Paradox Princess: Book 1, Corrution

Chapter Eleven: Malice

Teszuly and Laiyithe fired at several foes that were taking cover behind a cement window sill. They saw Aušra walk into the power plant's main entrance as they fired. The two of them took a mad dash from around the car they were taking cover behind. They felt bullets zoomed past them, and fired at their enemies as they ran towards the building.

The two of them dove through the floor level window breaking through the glass. They were in a small office space. Laiyithe ran over to the door and kicked it off its hinges. Teszuly jumped out into the hallway shooting a few enemies down as she did so. She let out a yelp and jumped back into the office. Laiyithe looked intrigued by Teszuly's reaction.

"What is it!?" Laiyithe asked.

A moment later a small missile tore past the opened door and exploded somewhere down the hall.

"THAT!" Teszuly yelled indignantly. "Two were-jackals with a fucking missile launching bazooka!"

"That could be a problem!" Laiyithe agreed out loud.

She reached up the back of her shirt and pulled forth a hand grenade. She yanked the pin out and tossed it to Teszuly. Teszuly fumbled for a moment then caught it and threw it out one handed. She held her AK-47 up with her other hand. Teszuly and Laiyithe both ducked and a moment later the explosion shook the walls. Laiyithe rushed forward and stuck the barrel of her AR-15 out the door and fired off a couple rounds. There was a snarl and a yelp then the whoosh of the missile launcher.

Laiyithe ducked back in just in time. Concrete and the wood of the door frame flew everywhere. Teszuly swore violently in several languages.

"Good job! You've pissed them off more!" she shouted.

Laiyithe laughed. "It isn't as much fun if you don't have the thrill of facing them at one hundred twenty percent!"

Teszuly swore again as she dropped to the floor and crawled forward. She started firing out into the hallway. There was a much closer yelp then Teszuly let out a scream and scooted backwards. Laiyithe pulled another hand grenade out of her shirt at the sound, ripped the pin out and rushed forward raising one arm as she went to keep her gun from falling. One of the were-jackals stuck its head into the room snapping at Teszuly. Laiyithe thrust the hand grenade into its mouth and kicked viciously to drive it back into the hallway. She snapped her arm a couple times drawing her gun back by its strap and fired at the were-jackal. One shot hit it in the snout, but the other missed as it lurched backward.

The other were-jackal jumped and mired its missile launcher. Laiyithe jumped back and dragged Teszuly back by the foot. A moment later, there was a massive explosion and the front of the office exploded into dust. Teszuly and Laiyithe remained prone on the ground as the dust settled. When the dust had cleared enough for them to make out the form of one of the were-jackals, they stared firing. The were-jackal was caught unaware and fell under the barrage of bullets.

Laiyithe pulled out another hand grenade and crawled forward after several moments of silence. Teszuly got up on one knee with her rifle ready in case the other were-jackal jumped out at Laiyithe. Laiyithe examined the fallen were-jackal for a moment then proceeded on to peer around what wall remained.

"We've got them," she said quietly.

Teszuly stood up and drew a silver knife from her belt. She slashed at the fallen were-jackal and removed its missile launcher and the remaining missiles. There were two left in good condition. After hacking up the body and watching it disintegrate, she moved out into the hallway. Laiyithe was waiting for her peering up and down. The other were-jackal was twitching slightly, but it was only nerves firing after death. Laiyithe's hand grenade had been forced far enough down its throat that it hadn't been able to spit it back out in time. The grenade had cleanly blown its head off.