Kreux

by C. R Corbin

  "Oh I think I saw something." she stated while gazing down and I nearly lost it. I began to thrash and swim my way back to the ship but she just ended up laughing and mocking me once I did so.

  I grimaced and glanced back at her while we swam around for a while. As far as I knew we had already scanned the waters and there weren't any creatures nearby that I had to worry about so that was out of the list of concerns. All that we had to do now was to relax, to just play and relax.

  The bad news would come later.

  I run the crystalline waters through my fingers as she swims over to me and captures me in an embrace. I hold onto her and gazed into those blue eyes of her's that seem to match the shade of the waters. She looked so innocent, so affectionate yet again it was incredible to see her in such a light. I bite my lip as I leaned in and grasped her in a hug. I pulled her with my hands clasping her back and she gasped as our bodies touched. My muscular physique tensed up while my abdomen dashed against her curves.

  "This is nice." She whispered into my ear and I nodded.

  I was inclined to agree.

  "You want to see something? You have any diving equipment?" she asked and I nodded as I looked back towards the ship at Koil who was busy preparing everything.

  We slipped on wetsuits and the tanks of air before diving back down into the waters. I accompanied her as she swam down to the ground level and looked around. There was nothing down here but rocks and large creatures with many legs that clung to the rocks. There seemed to be bubbles shooting up at points and the sun seems to radiate down on us in streaks of white light. The sight of these large colorful serpents running past us gave me pause but I was so focused on her, even with all this equipment on she seems to be even more beautiful than the last time that I saw her.

  She was wondrous.

  Her long brown hair flowed behind her while that wetsuit clung to every inch of skin on her. She was so lovely, so beautiful. Her curves shifted under the light of the surface as she swims around and glanced at the various colorful rocks and plants that dwelled beneath the surface. The air pockets that we had to take were quite small, tiny canisters that had enough air to last a while, there was a single tube that fed into a mask that the individual would wear and that was basically it. The humans had presented their diving technology and it just seems to be so elementary. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were much more suited for the waters than Morelens were but we had made more advancements. To think that you could die from diving with a piece of equipment like that, absurd!

  We surfaced after a bit more fun down in the waters and she walked down into the hull of the ship to change out while I remained on the deck. I began to strip off my wetsuit when Koil tapped me on the shoulder, from the look on his face, it was apparent that the news that he had to tell me was decidedly, not good.

  "Yeah what is it?" I asked and he holds up the hologram in front of me.

  "He's starting to mount up the assault. Looks like we're going to have to send more reinforcements but I think that he's really putting everything that he's got into invading Durol. Who knows? He might even try to blow half the moon up." suggested Koil as he surveyed the article and I grunted.

  "I'll have a look at it later." I muttered.

  "The eastern frontier is being struck the hardest. He's taking advantage of all the mountains there and running the troops ragged as we try to defend it. He's hiding in the caves, waiting for us to cross in an attempt to ambush us. On the western front, where the rivers are, we're seeing a whole lot of bombings on our ships. We think he's shifting to a campaign that is focused more on guerilla warfare more than anything." stated Koil.

  "It's solely a matter of attrition I suppose. Although I do think that he's likely planning something much bigger than mere guerilla tactics." I mused.

  "That's right sire, he's mounting a serious force near the southern cities and is waiting to strike at any moment. Our naval blockades are waiting around his corner of the continent but it looks like he's drawing back his ships for something big. There's no way he would give this much control over the water to us if he wasn't planning something."

  "What do you think it is?" I asked aloud.

  "Well from our reports I guess that he knows that most of our forces are surrounding him at the moment. We have him covered on air, land, ground, space. He's probably going to try to rush us at a specific point using his superior numbers and speed. With the tech that he has, he's been able to block out our spy satellites so we have no idea where he's gathering exactly. We have been monitoring the activity of his ships on the outside and it looks like they're all gathering around the continent as well, almost like he's trying to break through the shielding.

  "So he's trying to initiate one last big assault in the hopes that it will cripple us and force us to move back."

  "That's right. Perhaps there's more that we don't entirely know about. We're currently stationing more ships around a corner of the continent and accelerating the rate of reinforcements at the frontlines. We have an equal number stationed at every line and town just to make sure, a single attack could be feasibly held off but there's also a high chance that he breaks through our line and gains access to the rest of our troops which would possibly lead to...

  "Devastation." I finished.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Rebecca

  I had heard the discussion upstairs and my heart couldn't help but sink into my stomach at the thought of Scoran trying to govern my home again. It brought me back to the original goal that I had regarding even being here.

  I needed to kill that man, I need to send him before he did what he did to our moon to anyone else.

  I knew that the offer from Kreux was still up but during that entire time I had been so...distracted by him. I was so preoccupied with being with him that I never once gave a thought to what was happening back home. I never thought about what could have been brewing back on Scoran other than what Emily had told me.

  Was I getting distracted? Was I losing myself? What happened to the girl that was the skeptic? That would question the moves of the princes?

  And was I really falling for Kreux?

  It was a strange question at first, sure. I didn't know how I felt exactly but every time I was around him, this warmth that was festering in my heart only seemed to increase, I yearned to be with him and do so much more. The prospect of being his mate was actually...appealing to me now. I wanted to but I knew that there was something else that was keeping me from fully giving in to the offer.

  There was the initial roadblock toward the mating bond succeeding in that he was a prince and I was a girl whose life had been ruined by princes time and time again already. Scoran hadn't left a good impression on me and I doubted that Kreux would have but he did. He was different, he wasn't a savage brute like his brother, he was actually a good man.

  Now, what was keeping me from love?

  At times I still felt guarded around him. I didn't want to reveal everything to the man in fear that he was just using me in the long run but the more I thought about it the more I concluded that he had no reason to put up a show for this long. He had no reason to treat me this nicely other than the fact that he...wanted to.

  As strange as it sounded, it was the only sane thing that I could come up with. The next day after we went to the ocean I cornered him and begged him to take me back down to the shooting range, it was one of the only moments I actually felt like my old self and not some girl that was freaking out over a man.

  It felt good to have this darkness in me once more.

  "Now calm yourself and aim it, pull back the safety and feel the laser coil in the barrel." Kreux said as he stood beside me.

  I was standing in front of his large hole in the wall where the gun had sat. It was a low power laser gun that could barely run through a layer of paper and only just singe flesh. Kreux had kept some water and med gel on the side in case I had an accident but I was prepared. I
sighed as I pulled the trigger and a beam flew out and struck the paper. A small hole singed in the corner of it, I needed to be more accurate.

  "Something's bothering you huh? You heard about Durol." he said from behind me and I sighed.

  He could read me like an open book.

  "This doesn't concern you. Stay here with me and let my troops handle the mess." he stated and I bite my lip as the fury began to trickle into the corner of my eyes.

  How dare he say such a thing.

  I set the gun down on the table and looked back at him while he leaned against the wall. A variety of weapons were behind him and he was staring at me with a worried expression. I marched up to him and stood about two feet away while snarling.

  "You don't get to tell me that. This is my home and if that bastard has any chance of taking it back I deserve to go back and help. Emily is telling me that you're taking recruits." I snarled and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Don't think that you just control the place and that I have no attachment to it. I grew up there, I slept on the grass and watched the clouds, you didn't. How dare you say that it is none of my concern?!" I questioned him with my eyes narrowed. In fact, I think that this was the first time in forever that I was actually openly hostile with him.

  "I can understand your anger." he admitted. "I know that it's hard to watch someone just step in to handle something that you want to protect but that's the way it is. You are nowhere near strong enough to go help and even if you were I would not risk my mate in such a foolish battle." he started and I grimace.

  "He killed and destroyed everyone and everything that I have ever loved..." I trailed off.

  "And I will make him pay." he stated.

  "Maybe you will, but I should be the one that's there to fight back! It doesn't feel right that I'm out of the line of fire just because you chose me! If you really did love me then you would understand that...I can't just leave my sister there..." I trailed off and glanced at the ground, tears threatened to fall and I clenched my hands while the smell of burning paper wafted past my nose.

  I just felt so helpless and spoiled being here. I could help in some way, I just had to. I knew how to shoot the gun as a result of his help and I was okay in a fight thanks to some lessons that my dad had taught me when I was young but...to be there while everyone else was still the line of fire, I couldn't have that.

  "Turn around." he said to me.

  "Why?" I asked questioningly and he sighed.

  "Just do it." he said and twirled his fingers as I turned to another target that had been lined up for me.

  "Take the rifle and show me that you're serious about this." he said to me and I smiled as I gripped the rifle and lifted it.

  Time to show him I guess.

  I cocked back the safety and readied my finger over the trigger as i watched the paper snap into place. This was something that the Morelen's used as a pistol and it was more of a rifle to me, but it was still rather powerful. I tugged the trigger and a searing hole appeared in the middle of the paper and I sigh a breath of relief.

  "Again." he announced.

  "Alright," I said with a smile creeping across my lips.

  I continued to fire off shots at the papers every time that I saw them. The holes always appeared in the same place, the middle, perhaps that emotional dump that I just had, gave me the serenity that was needed to make these shots again. After the pistol runs out of energy from its cell i set it down and turned back to him as he stood there in front of me with his arms folded.

  "I understand you. As strange as that may sound I know why you want this man dead and I want the same. I do not relish the thought of him being here any more than you do but you are not a soldier." he explained with a tired expression. "My men will handle the fighting. You fighting will merely get in the way of things."

  As angry as i was over that last statement I knew that he was right. I could fire a gun but I couldn't match morelens in hand to hand and I didn't have the physicality needed to effectively maneuver over the battlefield.

  "Then perhaps we can reach a compromise. We could go back to Durol and help my town rebuild, they need all the help that they can get and you can surely provide moral support for the soldiers that you have stationed there." I said confidently and he sighed.

  "That would put you in the line of danger." he explained with an exasperated expression.

  "Please..." I pleaded with him, my eyes drew upon every ounce of sorrow and sadness that they could in an attempt to coax him.

  I would have tried to seduce him in order for him to accept the offer but such a thing would have been cruel, this man had already done so much and I didn't want to lead him on any more than I already did. Besides, I was already ...falling for him as strange as that sounded to me. I never thought that I could ever love again after what happened but here I was, leaving myself bare for the world to see while I made myself vulnerable for him. I only cried in his presence once and that was upon my arrival, this was the second.

  "You're afraid." he observed with lowered eyes. "Very well then, we will leave as soon as possible if it will put you at ease." he admitted.

  I could barely contain my relief and gratitude.

  And I tried to show that at times but he was so goddamn stubborn!

  "You don't have to sleep down there." I stated that night as we ate dinner. He raised an eyebrow to question me but I knew that he knew what I meant. I didn't want him curled up in the guest rooms while he had the main room available to him. It just didn't seem right that the prince would be treated this way.

  "I thought you would be uncomfortable." he said as he sawed into his Etheria flank. I was eating something called charki soup which was a big dish back on Morel. It tasted quite good too. Had chunks of meat and vegetables in it with this strange bulbous grain.

  "Me? No, i'm comfortable, it's not awkward at all. After all, we're going to have to do it eventually right? I am your mate." I suggested and he smirked but didn't say anymore.

  "So you've come around to the idea." he stated.

  "A bit. I have to do some further research." I purred which was something that I didn't even know I could actually do up until that moment.

  "Oh really now? Anyway, I can help with that?" he asked.

  We tried to trade flirts while finishing the rest of our meal. I was seated directly next to him so I could touch his thigh and he could brush my cheek as much as I liked. Once our meals were finished we just sat there and traded lustful barbs with one another for quite a while until there was an interruption.

  "My lord." a voice called out from the entrance to the dining room. We both flushed and stood up immediately to greet Mepha who had just stepped in. She smirked at us knowingly and motioned for the prince to leave the room, strangely enough, he did as he was told.

  "How the hell do you have that much control over him?" I asked her.

  "I just do. Now come with me to the medical office, I have to give you a checkup." She said in that cold tone of her's. Her posture, her expression, all of it oozed formality and majesty which was something that I was quite uncomfortable with.

  I followed her through the halls until we reached these sets of sliding doors that move to the side to reveal something similar to an elevator platform. We don't have many elevators back in my town so this was quite the surprise. We stepped in and she pressed in a code in a language that I presumed was Morelen until we were off.

  "I see the prince has been making great progress in claiming you." she said matter of factly and I blushed.

  "Excuse me?" I muttered.

  "He's obviously going to have you by the end of this all, he's taking his time. By the time you two are in bed together tonight, I presume that he will make his move." She states and my face flushed as I shook and tried to get those lustful thoughts out of my head. The rather "graphic" dreams that I have been having had only increased in intensity thus far and I wasn't going to let this woman make them any worse
. If I had one of those dreams with him in the bed I wasn't sure what I could do to control myself.

  "But then again the prince has you in his sights and there is obviously a plan that he has involving you otherwise he would never have gone to these lengths. His love for you knows no bounds in my opinion and I believe that soon enough that you will realize your own affections." She stated as she stepped out into cold sterile white halls that shared their shade with chalk more than anything else. I continued to follow her with my toes barely nipping her heels before we turned a corner, the sliding doors opened as I walked into her medical office which was a simple medical bed, a cart that had various tools, implements, and drugs on them, as well as a counter space for her to write down notes. There was a holographic projector eye attached to the wall so that's where I presumed her computer would be.

  "Wow." I muttered to myself as I looked around the office, she flicks her wrist and gripped one of the tools on the cart. "Get ready." she says.

  I stand at attention and wait for her to approach as I see her lift this gun-like apparatus, with various lasers coming out of the rather flat barrel, up and pull the trigger. These lasers dart over my body and whipped across my face as I sighed and let them do their work. There was a beeping noise as they acted and I shivered as the clicking soon ended and she gazed at the results.

  "All clear on that end but I want to make sure manually." she said as she set the gun down and slipped these gloves over her hands before she reached out and motioned for me to open my mouth. "Just going to check some things."

  "You're trained to treat humans too? How long did it take you to learn it?" I inquired as I spread my lips and let her shine a light into my throat. The white light glimmered on my tongue as she scanned the inside of my mouth for a brief moment before tugging the light away.

  "About a few years. Ever since it was said that the prince would be needing a human mate I stepped up my knowledge. Before I kept a passing knowledge of it to treat whoever would stop by for visits." she muttered as she set the tool back down.