He grabbed the human closest to him and shook him, the human's head wobbling like a doll’s.
"Open it," he roared.
"Easy there, hoss," a man said from next to him.
Graydon thought it might be the one called Raider. He couldn't be sure since he hadn't taken the time to learn all their names. He struggled not to rip the man's head from his shoulders. The urge was difficult to resist.
"You don't want to go out there right now, believe me," Raider said, his expression cautious.
A long menacing sound rumbled from Graydon's chest, primal and terrifying.
He hadn't thought these humans so devious they would leave one of theirs behind to die.
"Maybe you do," Raider said, correcting himself. "Just wait a moment.”
"Drop the cage, human," Graydon ordered, his voice eerily calm.
"We've adjusted the energy barrier. It'll protect us from what's outside," the woman with blue hair said. "This is the safest place right now."
"Except not everyone is in it," Liara pointed out, struggling to sit.
"Believe me, lady, everyone who needs to be is," Raider said, turning to stare out.
Graydon narrowed his eyes. The humans were worried. It was more than the Tsavitee. Until Kira went down, they'd been holding their own. Now, they stunk of stress and fear.
"Shouldn't it have already happened?" Blue muttered to the big man next to her.
He grunted, his eyes narrowed on Kira.
Raider paced in front of the cage wall as Ayela continued toward them, her lips curled up in a satisfied smile. The humans didn't spare her a look.
Graydon was known for his discipline. He was a stalwart stone when others let the eddies of emotion carry them into the rapids. He reached for that side of him. It was harder than it'd ever been before.
The humans had stopped seeing those outside as a threat. There was one thing that worried them, and it wasn't the Tsavitee.
Graydon was silent as he watched the humans stare at Kira's fallen body.
"Look at this, so many lovely sacrifices," Ayela murmured. "Bring me one of them."
The Tsavitee flanking her moved to obey. Graydon's muscles tightened as he prepared to attack, the rest of his warriors doing the same.
The Tsavitee's face reflected confusion when the cage refused to obey.
"What's the holdup?" Ayela demanded.
"It won't open, mistress."
Jin chuckled. "We own this space now, bitch. Prepare to be disappointed."
Her eyes narrowed as she turned to give him a look of dislike. She shrugged graceful shoulders. "No matter. I'm sure my companions can figure out how to reverse what you've done."
Jin got close to the cage’s barrier. "They're not going to have time to do much of anything. You shouldn't have done that. Now you're all going to die."
Ayela's head tilted with confusion.
Behind her, Kira rose, her hair covering her face as she straightened so very slowly.
"That was a mortal wound," Quillon murmured, rising from where he tended to the Luathan Overlord. His cloak whispered into place around him.
It had been. Graydon was sure of it.
"Kira," Joule and Ziva shouted in relief.
"Guess again," Raider said in a soft voice. "It's something much more dangerous."
"The Phoenix," the blue-haired woman whispered, her voice hushed as tangled notes of fear and awe ran through it.
The figure finally lifted her head, her expression feral, her entire focus locked on Ayela, the rest of the world forgotten.
Graydon saw what he and the rest of the Tuann had missed.
It wore Kira's shape, it had her face, but there were subtle differences. The pale creaminess of her skin was replaced by a dark gray. Violet symbols etched themselves across every exposed piece of skin, lines linking them in swooping patterns only the oldest of the ancients would be able to decipher.
To the uneducated eye, some might have mistaken her for a female Tsavitee general, but Graydon knew her for what she really was. Primus. Precious and rare.
Her eyes opened at last, glowing violet as she focused on Ayela's head.
"Primus form," Graydon said in stunned understanding.
"What are you looking at?" Ayela asked with a frown.
Kira's hands appeared on either side of Ayela’s head. They closed on it and wrenched, a crack piercing the room. Ayela's body slumped to the floor, her neck broken. She stared sightlessly up at the ceiling.
Kira stepped over the body, her attention turning to the occupants of the cage for the first time.
"Weapons up," Raider said.
Kira struck in the next second, the cage shuddering from the force of the blow. The walls of the cage crackled as she continued to press her hand against it, the smell of scorched flesh reaching Graydon.
She was damaging herself as she tried to break into the cage.
The humans had their weapons trained on her, fear and pheromones flooding the air.
"Will the cage hold?" Raider snapped.
"Probably." Jin didn't sound convinced.
"Not good enough," the human snarled.
Jin snorted. "That's the best you're going to get. I'm not a magician. I had seconds to switch the polarity to give us this much protection. Next time give me more of a head’s up if you want a more quality product."
"Can our weapons pass through?" the big man asked.
Both Graydon and Jin voiced an immediate denial.
"Look, we don't like this any better than you," Raider said, irritation making him snappish. "But she's in berserker mode. It's kill her or let her kill us."
"Your weapons won't do anything to her in that form," Graydon said, forcing reason into his voice. He stepped nearer, placing his hand in front of hers. He ignored the sting of warning, the small snap of pain as he waited for her to meet his eyes.
It took several seconds before she lifted her attention from the humans. When she did, it was like being punched in the chest. Her gaze cut through all the noise, as if seeing into the deepest parts of himself. It settled him even as he yearned to lose himself in her.
There was awareness in those eyes. Intelligence. Feeling. She was in a battle rage, yes, but she hadn't let herself be lost to it.
"You are so beautiful," Graydon said in Tuann.
Kira blinked at him.
"It's time for you to protect yourself now," he said, his voice adopting a soothing cadence.
She drew one sharp claw down the cage wall. A streak of pale yellow followed.
"She's writing," Blue said in a stunned voice.
Graydon gritted his teeth and told himself that strangling the humans might set her off again.
"In primus form her instincts are close to the surface, but she isn't an animal. She's capable of thought and reason," he said, struggling for patience.
Although it was rare for one so young to possess enough discipline to gain control so quickly after the influx of ki necessary to achieve the transformation.
Ships as promised. Jin has recording. Protect all.
Raider's lips thinned as he considered. He seemed torn between duty and loyalty. That struggle was what saved him and the rest from a painful death at Graydon's hands later.