by Stella Cassy
All seemed lost as we ran toward the regiment. I'd been hopeful that we could take them out easily, but as we neared, the rest of their troops streamed out. They were blocked from our view by the buildings of the city, but there had to be several hundred of them at least.
Our Captain, idiot that he was, had been killed several bouts ago. Somehow the leadership of our platoon fell on my shoulders. "Huddle up! We don't have much time." I waited a few seconds so as many of them could get around me as possible. "We're outnumbered, and they're waiting on us to come to them. They know they have the upper hand. We're going to go in hard and fast and divide their forces. Does anyone have fire?" A couple of the older members of my group raised their hands. "Great, when we run forward, you take off and hit them with fire before we get to them. Pull up immediately, then lend a hand from above wherever you can, with claw and fire. We don't burn as easily as they do, but our Drakon Fire is hotter than even our skin can withstand for long."
They nodded and shuffled to the back of the crowd so they could shift when we took off. "The rest of you, hit them hard and fast. Get them divided up. We want them in small groups. One of us can take on two or three Pax easily, so if we divide them into several groups we can pick them off without becoming overwhelmed."
I turned and surveyed the waiting Pax. They smiled, sure of their victory. Their weapons were powerful, but not enough to pierce our thick skin unless they got a lucky shot in our more sensitive areas like our groins or under our arms.
"For Thirren," I shouted as I ran forward, trusting them to do what they were instructed to do. Drakon soldiers were obedient and intelligent. They'd do exactly what I told them to do.
I smiled as I ran, shouting nonsense words about victory and valor. The handful of shifted dragons flew overhead, flames licking from their mouths as they neared the Pax.
My troops whooped and roared as the first wave of flames hit the Pax, followed by two more.
The focused fire had done more to help us than I could've thought.
We broke through the flaming bodies that now lined the front of their attack and pushed the rest of their warriors in separate directions as they tried to attack us. They were small, but their numbers were great. I roared, pleased when I felt one of their knives pierce the scales on my leg. A scar on my lower leg would show for everyone to see that I'd been bled in battle and lived to tell the tale.
The one that poked me died quickly, a quick thump from my caudal caving in his small, weak head.
It was like battling a hoard of angry, psychotic children. It almost felt like a cruel thing to kill them so mercilessly.
Almost.
My next roar was one of pain as a blade pierced me under the arm. How had I been so careless? Blood poured from my arm as I slashed and hacked at the furry terrors.
A wave of fire from above heated me up, scalding my skin, but burning the Pax in front of me to a crisp. I used my wings to jump forward and help my men fight off a large group of Pax that had gathered together defensively.
I roared as I landed, swinging my claws at Pax throats, the glory of battle riding me hard. The satisfaction of feeling my claw rip through their fur and skin never came, though. I landed, hard, on my back, pain and chills causing my body to shake.
The twilight of the battle on Thirren changed to artificial and far too bright lights.
My mind finally caught up to my body, and I realized I was in the medibay of my ship. Alone.
"Leti," I croaked.
Her warm presence enveloped me as her hand grabbed mine. "I'm here," she whispered. "I'm so glad to see your eyes open." A tear slid down her cheek.
18
Leti
"Have you been with me all this time?" Illion asked, squinting his eyes against the bright light. I moved over him to block some of it.
"Of course I have," I said. "You've been so sick. I've felt useless, but I've been sitting here keeping cool water on you and reading up on poisons and their effects on Drakons."
He lolled his head over to see a huge stack of books and a table and chair beside his bed.
"They've treated you well?" he asked.
"As well as a slave can be treated," I responded ruefully. I'd tried several times to get the doctor to let me look at Illion's blood under their fancy microscopes. I'd read about them, looked at their manuals, and I was sure I could operate one.
Doctor Oslow's kindness ended with letting me read the books in his collection, though. He said the microscopes and other lab implements were far too valuable to let a human destroy them.
Jackass.
"That ends now," Illion said with a grunt. "You're my slave no longer." He sat up—barely—and put his hands on the collar around my neck. With a huge groan, he pulled, trying to break the collar.
He stopped, panting. I slumped, disappointed that he hadn’t been able to do it, but I perked up when he leaned forward again. "These damn collars," he muttered. Grabbing it again, he breathed deep, then with a roar, yanked. My body, unfortunately, was yanked with the collar, and though it broke off, I ended up crumpled on the floor halfway across the room.
I wasn't hurt, so I busted out laughing as Illion struggled to get up. "No," I cried. "Don't get up! I'm okay." My relief at having the collar off was palpable.
He cocked his head at me before speaking. Unfortunately, the language that came out of his mouth was Drakonian and since the collar was off of me, I didn't understand.
"I have no idea what you're saying," I said in dismay. What would we do now? If I couldn’t understand him, it would set me back dramatically. I wouldn’t be able to study or speak to anyone.
Illion laid back on his bed and motioned for me to come over. He still had the collar in his hand. When I was close enough, he reached up and put the collar around my neck without clasping it. My blood ran cold feeling it on my skin again.
"Can you understand me without it clasped?" he asked.
I nodded, delighted. "I can!" I could handle wearing it if it was my own choice, and only for the purpose of the language chips. "I'll ask the doctor for some string. I can turn this into a weird necklace.
Illion chuckled. "As you wish," he said, then his eyes drifted closed again.
Doctor Oslow stared at my necklace for several moments before agreeing to find a bit of string. He rifled through drawers until he found a bit of twine.
"Are you okay, Doctor Oslow?" I asked as he wordlessly handed me the ball of string.
"Fine," he said gruffly. "You may return to the patient."
I raised my eyebrows at his attitude but left without comment. I didn't know him well enough to push further. He’d been kind to me at first, though he’d definitely cooled throughout Illion’s recovery.
As I returned to Illion, inspecting the collar to see how I could tie the twine to it, I realized Doctor Oslow followed me. I hurried my step, walking across the room to stand beside Illion's bed.
"Is our patient awake?" Oslow said loudly. His body language was stiffer than normal, even for a Drakon. I wondered what had crawled up his ass and got him so cranky.
Illion opened his eyes again. "I am. Thank you for taking care of me, doctor," Illion said gratefully. "Did we escape with our entire crew?"
He was too weak to really sit up, especially after his exertion removing my collar, but he still worried over his crew.
"Three were left behind," Oslow replied. "They are dead."
Illion's eyes closed, scrunched tight as he processed that information. "They will be honored and their families recompensed. What of the wounded?"
"They've been in and out while you've been ill," I replied for Oslow. "Their injuries were minor. I wanted to help with them so Oslow could focus on you, but I was a slave."
"She is a slave no longer," Illion stated firmly, sitting up on his elbow. His wings tried to spread out behind him, but the way he laid on them prevented their movement. The bed he was on had grooves to keep him comfortable even with the wings under him.
; "Sir?" Oslow said, puffing out his chest. He obviously didn’t like the idea of freeing me.
"I have freed her. She is now my partner and should be given the freedoms you would give any fledgling doctor fresh from the academies."
Oslow looked slowly from Illion to me, his eyebrows furrowed. He was angry, but I couldn't figure out why. Why had he flipped from a kindly older doctor to the hateful dragon standing in front of me?
I wanted to bring back the jovial man I'd talked to the first time Illion had me brought to the medibay. "I assure you, I've had years of training on Earth. Ah, many rotations, as you say it. And I'm thrilled at the idea of training further under you." There was so much he could teach me.
"I'll see you burn first," the good doctor said, his voice barely above a hiss.
Illion, who had settled back again, confident that his orders would be obeyed, stiffened and struggled to sit up. I stepped back, shocked at Oslow’s words.
"You will give her the same respect you would give any Drakonian doctor or you will be relieved of your position," Illion said hardly.
"You are in no position to threaten me, Illswing No-Name.” Illion’s face shut down. He’d looked outraged before, but with the slur to his name all emotion left him. “You think to command me, you whelp? While you were off touring this planet, I contacted the Coovians and gave them the poison they needed to bring you down. Then when everything was chaos, I put out a distress call. Even now, Pax ships will be surrounding Drakonian ships as they arrive to help you. But you aren't there anymore. And soon, you won’t be here either." Oslow began to laugh. “You’re utter fools. Humans are slaves. At best, breeders, though no child of mine would be brought into the world via a human. I would consider letting one such as this be my assistant, once I’d thoroughly trained her.” He pointed to me as Illion and I stared at him with unhinged jaws. This vitriol was coming out of left field. He’d been so nice to me, almost grandfatherly.
“I thought you liked me,” I said. I couldn’t believe he thought so little of me. “I thought you wanted me to learn.”
“I do, Child, I do. I like you quite well! But you’re just a human. You’re not capable of the advanced brainpower needed to properly care for the health of our populace.” He patted my hand, leaving me speechless.
I looked at his hand on mine, then back and forth between Illion and the insane doctor several times. “What made you say something now?” Illion asked, his voice low and level. He was so weak, but he obviously wanted to rip Oslow’s head off. There would be no physical way he could do it, though.
“I’ve been planning this for a while,” Oslow said with a smile. “Nobody caught on, thanks to my superior intellect.”
My eyebrows, already in danger of vacating the top of my forehead, rose even higher. My blood pressure rose with them.
“When the royal family put a human in charge of the elements missions? And a woman at that!” He scoffed. “That was the final straw. I couldn’t let it slide.”
“So you decided to poison me as the big stand?” Illion asked, looking hurt for the first time. “What did I do to you?”
“It wasn’t so much about you as it was about bringing in the backup ships so that the Coovians could annihilate them. I wanted to make a stand. As soon as the ships are decimated, a missive is set to leave Coovoo and be delivered straight to the royal family. Everyone will know what I’ve done. But this ship will be long gone, taking me to the safety of a location I won’t reveal just yet. But first…”
Oslow pulled a syringe out—no idea where he had it hidden the entire time he'd been blathering on—and attempted to jab Illion with it. Poor Illion had taken about all he could, and his attempts to fight the doctor off were pathetic.
"Help!" I screamed as I jumped onto Doctor Oslow's back.
Stupid idea, really. He shook me off with ease, his wings extending so I couldn't keep hold of him as he went after Illion again. "You're next, human," he said with a grunt as I grabbed his tail and yanked. “I could’ve kept you on, but you’re far too annoying.”
I knew I was too weak to do much good, but I had to give Illion a fighting chance.
Remembering what he'd told me about the sensitive parts of the Drakon anatomy, I waited for him to move his legs as he struggled with Illion. Illi was fading fast. I had to do something and soon.
Finally, the rat bastard moved his legs enough that I could get in a shot. I kicked as hard as I could between his legs, trusting Drakon men to be as sensitive as human men.
Thankfully, they were. Oslow dropped to the ground with a roar, the syringe rolling away. I ran over to it and stomped it, breaking the plastic. The poison inside spread out on the floor, no longer a threat.
I ran to the medibay door, screaming for help. A passing Drakon ran into the room. "Arrest Oslow," Illion commanded. "Call for backup, he's gone insane."
The soldier looked shocked but did as he was told, pressing a button on his uniform. More soldiers poured in within seconds, subduing Oslow and taking him from the room.
Chase came soon after, and he spent several minutes in a whispered discussion with Illion. I stood to the side nervously and didn't try to pry. Chase ran from the room, giving me time to return to Illion’s side, but returned soon with several comms devices and what I would've called a tablet on Earth.
Illion looked exhausted, but they obviously needed to settle a few things. "If you think you'll be here a while, I'm going to go see what I can find in Oslow's lab."
"Yes, we've got some planning to do," Chase said. "I'll watch him."
“His monitors will go off in the lab if his vitals change. Yell out for me if you need anything.” Leaving Illion, just to go to the lab, felt wrong. But, I had more medical training than anyone else on the ship, so I left them to it and walked into the lab. Time to get busy.
19
Illion
Chase put a stop to the Drakon rescue ships and returned quickly. They'd made it halfway to Coovoo. Luckily, Oslow hadn't been able to hold his tongue long enough for the trap to be set. Another stroke in our favor was the coincidence that there had been absolutely no Drakon ships anywhere near Coovoo. Normally there would be several within a rotation’s distance of the small planet. Fate had smiled on us, and no other Drakon ships had been caught in the trap.
"If I succumb to the poison still in my veins, you're to take over command of this ship."
"Yes, sir."
"You've proven yourself more than capable. I will be recommending you for our own command when we return to Thirren," I continued. "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold my eyes open, so listen closely."
I gave Chase all the information I could think of to help him select our next destination. We wouldn't be able to get to Thirren in time to save me, anyway, so we might as well carry on with our mission. "Show Leti how to contact the physicians on Thirren. They can help her figure out what I’ve been poisoned with." My stomach rolled. I fought off a retch and continued. "We must get that water. All the information you need is in the packet on my desk in the bridge."
The edges of my consciousness darkened, pulsing in and out with the beat of my blood. "I'm not going to be able to talk much longer. You know what to do."
Chase nodded. "I will do you great honor. I have learned much from you in our short time together. You have my respect, whether you awaken or leave this life."
"One last thing. If I die, my last decree is that Leticia is to be my sole heir."
Chase didn't respond or show any emotion at my statement. Maybe I'd been speaking softer than I realized. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. Leticia will be your heir."
"Thank you," I whispered, then let the black take me.
I didn't know how, but I managed to keep the bad dreams away. I was grateful to whatever gods helped me because I didn't know how many more memories I could take. My physical ailment tested my mental fortitude. I welcomed scars and battle wounds, but the poison was a coward’s way to win. I refused to let
it.
Even when I was mostly under, I heard Leti. She never left me. The few times I opened my eyes, I saw her working. She had me moved directly into the lab so she could research and test while staying near me. The movements of my bed as we left the main medibay jostled me awake, but only barely.
Only once I woke alone, but saw her out in the medibay, setting a broken arm on one of my soldiers. Smiling, I relaxed and slipped back into the hazy place I'd spent the last several solars.
Her voice filtered through the fog that was my consciousness next. "They've been giving you some nasty stuff," she said. I cracked my eyelids to find her peering down into the lab's microscope. She was talking to me but had no idea I was cognizant. "I recognize some of the drugs. Oddly enough, I think one of them is an opioid on Earth. Who knew that one of our pain medicines would be poison for you."
She hummed as she continued to look through the lenses. "Once upon a time, knowing I had access to opioids would've tempted me beyond reason."
She looked at me and broke out in a huge smile when she saw me awake. "What's an opioid?" I asked her.
"Ahhh," she said, looking very uncomfortable. "It's an addictive substance on Earth that is used by doctors to dull pain. Unfortunately, people get really hooked on it and turn into addicts."
"We have addicts. They're put through a program to cure their condition. If they succumb again, they're killed."
“That’s harsh,” she said, her expression pained. “I might have been killed on Thirren then.”
“You were an addict?” I asked. I would’ve never guessed that from her. She was the picture of health, despite her ordeals with the Pax, the Blimburgs, and me. I supposed my actions were as traumatic as the others she’d been through.
“I am an addict,” she said softly. “I’m strong. The chances of relapse are slim to none, but once an addict, always an addict.”
“We have very few addicts on Thirren thanks to our harsh methods of dealing with it.”