Alien General's Chosen (Brion Brides 4)(28)

She didn’t waste a second when she realized her only chance to escape. As hard as she could, Leiya bit down on Primen’s hand holding her mouth shut. He snatched his hand away, cursing her, and that was all she needed.

Leiya had a powerful voice, possibly the most powerful one on Briolina. It had been a long while since she’d had to use it to its full extent. She drew her lungs full of air and bellowed a single word.

“Roven!”

The slap across her face shut her up, strong enough to send her tumbling to the floor, but the word was out. She could hear people talking outside, and she could hear running.

“You little bitch,” Primen growled. “Don’t think for a moment that warrior can save you. I have warriors too, sell-swords gathered around here. Ready to cut your throat at my command. I’ll send you to your gerion in pieces.”

He advanced on her, but Leiya was quicker. She jumped out of his way, backing away towards the window.

“Jump!” he heard Roven command, at least three floors below her.

He’d seen her!

It wasn’t a conscious thought, because she didn’t have time for those, but it was there nonetheless: she trusted Roven, because Faren trusted him.

She didn’t hesitate for a second. With two steps she was by the window, on the window still and in the air, hearing Primen’s furious roar echo through the air as she fell.

Roven was there, between her and the deadly ground. He caught her so smoothly she barely felt it, like she weighed nothing. By the time she realized what was happening they were already running.

From behind them, she heard Primen yell a command.

“Kill her!” he ordered his sell-swords.

They ran, street after street until she could no longer comprehend where they were. And still the footsteps behind them didn’t stop. She was going to be out of breath soon, and she knew Roven was taking it slow for her sake. Apparently their pursuers weren’t full-grown warriors or they would already have been caught. But they were coming, she didn’t doubt. Of all the lies Primen had ever told her, she doubted that having warriors of his own was one of them.

She ran and thought of monsters, in all their shapes and forms. One was beside her, solid and true, ready to lay his life down for her. The other was somewhere behind them, a monster hiding behind the visage of a proper man, the worst of them all.

And the third… A whimper escaped her throat.

There she was, on the run again with chasers at her tail. Only these ones wouldn’t throw her over their shoulder and take her to safety.

Faren, she thought. Called, really, called to the man she’d driven away. Called to her gerion.

He had to find her before Primen did. But he was so far, and her chasers were so close. The footsteps seemed to edge closer still. Leiya ran for her life.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Leiya



I am going to die.

The thought kept nagging at Leiya as she ran. Although it could be called running only in the broadest of terms.

She knew all Brions were naturally in great shape, but her lack of stamina that had confounded her for years made sense now. Leiya was by no means equipped to outrun full-grown Brion warriors. It had only taken a few blocks and not more than 15 minutes of panicked, terrified fleeing to tire her out completely.

Ironically, the running itself wasn’t the hardest part. What was truly hurting her, squeezing her heart like a vice, blurring her vision with tears, was Roven. Not the huge, deformed warrior himself. Quite the opposite, really. The one who had made her take Roven with her.

No, Leiya couldn’t possibly outrun the soldiers on her trail. It was almost impossible to envision eluding them. But Faren had. Whether by guess, or concern, or simply precaution, he had only allowed her to go with… this machine of a man.

When Leiya had finally stumbled, her breath caught in her throat, Roven had picked up her part of the running too – literally. In a way it seemed to Leiya that with her on his back he was finally free to go at the pace that suited him.

He’d stopped only for that moment, crouching down like a great towering mech Leiya had seen the warriors fight.

“Climb up,” he’d grumbled. “Hold on.”

She’d done so with shaking hands. The day before she’d screamed her voice hoarse at the sight of him, but all of that was gone. Roven was her only lifeline, she knew that, and she couldn’t possibly put her gratitude into words.

It felt like she was looking at the world for the first time with her own eyes, with human eyes. Briolina had always been her home, but it seemed terrifying to Leiya once she realized how badly outmatched she was against everything on the planet. At a moment like that, with life flashing before her eyes, Roven was a gift. Faren's gift to her.#p#分页标题#e#

With death on their heels, the monstrous warrior had given her a second to lace her hands around his thick neck. And then he’d run.

It was like a great, magnificent animal taking off.

Thud… thud thud… thud thud thud… With a few thunderous steps Roven was in motion, powering on like nothing living should. His pace was slower than it probably might have been on his own, without her weight on his back. Leiya suddenly realized she couldn’t possibly imagine what Brion warriors truly looked like in battle.

Even with her weight to carry, Roven was able to hold a steady pace unlike anything she could achieve. Behind them, the chasing warriors caught on for a moment, and Leiya squirmed into Roven’s neck. Her amazing hearing caught the rasping breathing of their pursuers, but then it faded away.

They were warriors too, but not like Roven.

What made Leiya’s throat close up was that Faren had surely known that. It was long known that those who served on the Unbroken passed many ridiculously hard tests just to be considered. Faren didn’t suffer mediocrity on his ship, but Roven was beyond even those high standards. Despite all she had said to him, the general had given her his best to protect her – a warrior that could do the impossible, even after Leiya had denied him the chance to protect her.

She was the biggest fool on Briolina, human or not. Set to be the biggest dead fool on Briolina, because for all of Roven’s magnificence, he was still flesh and bone. Their chasers would only have to hold out. Eventually, they’d be caught.

This really is a song, she thought miserably. And I’m going to be the star of the parody. All my songs about stupid girls who don’t listen to reason. Who laugh in the face of warnings, only to end up having to be rescued… How I laughed at them! Ha-ha, look at the fools, anyone could see there was truth in them. And here I am. Ebanaya or Relya will make a tribute for me in their next concert. Come, hear all! The story of Leiya! The little singer who didn’t listen to the advice in her own songs… My bloody legacy.

It was a nice feeling, in a way. The fact that she still cared about her reputation, wanted them to remember her fondly. It meant she hadn't given up on everything just yet.

But her would-be rescuer was far away. Surely Faren hadn’t lingered on Briolina; everyone knew the dreaded general preferred to stay on his ship, his dark and gloomy home. The twin generals had been notorious for only ever coming down to their home planet when absolute necessity called.

When better soldiers joined the hunt, every musing was driven from Leiya’s mind. She and Roven were teetering on the edge of a cliff, alive by Roven’s amazing stubbornness and sheer dumb luck.

Leiya knew Brion battle spears were sharp, but when one went flying past her cheek, she could feel the sharpness. It almost cut her skin without making contact. She screamed. And just when she’d thought that Roven couldn’t possibly run faster, he did.

For some reason, he ran straight to the edge of the platform they were on. The capital was built on many little hills, and parts of the city towered above others. Leiya thought he’d stop and elude their pursuers with a clever move, but he didn’t. At the last minute then? No?

No!

But no words came forward from her, she was just too petrified – death behind her, death before her. It really had a way of shutting a songbird up.

“Hold on!” Roven bellowed. “Hold on very hard!”

Leiya had a second to take courage from the fact he didn’t seem to have developed suicidal tendencies after all. Then, she dug her arms and legs around the big warrior as hard as she could. Her hands almost hurt from the vice-like grip when another spear went flying by and Roven jumped.

Seeing how high the platform had been made her insides turn. They hadn’t jumped, they were bloody free-falling. The rush of air was so strong she didn’t even have enough breath to scream.

“Brace!” roared Roven.

Leiya saw their target and no. Fuck that. Fuck not using the word “fuck” when it was called for. Faren was now the second scariest thing she’d ever seen. Was Roven serious?

Right before them was another stone park. Under the protective shadow of the cliff they’d just jumped stood a statue of Yannen, a legendary Brion warlord. He was notorious for helping end the Brion dark days.

The statue stood taller than most buildings nearby; it was tremendous. It would crush their bones tremendously, that was.

They slammed against it so hard that for long seconds, Leiya couldn’t breathe. If she felt like dying, gasping for air, what was Roven feeling? The warrior had taken the full impact, falling on solid rock, while she slammed against him. It was a miracle her grip had held.#p#分页标题#e#