Free Transmission Lost by Stefan Mazzara Page A

its jaws over her right shoulder. The Ailian screamed and her right arm went numb, the knife dropping from her hand. She swatted her left hand across her body, raking her claws over the offending creature's face. It barked, releasing her shoulder, and she clutched its neck and hurled it off of her.
    Gasping, Aria clutched her shoulder. There was no feeling in it whatsoever, but the sensation of fire was spreading across the rest of her body. She gritted her teeth and looked around on the ground for her knife. Before she found it, a third demon leaped at her, planting its front paws on her chest and taking her to the ground. With barely any time to catch her breath, Aria wrestled with it, trying to ignore the burning feeling spreading over her body.
    A-...Ara ke na me'resh..., Aria thought to herself. I cannot take much more of this...
    With as much strength as she could muster, Aria unsheathed the claws from her left hand and grabbed the predator atop her by the throat. She dug her claws in, piercing its neck deeply. Twisting her wrist she opened up its neck, and there was a trio of sharp cracks as its spine splintered. Blood drenched her front and the animal went limp. Panting, Aria rolled its body off of her, sitting up with great difficulty. Her vision was growing cloudy as numbness washed over her body from her shoulder, but she surveyed the area as best she could. Three more demons lay dead around her. Two left out of the group that had surrounded her. If Aria was careful and swift, she thought she could manage that.
    And then two of the animals from the group blocking access to the tent joined the pair still facing her. Aria groaned, getting shakily to her feet. Weaponless, one arm completely useless, she got herself into as much of a fighting stance as she could manage.
     
    ******
     
    Stealthily, Jack made his way down from the trees. Aria had thrown the beast from her back, and he watched as another tackled her from the front. He wanted to charge the pack, to distract them from Aria enough for her to do something, but he knew he had to be smart about it. From where he was he could see their packs sitting next to the tent, along with both of the rifles. The human knew he had little use for Aria's rifle; it might have been useful as an anti-vehicle rifle in a human's hands, but in a stand-up fight he wouldn't have any chance of wielding it. If he could just get to the rifle Aria had taken from him, though...He wasn't as good of a shot with a long gun as he was with a pistol but he figured he could hit the animals from close range with automatic fire.
    Jack moved carefully. Aria had killed the animal mounted on her chest, but there were still two around her and four on the far side of the tent from him. Hunched low to the ground, he crept up, watching his feet and being careful not to step on any twigs or clumps of leaves. He was watching the nearby predators closely, but they seemed not to have heard him. As he looked, two of the animals left the tent at the same time, heading for Aria. With only two still guarding the camp, it was now or never. Abandoning stealth, Jack flat-out ran the remaining ten meters to the tent, throwing himself at his gun. He wrapped his fingers around the grip and tried to pick it up, cursing as he realized it was still clipped to Aria's pack.
    One of the creatures turned its head, baring its fangs and snarling as it saw Jack with his hand on a weapon. His eyes widening in terror, Jack fumbled for the clip, his fingers finding the correct position and unfastening it. Barking, the animal whipped around and lunged at him. With barely a second to spare Jack brought the rifle up, ripping off a three-round burst right into the predator's chest. The rounds were smaller than most pistol bullets, but the high-powered projectiles were designed to tumble and fragment when they contacted flesh. The beast collapsed dead on the ground as a massive exit wound exploded out of its back.
    Jumping in surprise,