Snippet #2 for Worlds Entwined is up!

Book 3 in the exciting Worlds Away series is almost here! In just a few days Worlds Entwined releases! Be sure to check out Snippet #2 for Worlds Entwined now! We have some new characters as well as returning ones! And those disgusting Zateelians (Insectoids) are still wreaking havoc on Zeleron 10. See what Commander Venay has up his sleeve to deal with them in this stunning book that will lead us into the next arc of the series!

This would make for a perfect test of his strength in battle and leadership. With Zelan remaining behind on the planet, I was without a troop leader. Signon was currently at the top of my list. I did have another option, but he had recently taken a mate, and I knew from experience that she would occupy too much of his thoughts for him to be any good for the next few months.

Part of the reason I didn’t want to lead the settlement when we arrived was because I was too occupied with Paris. To tell the truth, I am still too occupied by her. Venay, get your head back in the fight.

Signon used hand signals to guide the warriors to the forest. Everyone followed on the balls of their feet, and the only sounds that could be heard was the roaring of the poor Z’Girguans.

“Commander, should I warn them of what we are going to find?” Zelan whispered.

“No. Let them experience this. You and I are to stay in the back unless anyone needs us. For a lot of these warriors, it will be their first close combat experience. They need to do this.” I would jump in if anyone was in danger of becoming food for the Zateelian’s egg sacks.

I heard one of the younger warriors close to me whisper to his friend, “Do you hear that? Is it a Z’Girguan? Does this mean our missing warriors were eaten by them? Or do you think they are too busy fighting to answer a comm?”

His friend responded, “I think they were breakfast. How many are over there? I think I hear at least ten different roars.”

I smirked when I realized they had no clue what was waiting for them. Zelan looked at me with narrowed eyes. He was ready to warn them. I needed to test them.

Another roar shook the trees in front of us, and I heard a scream. Most likely a human’s.  I knew a warrior would scream if they were in this situation, but this scream had a wimpy sound to it. I wondered if it was John. Every warrior I had seen in this predicament went down howling a war cry, not a whimper.

Signon walked with his head held high, weapons at the ready, into the tree line. His head moved from side to side, scanning the area, just like he was taught in the academy. Good, he remembered his training.

The troops followed his lead. They were stepping lightly on the balls of their feet, knees bent, with weapons up and directed into the trees. I watched their footwork, each warrior stepped at a forty-five degree angle, foot over foot, ready to spin around at any moment if needed. They fanned out to cover a larger area. I got the feeling they worked together as a unit before, many times. Or at least practiced together.

Another three, distinct roars sounded in front of us. The ground rumbled with their intensity. I felt a breeze raise the hairs on my arms. Without even thinking, I inched closer and closer to the tree line. Zelan followed my lead.

Signon disappeared behind a tree trunk so large it could have hid three warriors. I moved to the side in an effort to get him back in my sights. I heard the whiz of a Zateelian phaser gun before I saw the bark burst out of a tree near the front line.

The troops ran forward into the thick of things as Signon yelled, “Attack!” My troops shot their phaser pistols as well as their phaser rifles into the area where I first observed a phaser bolt originate.

I flexed my grip on the rifle in my hand and took two more steps closer to the action. Staying out of the action has never been easy for me. Which is one of the reasons I climbed the ranks so fast.

Zelan looked to me. “Can we join now?” He raised his eyebrows and pointed to the battle just a few hundred feet in front of us.

“Negative. This is their battle. We are back-up, should they need it.” I looked back as my troops shot down the Zateelian adult Insectoids. There were only seven adults that I could see. However, I did see nineteen carcasses on the ground – human, V’Zenian, and Z’Girguan. Most were writhing in pain, some were already dead.

Three of the Z’Girguan’s had already burst open, and the newly hatched Insectoids were making their way out of the bodies. “Watch the ground! Hatchlings are on the loose! Kill as many as you can, even if you have to step on them.”

We didn’t need any more growing up to come attack us again. If we could isolate this group and kill all of the enemy, including the newly hatched and those still inside their incubators, we just might have them annihilated soon.

“Zelan, you are getting your wish. There are too many carcasses. Make sure to kill all bodies on the ground, regardless of who, or what, they are,” I ordered.

We both ran in shooting our weapons at anything that was not part of our race. As I ran, I came across a newly hatched formation trying to get away from the scene. I changed my course and ran a straight line, squishing as many of the roaches as possible. I heard their little carapaces crack under the weight of my boots, and I was pleased with myself.

When I made my way to the first body writhing on the ground, I noticed that it was one of the new warriors. His mouth had been taped shut, and his arms pinned to his side. He was trying to scream, but no sound other than grunts, made its way to my ears. His eyes were wide when he saw me. He nodded his head as I pointed the nose of my phaser gun at his head.

This was the worst part of my job. The insectoids infected our bodies with their egg sacks. We were used as incubation pods for their young. When they made their way out of their sacks, they ate their way out of the host bodies.

Sometimes hundreds of new hatchlings would be inside of a warrior, or human. I had seen it happen only once. It was not a sight I ever wanted to see again.

The amount of pain the host experienced was something I could not even imagine. I had seen a warrior’s chest crack open from the inside out, and at least a hundred swarming cockroaches came barreling out of the warrior’s body. He passed out from the pain before I could kill him.

I would not let this warrior, no matter how stupid he was, go through that. He closed his eyes as I pulled the trigger on my weapon. He died a warrior’s death, as he deserved. Then I shot his body up a few more times in an effort to kill the egg sacks within his body. They weren’t ready to hatch yet, and we would burn all the bodies. But I wanted to appease my anger.

Next to the warrior lay an open Z’Girguan carcass. I shot its body a couple of times to ensure there were not any more hatchlings inside feeding.

The other warriors around me were killing hatchlings left and right. I heard the crunch as some squished them into the earth. Then I heard laser fire as some were still shooting the poor souls who had been infected with the Zateelian’s egg sacks.

Ready to read the rest? Want to know what happens during this battle? Come on over to Amazon and get Worlds Entwined today!