The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

I was itching to get into some action.

Mjolnir jumped up as well, his tail flicking.

“This will be great!” He purred.

Sparrow joined us. Trash thrown out on the way out the door. We flew across the ship for one of the training rooms. We found an empty one we could touch the ground in. Easy pull over socks activated the magnetics in the floor to help with a light gravity simulation. A sparring mat was placed in one of the far corners, but Mjolnir and Fenris did not take it up.

I knew Fenris was not keen on this idea. I couldn’t see it in his body, though I could feel it. Sparrow took a seat on one of the benches and I joined her. Mjolnir bounced around, stretched, cracked some bones. Fenris just stood there, watching.

“Are you ready, friend?” Mjolnir asked.

Silence.

“Fen, give ‘em all you got!” I cheered. “Let’s see what you can do!”

Mjolnir went head first. A good swing of a fist right for Fenris’ head.

He missed.

Sparrow leaned forward. I blinked.

Fenris had not moved.

Another swing.

Another miss.

“You’re quick!” Mjolnir grinned.

He swung one more time, going for a double whammy. Fenris only leaned away from his fists. The ardrizi kept punching, trying to keep Fenris on those metallic toes, but it was no use. He dodged everything without so much as trying to deflect, or even counter.

Mjolnir threw in kicks to push him around. Fenris danced right by. The only thing he hit was that cloak dragging behind.

“Wow. He’s good.” Sparrow said, sitting on the edge of the bench.

Visibly frustrated, Mjolnir growled and snarled.

Fenris seemed to respond to it. Low growls, that when compared to an ardrizi’s, made my heart skip a beat. He moved more. I would dare say that he was teasing Mjolnir. Egging him on to hit him.

Mjolnir went in for a kick to the waist, followed by a twirl into a second kick for the head. An easy dodge at first. Fenris must have decided to give him something by blocking. That was when I noticed the chains embedded into his arm cinched down. He had pulled up his arm to stop the kick from hitting his head, only for his arm to snap further back over his shoulder. Mjolnir’s foot slid right off the metal.

“Did he hit him?” I asked. I must have blinked at the wrong moment. I was sure there was a real connection there, yet I did not see Fenris’ head move at all.

“I’m not sure.” Sparrow answered. “Maybe? Everything is moving so fast, I don’t know what’s going on!”

Claws loosened as Fenris took a step back, letting Mjolnir steady himself. Still, his arm was up at the side of his head.

Maybe he was just fooling. Chains can’t move on their own.

“Why do you not attack?” Mjolnir asked.

No answer.

“Well? Attack me!” He roared.

He tackled the valkyrie, who used only one hand to stop him dead in his tracks. His other arm lowered finally, the chains seemingly looser. Mjolnir swung again. Fenris leaned away.

“Are you afraid? Fight back!”

If I hadn’t been used to Mjolnir’s competitive spirit, I would have said something here. Not knowing much about Fenris, I wasn’t sure if I should. He was handling this fairly well, but the constant verbal attacks were weighing on him. It was obvious that valkyrie was holding back, and I feared for a good reason. The longer they went on, the more I saw his jaws twitch. They almost chattered.

By now they had been going at it for almost five minutes. The whole time we watched, wondering if Fenris would ever take a swing, or if Mjolnir would ever actually hit him. Mjolnir was panting, exerting too much energy for no pay off. Fenris... He didn’t even break a sweat. Just a warm up.

Mjolnir gave the loudest roar I ever heard from him. A full sprint into a punch.

Fenris grabbed his fist. Something snapped.

Purple blood flung out from the ardrizi’s forearm.

Fenris was ready to swing with his other arm, but I jumped up and shouted.

“That’s enough!”

He stopped mid-stride.

Mjolnir pulled away, gripping his arm. We hurried over to find that his forearm snapped apart, three splintered ends poked out from his flesh and fur.

He took a deep breath.

I heard a hiss of pain, but it didn’t sound like Mjolnir.

“What the hell happened?!” Sparrow stared at his arm.

“You need to see the doc.” I said.

Biting back the pain, Mjolnir grinned at Fenris.

“I understand.” He said.

My eyes narrowed. Was there a conversation I missed?

Fenris’ lower jaw twitched. A soft hiss. His arms dropped slowly down to his sides, the chains scratching against the metal.

“Amazing.” He looked back to his arm.

“Hey, are you listening to me?! Go to the doctor!” I said.

Sparrow put a towel over his arm and used her belt to help hold it down. I grabbed another towel to collect the loose droplets of blood now floating around the room. With some tugging, she got the ardrizi to move, who seemed to be happier now than during the fight.

“Jesus Christ.” I sighed. “What happened there?”

“Weak.” Fenris grumbled.

I looked at him.

“No fight.” He shook his head.

“Oh, I didn’t want one. Not with you! I thought he was rough to spar, but you take the cake on that.”

“Cake?”

“Maybe later.”

TWENTY-THREE

Solstice was a bustling metropolitan station floating around in no-man's-land. Hundreds of years old, it was a place universally known as the black market. Ran by criminals who gathered for solace from the law. Men and women who wanted to be free and not bound by the chains of standard society. There were no police officers here. No members of the Federation, nor the Alliance. Here, the only difference in the people was how strong and psychotic they were.

Still, Solstice was the go-to place for anything aftermarket. The best and most illegal ship upgrades were available at the low price of an arm and a leg. People and animals were bought and sold on street auctions. Open-air stalls littered the streets as much as the homeless.

Holographic screens littered every single structure