Syfi Warriors

by Rose Nickol

  “In defense of Drakonia and our kings!”

  Chapter 2

  “Let’s go, men. We have to organize those remaining in the city for departure.”

  Markus walked beside his friend, Sonar, who had also volunteered. “I’m surprised you volunteered.”

  “I don’t have any family left…but you do, Markus. Your mother and sister are going to be upset that you’re not going to be evacuated with them.”

  Markus shrugged, trying to be tough, but the truth was he was worried about his family and hated that they would be separated. “Their safety comes first. Besides, my mother knew when I started my warrior training there would be a chance that I could die in battle like my father.”

  “Your mother is going to be furious with you.”

  Markus looked at his friend. “Do you think they’ll make a memorial for us to celebrate our death flights?”

  “I personally am planning to catch that final battle cruiser before it leaves Drakonia’s atmosphere. I don’t want to die here, but I have always wanted to take to the stars.”

  Markus wasn’t sure that his friend’s plan would work out. He had to put hopeful thoughts aside and concentrate on the mission.

  Warrior Orteg assigned several warriors to each group of women and children. They would be taken to the portals. The kings were being escorted by their own royal guards. Every male present would be on guard to ensure the safety of those weaker or injured.

  “Let’s go!” Orteg ordered several groups at a time to leave, heading for the building to the left of the main square that housed the eight portals.

  Markus and several other warriors used their hand weapons to shoot down any of the aliens on the surface. One of the warriors had shifted to his dragon form to provide coverage, using his massive body and hard scales. It was much harder to kill a dragon than to kill them in their human form, but the dragons on the ground were slower and unable to get inside the buildings. His people were never more vulnerable than when they were in mid-shift.

  Only one warrior was wounded in the process of moving the people from the palace. The mages were already waiting for them. Mage Craggen came with King Malachi.

  “My kings, if you will take the portals. Each of you cut your palm and drop your blood in the portal rings. Mages! As soon as the blood has spilt, you can spell the coordinate into the portals. Once opened, we will send a few males in first for protection for the rest. The women and children will be sent through next. Then, the males not needed to fight will be sent through. The people in your home regions will be entering their portals the same way. Finally, the kings will enter the portal, closing it automatically behind them.”

  “Are we all being sent to the same planet?”

  “To ensure our survival and lessen the chances of our enemy finding us all again, we have chosen two different planets to use as new locations. The eight ruling regions will be split between the two planets. Both planets are conducive to our people’s survival.”

  “What about King Rand’s portal?” King Malachi asked.

  “I will be giving my blood to open and close the portal,” Rone, the thirteen-year-old son of King Rand, spoke up. His mother put her hand on his shoulder to show her support.

  Markus and the other warriors stood at the entrance to the room, blocking the aliens from entering until the portals were closed. Mage Craggen motioned for the kings to proceed. The portals opened with their blood, and a few of the men each went through first. Craggen nodded that it was a successful transportation and ordered that the women and children proceed. Markus saw his mother and sister coming to him.

  “You two need to go.”

  “I want you to come with us,” his little sister, Destiny, said with tears in her eyes. She was eight years old and his one weakness. He would do just about anything to put a smile on her face. He knelt down and took her into his arms.

  “I have to do my duty, little one, but if there is any way possible, I will find you.”

  “Promise? No matter how long it takes?”

  “I swear it on God Animus that I will find you no matter how long it takes.”

  “I’ll wait for you and then we can fly together.”

  “That’s a deal.” He stood up and looked at his mother, who was fighting tears. “I’ll—”

  “Don’t promise me anything, son. Do your duty to your kingdom, but remember that you were mine, my joy and my hope, first. So, if there is a way to come back to us, find it.”

  He nodded as he hugged her. “Travel safe.”

  “Until we meet again,” his mother returned.

  Watching his family walk through that portal and remain behind was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. His every instinct was to go after them and protect them. He prayed to their gods that they were safe now.

  The building shook as it took several hits. Debris fell down and crashed into one of the portals, destroying it. People began to panic, pushing and shoving each other to get through the remaining portals.

  “Move out of the way!” King Dyson shoved his way through his people, dragging his young queen behind him. She fell down and he left her there to get to the front of the line.

  “Sire, you cannot go through yet, it will close the portal!” The mage controlling that portal tried to stop him, but Dyson shoved him away.

  “I can’t die, I’m a king!” Dyson went through the portal despite his people’s screams, and the portal automatically shut down.

  King Malachi made his way over. “Can you open the portal again using another king’s blood?”

  “No sir, we tied it to each specific king when we first created the portals. Only King Dyson would be able to open or close the portal.”

  Two portals down, and the rest of King’s Dyson’s people looked around in fear. King Reichardt moved forward. “Any of King Dyson’s people are welcome to come through my portal.”

  Malachi didn’t want to be outdone. “I too offer refuge for those of Dyson’s people.” Each of the remaining kings offered the same. The evacuation continued with more hits to the building, and then one major blast took part of the roof off exposing them to the outside. Another two portals were destroyed, but luckily the kings went through them before they were destroyed.

  “Everyone through the portals now!” King Zocor yelled out. Then he collapsed before his queen with a laser blast to his back.

  “No, Zocor!” Queen Arena held her king in her arms. “You can’t leave me!”

  “Drag my body through the portal, to close it. Do it for me, my queen.”

  With strength Markus had no idea someone so fragile-looking could possess, Queen Arena dragged her king through the portal, closing it behind them.

  The enemy breached the room, dropping down from the open rooftop. Mages battled to keep them from going through the portals, though a couple got through. The mages fell to the ground, breathing their last breaths one by one. The kings quickly entered the remaining portals, closing them up.

  Markus and the remaining warriors were trying to get the few mages still alive to safety. “You must go,” Warrior Orteg told them. “Take the remaining warriors and get to that battle cruiser.”

  Markus shook his head. “I can’t leave you behind.”

  “You must.”

  Craggen limped to him and handed him a round metal medallion with symbols on it. “Take this medallion; it has the coordinates to where the two planets are located. We tried to find planets far enough away that it would take a really long time for the enemy to find it. Time will go by much faster at the new world. I didn’t think it would matter, since our people age slowly.”

  “What are you saying, Craggen?” Markus asked.

  “I calculated the trajectory, taking wormholes to speed up the travel time. For every year it takes you to travel via space, a hundred years will pass.”

  “A hundred years? Is there no way to get to them sooner?”

  “We only know a few wormholes. You might find more along the way, b
ut there is no guarantee that they will take you any closer. I gave the coordinates as well to the other general, who has people on board their battle cruiser, in hopes that he will find it.”

  Markus took the medallion, which had a hole at the top of it. He removed the leather cord he wore around his neck and slid it on there to wear around his neck later—he could not be able to wear it while he shifted. “We will find our people and protect them.”

  Orteg put his hand on his shoulder. “Go now and take to the skies. Safe travels.”

  “Until we meet again,” Markus said, motioning the other warriors to follow him up. They all shifted to their dragon forms. Two steps, then they leapt up. Their scales were a multitude of colors that would normally glisten like glass under their suns. With the destruction and smoke and fire from the battle, a cloud formed over the city blocking out much of the light.

  Was the last battle cruiser still there? As they flew blindly through the dark cloud, they burst free into the sunlight and were relieved to find that yes, the cruiser was just starting to head out. The last battle cruiser lifted up higher and higher, firing laser blasts at their enemy.

  “Ya’ul!” His dragon called out to let the others know to hurry up.

  They answered back. He looked over and the dragon to his right suddenly cried out in pain before falling to the ground below. An enemy fighter ship hovered there, ready to shoot him, but Markus opened his mouth and let his fire of fury burn the enemy’s ship until it exploded. Others used their fire as well. The landing pad was still open. Each of them landed; some came in a little hard and bounced. Once they were all on the landing pad, they lifted up into the ship.

  Markus and the others shifted back to their humanoid forms. He hit the communicator to the bridge. “General, it’s Warrior Markus. I have the coordinates to the planets that our people have been sent to.”

  “We’ll get that from you when we have jumped to safety.”

  “Prepare for flight jump!” The general’s voice rang out all over the ship.

  Markus and the others went to get into a secure seat. He hoped that all their efforts to ensure the safety and continuation of their people worked, and those who died that day had not died in vain.

  Chapter 3

  Ten Years Later

  “Who do you have assigned to go out on the scouting missions?”

  Captain Markus looked over at General Ranier. He had been watching the blue planet below them called Earth. They had come across the solar system a year ago, surprised to find that it had satellite technology and even a few spaceships. So far, they had managed to keep their presence a secret from the Earthlings. Through monitoring communications and transmissions sent from Earth to their satellites, his people had been learning everything they could about the race.

  The Earth people had humanoid forms similar to their own humanoid forms, but they did not shift. In fact, anything involving shifting or other alien races seemed to be a myth to the Earthlings. Markus and some of the other warriors had been working on learning many of Earth’s different languages. On Drakonia, they only had one language. How did Earthlings get along with one another when they couldn’t even understand each other’s speech?

  What surprised them the most was that despite the Earthlings’ advancements in science and space, they naively believed they were the only living, thinking beings in the universe. Their movies created for entertainment showed that they did not hold a high regard for beings from other worlds. It was this reason that General Ranier ordered that they keep their existence unknown.

  “I have four teams that will cover the areas known as China, Scotland, Greece, and the United States of America. We had studied the planet’s history and stories hinting of dragon lore, and these four locations seemed to have the most stories. The four leaders of the teams are Warriors Roc, Zan, Kale and myself. I’ll be heading up the team going to Arizona in the United States.”

  “I noticed you did not have Warrior Sonar head up a team. Why is that?”

  “Sir, I plan to take him with me on my team but I don’t think he’s able to lead a mission.”

  “I noticed that you reduced many of his warrior duties after his…episode.”

  Markus sighed looking back out the window. “I may be overprotective. He’s been my only family these past ten years. I feel guilty that I didn’t see his problems until it was almost too late.”

  His best friend Sonar suffered a break in reality about two years before. They had stopped at a planet that had a friendly atmosphere to allow their people on board to take a break and shift into their dragon forms. If Drakonians went too long without letting their inner dragons out, they sickened. Their people could live for centuries, but a sick inner dragon was deadly to them.

  While on the planet, Sonar had a conflict with another Drakonian male who wanted to share sex with the same female. The female chose the other male and Sonar lost his temper and attacked the male. The female was accidently injured. Both males were punished, but Sonar had never really been the same since then. He was worried that something would push Sonar to the breaking point and the general would have to order his friend’s death.

  “Perhaps Warrior Sonar should remain on board the ship. If he has another episode, it could expose us to the Earth people, and they aren’t ready to interact with a dragon-shifting alien race.”

  “I understand your hesitance, but I will take responsibility for him. Perhaps spending time on the planet’s surface will do him good.”

  “If he does have another episode…”

  “I will take care of it,” he said, it but he wasn’t sure he could do that. General Ranier must have thought the same thing.

  “I’ll also send Captain Roan with you.”

  “I can handle my team and anything that comes up.”

  “I know you can, but you have to interact with the Earthlings while searching for signs of our people. Having another experienced warrior will be helpful to you.”

  In other words, Roan was going to be on his team whether he wanted or not, and Roan would ensure that Markus handled Sonar.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “When do you leave?”

  “In stages. I leave with my team immediately; we will be arriving in Arizona when it is dark. The other teams will depart at times that fit their location to arrive in darkness.”

  “You will need to restrict your communications. Once you arrive, contact us and then you have five days to search before you move on to a new location. No communications again until the five days are up. We’re using a pulse signal to scramble their satellites until you have landed. Good luck and safe travels.”

  Markus placed his closed fist over his chest. “Until we meet again.”

  Chapter 4

  Arizona, near the Dragoon Mountains

  Val opened the two bottles of beer and set them up on the bar. Her customers, a couple of locals, winked at her as they grabbed their bottles. The phone rang and she glared over at her supposed help for the night, Tina, who was leaning over and flirting with customers instead of working. She should have told her boss that she would handle the bar alone tonight. Buz insisted, however, that since it was a Friday night she needed the help. Plus, Tina was his niece so there wasn’t much she could do.

  Val reached for the phone and turned her back to the bar. “Saddle Up Saloon. Yes, of course we’re open. No, the kitchen shut down an hour ago. Happy to help.” She hung up and caught the sight of several new customers coming up to the bar.

  Turning around she greeted them, “Welcome to Saddle Up Saloon. What can I get you?” Holy shit! The three men that just came in were smoking hot, wearing leather jackets and tight-fitting jeans and dark sunglasses.

  “Whatever is good,” the taller man with light reddish-streaked brown hair ordered.

  She couldn’t help but gawk at him. The man had to be the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. If only he took off his glasses. As if he could hear her thoughts, he took the dark sunglasses off and looke
d at her. She was stunned into silence. His eyes were a golden honey color, warm and welcoming. He cleared his throat.

  “Miss, are you okay?”

  Oh man, he probably thought she was rude or something. “Sorry, what did you want?”

  He took a seat at the bar and the other two men sat as well. They were good-looking men too, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes from this one with the gold eyes. The way he watched her had her nipples harden and she felt a pulsing in her pussy.

  “I asked for three of whatever is good.”

  “We don’t have hard liquor or mixed drinks, just wine and beer in bottle or on tap. Do you like dark or light beer?”

  He hesitated for a moment, looking at his two friends before telling her, “Dark.”

  “Okay.” She quickly went to get three dark beers from the cooler and opened them, then put them on the bar in front of each man. She stood there for a moment, not being able to move away, trapped in the first man’s golden eyes. “So are you guys just passing through?”

  That was stupid—just about everyone passed through this small town. Rarely did anyone stay unless they got stuck somehow or were raised up here. She fit the first. She had come with an ex who broke her heart, stole all her money, and abandoned her there. She had no friends or family to call for help, but thankfully the locals were kind enough to take her in. She had been there now for three years, never making enough to go anywhere and really had no desire to leave. This small town had become her home.

  “We will be here for a few days.”

  His voice was deep, with a bit of an accent she couldn’t place. Sexy as hell. She bet he could talk women out of their panties with just the sound of his voice. Her body was feeling overheated. Touching her forehead, she was grateful it wasn’t sweaty.