Unearthly World BK7
Tempest and the Warrior
By:
C. L. Scholey
Editor: Melanie Billings
Cover Art: Jessica Tahbonemah
Copyright 2017 C. L. Scholey
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without mone-tary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.
Chapter 1
Home.
The word hurt his heart, reverberating off emotions and his soul, and still his passions called to his entire being. Haranguing him, bullying him, belittling him, taunting. Banished. Alone. Exiled. Those were tortured words he woke to every day. Traveling from planet to planet, first weeks, then months, then mind-numbing years. Always all alone. The war between alien races had been brutal, devastating worlds. Castian, Tonan, Zargonnii, Gorgano, Angano, Dark Winged warriors. The list was endless. No one knew who to trust. Cy had only himself.
Inhabitants from butchered worlds ran and hid from him when he landed on any given planet for a short period. The idea amused him at first. He was close to seven feet when in battle mode. A powerhouse. Walking attitude. An angry warrior who strutted wherever he pleased, save his own planet. If he chose, he could roar into the wind, scattering all within his path, until no one came close. When no one came near him, he wondered if it was him, or something else to do with the war. Fear he would bring the Angano or Gorgano wrath upon them. The Angano and Gorgano were heinous creatures with the ability of mind battle. A single thought could be your demise, or worse, could make you turn on those you love. The creatures’ only differences were the Angano could fly and were at least two feet taller than their insipid cousins.
Ugly as shit.
The alien creatures should be the last thing on his mind. Why would they or any of the enemy bother with a lone warrior? No one else did. Not even my own kind. Planning universal annihilation was a full time occupation for the enemy. Cy had no war ship, no major weapons of mass destruction at his disposal. A colossal warrior, behemoth physical power, a super dud. He sighed and shook his head. Always war, always death and destruction. He began to look upon each new landing with trepidation not anticipation. Dead planets hurt his heart at the senseless destruction. Evil the likes peaceful worlds had never seen was unleashed causing irreversible harm. Each sex suffered, males, females, offspring. No one was spared by the enemy. And yet…the war continued as Castians stepped in to clean up the mess or stop it before it started. Taking stragglers to safety, to rebuild or to a new home.
Home.
Titus and Citun, Zargonnii leaders would keep their world safe. Maybe someday Cy would return, if the leaders allowed it. After traveling so long, Cy was certain his conscious thoughts would forget his misery, surely his heart would mend. But it never happened. Daily he told himself his banishment was a female’s fault, but that was untrue. As the days passed, he believed his own lies less and less. Cy was at fault. Cy had betrayed the warrior most important in his life. Titus, leader of the southern Zargonniis, his best friend. Why was Cy banished? Because Titus went searching for a female named Bertha and instead found love.
That was Titus’s so called crime in Cy’s mind. Cy was certain he’d been abandoned by Titus. All because of a human named Zabbie. What had he been thinking? Cy hadn’t been thinking of anything except his own jealousy. The female was always around, in the way—in Cy’s way. She had a way of making fun of him Cy loathed. He cringed remembering the time he walked around for days while others snickered he resembled a pink poodle.
Zabbie and he were always at odds. Cy had drugged her into sleep when he should have been leaving a medicine to protect her. Then to kidnap Titus’s mate and place her in a position where she could have been hurt was a heinous act. The female Zargonnii were so furious with him. It seemed the entire planet was. Cy’s betrayal was by far the worst deed to all, though there were others.
For a time, Cy was enraged at being banished. The longer he thought about what was done to him, he wanted to roar at his unjust punishment. And he did. Every day his thoughts consumed him. Titus was right, there was a fury inside him, eating his guts alive, pounding his head into a painful protest. Once Cy realized neither Titus nor Zabbie were at fault, he blamed the missing female Bertha. He centered his thoughts on finding her and destroying her. He had never loathed another so much in his life.
Cy would let his mind create the scenario, he would find Bertha, the human female shrew. A chase would ensue she couldn’t hope to win. She would be in his grasp, terror stricken, pleading for her life. Cy would then shake her. But the scenario always stopped there. He remembered the sadness those huge green eyes carried. The warrior knew of the numerous scars and bruises she sported.
When the ship carrying the human females and Zargonnii warriors was attacked Titus did the best he could to save everyone, risking his own life. Bertha was lost. He knew Titus went after her for honor’s sake. She was so alone, miniscule, afraid of everyone and everything. Perhaps that’s why Cy could never bring himself to execute her in his thoughts. He realized he couldn’t slaughter a tiny human female. This situation wasn’t Bertha’s fault. Cy was to blame. He had become what he loathed, a warrior with no honor. No better than a filthy Tonan. A heavy weight both lifted then settled.
I deserved to be banished.
His shuttle had everything Cy needed except a companion. Fury ate at him in the beginning, then anger dulled to sadness. Mind-numbing loneliness set in. There was only guilt pointed toward Cy. Knowing he was at fault made the banishment harder. Home was elusive, as elusive as it was yesterday and would be tomorrow. He sat with his head bowed in his hands on a chair; the console bleeped and blipped a series of familiar noises. A vessel wasn’t a home. It was a cold hunk of junk, a blanket of despair, a hearty helping of frustration and Cy had eaten his fill.
When the alarm went off and a high pitched battle stations sounded, Cy stiffened. He should have been more careful, he talked himself into thinking he was no one, why would anyone bother with him? But realized there was nothing he could do when a ship materialized off his starboard.
Shit.
The craft was a little larger than Cy’s, rounded, bullet-like, black and sleek. His heart began to race. This was an Angano vessel, the disgusting murdering aliens who wanted all life to be annihilated from all galaxies. If they were going after a lone ship, the war must be coming to an end.
Are you a renegade?
The alternative idea of the Angano having won the war and were now picking off stragglers crossed his mind briefly. The blast to his ship only rocked him. Next came a bursting blue pattern of three more direct hits. The vessel wanted to destroy his shields. If the creature boarded, he was lost. The flying, almost transparent alien mind battled. Cy could not. It would be dangerous to the Zargonnii if the alien got his hands on one of their vessels. The creature might even use Cy to break through to Titus.
No fucking way.
Cy was a warrior standing seven feet when in battle mode. His red determined gaze reflected back through the window above the console. Long white ass-length hair, whipped about in a frenzy. A standard battle tactic to frighten an opponent, but a useless weapon when not meeting an enemy face to face. Cy’s ves
sel was travel weary. He would lose in a battle. The shields were already flickering. He’d have to outmaneuver this bastard and hide.
Growling with annoyance and snapping on his safety belt, Cy flipped his shuttle in circles, not easy on the guts but if a creature boarded, it would be tossed if not secured as he was. Around he went. The enemy followed hot on his heels. Both vessels zipped through the heavens. His tactic so far was working as their speed increased. The Angano continued its attack, but the flashing charges met open space or sent wayward meteors spiraling. It wasn’t easy to control the vessel in a continuous flip. It would be uncontrollable if he were dead. Cy headed for an asteroid belt hoping to use it as a shield from view.
Straightening the ship out, he weaved it around rolling obstacles in his path in a life-or-death battle of hide and seek. Meteors crashed together sending shards spinning into space. Breaking free of the asteroids, Cy could see on his monitor the alien vessel had been side swiped by a meteor. Both the vessel and meteor were on a collision course with him. Cy nosedived in what he hoped would aid his venture. The Angano gave chase. The pull of the sudden appearance of a planet and its atmosphere was a surprise. Hidden behind a huge asteroid, Cy couldn’t avoid what happened next. Both ships were sucked lower as the trailing meteor was smashed to pieces when striking the asteroid.
The safety belt at his hips pulled tight as he flipped again, only the action was involuntary. The alien vessel was having the same issue. Cy was glad only for the fact with an Angano wing span there was little to zero chance the alien could brace itself.
The beep indicating shield functionality stopped when he was hit by a small meteor squishing the hull. Cy had to duck. When he landed, he would have no hope of survival if the alien lived. His console died. Another meteor hit sending sparks flying. The backup generator would run only the replicator and miniscule lighting.
Damn.
The surface of the planet was coming up fast and Cy took cover, arms over his head, knees to his chest. There was very little that could hurt a Zargonnii warrior, but a fall from this height would be pushing it. Zargonnii vessels were made tough and very rarely exploded on impact, or so he hoped. The ship slammed into the ground snapping his body in different directions. The ship bounced and skidded across the terrain, squealing, creaking, and groaning. Dust and earth smashed the window sending pebbles and clots of dirt rolling. Cy remained in a bent over ball peeking upward. The Angano vessel crashed in front of him, making his vessel bounce. The alien ship tipped upright until the craft slowly tilted to fall sideways. Both crafts halted as one. Cy released the breath he was holding.
Cy shook his head and unlocked his belt. He stood, staggered and groaned. His guts recoiled, and Cy swallowed hard a few times. It had been a long while since he last puked. Nothing was broken, but he would be stiff for the next few days. There was chafing where the seatbelt held tight. He took note his console wasn’t the only thing that was history. His ship was bent out of shape. If the planet was uninhabited, he might be in for a long stay. His thoughts then centered on the Angano. If the alien was still alive, Cy wouldn’t be for long. Thankfully, his readings before the crash indicated the planet would sustain life forms. He raced to the side of the vessel and threw open the battered shuttle door. He determined to finish on land what the Angano started in the skies. No more running and hiding. He was ready to die if he must.
The mammoth vessel looked larger smashed against the planet surface. A door slid open and as a wounded and bloodied Angano fell out, slipping to the ground, crawling its way forward, tattered wings fluttered in a small breeze. The Angano’s head was misshapen; he had struck it on something rendering the creature helpless. For a brief second their gazes locked. Cy began to tingle, his thoughts were trying to turn fuzzy. He snarled. Cy fashioned his red gaze onto the alien and burned him. The alien uttered a small scream and was gone, incinerated. Cy’s mind cleared.
Angano didn’t travel in groups, but Cy had never been aboard one of their vessels and wasn’t positive the creature was alone. He needed to find out if there were more. No surprises.
It was beyond strange inside as he crept aboard. The smell was—interesting. He wrinkled his nose. Cy’s guess at the Angano’s large wing span meant they didn’t have a place to secure themselves was right. Smears of the alien’s blood was everywhere. The creature must have been tossed about and then smashed on impact. It must have been in agony.
Good.
Lights flickered then settled to stay on. The console blipped. The craft might be salvaged. If Cy could make it fly by taking what he needed from his vessel, there was a chance. His heart skipped a beat. If he took it home, Cy might be welcomed back. The idea held merit. Hope surged through him. For the first time in a long while, Cy’s spirits rose. This might be his ticket home.
Home.
This must be the way. Something of the enemy’s that might help the Zargonnii and their allies to understand. Titus was sure to forgive him if Cy came back with detrimental information, a ship no less, Angano blood. He might even be regaled as a hero.
Maybe.
First, he needed to check out the planet for inhabitants. Enemies were everywhere. Forewarned was forearmed.
* * * *
Tempest watched as the hyena-like creatures circled her. The beasts were identical in shape to Earth’s ugly brutes but worse, these were a solid ebony black with snow white eyes and tails. The wither of the animal was at her shoulders in height. Two long fangs, top and bottom, glistened with saliva. The pads of their feet sank into the soft ground near the large pond where Tempest had been heading.
Her heart pounded in her breast. Sweat dripped in rivers down her temples and forehead, stinging her eyes, and leaving a trail to freeze down her back. She clenched her jaw tight to keep her teeth from clacking. How could she have let this happen? The animals were merciless. Destructive heinous beasts that killed for fun even when not hungry. She’d seen them disembowel hapless creatures from the safety of her cave. The beasts would leave a kill to rot then return, trapping Tempest and her son for days at a time.
This wasn’t normally when the beasts hunted. Early dawn or dusk was a favorite. Their cackles would rip through Tempest’s nerves, sending her into nightmares most nights. It was broad daylight. The sun was high. With their heavy coats, they normally slunk off for the welcome cover of shade. The animals had sneaked up on them so fast this time. She and her young son were cut off from escape. The beasts stood between her and the water she needed, had needed for days. Desperation and thirst drove them from the safety of shelter. The beasts also stood between her and the protection of the cave she and her son called home for four long years. As the beasts drew closer, her son whimpered in her arms.
“Close your eyes, man cub.” Her voice caught.
“Mommy.”
“I love you, my sweet son.”
Tempest was a coward. She couldn’t bring herself to kill her child, to spare him the agony of being ripped to shreds. The images alone brought bile to her throat. Her baby, her only family. At least they would die together. But she wouldn’t go without a fight. She threw back her head and screamed. Primitive anger bubbled to the surface. As one animal attacked, she punched it in the head hearing a bone crack, hers or the animals she wasn’t certain. The others took that as it being time to attack as one. Tempest pushed Braylon to his knees while she grabbed up a stick and jabbed a beast in the eye. The animal fled howling with the stick still attached, which made the others pause when she picked up another weapon. Jabbing the air, she kept close to her son, spinning in a small tight circle.
“Get away from my baby,” she screamed.
Another beast was on the attack. Lips pulled back exposing razor sharp teeth, the animal reared up claws poised to strike. Tempest held a stick within her grasp. A booming bellow startled all, and Tempest sucked in her breath as a wild white lion ran upright into the midst. With a hair-raising cackle, the beasts scattered. Tempest was knocked to the ground and shielded
her son beneath her. The lion pounced on the nearest beasts, and continued his assault, white mane flowing down his back, his chest fur soon covered in the beast’s blood.
The hyena coven refocused their assault onto the lion. As one lunged, the lion ducked under it then stood straight, hands up, sending the beast howling into the sky overhead. Another jumped at his chest. The lion grabbed its rough and snapped the beast’s neck, throwing it into another hyena. The hyena sent flying into the air landed on its back with a crunch. The lion hadn’t begun its show of brutal force. Animal parts were strewn everywhere while the lion roared and growled. Its massive claws ripped into a beast tearing it in half, severing the spine, and splitting the ribcage. Tempest held her sore hand to her mouth, gagging as entrails went spinning through the air from the lion’s toss.
The lion fought as though incensed. Tempest had never witnessed raw unbridled fury. The white creature was his own army of rage; the hyena beasts didn’t know what hit them. Then again, neither did Tempest. The lion was a whirlwind, a battle storm. Deadly. Finally, with most of the pack slaughtered or too wounded to continue, they slunk off leaving Tempest to wonder at her new fate. On hind legs, the lion bellowed into the sky, head back, fists balled.
Fists balled?
That was no lion. Heart still pounding, Tempest froze when the animal-man centered his red gaze onto her. Mouth gaping, she stared way up to meet his eyes. She shivered. The face of a man was leveling an unrecognizable glance as his great chest heaved. He was male, there was no doubt, and he was the biggest alien she had ever seen. Goose bumps covered every inch of her. When he took a single step toward her, Tempest wasn’t certain if her heart still beat.
A fallen animal crawled from the carnage. The beast hissed at Tempest and she pulled Braylon tighter to her chest. The animal-man strode to the beast grabbed it by the fur on its back and tossed it farther than a pro baseball player would bat a ball for a home run. A series of booming growls and roars followed until the three were alone except for the dead.
Tempest And The Warrior (Unearthly World Book Book 7) Page 1