by Zara Zenia
“Zaruv,” she whispered softly, as she cupped my face.
It didn’t matter that the others were watching us. In that moment, there was only her and me. Our bond was unbreakable, as I kneeled down to kiss her softly, praying that it wouldn’t be our last moment together. She kissed me back, pressing against my body and once again igniting the passion inside me. My body burned to touch her but there was no time. We had to separate and flee.
“Go,” I whispered to her, breaking away against my better judgment.
“Promise you will come back to me?” she asked with tears in her eyes.
I nodded my head and walked in the opposite direction, unable to watch her as she left me. Lee was close to me and we trotted in silence for some time before taking a break. The cellar was a labyrinth, but we were getting closer to the center and to my brothers with every turn. I could sense them, even in their slumber. They both seemed well enough, though I had no idea if my read was accurate.
“You really care about her, don’t you?” Lee asked.
I looked back at him and nodded. “More than even I realized until today. She has given me a new life.”
“Jennifer is a good woman. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“That’s why I sent her with Ragal,” I muttered.
“That isn’t what I meant. Even if we do make it out of here, she could still get hurt.”
“You mean her heart?” I asked, knowing the answer.
He nodded his head, “She is a friend to everyone, a heart of gold.”
“You have no reason to worry about me harming her in any way.”
“Oh yeah? Aren’t you going to leave once you find your brothers? What then? She will be heartbroken when that happens.”
“I know,” I muttered. “I won’t leave her if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Why should I believe you?” he asked defensively.
I looked him in the eyes and told him what I’d wanted to proclaim from the rooftops. “Because I love her.”
Chapter 16
Jennifer
I followed behind Ragal, wishing that I were with Zaruv, but unwilling to be clingy. It bothered me that he wasn’t there with us, even though I knew he had his reasons. He would be going after his brothers. I was no fool. He needed me gone to be the best warrior possible and I wouldn’t stand in his way, though it scared the daylights out of me to let him go. The tunnels widened some and I knew we were getting close when Ragal froze and lifted his hand for silence.
“What is it?” Hardin asked as he pulled out his gun.
Ragal didn’t answer, there was no need. From either side men had materialized with weapons pointed at us. I spun around, looking for an exit, but I could find none. Ragal shoved me behind his back, trying to protect me. I shoved him out of the way and stepped forward, fingering the syringe that was still tucked away safely in my pocket.
“Jesus, Ragal. What are you going to do? You gonna shift and fight them all down in this sewer? I don’t think so.”
“Where’s the other one?” Barked one of the guards.
I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine. We split up after he decided to run for it.”
The man snorted and waved his gun for us to start walking, “That’s what you get for shacking up with a freak like that anyways.”
Ragal looked stunned but said nothing. I realized that lying probably wasn’t the way that they did things back on his home planet, but I was thinking off the top of my head. If I could keep them off Zaruv’s tail maybe he would have time to save his brothers. It could be my parting gift to him I thought grimly. Things weren’t looking very good for us. As the man shoved us into the throne room, I stumbled and fell forward onto the steps.
“Thought you’d make a run for it eh?” Mumbled Vega.
I glared at him, “You are nothing but a disgusting, Infernian pig! We know your secret.”
His eyes grew wide for a second before he pulled himself together. “Well, isn’t that interesting. So, you know who I am. Maybe you can tell me why four Dragselians were traveling near here in the first place?”
“Ha! Like I am going to tell you anything. Are you worried?” I goaded, “Because you should be. You think there are only four of them?”
Vega stood up and walked slowly toward me. I could see Ragal’s color change slightly the closer he got. In my mind, I begged him not to shift, we just needed to buy Zaruv and the others a little more time. The doors opened behind us again and I looked back to see Zaruv and Lee being shoved through them. Lee stumbled and fell to the ground, making all the men laugh. My heart sank as Zaruv shook his head. They hadn’t made it to the brothers. I needed to act.
Ripping away from the man holding me, I spun and addressed them. “Are you really going to let yourselves be ruled by an Infernian? Is that what you have come to?”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” hissed Vega.
He grabbed my arm and wrapped a stinking arm around my neck, backing slowly away from Zaruv and Ragal who were now on red alert. I didn’t want to see anyone get hurt, least of all, the other humans in the room who had done nothing but follow orders. I had the distinct feeling that Anthony wasn’t alone in his plight. No human would willingly follow an Infernian, not knowing what they did to our kind and what they were still doing.
“One more step and I snap the bitch’s neck,” Hissed Vega, tightening his grip and making it hard to breathe.
Zaruv looked at me as the other men shuffled around. His eyes were filled with fear and rage, but I had a plan. None of them saw my hand slip into my pocket as the small trickle of serum ran down my leg. I pulled it back up slowly, filling the glass capsule with nothing but air. Vega was losing his grip on reality and I needed to make sure that it stayed that way. Once it was full, I started to move again, pulling Vega’s attention away from the others.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Don’t you think the Dragselians will notice when all four of their princes go missing?”
“Princes? What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.
I didn’t need the conversation, I needed him to do just what he had done. His grip loosened ever so slightly as he realized that my compadres weren’t just travelers. If I was going to do anything, it needed to be done now before he regained his composure. I quickly pulled out the needle and shoved it violently into his leg, pumping the air into his body. He shrieked and shoved me away from him.
“What did you do!” he screamed.
“Just gave you a shot of air. Let’s see how well your body reacts to an embolism you son of a bitch.”
Red blisters started to appear on his face and his hands wrapped around his throat. His body started to swell and his eyes began to bulge from his face in a grotesquely unnatural manner. He frantically looked around and I saw what he was going for as he stumbled backward toward his throne. I tried to run and get to it first but Zaruv grabbed my arm. There was no point in fighting him. He wasn’t going to let me put myself in danger ever again.
I gasped when I saw Anthony run to the throne before Vega could reach it. Looking right into Vega’s blood red eyes, Anthony raised up his foot and brought it crashing down onto the delicate medical case. The sound of glass shattering mingled with Vega’s enraged screams. His attention turned to Anthony as he charged at him. The wiry man was too fast for the painfully shifting Vega, though and in seconds, he was out of harm’s way. We watched as the transformation continued.
“Are you going to do something? If there was ever a time to act, it would be now while he’s weak,” I said to Zaruv.
He shook his head, “It was never about him being weak, it was about protecting you. I know you are safe now.”
“So, you aren’t going to do anything?” I asked in shock.
“Of course, I am going too, he threatened your life and for that, he will die. I can’t fight a man like that though, I want no excuse for his loss other than his poor skills. No, I will wait until it is done.”
I’d seen Zaruv and Ragal shift. It was majestic and beautiful, but watching Vega change was the opposite. His skin continued to bubble until it turned an off-putting ruddy reddish brown color. His eyes were blood red. Though he’d thinned out and grown taller, he was still only a few feet taller than a human male. Horns shot out of his head, cold and bent like the devil he was. When the transformation was complete, he turned to me and lunged, surprisingly agile for a beast of such size.
It was then that I saw his wings. They weren’t like Zaruv’s wings that had taken me through the sky. The same wings I’d stroked and admired. No, Vega’s wings were boney and dull brown. The thin membrane stretching out over the tree-like branches of his bones. He had no beauty, there was only ugliness and evil that seemed to seep out of him. How could a creature like that ever be anything but dark? I was stunned that he had hidden his true self for so long.
Vega didn’t stand a chance though, Zaruv shifted within seconds and blocked the attack from Vega. I stumbled away, falling into the arms of Anthony who didn’t even look down at me as he held me up. His eyes, like those of everyone else, were glued on the battle about to take place. Zaruv was larger than Vega but not by much, his dragon form was majestic though, and domineering, not a mutation like Vega.
“What are you going to do now, Vega?” Zaruv asked as he circled him.
“You think that I can’t defeat a pretty little prince? I am a fighter, a warrior!” he hissed.
Zaruv roared, fire shooting from his mouth and clipping Vega’s arm. Vega was unfazed though and laughed at him.
“Fire? That’s your defense? I live for fire, you fool!” he said.
Vega lunged for Zaruv, fighting dirty and knocking Zaruv across the room. I screamed for Zaruv, but Ragal wouldn’t let me go to him. He stood up, shaking off the attack but before he could lunge for Vega again, Lee jumped between them. With a blade in his hand, he quickly slashed at the monster. He made contact with his stomach, but the blow was only enough to further enrage Vega. The Infernian roared and brought his boil-covered limb across Lee’s chest, sending him sailing through the air with a sickening crunch.
“Lee!” I screamed, breaking free from Ragal and running to my friend.
Vega advanced on us but didn’t make it far before Zaruv was on top of him. I watched in horror as his teeth sank into the Infernian’s shoulder. Vega shrieked and spun around, throwing off Zaruv and lunging for him again. The fight continued, but I couldn’t keep watching. I had to trust that Zaruv would bring him down as I shook Lee. His eyes slowly started to open and he gazed up at me, a playful smile mixed with pain crossing his lips.
“So, that’s all I had to do to get some time with you?” he joked.
I laughed, “You scared me, old man! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
He shook his head, “Just my pride.” After he tried to sit up, he winced, “And maybe a few ribs.”
“You did good, but we need to get you out of here before he comes back to finish the job.”
Looking past me to the two fighting men, he grinned. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. It looks like your man has it pretty well covered.”
I turned my attention back to the fight and saw that Lee was right. Zaruv wasn’t lunging for Vega anymore. I saw a glint in his eye and knew that he was just toying with him at this point. Something else pulled my attention away as I helped Lee get to his feet. The guards that had been in the room were all gone, but a commotion outside the balcony doors was growing. I helped Lee to the doors and we pulled them open.
“Oh, my God, are those all his men?” I asked in shock.
The streets were filled with men carrying torches and pounding on the mansion doors. “Are they here for us or for Vega?”
Lee shook his head, “I have no idea and I don’t want to find out. We need to find your boyfriend’s brothers and get the hell out of here.”
I nodded in agreement and looked back at Ragal, “Ragal! We need to find the others!”
He shook his head, “I won’t leave Zaruv.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Look at him, you think he can’t handle this himself?”
Ragal watched his brother for a few minutes, seeing the same thing that I’d seen before. Zaruv was going to be just fine without us. With a curt nod, Ragal shifted into his dragon form and burst through the doors with Lee and me following behind him. We needed to get the others.
Chapter 17
Zaruv
The Infernian was no match for me and he knew it. My size and skills had been honed over decades as a prince learning to defend his homeland. Vega, realizing that he was outmatched was looking for an exit and as Jennifer and the others ran through the doors, he found it. I watched them go and Vega bolted in the other direction for the main doors that led to the streets. He skidded to a stop as they flew open. I shifted back into my human form, knowing I could change again as soon as he attacked.
The first man back through the doors was Anthony, having left with the others in what I thought was a feeble attempt to flee from Vega. I now saw that he wasn’t fleeing at all but going to find the others. Riots were breaking out all throughout the city, word having spread that their king was really an imposter. People would follow the rule of a ruthless human but not an alien taking over their town. Anthony pulled out his blade and looked from Vega to me.
“You!” hissed Vega. “Kill that son of a bitch!”
Anthony looked at me again and shook his head, “I don’t think so. You’ve terrorized this town, making us think that we had no other options. Tell me, what did you think would happen when we figured out who you were?”
Rage filled Vega’s face as he wrapped his hand around Anthony’s neck, “I thought you would want to see your family live you fool. I will kill you all!”
“Really? You are running away from one Dragselian! You are nothing but a coward and a bully.”
I winced, making Vega even more upset wasn’t the way that the foolish human was going to live through the ordeal. He was in a bad spot and needed my help. Without waiting another second and risking Vega snapping the man’s neck, I lunged for him. I hated to attack from behind, it made me feel like a coward but I had no choice. As Vega flung me off his back and I once again broke several bones making contact with the wall, I knew that it was time to end it.
Grabbing ahold of Vegas neck with my razor-sharp teeth, I dragged him back into the throne room. He screamed in pain, flailing his arms and trying to escape from my tight grip. It wasn’t until we reached the balcony that I let him go, though there wasn’t much left of him. He had been defeated almost completely. I shifted back into my human form and looked out over the crowd of men and woman that had gathered.
“This is the Infernian that has been running your city as Vega! He sells off people and your crops to his own kind, advancing his race and stalling your own!”
“And just who the hell are you?” Shouted one of the men.
I puffed out my chest with pride, my gaze leveling on Vega. “I am Prince Zaruv of the Dragselian people. We have been fighting to protect the human race and so many others from Vega and his kind for generations. Your city is yours once again! Take this trash and do with it what you will.”
“I’ll come back for you,” hissed Vega.
“Only if you live,” I shot back.
With one hand still tightly wrapped around his neck, I reached around him and ripped one of the boney wings from his back. Blood trickled down as he screamed and thrashed in my arms. You couldn’t grow back your wings, none of us could. I tossed it over the ed
ge of the balcony before doing the same with the second one. Vega went limp in my hand but I knew he was still alive. He opened his eyes and glared at me, spitting at my face.
“You will never get away with this. There are others like me and they will avenge me,” he stammered.
I pulled him closer to me, “Let them come. We will be ready this time and every time after that. Tell me what you know about the crash and I will end your suffering.”
He laughed, “Go ahead and kill me. If you don’t the others will. There will be more. They are probably already on their way here now. What then? You will be back with your own kind and we will harvest every last human alive. Including that bitch of yours.”
I lifted him off his feet and dangled him over the railing, much to the joy of the screaming mob below us. “This is your last chance. They will not be as merciful as I am.”
“Let me go, they will pay for your mistakes, they will all pay,” he said as he closed his eyes.
Enraged, I dropped him from my grasp and let him fall down to the crowd. The last look I saw on his face was one of shock and fear. He had been bluffing, but I had not. As they amassed upon him and the screams of agony slowly died out, I turned away and looked around the mansion. The people would need a leader now, they would need someone to protect them from the threat of more Infernians and we were going to need help.
When I saw them walking through the doors of the main hall, my heart felt like it was going to explode. Ragal had Pavar under his arm, helping to support him and Jennifer had Karun, doing the same. Seeing them together warmed my heart more than words could express. The crowd outside had settled some but I still had the strong feeling they were waiting for me to return and give them direction, not something I wanted to do.
Karun let go of Jennifer and she ran into my arms. I couldn’t stop myself from claiming her lips with my own and kissing her passionately. The day had been too long unknowing if I would ever get to kiss her tender lips again. Even the catcalls from my brothers couldn’t pull me away from her. I only stopped when I felt her fingers tugging gently through my hair and I knew if we didn’t stop, I would claim her right there in front of everyone.