One second Addie was standing near Chele, observing the tragedy about to unfold, and in the next, she was hurtling toward the Wrennlin, a short axe in her raised arm, grabbed from God knew where. She couldn't recall making a conscious decision to move, and she didn’t stop to analyze it.
She jumped in front of prostate Oh’na and swung with all her might, landing a blow on the side of the Wrennlin’s neck. The deceptively soft snakeskin didn’t break under the blade. The axe recoiled, leaving no more than a bruise where a gaping wound should have been.
It’s impenetrable, Addie thought with a sinking feeling. She couldn't kill it. She remembered Hoban hacking away, severing heads, but that was Hoban. She possessed but a fraction of Hoban’s upper body strength.
Weak or not, her offensive bought Oh’na several precious seconds. The girl scrambled to her feet and gave a leaping jump, vaulting over the Wrennlin’s undulating coils, nimbly landing on her feet. With her peripheral vision, Addie caught sight of Oh'na's sturdy little back and plump legs in the impossibly cute fur-trimmed booties churning as she ran away into the wild.
“Thank you, Lord,” Addie mouthed.
In the same breath, she swung her axe again reflexively blocking the striking Wrennlin head. Her weapon collided with the animal’s flesh, and the force of the recoil nearly sent her to the ground. The creature was astonishingly powerful. Horribly so.
She kept the monster’s head in her sights and blocked his attacks, jumping over the long coils it tried to trip her with, ducking, dodging, and tracking danger without a single conscious thought. But she knew she wasn’t going to last long. The beast was too powerful.
Another lunge came. She blocked awkwardly and fell hard, pain splintering her chest in two. All breath left her and the world darkened. Fighting nausea, Addie rolled over to avoid the Wrennlin’s hellish pecking and gave a cry of pain.
She couldn't fight anymore. Her watering eyes tracked the undulating gray body as it coiled closer. It was such a terrible end.
Angry at the uselessness of it all, she stubbornly poked the snake body with her axe, riding a wave of pain. Out of nowhere, a pair of large boots planted themselves wide between her body and the Wrennlin. One thick leg was slightly bent to accommodate the man’s ruined stance. A great axe sang as it arched through the air and delivered a wet blow.Hisblow broke Wrennlin's skin.
The Wrennlin issued another unearthly sound as it shifted its focus to Zoark, but his axe was relentless. Blood fell down like the rain Planet Zero never knew.
Fingers grasping rocky sand, Addie crawled toward Zoark, intent on getting up and helping, knowing how ridiculous that idea was but unable to simply lie and hurt.
One head got severed, but the second one finally appeared, equally ugly and terror-inducing. Zoark’s arms now rose with visible difficulty and he lay in with his axe, using his body mass to enforce the blows. How many of those blows it took, Addie never knew. But finally, the gray body gave a violent jerk, shuddered, and went still. The second head hung loose, attached only by a bit of skin Zoark’s axe left unsevered.
His knees buckled and he folded to the ground next to Addie.
“Zoark,” she croaked. “Zoark…”
Someone blocked her view of him.
“Addie, you’re hurt. Addie,” Chele was repeating her name over and over again, wanting her attention. But Addie’s entire focus was consumed by Zoark. He was on his knees, awkward because of his leg, gasping for breath. If only she could reach him, offer help… But she couldn’t even take a breath for herself.
Oh’na appeared and fell to her knees next to Addie. Taking her hand, the girl simply held it, not knowing what else to do, and amber tears slowly leaked from her red and green For eyes.
“Oh’na,” Addie whispered.
People descended on them. Oh’nil and Vircea came for Zoark and to Addie’s unexplainable distress took him away.
Chief Net’ok and Vuskas walked around surveying the damage, and Vuskas picked up Zoark’s axe. Chemmusaayl was with them, shouting loudly about the damage and danger as if he were a reporter broadcasting live from a scene of a natural disaster. Armed men at full alert formed an impromptu guard to watch out for more Wrennlins.
Queen Qalae approached, accompanied by Oma and another woman, Mekni.
“What is wrong, Addie?” Chele asked Addie for the fiftieth time, and only now it registered.
Brain still befuddled from the pain and subsiding adrenaline, she took stock of her injuries.
“My chest hurts.” She didn’t know if For had a word for ribs. Hers appeared to be fractured. She could barely breathe for the pain, and only shallowly.
The hem of a knitted tunic in bright yellow swung into her line of vision. “This unnatural woman! She brought her ill upon herself, rushing out to fight a mighty Wrennlin. You deserved to be eaten, stupid woman. Now, leave for your pitiful home in the plains.”
Leave? She couldn't walk the distance. Not even as far as the sands.
Suddenly, Chele rose to her feet and turned to Qalae. “My queen, let this woman stay.”
Chemmusaayl loudly voiced his objections.
Qalae waited his tirade out before answering Chele. “She is not well. She might yet die from her injuries.”
