Then she shifted on what might well be her last burst of energy. All around her, the rest of the resistance followed suit. Those who couldn’t muster the strength made room, allowing the rest to fight in their stead. Slay launched himself into jaguar form and then wove through the crowd as Rowena took flight. He went after Lucan immediately, but he had to fight his way through the honor guard that the treacherous asshole had acquired.
Rowena watched for her opportunity, but the Elites kept Lucan well-guarded, so she settled for picking off enemies on the fringes. She didn’t waste time or energy on ground fighting; it made sense to play to her strengths and she’d always been known for aerial assaults. She loved getting altitude, then swooping down like a raptor, wings lazily flapping to guide her glide. Fast as lightning, she struck, sinking her back talons into the soft underbelly of an opponent Valoran had knocked down. Then she carried the Elite, up, up, up, and while he twisted and screeched his rage, unable to wound her in turn.
Near the top of the arched bowl of the ceiling, anger turned to terror, and the pleading began. They always reacted like this when they realized she could destroy them easily by letting go. Please don’t kill me, the Elite begged. I have a family. The tyrant would’ve executed them if I hadn’t followed orders. I was only following orders!
Only following orders, she repeated in a snarl. That’s no excuse! We have families too, families that you abuse and step on without a second thought. My mother died as a prisoner without ever seeing the sun again. She wasn’t even Golgoth. They took her from Kelnora on a raid and never let her go. Don’t ask for mercy, you sickening scum.
Before the Elite could reply, she opened her claws. He plummeted like a stone, screaming the whole way, and she dove to witness the splatter he made. She took out two more with his weight, collateral damage from dropping ballast. Others reacted to the carnage, offering openings for her fellow rebels to finish off. The resistance might not have many veteran warriors, but they had numbers and the shock prods they’d used to keep prisoners docile had little effect on enraged Gols in their changed forms.
Lucan shouted orders in base Gol but the Elite soldiers didn’t listen. They were already surrounded and it was impossible to take the offensive when they had been pushed to defensive posture. The resistance might lose some numbers, but they wouldn’t fall today. Desperation and determination fueled every attack, compensating for skill and strategy. Generations of fury unleashed on their tormentors, and Rowena gloried in it. She gave air support, drawing off attackers when a fight looked to be going poorly for one of her own.
In quick succession, she killed five more targets, deploying her usual strategy. Slay was relentless, a murder machine with fangs and claws. Sometimes she paused to watch his graceful strikes, the fearless way he launched himself at larger foes. Unerringly he found weak points in their armored skin, biting until the soft points streamed with blood. The din of battle rang out, fainter from her higher vantage. Ro swooped off on a recon run to ascertain that reinforcements weren’t incoming, but she didn’t dare go too far.
She flew over Golgerra proper, taking in the subtle signs of neglect: broken spires, chipped stones in the piazza, statues crumbling from the top. The civilian populace appeared to be in hiding, as she caught sight of only a few citizens scurrying from house to house, likely doing their best to escape the conflict. The average person wanted to avoid the blast radius when the power struggle exploded. She didn’t forgive their inaction, but those who had something to safeguard—whether that was wealth or status—usually chose to protect the status quo.
Wistfully, she cast a glance in the opposite direction. While she’d love to scout all the way to the entrance of Golgerra, it would be ill-advised to venture that far from the rest of the group. On confirming that Lucan’s unit seemed to be cut off from the rest of the tyrant’s Elites, she circled back, the raucous clamor of dying Gols filling the air along with the stink of bloodshed and evacuated bowels. From this height, she caught only whiffs of it. For Slay, on the ground, it must be unbearable.
Less than half the Elites remained when Ro rejoined the fight. Lucan was pointlessly screaming abuse at his own troops: Fight, you worthless sacks of shit! I can’t believe you’re losing to this rabble. They’re nothing! You’re Golgerra’s Elite!
Some part of her heart ached over how her former friend had turned out, but she refused to allow any guilt to stir. Lucan made his own choices. I owe him nothing, not now, not ever.
The scene on the ground was chaotic with weaker prisoners trying to avoid being torn apart by enraged Elites seeking softer targets. She spotted Nolen and Kani in the scrum, both unchanged. Fearless if doomed, Nolen stepped in front of his younger sister like he could protect her with his spindly arms alone. Ro dove, snatching the enemy who was about to stomp on Kani like she was nothing. With great glee, she carried this would-be child murderer aloft and released him above the rest of the melee. It didn’t kill everyone in the drop zone but Slay raced into the opening she created and finished what she’d started with reckless skill. Kill after kill, he put them out of their misery, and she called out to him, praising his power and beauty, though he couldn’t understand her. Still, he glanced up at the sound of her voice and raised his own in turn, offering a loud, sawing call, one that echoed with triumph.
Nolen took the opportunity to pull Kani away from the fray, and Rowena relaxed a little. Now she could focus on fighting. She spotted Valoran wreaking havoc alongside Maksim in his changed form. Only a handful of enemies left, and Chantisse killed one personally as Rowena landed on the bloody stone. The resistance leader had been hanging back, for if she was lost, it would damage the rebellion irreparably. Others could fight but none could match her insight, her strategic instincts, or her ability to inspire those who followed her. Lucan lunged in her direction, but Rowena blocked his path.
His last two Elites died at Maksim and Valoran’s hands, leaving him alone among the bodies of the fallen. Though there had been losses on both sides, the Elites had been obliterated, and the resistance still had forces left to continue pushing forward.
There’s no doubt. We’re winning.
Slay shifted back as Rowena forced Lucan to his knees.
He wanted to be able to communicate with Lucan in the last moments of this asshole’s life. Slay tore a makeshift robe from the pennant one of the Elites had been carrying and wrapped it around his waist. Better to have this conversation without dangling his junk in the enemy’s face. Since Lucan would absolutely kneel and beg forgiveness from Ro before he died, that was a natural precaution.
Multiple resistance soldiers held Lucan down. If they recognized him as once being one of their own, none of them gave any sign. At some point, Lucan had shifted from his armored form, and he was naked, uniform in tatters on the floor. Maksim was there, as were Kani and Nolen. Hettie too came forward to lodge a kick in the traitor’s side. Kneeling among the congealed blood of the fallen, surrounded by corpses, Lucan looked pathetic as fuck, a fitting end for the asshole who’d nearly gotten Rowena killed by betraying her to Tycho Vega, not once, but fucking twice. First when he reported on the initial rebellion, and again when she was captured.
“Any last words?” Slay asked in a mocking tone.
But Lucan’s defiance must have faded when the last of his battalion died around him. The traitor kept his gaze fixed on the red smears on the gray stone floor, silent as he never had been before. Maybe the truth was striking home like an arrow fired from a great distance, and Lucan could feel the barbed tip settling deep into his bones, poison flowing into the wound. Nothing would sting worse than knowing he’d chosen the wrong side, all because he wanted Ro and thought he was entitled to her due to his twisted, covetous desire.