Chill (Klance Warmth series Book 2 of +4)

12: Frozen Over

Even without his arm, Sendak was strong. Keithek instinctively knew the commander had him beat when it came to a battle of physical strength. But Keithek had long ago accepted that this was generally true for all Galra. He was just smaller and leaner-built than the majority of the Galra race. Even the females tended to be larger than he was. That was an insult to his alpha instincts. But it was a reality he had accepted.

However, accepting something didn't mean he liked it. He hated it when the larger Galra manhandled him like Sendak and Haxus had. He'd trained himself to be fast and fight without planning ahead. He could think on his feet, making split-tick decisions faster than most Galra, giving a slight advantage in fights with a race that relied heavily on brute force tactics.

He experienced that brute force now when Sendak grabbed him by the head and tossed him to the ground like he was nothing. He tumbled across the floor before his shoulder plate caught a crease in the metal plates on the floor and he ended up skidding. He was stopped when his back hit something solid but gave way somewhat from the force of his body. Something inside him tingled when he touched the solid object and he knew instantly what it was.

"Lance," he cried.

Keithek flipped himself over to face his mate, immensely grateful for his Galra vision which made seeing in low light easy. He could see Lance's form crumbled on the floor completely unresponsive to the noise and stimulation around him. It was disturbing to see the prince so uncharacteristically still. There was also this part of Keithek that screamed at him, telling him his mate was hurt, see to his mate, make sure his mate was alright. He knew Lance was alive, but nothing else.

Lance lay on his right side so his back faced the view screen, hiding his face in shadow. His blue clothes were ripped and speckled with what Keithek knew to be blood. His arms were behind his back at what was probably an awkward angle, probably bound. Keithek pushed himself up from the floor and crawled up to his mate's side and noticed the dark, reddish liquid puddling beneath Lance's head.

A quivering sense of dread began to settle in Keithek's stomach. With shaking hands, he gently rolled his unconscious mate over so Lance lay on his back. Keithek gripped Lance's chin and turned it so the light from the view screen shown on it. Only blood and gore remained where the prince's right eye had once been. It shocked him silent. Lance's chin slipped from Keithek's numb fingers, lolling back to the side.

The red paladin was vaguely aware of the green paladin scurrying to Lance's side and noticing something was wrong right away. Then Allura was there and Shiro. Their voices were murky and unclear, blurring with the cacophony of dread and misery. All but Sendak's voice, that is.

He looked up just in time to see Sendak crush Lance's eyeball, destroying any chance of retrieving it and attempting to reattach it. His mate had lost his eye because he'd left him alone. He had failed his mate. He had given Sendak the opportunity to harm Lance. Sendak had even taken a prize, like a victor did to those they defeated. Then the bastard had crushed it indicating Lance's loss had been insignificant.

Sendak hurt Lance and insulted him.

Unforgivable.

The alpha instincts deep within Keithek blazed to the forefront, blinding him to anything but the monster responsible for disrespecting and harming his mate. He didn't remember standing and drawing his weapon. All he could think about was the Galra bastard standing there had to die.

The next moment, Keithek found himself in the air, his bayard sword gripped tightly in his right hand. He brought the tip of the blade down onto the bastard's exposed chest as close to the heart as he could get in his crazed state. The satisfying squelch of the razor sharp blade slicing through flesh accompanied by the splatter of warm blood and the bastard's choked cough of the Galra salute rang in his ears.