Warlord Conquering (The Great Insurrection Book 3) by David Beers (best historical fiction books of all time txt) 📗

A second giant came from the final room, blood covering his hands and opaque face shield.

Prometheus saw no sign of Faitrin.

He struggled to his feet, noticing for the first time the broken brick and dust on his boots from where he'd hit the wall.

Relm was on his feet too, breathing extremely hard. "I had him right where I fuckin' wanted him, broth. You had to ruin it all."

"Certainly looked like it." He couldn't consider Faitrin right now. Obs was hunched on the other side of the room, waiting for his command. The animal was smart enough to know his teeth weren't doing much. The second giant walked into the room, his laser knife stretching to dagger length.

The creatures were even bigger than the Myrmidons. They had to be modified, though he couldn't tell because of the dark face shields.

"FAITRIN!" Relm shouted, terror in his voice as he realized the woman was missing.

Servia walked in from the opposite direction.

"FAITRIN!" Relm screamed again.

"Calm," Pro instructed. The two giants were assuming strategic positions. They knew this was the person they'd come for.

Relm's MechPulse had been broken in half, and the pieces were on the floor. He wasn't screaming anymore, just ripped a StarBeam from his belt. He held it up with both hands and fired.

The laser ricocheted off a transparent field that lit up for a second when the beam hit it, sending electrical sparks across the shield. The laser hit the wall and burned through to be lost on the other side.

"Well, that certainly changes things," Relm said, lowering the weapon before he took off his own head.

"You didn't hit 'em with your pulse when they came through?"

"Not sure if you noticed," Relm responded, "but they're sorta fuckin' fast."

The giant on the left moved then, his speed almost a match for Prometheus'. He didn't know if his Whip would work, only that the man’s dagger was about to slice his body open. Prometheus swatted at the giant's hand with his arm, and it felt as if he'd hit a metal beam.

The dagger caught Prometheus on the side and burned into his flesh. He hissed and barely dodged as the giant's other dagger came for his head.

He ducked, simultaneously spinning and letting his whip spray out. The giant easily jumped over the strands and stabbed again, this time cutting the back of Pro's left shoulder.

The second giant was coming in now too. Relm pulled a laser knife from his waistline and darted forward, but the beast threw a hand in his direction. Relm hit the ground and slid until he ran into Servia, who still stood holding a useless StarBeam.

Prometheus backed up quickly, putting space between him and the creatures.

"You are the one to fear?" The giant on the right laughed.

"You are puny. Human and nothing more," the one on the right agreed. Their language was stilted, but Prometheus could understand it.

Was that what they thought of him? A puny human? He didn't know what these beasts looked like under their face shields, but he'd let them see who he was. His hood retracted into the neck and he straightened, rising to his full height. Blood dripped from his shoulder and side. He lifted his Whip and held the hilt with both hands, the strands twirling in front of him.

Obs was circling behind the two giants, not sure when to make his move.

"I am Alistair Kane, Prometheus, bringer of fire. I serve the AllMother, and my quest leads through the two of you." He reached down and wiped the blood from his side, then spread it beneath both eyes. "I bleed now so that I will not later."

He closed his eyes and felt the giants’ movements, the air patterns giving them away. The first one sliced from the right, and Pro moved his neck back just in time. The second went for his gut, and he broke from both forms. There was no name for what came next, nothing his teacher could tell him, nor anyone else across the galaxy.

Relm's jaw dropped, as did Servia's, neither of them able to believe what they were witnessing.

The giants came at him with unbelievable speed, and Alistair used his left hand to slap them away while his right danced with their daggers. He feinted forward, then dodged back, his eyes open but his body acting as if it knew what was coming. He was looking at the giant on his left when he stabbed through the one on the right. His Whip, combined with Pro's strength, smashed through the invisible shield and into the giant's neck. Keeping it lodged there, Prometheus spun around the man, cutting his head off and ending up on the other side. He launched his foot forward and connected with the second beast's chest.

The giant flew across the room and hit the back wall.

Prometheus rushed forward, Whip in front of him, and stabbed the man through the right shoulder, pinning him to the wall. He didn't look away but said, "Relm, check on Faitrin.”

Relm snapped out of his awe and rushed to the other room.

Pro held the Whip in place. The man wasn't struggling or making a sound.

"She's alive!" Relm called. "She's hurt bad, Pro! We gotta get her help."

"I can help." The words weren't strained, nor did they show any pain though they came from a man with a triple laser through his shoulder. His voice was deep, as if the monster spoke from inside a well.

Prometheus gritted his teeth. "How?"

With his right hand, the giant slowly removed his helmet. The face beneath it was different than anything Prometheus had seen. It looked like something created from a mountain cliff. It wasn’t the oval shape of a human face, but a squarish thing. The hair on the creature's head was long, falling to his armor. He looked humanoid but not Earthborn or like anything from the Solar System.

"What are you?" Prometheus asked.

"There isn't time. I can help her, but I must go