Abducted (Blue Barbarian Series Book 1)

by Rena Marks

“No,” I tell the men. “I will tell you the whole story, but first there are others that we need to rescue.”

  “Others? What others have been abducted?” My men look at each other, confused.

  “That is part of the strange tale, my friends. You see this land we live on? There are other worlds like ours. From one such land, more were abducted by this strange ship. We have killed the creatures responsible, but now those females are stranded here. They helped us kill the creatures responsible, but at their own expense. We are unable to return them to their own homes. They are stranded with us.”

  There is shock on the faces of my men. I know they would consider me off in the head, if many of them did not witness my abduction through the sky with their own eyes.

  “Here,” Rayhaan says, pressing a flask to my hand. “Nourishment from the reverent mother.”

  My heart warms at the thought of my mother. She must have been worried sick. But as soon as my message was received in the skies, she set about mixing nourishing tonics in case I was unhealthy.

  I open the flask and take a swig, knowing I am not at my fullest health. My men try not to stare as they wonder what I have endured. After I drink, I cap the flask.

  “Let us gather all the females, and we shall travel back to the caves. But first, there are two things you must remember. One, none of them understands any dangers of our planet. The land they come from is vastly different. They do not have poisonous trees, or even predators from what I saw. They are as helpless as babies and are used to comfort. We must explain the smallest details, from not touching the Aynknak, to what creatures are edible. I doubt they have ever killed their own dinner.”

  Several mouths hang open.

  “Whew, my brother. That is a tale we look forward to.”

  A few of the men still look incredulous. Others look overwhelmed by the thought of helpless females.

  “How many are there?”

  “About ten. The second thing I need to share with you is: I am mated.”

  “What?” Again, mouths drop.

  I nod. “She is hu-maan. The first abductee to live, and the third to awaken. She is brave and understands our language from something they did to her. She can teach others how to speak in other tongues, but it takes much energy from her soul. She is still recovering from teaching one of the girls.”

  “So two of them can communicate?”

  I nod. “My Niki, and the fourth risen, Lucie.” I turn to Rayhaan. “I hope she will be yours, my brother. Your bodies will tell you if it is to be.”

  He nods solemnly. “I shall welcome her to my furs and treat her like the second queen she shall be.”

  He is a good man.

  “Tell me what has transpired in the tribe.”

  “We have had two birthings and both are healthy.”

  “That is a blessing.”

  Then Rayhaan grins. “I shall take you to visit your grave, brother. I imagine we must demolish it.”

  I grin also.

  Jeroc steps forward with his small bags of red and black paint. “May I, my king?”

  I incline my head and he begins to paint the royal markings on my face. It does not take long, he is as familiar with my face as I am myself.

  The men are beginning to feel more comfortable with me now. I imagine it must be a spooked feeling, to watch me get swallowed by the sky and then to contact them by the same sky so many moons later.

  “Come,” I say to my men. “Let us head inside the creature’s vessel, and secure our new women.”

  * * * * *

  Niki:

  Light floods the room and at first, I panic. My exhausted brain imagines the aliens are here to rouse me, or to put strange metal bracelets on my wrists that make me horny as hell. That reminds me that I’m missing Drakar’s warmth.

  Instead of gray aliens, I hear a gasp and a scream. The girls race to each other, huddling in a corner of the room as if they can hide.

  I take a deep breath and look behind me.

  Nothing prepares me for the sight. There are about a dozen blue men, just like Drakar. Except none are friendly. They’re fierce, with strange warrior paint covering their faces and piercings. A strip of black reaches from the hairline at their temples and across their eyes. They’re half naked, wearing loincloths and moccasins. They have massive, muscled chests and eight-pack abs.

  Gigi was right. They look like savage blue Indians.

  Then Drakar steps toward me. “Niki. Come.”

  He holds out his hand and I scramble up.

  Instead of taking it, I throw my arms around his middle and after a brief pause, he hugs me tight.

  “Mate,” he tells me—we’re so going to need to talk about this—“explain to the others that we need to leave now. We need every minute of daylight possible for travel. We will not rest until dark.”

  “Gather your mattresses and capes,” I tell the girls. “We have to travel all day to reach a cave before night hits and the monsters emerge.”

  To give them credit, they begin to scramble, avoiding looking at the blue barbarians. Drakar’s men step in and gather the beds and capes for them.

  “Niki,” Drakar says. “I have two men gathering the meat from the kitchen and disposing of the alien creature’s bodies outside. The predators tonight will ravage their bones. Rayhaan,” he says. Another warrior steps forward and hands him a tether, like the one that joined us. I flinch at the sight and Drakar’s eyes soften. “It is to tie at the door. We do not want any creatures to enter this ship.”

  I nod. “I’ll have to visit their main room. See if there’s any way I can program the ship to go into a hibernation mode. We don’t want emergency lights wasting any battery power. Someday we may want to visit back here.” I’m thinking: Visit the food processing box.

  Drakar nods. “I will take you.”

  We leave the girls, though a couple whimper. I smile as I hear Lucie say, “Suck it up, cupcakes. Welcome to our new life.”

  Drakar takes me down a hallway, and I’m aware of his men’s eyes following us. But soon we’re in the main part of the ship and I search for anything that looks computer-like.

  Nothing looks recognizable.

  I search out any Braille-like instructions written on any magic screens.

  Nothing.

  When I’m about to give up, I mutter to Drakar, “Where can the stupid computer be?”

  “Do you wish to filter languages?” A mechanical voice drones.

  “No,” I respond quickly. “Drurian is fine. Please set ship to hibernation mode in twenty minutes.”

  “Command recognized and set.”

  I turn to Drakar. “That’s it. That’s all it took.”

  He nods and then steps close to me. His eyes are intense and he looks fierce in the face-paint. “I did not get to kiss you yet.”

  “Why didn’t you?” I whisper, before his lips crash down.

  He kisses me thoroughly, leaving me breathless before he answers. “Because you looked frightened and I did not want to alarm you further.”

  “I’m not used to the face-paint,” I say. I decide to be honest, because if we’re going to have a relationship, honesty’s the best polidy. “My alarm stems from you not being nearby. You’re my safety and without you”—I take a deep breath—“I’m scared.”

  “You are the bravest female I know,” he says. “I’m flattered that you feel safe with me. I will never allow harm to come to you.”

  It’s a sweet gesture. But deep down, I know I could easily have been raped by Lech while he was forced to watch from within the cage.

  He takes my hand and brings it to his lips to kiss. Then he leads me outside. The girls are all standing outside, barefoot, hopping around on the hot dirt. A couple of them are looking at the pink sky and one points to the red sun.

  One of the barbarians stares at me, his eyes traveling from my feet and slowly up my body. I look down. My gown is torn to mid-thigh from where Lech had ripped it. The neckline is also torn and it drape
s down a shoulder. It’s easier to walk in this way, but I imagine he’s wondering what I wear underneath. Just like we wonder with the loincloths.

  Drakar takes the tether and wraps it to a crude door “handle” they somehow glued or pounded onto the door, then twists it to another one on the outside of the ship.

  “It is simple for us to untie,” he says. “But not so simple for stupid animals without fingers.”

  “There aren’t any animals that can figure out how to twist a rope?” Lucie asks.

  “This isn’t a rope,” I say. The girls are all listening intently. I’m glad they’re willing to learn. “The aliens had tied me and Drakar together. It attaches to your central nervous system and tricks your brain into believing it’s a part of you. You have to cut if off within a day or it becomes permanently entwined in your nerves. But when you cut it off…it feels like someone chopped off your leg. You have the feeling of blood gushing and the throbbing, and even the ghost-limb syndrome. More than likely the animals will recognize it and stay far—”

  “Did your mate survive a tether?” One of the men says to Drakar in his tongue. He obviously wonders why I’m explaining to the girls and pointing at the thing.

  “Yes,” Drakar answers. I can’t help but feel like he sounds proud.

  “We need to get them foot coverings,” Drakar says to one. “Let’s get them under the shade of the tree. Niki, this is your chance to have them study the tree so they know about the poison.”

  I nod and turn to the girls. “Ladies, over here is the poisonous tree. Drakar wants us to stand in the shade until they can get something on our feet. Do not touch the bark. We need to memorize how the tree looks, so if we run across any others we know what to avoid.”

  “Gawd, I miss my cell phone,” one of them says. “All I’d have to do is snap a pic.”

  “Now I’m thinking technology might have made us a bit lazy,” another says.

  I grin. “Anyone have a hard time spelling? Blame autocorrect.”

  We watch a couple of the blue barbarians head beyond the trees, while a group of others stand with Drakar, watching us.

  “They’re a little bit scary,” Tessa says.

  Miranda elbows her. “Don’t let ‘em hear you. Just in case.”

  “I wonder what they think of us,” Lucie says.

  Someone snickers. “We’re pale and ugly.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Jezebel says, tossing her pink hair.

  “Skinny,” I add, eyeing Drakar’s muscles.

  “Probably wondering why we have different colored hair,” Jillian says, studying Jezebel’s hair.

  Jezebel touches her pink and purple tresses. “They’re gonna shit when my roots grow out.”

  We laugh.

  “I imagine they can’t figure out why we dress in these shapeless tunics,” another says, looking down at her hospital drab.

  “Niki’s looks more sexy.” A couple of the girls rip their gowns up the thighs, too.

  “They’re wondering why we don’t wear panties,” someone laughs.

  A couple of the girls who’d ripped their gowns suddenly look sorry, and try to piece the edges back together.

  “Have you flashed someone?” I ask, my eyebrows raised.

  “No way,” she said, with a shudder. “They’d probably throw me on the back of a horse and take me.”

  The image of an old romance novel cover comes to mind, and gives me a giggle. “I think we probably ate the horse last night.”

  “Eww.”

  One of the men heads to us and stops in front of Miranda. He grunts something. He doesn’t bother with a real word, since he knows the ladies don’t speak his language. When Miranda stares at him, he kneels and lifts her foot. She’s so startled she falls backward.

  Smooth as can be, he reaches out and catches her in his strong, blue arms.

  “Oomph,” she says. “Wowser. Those are some big biceps you have.” She caresses his arm like she can’t help herself.

  He settles her on his lap and slips something onto her foot.

  It’s a flip-flop of sorts. They found some kind of hard, spongy leaf and strung a vine or something through the front, between the first two toes.

  Then he takes a bone knife and cuts the excess off her heel, shaping the sponge-like leaf to her foot. He pokes a hole in the back and strings another vine through it, while knotting it underneath the sole. He wraps the back vine around her ankle and ties it. The front vine attaches to the ankle loop and sure as shit, she’s got a sandal.

  “Wow,” someone murmurs.

  Miranda leans back to look at us. A grin spreads across her face. “I feel like Cinderella. With a blue prince.”

  “Bitch, please,” someone else groans.

  The alien takes her other foot and does the same thing.

  “Notice how he’s not even tired? Squatting there with a full grown woman on his thigh? Like she weighs nothing?” Gigi asks.

  “We notice, we notice,” Tessa says, and she’s staring at the muscles of his butt.

  “Can anyone see what’s under the loincloth?”

  No one responds.

  “Niki?”

  “Why are you asking me?” I snap.

  “You were tethered to the guy,” someone snickers.

  I roll my eyes. Just then, every one of the blue barbarians steps forward, each grunting at a girl to sandal her foot. The man that stands with Drakar hands him some of the spongy material and twine, and Drakar comes to me. He kneels before me, so I lift my foot, my hand going to his huge shoulder to hold steady. On my sandals, he criss-crosses the twine around my ankles and halfway up to my knee. It looks pretty, like Grecian-style shoes.

  “Let’s go, mate,” he says to me.

  “Shouldn’t you be calling me by my name?” I ask him. “All your friends are going to think that’s my given name.”

  He gives me a grin in response. The man next to him gives us a curious look at our interaction.

  Chapter Six

  We walk until our feet burn before the barbarians allow us to take a break. Well, they allow us potty breaks, but they stay within hearing distance and can’t understand our embarrassment that we don’t just drop and squat to pee in front of them. I explain to Drakar that humans do things more privately, but I’m not sure if he realizes the enormity of the culture differences.

  We sit to eat from the boxes of food the ship had prepared, and Drakar explains to his men how he hunted while tethered to me, and managed to set the message in the cave for nightfall. The men look stunned, checking me out, even studying my ankle. There’s a small white scar where the tether had been.

  “The excess tether was wrapped around your arm when you left, but how far could you possibly have gotten in order to hunt and hit a cave?”

  “I wondered when that would dawn on you.” He smiled. “The tether stretches to a very thin strand, though it will not break. It allows you more distance than the actual cord.”

  “How far was the distance?”

  “A twenty foot strand can stretch to two-thousand feet.”

  Whoa.

  After we eat, one of the men points out a tree with strange, stiff buds growing from the leaves. He plucks a few leaves, along with the buds, and brings them to us. He shows us how to detach the leaf, leaving the thick stem attached to the bristled bud. It looks like a small brush to clean out narrow-headed baby bottles.

  “It is what we use to clean our teeth. You chew the leaves and they leave a pleasant, tingly taste. Then this stiff piece will scrub. Do not be alarmed, it lathers. Afterward, you take a drink, swish it around and spit.”

  “Ohmigod,” I repeat to the girls. “It’s a toothbrush. That grows on trees. A toothbrush tree.”

  Wide grins split across their faces, which makes the barbarians snicker. We all grab for one, and mimic Drakar. He was right. The leaf has a pleasant, tingly taste.

  “Is it spearmint? It tastes like spearmint.”

  “It does.”

  We w
eren’t sure how long to chew, but spit out the leaf when Drakar and the men do. Then we dip the brush end and began scrubbing.

  “Who’d expect it to be hard, just like a toothbrush,” Jillian says. “It looked soft, like a dandelion.”

  We brush away, and then the men hand us the waterskins to drink from. We spit over the chewed up spearmint-leaf pile on the ground and are surprised when the ground swallows the mess.

  One of the gals shrieks.

  “What? What’s that?” Miranda asks. “Where’d it go?”

  “Drakar, why does the ground swallow?”

  He shrugged. “We honor the mother planet by not wasting. It is why we spit the water onto the offering of leaves so that she may recycle and re-nourish herself. We could swallow it, but that is not an offering. Same thing when you give thanks for hunting. You honor the mother planet by slitting the throat of the animal onto her parched land, so that she may feed also.”

  I explain to the girls, so that we might fit in with their culture better. The barbarians slowly stand and our meal is over. There goes our glorious break.

  We walk some more. It’s endless, with the sun beating down on the hot, dry planet. But even at that, we’re starting to get used to it. Every now and then we run across a tree with fruits that hang from a vine like stringed coconuts. One of the barbarians cracks one open and offers the liquid to the ground again. Then he breaks it into pieces and shows us how to rub it onto our skin.

  A few of us are beginning to sunburn.

  “What is this?” Tessa asks.

  “I imagine it’s sunscreen,” I say, rubbing it in.

  Drakar nods. “It is what we use on our infants before they develop a deep color.”

  We smear it on thickly.

  “Would kinda make a cool purse,” Jezebel says, eyeing the coconut-things.

  Jillian snickers. “Whatcha gonna put in your purse, fancy pants?”

  “I’m just saying,” Jezebel mutters.

  The walking continues and when we finally stop, the sun has slowly cooled though it’s still relatively light. We’ve reached a cave and it takes two men to lift the boulder from the small, narrow opening. One by one, we crawl inside and there’s a screen-like thing they place across the opening from the inside which is now propped against the wall. A boulder sits next to the hole inside, and I imagine come nighttime, they’ll roll it across the covering.