Warren stood over the purple-skinned woman, the tip of his blade pressed up against her throat. She lay on the ground, her arm frozen in the act of grasping her glowing red sword. If her hand so much as twitched, he’d run her through. But he preferred to let her live—especially since he recognized her as the alien who had spared him once before.

  “Order your men to stand down,” Warren growled. “And I’ll allow you to return to town unharmed.” He waited for any sort of reaction, but the alien woman remained unmoving. Could she understand his language?

  Finally, she said, “I-I yield. Please, do not harm any more of my men.”

  Warren pulled his weapon back slightly. Then he walked over to kick her blade away. Once she was disarmed, he took a step back, ready for any tricks. The grenade she’d used had shocked him out of complacency. He’d thought her weapons wouldn’t be able to penetrate his shield, but he’d been dead wrong.

  And it had cost him a minion in a battle that wasn’t won yet.

  Glancing over at his Energy, he watched as one orb refilled before pouring into the second one. He’d expected to start the battle with two Energy now that he’d upgraded it. But he’d only started with one filled orb, while his second one was empty. Apparently, you only started a battle with 1 Energy, unless you had an artifact to use.

  Something else that had surprised him was that he had only started the battle with four cards in his hand. After the first round had passed, he’d drawn his newest card, Saberlyn.

  Turning his attention back to the alien woman, he watched as she lurched to her feet, a grimace on her face. Her armor was cracked from Boone’s barrage. Assuming it worked like a bullet-proof vest, she’d probably taken a fair bit of trauma to her torso.

  Zarya held up her hand, showing him a triangular device on her wrist. “This is my voicecaster. I will use it to order my men to lay down their arms.”

  “No tricks,” he said, holding his sword in front of him. For all he knew, this was another weapon like the grenade that had turned Boone into jelly. Was he making a mistake sparing her life?

  As if she could read his thoughts, she said, “Why are you not killing me for experience?”

  “Because you spared my life once,” he said. “And I believe in returning favors.”

  Her purple eyes widened. “That was you in the land vehicle?”

  He nodded his head.

  “I do not hunt children and the elderly,” she said haughtily. “Such things are dishonorable. You owe me nothing for my actions.”

  “Enough talking,” he snapped. “Order your men to stand down!”

  The horned woman lifted her wrist and spoke softly into it. A second later, a few aliens emerged from cover, holding their weapons above their heads.

  “Is that all of them?” he asked, prodding her with the sword. “I don’t want any tricks.”

  “My second in command, Kratala, has gone to fetch reinforcements,” Zarya said. “She will return soon.”

  “Will they surrender as well?”

  “I cannot say.” Zarya pressed a hand against her chest and winced. “However, I believe she will follow my orders.”

  Warren watched as his Energy refilled in the side of his vision. Once it was full, he would summon his newest card, Saberlyn. Hopefully, she would handle the transition a little better than Boone had. Especially since another force of aliens was on their way.

  Kassandra grabbed one of the aliens who had emerged from cover and pressed her blade against his neck. She then looked over her shoulder in his direction. “Are you really going to let them go? After what they did to Sayers Mills?”

  He pointed at Zarya. “This one had the chance to kill us in town, but she spared our lives. I’m going to do the same for her.”

  “But they killed so many people!” Kassandra insisted. “Including me!”

  “The Slaviigolaris shot you,” he replied evenly. “Not the Daskians. And their kind will pay for everything they did to our town when the time comes.”

  Zarya snorted with derision at Kassandra. “One of those blind worms shot you? You truly must have been a pathetic warrior. With their poor eyesight, they normally can’t hit the broadside of a fortress.”

  Kassandra’s face darkened as she shoved away the alien she was holding. Stalking over to Zarya, she held up her dagger to the alien’s eye. “Say that again. I dare you!”

  “Enough,” Warren said. “We’re not hurting prisoners.” He then rounded on Zarya. “And I would advise you to shut your mouth before I change my mind. Your people invaded my town and likely killed people I know. If you hadn’t spared me back in town, I would have taken out every last one of you.”

  After a second, the purple-skinned woman shook her head. “You have not spared me. I will endure a fate worse than death for having failed my mission. I only wished to save my men from a hopeless battle.”

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Not my problem,” Warren said. “Whatever happens to you after you leave here has nothing to do with me.”

  Now that his Energy was full, he focused on summoning Saberlyn. A moment later, a redhead woman with a cute bob haircut, and dressed in a tiger print outfit sprang free from a cloud of leaves. She landed nimbly on the ground before bounding forward. After a few paces, she skidded to a stop on the leafy forest floor.

  The woman’s tiger-like ears twitched as she inspected her surroundings. “Whoa,” she said. “What’s going on? I was just making a cappuccino, with almond milk and sweetener, now I’m here? You know, this reminds me of the time I was playing a roleplaying game with some friends. We had ordered a pizza—no gluten for me—and we were…” she trailed off when she spotted him standing with Kassandra. “Oh, hi Warren. How’s it going?”

  “Hi Ava,” he replied, shocked at how many words had tumbled out of her mouth. He hadn’t recognized her on the card, but he’d known her back in high school. She’d been a bit younger, but their friend groups had overlapped.

  “What’s going on?” Ava said, scratching her flat stomach with her long claws. She’d matured significantly since high school and now had an hourglass figure. Her round ass was on complete display in the skintight outfit, as was the outline of her small pert breasts. She’d done a lot of gymnastics in high school but now looked like a professional athlete.

  “What do you remember?” Warren asked softly. He wasn’t sure how long after death his wristband could harvest souls. For all he knew, the aliens had killed Ava during the first few minutes of the invasion.

  “Hmmm… let’s see.” Ava placed a finger against her lip. “I was making a cappuccino for a customer, and then the front of the coffeeshop exploded. You know how in the movies where an explosion doesn’t hurt the main character? Yeah, that’s a total lie. This one felt like it punched me in the stomach. I remember running with a bunch of others into the hills. I think some whale thing got me.” Her mouth formed a perfect o-shape. “Did I die? Because that would be a total bummer.”

  “I’ll explain everything to you later,” he said. “Right now, you’re a superhuman, and there are some hostile aliens coming to attack us. Do you think you could help me fight them?”

  Ava almost squealed with delight. “What are my superpowers? Wait, don’t tell me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Am I invisible? I bet I’m invisible. This is going to be awesome!”

  Kassandra walked over and poked Ava. “Seriously? We don’t have time for this crap. We need to protect Warren.”

  “Oh, hi, Kassandra!” Ava said, cracking one eye open. “I didn’t see you before. Are you a superhuman, too? This is so cool!”

  Warren cursed under his breath as a line of aliens appeared over the crest of the hill. In the future, he’d have to set aside some time to introduce new cards to the world. His current system wasn’t working out very well. But then again, it wasn’t like he could waste a 12-hour cooldown for his deck on a meet-and-greet.

  He hefted his sword as he retreated to cover behind a nearby tree. Without his shield, he felt terribly exposed to the alien’s beam weapons. Hopefully, they would stand down with Zarya’s order. Otherwise, this battle would be a close thing.

  As the aliens charged down the hill, Zarya lifted the device on her wrist to her mouth. Once again, she spoke into it. The aliens slowed their advance before coming to a stop. A few of them exchanged puzzled glances.

  From the rear of the aliens, a woman appeared holding a glowing red axe and wearing little more than a loincloth and a furry bra. Intricate tattoos covered her bare skin, and her dark hair cascaded down to her shoulders. She hefted her weapon into the air. “I challenge the Terran squire for the freedom of my leader!”

  “Stop this insubordination immediately, Kratala!” Zarya cried. “I will not see my friend throw her life away for a hopeless cause.”

  Kratala shook her head. “Have no fear. I will slay the squire and force him to release you.” She then made a strange symbol with her fingers. “I challenge you to a duel, Terran!”

  Warren rubbed a hand down his face. With his combat deck active, he had no desire to engage in a duel with this woman. Maybe the aliens operated under a code of honor, but all he cared about was freeing his town.

  “Take care of her,” he said to Kassandra. “Try to spare her life if you can.”

  Ava bounced forward. “Can I try? I want to see what powers I have. I bet its superstrength. Could you imagine? Please, please let me try.”

  Warren raised his brow, unsure if he wanted to send Ava into combat immediately. But the sooner she got used to her new body, the better. After a brief hesitation, he finally nodded.

  Ava sprang forward, her body moving on all fours like a tiger. As she approached Kratala, she leapt up against a tree, her nails catching on the bark. She then jumped higher, bouncing between the trees in a blur of orange and black.

  Kratala tried to track the woman before giving up and shaking her axe at Warren. “You would send your minion to fight a duel in your stead?”

  Warren remained silent. He didn’t owe this woman an answer. Though as he watched Zarya take a half-step forward, he worried she might try to get back into the fight.

  “Don’t try anything,” he said, glaring at alien woman. “I’m only going to spare you once.”

  “She is my oldest friend,” Zarya pleaded with him. “I surrendered to ensure her survival. Please, do not harm her.”

  “That’s really up to her, isn’t it?” But after a second, he called out to Ava. “If you can avoid it, don’t kill her.”

  A second later, Ava dove from the trees, slamming into Kratala’s chest. She had a broad grin on her face as her claws carved bloody gouges in the alien’s torso.

  Kratala snarled and swung her axe. But it was like she was moving in slow motion compared to her attacker.

  Ava easily ducked under the axe's head before leaping away. She squatted on the ground like a feline, her hourglass eyes watching Kratala intently. She was like a cat playing with a mouse.

  “How bad should I hurt her?” Ava called out. “I really don’t want to claw out her eyes, but she’s a bad guy. Wait, do I get experience? Maybe I could level up if I take her out? Oh, this is so much fun.”

  Kratala charged forward, unleashing a flurry of blows. After her first three strikes missed, she cried out in frustration. She then unleased a powerful overhead attack, which found only empty air. Her weapon slammed into the ground and became lodged in an exposed tree root.

  As the woman tried to rip her weapon free, Ava launched a savage kick. Her bare foot slammed into the horned woman’s chest and made her stagger back. A second kick sent Kratala flying through the air.

  Warren winced as he watched the alien woman crash into a thick tree truck. She bounced off, rolling once when she hit the ground, and then lay still.

  Had Ava killed her?

  He breathed a sigh of relief as Kratala stirred before pushing herself up into a sitting position. She looked dazed but relatively unhurt. Most likely, she would be sore in the morning, but no worse for wear.

  “Thank you,” Zarya whispered. “I cannot thank you enough for sparing my friend.”

  With no sign of resistance from the remaining aliens, he motioned at Kassandra. “Gather up their weapons and then we’re leaving.”

  “Wait!” Zarya called out. She made the symbol of a triangle with her fingers. “My life is forfeit after failing my mission. I have nowhere to go.”

  “That’s really not my problem.”

  “I… have information,” she said, pursing her lips. “I can be useful to you.”

  Warren raised his brow. An alien defecting to his side was probably the last thing he expected to happen today. But then again, the apocalypse kept surprising him.