by Vi Voxley
The man had a way of earning the hatred of people who'd never met him long before he gave them a reason to.
"Locate him at once," Harbor bellowed to the bridge. "Send guards to make sure our Terran guest is protected in the port-side walkway. Get a visual on her and report!"
As the docking bay came into view, Harbor regretted leaving Riley alone. He should have stayed by her side, made sure she was safe and out of harm's way. In his heart, Harbor knew he was supposed to be a commander first, but that was difficult for a bonded man. His fated took priority over everything and no Gargon would have blamed him for that.
"We move on," Cole said as though he was reading his mind, but Harbor noticed his face was ashen too under the green tattoos.
The first Eridons had noticed them and charged them at once, roaring their gargling battle cries. They were humanoid monsters to Harbor's eyes, tall and lean, very strong but wiry like they were compressed somehow.
Eridons had dark gray skin underneath their red armors and they were armed with long, spear-like weapons with poisoned blades. The gleaming yellow eyes of the enemies burned with loathing as they rushed the commanders without fear.
That was the one thing Harbor could begrudgingly respect about the Eridons. Unlike some other species of the League, Eridons didn't show fear when they had something they wanted in their sights.
He and Cole met them head-on. The Gargon warriors rallied behind them to face the attackers who had the gall to board their ship. Still thinking about the abnormality of that, Harbor drowned himself into the melee, always going where the fighting was thickest.
He quickly lost sight of Cole who naturally searched out the best fighters, regardless of what else happened.
The sword in Harbor's hand split open, turning into a double-bladed long weapon with a shaft long enough for him to wrap both hands around it if needed. With grim, firm stubbornness, Harbor pressed on, not letting a single Eridon past him, never taking a step back. He always advanced, not even taking the time to breathe deeply.
He lost track of time. The Eridons were vicious fighters, not as mindless as many species in the League were. They weren't the type to be driven by instinct. There was a brutal, merciless creed behind their battle stances, making them easy to read and hard to fight. At all times, Harbor was targeted by several enemies and he had to keep an eye on all of them.
His armor took hits, but the enemies were made to pay for each strike. One by one, they fell under the merciless rise and fall of his weapon as though he was reaping them up.
A few managed to block the blade, allowing others to try and stab him but Harbor never got trapped for very long. Once, one of Cole's daggers came flying through the air, embedding itself flawlessly into the throat of his opponent.
It was quickly obvious to him that he was fighting cannon fodder. These weren't the real enemies, only distractions. Out of the corner of his eye, Harbor could see Cole coming to the same conclusion if his expression was anything to go by.
Harbor wanted to yell out something, tell the other warlord they needed to clear the bay before sweeping the ship when his comm link came live again.
"Commander! I can't get a hold of Miss Riley's guards. The last report was that they had sighted Magorra!"
Harbor didn't even reply. Cutting off the head of his last opponent, leaving the rest to his warriors, he and Cole turned and ran back to where they'd left Riley.
10
Riley
Her guards lay dead at the door. The gun they'd brought her was shaking in her hand.
Riley couldn't take her eyes off them. She felt sick to her stomach, partly from shock and partly from the gory sight before her.
She had been in warzones, seen more than her fair share of corpses – much more than a woman her age should have witnessed. Not once had Riley felt queasy or considered herself one of those people who stood mutely when death stared them in the eye. She had always figured she’d go screaming and kicking, fighting to the very last breath.
That was before the most savage-looking man she'd ever seen knocked the door off its hinges and stood there over a massacre he was clearly responsible for.
Riley found herself unable to look away from the Eridon, mostly because the alternative was to glance at the bodies again. They were torn apart like someone had taken a rusty knife through them but forgotten how a person was put together.
Hasty cuts with a rusty, jagged blade – no doubt the one in the Eridon warlord's hands – had left Riley's guards torn apart. The rough edges of their armors mirrored what was done to their flesh. Some of it was lying on the floor beneath the warlord's feet.
Almost lazily, he picked the pieces up and stuffed them between his sword belt to nail them onto his ship. The Eridons enjoyed displaying their ‘trophies’.
Riley felt like gagging. Death in itself wasn't repulsive to her, but to see someone desecrate the dead like that was horrible.
Worst of all, she knew she was going to follow suit very soon.
She knew who the enemy was. With that insane look in his eyes, the long scars on his face forming an x-shape and the jagged-toothed blade – it had to be Magorra.
Everything she'd read about him was the stuff of nightmares. There were tales around the Alliance that women killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner when his ships approached. He was deadly, accurate and always got what he wanted – women, more often than anything else.
The statistics weren't nearly that bad for the other Eridon raid parties. With the others, there was some semblance of hope – of rescue, of escape, of anything.
The sheer prospect of Magorra drove women insane with terror.
Now that man was looking at Riley. There was a curious smile on his thin lips, looking out of place like he'd never expressed delight before.
"Are you going to raise that little gun of yours?" he asked mockingly, pointing to the weapon in Riley's hand with the tip of his blade.
She'd forgotten. The shock of seeing Magorra there had been so great Riley hadn't really even considered fighting him. It seemed hopeless, but then the will to live returned with vengeance. Her gun training – received from the best officers around the Alliance – kicked in.
Magorra didn't seem to boast any shield. Her hands clutched the gun and Riley took quick aim, firing as soon as she had the warlord in her sights.
She'd been afraid that she'd miss, but the truth was even more horrible.
Magorra moved so fast she barely saw him. The titanium bullet she'd fired at him was in the palm of the warrior's hand. He watched it with interest, baring long, filed teeth.
"Very good," he said with obvious lust in his voice, starting to come towards Riley. "I like my females feisty and full of life."
She took aim again and fired, again. Magorra's laugh filled the room as he kept coming, now knocking the bullets out of the air like they were bothersome flies.
Riley backed away. The shock had dissipated and she was fighting. The thought of being taken to the Eridon world was horrifying enough to make every survival instinct of hers come to life.
There wasn't much in the room that could have saved her, though. The furniture wasn't meant to equip her for a battle, it was nothing more than a few sofas and a low table. She backed behind the sofas and kept firing, taking the time to aim in places where she hoped it would be harder for Magorra to catch.
He kept coming, slowly, painfully slowly. It was clear he was enjoying it, toying with her.
"Don't worry, little Terran," Magorra growled, his deep yellow eyes burning with a predatory glow. "I won't hurt you too much. I can tell you and I will have fun together. Come now, don't make me ruin that pretty face of yours."
Riley glared, which made the Eridon laugh again. She kept moving, hoping the enemy didn't notice she was trying to edge closer to the door.
Just as she made a dash for it at last, Magorra intercepted her with a few quick steps, towering before her, right between her and the door. Riley stared up int
o those cruel eyes, wondering whether that was going to be her life from then on.
No more writing, no more exciting stories. Nothing she'd ever known. And above all – no Harbor and Cole. It was crazy how quickly her fateds had become the single thing she'd miss the most if she was forced to give up everything.
Riley called out to them in her mind, hoping they would hear. That was not how the bonds worked, but they had to check up on her at some point, right? If she could only delay Magorra until then...
She raised her gun again, taking aim. The Eridon watched her with an amused expression.
"What makes you think it will work this time if it didn't work before?" he asked with a nasty gloating tone.
"You never know when you'll get lucky," Riley replied, taking her sweet time now that the warlord was so kindly offering her that opportunity.
Magorra barked a howling laugh and Riley fired. She had been waiting for a moment when the warlord chortled in the way that he did, head thrown back. No one could see the bullet coming with their eyes closed and their head turned from the gun.
Nothing happened. Magorra waited with a demon's patience until Riley tried again, only managing to conclude she'd run out of bullets. She wished the guards had given her a plasma gun, but then she could have gotten herself thrown into space along with Magorra.
"You knew I was out," she said accusingly, knowing the warlord wouldn't care but she had no other ear to complain to.
He shrugged, accepting the blame.
"Now, you have no more weapons," Magorra said, offering her one strong, armored hand. "Come. I will even be so kind as to leave you unharmed as I promised before. I won't offer you that again."
"I'm not going anywhere," Riley said, gritting her teeth. "I still have the gun."
"It's empty."
Riley threw it at him, hoping to hit Magorra in the eye so she could run past him, but the Eridon snapped it out of the air easily. He was practically roaring with laughter now, but Riley saw a deep, dark flare of lust in the cruel eyes too.
"You have spirit," Magorra said, coming towards her with meaning now. "I like that. You are a special female. I might keep you."
Riley backed away, but she really was defenseless now. Magorra was inches from her when... the Eridon grunted in sharp pain when something hit his back.
For one insane moment, Riley thought her fateds were back, but she only saw a Gargon warrior in the hallway outside. He had thrown a short spear.
She only needed a second to realize that. While Magorra reached for the blade, Riley ran. She had no idea how she managed to swing under his long arm, how she got out of the room. How the blade Magorra threw missed her and hit the warrior square in the chest, spraying her with warm blood.
Riley didn't stay to find answers to any of those questions. She ran, hearing Magorra follow, the hallway echoing with his laughter.
11
Cole
Riley almost ran into them.
For one glorious, amazing moment, it was just them in the world. Cole felt the burst of gratitude in his heart over finding his fated alive and well and then the moment ended. Riley spun around him, turning to face the hallway she'd come from.
"Cole, look out!" she yelled.
Someone crashed into him, this time on purpose. Cole went rolling to the deck, grabbing a hold of Magorra as he fell, trapping the enemy.
"Take Riley away!" he bellowed to Harbor. "Get her out of here!"
To his surprise and delight, Harbor for once did as he was told. The other commander took Riley's hand and dragged her away, despite the protests of his fated, slowly fading away as Harbor rushed her along.
Cole couldn't keep the smile from his lips. It was unnecessary for Riley to worry, but the fact that she did tasted sweet.
As soon as Riley was gone, Cole was up on his feet. So was Magorra. The enemy leader faced him, the famous toothed blade in his hands. Cole knew the weapon well, he'd seen the handiwork on more than one occasion.
A sharp spike of fury reminded him of some of the females he'd found. Ones who Magorra clearly no longer had a use for.
Cole had fought many monsters in his life. He enjoyed it immensely. They were the best kinds of fights, with men who had no right to be born into the galaxy to begin with.
He didn't like the curious, calculating look in Magorra's eyes one bit, however.
"That female," he gargled, the rough voice a little broken. "Is that your fated?"
Cole didn't reply. There was no need for him to give the enemy answers. Instead, he pulled his short spear and readied himself to face Magorra. His hands were ready to draw the tiny blades and aim them for his eyes the second the enemy dropped his guard long enough.
It seemed Magorra wasn't so keen on letting the subject drop. He glanced at the hallway where Riley and Harbor had gone.
"Not just yours," he said, his voice tinted with realization, but Cole didn't let him do any more talking.
He charged at the enemy, something he wouldn't have done so rashly under normal circumstances, but his mind was a red blank of rage. The only thing Cole knew for a fact in that second was that he needed to protect Riley. The less Magorra knew about her, the better. Secondly, right on the tail of the first, he needed to kill Magorra before he could devise a plan to hurt her.
It seemed the Eridon noticed that fury of his because the wide smile on his lips spread wider. Cole knew he had given the answers anyway, but it wouldn't make a difference soon enough. The small blades were already between his fingers, ready to be thrown with the precision of a serpent striking at the most vulnerable spot without mistake.
Magorra saw that too. He started backing away, knowing that the blade he was famous for couldn't double as a shield against something so small and agile. Then he suddenly charged again, grinning, forcing Cole to take a stand.
Magorra kept himself close enough so Cole couldn't throw the blades, only strike out with them as the spear and the sword flashed through the air.
When Magorra finally drew back long enough for Cole to ready the small blades, the Eridon ran. Instead of stabbing with that poisonous blade of his like Cole had expected, Magorra rushed down the corridor after Riley and Harbor.
"Be ready to leave!" Cole heard him scream into his comm link.
He followed without missing a beat, but the Eridon was damn fast. The way he knew his way around a Gargon ship was impressive – they definitely didn't benefit from building all the major vessels after the same general design.
Cole opened the link to Harbor as he ran.
"Harbor, he's coming for her!"
There was no reply, as was right. Cole hoped Harbor immediately sent Riley back to the surface as they should have done in the first place. Anyone on a warship was vulnerable while Octava was protected by gun turrets and plasma cannons and droves of warriors with more places to hide then anyone could count, a necessity after centuries of fighting and dying for their place in the universe.
Rounding the next corner, Cole found that it was empty. He stopped, frowning, taking a second to look around before rushing on towards the landing bay up ahead. He had to trust Harbor to have taken Riley there straight away.
When he ran into the bay, it was in complete chaos. Clearly there had been a fierce battle there. The floors were red from blood and bodies of Eridons were everywhere along with a few Gargons. There were fires being put out, the shrill whining of the machines and the heavy grind of the lifters trying to clear the way for the fighters.
It took Cole a few seconds to notice Harbor at the back of the bay with Riley by his side, still there.
Rage boiling in his veins, Cole headed over, frustrated by his duel with Magorra. He couldn't believe the enemy had simply run. It was infuriating to lose the opportunity to really see which one of them was the best.
Such a chance, to fight Magorra one-on-one. He was one of the greatest fighters the League had, definitely one of the most proficient Cole had ever battled. It irked him that they had only teste
d each other, not going for blood hastily.
"Why is she still here?" Cole demanded as soon as he knew Harbor could hear him.
The other commander gave him a sharp, hard look. He gestured to the mess around them.
"The Eridons destroyed the outer air locks pretty thoroughly before they attacked," Harbor explained, clearly annoyed himself. "It's hard to send a ship out and I'm not putting her in just anything. There is a proper dropship ready now and she can go."
"What about Magorra?" Riley asked.
Cole didn't stop to ask how she knew who he was.
"He ran," he admitted freely. "I lost the cowardly bastard on my way here. Don't worry, Riley, we will find him. He can't hide from us. Not on this ship. As soon as you are safe..."
He couldn't even finish the sentence.
A massive explosion ripped through the bay. It threw all of them off their feet as they heard the roars of the Eridons around them again. Through the smoke and the fires, Cole could see Magorra at the back of the bay, but to his utter bewilderment the warlord didn't come for them. He simply smiled cruelly and was gone when Cole blinked.
He coughed, getting up and helping Riley stand too.
"That was the engine of one of our own ships," Cole yelled over the deafening noise, holding on to Riley who was coughing much more than he was. "Are you sure hers is okay, Harbor?"
"Yes," Harbor called back, a hint of terrible fury in his eyes. "How dare you insist I wouldn't check the ship my fated will take!?"
Cole didn't question that. They helped Riley run towards the dropship but before they could get there, a score of Eridons fell into the bay, undoubtedly ordered there by Magorra.
It seemed the warlord no longer wanted to risk his own skin trying to get to Riley.
His cowardice was unbelievable, but Cole had more pressing issues.
"Start the countdown," he ordered the mechanic preparing Riley's ship.
As the launch control of the ship began a minute-long countdown, Cole and Harbor pulled Riley to them for a moment.