Page 14 of Klaz

Klaz was a blur of motion, his massive form weaving between attacks with uncanny grace. But even as I watched, I noticed a slight hesitation in his movements, a fraction of a second delay that hadn’t been there before. The burn on his forearm from the pirate leader’s plasma cannon was clearly taking its toll.

“Klaz!” I shouted, trying to fight my way closer to him. “Your arm?—”

He didn’t even spare me a glance, focused entirely on the enemies surrounding us. “I’m fine,” he growled, his fist connecting with a pirate’s jaw in a sickening crunch.

I opened my mouth to argue, but movement caught my eye. A small Xarian child, no more than five or six, wandered into the middle of the floor. Their large, luminous eyes were wide with terror as they looked around frantically.

“Mama? Papa?” the child called out, voice trembling.

Everything seemed to slow down. A hulking pirate turned, his cybernetic eye locking onto the helpless target. A cruel grinspread across his scarred face as he raised a vibro-blade, its edge humming with deadly energy.

“No!” I screamed, knowing I was too far away to reach the child in time.

But Klaz wasn’t.

With a roar that made my blood run cold, he hurled himself forward. The pirate’s blade came down in a vicious arc—and met Klaz’s chest instead of the child’s.

The sound that tore from Klaz’s throat wasn’t human. It was primal, raw agony given voice. The vibro-blade sliced through his skin like it was paper, carving a deep gash from shoulder to hip. Blood, darker than human crimson, poured from the wound.

Klaz stumbled, his knees hitting the deck with a dull thud. The pool of blood beneath him grew alarmingly fast.

“Klaz!” I screamed his name, my voice breaking. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when I’d just started to?—

To what? The thought flashed through my mind, unbidden and unwelcome. I shoved it aside, focusing on the crisis at hand.

The pirate raised his blade for another strike, but before he could bring it down, Klaz’s hand shot out. He caught the pirate’s wrist in an iron grip, muscles straining as he fought against the cyborg.

And then, to my utter amazement, Klaz began to rise.

His legs shook with the effort, but inch by inch, he pushed himself up. Blood streamed down his chest, staining his armor an even darker black. But his eyes—those piercing red eyes—burned with determination.

“Run,” Klaz snarled at the child, never taking his gaze off the pirate. The little Xarian didn’t need to be told twice, scampering away to safety.

With a twist of his arm, Klaz wrenched the vibro-blade from the pirate’s grasp. In one fluid motion, he plunged it into the cyborg’s throat. The pirate fell, gurgling and twitching.

Klaz stood there, chest heaving, blood dripping from his fingers. He looked... magnificent. Terrifying and awe-inspiring all at once. My heart pounded, and it wasn’t just from the adrenaline of battle.

“Klaz,” I called out, softer this time. “Are you?—”

He turned to me, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Takes more than that to keep me down, little con artist.”

Before I could reply, a voice boomed across the cargo bay. “Well, well. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a real hero.”

A massive figure strode forward, his cybernetic eye glowing an eerie red. He was easily as tall as Klaz, with bulging muscles further assisted by mechanical augmentations.

“I know you,” the cyborg sneered. “Klaz Renka. The famous bounty hunter. Didn’t expect to find you playing bodyguard on a pleasure cruise.”

For a moment the information burned into my mind. Bounty hunter.

Was there any chance Klaz was after me? And right now, did it matter?

Klaz’s expression hardened. “And I didn’t expect to find a washed-up criminal leading a band of two-bit thieves. Fallen on hard times since I put you away?”

The cyborg’s human eye narrowed dangerously. “Boys,” he called out to his crew. “Forget the passengers. Focus on the Vinduthi. I want him alive.”

I tried to push forward, to get to Klaz’s side, but a wave of pirates surged between us. I fought with everything I had, the shock baton singing in my hands as I took down one attacker after another. But for every pirate I dropped, two more seemed to take their place.

“Klaz!” I shouted, desperation clawing at my throat. I could see him surrounded by enemies, fighting like a man possessed. But even Vinduthi healing couldn’t keep up with the damage he was taking.