Muse 9 (ONC 2020)

Chapter 21

"Don't give them the rifle!" Luktor yelled, jerking to the side. The chair he was tied to crashed to the floor and he struck out with his feet, kicking the cyborg in the shin. I fired at the two men before me as they attempted to struggle to their feet. A beam of energy shot through the chest of one as the other rolled away from me, drawing his sidearm.

I dove forward, rolling to avoid the first brief flash of energy fired from the pistol. Coming out of my roll, I pressed the trigger, sending a streak of energy hurtling through the chest of the man. I rose to my feet and ran towards the cyborg.

Springing up onto the table, the cyborg leered down at me. "Huntris, how dare you turn against us? You know this will only end badly for you and your brother."

I didn't answer, just threw my knife. The cyborg tensed but realized too late that I had tossed the weapon in Luktor's direction, skidding it across the floor to him. Bringing my rifle up, I fired a blast of energy directly into the cyborg's chest.

The cyborg merely took a step backwards as the energy struck him. Instead of killing him, it just seemed to unbalance him momentarily.

Stark. How do I kill him?

Cyborgs. All I knew about them was that they had armor surrounding all of their vital organs. I would not be able to kill him with the Muse rifle.

Before I could think any more, the cyborg leapt off the table and bounded toward me. I managed to duck at the last second, causing him to trip as he fell over me. Spinning back up, I slung the rifle over my back and drew my other dagger. Last time, I had been able to do some damage with a blade, albeit not enough.

The cyborg catapulted back up onto his feet and started towards me again. Dagger in my hand, I lunged at the cyborg, blade arcing for his neck.

He grabbed my dagger hand, preventing my blade from digging through his skin. His grip was stronger than any I had ever felt before, and his fingers dug into my wrist, his eyes gleaming with brutality. His free hand reached to wrestle the blade from me.

Luktor came running over from the chair, my dagger in his hand, and launched himself at the cyborg. My brother crashed into him from the side, knocking him over and freeing me from his grip. I rolled away, my wrist marked from his hold, but I still had my dagger.

The cyborg wrestled with Luktor as my brother also attempted to stab him, but the cyborg slammed him into the ground, hand around his neck, and knocked the dagger from his hand. My brother bared his teeth as the monster began to squeeze, laughing sadistically.

I flew towards the pair, dagger raised to kill the cyborg. But my knife was never to meet its mark as he flung his free arm back, smacking me in the chest and knocking me to the ground. I slammed into the ground so hard the air fled my lungs and I couldn't breathe, couldn't find the strength to inhale lifesaving air. The rifle cut into my back from where I had landed on it, but I couldn't even let out a groan of pain.

With a laugh, the cyborg grabbed my leg and slid me closer to him, placing his hand over my throat to hold me down. "Oh, the infamous Huntris siblings. Brother and sister, eluding the law to profit from the illegal memory trade. You have been brought down low by Kycene! We shall dominate both worlds through the power of the Muse 9 and shall subjugate the Grid once more, force those people even further into the mud!"

Luktor managed to spit. "Blood always wins, cyborg. Real blood."

"Always," I echoed, catching my breath. I reached for my belt as the cyborg looked at Luktor. My fingers wrapped around my stylus and drew it from my belt. Flipping the tool over in my hand, I looked up at the cyborg's neck and felt determination flood through me.

I drove my stylus into the cyborg's wrist, hard enough to prompt him to loosen his grip on my neck. Jerking up, I drew my legs under me as I stabbed my stylus into the cyborg's neck, pushing it in as deep as it would go.

The cyborg yelled as blood poured out over my fingers. Luktor struggled to his feet and grasped at the dagger, prepared to help me if need be. But the cyborg was already dying as I withdrew the stylus from his neck. He fell over, hitting the floor as the rest of his blood continued to drain out.

Luktor and I stood, taking deep breaths as we stared down at the cyborg lying in the slowly widening puddle of blood. My brother looked at me, his brow furrowed. "You did it. You came."

"Of course I did," I said. "You're my brother. No matter what, we're blood."

Luktor gave me a slight grin. "Finally, one of us learned to listen to Eurykhan."

I returned his grin before turning. "Let's go. We need to head back into cover."