by R. R. Banks
"Let me pick you up!" Ty screamed.
"No! Put me down. I'll be fine. These are the last of their kind here and there is something about me that they don't know."
One of the creatures scoffed and reached out a hand to claw Jem's face.
"And what is that?" he asked mockingly.
Jem smiled up at all of the warriors.
"I've always wanted to fly."
The warrior wrapped his arms around the three Klimnu and launched himself backwards off of the branch, disappearing into the darkness of the sky. Eliana screamed and I heard Ty cry out the warrior's name. He disentangled himself from the vine and started down the tree toward where Jem had fallen. I reached out and grabbed him by his shirt.
"Stop, Ty."
"I let him die! He was right there."
"Stop. He did what he wanted to do. It's alright. He's among the stars now."
Chapter Sixteen
Ty leaned down and pulled Samira out of the hole in the forest floor. Around them the rest of the warriors were emerging from the moss and taking deep, long breaths of the night air. It was the first night in as long as any of them could remember where no one had to be afraid.
"If that sky was a reflection," he asked, looking up into the sky above them, "That means it was just as much an illusion as the Klimnu were able to make themselves."
"Yes."
"Then where is Jem? If that wasn't the real sky, where did he go?"
Samira wrapped an arm around Ty's waist and hugged him close, knowing that it was him that needed her strength now.
"I don’t know, baby. Wherever he is, though, he saved Uoria."
They walked slowly back to the meeting hall, many nursing wounds, but all alive. Jem was the only one they had lost. When they got inside the hall, Ciyrs, Eliana, Leia, and Eden immediately went to work patching up injuries with the healing potions they had created. Samira had instructed them on how to create several different types of ointments so that they could handle a variety of injuries quickly and effectively without having to go through the challenging and emotionally charged process of healing.
Samira and Ty stepped back and watched everything happening, the entire scene surreal and overwhelming. They watched the moments unfolding in front of her as if they were a series of postcards flashing past her eyes, or individual cells from a movie suddenly coming to life, each contained within its own crystalline second of existence.
Gyyx and Leia kissed in a corner, the tremendous warrior holding his tiny mate off of the ground so that he didn't have to lean down to her.
Eliana and Cirys exchanged meaningful glances as they worked with the warriors, occasionally pausing between patients to touch each other's cheeks or nuzzle noses.
Ero and Zuri sat on one of the benches facing each other, his legs straddling the bench and hers wrapped around his hips as they rested their foreheads against each other's and murmured unheard sentiments.
Pyra was on his knees in front of Eden, his arms wrapped tightly around her hips and his mouth pressing to her belly over and over again as she stroked the back of his head and wiped tears from under her eyes.
Each moment was singular and perfect. The couples existed only for each other right then and it didn't matter what else was going on around them. Ty felt a surge of nearly overwhelming love for Samira and turned to face her.
"I don't know how to do this," he said and she looked at him with worry in her eyes.
"Do what?" she asked.
Ty reached up to tuck a strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear and brush his fingertips across her cheekbone.
"Marry me, Samira."
She looked startled and then a veil of confusion fell over her eyes.
"What?"
"Marry me."
"You said that Denynso don't get married."
"We don't, but humans also don't live on Uoria, and as you might have noticed, that tradition hasn't held up well in the last few months either."
"Do you even understand what marriage is?"
"Not entirely, but you can teach me. I know that it is to humans what our bonding is to us."
"Well, as close as it comes. It's about making promises to each other and standing up in front of everyone that you care about and making public vows committing yourselves to each other."
"We can do that."
"You don't have to do this, Ty. I know that we are mated. That's enough for me."
"I know I don't have to, I want to. I want to give you the experience that you would have had if you had ended up with a human man. I want to know that your commitment to me means the same to you."
"It means more to me, Ty. I love you with everything I have and I am fully and completely committed to spending my life here with you."
"Do you have friends on Earth? A family?"
"A few, I suppose. My mother is there. Though I rarely see her. She hides from my stepfather even more than I do."
"Wouldn't you want them to see you get married? We don't celebrate bonding here. It is a very personal experience, as you know." She smiled and glanced away briefly, "But I think that there is nothing in this galaxy worth celebrating more than what I found with you. I waited for you for my entire life and I know that I resisted you at first, but that only makes me love you all the more because I was so close to pushing you away. I could have lost you forever and I would have spent the rest of my life alone and longing for you rather than spending each moment treasuring you. So, please, Samira. Bring me back to Earth and marry me."
"Then we'll come back to Uoria?"
"Of course."
Ty watched her eyes and saw them sparkle. A smile broke across her lips and she jumped forward into his arms.
"Yes. Yes, I will marry you." She pulled back and looked him in the face again, "Thank you, Ty."
The moment between them broke as a hush fell over the meeting hall. They turned their attention to the opposite side of the room where the king and queen were entering. Creia climbed onto the stage and reached down to help Theia up, leaning forward to touch a kiss to her fingers that he held as she settled into place beside him. He looked out over the crowd and one by one the warriors approached, standing three deep and several across in front of him. They lowered to their knees and bowed their heads to the king, who reached over them with one hand. Ty left Samira's side and joined them, taking his place at the back of the group, now both a warrior and a nurturer.
"I have never been more proud that I am tonight to be the king of this great tribe," Creia said, his voice low with emotion. "Tonight, these men," he turned to look directly at Samira, "and women, put their lives at risk to protect our compound, our people, and our future. We lost one of our warriors. Though he was just one of our great numbers, his life was not inconsequential. We will miss him in everything that we do, and remember his sacrifice for generations to come. Even he, though, would not want this night to be about sadness. We will mourn for our Jem tomorrow. Tonight is a night of celebration."
A cheer rose up from the crowd and the warriors climbed to their feet. Ty rushed forward to the king and queen, calling to Samira in his mind for her to join him. As soon as she was by his side, he stepped close to the edge of the stage.
"Sir," he said, and the king turned to face him.
His face lit up and he reached out to touch Ty's hand, crouching down at the edge of the stage.
"I heard magnificent things about you, Ty. I am so proud of you, and your father would be, too."
Ty felt emotion burning in his throat and nodded his acknowledgment.
"Thank you. I come to you with an official request."
"What can I do for you?"
"I need permission traveling to Earth along with a few of the warriors and the human women."
"Is everything alright?"
Ty turned and smiled at Samira.
"We're getting married."
There was a high-pitched scream behind them and Ty whirled around to see Eden standing just a few feet away, o
ne hand clutching her belly and the other covering her mouth. Pyra ran to her side and wrapped his arm around her.
"Eden? What's wrong? Is it the baby?"
Eden shook her head rapidly and pointed at Ty and Samira.
"They're getting married!"
A ripple of whispers and exclamations rolled back through the room and Ty could pinpoint when each of the human women heard the news. While most of the Denynso didn't even know what the word "married" meant and were questioning the entire concept, each of the human women let out a delighted scream.
"You want to get married?" the king asked.
"I am the only one of my kind to have my power, I might as well be the first of my kind to get married." He chuckled, but then his face grew serious, "With everything that Samira has done for me, there will never be enough ways that I can show her how much I love her. This is just one more way that I can try. You want to promote understanding and cooperation with the humans. Since so many of them have found their way to us, don't you think it's time that we learn about their customs as well?"
"I do," Eliana said and the other human women laughed.
"You have my absolute permission and admiration," Creia said and stood so that he could go back to his wife.
Ty turned and kissed Samira. Behind him he could hear the other human women talking to their mates. He laughed against Samira's mouth. He had a feeling his was not going to be the only wedding the Denynso saw. He turned and saw Pyra nod, then reach down and rub Eden's belly again. Ty smiled. There was so much waiting for them in the future. Now with Samira's hand in his, the threat of the Klimnu gone, and the demons from his past no longer tormenting him, Ty finally felt ready to face each moment and discover what lay just ahead.
( The End )
Congrats, you made it to the last book! Thank you so much for making The Uoria Mates Series successful. Due to popular demand the world of Uoria is continuing to Expand Immensely.
*Uoria Mates II Complete Box Set (50% LONGER & BETTER!) Now AVAILABLE at the link below:
http://bit.ly/uoria2
Your reviews greatly help reach more readers. If you found this book enjoyable, please click below to leave a review on Amazon or to share the book on Facebook. Nothing helps more than a few kind words ☺
UORIA MATES II
Complete Series (Books 1 – 10)
___
Ruth Anne Scott
#1 Sci-Fi Romance Series on Amazon.com
Book 1 – The Alien’s Mission
Chapter One
The Denynso warriors were lined up along the center of the compound facing the meeting hall, creating a powerful wall of intensity and strength. Each wore a black band around his arm, bold white stitches creating a "J" in the center. They were silent, stoic as they stared at the front steps of the hall where Creia, the king of their people, had appeared through the massive wooden doors.
Creia wore long black robes that stood in stark contrast to the blue of his usual clothing. The white of his hair intensified the darkness of the black ribbons woven through it that reflected the woven pattern through the hair of each of the warriors that faced him. There were several moments of dark, tense silence that hung over the compound and then the doors behind the king opened slowly.
Though they remained silent, the warriors stiffened. They all knew what was coming, and none of them felt prepared to handle it. It had only been twenty-four hours since the battle and they were all still trying to cope with the effects of the horror that they had seen. To overcome it, however, they knew they had to honor what was lost so that they could internalize their pain and anger, and move forward with even greater determination. The Klimnu were gone, but that didn't mean that they were always going to be safe, or that they would forget what they had to go through in order to get rid of those creatures.
Bannack fought the urge to shift in his position in the line of warriors. On either side of him were Pyra and Gyyx, both staring unblinking at the doors as they opened. The anger that built inside him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even as a member of a species of warriors known for being aggressive, intense, and powerful, he was volatile and unpredictable. Younger than most of the other warriors, Bannack had not seen as many battles as the others, but this had been something that he could never have fathomed. What he had seen had scarred him in a place deeper than he understood, and as he stood there watching the first of the women appear at the door.
Tall and strong, the Denynso women seemed far more powerful than the females of the other species they had encountered, but in that moment each stood at the door with tears streaming down their faces. None made a sound despite the tears. They stayed strong, keeping their eyes focused ahead of them with the same concentration and intensity as the warriors. After standing in the doorway for a few moments, the women stepped forward and the black cloth they held between them came into view.
The cloth held a folded tunic and a small dagger in the center, and the women held it as if they could feel the strange lack of weight that usually accompanied the funeral cloth when they made their processional down the steps of the meeting hall and toward the wide lake at the back of the compound. Suddenly the king's voice broke through the intense silence that felt like it was suffocating the warriors.
"Today we honor one of our own who has fallen. Jem fought valiantly in our battles against the Klimnu and in his last moments he made the most courageous decision that he could. With his last breaths he chose to sacrifice himself for the good and the future of our kind. With his death he took with him the last of our most hated of enemies, securing for us a future that is free from their torment and primed for the joy that will come. We will never forget what he did for us and though we cannot properly honor his body, we honor his memory and the bit of him that will continue with us forever."
As Creia fell silent again, the women continued forward from their place to the meeting hall and down the imposing stone stairs. Those stairs always represented the strength and stability of the species and the security of the compound, but now they seemed to emphasize the pain that radiated through the row of warriors and the women who carried the empty shroud down them. As they descended, the women didn't make eye contact with any of the warriors. This was their way. The women carried the dead, a final symbol of nurturing and care, while the warriors stood vigil as a sign of continuous protection and respect.
Bannack could see the tears sparkling on the women's cheeks and felt discomfort in his stomach. The women of their kind were not known to be emotional and only one other time in his life had he seen one of them shed a single tear. Now they were all crying, though restraining any noise, and he knew that it was not just for Jem, the warrior who had sacrificed himself in the final battle of a lengthy war against the evil Klimnu species. They were crying for everything that their kind had gone through in their years of battle against the slimy creatures who had been so determined to capture and kill their beloved king Creia and take over the compound, and the entirety of the planet of Uoria. They were crying for everything that those creatures had put the Denynyso through, and everything that they had done to the human women who had come to the planet and become a part of the clan. It was perhaps these women, the smaller, more delicate human women, who had suffered the worst at the hands of the Klimnu in recent times, and it was them that had given the Denynso warriors what they needed to finally defeat them.
The women carried the black cloth with Jem's tunic and dagger, the personal items they had taken from his home to represent him in the absence of his actual body, down the steps and through the center of the compound, passing through the line of warriors that separated silently as they approached. Bannack felt the anger become even more intense as his eyes fell on the empty tunic. This wasn't fair. This wasn't what one of the strongest, bravest, and most selfless men to have ever been in their clan deserved for his final memorial. He deserved to have his body honored in the way of the men that came before him, and to be offered the same respec
t that any of the other warriors would expect if they were the ones who had given their lives to finally bring the conflict with the Klimnu to an end. It was if the slimy, vile creatures had gotten their last bit of vengeance even though they were eradicated in the battle. By giving himself, wholly and completely, Jem had saved the Denynso, but had also given the Klimnu a grasp on the history of the clan that they would never be able to shake free. Whenever someone thought or spoke of Jem, they would be forced to think and speak of the Klimnu as well.
Bannack kept his eyes forward as the women passed through the line of warriors, trying to tear his mind away from the thoughts of that final battle that had been tormenting him for the last day. They flashed in front of his eyes as if they were still happening, filling his mind with reverberations of the sounds, the smells, and the gut-wrenching pain. He remembered the exact moment that the battle had ended. It was unlike any other battle that they had ever experienced with the Klimnu. Those battles had ended with the Klimnu retreating, running away from the vastly more powerful Denynso so that they could go back to planning their next attack. This battle, however, had ended when the final three Klimnu approached Jem on a branch in the mysterious mirrored world that existed just beneath the compound.
Though Ty, a young Denynso who had just learned to utilize a hidden gift that he had inherited from his father and had never used before to step out of his usual role and become a warrior, had attempted to save him, Jem knew what was better for the rest of the warriors, the compound, and all of Uoria. He had fought the power that would have lifted him out of the battle and saved his life. Instead, he grabbed onto the final three Klimnu and threw himself off of the branch, disappearing into the reflected sky and taking the creatures with him. The Denynso didn't know where he went or what had happened to him, but they knew that he would not return.