by Maia Starr
“This way, follow me. Dekan, stick close to me. Do not wander off,” Amelia said, grabbing her child's hand. I followed them across the rope bridge from her home toward a massive tree. We went through the arch, and there was a spiral staircase inside. I quickly followed her down the stairs. There was a lot of chaos and shouting as others moved down the stairs as well. The commotion in the village was getting louder.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Into the jungle. There is a secret underground bunker. It is where all of the females and children are heading. We must go quickly,” she said.
We emerged from the massive tree and out onto the ground. Amelia grabbed her child's hand and looked at me. Then she began to run at a fast pace; I ran after her into the jungle along a dense path. There were many running in the same direction. Overhead, I could see many full dragons and hybrids flying, as well as the hum of ships criss-crossing. It was complete chaos in my heart was beating so fast.
“We are almost there!” Amelia shouted at me over her shoulder.
Soon the jungle cleared, and there were many females and children lined up and entering a massive hole in the ground. It wasn't a raw hole; it was more like the entrance to a tunnel that went straight down with stairs.
“That is it. That is where we are going,” Amelia said.
“I understand,” I said. Then she squatted down next to her child and began to comfort him. I looked around at all of the females doing the same, at least those that had children. Others were just helping where they could as they entered the tunnel. Finally, we were at the entrance, and I followed Amelia and her child in. It was a good four flights of stairs before we reached a massive room. It looked like an airplane hangar.
“This is massive,” I said.
“Yes, let's find a place to camp,” Amelia said.
I followed her to a couple of beds in the corner. She sat on one next to her child, and I sat on the other.
“Each bed has a basket underneath. Look, there will be food and water,” she said to me. I watched as she took out a basket from underneath her bed. She opened the water and gave it to her child. I took the basket out from under my bed and put it on top. I drank some of the water. I could not eat. My stomach was in knots.
“How long do these battles last?”
“It is different. I have only seen one before, and it lasted less than an hour. But I have heard that in the past they could last days.”
“Days? That is insane,” I said.
“I know. But you must not worry yourself. Ravinn and the commander are excellent warriors. You have nothing to fear. They will return to us,” she said.
I wondered if she was saying it because she believed it, or if she was trying to persuade herself that was the truth.
“It is just that… I am pregnant,” I said to her.
She smiled a big smile, “Congratulations, Maria. That is excellent news. I am happy for you and the commander.
“Thank you, but now I am extremely worried. What if he does not come back to me and I am in this condition?”
“I am in the same condition,” she said.
“Oh my God. You are right. I am sorry. You have two children now; I know that you are worried just as I am.”
“I am. But we must not let that worry harm us. Did you have time to eat breakfast?”
“No, we had only just awoken when we heard the news.”
“Then let us eat. I did not eat either, and we are both with child, and we cannot let the children inside of us suffer because of our nerves. We must put something in our bellies.”
“You are right,” I said glad that she was here with me. She was helping and very calm. She knew more than I did about this entire crazy alien life. I rummaged through the basket and pulled out some dried fish and dried fruit and began to eat. Amelia did the same and also gave some to Dekan.
About ten minutes, later I was full. I put the basket aside, and that was when I heard a loud boom. I looked at Amelia.
“It is starting. That was the sound of battle,” she said.
“Oh God,” I said as I stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the bed.
“I am so worried,” I said.
“I as well,” she said. But then she turned to her child and began to keep him occupied. She had a light conversation with him, a cheerful one. She had to keep him from being nervous as well.
“Come back to me, my love,” I whispered to myself.
Then I walked down the aisle, away from the bed. I walked around the entire half of the room and was inching my way toward the entrance. I didn't plan on it, but as I watched everyone huddled together and keeping each other calm, I knew that I could not stay inside this bunker. I at least wanted to climb the stairs to see what I could hear. Perhaps I could hear warriors talking on a radio and know what was going on. I climbed one flight of stairs, saying that I would stop at the top, but then I climbed another and another; before I knew it, I was at the very top of the stairs. There was no one standing there; I thought it was strange. I assumed there would be warriors keeping guard, but maybe they were all needed for this fight. That's how massive it was. I looked at the panel on the wall. There was a red button and a green one; it was not hard to figure out which one would open and close the tunnel. I took a deep breath. Cerik would be really pissed if he found out that I left the bunker. But what if he never returned anyway? I needed to see what was going on. I needed my own peace of mind to get through this. I was not one to follow the rules.
I pressed the green button, and the entrance began to slowly slide open. It was so slow that I was able to step out and reach my hand in to hit the red button. It began to close behind me as I stepped onto the ground of the jungle. I waited until it was completely closed. There was no one outside the bunker, and I could hear the loud chaos of battle in the distance. There were blaster guns and bombs going off. I quickly ran for the path that led back to the village. I ran hard and fast, trying to stay under the cover of the trees. I realized how stupid I was to do this, but I needed to know. I needed to see.
Finally, I emerged from the jungle into the village. I ran across as fast as I could to the beach. Once I got there, I hid behind a large amount of brush. I was on my knees as I watched. What I saw in front of me made my mouth fall open. It was absolutely intense and chaotic. I had never seen a battle before. Over the ocean, about four hundred yards off the shore, was a massive battle. There were two large ships that seemed to be the center of it all. Then there were smaller ships that were engaged in battle chasing each other and firing at each other. But what really made me feel complete shock was the fact that there were Draqua, both hybrid and the full dragons, fighting each other without a ship. They were flying around on their own wings. They were shooting blaster guns at each other as well as fire from their mouths. Some were fighting hand-to-hand combat in the air and spiraling toward the water. I could not believe the scale of what was happening. This was bad; it was really bad. How could anyone survive this type of fight? How could Cerik survive?
As I watched, it looked like it was very obvious that our warriors were trying to keep the opposition from reaching the village. My eyes looked to the two massive ships. Then I thought I saw Cerik. His long black hair and his physical form were something that I knew well. But if it was him, I could not believe what he was doing. I was absolutely shocked and pissed off that he would do such a thing. I saw him fly and spread his wings wide as he jumped out of a small ship that was flying around one of the bigger ships. He flew to the ship and landed on top of it.
“Jesus! What are you doing, Cerik? Are you absolutely insane!” I said to myself. Panic set in as I saw his form crawl on top of the large ship. He was making his way to the massive windshield. What the hell was he doing? Then I saw laser blast emerge from his gun as he shot at the windshield. The entire windshield broke apart. Was he trying to get inside that ship? Why would he put himself directly in front of those opposition warriors like that? I was fi
lled with panic as I watched him. He crawled in through the windshield, and I saw a warrior being thrown out of the windshield. I could not tell exactly what was going on now that Cerik was inside that ship. But I did know that he was a very stupid Draqua for attempting such a thing. But he was also very courageous and an overall badass. This was what a hero looked like: an alien Dragon shifter hero. He was mine, and I was proud to call him the father of my child.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
COMMANDER CERIK HADE
This was unlike any battle I had ever been in. Usually, we could fight over a large area, with our only concern being to take out as many opposition as possible. But this was different. Our goal was to keep them away from the island. Now we knew that the large ship was carrying the virus and we could not let it over the village. This made it unlike any other battle I had ever been in. Not only was it a battle that meant fighting to the death, but it was one that was about the future of our entire race. We could not let that virus be sprayed on top of the village. It would cause a lot of damage to the females, and it would stop our race, making us have to take hundreds of human females from Earth, but would they be able to come to the village after that anyway? We did not know how long this virus would be active in the village once it was sprayed. It could be hundreds of years, and we would have to completely relocate. All of it was detrimental and there was a lot on the line. That was why my crazy plan had to work; we had no other choice.
“When we are close enough, I am going to jump out of the ship and fly to the large opposition ship. I'm going to take out the windshield and shoot the pilot. I'm going to enter the windshield.”
“Are you insane?” Ravinn said.
“Yes, that is possible. But it is the only plan we have, and we don't have enough time to come up with another. It is going to work. Now listen. Once I take out the pilot, I am going to set the ship on autopilot with coordinates to leave the planet and head toward the moon. Once I do that, I am going to come out of the windshield. Wait until you have visibility on me flying out. I will give you the signal and then you will follow the ship out of the atmosphere. Only when it is a safe distance away from Kelon, hit it with the missiles. Vaporize it in space. Do you understand?” I said.
“Damn, that is so crazy that it just might work,” Ravinn said.
“It has to. It is the only plan we have. Now I'm going to head for the door. Radio to every single warrior not to fire on that ship. Tell them it carries the virus and cannot be shot.”
“On it,” Ravinn said as he got on the communication. I headed for the door and opened it and flew out.
Moments later, I was blasting the windshield on the large ship. I shot the pilot directly; he was dead before I even entered. I jumped the ship through the windshield. A warrior was rushing at me. I punched him and then shot him in the gut. I threw him out the windshield. I turned and saw Ephane. I was shocked that he was on the ship, but then again, this was his plan. He had fear in his eyes, and he ran away from me down the hall. I pushed the pilot out of the seat and began to type in the coordinates and hit the autopilot. It engaged. The ship began to make a sharp U-turn back toward space. I ran to the back of the ship looking for Ephane. I had a feeling he could not be up to anything good. Plus, here was my chance to get rid of him. He was too much of a danger because he had so much knowledge about the village and our ways. I knew that Ravinn was expecting me to emerge from the windshield, but it would have to wait. I only hoped I could get to Ephane and be rid of him before the ship left the atmosphere. Once it left the atmosphere, I would not be able to fly out and survive.
“Come out, Ephane! Come out and face me, you coward!” I shouted as I searched the ship. I made my way down to the cargo in the belly of the ship shouting these words. I heard a ruckus down there and followed the sound. I found Ephane near some tanks pressing some buttons. This could not be good.
“Stay back! Stay away, or I will press this button. I will release a virus into the ocean!”
“Don't touch it!” I yelled at him. I put my hands in the air in surrender, but I still had my gun in my right hand.
“Do you know what this is, Commander? I have come up with a virus that will make all human females barren. They will never be able to produce offspring again. I have these two tanks filled with it. If I press this button, it will be released.”
“Don't do that,” I said.
“I will release it. It is not what I had planned. I was going to release it over the village, but releasing it over the ocean will have to do. It should still have an effect on anyone that enters the water,” he said with a proud smile on his face.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“I want you to get off this ship. I want to live,” he said.
“If I get off this ship, you will release the virus. If I stay on the ship, you will release the virus. Tell me why I should get off if the outcome is the same?” I said to him.
“If you leave the ship now and let me live then I will not release the virus. We will retreat,” he said.
“Why should I believe you? Take your word for it? I don’t think so,” I said.
“Well, what choice do you have? Take my word for it, and at least there’s a chance I won’t do it,” he said.
“Fine, I will leave. But first, answer me this one question. What did you do to Maria? Did you experiment on her?”
“Oh yes. Your human female mate that you went to Earth to get. The entire reason I caught you. I knew that I should have kept a better eye on you, but I did not know your skills. I had never heard of you and thought nothing of you.”
“What did you do to her?!” I shouted.
“Nothing. She was scheduled to have the virus tested on her, but we only got as far as putting her to sleep and examining her to see if she was fit to be tested. Then you escaped before we could move to the second stage.”
I sighed in relief. I was glad to know that.
“Thank you. But there is something that you should know. I planned on getting caught by you on that space station. We have been onto you for some time. I went to Earth to get a human female in order to make it look real. Then I set the coordinates to cross in front of the area that the space station scouts use. I got on that ship on purpose. We knew that you were planning something big.”
“You did what? Impossible.” Ephane was filled with rage. I could see it in his eyes as he began to tremble in anger. “How did you know of this? Who told you? How did you know that I had a plan?”
“We always know what the opposition is up to. That was why I got caught on purpose. I found your file, the recipe for your virus. We have been planning for some time that you are going to use it. We have been coming up with a vaccine.”
“Impossible,” he said.
“I just thought you should know that before I leave this ship. You kept your word you are not going to release it, and you are going to retreat. I will leave this ship now. I will let you live,” I said as I took a step sideways as though I was going to leave him. In my peripheral vision, I saw him move his hand away from the button and stand up straight.
Bam! I turned quickly, before he could react and shot him. I shot him between the eyes. He fell backward, dead. I rushed over to the console and disengaged the device. The entire console went from being lit up to completely dark. I had done it. I looked at Ephane one more time and spat on his face. “That's for Maria.”
Then I ran toward the front of the ship and flew directly out of the windshield. There was still plenty of blue sky and sunlight, and I knew that I was still on the planet. I saw Ravinn following closely, and I nodded at him. He gave me a signal, and I flew in the opposite direction back down toward the ocean. I flew back into the thick of battle. But I knew that something was different. The battle was not so thick. It was obvious to me that we were on the brink of winning. Then I noticed more ships, opposition ships heading straight for me.
“Shit,” I said. Then I realized they weren't heading for me; they were followi
ng the larger ship. They thought that Ephane was still in control of that ship and was retreating. This plan worked out better than I’d thought. I immediately flew horizontal away from the ships coming at me. I only hoped that Ravinn would fly in the opposite direction after he hit the ship with the missile. Because now all of these opposition ships were flying in his direction. I flew toward the village. Then I came around the shoreline flying along it, seeing if any of the opposition ships had made it to shore. I did not see any. But as I approached the shoreline of the village, I saw something that I did not think I would see. I definitely was not expecting it. There was a figure standing on the beach. There was no mistaking that ample figure.
“Maria? What the hell?” I said to myself. What the hell is she doing? Why is she not with Amelia in the bunker? I knew why. Because she was stubborn and fiery. She had a mind of her own and did whatever she wanted. I knew that she probably wanted to watch this battle. She was curious and wanted to see what an alien battle looks like. So she did not go to the bunker and instead came to this beach to watch. She was absolutely dumb, or incredibly courageous. It was funny how those traits went hand-in-hand very often. I looked back out toward the battle and saw that we had sustained a victory. Almost all of the opposition were retreating back into the atmosphere. As I looked up into the sky, I saw a quick burst; it was hard to see in the sunlight, but I knew that it was Ravinn hitting the large ship with a missile. I smiled. “That's my Draqua!” I said. Then I turned my attention back toward the beach. Now that I knew that victory was in play I could handle this situation with Maria. Handle her. In truth, I was sort of glad that she was so close. There was no one that I wanted to see now than her. Now that all the chaos was over and the virus had been taken away, I wanted to be with her, kiss her. I flew close over her and she waved in the air, waving me down. She had a big smile on her face, and I recognized an elder Draqua near her. It was Pila, the village fisherman. I flew straight for her. She was going to need a spanking for being a very bad human.