Free The Ruins of Karzelek (The Mandrake Company series Book 4) by Ruby Lionsdrake Page B

and drawn blood—she dropped a hand to her side, wincing at the light touch—but Sedge must have hit it while it was still in the air.
    Footsteps pounded behind her, Tick and Striker rushing out of the tent.
    “ Damn it,” Striker said, “we missed the fun?”
    Sedge shifted the flashlight, focusing on the blood spotting the dirt for a second, then lifting it to Kalish’s torso. “You’re injured,” he said, stepping around the fallen beast and toward her. “How badly? Here. Let me help you back into the—”
    A second screech rang out from the boulder field, and then a third. From the same creature or another? Kalish couldn’t tell.
    “ The tent,” Sedge finished, grimacing into the darkness.
    “ Something that big will crush those walls,” Kalish said, but she headed for the tent anyway. If nothing else, there were better lights in there that they could use.
    “ You two, go in there,” Tick said. “Get us some lights.”
    “ That’s right.” Striker patted his belt, which held a row of grenades as well as ammo pouches with backup laser packs. “Let the Chief of Boom keep out the wildlife.” His eyes gleamed, as if this were a game he couldn’t wait to play. Kalish hoped his confidence wasn’t misplaced.
    Another screech sounded, this time from boulders on the other side of the tent.
    “ That’s a lot of wildlife,” Tick said, taking up a back-to-back position with Striker as Kalish and Sedge ducked into the tent.
    “ This will make a great addition to my comic strip,” Striker announced.
    “ Assuming you live to draw it,” Tick said.
    “ Captain said he’d finish it if I ever got killed during a real epic battle.”
    Kalish shuddered as she grabbed the lamp from the desk, regretting that she had sent all the ships away. Right now, she would much rather have a thick metal hull between her and the elements than a fabric wall. She took the lamp outside and set it on the ground, turning it to its highest power in the hope that such brightness might scare away the predators. At the least, it would let the mercenaries see what was coming for them.
    “ Over here,” Sedge said, taking her arm and nodding toward a rock formation that rose well above their heads. Another screech came, almost drowning out the words.
    Kalish got the gist though and joined him there. They put their backs to the boulders. Blood trickled down her rib cage inside of her shirt, but fear was charging her veins with adrenaline, and she didn’t feel much pain yet. She hoped the injury wasn’t bad enough that she needed to worry about blood loss.
    Tick fired at the tops of a trio of boulders in the distance, short laser bursts that lit up the night beyond the light’s influence. Rock exploded, with shards flying everywhere, but he didn’t hit anything moving.
    “ You shoot like a girl,” Striker said, removing a grenade with his free hand—his other hand was busy holding a rifle almost as big as he was. He armed the explosive with a twist and pull from his teeth, then lobbed it into the night.
    “ You wouldn’t say that if Sergeant Hazel was down here.” Tick fired again, this time at a shape moving atop another boulder. Damn, those creatures were all around the camp.
    “ Sure, I would. She shoots like a boy. Not like—”
    Whatever the rest of his sentence was, it was drowned out in the explosion from his grenade, which flashed white even as its boom made the ground shiver. Entire boulders flew into the air, and Kalish thought she spotted a big body writhing in the air among the mess.
    “ Got one,” Striker cried with a fist pump.
    “ It doesn’t count if you use a grenade,” Tick said, turning and shooting toward the rocks behind the tent. “That’s just making a mess. A real man has finesse and aim.”
    “ Your finesse hasn’t hit anything except rocks yet.”
    “ I just clipped one on the shoulder. Or whatever these lizards have.”
    “ I think you clipped a cactus.”
    Sedge had his pistol out and