Kinodana the Hunter - Ch 9

Part Nine

Selanious cupped my face in his hands, and leaned in to kiss me. I almost let him.

Almost.

This time, I swung at him, but he sensed the hit coming and leaned back again, so my fist hit nothing but air. He caught my arm, and held me as I started to struggle.

"Dammit, Sal, I won't let you do this!" I was screaming from hurt and rage, and I didn't care who I hit. But I stopped struggling when a voice came from the patio doors.

"It's a moot point anyways."

It was Felen, face swollen, dressed in the colors of the Gulgrian Guard, backed up by two more Guardsmen, their weapons drawn. Felen was smirking. I hate it when they smirk--it always means I'm about to get my ass handed to me on a platter.

"Selanious Gg'ratch, you're under arrest for treason and assaulting a member of the Guard."

All of the hurt and anger that I had been focusing on Selanious shifted to Felen, and bubbled up into a white hot rage. I was detached, but I heard myself scream, "I don't fragging think so!" before charging them. Both Guardsmen shot at me, but miraculously I managed to dodge the laser fire and tackle the one to Felen's right. I knew I only had 30 seconds until their weapons recharged, and then I was a dead woman.

I managed to wrap my legs around the Guardsman's neck, and broke it with a sickening *snap*. But doing that allowed the second Guardsman to catch me off balance, and he pistol whipped me across the face. I hear Selanious bellow as he wrested Felen's laser pistol away and shot the second Guardsman. I grabbed the second Guardsman's laser pistol off the ground as Selanious dragged me to my feet and out the patio doors.

And straight into a circle of 15 more Gulgrian Guardsmen, with laser pistols and energy net rifles trained on us.

I kept the laser pistol up, but didn't shoot. Not that I could have--I still had 15 seconds before it recharged. Selanious dropped his pistol and stopped beside me, his chest heaving from the short exertion.

Felen got up and began to chuckle behind us. It was an oily sound that didn't speak too well for our chances of being treated fairly by the Guard.

"Tsk, tsk, you two. By now you both should know better than to fight back against the Guard." Felen walked up behind me and yanked my hair back painfully, making me yelp and drop the laser pistol I was holding. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "We always win."

Felen pushed my head forward as he let go and walked in front of Selanious and me, with a wide grin spreading across his face. Definitely not good.

"Well, well, Kinodana, looks like I get to take you in too. Killing a member of the Guard is a capital offense." Felen motioned to the rest of the Guards surrounding us, and a moment later Selanious and I were in laser shackles. Felen's gaze was focused on me. "Of course, just because it's a capital offense doesn't mean that I won't get to take full advantage of your custody..."

I glared at Felen, and Selanious sucked his breath in with a vicious hiss. I put as much venom into my voice as I could. "Touch me, Felen, and I'll do to you everything I should have done to Dur'uk."

Felen grinned back at me wickedly. "Oh, I'm counting on that, Kinodana." Felen motioned to the Guards. "Take them away."