Lost Change

Chapter 99

"Minna, where did you..." I heard the voice of Minna's father suddenly trail off. I looked to the door and saw him standing in the doorway. He was staring at the exposed compartment with a look of surprise plain on his face.

It faded almost instantly and was replaced by an angry scowl. I saw his grip tighten on the weapon he held, and he took a step into the room.

An Ilrivian stepped into view in the corridor. The alien pinned his cat-like ears back against his head as he took in the sight of the crawlers, and he reached for the gun at his side. He had it in his hand and aimed into the room in an instant. I hissed out a warning, but the two Kymari were facing the opposite direction.

The weapon made an angry bark and shot a yellow bolt of energy towards me. I let myself fall out of the air and felt the skin crawl underneath my scales as the shot narrowly missed me.

"They found the crawlers!" The alien shouted down the corridor and began aiming at somebody else. I didn't take the time to find out who - there was too great a chance it was Minna. And even if it wasn't, the next shot certainly would be. Waiting would mean too great a risk for her.

I let my instincts take over and began to work the oily saliva into my mouth. I flapped my wings to get into the air and began growling, hearing a change in my tone as I felt the fire building between my jaws. The heat grew and grew, until my instincts told me I was ready to unleash flame at the alien before me.

"NATE, NO!!" I heard Minna yell from the back of the room and I flinched in my flight... but it was too late to stop. The fire was already leaving my mouth as I spat a stream of burning saliva right at the alien's face.

Several things happened all at once.

The leash tugged hard against the harness, and I was yanked backwards towards Minna.

The weapon in the alien's hand unleashed another blast of yellow energy. It shot across the room and burned into the armor of Minna's father.

My flames spread out through the air as a result of my being yanked backwards. They almost made it to the attacking alien, and I saw his eyes widen with terror as the flames blossomed in the air right before him... but none of them actually reached him. They spread through the air instead and found various items around the room to land upon. A few embers fell onto the blanket covering the bed, and a few more fell over an electronic gadget lying on the desk, and they both began burning as the flames caught on them.

And lastly, a horrible klaxon began blaring all around me.

"SHIELDS!" Minna's father yelled over the blaring sound. He dove towards the alien in the doorway and tackled him to the ground, then punched him right in the face. The alien slumped and went still, even as the Kymari jumped back to his feet.

I heard the mechanical bark of other weapons being fired out in the corridor, followed by the sounds of Kymari weapons... then the soft thuds of two more bodies falling to the floor.

Minna snatched me out of the air and pulled me against her. She held me close in one hand and used her other to dig something out of a pocket. I got a brief look at it - it looked like a thin strip of metal, though I could make out strange indents along the edges - as she slapped it down over the wrist holding me. It curved with the motion and formed into a bracelet around her wrist, then began to glow a soft green color.

I heard a hum come from the bracelet and the air seemed to shimmer around me. Minna reached back into her pocket and pulled out a net attached to a short baton. She pushed something on it and the baton extended into a longer handle, then she looked down at me and hesitated. "Sorry about this, Nate. But I need to keep you close for now."