Death Drop Read Online Free PDF Page B

have convinced yourself that was the way of it, but Krex knew the truth. Krex knew you opened the cargo hold to trigger the attack yourself, and you killed him for it. For which, I congratulate you.”
    A confused look crept across Slaag’s distorted features as he tried to understand.
    “Krex was the only witness to your crime against your king and your… precious Order ,” Blangaris said with disdain. “And, for that, you had to kill him. But you should’ve killed him before the rendezvous with the Dissenters. You would have still had to make up something to fool your king; but then at the very least, you could’ve lied and told me Krex had ruined the surprise attack, and you killed him for endangering the mission. That may have saved you the unpleasantness of your current situation.” Blangaris loosened his hold slightly so Slaag could respond.
    “That’s exactly what happened,” Slaag lied. “The fool, Krex, saw the Dissenters’ apprehension at your approach from the surveillance system in the cargo bay.” Slaag was choking for little gasps of air as fear tightened around his stomach and airway. “He panicked and opened the cargo hold door!”
    Blangaris let out a sinister laugh that made Slaag shiver in his grasp.
    “I might’ve believed you, Slaag, if you hadn’t left the cargo hold first. Just like your entire pathetic race, your enchantment with your own powers blinds you to the simplest of physical instincts. I smelled your foul odor before the Moxen. How else do you think I was able to avoid his first strike so easily?”
    Slaag did not answer, but stared back at Blangaris in terror.
    “Even if I hadn’t overheard your little exchange in the cockpit, I would still know you were lying to save your own skin. You still underestimate my powers and it’s going to end up killing you.” A sadistic grin curled Blangaris’ lip as he spoke. “I detected your scent first, and it was stronger than your friend’s.” Blangaris motioned in the direction of the cockpit with his head. “Your rot is far more progressed than was Krex’s. Had he been the first to exit the cargo hold, I would’ve smelled his scent before your own, and I would be congratulating you for saving me the effort of having to destroy him!”
    Blangaris tightened his grip around Slaag’s frail throat again and watched with amused satisfaction as the lack of air turned the Durax’s once sallow skin shades of blue and purple.
    Slaag, sensing the slow creep of death, looked frantically from Blangaris’ burning eyes to the gun pressed to his face and back again. He knew he could not harm the Mewlatai physically, and he quickly abandoned the thought before he turned his remaining strength to somehow accomplishing what no Durax had been capable of since the onset of their mysterious powers ages ago. He had to break into Blangaris’ mind or he was going to die.
    “So, at the end, even with all of your mind tricks, you can’t save your own worthless life,” Blangaris spat with contempt. “Without your powers, you’re nothing! You can’t compete with a Mewlatai physically, and your attempts at controlling my mind are as laughable as they are futile. You’re no match for me, just as none of your race can match even an apprenticed Mewlatai in his First House. Even now, you long for the weapon in your hand so you can kill me. Your entire race, including your beloved king, knows they are beneath us, and that is why you fear us. That is why you’ve come to rely on your vile mechanizations to have even the slightest chance of defeating us in battle!”
    Despite the lack of air to his lungs, Slaag managed to return a murderous stare in retaliation for Blangaris’ slanderous tirade, and then a look of extreme concentration crossed his hideous face.
    “Call to him,” Blangaris roared, “call to him and tell him how I’ve insulted your disgusting species and its perverted existence. Call to him and tell him of my blasphemies and hope