and abandoned me, but she’s always by my side each time I open my eyes.
And the last time I open my eyes, the sniper is standing above me.
He’s a Marauder, but it’s not Grius. It’s a Marauder that wasn’t on the file my father had me memorize...he’s too young. He must have been a baby when the fleet first departed my father’s birth system. He hibernated through the flight as a child? And he grew up on Darkstar….
“Ramses,” he says. “Elise.”
He slams the butt of the huge sniper rifle down into the bloody snow. Elise clings to my body and looks up at the Marauder towering above us.
“Who the fuck are you?” she snarls. “And what the fuck do you want with us?”
“I’m Kain,” he says. “I’m supposed to kill this one.”
He points down to me. His eyes are jade green, and against the snow they look as if they are almost glowing. His skin is a deep purple, and he’s wearing a long, white trench coat. His hood is covering his ears, but he has a strong jaw and calculating eyes.
“If you kill him,” Elise says, crying, “then kill me, too!”
The stun rod is poking out of my bag, but it’s about a half meter from my grasp, and I can’t feel either of my legs. I consider pointing to it, hoping Elise will use it, but I don’t want her to. If she goes for it, Kain might just kill her. It needs to be me.
“I’m not going to kill him,” Kain says. “Grius, my father, wants me to kill him to hurt Aegus. But I don’t believe that the sins of the father should be paid for by the son. I’ll take you and leave him here. If he’s as strong as he claims, he may just survive. It’s the best I can offer him.”
Kain holds out his hand toward Elise, “Come with me, please, and I promise you won’t be harmed.”
Kain steps between me and the stun rod. “I see you eyeing that thing, Ramses. I’ll let you keep it. You’ll need it to survive here.”
I snarl at him and dig my one good arm into the ground. I pull my entire body with just one arm, dragging myself across the bloodied snow toward the stun rod.
Kain kicks me with his booted foot, slamming me in the chest so hard that I flip over.
Damn it. I won’t be able to fight him. I won’t be able to stop him. I have to trust his word, that he won’t harm Elise. If she can survive until Sara gets here with reinforcements...she may just have a chance.
“You promise you won’t hurt her?” I ask, lying flat on my back, pain lancing across every nerve in my body.
“I promise,” Kain says. He seems like a total fucking bastard, but for some reason his word seems to carry weight.
“Elise,” I say, my voice a rattling rasp. “Go with him. Forget me. You know you can trust me….”
Grius and Kain don’t know that Sara is already on the way. I don’t want to tip them off to it either. I
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