The Way of the Power Read Free

strange actions stopped Abrazkia from speaking for a moment. Long enough for Malja to hear what she needed — the rattling of gunfire followed by a break of silence. Both armies were reloading.
    She lowered her body into a stance that gave her great power to launch into a fight. “Last chance.”
    Abrazkia crossed her arms.
    Malja grinned as she pushed off. Three bounding steps and she leaped into the air. She sliced Viper ahead, shattering the window as she burst through. Her do-kha covered her head and hardened to protect her from the glass shards. When she landed below, it returned to its normal, cloth-like state. She stood against a stone wall — all three armies staring at her. Ahead stood the scimitar-wielding guard.
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 2
     
    Two gunshots snapped out, striking the wall behind Malja. She frowned until she saw that the attack came from the red leader on lizardback. He carried a sidearm that she had missed before.
    No time to worry about it. The soldiers were about half way through the reloading process. The air was freezing — winter would arrive soon — and this slowed the soldiers’ movements. As Malja bolted across the street toward the guard, she thought how lucky she had been that these soldiers had ancient weapons like those from her home world. She had encountered other guns that could fire rapidly and required mere seconds to reload.
    Two feet closer and she forced her mind to clear. She had a fight to win.
    “Stop her!” the blue leader bellowed. She, too, had a sidearm, but instead of shooting at Malja, she aimed for the girl sitting on the litter.
    She shot once. The bullet never had a chance. To Malja’s surprise, the guard whirled his sword with the wide, flat side facing out like a shield. A spark marked where the bullet hit the sword. The girl never moved, never even flinched.
    Malja did not realize it, but she had stopped running — stunned by what the guard had accomplished. As she noticed her surroundings once more and had the thought that she needed to get moving, the red leader called out, “If we can’t have her, none can. Aim and fire! Aim and fire!”
    Malja dove to the ground, rolled to her right, straight over a dead soldier, and pulled him atop. Not the best shield, but all she had at the moment.
    The guns cracked overhead. She kept waiting to feel the pounding strikes against the corpse, but that never happened. Instead, she watched as the guard stood over the little girl and spun both blades in a manner that Malja’s trained eye could tell was defined but complex. Sparks flew off the blades as he protected her from each shot.
    When the barrage of gunfire ceased, Malja wasted no more time. She tossed aside her corpse shield and rolled to her feet. Holding Viper low, ready to strike upward, she charged ahead. With one army ready to kill the prize so nobody could have the girl, Malja expected the others to either make a final push or do the same as their insane opponents.
    “Not today,” she growled.
    Seeing her rapid approach, the guard stepped forward. His eyes shifted from one army to the next. Malja understood that look — he had calculated the reload times as well. They both knew they had twenty seconds to fight this out.
    As she entered the strike zone, she performed one of her favorite and most effective moves. Instead of slicing upward as one would expect from Viper’s position, Malja pivoted to her left, bringing Viper up and around so that the blade struck from above and behind. The guard, however, reacted well.
    He pivoted with her, crouching as he moved, and brought up one of his scimitars to block. Malja followed with a flurry of blows, but the guard blocked each one displaying expert control. If not for the soldiers reloading their guns, Malja would have happily acknowledged this man’s skill and taken pleasure in their fight. With time against her, she attempted to bully her way through. But sheer force could not break his defense. Wherever