Star People Legacy by Smith, T.L. (feel good books to read .txt) 📕

Bullets bombarded our foe, wounding it, making it writhe and try to draw away. We would wear it down until my brothers could strike with their knives.

Focused on him, I barely saw the figure lunge at me from the shadows. I cast out my other hand, but felt a blade strike down into my forearm. The pain was enough to make me waver in the force I used against the Maxa’xak. It struck out at the nearest Kwia. Our man screamed as the huge mouth closed around him, fangs sinking deep.

Frankie pushed the assailant off me and I was able to throw another ball of fire at the beast, blinding it for an instant. It recoiled and everyone started shooting again. There was no regard for our brother. He no longer screamed and we had to assume he was dead.

I turned to the man who’d attacked me. He crouched on the ground like an animal, ready to pounce. It was the Smirker, his eyes wild, his upper body twisting strangely. The mature Maxa’xak was trying to break free. “Hold our ancient friend. I have to finish this task first.”

The Maxa’xak had probably tried to hide his offspring, distract us for as long as it needed for the mature monster to tear itself free of the host. But madness was impossible to control, even for a few more minutes.

I ran towards the man, knife drawn. He stumbled at my attack, falling backwards as I landed on him. My hand closed around his throat. “It is time to set your host free. Let me help you.”

My own blood drained down onto his flesh. He screamed as the energy in my body burned him. He screamed with the voice of the monster inside him. I could feel it alive beneath the flesh. Down inside his open mouth the tissues bulged, already starting to bleed as the monster clawed to escape.

So close to escape. So close to the pool of water casting strange shimmers around the cavern. An underground well fed by the water table. If it broke free and got into that well… With a thrust, I shoved my white-bladed knife straight down into his throat, slicing him open.

The new Maxa’xak coiled free, lashing fangs at me. His parent let out an eerie shriek and instead of attacking me further, the infant lunged for the water. I was just as fast chasing it, not thinking of the parent starting to regain control again.

Before I could reach it another white-bladed knife buried itself in the middle of the new Maxa’xak. Frankie pinned it to the ground and with a smooth swipe, sliced it in half the long way.

Its scream was nothing compared to the one our giant enemy let loose. “Noooooo!” A half-blinded beast turned itself on him. “You will die.”

I lunged too, pushing Frankie out of the way. I rolled with him, but one of those fangs grazed the back of my thigh. One more roll let me see it rising to strike again, at me. I thrust out both hands.

Pure light radiated from me, slowing time, but not my actions. My hands closed around the long fangs just inches before they skewered me. I clung to them, sending all my energy beyond, into the eyes of the beast still bearing down on me.

The weight of the beast pressed down upon my arms as my power held it. The body shook, but his head was frozen above me. His eyes, black as the tunnel had been when we entered. Deadly, soulless eyes. Eyes of a madness no creature should carry.

This creature lacked the duality to counter insanity. It wanted to be alive, to be whole, to be free from the burning hunger, but there was no balance. There could never be balance.

I stared into those hateful eyes and some distant part of me felt a sliver of sympathy. Deep inside I could sense our siblings, trapped in the nightmare of their mistake. How they suffered. “You are the last. Your pain is done. We will give you a final rest.”

In my grip his defensive shield couldn’t sustain itself. My brothers attacked, their knives able to penetrate deeper than the bullets they’d used to distract the beast. Their slashes threw black blood as they cut down through thick flesh. Frankie jumped onto the spine of the Maxa’xak, taking aim with his dagger, using both hands as he plunged it in, drawing it down to expose the vertebrae.

“Hurry!” My grip on the fangs started to slip from its saliva and my blood, barbs along the back of each fang cut into my fingers.

Frankie’s eyes met mine. “Hold on another minute, Princess.” His tone wasn’t harsh, but pleading with me. He thrust his blade down between the vertebrae. Twisting, leaning his entire weight onto his knife. “Someone help her!”

I’d tried to ignore the numbness spreading up my leg and down my arms. Poison in those fangs was entering my bloodstream, but I couldn’t release my control. I had to keep hold of this monster until my brothers could kill it. I had to hold on.

A burst of energy flowed through me as the four Ci’in crowded around me, touching me with one hand, the Maxa’xak with their other hands. Pushing against the massive dying weight. I pulled on what they offered me, sending it up into this beast, burning at its brain as my brothers tried to kill it.

I had to keep it paralyzed, unable to fight back, even if it killed me. It had to die before I did. I let all the power of my Ci’in flow outward, but we were in a death grip. I could feel its fangs sinking into me. I felt my pain, and its anguish as Daniel and Chucky ripped the wounds open wider to help Frankie sever the central nervous system.

I wanted to scream. One more minute... More hands pressed upwards on its head. They pushed, their hands burning into the skin