Chapter 21: New Feeling
Kendra hit the alpha gobdog one last time, a solid crack right to its already dented head. The thing gave a weird shudder and then just flopped onto the gym floor, its legs giving a few twitches before it went completely still.
"Fucking finally," she gasped out, the weird hardness of her skin fading back to normal. She could already feel bruises starting to ache underneath, but it felt like all her bones were still in one piece, so that was a win.
Vasa lowered her hands. The ice she'd used to trap the gobdog's lower body was now just puddles spreading across the floor. "That took longer than it should have." She sounded beat, but still had that usual Vasa composure.
Then they both spotted him. Nox. He was down, Yeda kneeling beside him, and there was a shocking amount of blood. Just... so much.
"Shit, Nox!" Kendra yelled, totally forgetting her own aches as she bolted across the gym. Vasa was right there with her, and for once, that super-calm front she always had seemed to have a few cracks.
They skidded to a stop next to Yeda. She was a mess, just crying, her hands soaked in red as she tried to press down on this huge, awful rip in his stomach.
"He's... he's not breathing right," Yeda choked out, looking up at them, her eyes wide and full of pure terror.
Kendra dropped to her knees, her gaze locked on the injury. It was bad. Seriously, catastrophically bad. She'd seen people get hurt in fights before, plenty of times, but this looked different. This had a horrible kind of finality to it.
"What the hell happened?" she asked, her voice coming out way rougher than she meant it to.