Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
“There’s no time to explain. They are not only here,” Gal began. “They have created an army.”
“By the goddess,” Serena breathed.
“That’s what they’ve been doing,” Chu bit.
But no one said another word.
They all raced out.
Teddy
Smuggler’s Den Inn, Nautilus
MAR-EL
Faunus had barely dropped his bag in their room when he turned to Teddy and declared, “We need to report we’ve arrived.”
Teddy nodded and said, “But you’ll be back.”
Faunus came to him. “I’ll be back. Tonight, I stay with you. Tomorrow…”
He didn’t finish this, but he didn’t need to, for Teddy already knew what would happen on the morrow.
Or what they all hoped would happen.
They both tensed when they heard a faraway scream.
Faunus moved swiftly to the window and looked out.
Teddy quickly joined him, and as he was taking these strides, another scream could be heard.
There also seemed a muted commotion from belowstairs.
“I don’t—” Teddy began to say he didn’t see anything amiss, as he gazed out the window at the meandering lane very close to which attractive, very seaside-city-looking (to his estimation, though this was the only seaside city he’d visited) buildings were built.
The view they could see from their vantage point at the back of the inn.
There were pedestrians, not quite going about their business, for they’d all turned their attention in the direction of the screams.
Teddy startled and stopped speaking, and Faunus shifted to stand before him, when they heard a thump belowstairs.
Faunus then moved directly to his bags, unbuckled them, and pulled out his two long kris blades.
“Faunus,” Teddy murmured as they heard fast steps ascending the stairs down the hall from their room.
Because of this, and more screams from outside, when Faunus handed him the blades and unsheathed his sword from his back, Teddy did not demur in taking them.
He barely had a handle on them when the door was kicked open.
Faunus prepared to attack but did not for Moira came careening into the room because Saturn had hurled her inside.
Faunus caught her one-armed and tossed her to Teddy, who carefully, seeing as he had two daggers in his hands, shunted her behind him just as what looked like three Airenzian males came storming into the room behind Saturn.
They were armed.
And they did not hesitate to attack.
By the gods.
What was happening?
“Give me one of those!” Moira shouted, wresting the dagger from his left hand as sounds of steel striking steel filled the room.
“Get to the other side of the bed!” Faunus roared as he held a sword from striking him from above with his own at the same time, he plunged a dagger into the gut of one of the males and dragged it upwards.
Teddy grabbed Moira and hauled her toward the bed.
They jumped it and made the other side, Teddy shoving Moira in the corner and standing strong in front of her, his weapon raised, just in time to watch Saturn swinging his sword low and cutting another of the males off at his knees.
Gruesomely, the man toppled to the ground.
The one Faunus had injured was also down.
The last man was rounding the bed to get to Teddy and Moira, but he didn’t make it as, in a gods-awful spray of blood, Faunus took his head.
They heard more screams, shouts, and noises of panic outside as they all stood frozen inside, everyone’s eyes to the door.
It was Saturn who moved to shut it, but as he’d broken it to enter, it did not latch.
He thus simply set it to and walked back to the legless man on the floor.
He lifted his weapon and cut off the fallen man’s sword arm at the elbow.
Teddy’s lip automatically curled.
Moira groaned.
Hearing it, Teddy turned to her and pulled her into his arms, putting a hand to the back of her head and tucking her face to his chest.
Saturn kicked the man’s weapon away (indeed, he kicked his entire forearm away) and straightened, still staring down at him.
“He is not dead,” he stated.
Faunus did not move from his position of barring the path to Moira and Teddy.
But he did ask, “What?”
“He is legless and has lost an arm, but he is not dead, and yet he does not moan,” Saturn pointed out.
Teddy let Moira go, jumped the bed, and hastened to Saturn on Faunus’s growled, “Tedrey.”
His whole name.
Tedrey.
Gods, save him from overprotective warriors.
He ignored his warrior’s warning, squatted beside the Airenzian and studied him, feeling cold enter his chest as he did.
“Moira, stellina,” Faunus murmured as Teddy heard Moira jump on and over the bed.
He loved it when Faunus called her stellina.
His little star.
He let that love settle, as it always did, but he could not think much on it.
“This man is gone,” he stated, staring into eyes that were open, alive, but there was nothing there.
No pain. No emotion.
Vacant.
There were noises from the room beside them as it occurred to him.
“The venom,” he whispered.