Warlord's Return

by Cynthia Sax

  “Save some beings for me, gerel.” Ariq expressed his frustration.

  “That male was my kill.” Xareni was unapologetic. “I’m the monster, not you. So I must have been the being whose lifespan he sought to end.”

  A force bumped against his back and his irritation evaporated.

  His female truly was covering his back.

  “Spark is a monster also.” Her voice warmed with affection for her hunting partner. “Spark, that one is yours. Go. Get him.”

  There was a flapping of wings, a shriek, a rush of heat, and a male screamed.

  “We’re all monsters.” They all liked to kill a little too much. Ariq wielded his claws, slicing through a male’s stomach.

  That enemy sank to his knees, trying desperately to catch his innards with his hands.

  “Seven-One, where are you?” Ariq yelled the clone’s name. He was responsible for the safety of his team.

  “Fighting.” The young warrior huffed.

  “I’m covering him.” Glee edged Frost’s voice.

  The big male headbutted one of his targets. Ice cascaded down the Humanoid Alliance male’s face and form. He shattered into millions of pieces.

  “I’m enjoying this.” Frost laughed. “Libor is covering Jeden, Dialo and Vietor.”

  “We don’t need coverage.” The triplets fought in a circle, back to back to back. For all their squabbling, they operated like a cohesive unit while in battle.

  Vietor showed signs of strain, but his eyes were clear. The os khonzon, the darkness, hadn’t gripped him.

  It hadn’t overcome Ariq either. The contact with his gerel held it back. “Are you still alive, Yesun?” He decapitated one of their enemy, cutting through his neck.

  The male’s head fell to the ground, rolled on the sand. The rest of him toppled over.

  “I’m alive.” Yesun breathed heavily. “But that Humanoid Alliance being I just shot in the head can’t make the same claim.”

  The young warrior would have another story to tell their fellow Chameles.

  A male ran by Ariq. His hair was on fire.

  Spark chased him, blowing flames at his prey.

  “Stand back.” Libor told them. He carried a huge gun. “This is a new weapon for me. I want to try it out.”

  Ariq quickly repositioned to the side, taking Xareni with him, the two of them moving as one. The other warriors did the same.

  Libor activated the weapon, bombarding the area with projectiles, mowing the enemy down. He grinned, his biceps bulging, his ridges rattling.

  “Retreat.” One of the Humanoid Alliance beings yelled that order.

  The few males remaining alive ran into the desert.

  “The gun works.” Libor shut down his weapon. His expression was pleased.

  “It worked too well.” Vietor scowled at him. “The enemy is fleeing.”

  “Do we chase them?” Dialo looked at Ariq.

  “Some of us can’t chase them.” Yesun grumbled that complaint.

  Ariq turned and gazed at his gerel. He lifted one of his eyebrows.

  She shrugged.

  The triplets interpreted that response correctly as a yes. They whooped and chased after the retreating enemy.

  “I’ll ensure they don’t get stuck somewhere.” Frost followed them. Heat rose from the sand dunes, yet the male’s breath was so cold it was visible.

  Ariq was glad the modified humanoid was on their side.

  “It’s over.” Xareni bumped against him.

  “It’s over.” He drew his gerel into his arms. There was a streak of red on her cheek, a tear in the leather covering her right hip, but she was otherwise healthy. “You fought well.”

  “We both fought well.” She ran her hands over his form, pausing at each wound. Her perusal of him, combined with the exuberance of battle, hardened his cock. “You’ll need to obtain more scars than these to match my tally, Chamele.”

  “I’ll never be as beautiful as you are, gerel.” He brushed his lips over hers, tasting the thrill of the fight, the glory of victory on that succulent flesh.

  She gripped his shoulders, opened to him. Their tongues coiled and twined. The connection between them, always strong, wound around them.

  Ariq savored it, relished the moment. His warrior female was alive. He was alive. They had survived the bloody confrontation, would have many more planet rotations, a full lifespan together.

  He stroked into her mouth, rutting with that part of her, wishing he could strip her naked and take her on the sand. They would rut like—

  Spark hopped onto his shoulder. The drakon’s talons pierced his skin.

  Pain surged through Ariq’s form. He ignored the creature and the agony he caused and pushed closer to Xareni. It wasn’t close enough, would never be—

  Spark lowered his snout and shrieked directly into his ear, nearly deafening him.

  “You’re right.” Ariq shook his head. “Spark is an ass.”

  His gerel’s body shook. He suspected she was laughing, but he didn’t know that for certain because he couldn’t hear her. Or anything.

  The drakon screeched again.

  Except Spark. He could hear Spark.

  The drakon flew to a nearby corpse. He nudged the dead male’s face and looked back at Ariq. His expression was expectant.

  And extremely impatient.

  “He wants his eyeballs.” Xareni rolled her eyes. “We won’t have any peace until we give them to him.”

  His gerel squeezed Ariq’s fingers and released her grip on him. She strode toward the drakon.

  Ariq watched her walk away from him, admiring the sway of her hips, the curve of her ass.

  She stopped and turned toward him. “Are you coming?” She frowned at him.

  His independent female wanted him by her side.

  “I’m not coming now.” He jogged to catch up with her. “But I hope to come soon.”

  Her lips twitched. “You’re an ass also.” She held out her hand. “I’m right about that too.”

  “You’re right about everything.” Ariq gripped her leather-clad fingers. “And you love asses.”

  Her breath hitched as she moved with him toward the dead body Spark had claimed. “I do seem to love asses.” Her voice was barely audible. “Spark.” She yelled at the drakon. “If you pop that eyeball, I can’t feed it to you.”

  Spark shrieked at her and then nudged the corpse’s eyeball with his snout. Hard.

  It predictably burst.

  The drakon released another hair-raising screech and doused the skull with fire.

  “You are such an ass, Spark.” Xareni said that with love. “Come.” She linked her leather-clad fingers with Ariq’s. “Let’s find him another eyeball before he sets the entire site on fire.”

  Ariq grinned. He adored his warrior female and their eyeball-eating drakon.

  Chapter Sixteen

  They decided to return to the Refuge immediately.

  Xareni regretted that leaving the site early was necessary. Every planet rotation spent on the expedition was another planet rotation spent with both her barbarian and her drakon hunting partner.

  A choice would have to be made. Ariq would return to his planet, and a fire-breathing, half-wild drakon wouldn’t fare well within an enclosed ship.

  Her gaze shifted to Spark. Fuck. She loved the little ass.

  Spark nudged Jeden’s arm. The winged youth impaled a chunk of meat with his talons, held it out to the drakon. Spark blazed it with flame, gobbled the treat.

  The drakon adored Jeden. And Jeden was a good male, was a much better being than she was.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She wished they could stay at the camp.

  They couldn’t do that. The Humanoid Alliance would blame her, the Chameles, the modified humanoids, for their males’ deaths. If all the members of her team were situated in the settlement, the enemy would focus their attention there, wouldn’t disturb the clones.

  Yesun also required a medic. Seven-One, being the most scie
ntific-inclined being at the camp, had patched the warrior up as best as he could. But a medic, with access to more supplies and devices, could better heal him.

  Not that he wanted to be completely healed. “This will leave an awesome scar.” He poked at the gauze covering his wound.

  “Stop doing that.” Seven-One loaded the last of his devices into his open-air transport. “It will never seal if you continue to touch it.”

  The Chamele clone had been disappointed about not having a longer duration with his Carinae E counterparts, but he had their contact information, would communicate with them, and he had gathered enough insights to push his research forward.

  “I pulled the last of the bodies into the sand dunes.” Ariq dusted off his hands. “The unutilized defenses have been removed.” They had surrounded the site with traps and makeshift bombs, and the Humanoid Alliance had arrived from only one direction. “The terrain should be safe to access now.”

  He wrapped his arms around her.

  Xareni leaned into her barbarian, relishing the contact with him. She’d missed it, craved it. That physical connection with him had become as necessary as breathing…which was why her choice wasn’t truly a choice. “Thank you for doing that.”

  It was unlikely she’d ever return to the site, but she didn’t like the idea of it being polluted by rapidly decaying corpses, and she didn’t want any beings to be inadvertently harmed by their munitions.

  “None of the bodies had eyeballs.” Ariq frowned at Spark. “How can he be hungry?”

  She grinned. “He’ll eat until beings stop feeding him or he falls into a nourishment coma, whichever one happens first.”

  “The transports are repaired, should be functional.” Frost joined them.

  “And they’re fully loaded.” Libor crossed his big arms.

  It was time to leave. Xareni looked around her. She’d miss her cave, the land, the clones she unofficially protected.

  Kralj would know of someone who could take her place. He’d mentioned that in the past. They would be safe, she assured herself.

  And there would be other caves, other homes for her. “The terrain on Chamele 4 is like this?” She looked up at her warrior, needing that reassurance.

  “It’s very much like this.” He kissed the tip of her nose and her eyelashes fluttered. “When I’m here, I feel like I’m home.”

  When she was on Chamele 4, she’d feel like she was home. Emotion threatened to overwhelm her. She ruthlessly quashed it. “Are we keeping the same formation as we used on the trip here?”

  Ariq nodded. “You and I will go first. Yesun, your mounted transport is in the back of Libor’s vessel. You’re travelling with Seven-One.”

  “Zondoo.” The young warriors said that in unison.

  Xareni sat on her mounted transport. “Spark.” She patted her shoulder.

  The drakon looked at her, returned his gaze to Jeden.

  The modified humanoid placed the container of meat into the pack strapped to his chest. He stood, retracting his talons, spreading his wings.

  Spark must have realized there was no more meat coming from the young warrior. He flew to Xareni, settling on her shoulder.

  Her lips twisted. His response made her decision easier.

  It would still be hard. But knowing Spark would be happy with Jeden, that the drakon would move on, wouldn’t miss her as much as she was destined to miss him, would ease a sliver of her pain.

  “Frost, Seven-One and Yesun, and Libor will follow us, in that order.” Ariq climbed onto the mounted transport behind her. His thighs pressed against hers. His cock, constrained by his garment, was hard against her ass. “Jeden, Dialo, and Vietor, you will survey our surroundings from the sky.” He paused. “Are we ready?”

  “We’re ready.” The team affirmed that statement.

  Xareni gunned the engines. Her male hooked his arms around her waist, and they shot forward.

  The wind rushed over them. Spark stretched out his wings and leaned forward on her shoulder. Ariq laughed, her Chamele loving the fast speed as much as her drakon did.

  The warriors in the open-air transports trailed them. The triplets flew in lazy loops over their heads. They moved as a unit across the arid landscape.

  Xareni navigated boulders. The terrain leveled more and more, the obstacles to avoid becoming fewer, until there was merely sand in front of them.

  She didn’t increase their velocity.

  Because if she did that, the trip would be over faster. She didn’t want it to end.

  If she could, she would ride with her barbarian and her drakon forever.

  But she couldn’t delay their arrival for that duration. The walls of the Refuge soon loomed in front of them. The figure of a young girl was visible at the top of those fortifications.

  Balvan, the great green gatekeeper, stood at his post. His big arms were crossed. His booted feet were braced apart.

  His mate and two daughters weren’t visible, and that made Xareni uneasy. The male preferred to have his family close to him. They were absent this planet rotation.

  He must be anticipating trouble.

  She parked the mounted transport close to the entrance. One of the modified humanoids would move it if that was required.

  Ariq dismounted first, held out his hand to her. “Gerel.”

  She didn’t need assistance yet took it because she did need to touch him. “Ass.”

  Spark screeched.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” She stroked the drakon’s stomach.

  He snapped at her.

  Her Chamele laughed softly, and for a moment, she forgot her dread over her upcoming decision, her trepidation over their current situation. She embraced his joy, smiled at him.

  But then Kralj and his assassin mate exited the settlement, and her happiness faded. Dita’s expression was uncharacteristically solemn. Dark turbulent shadows swirled around the Ruler’s face.

  The beings situated close to powerful couple were pushed back. That crowd included many, many Humanoid Alliance males. They didn’t appear overly hostile, which surprised Xareni.

  “They don’t yet know.” The Ruler answered the question she’d thought yet hadn’t asked. “But they soon will. You made the right decision to return to the Refuge.”

  She suspected he would have stopped them if it had been the wrong choice.

  “I would have offered a suggestion.” The all-knowing male’s tone was dry. “The decision would have been yours.”

  Xareni considered any suggestion from Kralj to be an order. If he wanted them to return, she would have insisted they return.

  “It’s unwise to make assumptions about what other beings want.” The Ruler addressed that unspoken comment also.

  His statement seemed to amuse his mate. Dita grasped Kralj’s hand, tilted her head back and grinned mischievously up at him.

  He shook his head, linked their fingers. The shadows around his face lightened.

  The modified humanoid-mate connection was very similar to the Chamele-gerel link. Touch was necessary for their wellbeing.

  Ariq placed one of his palms on the small of Xareni’s back, and some of her tension eased, proving that point. He grounded her, gave her strength, confidence.

  She needed that, especially right now. Taking a deep breath, she held it for three heartbeats, released it. She dreaded what she had to do. Her debt to Kralj was already too significant to ever be repaid. She didn’t want to owe him more.

  But she couldn’t leave the planet without ensuring the beings she cared about were safeguarded. “The clone community—”

  “They will have three strong protectors.” The Ruler didn’t force her to say the words, offering his help before she asked for it. “The clones in the community will be safe.”

  They would be safe. Relief flowed over her.

  And they would have three strong protectors. She glanced upward at the triplets. They dove at each other, mock fighting in the sky.

  Jeden would not onl
y be responsible for Spark. Her heart squeezed. He would be part of the team assigned to safeguard the clone community.

  Assumptions. The word passed through her mind.

  Had that message been Kralj’s doing? Or had that been her regrets, her misgivings speaking?

  Because, fuck, she had those. She didn’t want to choose.

  Yet she already had.

  Before she could fully absorb that revelation, the others arrived.

  The triplets, the clone community’s future guardians, landed, their booted feet spraying sand everywhere. Huge smiles stretched across their handsome faces.

  Libor, Frost, Yesun, and Seven-One exited their open-air transports. Seven-One attempted to help Yesun disembark and received a glower for that effort. Libor cradled his new gun almost lovingly in his arms. The big male loved weapons.

  The warriors’ chatter dissipated when they spotted Kralj.

  They all looked toward the Ruler for direction.

  “If you value your lifespans, enter the Refuge.” His words were blunt.

  That was an order, not a request.

  Seven-One grabbed some of his medical equipment. Xareni turned to collect her pack from the mounted transport’s holder. That contained—

  “Enter the Refuge now.” Kralj blasted them with a gust of air.

  Fuck. Xareni dropped the pack, whirled around and ran as fast as she could toward the settlement’s gates. Her muscles strained with the effort. Her heart pounded.

  Spark hunched over her shoulder. The drakon gripped her tightly.

  Ariq matched her fast pace, running beside her. His long black hair streamed behind him.

  The damn Chamele made fleeing for their lifespans look good. Her lips twisted.

  Once inside the walls, she skidded to a stop and completed a headcount. Everyone within their party had entered the settlement safely.

  Her shoulders lowered.

  Orol and his mate Rhea must have been waiting for them. The couple immediately emerged from the shadows to embrace their sons.

  The triplets’ expressions held an amusing combination of chagrin and love.

  Yesun leaned against a structure, breathing heavily. He patted his wound with one of his palms as though seeking to ensure himself it remained wrapped with gauze.