by Stella Cassy
“Yvette, come with me,” Ranel said.
Left with no choice, I followed him out onto the ramp and walked down behind him. The moment we were clear of prying ears, I turned on him angrily.
“Did you have to make a big deal about that?” I demanded.
“About what?” Ranel asked, his brow furrowing.
“About my being in the slave line?” I said. “Everyone was staring.”
“So?”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t want them to feel like—”
“Like what?” Ranel demanded.
He looked genuinely confused by my anger and I realized the difference between our perspectives. It hit me that as simple as things were for us within the confines of Ranel’s chambers, it would not be the case anywhere else.
“I don’t want you treating me differently in front of the other slaves,” I said, struggling to find a way to express myself.
Ranel frowned. “How can I not?” he asked. “Everything is different now.”
Everything was different now. A wealth of noise surrounded us as we hit the gritty sand of Nort. Ranel looked up distractedly at the settlements being built and I watched as he made eye contact with a fellow Drakon who he was obviously familiar with. He left me standing there to go and greet his friend. I watched as the two grabbed each other’s arms around the elbow, as was the custom among their kind; it was the equivalent of a hug.
I turned back to the Gyygnar and watched as the slaves were being led down in the single file line I had just been removed from. I saw Meratte at the very back of the line. Her eyes met mine for only a moment before she turned her face away deliberately. It was a subtle rebuke, but it hurt all the same. I felt an overpowering sense of guilt engulf me and almost immediately I realized why that was. I remembered my first few days in Gyygnar’s scullery. Carissa had visited me there when I had still seen the galaxy in black and white.
I had been incapable of understanding her choice at the time. I had judged her for it. I had taken her life personally. It felt as though she had betrayed me by turning her back on Earth. Now here I stood, on the other side of her choice and I realized just how much I had misunderstood.
The galaxy had never been black and white. It was just different shades of grey and a whole host of difficult choices.
28
Ranel
The roars of the war council were deafening. I felt the ground shake beneath the steady stamping of Drakon feet. We were holding the council on the outskirts of our rising colony. On one side were cast in the shadow of our spaceships and on the other we were flanked by barren hills that might have once been mountains.
There was a spindly formation of rock just in front of the hill and we had made that our dais. Tarion was standing atop the highest rock as he made his wild and impassioned speech. The main commanders of the Hielsrane were standing on either side of the rock formation and the rest of the Drakon fleet had congregated in front of it.
“The Pax have ravaged our galaxy for too long now!” Tarion said, his voice carrying across the desert, reverberating with anger. “They have plundered and destroyed, murdered and enslaved. The Pax Alliance is the scourge that taints our universe and it is time we rip their so-called legacy out from under their feet!”
The Drakon in front of us roared and stamped their feet, raising their fists into the air in agreement. I watched the fervor that was spreading through the gathering and smelled bloodlust in the air. As a species, we were trained for battle, but more importantly, we were built for it. It was in our nature to reave and pillage and take what we wanted. It was in our nature to make war. And yet, my blood did not boil with the urgent need to exact revenge. I did not want to rush into battle. I did not want to make another war. Perhaps I was getting old.
“We thought they were merely rodents. We thought they would be no threat to us,” Tarion continued. “But here we are… forced to make our home on another planet. We are the Drakons of Thirren and yet, Thirren is gone. The Pax took Thirren. They raped her, murdered her and left her for dead. Thirren is our motherland… she gave birth to us all and now we must avenge her!”
More roars, more stamping… dust pushed off into the air like little golden tornadoes. It rose higher and higher until it had created a fog that hung just above our heads. I looked towards the other side of the rock formation where a second lot of commanders stood. Moddoc was among them in the far corner.
His face was turned up to Tarion, but I could tell he wasn’t engaged at all. His features were blank of expression and his stature was stiff and uncertain. I had wanted to question him in front of the council, but Lehar and Tarion had spoken for him and my suggestion had been thrown to the wayside.
“We are Drakons!” Tarion yelled. “We are the masters of the sky, the kings of fire and the monsters of lore. We are dragons and we will take what is ours! We will kill every last Pax in this galaxy and once their kind has gone extinct, we will build shrines devoted to their kind and anyone who wishes it may be allowed to deface those shrines in the manner of their choosing. It is the perfect tribute.”
It took everything I had in me to keep from rolling my eyes. Tarion certainly had a flare for the dramatic but I couldn’t deny that he was effective. Every Drakon at the war council looked ready to lay down his life for the safety of our species.
“Remember, my brothers,” Tarion continued. “Never forget what they took from us. Never forget what they stole from us! We will pay them back in kind.”
As the deafening roar of chanting Drakons took to the wind, I made my way to where Moddoc stood, next to Lehar. The Drakon shifted his eyes uncomfortably as he saw me approach.
“Commander Ranel,” he nodded.
I was vaguely aware of Tarion getting off his makeshift dais and walking over to us. “Moddoc,” I nodded. “Have you managed to make contact with the remaining ships in the fleet? Six of them are not yet accounted for.”
“I’m working on it,” Moddoc nodded. “I assure you Commander, I am doing everything in my power—"
“Like you did for Thirren?” I demanded before he could even finish. “We have no longer have a home because you did not do your job right.”
“Easy there, Ranel,” Tarion said, appearing at my left shoulder.
“Just because you lot are willing to trust him blindly does not mean I have to,” I said. “He was in charge of communication for the fleet. Tell me Moddoc, how did you miss something so detrimental as the Pax alliance heading straight for our home planet?”
“I saw them too late,” Moddoc replied. “It was an oversight on my part—"
“Oversight?” I growled. “That’s a pretty big fucking oversight, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ranel,” Lehar said, placing his hand on my chest.
That contact seemed to snap me out of my rage. I took a deep breath and willed myself to calm down. I was obviously outnumbered and if experience had taught me anything, it was don’t spend energy fighting a battle you couldn’t possibly win. Lehar, Dashel and Tarion were all in favor of pardoning Moddoc for his mistakes. I for one thought he should be tried and then locked in a cement cell for the foreseeable future.
“You’re just going to turn a blind eye to his mistakes?” I demanded of my brother commanders.
Lehar and Dashel exchanged a glance. “We intend no such thing,” Dashel said, looking at me pointedly. “We’re merely trying to be fair. No Drakon would ever betray his kind. If Moddoc made mistakes, it was unintentional.”
I ground my teeth together, trying to read the evasive expression on Moddoc’s face. “Is that right, Moddoc?” I asked.
“I thought I was doing the right thing,” Moddoc replied.
I frowned. That answer didn’t satisfy me the way it seemed to satisfy Lehar, Dashel and Tarion.
“We will put a trail together,” Tarion said. “We will judge the right punishment for Moddoc.”
I pushed down my rage. A trial was certainly a step in the right direction. “Very
well. A trial is certainly justified,” I said, before turning back to Moddoc. “I do not trust you, Moddoc,” I said, taking a step forward so that our noses were only an inch apart. “I want you to know it.”
Moddoc didn’t meet my eyes and that troubled me too. He was hiding something still and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Once the war council was over, I headed straight back home. Home was no longer a chamber within a spaceship. Now home meant a small hut that had been fashioned out of stone, brick and thick black cement that we had made from the viscous mud and dirt at the base of the Mehmet plains.
With the help of our slaves, we erected up to three settlements in a day, fusing together all the various materials with cement and in some cases the hot blaze of dragon fire.
I was grateful to be busy. If I didn’t have something to keep my mind occupied, my need for vengeance might have overpowered my good sense.
My hut was located close to Gyygnar. It was one of the larger colony huts due to my status as a commander. The main room fed into the bedroom, which I now shared with Yvette and we were also equipped with a functioning bathroom and a small kitchen space that Yvette cooked out of most days. It was nowhere near close to the luxury and comfort I had been used to aboard the Hielsrane ships, but adjustments needed to be made given our current plight.
When I got to the hut, I could see smoke rising from the chimney roof that sat above the kitchen. I could smell the bold scent of Groot wafting towards me and I sighed. I wasn’t a fan of Groot. It was a vegetable that was native to Nort and considered to have a meaty flavor but I didn’t think so. It tasted of no meat I had ever tried before. There was another scent that I caught hiding beneath the smell of Groot. It was sweeter and more inviting and I suspected I knew what it was.
“Yvette?” I called as I walked into the hut.
I pushed open the thick blanket that served as our door. It hung over the entrance and served to keep out bugs and insects.
“Ranel, are you back already?” Yvette asked, as she jumped into the main room. “How was the war council?”
She was wearing a simple blue sheath that I had procured from Carissa a few days earlier. It hung over one shoulder, leaving the other one bare and hugged her curves before ending at her knees. Her dark hair hung lose around her shoulders and looked slightly unkempt, as though she had been running her hands through it all day.
“It was… as expected,” I replied. “Tarion is swearing vengeance, as are most of the Drakon.”
“Are you?” Yvette asked, eyeing me closely.
I felt hot anger boil inside me. “I am,” I nodded. “But I need to keep a clear head, especially when everyone around me seems eager to jump into another war.”
“It’s too soon,” Yvette said. “You’re not ready to take on the Pax army right now.”
“I’m aware of that. Now I have to make sure my fellow commanders realize that too. It is not in our nature to take a defeat like this lying down.”
“There is a difference between intelligence and strength,” Yvette pointed out.
“I am aware,” I nodded, realizing how much easier it was to talk to Yvette about these things than it was to talk to Tarion, Lehar and even Dashel.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Yvette suggested. “I made dinner.”
“Groot?” I asked.
“How’d you know?” Yvette wondered.
I managed a smile. “It has a distinctive smell.”
Yvette frowned as she took in my careful expression. “You’re not a fan of Groot, are you?”
I raised my eyebrows innocently. “I never said that.”
“No, but your expression does,” Yvette said. “I know when you’re hiding what you really feel.”
I bristled at that. I thought I had done a good job of hiding my innermost thoughts.
Yvette disappeared into the kitchen and when she returned, she was carrying a large tray of cookies. I sat up instantly, my mouth salivating.
“I knew it.”
Yvette laughed. “I think they came our pretty well,” she said. “I had to work hard the last couple of days to put together the ingredients I needed. I wanted to surprise you.”
“This is a very good surprise,” I acknowledged, reaching for a cookie gratefully. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of the deliciousness sweetness of the crumbly treat.
Yvette sighed heavily and my head snapped up to her. “Are you all right?” I asked.
“Of course,” she nodded immediately. “Just… a little tired.”
“You’ve been getting tired often lately,” I observed.
“Yes,” Yvette nodded, and I realized she had been worrying about it herself. “Maybe= I’m getting sick.”
“I can have you examined—"
“No,” Yvette said quickly. “That’s completely unnecessary. I think it’s just the stress of adjusting to a new world and a new… reality.”
“How is your PTSD?” I asked, hoping I had gotten the name right.
She smiled and reached out for my hand. “It’s manageable,” she nodded. “It’s better when I’m with you.”
I noticed how pale she looked in the pallid evening light. I wondered if that was a warning sign or just a trick of the light. I reached out and placed my claws against the black thickness of her collar. I said nothing about it, nor did she, but its presence stood between us, an ever-present third person who refused to leave.
“You’re doing too much,” I said. “You need to rest. I don’t need you to cook for me.”
“What else am I supposed to do around here?” Yvette asked. “I have no place among the Drakon apart from that of a slave.”
I cringed against the word. Was there ever a time when I had used it so freely? I looked into her eyes and saw the potential there.
She was no slave. She never had been.
29
Yvette
I woke up with a strange feeling coursing through me. It almost felt as though my body didn’t belong to me anymore and I started to panic. Maybe I had been too hasty in refusing Ranel’s offer to have one of the Drakon healers look at me.
I turned in bed and realized that Ranel wasn’t there. I was alone, tangled in the sheets with only Ranel’s dewy scent to keep my company. He was so busy these days and of course I understood that he had to oversee the construction of the colony, but I missed him terribly when he was gone. It was still strange to think of Ranel that way. There were moments when I genuinely forgot about the collar around my neck. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days.
It’s vise-like grip made me feel weak and ungainly as I slipped out of bed and padded over to the stone hearth that Ranel had fashioned himself out of Nortic rocks that lay deep in the Hizkandar Valley. The walls of our little hut had been made from the same rock, but it had been broken down and mixed in with black cement to form an incredibly thick and durable substance that felt almost invincible.
The Drakons referred to their colony home as ‘huts’ but the word felt insubstantial in my opinion. It was like using the word hill to describe a mountain. I pushed away the curtain that hung over the open window in our bedroom and looked upon the Drakon colony that had taken over the Nortian plains. It looked like a small village that had been around for a few decades at least. It was amazing how resourceful the Drakons were. I had watched how they had used their claws, strength and fire breath to build a fortified colony in mere days. I stood in awe of their capabilities and I realized why it had been so hard for them to swallow their defeat against the Pax. They were a species that had grown used to success.
I was still staring absentmindedly out the window when I caught sight of Ranel in the distance. He was wearing pale colors today, a simple shirt whose neckline was slightly parted to reveal the muscular burgundy scales of his chest. The sunlight touched the scales on his arm and turned them into dancing fire. Even his eyes seemed to spark with life as he walked towards the hut.
His wings were folded neatly
behind his back, but his tail swung from side to side. I had come to realize that it was just habit he had formed over the years, similar to how I used to bite my nails as a child. I pulled on the pale blue sheath that had quickly become my favorite item of clothing and left the room to meet Ranel.
“It’s late,” I said. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were tired,” Ranel replied as he stepped through the door. “You needed rest.”
“Were you at another meeting?” I asked.
Ranel gave me a small smile as he pulled out a beautiful silver bracelet that seemed to gleam even within the confines of the hut. It was a sleek band but as I took a closer look, I realized it was thicker than it looked.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“It’s yours,” Ranel said. “I commissioned it especially for you.”
“Commissioned it?” I asked. “Does that mean it’s not stolen?”
“I paid real credits for it,” Ranel said.
“Wow,” I breathed. “I’m flattered. Thank you.”
“It’s not just nice to look at,” Ranel said before I could take it from his hands.
“No?”
“It serves a purpose,” he told me. “The bracelet contains a translation chip.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Come here,” Ranel said, taking my hand and pulling me towards him. “I think it’s time we take that thing off your neck.”
I took a deep breath and my stomach started to quiver. I had worn the black collar around my neck for years now… sometimes it felt like a lifetime.
“Ranel…”
“Sshh,” he said gently as he lifted my right hand and snapped the bracelet in place around my wrist.
Then he hooked his claw into the back of my collar and pressed hard. I felt my knees buckle as a bolt of electricity raced through the collar and around my neck. I gasped, but Ranel had a firm grip on me and I stayed on my feet, held in place by his arm around my waist. A second later I heard a faint clicking sound and then the thick collar fell away and landed on the ground with a resounding thud.