by Mikayla Lane
Grai entered his quarters to see Gibly cuddled up to Tristan while Tricia read the boy and cat a story. As soon as Tricia saw him, she burst into tears and ran into his arms.
“What the...?” Grai asked with surprise, looking to Gibly for an explanation.
“She cry a lot this morning. All I said was that Tristan didn’t like bananas when she try to give him one! Then she run around asking if he like everything!” Gibly said, sounding exasperated.
All Grai could think of, was that Tristan didn’t like bananas. He thought of all the times he tried to make him eat bananas for the nutrients.
Hugging Tricia tightly, he caressed her long hair with one hand trying to comfort her. “Gibly, this is the first time we’ve ever been able to communicate with him. Through you. That’s the first time we’ve ever known what he likes and doesn’t like. She’s his mother; she wants him to be happy.” Grai explained quietly, trying to contain his own emotions. Something as simple as just knowing his son didn’t like bananas seemed like a miracle to him.
“Oh! I understand! I help you talk to him until he learns to talk on his own!” Gibly said, twitching his whiskers before nuzzling Tristan’s face.
Tricia cried even harder and the thought of being able to talk to his son almost had Grai joining her. When he got through this mission, he was going to spend some time with his family… learning about his son, he thought, giving Tricia a gentle squeeze.
“Shhh, sweetheart. I only have a few minutes before I have to leave. You need to calm down. Remember the news about those kidnapped kids? We’re going to go and get them. And Ivint is going to talk to the Council about joining us.” Grai said, hoping to distract and calm his mate. It would rip his heart out to have to leave her when she was still so upset.
Tricia sniffled before lifting her watery gaze to Grai’s. “Are the kids gifted or hybrid? I thought they had families?” She asked quietly, trying to calm herself.
“They’re human. But it’s the Relian’s and their cult that have them.” Grai said, knowing her quick mind would understand what he wasn’t saying. She did.
“Oh my God! You’re taking the fight to them! Are you taking enough people? How long will you be gone? Oh my God! Get your gear on!” Grai smiled as Tricia started running around the room grabbing all of his gear and thrusting it into his arms, while he grinned.
Tricia stopped and stared at Grai a moment. “Why aren’t you getting ready? That gear will save your life! Now get it on!” Tricia said with an adorable huff that made Grai ache to stay with her. However, he had to hurry.
Dropping everything to the floor in front of him, he started putting on individual items while Tricia fussed over each one, making sure it laid perfectly on his body. They had done this same thing so often that it was a ritual between them.
Being able to make sure he was properly geared for a mission seemed to help ease her mind while he was gone and for that reason alone he would have allowed her to make such a fuss. Truth was that he was addicted to the way she loved and cared for him. The little things, like this, that she did every day to show how she felt made him feel like the luckiest man on the planet.
When he was fully geared, and she was fussing over the same cuff on his sleeve, he placed a gentle hand over hers to stop her.
“It’s all right baby. I’ll be back soon.” Looking deep into her beautiful eyes, his heart constricted. So much had happened lately. So many dreams coming true, that in times like this, it all felt so unreal.
Grai looked over at his son, whose fingers were dancing in the air while Gibly weaved in between them as if knowing what the boy would do next.
Swallowing hard he pulled his gaze back to his mate. “I want to know everything you find out.” He knew she would memorize every detail.
Tricia smiled, a single tear slipping down her cheek that she wiped quickly away. “I will have a list to tell you when you get back. We’ve been at this for an hour. Bananas are just the tip of the iceberg, my love.”
Grai grinned and fought his own tears. Yes, he thought; bananas were just the beginning for their son.
“I must go. I love you.” Grai said, grabbing her into a strong hug, grinning when she held him back as tight as she could.
Pulling gently out of her arms he leaned down and gave her a deep kiss before heading over to Tristan. He kneeled down so his son could easily look at him if he chose to and gently drew him in for a hug. He smiled when Tristan hugged him back before letting him go.
Standing again, he ruffled Tristan’s hair and turned to leave when Tristan’s small hand grabbed his own, stopping him instantly. Turning back to his son, he looked in surprise at the small hand that willingly grabbed his own.
“What is it my little warrior?” Grai asked softly, kneeling back down to face his son.
The boy never spoke; Grai didn’t expect it. However, what happened next floored him more than words ever could.
Grai looked into the swirling golden eyes of his child as Tristan lifted both hands to his father’s face. Grai held his breath, not wanting to do anything that would shatter the moment.
The warm, gentle touch of Tristan’s fingers on Grai’s face turned hotter. Not uncomfortably hot, just noticeably much warmer than his initial touch. Without thought, Grai closed his eyes as Tristan seemed to draw invisible lines and symbols on his face.
Grai opened his eyes as Tristan began to pull away, and he saw the flashes and sparks of energy that illuminated his son’s eyes before he closed them and looked away again. His fingers went back to the energy fibers that surrounded him, drawn to him.
“He sends protective energy with you.” Gibly said as if Grai should understand. Unfortunately, he needed to leave, or he would be late.
“Thank you little warrior. I love you.” Grai said, leaning down to kiss Tristan’s head.
Grai headed to the door with Tricia in tow. “Be safe, my love.” She said quietly. He turned and gave her a hard, quick kiss before heading out of the door and running down the corridor to the portal room.
He sensed the pounding footsteps behind him before he actually heard them. Turning around he saw a grinning Balduen running full out to catch up, both of them late. Grai grinned back before sliding into the portal room just as everyone was grabbing their weapons, Balduen sliding in seconds later.
Both men ignored the good-natured teasing while they grabbed the heavy weaponry that they didn’t usually keep on them before lining up in front of the portal.
Reven stood at the head of the line and called out, “Get ready! Once you get through the portal head to your assigned transport!” Then he disappeared.
Once he was gone the line moved quickly through the portal.
Chapter Nineteen
The transports hovered silently over the assigned drop locations, waiting for the command to de-cloak as the teams readied themselves for the coming battle.
The Shengari’ was silent as they waited for the command to drop, which came from Reven moments later. “Go, go, go!” The transport de-cloaked while the team dropped out of the door in the bottom of the transport.
Grai allowed the buffers, built in their clothing, to spread out slightly, slowing his descent from the twenty-foot drop before he hit the ground running, his team hot on his heels.
He fired two shots, immediately killing the two that came around the corner of the building towards him. Encountering no more resistance, he led his team towards the heavier fighting near the children’s building.
He listened to the Shengari’ as the others were calling out positions and stats of killed and wounded. Turning the corner they came up behind a fortified position of Relian’s that were trying to pin down Reven’s team.
Taking aim, they quickly dispatched the threat and moved forward, farther into the cluster of buildings around where the children were being held.
He leaned up against the wall of a building, getting ready to turn the corner when his face began to flame. The heat became so strong he grabbed h
is face and turned away for a moment. As he did, the wall where he had been leaning exploded outward as the large caliber bullet ripped through the flimsy wall.
Grai jerked back in surprise, the strange heat gone from his face. Decano took one look at the wall and barreled through it, gunning down the two inside while the others stepped through the huge hole he’d made.
Grai looked through the flap that made up the door and saw one Relian running towards them. Raising his weapon, he pulled the trigger once, killing the enemy instantly. Nodding to Decano, he scanned the outside while Decano slipped out of the door.
Moments later, he followed Decano around the corner and headed to the building with the children. He could tell by the shorter and less frequent bursts of gunfire that they had taken out most of the enemy forces. The chatter on the Shengari’ told him they were still fighting only small pockets of resistance that were quickly being overtaken.
The situation was fully contained by the time they reached the building. Viper’s team had easily taken out the Relian’s that were with the children, and they were currently trying to calm them down. The tough warriors looked a little awkward holding the crying little ones in their arms.
On cue, the transports landed outside the village; human personnel from their closest compound drove out the eight safari tour jeeps they had brought to transport the children back to their families.
Grai and the others waited while they drove through the village and up to the where the children were huddled outside, clinging to Viper’s team.
Saia, one of Banatar’s gifted, walked confidently up to the group and listened for a moment to their excited and frightened chatter. Nodding to Grai, she began to speak in their language.
Damn that was impressive, Grai thought. When Banatar recommended that Saia go to deal with the children he didn’t understand why until now. She had learned their language in minutes and could communicate with them fluently, as if born there.
She weaved a tale of their native superstitions and legends to explain the shifting of the Relian’s and the rescue by the silent, balaclava clad warriors.
The children listened in hushed awe to the story that they apparently starred in. When Saia finished, she helped get them into the trucks that would take them to the nearest village, protected by their human allies.
Grai and the others watched as the trucks disappeared from sight and joined the others who were gathering up the Relian bodies and dusting them with light stones. The human cultist’s bodies were left to rot where they lay. No one cared if they were discovered. In fact, they hoped that they were, and it would serve as a deterrent to others who thought to join the cult.
Grai knew it was wishful thinking. Nothing ever stopped those who were truly evil from carrying out their atrocities. With or without a cult to encourage them.
Once the buildings were finally cleared, and the Relian bodies dusted, they set fire to all the haphazardly built wooden structures before heading back to the transports. As missions went, this one went far too easily, Grai thought as he slowed down and turned back toward the burning buildings.
“What is it?” Balduen asked him through the Shengari’ as he stopped beside him and looked back towards the village as well.
Grai’s face lit up like fire, grabbing Balduen; he pushed him towards the transports. “Run!” He screamed to everyone as he broke into a run, keeping Balduen in front of him.
Moments later the earth shattered around him and he, and Balduen were thrown into the air. Grai heard a bone crunching thud a second before his own body hit the ground and everything went black.
Moments later, Grai blinked the moisture out of his eyes and turned over onto his stomach and hands. His vision was blurry as he scanned the ground for Balduen. Finding him laying immobile a few feet from him, Grai tried to push himself into a standing position but his shattered leg wouldn’t hold his weight.
His ears rang so badly he couldn’t hear anything going on around him as he crawled to Balduen. The screaming through the Shengari’ was causing his head to pound, but he couldn’t seem to turn down the volume. Reaching Balduen, he covered the man’s body as another shell hit the ground close to them, showering them with huge chunks of earth.
Looking up he saw the transports and the other teams in full-out combat with several fully armed helicopters that were firing on them. They were completely exposed, but they had nowhere to hide; and he wouldn’t leave Balduen here alone.
Sitting up he ripped out his med pack and turned his attention to Balduen. Ignoring the battle going on around him, he quickly assessed Balduen’s wounds and began treating them as best he could with the med packs, they both carried.
Although he was still having a hard time hearing with his ears, he ignored the pain in his head and listened carefully to the Shengari’ to find out what was going on. He crawled a few feet away and grabbed the rifle laying close to Balduen before crawling back and leaning himself against Balduen; shielding him with his own body the best he could as, he faced the helicopter's firing on the transports.
He had held out hope that they would get out alive. Until he saw the helicopter break away from the others and head right towards him. Raising his rifle, he was determined to inflict as much damage as he could before they took him out. He’d go down fighting them to his last breath.
The last thing he heard as he took aim and began to fire was Balduen’s pain filled voice behind him.
“What is the deal with your face?”
Then the world exploded around them both.
*****
Flashes of memory were the first thing that ran through Grai’s mind. The children. The village. Balduen. He reached out immediately to the Shengari', but he was met with a silence he’d never felt before.
Panicking, he willed his eyes to open and tried to get up. Strong hands pushed him back down, shouting things at him that he couldn’t really hear; the words too distorted to understand. It only increased his fear and his struggles against the hands he couldn’t see.
Finally able to crack one eye a slit, he saw the blurry image of Reven going in and out of focus in front of him, and he stopped fighting the man. He felt his body go limp, as if all his energy had been sucked out of him.
“Balduen?” He tried to ask through his split and bleeding lips, but he heard no sound come out.
He could see the blurry image of Reven’s lips moving and hear the distorted sound of his voice, but he still couldn’t understand what the man was telling him.
Grai closed his eye; the distorted images caused his head to hurt so bad he was having a hard time staying conscious. Fighting through the pain he tried to concentrate on what he could feel.
The earth still periodically rocked around them, telling him that the battle still raged on around them. He could feel the ground around him subtly shake in different areas, so he knew that he was surrounded by more of their team members.
He opened his eye again as someone grabbed his uniform at the shoulder and began dragging him. He tried to turn his head to look around him, but it slumped backward and to the side instead.
He saw several pairs of booted feet and Balduen’s blood-soaked body being dragged next to him. He closed his eye as the earth continued to explode around them, fighting to stay conscious.
He heard more yelling that he couldn’t understand and felt the distortion in the waves of air around him, telling him that someone close was firing weapons at something.
He was gently laid on the ground, and he could feel someone’s knees hit the ground beside him. The weapon's fire continued while he blinked in and out of consciousness.
The next thing he saw was a med tech staring down at him worriedly. Grai could see his mouth moving, but the sound was so painful and distorted he closed his eye and turned away as he threw up; before he blacked out again.
*****
Grai awakened slowly and immediately took stock of himself. His head still hurt pretty badly, but it was manageable. He attempted
to reach out to the Shengari’ and was again met with silence.
Opening his eyes, he tried to sit up. “Hey, hey! Easy baby!”
Grai turned to the beautiful voice of his mate and stared into her slightly blurry face.
Everything hit him at once, and he doubled over as he threw up from the rush of pain the images caused to explode in his head.
Cool, gentle hands helped ease him back onto a soft bed, while a damp cloth brushed across his heated face. He felt an injection, and the pain began to subside to a dull ache.
Opening his eyes he stared into the dark black stare of a doctor he’d seen before, but he couldn’t remember where.
“I am Dr. Amun Nassur. I helped with the enzymes for your son. You suffered severe head trauma. It is going to take a little more time than usual to heal such extensive injuries. Do you understand me?”
Grai concentrated on the man’s words and nodded his head slowly, unwilling to rattle his already pain filled skull more than necessary. He closed his eyes for a moment and saw a flash in his mind of him and Balduen laying on the compact dirt. Opening them quickly he looked at the doctor.
“Balduen?” He asked roughly, his throat a little raw and scratchy.
“He’s in pretty bad shape, like you. However, he’s also alive because of you.” Amun began before he was cut off.
“That was some seriously crazy shit out there bro! You going all Rambo and taking out that chopper as it was coming at you and Balduen! Dude…” Grai was eternally grateful to whoever had shut up his over excited brother Traze. He was barely prepared for his brother’s chatter on a good day. Today was not a good day.
“There’s more than enough time to talk his head off when his head is in better shape. Let’s leave him alone so he can heal. I am very glad to see you are awake and getting better. We have much to discuss when you are well.” Ivint said with a grin, one hand clamped tightly over Traze’s mouth. Grai watched them walk out of the room; Amun followed.