Mikko: Stolen Warriors Series

by Maven, Ella

  My eyes finally adjusted, and I realized I was looking at… well someone who looked like Mikko.

  His spikes weren’t out, but he had fiery orange hair and black gloves up his forearms. With his fist on his hips, he glared down at Mikko. “You mother flecker.”

  Unsure what to do, I remained in position as Mikko blinked his eyes open and responded with a groan and an eyeroll. “Oh great.”

  “That’s all you have to say?” The orange one dropped his fist to his side just as another Drixonian stepped beside him. This one had long straight black hair and massive scarring around his neck and wrists. He studied me with violet eyes.

  “I was just taking some personal time,” Mikko muttered.

  “Personal time?” The orange haired Drix sputtered. “And you managed to collect a female human and a—” Meri took flight, flapping around his head as she sought to gouge out his eyes with her claws. “What the fleck is this thing. Call it off!”

  “Are you going to hurt us?” I asked.

  “You? No,” he answered. “But Mikko—”

  “Meri, it’s fine,” Mikko said with a tired sigh. “They won’t hurt us. I promise. Save your strength.”

  After an outraged squawk, Meri landed next to me with a little scowl on her features. I patted her back to soothe her, but she didn’t take her eyes off the two hulking Drixonians.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “This one is more bold,” the long-haired one said in a soft, low voice. He looked at me, but his words seemed directed at Mikko.

  Mikko groaned as he sat up, but then shot them a lopsided grin. “She’s a warrior.”

  “I’m not—”

  “They have warriors on Earth?” Orange hair said.

  “No, I’m not a—”

  “She is brave,” Mikko swelled with pride over me. “She fights. She tried to take on the dregs of the Pit.”

  “So, you did go to the Pit!” Orange hair gestured to Mikko as he shouted at his friend. “I told you!”

  “Rian,” Mikko said, “meet Fenix and Zecri. Brothers, meet my brave female.”

  Fenix was the gloved one with orange hair, while Zecri was mostly silent, stoic, and observant. Fenix, meanwhile, displayed every emotion on his face. “I can’t believe you, Mikko. You just left!”

  “I wrote a note.”

  “Fleck your note!” Fenix spat.

  Mikko rose to his feet, and I stepped to his side. “Can you yell at me another time? I just climbed a vertical underground shaft. I’m tired, bleeding, and starving.”

  Fenix, who seemed to just notice Mikko’s injuries and the way he swayed unsteadily on his feet, immediately leapt to Mikko’s other side and let Mikko lean his weight on him. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  “Because you were yelling at me.”

  “Whatever. Let’s get you to our camp. You can rest there.” They began to walk ahead.

  When I turned to shoulder my pack and gather Meri, I found Zecri crouched in front of her. At first, I was alarmed he’d hurt her, but instead he held his hand out and slowly opened his palm. In the center was a strip of dried meat. He didn’t say a word as he waited patiently for Meri to come closer.

  She took tentative steps, her gaze pinging between the meat and his face. When she was just close enough, she snatched the meet and shoved it into her mouth. Chewing rapidly, she continued to watch him until she swallowed.

  He gave her a nod and patted his shoulder. With a little squeak, she hopped onto his shoulder and remained perched there.

  He rose to his feet and turned to find me watching him. I couldn’t quite read him, as his expression was placid. I lifted my leg to turn and follow Mikko and Fenix when he spoke softly, “I saw you move to protect Mikko from the potential threat.” I stared up at him as his hair blew around his shoulders in the slight breeze. “Thank you. That is commendable for a warrior human.”

  I didn’t bother to correct him as he gestured for me to walk ahead of him. I wasn’t a warrior. At least, not like these guys were. But I was starting to think that just maybe… I was a warrior in my own way.

  * * *

  Mikko

  Fenix wanted to yell at me. I could feel the words vibrating under his skin like an itch. But he could also tell my strength was flagging, and now wasn’t the time.

  “How did you find me?” I asked as we walked across the red sand. Out here, near the Pit, the land was deserted, but up ahead I could see some craggy rock formations, and I knew that was where we were heading.

  Fenix cut his eyes to me for a moment. “I know we all have things we want to finish on this planet. Rexor finally got to save someone instead of killing them. You want to destroy the Pit.”

  “I never told you I wanted to destroy the Pit.”

  Fenix shrugged. “You didn’t have to say it.”

  He wasn’t wrong, but I hadn’t realized he’d paid that much attention to how I felt about my past. It was one thing we didn’t talk about much, the four of us. We’d all been through unimaginable horrors—first with our mods, then with our life on this planet. We’d all gotten free, but we all had unfinished business.

  “So, you came here?”

  “We didn’t think you returned to say hi to old friends. We had a feeling we’d know when you were making your move. We felt the ground shake and came running to find you laying on the sand with a human and a—”

  “A hilphen.”

  “Yeah, whatever. She’s cute though.”

  “Rian is incredible.”

  “No, I meant the hilphen.”

  He grinned at me.

  I smacked his chest with a husky laugh. “I like this better than you yelling at me.”

  “Oh, that’s still going to happen.”

  I rolled my eyes, and glanced over my shoulder. Rian walked behind us, her head down as she trudged through the sand.

  Zecri brought up the rear with Meri…perched on his shoulder? How the fleck did that happen? She looked happy as she preened her feathers. Zecri’s eyes met mine and he gave me an approving nod. I wasn’t sure what he approved of—my decision to leave them, to rescue Rian, or both.

  I hadn’t taken my decision lightly. After escaping from the Pit, I’d found Rexor, Fenix, and Zecri, who all had their own horrors to tell. We’d all managed to free ourselves from the Plikens, but we weren’t really free, not with our altered bodies and permanent damage.

  We all had plans on this planet and going home had never even been a part of the discussion. What was for us at home? More fighting? We had business to finish here.

  We found a crashed spacecraft half buried in a desolate part of the planet. We’d made that our home base and invited other species who freed themselves from Pliken rule to stay with us. I’d been happy there—or as happy as I could be.

  But I couldn’t forget about the Pit. Knowing it existed was a constant itch under my skin. I always knew I’d have to return. So, I’d left one night without telling Fenix and Zecri. I knew they’d try to talk me out of it. I also knew they’d understand why I had to leave. I never thought they’d follow me. But then … maybe they were worried about our dwindling group of friends, now that Rexor was gone.

  Rexor had found a human female in a gladiator arena and chose to take her home for her own safety. I didn’t know if he succeeded, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever know. I thought about it every day. Still, he made the right decision. This planet was no place for a human female.

  I glanced back to Rian just as she lifted her head and met my gaze.

  Her expression was grim, and I could tell she was exhausted. She’d need to sleep, and soon.

  Soon, we entered a series of stone arches and nestled between two of them was a makeshift camp where Fenix and Zecri must have been staying. A few furs lay on the ground as well as the remnants of a fire.

  “Rian needs to rest,” I told Fenix.

  He nodded. “I figured that. Get her settled and then I can show you where we’ve been collecting qua. Ther
e is a small underground reservoir.”

  The sun was beginning to set, and the dry air was growing cold. In the lengthening shade of an arch, I shook out a fur before beckoning Rian over. She staggered slightly as she made her way toward me and immediately curled up on the hard packed sand. “I’m exhausted,” she murmured. Dark circles lurked under her eyes, and her full lips were cracked.

  I laid a fur on top of her. “I know. You are safe here. Rest.”

  I made to stand up and she shot up to a sitting position as her hand clamped around my wrist. Her wide eyes darted around to where Fenix and Zecri stood nearby, watching her curiously. “Wh-where are you going?”

  I rattled the empty canteen. “To fill this with qua for us.”

  “Then you’re coming back?”

  I cocked my head. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just…” Her tongue wet her dry lips. “You’re going to sleep here too, right?”

  I crouched down so I could meet her eyes. “What’s this about?”

  Her cheeks pinkened, brightening up her pale complexion. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry about what?”

  Her voice lowered to a whisper. “It’s not that I don’t trust your friends… Well, I guess I don’t really. I don’t trust anyone but you. So, you’ll sleep here, right? At my side?”

  My cora pounded and my blood rushed hot through my veins. It took everything I had not to reach for her. But she didn’t want intimacy right now. She wanted reassurance she was safe, and I’d protect her.

  I reached out and grasped her neck. “Zecri and Meri will stay right here while I get some qua. Then I will come back and sleep at your side. Okay?”

  Her shoulders slumped as the tension released from her muscles. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Good?”

  “Good. That was what I needed to hear.”

  I appreciated her honesty and rewarded her with a light kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad you told me.”

  She ducked her head as her flush deepened. I let her go then and walked to Fenix’s side who had waited patiently, his head turned with the illusion of giving us privacy. But I knew he’d heard every word.

  As we walked toward the qua spring, he raised a nubbed brow in my direction. “A female favors you? Never thought I’d see the rotation.”

  I shoved his shoulder with mine. “Fleck off.”

  “And a difficult one too. Daisy was sweetness and sunshine. Yours is fire and thorns.”

  I laughed at the accurate description. “And that’s why I like her.”

  “Yeah, always thought you liked heat and pain.”

  “Do you plan to stop talking anytime soon?”

  “Not really.”

  The spring was mostly hidden at the base of a large arch. We entered through a narrow crack in the rock to find a shallow spring of warm qua. As I filled the canteen, Fenix loitered nearby. I could tell he had something to say. It was unlike him to remain quiet for long.

  I rose as I screwed on the canteen lid. “Yes?”

  He frowned. “Yes, what?”

  “You want to say something. Is this where you yell at me?” I joked. Immediately my humor fled when Fenix bit his lip and looked away. I took a step closer, careful not to touch him as always, but near enough he felt my presence.

  He swallowed and met my eyes. “I panicked when I found you left.”

  Guilt swamped me. “Fenix.”

  “It’s fine. I want you all to return home if that’s what you are called to do.” His smile was weak, and my cora pounded.

  I couldn’t reassure him I wouldn’t leave the planet. I already left him once to return to the Pit with the knowledge I could die there in my mission to destroy it. And now because of Rian… I was conflicted. My priorities had shifted to rescuing her the moment I’d laid eyes on her. I didn’t want to leave knowing the Pit still existed because I stubbornly held onto my belief it was my destiny to end it.

  My priorities had shifted to rescuing her the moment I’d laid eyes on her. I didn’t want to abandon my mission—it was still a priority. How did I keep Rian safe and complete my destiny at the same time? I sighed. “I haven’t decided yet what I’ll do now. The first step was rescuing Rian from the Pit.”

  “You’ll return home,” he said quietly.

  “I don’t—”

  “You will because that is what is best for her. Zecri has a plan, but I can’t remember it now.” His brow furrowed as he tried to concentrate. His short-term memory failed him sometimes. There were many times I wished I had the power to make him forget all his bad memories, so only the good ones remained. He shook his head. “Anyway, he and I will be fine.”

  He turned to go, and I called after him. “You can return home too—”

  “No,” he said over his shoulder. “I can’t. But She is All.” A small smile tilted the corner of his lips. “Even a prickly one.”

  He left the spring through the crack in the rock, and I stared at the place he’d been. I’d have to have a talk with Zecri to watch out for Fenix. He’d always been prone to mood swings, but he’d been much melancholier since Rexor left.

  When I returned to camp, Zecri and Fenix were asleep together with a sleeping Meri nestled between them. I turned away from them with a smile to find Rian still awake, her eyes glittering with the remnants of the small fire.

  I crouched at her side and held out the canteen. “Thirsty?”

  She nodded emphatically and drank about half of the qua before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and handing me the canteen with a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

  “I was waiting for you to get back.”

  I lay down next to her and pulled a fur over top of me. We were beneath a large stone arch, and the sand made a decent enough bed, at least compared to the stone cells of the Pit. “You didn’t have to wait for me.” I turned on my side to face her.

  She lay on her hip with her hands folded under her cheek. “Okay, I’ll be more honest. I couldn’t sleep until you returned.”

  When she said those things to me, they felt like a gut punch. She’d started off wary, angry, and defensive. And now she admitted to a vulnerability that she required my presence to fall asleep. “Well, I’m here now,” I said softly. “You can sleep.” I rolled onto my back and stared at the stone above us.

  She moved until I felt her chin land on my shoulder. “Where are we going after this?”

  I needed time to think before I answered her. “That doesn’t sound like sleeping to me.”

  “Mikko.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  I turned my head to face her. “What do you mean?”

  “I think you know but you either don’t want to tell me or you don’t know how we’re going to get there.”

  A laugh burst out of me, and I muffled it quickly, so I didn’t wake anyone up. “Is that what you think?”

  “Am I right?”

  Fenix’s words rattled around in my head. I didn’t want to return home. I had never been a great rule-follower and I’d clashed often with my Drix superiors. I couldn’t imagine what life was like now for the warriors, and what their relationship was with the Uldani.

  Still, Rian would be safest there, especially if Rexor had successfully returned home with his female. But that still left the Pit intact. In operation. Like a hunner sting under my skin. I rubbed my forehead. “You’re right,” I said finally. “Let me sleep on it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay?”

  She was quiet for a few moments before I felt her muscles go lax next to mine.

  I turned my head to find her eyes closed, and her breathing steady.

  She’d fallen asleep in the middle of giving me shet.

  “That’s my warrior Rian,” I whispered as I brushed a knuckle down her cheek.

  She smacked her lips and nuzzled further into my neck.

  I closed my eyes and fell asleep next to he
r soon after.

  Nine

  Rian

  Once again, we stood next to each other at a spring, but this time… it was different. The kiss was an elephant in the room between us, the one we’d shared before being interrupted.

  As soon as we’d woken up, we’d ate and then Mikko had been eager to show me the spring where we could get clean.

  He took off his clothes first, back to me, so I had a fantastic view of his round, tight ass as he got into the qua. He’d been in a good mood this morning, and he didn’t walk with a stiffness or show any signs of pain from our escape yesterday.

  He turned at the other edge and leaned back with his arms extended and braced on the edge of the pool. I hadn’t removed my clothes yet, but the way he looked at me made me feel naked already. There was a charge in the air here, in our private little pool.

  “Come in, warrior Rian,” he said.

  I pulled my shirt off and tossed it to the side. He sucked in a breath as I dropped my thumbs to the waistband of my pants. “Slower,” he said softly.

  I raised an eyebrow before following his command and shimmying my pants down my legs. I toed off my shoes and tossed away my pants, so I stood in front of him naked.

  For a moment, neither of us moved. Steam rose from the qua. With his head cocked back and eyes half-closed, Mikko watched me with a self-satisfied smirk, like a barbarian king inspecting the spoils of war.

  We’d been through what felt like war. And I was the spoils. My nipples pebbled in the cool air, and heat settled low in my belly. I shifted my weight to relieve the tight ball of pressure in my core. His lips tilted up slightly as if he liked watching me squirm. He probably did.

  “Turn around,” he said in a low gravelly voice with a flick of his thick index finger. “On your hands and knees.”

  I slowly dropped to my knees and crawled closer to the edge of the pool, wondering if he planned to use my mouth. I’d never been a big blowjob fan, but something about the thought of getting his thick rod in my mouth had me salivating.