Odin looked up at Kira in shock. The pupil of her uncovered eye constricting to a pinprick.
"Find them; save them," Kira ordered.
If only one of them survived, she needed it to be Odin. The Sye was the only one with a chance of finding her niece.
Odin's face was solemn as she tilted her chin down in agreement.
A bead of light formed in the cannon's mouth, brightening until its light eclipsed all else.
I'm sorry, Jin.
Kira hunkered over Odin, strengthening her body with ki as much as she could.
The air screamed as the cannon prepared to fire.
An explosion ripped the Tsavitee ship apart, sending its pieces careening into the trees beside it.
Graydon faltered.
Kira lifted off Odin. "Did that really just happen?"
They looked at each other.
"We have incoming," Brie called as the sound of a ship's engine reached them.
A second later the branches in the trees rustled as the backwash from the engines buffeted them.
"Hold your fire," Kira instructed Brie. "I recognize that ship."
A hatch on the ship's side opened and Pallas stuck his head out of it. "Well, look at that. Someone needed my help, after all."
Kira glanced at Brie. "I thought you said he left."
"He did." Brie's face showed confusion as the ship went to land in the only part of the clearing that hadn't received damage from the Tsavitee ship. "At least, we thought he did."
"Don't blame yourself too much. He's good at things like that."
Odin got up off the ground, knocking the snow and dirt loose from her pants. "I, for one, am glad for his timing."
Kira was too. For once.
As Brie and Odin started for the ship, Kira paused next to Graydon.
She couldn't forget how he had placed himself directly in front of the cannon's path to protect her.
Seeing her expression, Graydon's eyes warmed. "Words are unnecessary between us."
"Next time—don't throw yourself in front of certain death."
He would have handled that situation differently if he wasn't so intent on protecting Kira. Rather than adopting a defensive posture, he would have tried to take down the ship.
Kira rose onto her tiptoes, pressing a kiss against Graydon's lips. "Thank you, my love."
She appreciated the gesture even if she would have preferred him to protect himself first in a situation like that.
Graydon's hand slid around her hip as he tugged her into him more fully. Their kiss lasted only a short time before he let her go, nudging her toward the ship as the wail of a Tsavitee tracker came from the trees behind them.
"It's time for us to leave this place, coli," Graydon announced, facing the source of those sounds. "You go first. I'll be right behind you."
Kira didn't argue, knowing time was of the essence.
Brie and Odin had reached Pallas's ship, the latter having already gone inside by the time Kira got there.
"What are you doing?" Kira asked. "Go in."
Brie shook her head. "I can't abandon my unit. I have to go back."
Pallas jerked his head at the tree line as the first wave of the Tsavitee hunting party broke through the forest's edge. "I fear that would be a truly terrible idea."
Graydon stood between the Tsavitee and the ship. The air around him glimmered and sparked, ki manifesting as he pulled heavily on his reserves.
Pallas whistled. "I'm impressed. It looks like your lover has his uses after all."
Graydon roared as a flood of black flames surged from his body. They obliterated everything in front of him.
When it was over, the Tsavitee were gone. As if they and the trees they'd come through were nothing but a dream.
At least a quarter of a mile of forest and hills had vanished.
"I didn't know he was capable of the islax," Pallas said with a tight expression.
Translated, that word meant 'the madness.' An interesting name considering what they'd just witnessed.
Graydon swayed.
Kira hurried forward, catching him. "I've got you."
Graydon put his hand over hers where she had placed it on his arm. "I'll be alright. I just need a little rest."
Kira glanced from him to the destruction he'd just wrought. No kidding. Something like that had to take it out of him. Her burst did and this was on a similar level.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Pallas asked as they made their way to the ship.
"Worried that your forty three missed something?"
Pallas's rigid expression made it clear Graydon's guess was on the mark.