Chapter 32 · That thing has a reinforced skull

He rolled away and fired twice. One hound dropped. The other two split, one rushing left, one right.

I went straight at the nearest one.

Its rifle tracked my chest. I slapped the barrel aside and drove my blade through the gap beneath its shoulder plate. The armor locked around the weapon, trapping it.

The hound swung a metal fist at my head.

I ducked. The fist smashed into the wall. Concrete burst across my hair and cheek.

"Kael!" Jaxon shouted.

I ripped my blade free and drove my boot into the hound's knee joint. The servos shrieked. It dropped hard.

The second hound came up behind me.

Jaxon fired. The round struck its mask and knocked it back, but didn't kill it.

"That thing has a reinforced skull," he said.

"Then stop aiming for the skull."

"You want to give me a lesson now?"

The hound charged.

I grabbed its rifle, pulled it off balance, and used its momentum to slam it into Jaxon. They hit the wall together. Jaxon's breath left him in a sharp grunt.

"You threw it at me," he said.

"You were in the way."

"I was shooting."

"Badly."

He shoved the hound away.