Fight

He charged at us like a raging bull, eating up what little distance we had between us. Creature let out an angry screech and intercepted him, sweeping him away with a brutal strike from both claws. Stranger didn't lose his footing, but he did slide several feet away and let out a surprised snarl.

Not even I had been expecting that. He was even more aggrieved about Critter's sacrifice than I had thought. I didn't think it was because he had any real protective instinct for me.

Creature shot out like a whip, bearing down on Stranger with explosive power. I had intended to launch an offensive, as well, but I was caught completely by surprise. By Stranger's body language, he was as well. He leaned back and lifted his arms protectively, showing a very rare sign of nervousness before drawing his blade and fending off a swipe.

Wolf and I had been preparing me for normal duels, not vicious criminal attacks.

Thankfully, I had my own training on vicious criminals. The only difference here was that they were aliens and bigger than your average thug. I could handle this. I had to handle this.

"Creature, watch out for that cannon!" I shouted, trying to move into a good position. "Do not let him fire it."

Just one blast from that thing was going to end both of us. He seemed good at dodging them, though, so I had to trust in him to take the brunt of the attack for a little while—until I could remove, deactivate, or otherwise sabotage his weapon.

I have mine. I can feel it pressed against my ankle inside my boots. The rifle was strapped to me, too, but it wasn't even assembled, yet. I was hiding the handheld at my ankle as a last resort, but the rifle . . . With Creature bouncing around and right in Stranger's face, I couldn't use it anyway.

Creature was bearing down on Stranger with swift strikes and dangerous slashes, hissing and stomping. It was clear to me now, seeing Stranger fight him and recalling what I could piece together when Critter fought Jackal. Jackal had been completely on the defensive the entire time, fending off brutal strike after brutal strike. It had taken him a while to get used to the intense display of an otherwise docile being.

No one had fought one of their kind before—hadn't even seen one fight. They were largely thought of as subservient species, not vicious enough to be prey. If it hadn't been for the fact that Critter and I had bonded and Creature and Critter had been together since before they even met Wolf, they probably never would have stood up for us or themselves.

Stranger was regaining his ground with a few careful blocks and parries—then he managed to swing in a decent counter and sent Creature stumbling.

But I was there, ready to take advantage of it. We were on borrowed time. I had to help. I wasn't going to let down three people in a row. Two blades sprang from my right-hand gauntlet and I leaped on Stranger's back, digging them into the joint attaching the cannon to his shoulder. Before I could pry the thing off, though, Stranger reached back and yanked me off him. He slammed me so hard to the ground that stars erupted in my vision.

Creature pulled me by the ankle out from under Stranger and swung me up onto my feet before I could get my skull stomped in. Still in a daze, I stumbled. The two of us had a hackneyed sort of chemistry, but it was working.

Almost.

Creature was sent toppling by a solid kick and I was still trying to recover from the slam that had stunned me, so I was easily snatched. Stranger carried me out by the shoulder and tossed me into the ravine. I had to have flown about twenty feet along the ground before I smacked into a boulder and rolled into a crevice.

It was just tight enough that I could fit, but upon struggling to get out, I found myself wedged in. I couldn't see where Creature was, but Stranger was coming for me. I had to think of something quick.

'Stop thinking, just do it!' My mind was echoing something Wolf told me all too often.

Without my mind to bog me down, I switched over to instinct and did whatever that shit told me to. And what it told me to do was move my fucking ass.

I tightened the mechanisms in my braces and grit my teeth against the tension. The gears started making an alarming whirring noise, but I ignored it and stomped the stone to pieces, freeing my leg and pulling myself out of the crevice.

Stranger was right there, but Creature came from above and smashed him down. I scrambled away to loosen my braces again and gasped with relief when they stopped squeezing my legs like a vice. I couldn't tighten them enough to do any serious damage, but using too much torque made it severely uncomfortable.

Stranger kicked Creature off of him and jumped to attack, but stopped when I threw myself at him. He grabbed me by the arm, deftly avoiding my wrist blades, and tossed me again. I landed at Creature's feet.

'Get it to-fucking-gether!' I berated myself.

There were two of us. This asshole should be dead already.

Coughing, I rolled away and Creature scuttled over me to attack. We were out in the middle of the ravine, the sun beating down on us and the rocky terrain treacherous. As I rolled, I dropped off the rock and landed heavily below.

And there I saw them: David's broken claws scattered among the rocks. I grabbed three of the closest ones and shoved them in my pouch.

Would they still be effective when they were no longer attached?

Only one way to find out.

Stranger swooped in and planted a hoof-kick to Creature's haunches and sent him tumbling down. I was able to stand in the time it took, my blades already freed from their sheathe. I growled and attacked, projecting a wide left to right slash—when he predictably moved to parry, I planted my feet and threw out a feint counter that caught his arm, making him recoil.

"Oh, you little . . ."

Creature was nowhere to be seen. Stranger bore down on me and I couldn't move fast enough. Even though I managed to block the knee he thrust at me, I wasn't ready for the weight behind it and I lost my footing, landing on my ass with an undignified sound.

"They warned me that you might have some fight in you, but I am underwhelmed," Stranger growled, kicking me. I put my arms up to defend and it nearly broke both of them.

Then, I heard the last sound I ever wanted to hear: his cannon firing up.

Before he could shoot me, Creature slammed into Stranger from behind, pushing him facedown in the dirt. With a hideous screech, he yanked the cannon off Stranger's shoulder and flung it away, then began slicing and pummeling Stranger with his claws. It easily shredded his armor.

Sitting up, I closed my eyes tight against the pain in my arms and dug the claws out of my pouch, careful not to slice my hand. I held two of them between my fingers and shoved the third one into the slot of my gauntlet where the arrowheads went.

It wasn't a perfect fit, but I was confident it would fire. Whether or not it would be accurate was another thing entirely, but even just a graze would be good enough.

At last, Stranger threw Creature off of him, his back shredded and bleeding. He spun around, swinging high and low, making Creature wail out in pain.

"|Hey, asshole|!" I shouted.

I needed him to pay attention to me and stand still. I only needed a few seconds.

He rose to my taunt and faced me with a growl. As he did, I fired the claw and Stranger jerked: a shallow cut had appeared on his shoulder.

Fuck. I'd been aiming at center mass. The claws weren't viable as projectiles.

That cut told me all I needed to know, though. Stranger wasn't thinking much of it as he marched toward me, but I could clearly see the blood beginning to soak his arm.

This was going to work.

Getting up, I charged at him and he spread his arms in a challenge, roaring at me. I yelled back and, keeping low, came in swift and sure. I bounded from rock to rock, moving as erratically as I could to disorient him.

I dodged a swipe, ducked under his center of gravity, and punched his thigh with the claws as if they were brass knuckles. I darted out of his reach and circled back.

Though I didn't hit him hard, that wasn't the point.

One shot wasn't going to take him down. He was a big guy, and my experience with Wolf and yautja in general was that they could take a serious beating before even considering going down. However, the blood steadily flowing down his leg and arm meant his time was running out. I'd been hoping for an artery, but I wasn't as familiar with their anatomy.

I just had to keep going. I had to stay low—these people were used to fighting big prey, things their size or bigger.

I was a pint-size prey in comparison.

Wolf told me all the time to use my size. I hadn't ever thought much of it, but I'd never fought another yautja before—just him. Be quick, be small, try not to let them land hits. I'd already failed that a couple of times, but he hadn't dealt anything too devastating. My arms were sore and throbbing, but not broken.

Adrenaline licked my insides, dulling the pain and sharpening my senses.

Was Stranger pulling his punches? Wolf had always warned that a single blow could probably kill me.

This fucker wasn't taking me seriously.

Fine. Let his own hubris be his downfall. A win is a fucking win.

So, I kept my eyes on him and used my lower center of gravity to keep me out of his reach. I just had to be careful about getting kicked or stepped on. I focused on using any openings he presented to sneak in and slice, cut, or jab with those claws and it wasn't long until he was covered in blood, leaving vibrant trails of green on the ground.

"Creature!"

Stranger snarled and looked up for a sneak attack from above. Creature did just that—he dropped out of one of the trees, his wings spread, and Stranger held his arms up to counter. I shot in quick and cut him down his side, swiftly skipping away to dodge his swipe. Creature skittered to safety once again.

"Getting sluggish," I remarked with a sneer.

"You . . . Pest," he wheezed, stumbling as if he couldn't quite keep his balance.

He seemed to take stock of himself for the first time and he wiped a handful of blood off his side, then stutter-stepped and snarled at me. "What—what did you do?"

Breathlessly, I lifted my hand to show him the three-inch nails tucked between my clenched fingers. "Dha'iv claws, |bitch|."

He stopped moving for a second and then staggered. I let my arm fall and a sort of realization started to sink in. For the first time, I really saw all of his blood flooding from the wounds I had created. It left miniature rivers in the ground, not quite soaking into the dirt. It stained his skin and armor. When I looked, it coated my hands, arms, and chest; collateral from my attacks.

Stranger growled and wobbled. "Dha—you . . . you sneak! You knew you could not best me in a fight and so you . . . you . . . ," he faltered and fell to a knee, unsteady even in that position.

For the briefest of moments, I almost felt guilty.

Then I remembered how they wouldn't let me treat Wolf's wounds. I remembered how they had cowed him and attacked us. That they were criminals that didn't deserve my respect. I remembered that they had hurt Critter and tried to kill both me and Creature.

All traces of guilt disappeared.

"Do not lecture me about honor," I growled, slowly walking toward him.

He had fallen to his knees, his breathing labored.

"Your lot waited until we were at our lowest so you could capture Sha'ktil-ar and kill the rest of us in cold blood," I continued, unsheathing my blades. "So no. I will grant you no honor. You will die here, honorless and alone, to a tiny human girl."

Stranger roared and used what remained of his strength to launch at me. I let out a surprised noise and struck out of instinct, thrusting my blade.

All three hundred pounds of his weight landed atop me and drove the air out of my lungs. I wheezed and grunted, worried that he had me pinned and with his dying breaths was going to end my life. However, he wasn't moving.

He wasn't breathing.

I stopped struggling. What was I waiting for? That had been his last stand, a refusal to go down without putting up one last fight.

His warm blood was spilling out over me, drenching me. I drew my blade back into the gauntlet and, whining, I tried to free myself from under him. Each exhale made it that much harder to breathe and I wasn't going to die there from being crushed by a corpse.

Creature noted my struggles and came over, lifting enough of him that I was able to wiggle out and finally fill my lungs again. Creature chittered an unspoken question and I shushed him with a gesture. He backed up and gave me some space so the both of us could lick our wounds, though I was more caught up with Stranger's body.

Blood continued to pool around even without a heartbeat. I was sticky with it, the scent acrid and cloying on my tongue.

It hadn't been a fair fight, but even then the odds had been stacked against me. Wolf had told me there were no more rules today, and I'd done it. I'd won. And yet, I still felt so hollow when I remembered why I was there in the first place.