Ronin (The Pike Chronicles Book 3) by G. P. Hudson Page B

across his position, and stopped.
    “Shit!” said Jon, as the weapon fired. He ducked behind the rock as blue energy bolts crashed all around him. He squeezed in tight, trying desperately to keep his body out of the line of fire. How had he seen him?
    The sound of weapon fire echoed throughout the pass, but it didn’t seem to be pointed at him. He peeked out from his position and could no longer see either of the Chaanisar. The weapon fire came from his father and his cousins. It crisscrossed underneath him. He followed the direction of the fire, trying to spot the enemy. They were climbing.
    He spotted one on the cliff opposite him. Damn he moved fast. Jon joined in the attack, but repeatedly missed the man. Each time he got him in his cross hairs and fired, the man leaped away. Jon had never seen anything like it. The man climbed with the agility of a mountain goat, jumping effortlessly from one location to another, never once losing his footing.
    Their tactics weren’t working. The Chaanisar were anticipating their fire and simply getting out of the way. His target would soon be on top of Michael’s position. He had to stop him before that, but how? He would use the Chaanisar’s own tactics against him, that’s how. He jumped out of the way by either knowing, or anticipating, when he was fired upon. Jon would let his cousin fire at the man, and he would anticipate his jump and fire there. He watched as his cousin chased him up the cliff, saw the pattern, and pulled the trigger.
    The Chaanisar seemed to realize his mistake in mid-air. His arms and legs shot out, searching for something to grab to halt his momentum. A blur of movement, but only a fraction of a second to adapt. It wasn’t enough, not even for an augmented super human, and he sailed into Jon’s volley. The energy bolts ripped into his back, his limbs found no purchase on the rocks, and he fell to his death. He hit the ground and didn’t move, still Jon followed up with more energy blasts to make sure. This time he didn’t jump out of the way.
    The Chaanisar could be killed.
    Weapon fire crashed into the rock face only a few meters below his position, alerting him to the coming danger. Jon whipped his gun around and tried to find the other man. He saw movement below him and fired, but didn’t hit anything. Damn it, where is he. He followed the weapon fire and tried the same trick, anticipating the man’s tactics. It didn’t work. He could hear the man climbing now, and began to feel very exposed. He tried shooting again, but only saw his bolts hit barren rock.
    The impact knocked the weapon out of his hand. Jon didn’t even get off a shot. He had been ready, knowing that the man was close. He was going to blast the man the second he saw him. But he didn’t see him. Before he even registered the movement he had been hit with incredible force. Raw instinct saved him. The force had sent both of them hurtling off the perch and somehow Jon managed to get a hand out and find a rock to hold onto.
    Unfortunately the Chaanisar had also grabbed hold of Jon’s legs. He couldn’t believe the man’s strength. He looked down as the man reached up and grabbed hold of Jon’s cloak. In that moment of life and death, Jon managed to look into the man’s eyes, and he saw nothing. No fear, no anger, no humanity. Whatever he had been was no more. Jon watched an energy bolt streak across the mountain pass and burn into the man’s back. He exhaled sharply, but kept his grip. The man held Jon’s gaze as a second bolt hit, and for a fleeting moment, as the man fell, Jon thought he saw a smile.

Chapter 20
     
    “I’m so happy for you,” said Prime Minister Sallas. “This is wonderful news.”
    “I still can’t believe it,” said Doctor Ellerbeck, sitting cross legged across from Sallas’s desk, eyes wide with wonder. “And what are they doing in a Chaanisar ship, of all things?”
    “That will be an interesting story, I’m sure. We can hear it first hand