by T. J. Quinn
“Who do you think was responsible for this?” she asked, pacing the king’s office.
“I have no idea. We have monitored every surveillance camera around the palace’s grounds, and we haven’t been able to find anything out of place.
“So you think this was an inside job,” Asgar concluded.
“It has to be. There hasn’t been any arrival of alien ships to the planet on the last couple of days.” He explained, with a stern expression.
They looked throughout the night, but it was impossible to find her.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, his brother Haakon walked into his office followed by their father. They greeted Brynjar and took a seat in front of his desk.
“Still no news?” Haakon asked, worried.
“No, nothing. We have searched all over town and still haven’t been able to find anything.” He replied, sounding as worried as he looked.
“Do you think it was one of us?” Haakon asked, though he clearly hated to even consider that possibility and Brynjar felt the same.
The Drogons were a very united race, and they had had very little traitors amongst them.
“At first, it seemed a reasonable explanation, since we hadn’t detected the presence of alien vessels in our atmosphere.” He explained. “But today, Asgar informed me a new radar they have been testing showed the presence of a very small vessel entering our atmosphere and landing somewhere near the capital, a few days ago.” He added, sounding anxious. That opened up to way too many possibilities, and that scared him like nothing.
If whoever took Eleanor left the planet, it would be impossible to get her back.
“Then we have to start installing those radars, urgently. It’s a definite weakness on our surveillance equipment.” Jerrik, his father said, worried.
“Yes, I know, and that’s why Asgar has been working on it with his team, since last night,” Brynjar informed his father.
“Whoever it was, has more advanced technology than us, and that can be a potential danger to our people,” Haakon added.
“I’m aware of that.” Brynjar nodded.
A soft gong echoed through the palace. It was meal’s time. Though Brynjar felt no appetite, he knew he had to join his guests at the table. They were all worried about Eleanor.
“When was the last time you ate?” Haakon asked, looking at him.
“I’m alright.” He replied, not answering his brother’s question. “I need to find her. Every minute that goes by puts her in more danger.”
“I understand your concern, son, but look at the bright side. She hasn’t been mated…” Jerrik started saying, but one look at his older son’s face told him the truth. “She’s your soulmate.”
“What?” Haakon shouted.
“Yes, she is. Only Asgar knows this, and I have kept it a secret because of her special conditions. I wanted to find a way to cure her before I informed the world she was my soulmate.” He explained.
“We are your family, not the rest of the world. I’m sure you could have trusted us.” Haakon retorted, sounding a bit hurt.
“I know, and I do trust you, but this wasn’t something I could discuss through a communication device.” He explained.
“We need to find her, urgently. You can’t lose your soulmate. That would be a disaster.” His brother said, with a deep frown.
“That would make you a king, yes, but that’s not a disaster.” Brynjar corrected him.
“Of course, it is, I’m not cut out to be a king.”
“Let’s not talk about something that might not even happen.” Jerrik interfered, in a conciliatory tone. “It’s time to eat, and after we’ve had a good meal, we’ll discuss all of the possibilities.”
Brynjar wanted to protest, but his father’s expression showed him it would be useless.
They went to the meals room and after he introduced both men to the new human females gathered at the palace. Sasha, Anya, Gil Ra, Miranda, and Patricia had been brought back to the palace, despite the complaints of their soulmates. Brynjar had invited them to join their women, but most of them didn’t think it would be prudent.
They finally took a seat at the table.
Asgar had joined them as well.
“So, is there any news?” Sasha asked Brynjar. She was more and more worried about her friend’s disappearance.
“No, not much. We’ve just been able to verify the unannounced entrance of a small vessel on the planet, just a few days ago.” Brynjar explained.
The servants started to serve the food, but no one was really interested in it.
“Does that mean it wasn’t a local?” Rosalind asked, a bit relieved with the news.
“It’s very unlikely. It would be too much of a coincidence.” He replied. “And I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“How did they manage to enter your atmosphere unspotted?” Sasha asked, intrigued.
“They have better technology than we do, that’s for sure, and they clearly know how to avoid the radars and go unspotted.” He explained.
“It has to be Eskol,” Sasha concluded, startled.
“Why would you say that? I know you hate the man, but…” Asgar started saying.
“Of course I hate him.” Sasha interrupted him. “But, just think about it: if there’s someone on this side of the galaxy that hates Eleanor with all his guts, it’s him. He wanted to kill her from the first moment, and the only reason he didn’t was that Rurik stopped him,” she explained.
“Yes, it’s true. And he always found a reason to threaten her and torture her.” Anya added. They had all been witnesses to the man’s behavior towards Eleanor.
“You just said it yourself.” Sasha insisted. “It’s someone with better technology, and that knows how to stay out of sight. You’re describing a Slythonian. They have been abducting females all over the universe without being detected by the women’s planets.” She pointed out.
“That makes sense. But why would he want to kill her?” Brynjar asked, clenching his hands into fists.
“He didn’t want Rurik to sell her. He was sure she would ruin their reputation because he considered her damaged goods.” Asgar answered the question, furious with himself for not having considered that.
“Then, if it was him, he must have killed her by now,” Jerrik commented, in a stern tone.
“No, I don’t think so. He would torture her first. He seemed to take great pleasure doing it.” Miranda dismissed the old king’s suggestion.
Brynjar jumped up from his chair. “We need to find her.”
“Have you tried to track her collar?” Sasha asked, running a finger through her offensive device.
“No, I didn’t think of it.” He admitted.
Asgar got up as well. “All electronic devices issue a signal that can be tracked.”
“I would track the rings as well. I doubt they are only decorative.” Rosalind added, scowling.
“Yes, we should have thought of that,” Asgar said, in a self-deprecating tone. “We need to scan your devices.”
“Scan mine.” Sasha offered immediately, and Asgar nodded. Though she was wearing a fake collar, Brynjar kept the one Asgar had taken from her, and it would be easier to examine that one than any of the others attached to the women’s necks.
Brynjar left the room, followed by Asgar and Sasha.
Eleanor kept squirming, trying to free herself. She knew she was in big trouble and that by the time anyone realized she was missing it would be too late. She had to escape him, she just didn’t know how.
“Stay still.” He snarled the order and immediately even heaving caused her pain. There was no escape for her, and it would be impossible for Brynjar to find her, she was sure of that.
After a long trip, Eskol finally stopped the vehicle, in the middle of a forest, in front of an abandoned shed. He hopped out and carried her inside of it, dropping her on the floor.
He locked the door and headed to a table in the corner, where he had food a
nd drink and poured himself a glass of a dark beverage, drinking it in a single gulp.
“You destroyed my life; did you know that, slut? I was fired because of you.” He accused her, oozing his rage in every single word. “Rurik decided I had lost my ability to find the best slaves, just because of you.” He shouted, kicking her stomach.
“That’s not my fault.” She muttered, trying to crawl away from him, pain rushing through her body with every single move she did.
“Of course it is. You made me look like a fool. Your existence ruined my life and my future. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have been able to convince our elders I was the perfect person to command the new vessel.” He shouted once more, crouching nest to her and grabbing her hair. “Instead of that, I was fired and sent back home.”
Eleanor bit her lower lip to muffle her whimpers of pain.
“But I’ll prove them you were a mistake. That you could never be good for business.” He said, dropping her and kicking her again. “All I have to do is to get rid of you and have the Zuvrakians claim their money back, for defective merchandise.”
“We’re not merchandise for them. They’ll chase you for this and your life will be worth nothing.” She warned him, sure Brynjar and the others would do all they could to revenge her death.
He laughed out loud, oozing scorn. “You can’t be that naïve. You’re replaceable, and they couldn’t care less about what happens to you.”
He went back to the table and took a seat on a chair next to it, pouring himself another drink.
“You’re wrong. This is your worst mistake.”
He picked a small control from the table, and she sobbed when she recognized it. “My worst mistake was not having you killed the minute you interrupted my man’s work.” He grunted, pressing one of the buttons making her squirm on the floor with excruciating pain.
She lost track of time, while he tortured her with the collar. He had a great pleasure watching her squirm on the floor in pain. She lost consciousness several times and the night gave way to the morning. She had lost all hope of being found by Brynjar or any of the others, and all she was praying for was to die as quickly as possible. Her body was drained and sore, and she couldn’t stand any more pain.
Eskol had spent the whole night drinking, and it was evident the beverage had similar effects to alcohol because his speech lost sense and his rage seemed to increase with every glass he poured down his throat.
When the sun lit the shed, she was still on the floor, and he was sleeping, sprawled on the chair. The shed’s door was locked, but there was a hole in one of the walls big enough for her to go through if she was able to crawl there.
The collar was still active, and each time she moved, she felt a jolt of pain rushing through her whole body, but she was a survivor, and she rather die trying, than just staying there, waiting for him to finish her.
So, biting her lower lip to muffle her moans of pain, she crawled slowly towards the hole.
She managed to reach it while he was unconscious, and with one last effort, she went through the hole.
Outside, it was frigid and that mixed with the pain she was in only made things worse for her, but she didn’t give up and continued crawling away from the shed, entering the dense forest, looking for a place to hide from her captor.
She passed out a few times, from the pain, but she managed to get far from the shed, and hid under a thick bush, while she recovered from the pain.
A loud growl echoed through the woods, and she shuddered. He was awake.
“There’s no escaping me, slut.” He shouted. “The collar is a tracking device. It will only take me a few moments to find you, and when I do, you’ll regret having escaped.”
Eleanor sobbed and stayed still, waiting for him to find her. The first wave of pain hit her just a second later, so strong she wasn’t able to hold back the scream that came out of her lips. It felt like she had been hit on her stomach, hard.
And after that first one, several others crashed over her, all over her body and soon she was bleeding from her mouth. She could tell the internal damage was severe.
He finally reached her and crouched next to her. “Did you really think you would be able to escape me, you useless slut?” he asked, slapping her hard on her face.
She ignored him, closing her mind to all that was happening around her, focusing on the happy moments she had lived with Brynjar.
That seemed to infuriate him even more, and he lashed out at her, viciously, punching and kicking her.
She was almost unconscious when she heard shouts around them.
They had found her.
It was too late for her, but at least, they would make Eskol pay for all he had done to her.
She sobbed and allowed herself to fall into obliviousness.
Chapter Eighteen
After they scanned both the collar and the ring, locating Eleanor was easy. Brynjar scolded himself for not thinking of it before and praying he would reach her in time, he gathered a small army and went after her.
When they reach the woods she was being kept, the first thing he heard was her cries. Furious, he changed into his drogon form, along with all of his men and went looking for them.
Seeing her on the ground, covered in blood almost made him lose his mind. Without uttering a word, he attacked the lizard with all of his might, turning him into a fireball, before the lizard had the chance to react.
With him out of the way, he let his men finish the Slythonian as he crouched next to Eleanor. She was unconscious. He palmed her neck and the minute he found the hideous collar, he took it off of her, blaming himself for not having destroyed those things the minute the women had arrived their planet.
Scared, like he had never felt in her life, he picked her in his arms and carried her to the nearest clearing, so that he could spread his wings and fly her out of there. Colborn was already waiting for him at the hospital.
It took him way too long to get to the hospital, and by the time, he reached the place he was so worried, he couldn’t think straight.
Colborn was waiting for them, and soon they had her under a scan.
“How is she?” Brynjar asked as he paced the room, impatient.
“Not good. She’s a lot worse than last time. He tortured her severely.” He informed in a stern tone, wiping the blood from her face, while the scanner did its job and presented a report on the internal damage. She was still bleeding, and he could tell there was internal bleeding throughout her body.
He explained the whole situation to Brynjar.
“We have to stop the internal bleeding, but I have to admit I have no idea how.” He confessed. “I would have to perform surgery, to find the source of the bleeding and stop it, but I have no idea where to look and having her bleeding from the surgery would only make things worse since we don’t have blood to replace what she’s losing.”
Brynjar growled his frustration. “There has to be a way to heal her.”
“We don’t know enough about them and their bodies to do anything that wouldn’t increase the risk.” He gave her some pain medications, the same he had used on her the first time she had been brought to him, as he studied the possibilities.
“We can’t let her die, Colborn. I can’t lose her.” Brynjar muttered through gritted teeth, trying to keep his pain at bay.
“You could try the conversion,” Colborn suggested, in a cautious tone.
Brynjar looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “I can’t mate her while she’s in so much pain and unconscious.” He snarled.
“It might be the only way to save her life.”
“You said it was too dangerous, that I could kill her in the process.”
“Yes, but right now, she’s dying in front of us, and I really don’t see another way of saving her,” Colborn admitted, wriggling his hands.
Brynjar paced the room and punched the wall hard, struggling with his feelings. He couldn’t let her die without doing anything. He had to find a
way, anyway.
“It’s too dangerous.” He grumbled.
“I know that, but it can be the only way of saving her.”
“Can you try to stop the bleedings and see what happens? That should buy us some time.”
“Yes, we can try that.” Colborn prepared some of the medicine that he had and injected it into her body, hoping for the best.
“We should see some results if there is any in a few hours.” He warned the king. “I’ll get some rest. Let me know if anything changes. The doctors on guard will inform me if there’s a problem.”
“Very well. I’ll be with her.” He rubbed his eyes. “Warn Asgar I want all the collars and nipple rings removed from the women. This can’t happen again.” He had removed the ring as soon as Colborn had stabilized her. He didn’t want anything reminding him of Eskol.
“I’ll let him know immediately.” Colborn nodded and left. He needed to get some rest, just in case he needed to perform surgery on Eleanor.
Brynjar took a seat next to her and picking her hand in his, he kissed its back. She was still unconscious, and he knew she would be for a while longer, due to the meds Colborn had given her.
She had become so important to him, he couldn’t think about life without her. It would be an empty existence, worse than the one he had been living so far since now he knew exactly what he was missing.
Would he dare to try the conversion? Yes, he had to. If there was no other way, he would be willing to try anything but simply sitting back and watching her die. After all, it could work, and that would save her life.
His communication device buzzed, and he answered the call. It was Colborn.
“I just wanted to let you know I’ll be staying home today.”
“What? Have you lost your mind?” he shouted, jumping out of his chair.
“Haakon screwed up with Rosalind and took her blood for the second time and now she’s feeling weak and dizzy.” He informed Brynjar. “I’m keeping her here in observation and the doctors there are keeping me informed of Eleanor’s progression.”