Page 39 of Mazorium Buys a Human

I tried to walk slowly for Mika’s sake, but she refused to maintain a sedate pace. “I know you’re worried,” I began, hoping to convince her she was worried for nothing. “But letting—”

Before I could finish speaking, three male Talins rounded a corner at a rush. I moved in front of Mika, worried they'd mob her without Ithorum to warn them away.

The three came to a stop and stared hard at Mika. That wasn’t unusual, but it was curious none of them asked any questions or tried to get her attention as everyone else did.

Instead, they all reached behind themselves and pulled weapons from the small of their backs.

I sounded an angry rattle. “What do you think you’re doing? This is a human and her pup, not a threatening force.”

“Give us the pup,” the one in the middle said. “Otherwise, we’re going to take her.”

Mika made an angry, negative sound. I wanted to turn and comfort her, but I had to keep my eyes on these men.

“You’re breaking the law,” I reminded them, edging backward. Using my peripheral vision, I sought a sheltered spot for Mika and Nadia to hide in if I was forced to fight these men.

“Normally I like being right,” she mumbled, moving backward with me. “But not now.”

“It’s one against three,” the leader said. “That’s poor odds. It would be best if you set the pup down and walk away.”

“I’m more skilled than you think,” I warned.

“Don’t be foolish,” he snapped. “You’d need to fight perfectly, while we only need to fight well. We don’t need to win or even incapacitate you. All we need to do is overpower you long enough to carry her away. Be reasonable; let us have her. You have two humans; let us have the pup. She can’t even do anything yet.”

I spotted a sensor alcove. It was narrow and hopefully deep enough for Mika and Nadia to squeeze into.

“The pup will die if she’s separated from her dam,” I told them.

“We’ve been assured that’s not true,” he said. “The pup will survive and probably thrive under more attention than one dam and one owner.”

“So you three think to raise her yourself?” I asked, hoping to keep them talking until I was closer to the alcove.

“Of course not,” he said. “We are only here to collect the animal for delivery.”

I saw the leader tense, preparing to rush me. I spun, shoved Mika into the alcove, and barely turned in time to meet the first blow. She understood what I intended and moved to squeeze her body sideways into the small space.

The leader wasn’t as skilled as me, and despite his weapon, I was able to knock him into a wall with relative ease.

It was bad luck that his cohorts were more skilled, and within a submark I knew it was only a matter of time until they got the better of me.

I sounded a war rattle that echoed down the corridor as I fought. My only hope was that someone would hear and bring help before they defeated me.

Mika

Cursing, I squished myself into the narrow spot Mazorium had pushed me into. The attack started even before I was entirely inside. Ignoring the claustrophobic tightness, I got Nadia and me pressed against the back. Sensors dug into my hip, and I had to hold Nadia in an awkward position over my head.

An arm stretched in after me, but I was out of reach, barely.

The Talin withdrew his arm and pressed his face into the narrow space. “Come out here, human.”

Did he really think that was going to work? I ignored him and tried to look past him to see how Mazorium was doing. I knew from the way he’d dealt with the Hulks that he was a skilled and powerful fighter. But these were fellow Talins with weapons; it was a whole different situation.

They could seriously injure or even kill Mazorium! I was as scared for his life as I was about losing Nadia.

I heard a grunt of pain and then the sound of a body hitting a wall again, but I couldn’t see anything.

The Talin with his face pressed against the opening moved back and disappeared. “You two deal with him. The human wedged herself deep into the sensor alcove. I’m going to get something that’ll flush her out without damaging the pup.”

The sounds of fighting didn’t stop as the third one rushed off. Despite all the noise Mazorium was making with his rattling, we hadn’t drawn anyone's notice. I debated about exiting the spot and running, but it would be much too easy to get caught.