Unearthly World Christmas

by C. L. Scholey

  Tempest sighed, and Titus heard the fear and anger in his friend’s voice. Titus knew Cy loved his mate more than life. Tempest brought out a love in Cy and a change Titus never thought possible. Cy had been his best friend since he could remember. After Cy’s father was killed by a cyron while trying to protect his son when he was a child, Cy went to live with Titus and his father. Zell was named after Titus’s father. Dranos was the name of Cy’s father.

  “I came to get Dranos. It’s getting late and he is only five. Zabbie and I were talking about Christmas and thought we would explain to Dranos about some Earth traditions. Not a lot just to clear a few things up to satisfy his curiosity. Then things will go back to normal. I hope.” She set the boy on his feet and took his hand into hers. “There’s a good possibility cookies will be involved.” The boy smiled.

  “This is a Zargonnii planet,” Titus said.

  “Even Zargonnii eat cookies,” Dranos said with an exaggerated eye roll.

  “We would leave cookies for Santa.” Braylon’s gaze was thoughtful. “And milk, and a carrot for the reindeer.”

  “A deer that makes rain?” Dranos asked.

  “No, dummy, reindeer are…”

  “Don’t call me dummy,” Dranos said with a snarl.

  “Braylon, do not call your brother names,” Tempest ordered. “There were a lot of strange things on this planet and Bagron you didn’t understand when we first came. Dranos has never been to Earth. There is no reason he would understand some of the animals that lived there.”

  “What else lived there?” Dranos asked. “Will you really tell me about Christmas?”

  “I would like to hear stories of this holiday,” Zell said.

  Dranos suddenly started to laugh and pointed at Braylon.

  Braylon groaned. “Stay out of my thoughts,” he grouched.

  “But that fat man you just thought of is funny. He has so much fur on his face you can hardly see his eyes. What’s with all the red clothes? Who is it? He kinda looks Zargonnii in a weird way.”

  “That is your first glimpse of Santa Claus.” Tempest cupped his chin. “Stay out of people’s thoughts, especially your brother’s. It’s not polite.”

  “I’m sorry, Mommy, but sometimes things just pop into my head.”

  Titus knew Tempest had Dranos’s best interest at heart. Seeing Tonan memories was hard enough on Braylon when he was only eight. Tempest didn’t need to worry about scary images terrifying her youngest.

  “Inside people’s heads they tell stories, Mommy. I get to see the pictures sometimes. You told me of picture books. They had some on Bagron when we visited Cobra. When can we go again?”

  “I thought you wanted to hear of Christmas and eat cookies,” Tempest said.

  “I do but later. Bagron has holograms of puppies.”

  “Well cookies can’t begin to compare to puppies.” Tempest chuckled and laid a hand onto Dranos’s head.

  “I could take him,” Ryker offered. “Zell and Braylon and I could all go, even Brave, and we can make certain he doesn’t get into trouble. He’s no match for Zell’s powers.”

  Dranos pouted. “Braylon will ditch me for Huck the second he gets there.”

  Titus heard the jealousy in the boys tone. Huck was a Tonan warrior, very formidable, very large, and Braylon adored him and his mate Becky and their son, Twain. Cy knelt before the boy.

  “You can go if you promise not to read minds. Cobra gets antsy when you do that, and he doesn’t want every Castian to feel the need to shield themselves when you visit.”

  “All right,” Dranos promised. He then fell into his father’s arms, hugging him.

  “It will be fine Uncle Cy,” Zell said. “Dranos is only five. Ryker is right, I can jumble his power for a while. You know I’d never let anything happen to him. He’s like my own brother.”

  “Well, I suppose a few days of alone time with my warrior would be nice,” Tempest said and smiled. Cy grinned at her and rose.

  Dranos gazed at her suspiciously. “Sometimes I’m happy I can’t read your mind because Braylon just shouted ‘ew mom’ in his head.”

  “Stay out of my thoughts,” Braylon said with a snarl. “Only babies have no control over their powers.”

  Zell and Ryker laughed. Zell took Dranos by the hand as did Ryker with Braylon. All four vanished.

  “Should we remind them about Brave?” Cy asked.

  Titus laughed. “The day Zell forgets about Brave is the day…never mind, it’s not happening.”

  “Should we warn Cobra that Dranos’s powers have increased?” Cy asked.

  “You know your son. The second he gets there, he’ll let anyone who will listen know what he did,” Titus said.

  “True enough,” Cy said then gazed with longing into Tempest’s eyes. “I don’t need to read my mate’s mind to know what she’s thinking.”

  Neither did Titus, he wanted to hurry home to his own mate.

  * * * *

  “The children popped by, and when I say popped by I mean it, to tell me they are headed for Bagron. Dranos is thrilled to be spending time with his brother who promised not to abandon him for any length of time for Huck. Which means for every thirty minutes spent with Huck and family, Dranos will get five. Ryker has promised to keep an eye on the boy, he’s so good with his little sister and I know how good he is with Dranos. Zell is happy, Citun is allowing Brave to go. That’s a first. He has to be the most protective father ever.”

  “Brave is a female. She also is in possession of her mother, Storm’s, power of being able to slice through any material, both known and the unknown. She is a formidable weapon. Thankfully she is a thoughtful child. All the warriors are protective of their children but females are a novelty. Almost every warrior who has a human mate has a female child, with both Cy and I the exception. Cy mentioned they were thinking of trying again. Even Citun said he and Storm were kicking around the idea. Maybe that’s why he is allowing Brave a little more freedom,” Titus said.

  “Titus, is that a hint?”

  “Maybe. Zell is thirteen.”

  “I’ve gotten older.”

  Titus took her into his arms and stroked a hand down her hair. He was smiling, his warm red eyes bathed her features in the love he showed with each touch, each glance. His arms were so familiar. She loved his smile and would have melted against him but she was concerned.

  “You have at least two hundred more child bearing years ahead of you.”

  “Two hundred. Well my ovaries just cringed and my uterus went into hiding. Zell is also the strongest ‘being’ on this planet. Do you think it’s wise to make another so strong?”

  “Zell has his talents under control.”

  “Yes but you remember what it was like in the beginning. When he was a baby he would zap himself all over the planet, then to other planets when he was a toddler. I spent years terrified for him, worried for him, screaming at him to stop scaring the crap out of me. I haven’t lost my powers. What would a daughter be like? You know as well as I do I can visit Bagron with a thought. What if our baby becomes curious about Earth—dead Earth? I can’t imagine looking for a toddler through a wasteland.”

  Titus pulled her further into his arms. “That’s why I don’t think this holiday you speak of is a good idea.”

  “It was Dranos’s idea. The boy is curious about everything because he sees so much. He sees things others don’t, because he can be in many minds and thoughts at once. I can only imagine how he processes things. Thankfully he chooses to concentrate on the good. His powers are increasing. He told me all about how he almost killed his mother then saved her today at the training session. Tempest has no powers, she can’t defend herself the way others who encountered the Gorgano can because she met up with the Angano. Dranos has powers we haven’t seen, maybe can’t imagine. What have we unleashed on this planet? Is he stronger than Zell?”

  “Other children are in possession of certain powers.”

  “Yes but our son’s and Cy’s h
ave something we have yet to see. I would love a daughter, or another son, but I am too powerful and made a child even more powerful than me.”

  “Are you afraid of Zell?”

  “I’m afraid for him. He seems indestructible, but what if he isn’t? What if something comes along that bursts his illusion of being all powerful? How would that affect him, us? Besides maybe I can’t have any more children.”

  “I know the good doctor, Finn, has a potion he gives you and other females to keep you from conceiving. Unlike our females your bodies don’t regulate the need for a baby every ten years. Your bodies also can conceive after only two years, another novelty. We both know of a warrior who has four daughters already. His was the first female to come to live on this planet and have the first female child that stayed with both parents. The oldest half-human child here, Luna, hit puberty and she’s barely a teen in Zargonnii terms, Bay and her mate Zane are having a heck of a time with young Zargonnii warriors. Thankfully the girl is almost as skilled as her father during battle, and she’s big for her age. The warriors know to keep their distance as well because she is known to the female Zargonnii and loud threats of bodily harm have been insinuated to the males by the Zargonnii females. It helps her older half-brother, Draven, is always protective of her as well. Draven has become a fine warrior. His father is proud and both his mother and sisters adore him.

  “Our females don’t hit puberty until in their late twenties and even that is considered far too young by some warriors. As long as they Holiday their bodies will stay the same on their first Holiday as it will for at least five hundred years. Zargonnii sperm is potent.

  “It’s your body, Zabbie. But if it’s fear that keeps you from wanting a baby I am here. I like your custom of staying together. I will help all I can.”

  Zabbie knew that. She pressed her body tight to her warrior. He towered over her. “I don’t think it’s the potion that keeps me from conceiving, I think it’s me doing it.”

  “Why?”

  “I stopped taking the medicine a few years ago because after a while it made my emotions change. I asked Finn about it. He said some of the other women felt the same, maybe that’s why Bay and Zane have four girls already. Finn thought it had to do with the Holiday. A male Zargonnii is very hormonal during that time, even mated ones. Your males Holiday for one reason, a child, and your pure Zargonnii population is diminishing because of human females and our need not to want to procreate every other year. Less warriors go out while the female population has stayed the same. Soon theirs will dwindle. What will the female Zargonnii do in years to come if there are no more warriors to mate with? They will die.” An odd sensation of Titus shuddering surprised her.

  “I never thought of that. We must not allow that to happen.”

  “Your males want human females and they want to keep their daughters, a foreign concept that is now turning into the norm. Bay told me her son Draven wants a human or half-human female as a mate. He will be ready to Holiday in a few more years. The older warriors are asking the new warriors who are coming of age to Holiday with the Zargonnii females at least once to try and save your females from growing old and dying out.

  “I don’t blame the males for wanting human or half-human females, but your females might begin to blame us. We are providing a new generation of half-human females who will want to stay with a warrior, not go off into the jungle to be with other women. Your males are different. I’ve often wondered if a female Zargonnii would allow a human male to live with them. A human male would never be a threat, never be a dominant. Like human females with your warriors, a human male could never hope to be dominant. They don’t have the strength your females possess.”

  Titus cupped her chin and she gazed into his red eyes. His warmth glided over her cheeks in a soft caress. She wanted to chuckle at his stunned expression but didn’t because he was serious.

  “That is a strange idea. I wonder if it would be possible. We have very few male humans here. They are afraid of our warriors and most have gone to Bagron. Zargonnii and humans think so differently when it comes to sex and children. What would a female Zargonnii do if a human male gave them a male child? There would be no place for the baby to go unless the male agreed to keep the child, but it would be half Zargonnii. A half-Zargonnii male in a female area would cause all kinds of dangerous situations. But human males have more control over their sexual desire.”

  “Some would say differently,” Zabbie mumbled.

  “If encountered with a force to be reckoned with, I doubt your human males would attempt to cause any shit for our females. Any type of force on a male’s part would result in death, loss of body parts or serious bone breaks. There is no tolerance of what you called a pedophile; it’s unheard of in our culture. Human men would have to be ready to walk on eggshells to survive. A half-human male Zargonnii on the other hand would be crazy insane to deal with in a female enclosure. Maybe a set of new homes could be made to shelter a human father and his half-Zargonnii son. The little warrior would need training. The male would be geared to become a warrior one day. The mother would be super protective, and completely at a loss because his half-human side might make him less powerful.

  “But, I think this is a problem we won’t need to face for another sixty years or so. Our warriors are many and our human female population is small. The half-human females aren’t of age. The half-Zargonnii females born to us won’t need males for a long time yet. By then we should be able to figure out how to keep our Zargonnii full breeds alive. Another problem would be a human male aging. It’s a Zargonnii sperm that keeps the female young and healthy. How sad for a Zargonnii female if a chosen male of theirs grows ancient before their eyes.”

  Zabbie hadn’t thought of that. There were no old-looking Zargonnii on the planet. It was understood there were aged males and females but not like Earth with canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and bedridden elderly. She had been taking her good health for granted. It was so easy to forget the heartache when all she experienced in her new world was love.

  “Zabbie, maybe we can never have a daughter. I don’t know. What I do know is we can’t if we don’t try. Trust me. We got this. Crazy baby or not, I miss having a little one. Zell comes and goes, but he’s male. Remember the pitter-patter of little feet? I adored the squealing laughter of Brave when she was small. Zell has lost his baby laugh while Brave still has such wild abandon with emotion. She is so much fun to be around. I’m so happy one day she will be Zell’s, but it’s not enough. Give me a daughter to love. Please? Our very own.”

  She sighed. Zabbie had been kicking the idea back and forth. Every time a female or male Zargonnii was born to the warriors, there was a celebration. A wild baby shower with everyone invited—a Zargonnii celebration. A thought occurred.

  “We do everything the Zargonnii way, but your replicators have changed to accommodate the food we eat.”

  “We had no choice when the first human, Bay, was introduced and we realized she wasn’t a pet. Her throat was so badly bruised from a Tonan she couldn’t speak. She ate what you humans refer to as yogurt, our rendition of baby food. Speaking of pets, I was thinking of getting a pet toff for Zell, but he’s shown no interest in an animal. Except I once found him playing with a cyron. The boy somehow manages to turn every monstrous cyron into oversized toffs. I came across one playfully bouncing with its tongue lolling. It threw a stick at me. A stick, Zabbie. Like an Earth dog. Seriously, do I look like I play fetch?”

  “That is actually a relief. Those cyron were once scary as shit. All the bangor keep a healthy distance from the children as well. Our son certainly has a way with animals even though he appears not to want one. Since we’re alone, why don’t you let me explain a bit of Christmas to you?”

  “Now?”

  “After.”

  “After?”

  Zabbie nodded and took his hand and headed for the bedroom. His passion opened a floodgate of emotions in her. Outside a blizzard raged, and Zabbie knew it was
her that unleashed what she was feeling through the elements. Storms held such appetite: a want to consume, a need to devour and engulf. It was time to satisfy her cravings.

  Chapter Three

  Zargonnii homes were built into the ground to hide them from an overhead view. The high mounds covering them appeared to be small hills, mixed with real hills. The fenced walls of their backyards appeared to be small trees and because their trees were able to communicate with one another, any ship detected overhead put the trees into action. Their limbs would dance as though during a wild breeze. During the snow season, the fluffy whiteness became a covering blizzard with the sway of branches. The southern side could be blown into a swirl of petals and green foliage making the planet appear to be alive. Titus thought this a correct assumption.

  Titus knew the action was a direct link to Zargonnii females. Females who loved with all their hearts. Nothing was more important to a Zargonnii mother. She didn’t war; she didn’t do anything except fuss over her offspring. The dedication of a Zargonnii mother was phenomenal. Everything they did was for their children. The mother’s identity didn’t diminish after the birth of her child. She became empowered, the embodiment of selflessness.

  Zabbie’s hand squeezed his, returning his thoughts to her. Their bedroom was large and airy. The soft fur floor covering was thick and made from a cyron hide. The bone of a cyron was nearly impenetrable and designed into the structure of their homes with the ribcage spanning a number of feet. It was a rite of passage for a mother Zargonnii to aid in building her son’s first home. Cyron were a formidable enemy for the most part. It was only in the last few years Zell had been taming the angry beasts. A designated area was set aside for the massive creatures to go when death was near. Only after a cyron passed were the hide and bones taken. The fighting amongst animal and Zargonnii was finished. Only the pond scum refused to oblige, though it no longer targeted any being on two feet. Zell made an example of one severely scum-covered area; obliterating it. The ponds were quiet afterward. It was a small truce but welcome.