by S. E. Smith
Mandra and Ariel had spent last night on the moon in the large cavern. After Ariel introduced him to Tia, Tamblin and many of the other tiny creatures who journey up from their world to see the replenishment of their much loved fur balls, they had shifted into their dragons. They flew over the vast sands, made love, flew some more, and loved until heat, exhaustion, and the impatience of Adalard, Zebulon, and even Bahadur forced him to return with his mate to the warship. He took her again and again once he returned, determined to taste every inch of her in an effort to chase the fear of almost losing her away. He knew as he made love to her before she fell into an exhausted sleep the last time they came together that there was no way he take a chance with her life. He would need to find another way to stop his uncle.
Mandra grabbed Ariel’s arm as she swatted at him in her sleep when he leaned over and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Sleep little warrior, I have work to do.”
Ariel grumbled in her sleep and rolled over pulling his warm pillow against her before she settled back down with a soft snore. Mandra tenderly brushed her long white-gold hair back away from her shoulder. His eyes lit with triumph at the additional dragon’s marks on her shoulder. He had given her three additional marks to go with the ones on each side of her neck. She now had his dragon mark on her left shoulder, one on her breast, and one on the inside of her thigh. Her passionate cries still echoed in his head as he took her over and over during the night.
Mandra glanced one last time at his mate, feeling a fierce need to protect her sweep through him before he pulled on his clothes and left his quarters. Plans needed to be finalized. He was going after his uncle with a small fleet of fighters consisting of both Curizan and Valdier warriors. He was going to kill his uncle and he was going to make sure he lived through it.
..*
Ten days later, the D’stroyer made its way through the asteroid belt surrounding the small planet housing Raffvin’s hidden base. Bahadur had traveled ahead of them for a scheduled delivery of weapons and supplies. He would disable several of the satellites that would warn of their approach and make sure Raffvin was on the planet. Adalard had left four days before to gather his forces. They were in position waiting for the D’stroyer to give the signal before launching their attack. They would need to be careful. The planet was sparsely populated but there were numerous small villages scattered throughout the area. Raffvin had set up his base using the population there as slave labor to build it.
Mandra looked up as Ariel came up next to him on the bridge. He had been looking at a holovid of the planet below them. She was dressed in the black vest, leather pants and boots of their warriors. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she had a fierce look on her face. His eyes dropped to her hips where laser pistols rested. The frown on his face turned to a fierce scowl.
“What do you think you are doing?” He growled out in a low, dangerous tone.
Ariel raised her eyebrow and looked at him calmly. “I’m a soldier. If you are going into battle then you will need someone to watch your back. Precious and I will be doing that.”
Mandra glanced down to where Precious lay on the floor looking up at Ariel with worship in its golden eyes. “No!” He bit out fiercely.
“Yes,” Ariel replied quietly. “I can’t let you go alone. I’ve been trained extensively in military combat, including hand-to-hand. Your uncle has threatened those who I care about, including my own people. I take that as an act of war.”
Mandra breathed in deeply before letting it out. Looking down at the map, he shook his head again. “I can’t, Ariel. I can’t take a chance of anything happening to you. Precious will go with me. I will need my symbiot when I battle my uncle. I explained our suspicions about what happened to the other symbiots that were destroyed. Precious and I may be the only ones strong enough to fight against him. I…” he swallowed down the bile in his throat before continuing, “I cannot take a chance of anything happening to you.”
Ariel raised her hand touch Mandra’s cheek. She waited until he looked at her. She wanted him to know she felt the same way about him. It was a two way street. She needed to know he would be safe and come back to her.
“You are also planning on leaving a part of Precious with me. This will weaken both of you,” she replied. “If you will not let me go with you, at least take all of Precious.”
“I can’t,” he whispered. “If I don’t survive and Raffvin is able to destroy a good portion of my symbiot it would be a death sentence for you. At least with a portion of my symbiot you have a slight chance of survival.”
Tears filled Ariel’s eyes but she refused to let them fall. “We both know if you die then I die as well. If there is a chance at life, or even of death, then we need to be together… all of us… you, me, our dragons, and Precious. We are one now. What happens to one happens to all of us.”
Mandra closed his eyes and turned his lips into her palm pressing a kiss to the center. He knew she was right but it didn’t matter. He needed to know she was safe on board the D’stroyer so he could fight without fear of something happening to her. He needed that tie to pull him back from wherever he might go.
When he opened his eyes, they glowed with golden flames of determination. “No,” he said firmly before he turned away and nodded to two members of his security team. “Lock her up in one of the detention cells until this is over.”
Ariel looked at Mandra in disbelief as the two warriors grabbed her by her arms. Precious jumped up with a furious snarl but a sharp command from Mandra stilled the golden symbiot that shook with rage. Mandra pulled the two laser pistols out of the holsters on her hips and laid them down on the table.
“Take her,” he said turning away from the shock and betrayal in his mate’s eyes as she fought against the two men holding her.
“No! Mandra, damn your stubborn hide! You are so going to regret this when I get my hands on you!” Ariel yelled as she was pulled off the bridge.
Mandra gritted his teeth as she continued screeching threats at him. He looked up at Zebulon who came to stand next to him. He glanced back down when he saw the sympathy in his friend’s eyes.
“She will forgive you. Just make sure you bring your sorry ass back to her so she can kick it first,” Zebulon said quietly.
Mandra nodded sharply. “Let’s go. It’s time.”
..*
Mandra slipped into the smaller fighter that Precious formed. He left the other portion of his symbiot outside the detention cells where it was ordered to protect their mate. He received clearance and quickly accelerated. Connecting with his symbiot, he and the other warriors began their decent down to the planet. They would be coming in on the far side and move rapidly over the terrain towards the base. Adalard was deploying fighters to come in on the other side. Bahadur had contacted them to let them know Raffvin was on the planet and the satellites were disabled but to hurry. They would only be offline for a fifteen minute window. It was the best he could do without raising any suspicions.
He broke through the atmosphere and ordered his symbiot to stay as low as possible. They were on radio silence until the actual battle began. Mandra cursed as he caught his first visual of the base his uncle had built. It was a domed fortress that was almost the size of the Valdier palace. Lights flared as Adalard began his attack. Bahadur had the shields down and bright lights burst upward as laser cannons mounted on the top of the dome returned fire.
“We’ve taken out the main cannons. Our ground forces are moving in to secure the outside perimeter,” Adalard called out as he broke radio silence.
Mandra gritted his teeth. “Affirmative, we are heading down into the main building. Let us handle any warriors with symbiots.”
“Affirmative,” Adalard said over the sounds of explosions. “I think most of his men are mercenaries he has hired from other star systems.”
“Can you cut through the central line? I see fighters lifting off,” Mandra barked out.
“On it,” Adalard replied.
Mandra watched as Adalard’s fighter and several others turned and began chasing the fighters that had lifted off. He focused on getting inside the dome city and as close to the building Bahadur said his uncle used as a command center. Landing smoothly several hundred feet away, he jumped out of Precious not waiting for his symbiot to change shape. It would meet up with him in seconds. He fired at several mercenaries as they poured out of a building to his left. Rolling, he fired at two more that came out. Precious, in the shape of a huge Werebeast, tackled another warrior, biting down and snapping his neck with a shake of its massive head. More men poured out of several nearby buildings as fighters overhead fired at them. Mandra transformed to his dragon and breathed dragon fire at the long line. Screams erupted from the men as flames burst all around them.
Mandra watched as Bahadur came out of another building walking calmly through the chaos while firing his laser pistol. Every once in a while his body shield would flash as someone returned fire. He had to admit the son-of-a-bitch had nerves of steel. Moving forward, he transformed back into his two-legged form and met up with him.
“Your uncle is on level three. There is an emergency shaft leading down to it. Go through the main floor to the far left. A door will take you down there. Be careful, though, he has at least a dozen men with him,” Bahadur said as he fired at another group of men swarming toward them. “Go, we’ll cover you.”
Mandra and Precious took off across the open area covered with dead bodies. Zebulon and several others on his security force followed him firing at the enemy as they made their way through the thick metal doors of the central building. Smoke drifted thickly in the air. Mandra and the other men quickly covered their faces with breathing masks. With a nod of his head, they fanned out and began moving slowly through the debris toward the stairs Bahadur told them about.
Mandra shifted the laser rifle he was carrying so that if fit snugly against his shoulder and stepped over some fallen material from the ceiling. He glanced up and saw several fighters streaking by. Explosions rocked the ground as the fighting outside continued. He waved his hand toward Zebulon who nodded and muttered something to the two men next to him. They moved, spreading out to his right. Precious suddenly snarled and launched itself over the debris. The strangled gurgle was the only sound the mercenary made before Precious tossed his limp body aside. Several other symbiots found hidden mercenaries and killed them.
A sense of warning caused Mandra to roll suddenly. “Look out!”
Zebulon and several of the men dove for cover as a mercenary hidden by the door tossed an explosive. The flash followed by the concussion of the explosion shook the building. Debris rained down showering the men with broken pieces of metal and stone. Mandra rose up at the same time as Zebulon and fired at the last location of the mercenary. The sound of their laser fire hitting flesh was loud and they watched as he collapsed back against the door.
“Is everyone alright?” Mandra called out.
“I have a man down. His symbiot is with him but he needs to be lifted out,” Zebulon called back.
“Get him out of here,” Mandra ordered. “You two, follow me.”
The two warriors nodded and moved in behind Mandra. “Zebulon, cover my back and make sure no one enters or leaves here alive.”
“Affirmative,” Zebulon called out as he and several other warriors worked to remove two warriors trapped under a fallen beam.
Mandra and Precious, followed by the two warriors and their symbiots, moved with determination toward the doorway. Moving through the opening, Mandra saw it was clear. He jumped down to the next level. Motioning for the two warriors to clear the second level, he continued down to the third. Wrenching the door open, he entered a dim corridor. The air was free of smoke as the filtering system was working here. Removing his mask, he let his dragon move closer to the surface so he could see and smell better. Moving with skilled precision, he made his way carefully down the corridor. It was time to end this.
..*
Ariel clenched her fist and counted to one hundred in slow steady numbers. It was one method she used to focus her mind and clear it of unwanted emotions. Taking deep, cleansing breaths, she loosened her shoulders. She needed to get out of here. Searching the walls and door for any vents or access panels, she focused on keeping her head clear. She bit back a curse when she found the vent was way too small for her to squeeze through and there were no visible access panels to tear apart. She was about to give up when the sound of the door opening caused her to turn. The warrior positioned outside of it fell limply to the floor. Ariel’s startled gaze jerked up. She fought back a grin as she saw her half of Precious raise a limb and lick it as if to say, ‘you called’.
“You are amazing!” Ariel said rushing forward and giving a light kiss to the top of its golden head.
Warmth filled her as Precious responded. Ariel reached down and quickly removed the laser pistols the guard was wearing. Moving past Precious, Ariel took off down the corridor at a run.
“We need to get to the surface and find Mandra. Do you have any ideas?” Ariel asked as she moved into the lift.
Images invaded her mind as she saw the fighter bay filled with warriors and their symbiot fighters. Precious showed Ariel how they would leave from there. Using the connection between its other half, Precious would take Ariel straight to where Mandra was.
“I am so going to kick his ass when this is over,” Ariel said as the ship shook.
It would appear Raffvin’s forces were trying to attack the D’stroyer in their effort to escape. Ariel pulled on her military training to give her that level of calm she would need. She moved quickly once the lift opened. Running down the corridor, she passed warriors and their symbiots moving in both directions but no one tried to stop her.
The doors to the fighter bay opened and Ariel walked through it like she belonged there. Precious quickly moved ahead, shifting at the same time into a compact gold fighter. The side opened for Ariel as she approached and she slid inside. A gold seat molded around her and a control console formed in front of her. Ariel didn’t even bother with trying to understand how everything worked. She was still stumped on the whole dragon-transformation thing. She had moved from trying to understand how things worked to just accept the things she couldn’t explain as being a part of her new world.
“Let’s go help our mates,” Ariel ordered as Precious lifted off the flight deck.
Bright lights flashed as they passed through the shield protecting the inside of the flight deck from the outside atmosphere. Within moments, Precious had joined a group of fighters heading to the surface. Several enemy fighters came toward them as they prepared to enter the atmosphere but Precious quickly took them out with pulses of energy bursts.
“Nice shooting, sweetheart,” Ariel said as she watched the fighters burst apart. “Can you connect with your other half and show me what is happening with Mandra?”
Images came into focus. He was in some type of dark corridor. Ariel’s breath caught as she saw several men step out from around a corner and fire at him. Pain burst through her shoulder and leg as several of the laser charges hit Mandra. He dropped and rolled while firing at the same time. The men dropped but they didn’t move again. The pain faded as the part of Precious with him moved quickly to heal his wounds.
Ariel remained focused on what was happening even as her Precious began to circle for a landing over the smoking dome structure below. Mandra was moving down the corridor. He turned the corner. There was a set of huge double doors standing open. She watched as her mate and his Precious moved cautiously into the room. It was a type of control room of some sort. There were numerous control panel stations set in a semi-circle with a huge holovid screen in the center with an image of the planet. She could actually see the lights of the fighters in the air and on the ground in the video image.
She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood when she saw three men rise up from behind a console and begin firing at Mandra. His Precious move
d in front of him absorbing the fire. Mandra shifted to his dragon and breathed streams of dragon fire at the men who frantically tried to get out of the way. The flames were too intense and two of the men let out a short scream before they turned to ash. The third man continued firing his laser pistol at Mandra. Ariel flinched as she felt the heat of the laser’s charge as it cut along Mandra’s chest and thigh. His Precious moved, trapping the male from behind with its huge body and snapping his neck.
Ariel was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she felt her Precious suddenly lurch to the side and shudder violently. A flash hit her before she was disconnected with what was happening to Mandra. Ariel shook her head to clear her mind. She gasped as she realized her Precious was coming in too fast and low.
“Precious, what’s wrong?” Ariel cried out in alarm. “Pull up, pull up!”
Precious shuddered again and groaned. Ariel felt the chill go through to her bones and knew whatever weapon Raffvin used to destroy the other symbiots he had used on the other Precious. Her Precious howled in pain as it felt the waves from its other half. Ariel braced for impact as the golden fighter hit the ground hard and rolled over and over before coming to a stop against the side of one of the buildings in a cloud of dust.
Ariel fought back a moan as she felt her shoulder being wrenched. She tried to move her arm but it hurt too much. She wasn’t sure if her arm was broken or just dislocated. She had a feeling it was the latter.
“Precious, we have to help them. We can’t give in to the pain,” Ariel called out stiffly. “You have to do this. I can’t do it alone. Release the straps holding me.”