Marlana’s ruby red paint glistened in the sunshine as Marilyn maxed out the airbike’s speed. A giant trail of dust followed after her as she raced across the plains toward the Plaquar ship. After much insistence from her backseat passengers, Marilyn had finally pulled over to listen to Lucius’s plan.

   She had to admit, it was a better plan than she would have guessed. All she had to do was cause a ruckus. Marilyn loved to cause a ruckus.

   Just over the horizon she could see the top of a large ship growing ever larger as she rapidly approached it.

   The ship had landed in front of a large mountain range and was nearly as large as some of the nearby mountains. As she got closer, she could see a large assortment of guards made up of several different species. Many of them were armed with laser weapons and opened fire when she showed no sign of slowing down.

   Marilyn hopped up with one foot on the steering and one foot on the seat. Then she unleashed several webs of lightning in all directions. Guards flew every which way as they tried to avoid the electricity. Those that could not lay charred and unmoving on the ground.

   She jumped off the airbike into a backflip and shot down any remaining guards with large bolts that hit their mark with deadly accuracy. Several of the larger guards tried to ambush her.

   They thought the odds were in their favor due to how vastly outnumbered Marilyn was. They would soon find that this was not the case as she punched and kicked them in all manner of directions with ease. When she had finished off the last one, she yelled up at the sealed entrance that was high above her.

   “Is that it? Horbel! Don’t waste my time with these nobodies! Unless you just really need to get more people off the payroll!”

   She waited for a reply but received none. “Oh, I know you can hear me,” she said to herself as she walked under something that looked like it might be vital to the ships ability to function. She gathered an immense amount of electricity into her hands and shot a large bolt up into the ship. A small explosion shot out the side of the ship above where she shot her lightning. Then several more explosions went off in a chain reaction leaving a portion of the ship with heavy black smoke pouring out of it.

   “Oopsies.” She said as she decided it was probably best to not stand right underneath the ship at this moment.

 

 

   Kembro dropped off Lucius and Ryllah in the mountains nearby the other side of the Plaquar ship. Lucius’s plan was to sneak aboard the ship and find the control room. From there he was certain he could ground all the slaver ships and return any Liplees that had already left Wulfo.

   He was also relieved to discover that Marilyn had no problem being the bait. He certainly did not want to spend any alone time with her. Whereas Ryllah was growing on him quite a bit.

    “Looks like Marilyn took care of the welcoming committee.” Ryllah said as her and Lucius quickly hopped from ledge to ledge down the steep mountainside.

   “Keep an eye out for any points of entry higher up on the ship.” He said down to her.

   “What if Marilyn ends up having to fight all of the warriors Elder Jo told us about?” She asked as she was the first to make her way off the mountain.

   Lucius was not far behind her and followed her over to some bushes in order to stay out of sight of any cameras the ship might have. “Isn’t that what she was hoping for?”

 

 

   “Just one of you?” Marilyn asked as the bay door finally lowered to reveal an exceptionally large man. He had grey skin and slick curved black horns that protruded from his forehead. He was three times as tall as her, and she could only assume he weighed at least ten times what she did.

   "Are you Horbel?” She asked.

     The giant let out a laugh as the platform hit the ground with a loud thud. “Horbel say he does not want! Horbel not waste time on Elementi anymore! Give you to Klasp!” He yelled as he beat his chest. His grin revealed a large assortment of sharp yellow teeth that contrasted against his black tongue and gums.

     “So, if I kill you then Horbel will come down here?” She asked as she gathered lightning in her hands.

     “You not kill Klasp with thunder lights.” He said as he took a couple steps off the platform.

     “No? Well let’s just see about that!” She yelled as she unleashed an enormous amount of concentrated electricity right at Klasp’s chest.

     The gray giant took a couple steps back and coughed from the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Marilyn saw that his chest was charred black. His shirt had a large hole in it, and when he wiped at his chest the blackness all swept off to show unharmed flesh beneath.

     “Oh. Nope. You’re right.” Marilyn said, surprised and a little concerned. “That could complicate things.”

 

 

     Lucius and Ryllah were both able to sneak aboard after Lucius hotwired a small ventilation hatch open.

     “Is it just me or is it a little too quiet?” Ryllah asked as she waited for Lucius to hotwire another hatch so they could get out of the vents.

     “Maybe they sent everyone down to fight Marilyn.” Lucius suggested. He continued shooting small bolts into different wires near the hatch until he got it open.

   Then he climbed out and dropped into the dark room.

   Ryllah followed suit, but purposely slipped forcing Lucius to have to catch her.

   Once Lucius had Ryllah in his arms, impulse took over all his better instinct. He looked into her eyes and slowly went in for a kiss. To his relief she met him halfway.

 

   When they finished Ryllah had to ask the obvious with a smile. “Aren’t you betrothed?”

   “Wish I wasn’t.” He said as he let her down.

   “Me too.” Ryllah said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

   “I don’t think we’re the only two that feel that way.” He took her hand as he opened the door into a dark ominous hallway. The only reason they could see was because of the slow blinking blue lights that lined the ceiling.

   “Still is awfully quiet.” Observed Ryllah.

           

   They made their way down the hallway quickly and found stairs that lead to the top of the ship. Lucius could only base his plan off a hunch, but it seemed logical that if a control room were to exist, it would be near the cockpit. Neither Ryllah nor even Marilyn argued that point.

   Lucius was relieved once again to find out his hunch was correct. The control room was empty, and he quickly went to deciphering how to work the controls. He had dealt with Plaquar spacecraft before in several of his missions. He was certain that he could bring back the slaver ships in this room. When massive ships were used in fleet attacks, they were often controlled by a master ship to avoid unnecessary collisions.

   He was determined to save all the peoples of Wulfo from fates worse than death. Once they were taken too deep into the Plaquar Quadrant, there would be no way any of Darex’s generals would be able to help them.

           

 

   He must have a weak point! Marilyn told herself as she avoided another clumsy punch from Klasp. He was faster than she had hoped, and she knew that if he were ever able to get ahold of her it would be all over.

   “You even faster than the other little thunder light girl! We catch her eventually! Klasp catch you eventually too!” He yelled as he made another clumsy attempt to grab at Marilyn.

   “That girl’s name was Kareena Zephyr!” She shouted as she jumped over her much larger adversary. “You’re going to pay for what you did to her!”

   She swung around quickly and kicked him in the back of the head as hard as she could before she landed on the other side of him.

   He fell to his knees. Then he wobbled a little bit and shook his head back and forth before standing back up. “Klasp see stars for moment! Klasp think you most had him!”

   Marilyn growled angrily. At least that had some sort of an effect on him. Just have to keep at it! She thought to herself.

   She was quick to evade another of his punches, but he feinted and tackled her. She panicked and started to flail wildly trying to get out from underneath him. It was no use. He lifted her up and away from his body. His hands were big enough to constrain her arms next to her body and his arms were long enough that none of her kicks could reach him.

   “Now you is caught!” He laughed. Then he gave her a squeeze and she could not help but scream in anguish.

   She felt things crack and pop through her torso as she desperately tried to think of a way to escape his hold.

           

 

   “That should do it!” Said Lucius. “All the slaver ships are returning to Wulfo!”

   “Your plan worked then! That’s great!” Ryllah cheered.

   “You don’t look like you belong here.” Yelled a croaky voice from the doorway. “Have I found some new toys to play with?” The mysterious being asked. It was cloaked and did not appear to be very tall.

   “This could be one of the three Elder Jo spoke of.” Said Lucius. He took a couple steps toward the small shadowy individual. He stopped once he felt Ryllah was safely behind him.

   She pulled him back by the arm. “Ladies first!” She said as she marched forward.

   “You look like Elementi. I thought there were only four members of the Zephyr family residing on Wulfo.” Said the hooded figure.

   “Lots of races look like this!” Ryllah said as she put her long blonde hair up into a ponytail.

   “Not in this neck of the woods. Besides, you stink like Elementi.” The hooded figure said as it pulled back its hood. It had feline features and feminine characteristics. She had three long thin pointy ears on each side of her head. Each one a darker shade of blue going up. The rest of her head was covered in slick black fur.

   “My name is Shalika. I work for a Plaquar Quadrant Boss. One that specializes in slave labor. If you are Jhori Agents, you would be wise to honor the treaty. Tell your little lightning friend outside while you are at it.”

   “We don’t work for any agency!” Ryllah yelled as she slowly walked toward Shalika. “The only master I serve is myself! The only oath I swore was to uphold was good will towards all beings. Except those who would do harm to others!” Ryllah got into her fighting stance and electricity started to move around her body.

   “For those beings, I show no mercy.”

 

 

   Klasp squeezed ever tighter, and Marilyn’s face became more and more red from the pressure. She could feel herself starting to black out.

   With all her might she stretched her leg out to try and reach him. She just barely got her boot to touch one of his horns. When she did, she sent all the electricity she had been storing since she started getting squeezed, right into it. He started convulsing more and more violently and eventually let go of her.

   This time smoke seemed to be rising from all over his body. He took a couple wobbly steps back, but he still managed to stay on his feet.  

   She was not sure how long Klasp would be in this daze, so she acted quickly. After gathering what she hoped to be enough electricity she sent it straight into his horns once again.

   He tried to block it with his hands, but she manipulated the electricity. It bolted around his hands and straight back into his horns. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and yellow blood spurted from his mouth as he bit down on his tongue.

   Marilyn could not afford to take any chances and kept sending more electricity into him until he finally collapsed.

   “If you are still alive, I suggest you stay down!” She yelled between breaths. She kept her hands up and ready to shoot more bolts into his horns if he tried anything. After not receiving a response she assumed he was dead, or at least no longer a threat. She proceeded onto the platform and it immediately started to rise back up into the ship.

   Klasp had been much stronger than she originally thought he would be. It made her worry about how Ryllah was doing. If Horbel was more powerful than Klasp, then Ryllah would certainly need help defeating him.

   “Lucius, you better not be as worthless as I think you are.” She said to herself as she entered the bowels of the Plaquar ship.

 

 

   “I must say. We all really had are hopes up about you Elementi.” Shalika teased. “Your legends travel far and wide. At least amongst races who claim to be the strongest. All I can say now is that I hope the Zephyr family wasn’t among your elite.”

   Ryllah clenched her fists in anger. When she thought about Kareena Zephyr giving her life for her little brother Phuro, it really got her blood pumping.

   “You want to see elite?” She asked through clenched teeth. She gathered electricity and shot it at Shalika.

   Shalika jumped out of the way of the bright blue bolt of lightning just in time. Then she charged at Ryllah on all fours. Razor sharp claws extended from her hands and feet. Ryllah tried to shoot her with a couple more bolts, but Shalika was too fast.

   “Light can only move as fast as the person who wields it!” Shalika yelled as she started slashing wildly at Ryllah.

   Ryllah did well to avoid getting fatally sliced by Shalika’s claws. However, she was still covered in cuts before she found an opportunity and kicked Shalika’s legs out from underneath her. She quickly tried to hit her with lightning again while she was down, but Shalika rolled out of the way and sprung off the ground before Ryllah could gather enough energy for the attack.

   “I am a very experienced fighter I’ll have you know.” She said while licking fresh blood off her claws. “I’ve no idea how you Elementi age, but if I had to guess, I’d say you are quite young.”

   “So what?!” Ryllah yelled. She had to wipe blood out of her eyes to be able to see her foe. “You’re not that good!”

   “Don’t be foolish, child.” Shalika scoffed. “Your techniques are monotonous. Your strength and speed are lacking. Now all that remains to be seen is your willingness to stay alive.”

   “Ryllah!” Lucius yelled. “I’m sorry, but she’s just too fast for you! Let me take her!”

   Ryllah gathered more electricity in her hands. Then she flung her hands out, and the electricity extended out and cracked like a whip before falling to the ground.

   “Monotonous?!” She repeated, cracking the electrical whips she had just manifested a couple more times. “How DARE you call ME monotonous!”