by S. E. Smith
Kelan’s eyes snapped open. He needed to find out if Trisha was on board one of the ships or on the moon’s surface. He reached for the small device his brother Trelon gave him before he left the V’ager. Trelon used some of the modifications his mate devised when she was messing with their communications systems to improve intercepting signals at varying ranges. Trelon developed a handheld device using Cara’s calibrations and some of the crystals. Trelon hoped it would allow them to ‘listen in’ on transmissions sent between two warships. He tested in on some of their small warships already. Kelan set the device and waited to see if he could find out any information about his mate. After several moments, a transmission signal was picked up.
“New Kingdom I, this is the Tri-twin. Request for open communications.” A deep voice said. Kelan’s eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened as he listened to the transmission being sent from the freighter to the Curizan warship.
“This is the New Kingdom I. Authorization approved for communications. Request current status report on the female.” A disembodied voice replied to the Tri-Twin’s request.
“Twelve men confirmed dead. No sign of the female. Current hunters are in progress to return to ship.” The Tri-Twin replied. “Repeat. Twelve of our men confirmed dead. Eight from the hunting parties sent down, four confirmed remains from the shuttle. No confirmation of the female’s body or of the other two missing men.”
“Tri-Twin…” The disembodied voice started to reply before a deep snarl broke through the transmission. Kelan would recognize the voice of his uncle anywhere.
“Send more men down! Find me that bitch and bring her to me. I want her alive so I can tear her heart out while she is watching. Find the other two men that are with her and kill them as examples for not following orders.” Raffvin snarled.
“Sir, the moon’s predators are extremely dangerous after dark fall.” A new voice from the freighter replied. “We…”
“Captain, I suggest you do what you are told or I will blow that tub you call a freighter to the moon’s surface to join the others, do I make myself clear?” Raffvin bit out coldly. “Find the female.” The transmission signal ended.
Kelan fought back a wave of relief at knowing Trisha escaped followed by terror at knowing she was down on a moon known for its savage predators. Kelan sent a command for his symbiosis to take them to the far side of the moon. They would circle back around. He would focus on finding where the shuttle they were talking about landed. Trisha would have left him some type of message.
Several hours later, Kelan stood in the dark watching the small group of men. It appeared there were only four hunters left alive. All four shifted nervously around a small fire peering out into the darkness. Kelan’s keen eyesight could pick out the partially covered shuttle. The covering of branches over it screamed Trisha. Kelan let a cold smile curve his lips. He motioned for his symbiosis to shift into a Werecat. He would kill three of the men immediately saving one for questioning. He listened intently for a few minutes so he could determine which one would give him the most information in the least amount of time.
“Is the captain sending anyone else down?” One of the men asked nervously as he pushed more wood into the fire.
“No.” Came the short response from a huge man with several scars across his face. “Bastard can’t afford to send any more. He’s lost half his crew. If he sends any more he won’t be able to handle the freighter.”
Another man spit in the flames. “He left us to die in this stinking hole. Should have taken the credits and ran at the last spaceport. That other bastard is crazy. He’s going to get us all killed.”
The last man stood up and stretched. “Yes, well, I plan on having a piece of the bitch’s ass before I die. She is a fine looking specimen. I’ll enjoy listening to her scream out my name before I hand her over to Raffvin.” The other men laughed as the man imitated what he would do to Trisha.
A low growl escaped Kelan’s throat at the threat to his mate. He let his dragon’s fury wash over him as he moved out of the shadows. All of the men jumped to their feet as the low growl rumbled through the dark meadow. Two of the men started to raise their laser rifle, they never made it. Bio, in the shape of a massive Werecat struck with deadly precision, slicing through skin, tissue, and bone severing both of the arms holding the rifles. Screams ripped through the air as Kelan breathed out a wave of dragon fire igniting the men on fire as Bio turned to the scarred-face man. The man who threatened to rape Trisha stumbled backwards away from his burning companions in horror. He turned and ran for the dark forests. Bio looked up with a hiss from where scar-face’s body lay twitching on the ground, the contents of his stomach spread out in a grisly, bloody twist of organs across the blood-soaked ground.
Kelan growled out in a low voice as he shifted back to his two-legged form. “He’s mine.”
Bodor pushed through the thick branches, ignoring the cuts and scrapes to his face and hands as he tried to get away from the creatures that killed the other men within a matter of seconds. He tripped several times and fell. The last time he fell he didn’t even bother getting up, he just started crawling until he was pressed against a large tree. He gasped for breath trying to still his racing heart so he could hear any sound. Pulling a long knife out of a sheath at his waist, he slowly stood up listening. The forest itself seemed to realize there was a predator fiercer than anything currently living on the moon. Bodor ran his sweaty palm down his pant leg. He strained to hear the slightest noise. He was about to slide back down against the tree when four gold arms wrapped around him pinning him to the tree.
Kelan stepped out of the dark shadows staring dispassionately at the man as the front of his pants turned dark and the rancid smell of urine filled the air. Kelan let one of his hands shift until the long, sharp claws of his dragon protruded where his own fingers had been. Bio, in the shape of a Pytheon, had one golden arm wrapped around the man’s mouth preventing him from screaming.
Kelan sent his symbiosis a brief command to release the man’s mouth. “Where is she?” He asked coldly.
“How the fuck do I know? Dead probably.” The man replied hoarsely. “Everyone who has been sent down to this miserable moon has died.”
“How long has she been here?” Kelan asked. He knew the longer she was on the moon the more likely it was she was not alive. Kelan drew a long, deep cut down the man’s face when he didn’t answer fast enough. “I won’t ask twice.” Kelan said softly.
Bodor whimpered as blood poured down his face, the metallic scent filling the air. “Four days…We’ve been searching for her for four days.”
Kelan looked at his claw for a moment before he drew it down the man’s other cheek. “Who are the men with her?”
Bodor started sobbing as pain and fear radiated out from him. “How the hell should I know? Wait…wait,” Bodor pleaded as Kelan pushed a claw into his shoulder. Gasping around the pain, he panted out. “They were supposed to stake her out so the predators would eat her alive. Raffvin wants her mate to find her as she’s being eaten. Please, please let me go. I’ve told you everything.”
Kelan rotated the claw listening as the man screamed in pain. “No, you haven’t. Was she harmed?” Kelan gritted out. He needed to know if the crew harmed his mate. If they had, he would hunt every one of the bastards down and kill them. Kill them anyway. His dragon snarled. Kelan felt Bio’s agreement wash through him as a flash of the dead symbioses flared in his mind.
“No…” Bodor whispered hoarsely. “…Not that I know of. The two bastards with her might have done something, I don’t know. What’s the bitch to you anyway?”
Kelan pulled the knife hanging uselessly from the man’s hand. He let his hand shift back until it was normal staring at it for a moment before he looked at the man again with flaming gold eyes.
“I’m her mate.” Kelan growled out right before he buried the knife through the man’s heart and into the tree.
Kelan took a step back letting his head fall back
until he was gazing at one of Quitax’s other moons. He felt his symbiosis reshape into a Werecat. He didn’t even bother to turn and look at the body pinned against the tree. It would be gone by morning. Any number of the predators in the surrounding forest could probably already scent the fresh blood and would come to investigate it. Kelan was not afraid of them for there were few predators fiercer than a full-grown Valdier male dragon and his symbiosis.
Kelan let his eyesight remain enhanced by his dragon. We need to find out if Trisha was able to leave us a message.
It took almost an hour of hunting but Kelan found the hidden message. His legs went weak as he read what she wrote. She pointed him to where she hid a rolled up map. Kelan gazed down at the symbols she taught him. In the dim light of the fire circle, he pulled up a holovid of the moon’s surface. Glancing back and forth between the roughly drawn map on the leaf and the holovid, Kelan let out a loud roar. She was alive and she was moving to the southwest towards a small group of mountains. She would leave him another clue at the fork in the river. It was the last line on the map, written in Valdier which pulled the roar out of him.
I love you, my true mate. Come for me and our son.
Chapter 23
Trisha was working on building a small fire in a knot in the tree they were using for the night. It was their fourth night on the move and they were finally at the foot of the small mountain range Trisha wanted to get to. After the first day, the men realized Trisha really did know how to survive in the thick forests; predators, obstacles, and all.
At first, the men were serious when they said they would protect her and take care of her. They quickly reorganized the survival packs before they left the meadow giving her one that was practically empty. It took several miles before the men threw their hands up in the air when they realized Trisha was better at hiking through the forests then they were. They rested for the designated ten minutes on the hour and at every stop Jaron would check on Trisha and the baby to make sure they were doing well. They covered almost six miles before Trisha stopped suddenly looking around and listening. The two men stood silently watching the surrounding forest, trying to see what Trisha sensed. Trisha suddenly motioned for the men to start climbing. Trisha went up first, followed by Jaron. Terac was almost to the first limb when a massive creature burst through the undergrowth charging at him. It resembled a cross between a rhinoceros and a Komodo Dragon to Trisha. She realized instantly the thick hide would protect it from any laser fire. Dropping down onto the branch above Terac, she and Jaron gripped Terac’s arms and pulled him up as fast as they could. Even so, they lost one of their survival packs as it was ripped off of Terac’s back. Trisha said it was actually a good thing that it happened as anyone following them would think they didn’t survive. After that, they decided to use the trees as much as possible and began their turn to the north.
That was three days ago. Earlier this afternoon they finally made it to the fork in the river not far from the mountains. Trisha laid out a series of rocks and branches as a message for Kelan. If he remembered the symbols, it would lead him to the map she left in the hollowed out section of a rock near the river. Trisha closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift back to the last time Kelan held her in his arms. Kelan was above her moving slowly deep inside her. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, cocooning her against his hard length as he pulled almost all the way out before pushing back into her deeply. She remembered looking up into his eyes and thinking there could never be anything more beautiful than belonging to him. He made her feel loved, protected, needed. Trisha bit her lip as she opened her eyes and stared at the tiny flicker of flames beginning to burn in the dry moss. Tears burned the back of her eyes as she gently gripped the thin strand of gold around her neck and sent a message for Kelan to find her and their baby soon. She missed him so much.
Releasing the gold thread, she looked up and smiled at the two men working on building their sleeping platform. She remembered giggling at them the first night she showed them how to make one. She explained it served many purposes. First, it would protect them from the elements. Second, it provided some protection from the insects and other creatures of the night and helped keep them less visible from the ground. Third, she pointed down towards the ground and reminded them it was a long, long way to fall out of bed. It began to rain later that night and the guys agreed it was nice sleeping in a warm, dry bed. Neither one of them admitted to her it was more because she was curled up in between them. Trisha was blissfully unaware of the effect she was having on the two men.
“You know it is an impossible dream.” Jaron said quietly as he threaded thick, broad leaves through the branches they tied to the top of their sleeping platform.
Jaron noticed how protective and attentive Terac was of Trisha. He also noticed at night when they took turns sleeping that Terac waited until Trisha fell into an exhausted sleep before he would pull her close against his warm body and wrap his arms protectively around her. He made sure he woke before she did knowing she would be uncomfortable with his desire to be her mate. Jaron couldn’t blame Terac. He watched as she bent awkwardly forward to blow on the dry moss. She was the most unusual female he ever met. He smiled softly as she sat back and rubbed her lower back. In the last few days her stomach had swelled with the child she was carrying. She seemed to glow with an internal beauty.
“I am not the only one dreaming.” Terac said as he glanced at Trisha out of the corner of his eye. “I would take her for my mate in a heartbeat if she would have me.” He replied sadly.
It did not bother Terac that Trisha was rounded with another warrior’s child. He would raise it as his own if she would have him. He often lay at night with her wrapped in his arms wishing it was. At first, her dragon did not like the two men so close to Trisha. It was only when Jaron was checking on the baby that Jaron conveyed the need to protect Trisha and keep her warm during the frigid nights. It was the honest caring of the men that allowed her dragon to finally let Trisha get some much needed rest. Terac worried she was pushing herself too hard. He pushed up and walked across the thick branch to where Trisha was kneeling.
“You should rest for a while.” Terac said quietly. “Jaron and I have finished the sleeping platform.”
Trisha smiled her thanks but shook her head. “It will be dark soon and all of us will go to bed. I’m good. Dinner should be ready soon. Want to guess what we are having?” Trisha teased as she rubbed her lower back again.
Jaron grinned as he came over. He flicked a look at Terac who nodded and moved around behind Trisha. Jaron chuckled as Trisha let out a startled yelp before she finally relaxed back against Terac who was gently massaging her shoulders.
“Hum, how about roasted kocta nuts and fresh fruit?” Jaron said as he used a branch to turn the large nuts in the hollowed out knot in the tree.
At first he thought Trisha was nuts for lighting a fire in a tree but he soon realized she looked for shallow indentions in the tree then coated it with layers of mud or clay creating a type of burning bowl. She insulated the bottom with wet moss first so it would not heat up. Both he and Terac asked Trisha a million questions about her world. The females there were so different from any they ever heard about. It was when she talked of her father that struck Terac the hardest. The love and admiration for him was clearly evident.
They put the fire out as darkness descended not wanting to take a chance of anyone seeing it. Trisha was in their sleeping platform unbraiding her long hair. Jaron surprised Trisha with a comb he whittled on the second day. He even proudly showed her all the wood shavings he carefully rolled up in a leaf for their fire later that night. Now, it became her nightly ritual to unbraid the long length and comb it out before re-braiding it for the night. She was just starting to comb through the long strands when Terac entered the platform and slipped around her quietly.
“Let me.” Terac said softly.
“Terac…” Trisha started to say but stopped when Terac laid his fingers gently against h
er lips.
“I know.” He said sadly. “Let me have this memory…please?”
Trisha bit her lip to keep it from quivering. She gave Terac a small, crooked smile before turning her back to him. He and Jaron were so good to her. How could she deny him this little joy?
Terac ran the comb slowly through Trisha hair enjoying the feel of the silky strands as they tried to curl around his fingers. He let his fingers touch the tight curls pulling them up slightly to see them glitter in the bright glow of one of Quitax’s other moons.
“I’ve never seen this color hair before or felt any so soft and curly.” Terac murmured under his breath.
Trisha giggled. “My dad thought it was a nightmare when I was little. I was always running through the woods and sometimes I would get tree sap in it. He would spend hours trying to get it out.”