Free A Warrior's Sacrifice by Ross Winkler

the com. Corwin's head popped up, and he searched for a safe path through through the trees to his Voidmates. Corwin jerked his bike to the side; Chahal fell in close behind.

    They had expected Quislings, using Quisling strategies. Kai and Phae were not prepared for what lay hidden on the forest floor. Kai fired left-handed, his chain gun thrown over his handlebars with little ceremony. It spewed rounds down-field at the shadowed juggernauts that barreled forward into the teeth of his, and now Phae's attempt at suppressive fire.
    The bullets did nothing.
    The brutes slavered and howled as they jostled one another, shoving trees, stones and each other aside to be the first to tear and rend and devour. Phae and Kai threw their guns aside and leapt free, rolling, spinning, drawing their swords. Their weapons hummed in the darkening air, brought forth to fulfill their purpose.
    As the Grunts charged, their battle lust grew. They salivated, the liquid dripping down their styliform jaws. They lowered their horned heads for the charge and screamed, shrill and curdling.
    The lead Grunt shouldered a drifting bike out of the way and like the trees it had shattered before, the impact didn't register. All it could smell, all it could see was the warm blood and the fleshy thing that danced in the darkness.
    Kai stood his ground, dropping the tip of his sword. The Grunt rushed onward. It lunged, clawed and armored arms reaching, mandibles outstretched.
    Kai jumped sideways, swinging his sword in an upward arc. His blade passed through the Grunt's armored exoskeleton without resistance.
    The Grunt's head and arms fell to the ground, mandibles still clenching, and after a dozen steps — when its body realized it no longer had a head — it fell to the ground, twitching.
    A few meters away, Phae fought, though not with the same great sword-sweeps as Kai; she didn't have the reach. Instead she ducked, dodged, rolled, striking at her enemy as it swung and missed and searched for her again. Despite her bulk, Phae was agile, and she used that agility to strike at the confused Grunt, severing first one leg, then an arm. As it hobbled and screamed in rage at the enemy it couldn't find, she slit its throat.
    But the Siloth hadn't designed the Grunts to be smart or agile, and they never hunted alone. They were built to overwhelm with numbers and ferocity. The first two met quick, violent deaths, but their blood and screams whipped the remaining pack into a frenzy. They threw themselves at the two Maharatha.
    While the Maharatha were skilled, the fury and proximity of so many swinging claws overcame their abilities. The constant barrage of attacks forced the Maharatha to give ground, killing as they did. Kai and Phae retreated towards each other until they stood together, ringed by a half circle of snarling Grunts.
    Kai's side bled, his ribs broken. Phae's left arm hung useless at her side from a gash on her shoulder. They didn't speak to each other; they didn't need to, nor could they spare their attention on words.

    Ahead in the darkness, horned beasts swarmed. Corwin readied himself, slinging his rifle onto his back and drawing his sword. He cut the engine's power and jumped, landing at a full sprint, Chahal at his heels. They slammed into the distracted Grunts, hacking and hewing the creatures before they could turn and address the death that swept through them from behind.

    As the Grunts before her died, Phae turned and took her place next to Kai, guarding his injured side, he guarding hers in turn. Drifting up from the gathering darkness, Chahal and Corwin joined their injured Voidmates. They cast their Sahktriya forward, projecting fear at their gathered enemy.
    The Grunts hesitated. In that moment of confusion, the Void surged, and the remaining Grunts, for the first time in their short, terrible lives, were afraid.

CHAPTER NINE

    The summer air smelled of fresh-turned earth, of splintered trees, of alien blood and ruptured organs. The