Knightqueen - Page 88

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Carys cautiously entered the pumping station.

She heard the rumble of the pumps and the whoosh of water nearby. She moved quietly, making sure her boots didn’t make a sound on the stone walkway.

She heard a grunt ahead and let the energy form on her hand. It was wilder than usual, blue and gold spinning together. Power coursed through her veins.

Pressing her back against a wall, she peered around a corner. She spotted the Gek’Dragar’s huge form. He held some sort of large glass orb in one of his clawed hands. Inside the orb, a jagged cloud of blue roiled like it was alive.

Like it wanted to get out.

He was approaching one of the pumping station intakes. Purple-tinged water cascaded down a wall and into the river.

As she’d tracked him down here, she’d realized that the Blue Death was meant for the water. He was trying to kill her people by infecting the water supply.

She couldn’t let him get that orb into the water.

She stepped out, letting the energy ball on her palm grow. She couldn’t toss it directly at him. The risk of hitting the Blue Death was too high.

Instead, she tossed it off to his side.

It hit the floor, sizzling and crackling. The Gek’Dragar dived behind some pumping gear. A moment later, he popped up and fired a laser weapon.

Carys ducked back around the wall.

“You’re too late,” the Gek’Dragar called out. “This will poison your water and kill your people.”

She darted out and slid in behind a pump. She felt the vibrations coming off it. “I won’t let you do that. This is my planet and my people. I will stop you.”

“The knightqueen herself.” He rose, his powerful body flexing. He smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. “This is perfect. My name is Trager. I’m one of the leaders of the mighty Gek’Dragar. I will kill you and your city. Your planet will follow when my fleet arrives.”

She rose as well, glaring at him, and snorted. “My ships, along with those belonging to the Eon, are waiting at the border. They will decimate your fleet.”

Trager’s scaled face stayed impassive, but his tail waved behind him, betraying his agitation.

“Maybe we’ll take some losses, but you’ll be dead.” He spun the orb, the blue fluid inside contracting and pulsing. “And Oron will die.”

She shook her head. “The days of the Gek’Dragar destroying planets and innocent people is over.” She summoned her energy, everything she could. It rushed to her, rich and pure.

Gold energy crackled over her body. The Gek’Dragar jerked, his eyes widening as he stared at her, some of the confidence leaking from his face.

She thought of Sten. Of the quiet moments and gentle touches, and the way he looked at her with desire in his eyes.

She wanted more time with him.

A lifetime.

But she had to do everything she could to stop this Gek’Dragar.

It was her duty and honor as the knightqueen.

Power swelled inside her and she linked to a deep well that she’d never known existed. For a shining second, she felt like she could feel her mother and father standing at her side.

She’d read the legends of old about the royal bloodlines. The knightkings and knightqueens who’d accessed a higher power to protect the Oronis. A power that shone gold and was more powerful than anything.

The Gek’Dragar spun, sprinting for the water sluice. He held the orb up, ready to throw it.

“No!” Carys leaped forward. Gold energy shot from her hands and snapped out, forming a barrier between the Gek’Dragar and the water.