by Lula Monk
She might be afraid, but she was still powerful. A force with which to be reckoned.
And Ignis knew no other mate would suffice.
Awareness of the crowd consumed him once more, the shouts and grumbles of the aliens pressing against one another around him flooding into his ears once more. No one pressed against him; the swirling shield of fire and embers engulfing his body assured that. But when had he become unaware of the crowd’s oppressive noise?
He blinked at the floor, realization blooming through his consciousness like blood from a stab wound.
Staring at the Earth female had chased all sensation from his mind.
“Going once!”
Ignis’s eyes flashed crimson with anger. He’d allowed himself to get distracted.
“Going twice!”
Pushing his awareness to the surface of the form he presently occupied, Ignis sent his flames blaring, coursing up and outwards like a beacon.
“Counter!” he growled, his voice rumbling low in his throat.
The crowd surged away from the hungry lick of his flames. A hush fell over the creatures assembled.
“Counterbid going once…”
Not a single creature bid again.
“Going twice…”
Ignis’s eyes drifted up to the ebony woman on stage, victory already sweet on his tongue. The Earth woman’s entire body was violently shaking now, her body’s last reserves of epinephrine and norepinephrine flooding her bloodstream and demanding that she confront the threat before her.
Confront Ignis.
His lips curled into a feral grin. This present predicament was not to his taste at all; purchasing a mate was almost as detestable as taking one by force from the fields of battle, to fulfill the requirements of bloodlust. But Ignis has never engaged in such things. Gylenda had been the being to whom he had turned when his desire for felling enemies was replaced by the all-consuming desire to fuck, for the woman was always at his side during battle. At least she was, until…
Ignis pushed the thought from his mind. He would not be consumed by such thoughts here, in the open. The Ardans were not one for showing weakness, and as their leader, Ignis was duty-bound to contain his sorrow over losing Gylenda. Even in private. But especially in public.
“Sold to the Ardan leader from Incenda!”
A few cheers erupted from the crowd, but most of the creatures grumbled and averted their gaze from Ignis. Flexing his flames might have been a poor choice, but being cooped up in the Hub was making him ornery. He hated confined spaces, and even the massive space station was too small to contain him.
He lifted his bidder’s badge in the air and waited for the wide fan of red light from the auctioneer’s sensor to swoop over the crowd and deduct credits from his account.
When the transaction was approved, a Cephalopod guard removed the Earth woman from the stage, her wide eyes almost bulging from their sockets as Ignis approached her. The next auction began, and the ensuing clamor drowned out her words.
Ignis was about to ask the Earth woman what she had said, but it became quickly apparent that she had not been speaking to him. She whirled on the Cephalopod guard, her leg swooping out and making the tentacled alien blunder onto its side.
The Ceph shambled to upright itself at once, its tentacle wrapped around the handle of the phase gun at his waist.
“Stop!” commanded Ignis.
The noise of the crowd lulled for a moment and then picked up again, ignoring the scene they were making. The Earth woman held her fists near her face, her stance awkward to Ignis’s trained eye. The commander in him longed to grasp her elbows, to push them nearer her chest, forcing her to straighten her stance to increase the efficiency of the blow he knew she was planning on aiming at the Ceph guard. But the Ceph guard’s actions were more important at the moment.
“Put down you weapon,” commanded Ignis again.
“I don’t need your help,” shouted the Earth woman, tossing her strange braids over her shoulders.
Ignis reached around the Earthling, his broad hand grasping the Ceph guard’s tentacle and clamping down on it, restricting blood flow immediately. The phase gun fell to the floor, the blue lights of the pending charge receding until the gun lay on the floor useless, dark and uncharged.
“Are you sure about that?” asked Ignis with a smile. His arm still hoovered over the woman’s shoulder.
As if suddenly aware of his presence, she shied away from him, whirling to aim her misguided stance at Ignis instead.
He smothered the chuckle that was bubbling up his throat. She might be poorly trained, but it was obvious the woman had the spirit of a warrior. He would not disrespect that by laughing in her face.
“Release me!” gargled the Ceph in a rage.
More from boredom with the alien’s presence than the willingness to follow its orders, Ignis released its tentacle.
The creature cradled the pale appendage to its chest, the tan color returning to its limb as it limped away.
Ignis smiled to himself. His death grip had not been what made the guard limp. It was the blow the Earth woman had landed with her powerful legs. He felt the stirrings in his loins, and his heart faltered.
He had not felt this way since Gylenda, and experiencing the sensation now felt almost like a betrayal.
Ignis forced himself to think of bitter things, sad things, like the way his wife had looked when the spear ruptured through the front of her chest, blood spewing from her mouth to drench his face.
Yes. That memory would suffice to quell the desire building within him.
The flames of his passions receded, and Ignis turned to the matter at hand.
When he turned around, though, the Earth woman was gone.
Briefly, he panicked. Until he looked past the crowd of creatures eerie and strange and saw the Earth woman’s braided head bobbing at the back of the crowd. How she had escaped the mass of lustful aliens assembled unscathed, he could not imagine. But he was glad that she had.
He flexed his flames, creating a wide barrier between himself and the other creatures assembled. He dove into the crowd, the creatures parting before him like smoke in the wind.
As if sensing his presence, the Earth woman turned, the panic evident on her face.
Ignis smiled to himself. He knew a chase when he saw one. This was going to get interesting.
The Earth woman turned around, her feet carrying her faster than Ignis had imagined was possible. Matching her speed, he ran after her, thrilling in the chase.
As if driven by some inner instinct, the woman ran directly towards the Transportation and Administration Sector entryway. Ignis doubted the woman could fly a spacecraft even if she gained access, but there was no use in chancing such an assumption. He raced after her, sliding on the soles of his boots as he darted into the same entryway.
The Earth woman was fast. He had to give her that. But perhaps she wasn’t as cunning as he had given her credit for.
She raced passed the administration section of the corridor, almost bumping into Chief Officer Slep’s secretary. The insectoid hissed as the Earth woman passed. Ignis felt a moment of pride, but it quickly vanished as the insectoid shouted for the guards. He had to catch his Earth woman before the guards did. He had been lucky to stop the guard at the stage from incinerating his purchase. He might not get lucky a second time.
The dark woman dashed ahead, barreling past the transport corridor entrances as well. Odd. He had figured she would have attempted to gain access to a vessel to flee. It soon became apparent what had stopped her from pursuing that course of action.
Eight Cephalopod guards scuttled into the hallway, shuffle-stomping behind the Earth woman at an awkward gait. The sharp piercing sound of their phase gun’s charging filled the air.
Ignis surged ahead, commanding his flames to issue forth, piercing the corridor like a spear in flight.
Like the spear that had taken Gylenda from him.
He banished the thought as so
on as it floated into his mind, chasing the ensuing sadness with blind rage.
These Cephalopod guards were about to attempt to take his Earth woman the same way the Smolds had taken his wife. He would not allow it.
His flames built, swirling around him and flying down the length of the corridor to wrap around the Ceph guards. The aliens stopped their pursuit, their strange suction cups popping and slapping at the flames that swirled around them.
Ignis was gaining ground now that the pursuit had stopped. But instead of halting to deal with the guards, he commanded his flames to shift, moving the guards to the sides of the corridor. He ran safely through to the other side, pursuing the Earth woman.
Seeing that she was still being chased, the woman picked herself up -- for she had paused in the corridor, bracing her hands on her knees to catch her breath -- bolted again.
Ignis was tiring of this whole affair. He had not expected the Earth woman to be willing to mate with him, and he was at the core of himself proud to have chosen a mate that was so feisty. But he was making a spectacle of himself by chasing her thus, and --
A beam of energy shot past his head, bursting on the ground only inches from the Earth woman’s foot.
Ignis roared, and the Earth woman glanced back at him, her face stricken with fear.
Foolish woman!
Damnable guards!
Both were working in tandem to incite Ignis into a full-on rage.
If he could just reach the Earth woman, he could protect her from the guards. He could explain what was going on, and perhaps she would calm herself enough to be contained.
Another beam of energy shot forth, this time landing on the other side of the woman. The smooth stone of the corridor floor cracked and bubbled, the energy from the phase gun causing the rock to splinter out at a radius equaling the length of a fully grown Ardan man. The cracks spread, spanning the length of the corridor, stretching from one side to the other.
Ignis had to stop this madness before the half-wit guards blew the Hub to bits.
Summoning all of his energy, he raced ahead. The woman was near the Rim now, the wide entryway yawning open like a maw. Ahead, the starfield outside the Hub glittered in the blackness of space.
Two guards were flanking the entryway. And it appeared as if they had heard the second blast, for they turned on the Earth woman, their guns lifted and charging, the blue lights shining and apparent even to Ignis.
Blast the woman! Didn’t she have any sense? She was going to get herself killed!
He was close now. Focusing his mind, he shifted his flames to his back, leaving his front free for making contact with the Earth woman. He plunged ahead, wrapping his arms around the woman’s waist. She thrashed against him, her body bucking and twisting in his grasp.
“Stay still!” Ignis shouted, but the woman persisted.
The thrum of the guards’ phase guns – now ten in number, with the two ahead joining the eight at their backs – filled the air. Ignis knew what was coming, and with his flames dispersed as they were, he could not protect the Earth woman from all angles. Not like this.
His knee darted out, connecting with the back of the Earth woman’s knee. She crumpled before him, and he lowered his body over hers, forcing them both into a low crouch on the floor.
He wrapped his arms protectively around her, sending his flames swirling about them in a torrent. He screamed, a primal sound, and forced the flames to grow, expanding to fill the full width of the hallway. He felt the force of the phase beams as they entered his flames, but his power was stronger than the pathetic weapons the Cephalopods carried. Photon technology had nothing against the raw energy of nature.
When the tenth beam entered his flames, Ignis called the fire back into his body.
“Stop!” he screamed, his commander’s voice carrying down both directions of the corridor.
The Ceph guards stomped towards them.
“What is going on?” asked one guard.
Another guard quickly followed, grumbling out an enraged, “My flesh is wounded!”
Ignis looked over the Ceph’s half-ruptured eyeball, the massive black orb that served as its head hanging loose and charred from its upper body. “I would argue that you are more than somewhat wounded, baca.”
The Ceph trilled at the insult, lifting its phase gun directly into Ignis’s face. The bright blue lights of the pending charge began to illuminate.
“What is the meaning of this?” thundered a commanding voice at their backs.
All creatures in the corridor turned to behold an enraged insectoid, its tale with pointed stinger whipping angrily back and forth.
Chief Officer Slep.
The Ceph with the ruined eye shuffled in his boots. “This patron has caused a disruption in the corridor.”
“Would you like the opportunity to explain yourself?” asked Chief Officer Slep, its insectoid body skittering over to where Ignis knelt in the corridor, his arms still clutching the earth woman.
“My purchase was combative, Chief officer,” said Ignis with a small flare of pride. “She had to be subdued.”
“Well, it would appear that you have done a fine job of doing just that,” said the insectoid with a small sneer.
Ignis looked down at the woman in his arms. Her body lie limp against his own, her head lolling to the side.
“Is she alright?” His words were spoken softly and to no one in particular. He grabbed her by the chin to inspect her face. When he released her, her head fell back down, lifeless.
Chief Officer Slep shrugged his spiked shoulders, clanging his mandibles together. “I am not the one to ask, Commander. I suggest you carry your purchase to the medical bay immediately.”
Ignis nodded, rising to his feet, cradling the Earth woman against his chest.
“I will be deducting the cost of the damages from your account,” Chief Officer Slep called after him.
The Ceph guards parted as Ignis and the Earth woman passed, many of them sporting garish wounds that would need medical attention.
Good.
If they have the audacity to chase down and try to obliterate his woman, they had better expect to come away with a decent amount of damage.
Ignis shifted the Earthling in his arms as he stepped into the core. The auction was still going on, undisrupted by the spectacle that had happened in the Transportation and Administration Sector.
He was almost to the entrance for the medical bay when his own words hit him full force, stalling his progression down the hallway.
His purchase. Not his woman.
Gylenda had been his woman, and the Earthling in his arms could never replace her.
Chapter 3
Clea
Her eyes fluttered open.
The room she was in was bland. Sterile. She lay upon something hard and uncomfortable, and the scent of antiseptic wafted into her nose.
Clea rolled her head against the pillow with a soft, relieved sigh. It had all been a dream. She had suffered some traumatic incident – hit her head, had a small stroke, something – and everything thing she’d thought she’d lived through had been one big, horrible, God-awful fucking nightmare.
“She is awake,” said a sharp, clipped voice.
Clea’s eyes flew open once more to behold an alien with four of everything standing at the foot of her bed.
A scream clawed its way up her throat, but when it came out of her mouth, it sounded muffled and distorted. Her hand drifted to her face. Something soft and pliable covered her nose and mouth. Panicking, she pulled at the device, feeling its straps securely fastened around her head and preventing her from removing it.
“You must leave the respirator on, Earth woman,” said a rich, deep male voice to her left. “The Quadra says your body is requires an excess of oxygen to recuperate.”
Clea cut her eyes at the man beside her, taking in his height and the dark brown scruff that covered his strong jaw. His eyes were amber and hooded by a heavy brow. A thick scar marred
his face, running at a diagonal over his nose and left eye.
“All will be well,” he assured her. His lips stretched into what Clea assumed was supposed to be a smile. The gesture looked more like a sneer, and a menacing one at that.
“I am Ignis, ruler of the planet Incenda in the Adrasta Gala–”
Clea’s screams broke past her lips, cutting off the alien’s speech. As he said the name of his home planet, dark orange flames had ruptured from his back, arching out to flank him like great, ghastly wings.
“Desist!” shouted the creature Ignis had called a Quadra. “Oxygen is highly flammable! You will incinerate us all!”
“Yeah! Flammable!” echoed Clea from the other side of the bed where she lay clutching the guard rail.
Ignis closed his eyes, and the flames began to slowly recede back into his body.
He looked up at Clea sheepishly. “You have my apologies, Earth woman. I have followed Galactic Continuity’s specifications as required, but my natural state must emerge periodically if I am to maintain this form.”
Clea blinked at the alien before her, now looking for all the world like a real man. A human man.
“Why’d it have to be fire?” she whispered to herself.
“Do you know where you are?” asked Ignis.
Clea nodded her head slowly, the memories of all that had transpired since arriving at the Hub assaulting her mind. The talk with the red-eyed woman, Samantha. The auction. The chase. The scorched and cracked and bubbling stone all around her feet. And, the last memory, of a giant wall of flame coursing around her, sealing her in a fiery dome of flames so hot the borders flickered with blue and white.
“You… you saved me, didn’t you?”
Ignis nodded gravely. “You mustn’t attempt to flee again. Self-preservation is admirable, but foolish given your current circumstances.”
“Of being your slave, right?” Clea said hotly, the accusation making her voice thick with rage and sadness. “Your property?”
The fire alien gave her another nod.
“I want to hear you say it,” Clea demanded, tears brimming her eyes. She swiped the moisture away angrily. “I want to know what kind of callous, heartless bastard you are. Go on and say it. Say I’m your sex slave.”