Skybound Odyssey – Chapter 10: Lightning and Steel
The deck of the Stormchaser crackled with tension as Selena Nightshade descended from her warship, landing with a graceful thud. Her rapier shimmered with electric-blue energy, humming with dangerous precision.
Ryo stepped forward, his fists sparking with golden lightning.
"You must really want this bounty," he said.
Selena didn't smile. "I don't care about the bounty." She pointed her blade at his chest. "I care about what you are."
Ryo raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly am I?"
She tilted her head. "Something the Empire fears. Something that should've been wiped out long ago."
Ryo's smirk faltered for a second. "You know something, don't you?"
Selena lunged.
Ryo barely dodged as the rapier pierced the air where he'd stood. She was fast—blindingly fast.
He spun and aimed a punch, but she deflected it with ease, her blade flicking upward and grazing his cheek.
"Not fast enough," she said calmly.
Ryo gritted his teeth. Lightning surged around him in an arc, crackling as it built into a powerful charge. "Let's change that."
He launched forward like a thunderbolt, fists glowing with raw energy.
Selena met him head-on, steel clashing against lightning in a blinding flurry of strikes.
CLANG—BOOM—CLANG—ZAP!
Each blow sent shockwaves across the deck, shaking the ship as Lyra scrambled to hold the wheel. Kane stood off to the side, arms crossed, watching with a grin.
"I haven't seen Selena go all out in a long time…"
Selena pivoted, sweeping Ryo's legs out from under him. He slammed into the deck but rolled back up, coughing.
"Why are you so interested in me?" he demanded. "What does the Empire want?"
Selena hesitated—just for a second.
Then she said, cold and flat: "Because you're not supposed to exist."
Before Ryo could ask what that meant, Selena raised her hand.
"End this."
Her warship opened fire—cannons glowing with blue fire.
BOOM!
The deck erupted.
Lyra screamed, yanking the wheel as the Stormchaser banked sharply. Smoke and fire filled the sky.
Ryo shielded his eyes. "LYRA, GET US OUT OF HERE!"
She didn't hesitate. "Hold on to something!"
With a jolt, the Stormchaser nosedived into a cloudbank, vanishing from sight.
Selena watched silently from above, lowering her blade.
Kane stepped beside her. "He's not dead."
"No," Selena murmured. "But he will be."