Ninth Orb

by Kaitlyn O'Connor

  These days females were so scarce and hard to come by that a male had to be rich even to catch a glimpse of one. The worst of it was that any male fortunate enough to produce more than two female offspring was usually so well set up already that it was hard to tempt them to part with a daughter. They knew damned well that no matter how much one suitor might offer, the next would offer more, and the one after that even more. So long as they didn’t hold out too long, until the female was beyond her reproductive years, they could pretty well name their price.

  He was a healer, not a scientist, but it didn’t take a scientist to figure out that it was the Meeri mating practices that were almost entirely responsible for the fact that there were fewer females with every generation--fewer offspring at all, for that matter. Regardless of whether the male was a prime producer or not, he was lucky to land a mate able to produce two before she ceased producing at all, and in their latter years the females were even less interested in producing than the young females were.

  It made things pretty miserable for the male. The only time a Meeri female was willing to mate at all was if there was a chance for breeding a cub. If she’d already produced two healthy cubs, she rarely wanted a third and if her mate was beyond prime breeding years, it didn’t matter whether she’d even had one or not, she just plain couldn’t be convinced.

  It was the bane of every Meeri male’s existence that males desperately wanted intercourse with their mate purely for the enjoyment of the act itself, whether there was any chance of producing at all.

  The misery of such a life should have been enough to convince the single males to remain single, but desperation was the key word in the equation. A taste of the pie was better than none of it, and as well guarded as the females were, there wasn’t a chance in hell of getting hold of a female without mating. The law stated that any male who did was to be castrated, but that was one law that hadn’t been tested in his memory. The unwritten law was death and the family of the stolen female didn’t even have to take care of that themselves. The outraged males who had been trying to barter for her generally settled the matter.

  Naturally enough, stealing a mate was a rare occurrence on Meeri, but he had no trouble understanding what drove those who’d tried it.

  Desperation.

  It was hard to accept the fact that you were never going to have a mate at all because you couldn’t accumulate enough wealth to barter for one no matter how hard you worked.

  That wasn’t going to be a problem for him, however. There was only one time of the year that the worlds of Meeri and Tor were close enough to allow for trading, but that had given him all the time he needed to round up his bartering goods. He was damned good at trapping. He had two dozen narlo in the hold of his ship. The Torrines were going to be falling over themselves to trade for such a highly prized delicacy, but he was armed to the teeth and he wasn’t letting a single one go for less than three zihnars--which was almost as prized on Meeri as the narlo was on Tor, and he was pretty damned sure that he could barter for a mate with three dozen zihnars! Hell, he could probably even get a choice mate for that many zihnars!

  ROMANCING THE STONE

  By

  Nicole Ash

  Copyright Nicole Ash January 2013

  Cover art by Eliza Black copyright January 2013

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  Chapter Two

  The pain had at last subsided, but Lexi knew that she must be dead or dying. She had yet to open her eyes, not all together sure that she wanted to see the damage the fires had wrought, but she heard a number of voices muttering and curiosity was calling. Her mind was racing. That many people couldn't fit in the apartment. How did the T.V. get turned on? Is it even plugged in? She would have to get up eventually. Had the carpet melted? Acrylics did that in heat. Was she stuck to it? She had never noticed how hard the floor was before.

  Finally unable to resist the urge, Lexi slowly cracked open one eye. She sat up, blinking, before she could think better of it. Was it more surprising that she didn't have a burn on her body, that her clothes were whole instead of ash, or that she was outside, on a cobblestone road, surrounded by men in armor? Men with spears. Spears whose tips were uncomfortably close to her vital organs.

  All of the knights wore shiny silver metal armor, with long flowing dark blue capes, except for what she took to be the leader, whose cape was bright red. They were tall to the man and more than a little bit handsome, though that may have been due entirely to the armor. Or, they would have been if they hadn't look so mean and cold standing over her with their weapons drawn.

  "Rise, witch."

  "What?"

  "Rise, or we'll skewer you where you sit."

  The hard look on the faces of the men around her left little doubt in Lexi's mind that he was actually very serious.

  "How? You've got your spears so close, I'd skewer myself if I tried to stand!"

  With a growl, the leader ordered his men to assist her to her feet. When several moments went by with all of the men looking doubtfully at each other, but none of them moving, he cursed and shoved his way past them, pushing aside their spears, and pulled her up by the arm, almost wrenching it out of socket.

  "Hey! That hurt!"

  "Hold your tongue or I'll cut it out." He barked an order to someone behind her and the world suddenly went black again as a heavy cloth was tied around her face. Lexi hissed as some of her hair was caught in the knot and torn out. Her hands were grabbed and tied tightly behind her as well.

  "What are you doing!"

  "I said hold your tongue! You there, take her pouches.

  Cowed, at least for the moment, Lexi fell to her knees, her vision going red for a second from the pain, as someone gave her a shove from behind. "Hey!"

  The person swore, and hands immediately pulled her back up, hastily withdrawing. She was prodded forward a little more gently after that. Where the heck am I? Is this what happened to Dionne? She shuddered to think of what they may have done to her poor aunt, trying hard to formulate a plan of escape. Unfortunately, her thoughts were constantly interrupted and she needed every ounce of her concentration to keep her feet. She had never been able to balance in the dark and she knew she must look like a drunkard to everyone on the streets.

  There seemed to be a great number of people, if the cacophony of booing, cursing voices were any indication at all. Why are they doing this to me? I haven't done anything! If she didn't know it was utterly impossible, she would think this was a medieval town. It might actually have been kind of neat to look around, however puzzling it's existence was, if it weren't for the fact that everyone was hostile. Toward her. It must have been that book! How else could I have gotten here?

  How could a book have gotten me here? My God, Lexi, you've lost your ever-loving mind. Am I dead? Is this hell? No, wait, no fire and brimstone. Heaven was out as well. I've gone as mad as a hatter.

  Stubbing her toes painfully against something, Lexi almost fell again, but one of the knights acted quickly enough to stop her, hissing and drawing back as though he'd touched something horrible by mistake. As grateful as she felt that he had at least stopped her from hurting herself worse, Lexi couldn't help but resent the way these jerks were treating her.

  "Steps."

  "What?"

  "Steps. As in, we're going up, understand? Step up."

  "Oh," she muttered to herself. She stepped up and tried as hard as she could to keep her balance, but in the end, it was entirely due to the man behind her that she didn't fall backwards. I'm not grateful. If they'd remove the blindfold, I wouldn't have to worry about falling at all. What's the point in blindfolding me? It isn't like I could get away just by using my eyes!

  Lexi was very grateful when they at last reached the top of the steps and she no longer felt the sensation of falling backwards. I’
ll have nightmares about it for months. Not that anyone warned her not to take that extra high step, which almost cost her her balance.

  It seemed to take forever for the forced march to finally end, but a hand suddenly grabbed the rope her arms were tied with, wrenching them painfully and stopping her in her tracks. She was forced, rather painfully, to kneel on the hard, cold floor.

  "Your Majesty, we caught this witch in the town square. It was reported by witnesses that she appeared in a ring of strange blue fire."

  "If I were really a witch, wouldn't it have been harder to catch me?"

  "Silence!" Someone, apparently the lead knight, put a foot to Lexi's butt, pushing her down so that her face smeared across the smooth, stone floor. It had the added effect of pulling the blindfold down far enough that she could finally see out of one eye. The stones where she lay were polished, almost glass-like, and while she could not identify exactly what type of stone it was, it had a pleasant purple hue. She could see the bases of two columns, made of cream stone, and could even see a number of very interesting boots. Unfortunately, that was all she could see without being too obvious about the fact that she could actually see at all.

  The king sure has been quiet a long time. Lexi was almost positive that was a bad thing, but she didn't feel up to trying to explain herself again. Given what had happened last time, she rather doubted they would listen no matter how reasonable her words were.

  "King Chal, if I may?" The voice, which almost gurgled, may have been a man, or a woman. She could not see the person's shoes, so she assumed the speaker was close to the king. An advisor, maybe?

  A pause.

  "I believe this girl is a celestial maiden--"

  Several men gasped, muttered to each other about the impossibility of it.

  "--sent to us in the kingdom of Romaneo in our time of need to awaken the stone warrior."

  "Truly? She doesn't look at all like I would have imagined, even if her dress is rather unusual."

  "Sire, she is the one. I am sure of it. She should be readied and taken immediately to the temple for sacrifice."

  "Sacrifice!" Lexi struggled as a weight was applied to her back.

  "Quiet!"

  "Fuck that! Let me go, you ass hole!"

  Something hard hit her on the side of the head, and her vision blurred and went black.

  * * * *

  It struck Lexi, just as she was starting to come around, that she had spent the better part of the day blacked out, for one reason or another. Is it still Monday? It had been late in the afternoon back home, but the sun here had been high when she first came to. The time difference was extremely disorienting. Prying her lids apart and fighting hunger nausea, she found that the blindfold had at last been removed. Somehow, she did not feel at all surprised to find that everything else had been removed with it. She was bound tightly, hand and foot, in the lap of a statue. Her arms were tied around it's neck, her legs bound so that they encircled it's waist, and she had been perched, rather precariously, on a block of wood. Her fingers and toes were tingling with the restriction of circulation and she knew it was important to get loose quickly or she wouldn't be able to walk, let alone run, when she needed to. Looking around, Lexi found that, except for herself, there was no one inside the dark, cavernous room.

  They're going to sacrifice me. The realization hit her suddenly and she started struggling with her constraints. She had just brushed her finger tips against the knot that bound her legs, when the block of wood slid from beneath her bottom. She was almost impaled by a long hard rod, but she managed to catch herself with her arms before it had done more than barely enter her sex. What the hell...? Flexing her leg muscles and leaning back, she saw at last what had penetrated her.

  A dick? The statue had a long, broad cock, and it was happy to see her. This has got to be some kind of joke. Lexi swung her gaze around the room, but no one had come in to start laughing. Her arm muscles were tiring fast and there was no way to push herself far enough away from the cock to sit in the statue's lap. The only way to relax her arms and thighs was to slide down the cock, something she had no desire to do.

  Since my life depends on it.

  It did depend on it. Someone might come in at any time and kill her. She had to get away. It just felt so much like...masturbating. She enjoyed herself as much as the next girl, but it took a lot to get over the very real fear of being caught in the act.

  Lexi squirmed, getting the head inside, but she was not at all in the mood, so there wasn't a dab of lubrication. Lifting and lowering herself several times, trying not to enjoy what was fast becoming rather stimulating and may have otherwise been a pleasant experience, she finally managed to lower herself to the hilt.

  She had just lifted her legs in an attempt to reach them, knowing that she was now too low to hope for it, when the cock between her legs twitched. At least, it felt like it had. It couldn't have. It's just a statue. Lifting herself up, she stared down at the cock long and hard. Just when she'd decided it was her imagination going wild on her, she felt hot air brush her cheek.

  RAIDERS OF VAMPYRA

  By

  Nicole Ash

  © copyright January 2013 Nicole Ash

  Cover art by Eliza Black © January 2013

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  Chapter One

  A territorial fight broke out between the Trekies, the Doomsdayers, and the Christian Soldiers. Battle cries rang out from the opposing groups, fists flying--wildly for the most part since they weren’t ordinarily violent people and had had little practice in hand-to-hand combat.

  Despite the excitement, it seemed unlikely anyone was going to get hurt badly. The Doomsdayers were battering the Christians with ‘The end is here’ signs while the Trekies pelted them with their rubber weapons.

  The police had their hands full trying to control an escalating fight between warring factions of Elvis fanatics and could not come to the aid of the Christians, who were finally driven off by the ferocity of the Trekie/Doomsdayer force. The alliance, of course, collapsed with no common enemy to unite them and battle once again ensued, this time between the Trekies and the Doomsdayers. Except for keeping a wary eye on them, the military, safely behind the concrete barricades set up to protect the scientists and politicians from the general riffraff, ignored the battles for the most part, standing with guns at the ready in case another group tried to storm their position. Some of the pacifists who’d tried to do so ten minutes earlier were still on the ground clutching the bruises inflicted by the rubber bullets they’d fired on them.

  I have never in my life seen so many lunatics gathered together in one place, Mai thought in disgust as she watched the shifting masses at the forefront fighting for a better position on the tarp. Glancing toward the group of ‘aliens’ she had come with to see what they thought of the ruckus, she wondered if she should include herself in that assessment.

  The media were interspersed in the crowd since no one was willing to give up their spot near the front just so some reporter and camera crew could stand there and block everyone else’s view. The throng of people closest to the front was shoulder to shoulder--and getting chummier every minute--but there was still breathing room where Mai stood. She could just make out the president in his seat on the dais twiddling his thumbs. Politicians from around the world were seated behind and to either side of him. A group of scientists were squeezed together in the very back, looking around nervously.

  All in all, Mai considered hers a good spot for the night of a life time. She couldn’t see as well as she would’ve liked, but she could still see everything going on and she felt a lot safer getting a distant view than trying to work her way into the crazy crowd.

  Not far from where she was standing, an anchor woman shouted into a microphone over the dull roar of the crowd. “We’re here live in
Atlanta Georgia, where NASA projects the spacecraft will land. As you can see behind me, there’s quite a group gathered here for this historic event--”

  The loonies have gathered from the four corners of the Earth.

  It was no surprise things had gotten a little out of hand. When NASA had announced the discovery of a space craft that had entered Earth’s solar system, it was the biggest thing to happen--ever. As soon as it was made public where the predicted landing site might be, people had started pouring into the city from around the world. Mai had hopped a ride with a girl she worked with and her friends and had only had to endure three hours of rabid Star Trek talk to get to the city.

  What if they were wrong? What if the aliens decide to land somewhere else? She could well imagine the crazed people around her fighting for a piece of the scientists. I wonder if that thought’s crossed their minds?

  But maybe it had. Maybe that was the real agenda of the military presence. She couldn’t see that they were going to prove to be much of a deterrent to the aliens, not shooting rubber bullets.

  Or maybe they were planning on switching to live ammo when they saw the ship?

  NASA may or may not have tried to hide the discovery, based on the length of time the craft had actually been coming toward the planet. The conspiracy theorists had had a field-day with that one. NASA, of course, claimed that they just didn’t see it coming until last week and blamed it on the budget. The president pledged many billions of tax-payer dollars for their program to avoid anything like this ever happening again, despite NASA’s assurances that the odds were astronomical--and also despite the fact that the sod had already spent more ‘tax’ money than the ten presidents before him. The aliens, meanwhile, had yet to respond to repeated attempts at communication and NASA had issued a warning that they could be hostile.