Lana was also in a pickle of her own, torn between the devil and the red-blue sea. She was stuck choosing instant death or an agonizing blood loss.
That was what she had to decide: take the serpent hybrid’s poison or get impaled by Zach’s massive spike hurtling toward her at alarming speed.
"I choose none." She grinned, kicked off the ground, flapped her wings with immediate force, and the next moment she dove higher into the sky. She rose just in time; the snake hybrid could not leap far enough, and Zach’s spike fell short.
The snake hybrid dove back, swallowing his tongue, while Zach’s spike crashed into the ground with enough force to carve out a smoking crater where it hit.
’Damn it. I’m losing energy at this rate. The more spikes I shoot, the more energy I lose,’ Zach thought, frustration burning behind his eyes.
"Freaking come down here, you bird bitch! Why are you so afraid to fight on the ground? It’s not a fair fight if you hover like some eagle." Zach roared up at her.
"Are you the one to talk about fair?" Lana called back, one eyebrow raised. "Firstly you sneak on Max, poison him while he’s distracted, then pull a two-on-one on me. Where does the word ’fair’ even come from when it’s from you?"
"Tsk. Fair enough." Zach muttered under his breath, annoyance flickering across his face.
"And you!" Lana snapped, turning her glare on the snake hybrid. "Do you realize what you’re doing? You’re throwing away your position in the association. There’s a rule against killing a co-hunter. And you poisoned Max?!"
"Do you think I care about the association? The pay is meager and we’re overworked. Complete this task and I get a spot in Zach’s gang. Tier 2. Do you know what that means?" the snake hybrid said, dark glee in his eyes.
"And do you know who I am? Do you know what happens if something happens to me? You could drag your whole family into a minor dispute, but the moment I call my family..."
"Then what?" Zach interjected, frowning. "Your family may be wealthy and connected, but what is wealth without power? My father has the power. There’s nothing your puny family can do." He spat the last words. The source of thɪs content is novᴇlfire.net
"Yo...." the hybrid started, but Zach cut him off.
"And you talk about this being minor?!" Zach snapped. "I got humiliated in front of everyone. My tool was on display in the canteen. I got beaten by you and some puny females. Is that fair?"
"How the hell are you sure he did any of that?" Lana snapped back. "From what I saw, you acted crazy. If you weren’t insane, you wouldn’t have harassed me in public and earned that beating."
"That’s enough." Zach’s voice went cold as he stared up at her and shook his head. "I’m not negotiating. I will personally kill you, kill Max with my bare hands, and my family will crush whatever your family brings."
"Let’s see you try." Lana replied confidently, eyes cutting down to the men below.
"You shouldn’t have hit me." Zach said coolly. Dozens of spikes erupted from his body and launched at Lana like a flying porcupine.
’That was fast,’ she thought, and instinctively waved her wings. The spikes met feather and were slapped away one after another like foul baseballs.
Unfortunately some spikes found purchase. Several lodged deep into her wing, tearing muscle and rending feathers. Pain flared white-hot through her body. She slammed both wings to shake them free, but the spikes wedged deeper, refusing to budge.
"I need you down!" Zach roared as he swung his hands apart. Instantly, the shafts of the spikes embedded in Lana’s wing began to glow with a hateful light.
Before she could react...
The spike-riddled wing detonated. The explosion tore through feather and muscle, and the shockwave blasted Lana out of the sky. She slammed into the ground with brutal force, a cloud of dust and debris erupting around her.
"Kuk!" She coughed, blood flooding her mouth as pain lanced down her side. Her left wing had been shredded to pieces and was now bleeding badly. Her vision flickered, the world tilting with each ragged breath, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
She pushed through the agony. Gritting her teeth, Lana hauled herself upright, every movement searing. Her second wing hung behind her, draped and trembling like a wounded banner.
’I was a fool,’ she thought through the haze. She remembered then that every hybrid carried a unique active trait that made them deadly. Her feathers were blades. She had taken that for granted. She had never known Zach’s ability until now, and she had learned it the worst possible way.
"I told you right?" he began and then...
Zach materialized in front of her, a living missile. His fists came at her with blistering speed.
Lana was fast, but the blast and the loss of one wing cost her precision. She crossed her arms to block and slammed her remaining wing forward, trying to shield her center of mass. It bought her a fraction of a second, but Zach’s punch still slammed home.
The impact detonated through her ribs. She coughed up half a mouthful of blood as she was hurled backward, tumbling several metres across the dirt. The ground groaned where she hit it. Dust and broken feathers spiraled into the air.
Zach stood over the crater he’d made, grinning like someone who had just won everything.
"I will kill you with my bare hands," he muttered, eyes cold and hungry.
Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the book so far. Please kindly support in any way possible be it power stones, golden tickets or even comments.
Anything to let me know you are all reading, I will really appreciate it. Thank you for those that keep commenting... OmniDragon Sama 🙌 thank you. 🫶g b