Chasing Violet

by Rena Marks

  One more click and the lock was opened. Cadoc was eyed warily. The door hinges creaked as it swung open. Violet’s deep breathing could be heard. Everyone stood back as Violet was motioned forward. She remained still in the doorway, as though paralyzed with fright. The snake with the laser motioned her forward, but from his frustrated expression even he could tell nothing short of a bomb would make her feet move. No one moved, none wanting to be near Cadoc. With a growl Draconis strode towards Violet. One step closer and the filthy creature’s hands would be on his mate.

  Not fucking likely.

  Violet’s long thick hair began to move at her shoulders. Draconis stopped short. From behind Cadoc could see his creations forming. The tattoos he called forth, entrusted to aid Violet, sprung to life. Violet screamed when two mongooses hissed near her ears then leaped, changing as they flew. Both deep sable creatures were larger than an average mongoose with mouths filled with fangs. Their enlarged vocal chords gave a shrill battle cry. The creatures’ tattoo, intricately woven together to resemble a badge, was given to Cadoc shortly after his thirteenth birthday to fight the massive reptiles on his own planet. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, a snake had appeared when Cadoc and his mother were on one of their outings. His mother’s fear infuriated him and an instant later Cadoc was in possession of a new weapon. Cadoc enjoyed the little beasts, the snakes—not so much.

  One mongoose went directly for Draconis, the other went for the one with the laser. All occurred in less than a heartbeat. Cadoc was on the move. Violet flew from the cage as the dais, elongated to fit the confines, appeared, knocking her legs out from under her and sending her high overhead while expanding to keep her safe. Cadoc’s shield was out. His sword was in motion. One mongoose was spread across the one whose laser was useless, unless he wanted to shoot himself in the face. The screaming cries of the man were muffled.

  Payback time.

  Cadoc sliced his legs from him as the mongoose ripped open his throat. Draconis was howling as he tossed the other mongoose from him. It appeared the furred creature was a known enemy to every type of snake. The sable beast now carried a piece of Draconis’s flesh in its mouth, spitting it out before returning to Cadoc.

  “Get the female,” Draconis bellowed, his hand crushed to the side of his bloody face. One of his men took off at a run.

  “Battle ssstations.” Draconis’s scream was cut short when Cadoc called to a tattoo and threw a muzzle on him.

  Cadoc ran his hand over his dagger image, summoning it, and hurled it into the other’s eye followed by a bola to his legs. The snake went down leaving them alone with Draconis, while yanking at the contraption on his face.

  “Time to go my love,” Cadoc yelled and summoned the dais to him.

  “You said your transport was disabled.”

  “More like, redirected.”

  As Violet slipped off, Draconis lunged. Cadoc had one hand on Violet and the other on his steel wrist band. Draconis raised his arm and Violet grabbed the snake’s wrist as he moved to strike Cadoc. Within seconds they were in the arena on Docadia. Again, Cadoc called to the dais to send Violet to safety. The arena, filled with warriors practicing their skills, all stopped to gape before leaping into motion. Draconis was surrounded. He spun in a small tight circle, eyed the warriors and sneered. Cadoc called the muzzle back.

  “I may fall, but it will take many of you to kill me.” Draconis howled in rage.

  “I have other plans for you,” Cadoc said.

  “My men will come.”

  But his men were not here. Instead, many Docadian warriors came forward to shackle Draconis and remove the steel bands. Many warriors expressed interest into how someone not of their species came to possess the Docadian signature. Enemies were never to have access.

  Cadoc spoke into his wrist band. “Talpin, do you have mine and Violet’s reading?”

  “Yes.”

  “Bring us aboard.”

  Violet yelped as the dais disappeared under her and she was in a freefall. Cadoc strode to capture Violet into his arms the second his feet hit the bridge. She was shaking but immediately calmed under his touch as he pulled her close to his chest. His little mate was as proud as any warrior and in possession of inner strength. Cadoc soothed her with calming words. Soon her arms were disengaged from around his neck and she slid to the ground down the length of his body.

  “It’s nice to see you back safely, Violet, and you, too, Cowlick,” Jilly’s voice sounded.

  Cadoc clenched his teeth as the warriors snickered. He wasn’t going to let the annoying menace of words get under his skin. He signaled to his warriors to take their places to return the ship to their own planet. Violet remained close and gazed up at him, smiling. Within moments all could see the blue marble before them. Cadoc was relieved to be back in his own air space. A blip sounded.

  “We are being hailed,” Talpin said.

  “By who?”

  “Draconis’s vessel.”

  “Open frequency.”

  Joshua’s face came into view and Violet tensed. Cadoc knew her reaction was from rage, not fear. She muttered a swear word under her breath that raised his eyebrows, making him smile.

  “You will never get away with this,” Joshua yelled.

  “We already did,” was Cadoc’s reply.

  “There will be war,” Joshua was still screaming. Rage twisted his features, he was an ugly male by any standards and Cadoc wondered what Violet saw in him in the first place. He’d have to ask her later.

  “You have a single vessel.” Cadoc’s smile grew as two more vessels entered their space. He knew both were allies.

  “I will gather many more and come for you,” Joshua bellowed.

  “I think the snakes will want the return of Draconis. Do you really think they’ll bother with the females now? I hope they make a tasty snack out of you, but on the other hand I hope you give them indigestion. Either way it’s a win win situation.”

  “Violet, you are mine to do with as I please,” Joshua was screaming. “You belong to…”

  A decided thunk sounded and Joshua was cut short. His image was gone, the screen was blank. Cadoc turned to Talpin who appeared as surprised.

  “What was that noise? What happened?”

  “I have no idea, Cadoc. It wasn’t me.”

  “It was me, Cadpoo,” Jilly piped up. Cadoc scowled, wondering if she was trying to get back at him for silencing her. “After scanning the records of an older generation, it appears they had something called a rotary phone. When pissed, a person could smash the receiver onto the base and the party on the other end could consider themselves hung up on. I rather like the sound.”

  Cadoc had to admit it was very satisfying and final, a slap in the face. The other females were talking.

  “Jilly, is there an app for that? I may need it for Roxian in the future,” Josie said.

  “Consider one made,” Jilly said.

  Cadoc turned to the people aboard. “It’s time to take all of you to my planet. The warriors have seen Violet. There will be questions. In fact I have no doubt there will be many questions.”

  “I wanted Roxian.” Josie pouted.

  Cadoc moved from Violet to put his hands on Josie’s shoulders and turned her, he pointed at the ship to appear on their left. The vessel was sleek and at a glance from Talpin Cadoc knew the ship was well armed.

  “That is Roxian’s vessel.”

  “He has a vessel?” Josie sounded confused. “I thought he was penniless, that’s why he was aboard the other vessel.”

  “Wow, if he has a ship like that and considered penniless what is considered rich on that planet?” Honeysuckle piped up.

  “When Roxian informed his people of human females, and what human females are willing to do with a male, even in public,” he cast a sidelong gaze at Violet, who blushed making Cadoc grin. “His commander was intrigued and lifted Roxian’s status, giving him a vessel and demon warriors. It would seem your chosen has also chosen you. Roxian and o
thers have joined with us to battle Draconis’s men—evil filth who steal females and force them to breed repeatedly until they are useless. We are gathering many who will war to retrieve the enslaved females on their planet. Right now we have our own battle.”

  “The Berserkers?” Talpin said.

  “It would be sad to see them gone,” a warrior muttered.

  Cadoc was grim. “Jilly, have you created the scents to keep the females safe? I prefer not to have to kill the Berserkers.”

  Violet was suddenly gasping and waving her hand in front of her face. A dozen or so small black microphone-like devices hung from the air on long cords. She coughed as vapors saturated her from all directions.

  “Jilly, I don’t need to swim in it,” Violet said, then broke into a sneezing fit.

  Cadoc stepped back and waved his own hand while others retreated across the room. The devices retracted. Cadoc’s eyes watered. Violet looked so miserable he refrained from mentioning to her she stunk enough to keep everything away. A few of his warriors drew back with the females.

  “That’s, um, really potent shit,” Cadoc said.

  “Potent,” Talpin said, eyes squinted as he struggled to keep the watering at bay. “That’s one word for it.”

  “Jilly,” Violet wailed. “I can barely open my eyes.”

  “Too much?” was the innocent response.

  A sudden blasting breeze and Violet almost toppled over. Her hair seemed ready to depart her head and she gripped her shirt in her hands lest the garment fly free. Cadoc stood in stunned surprise, only Violet was affected. Jilly was thorough, if not delicate. Violet bellowed this time, pissed.

  “I’m going to reach into the ship’s system and pull you out here, so help me, Jilly,” Violet screeched.

  “Calm down.” Jilly chuckled. “I would very much like to join you in human form. You have all the fun.”

  “Fun?” Violet sputtered. “Look at my hair. I feel like a poodle in a tornado.” Cadoc cleared his throat to suppress a laugh as Violet smoothed her wayward locks.

  “What about this?” Jilly asked.

  A smaller waft of a pleasant scent ruffled over Violet. Both Cadoc and his warriors moved closer. Then closer, each inhaling. Violet narrowed her gaze.

  “Stop sniffing me, you dogs.”

  “Violet, you are delicious,” Cadoc muttered and took her hand. Her throat where the scent lay was too hard to resist, he nuzzled her neck. His cock was rock hard in seconds. He then noticed the other warriors moving in. Violet’s scent was too delicious. “Jilly, spray the others.”

  Vents opened and warriors and females alike were given the sweet smell. “Jilly, this one is lovely,” Violet said.

  “It’s a mixture of the sweetest smelling flowers on the planet.”

  Talpin grinned. “We’ll be on top of the Berserkers before they know what hit them. We shouldn’t have any problem corralling them.”

  “It’s time to head to the arena.” Cadoc took Violet’s hand. All warriors touched the button on their steel wrist bands, as they held the hand of a female.

  Bedlam greeted them. The arena was filled with Berserkers. Cadoc groaned, remembering Violet had been there. Her scent, before being masked, must have drawn the beasts. The arena began to fill with more aliens, all wearing steel wrist bands. The enemy. Females were tossed onto the nearest warrior dais. Cadoc drew forth his sword, releasing Violet’s hand. He spun to his right when hearing a battle cry. Cadoc couldn’t see Violet, she had disappeared. He was surrounded by Draconis’s men. They were tossing rocks at the floating daises, hoping to upset the human females to the ground. It would never happen. Cadoc needed to get Violet to safety. His blood flowed with panic. In a far corner Cadoc made out his father—laughing. Holding his sides and laughing loud enough to be heard over the din.

  Betrayal, even by one who was insane meant death. Cadoc was swinging his sword, trying to reach his father and kill any others in the path of his fury. Talpin smashed a hard hammer down on a snake creature. Cadoc hoped their message had gotten through to the Berserkers. The beasts were lumbering around, looking lost. Would the Berserkers have been able to grasp the concept of deception? He found out when a huge female smashed the head of a snake demon. But it was clear the younger Berserkers were confused. Violet’s scent drew them here but now the scent was gone. The human females were too high for the Berserkers to see. The female Berserkers were busy, viciously defending their offspring.

  “Kill them and take the females,” Draconis bellowed.

  Draconis was free. Was there no end to the betrayals? Cadoc wanted this finished here and now. Violet must be told they were mated. Cadoc wanted to tell his warriors, young and old, of human females. They were no threat as his father claimed, they were just different. Humans were no menace to Docadians and their future. They would train their half human offspring differently. Their planet would need to change to accommodate the new females, but before that could happen, the aliens must die.

  “Roxian!” Cadoc heard Josie scream.

  The demon was near her and gazed up at Josie. “I will save you, little one.”

  “I’m safe up here, save yourself. Behind you,” she cried out.

  Roxian hoofed a foot into a serpent’s belly. The snake’s hiss was cut short by lack of breath. More demons were transported to the surface. Cadoc watched a Berserker offspring smash in the head of a Leanthril. Cadoc bellowed to Violet but couldn’t be heard over the noise. Another flower was on the ground, huddled in a tight ball. The poor female. Cadoc searched, he kept moving even when he ran a sword through someone’s guts and continued on toward his father, yanking his sword free in a fluid motion.

  “Where is she?” Cadoc demanded.

  “She took off running when I explained to her that it’s not love she feels for you. It was nothing more than a biological function of a Docadian male’s pheromones. They crave us enough to breed, and then they go their separate ways when a pregnancy is established.”

  “Where is she,” Cadoc snarled, stepping forward. “How dare you speak to my mate?”

  In the distance between them, his father sneered, and stepped further back. “You should have told her and I wouldn’t have had to.”

  Cadoc stepped closer to him.

  He was stopped five feet from his father by three more Leanthrils. Draconis was nowhere to be seen. With his fury fueling Cadoc, he swung hard, lopping the heads off two of them. The other ran. Cadoc stood heaving before his father, feet braced. Cadoc couldn’t believe he was the son of a betrayer. The thought was as saddening as it was infuriating.

  “Look at you,” his father sneered and paced in short steps back and forth, taking Cadoc in from head to toe. “Our leader, strong, powerful, petrified. You embarrass me. You see what a human does?”

  “I see what a betrayer does. Look around, our own warriors are falling. A human female didn’t do this. You did. The blood is solely on your hands.”

  “Give them Draconis and the females and they will go away. Be a leader. Lead your warriors away from this mess.”

  “Never. I won’t run from a fight. Or my mate.”

  “Then you have brought shame to your people.”

  “The only thing to be ashamed of is you.”

  “You were warned.”

  A female screamed and Cadoc saw Violet with Draconis. She was too far away for the dais.

  “It looks like I won’t have half-human grandchildren after all,” his father sniggered.

  “You will have none at all.”

  Cadoc shoved his sword into his father’s chest. His father was still grinning—his insanity apparent—when he dropped to his knees. Blood dripped from the side of his mouth. Cadoc knew no female would be safe if his father lived. Violet would always be in danger.

  “You will not have a weak offspring,” his father said and gasped.

  “I will have many, and they will never hear your name on my lips. I have no father. Thanks to my mother, I will know the right way to rear a child.�
��

  Cadoc watched as his father fell to his side, and then moved no more. Without a look back at the fallen figure, he was then racing through the arena. The hard packed ground pounded under his feet. This was Cadoc’s element. He skidded over a downed Berserker’s back and leaping, spun in the air to somersault with his sword before him. When he landed he tapped the sword onto his steel bracelet sending a charge to the weapon. If need be, he could swing the sword without dropping it and send a bolt of electricity into the air. Violet was closer, but still too far. Cadoc released his mongooses, the little furred beasts went to work, screams in their wake. Draconis was trying to get a grip on Violet, but she kneed him in the groin then punched him in the face. She was yelling foul words and more of the Leanthrils approached to subdue her. Violet was surrounded. Cadoc bellowed a war cry and his other warriors joined him.

  A dagger was called into his hand and Cadoc pitched it at an enemy. The snake had his enormous jaws separated, about to devour a warrior. The weapon went deep into its heart. A strangled scream was cut short. The warrior was hauled to his feet.

  “Bastards. They’re trying to eat us,” Talpin yelled.

  Cadoc spun low and severed a reptilian scum’s leg at the knee. Talpin beheaded it. The herd was thinning and Cadoc couldn’t tell who was winning. A young Berserker and his mother were sitting off to the side enjoying the remains of the dead Leathrils like snacks—a snake trail mix—while watching the battle. Cadoc hoped the pair realized warriors were off-limits food-wise.

  Violet broke free of Draconis and ran. With dexterity, she slipped through legs when she dropped to her knees, then was scrambling up. The Leanthrils were in pursuit, and hot on her tail. She was too far and there were too many in Cadoc’s way. If he stopped fighting and ran for her, he would get to her sooner. Cadoc returned his weapons to his tattoos and began to race forward. He ducked under swords, dodged fighting males and skidded under the legs of Berserkers. Closer his mate came. The need for her safety filled his chest until the pressure was unbearable. Her long hair was flying behind her as she stretched her arms to reach for him. He was almost close enough to send the dais.