A young Nurrin lifted a trembling hand to its new leader and proffered a translator. Prime Leader Dull, no maybe his name was Drool or something, grabbed it impatiently and swatted the inferior creature away. He imperiously hissed his garbage language into the translator and held it between us so that it would pick up my words as well.
“Rathian. Kull dead. Broke contract. Rathian pet now,” it finally interpreted.
I groaned. I so hated having to wait for the technology to catch me up on the situation. “Prime Leader Dim, I’m not a pet. You can go fuck yourself. I heard that’s actually possible.”
The ridiculous insect didn’t even get my sarcasm. Instead of becoming angry, he simply corrected me.
“Prime Leader Drun. Stupid pet,” he said.
I shrugged. It didn’t matter.
“Take now,” Drun ordered. He pointed at me but the Nurrin he had commanded to help him stayed far outside my tail’s reach when I snarled viciously at them.
“Remove teeth. Cut tail,” the fly said. A brave or rather stupid Nurrin came forward with a sword and what looked to be rusty pliers. Seeing these devices I stopped my fussing and knelt waiting for my new master to draw closer. I allowed a fake soft whine of fear escape my throat and it caused him to laugh. “Better, pet. Obey now.”
The creep actually rubbed my hair affectionately. I tried my best not to respond to the wave of disgust I felt rising up as bile. For a very brief moment I felt some empathy for the Xolian and human pet I had handed over to Kull. I shoved that worthless emotion aside. Drawing my legs up under me, I crouched. One hand slid stealthily towards my crotch.
The Prime Leader saw my movement and laughed in a gurgling hiss. “Pleasure cock. Enjoy master.”
I moved my hand further under my Da’ Shari, making further jerking motions. Softly I groaned in anticipation. My Master stepped even closer until I could rest my head against his thigh like a good pet. I slid my other hand beneath his robes, loosened it and lifted up a bit further until my mouth was equal to his crotch. It only took a single hot breath against his skin to make his cock enlarge. It was instantaneously as large as my forearm. I was impressed. I grabbed it firmly, enjoyed the low passionate groan the bug made.
“Mmmm, yesssss,” the translator replied to all his sounds. I glanced upwards into his multifaceted eyes, licking my lips seductively. I squeezed my hand rhythmically, stimulating sex. “More!” Drun commanded.
“With pleasure, Master”, I replied, keeping an eye on his responses. His head tilted back and his buzzing became louder. The other bugs drew closer, watching in fascination.
“Ohhhh, close, pet! Close!” My master panted.
“Yes, just a little more,” I whispered under my breath. Louder I seductively whimpered. I begged, “You are too big for me, Master. Please have mercy. Don’t hurt me!”
Prime Leader Drun of the Nurrin was moments from coming all over me. I squeezed as hard as I could and twisted. He started screaming and I’m certain his soldiers thought at first it was from a strong ejaculation. But it wasn’t the pale yellow jism that pumped out all over my hand it was his green-grey blood. I had twisted his cock completely off.
I leapt up, shoved the dripping member into his screeching mouth and having drawn my bladed weapon from beneath my Da’ Shari I cut a deep slash into his belly. He doubled over towards me. In one swift movement my curved blade slid beneath his neck stalk and severed it. His head, still mouthing the cock, rolled to a stop right in front of his startled soldiers.
“I told you to go fuck yourself,” I told the dead leader. His body collapsed next to me. Since I had cut through his neck instead of popping it off at a joint I knew this fly was truly gone.
I spun, staring at my audience of terrified Nurrin. “Now, you stupid bugs! Surrender your Kingdom to the Rathians or I will start slaughtering each and every one of you. Two Raiding Cruisers orbiting your planet await my orders. What shall it be? Surrender or annihilation?”
One Nurrin daringly asked, “Annihilation, what?”
Annoyed I slashed him with my tail barbs and he shrieked as it tore through his skin. “Death!” I shouted. “Death!”
Quickly a buzzing sound passed around the room. The translator told me that the word being shouted back at me was surrender. I smirked; pleased my plan of deception had worked. There was only one other task to complete to make the day perfect.
I snatched a comlink from the nearest bug who shrank back fearfully from me. I pushed him to the ground easily and laughed when the rest dropped to their knees to appease me. I barked into the communication device in Rathian but it helpfully translated into Intergalactic Basic, “Father, the plan worked. Send down a Runner to pick me up.”
----------
My father grinned seditiously on the view screen. He loved deception. His voice carried pride as he said, “My plan went well, my youngest whelp, did it not?”
“The plan you stole from me?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly. My plan worked well!” My father reiterated.
“You’ll go down to the city and broker the set-up of our bases, father?”
His face took on a deep resentful snarl. He growled low in his throat, “Of course you idiot! Did you think I’d send a worthless piece of K’ Rai like you?”
I lowered my head, stammering, “No. No, of course not. You are the stronger of us. You will take the lead, accept the glory.”
“Guard my ship, whelp,” he grumbled just before signing off. “That’s all you are good for.”
The screen dimmed. My Mission Commander approached carefully. He said, “Your father takes the credit, of course. But that doesn’t matter, does it? I sense you have a cunning plan.”
I grinned at him showing my large canines. The color in his stripes weakened at my display of strength. He backed away slowly, his eyes never letting my tail out of his sight.
I agreed with him, telling him, “He’s going to finally retire, M.C.”
“Oh?”
I called out to my First Officer, “Is my father on the planet yet?”
“Yes, Captain. Just landed. Do you wish to hail him?” First Officer Sestus inquired.
“Why would I hail him?” I snarled angrily. I punished the young idiot for thinking by leaving a nasty scratch on his arm with my claws. When Sestus yelped, M.C. chuckled.
“Still haven’t learned a thing. Why do you keep getting such clueless First Officers, Captain?” My Missions Commander teased me.
“I think you chose him, M.C.,” I reminded him.
I shouted to my Weapons Crew, “Fire upon his ship and level that palace!”
A crewmember dared to question me stupidly, “What?”
“You heard me, FIRE! Like this, you idiots!” I ordered, demonstrating as I shot my Weapons Officer in the head. His lifeless body hit the deck with a loud thunk. Nobody looked or tried to remove it.
My ship blasted my father’s several times and I watched in glee as it disintegrated. Next the palace below us was reduced to rubble.
We watched the ship’s wreckage break apart, descending in flames to the planet below. M.C. leaned towards me and said, “He pretended to betray you to the Nurrin and after you got what you were after, you really betrayed him? Cunning plan!”
“I know,” I replied.
Sestus piped up, “Brilliant strategy, Sir. Now I suppose you won’t have to mate that creature from Xolia.”
“No way in Darkest Hell!” I announced, satisfied my king would now allow me to mate one of his sons or daughters.
“Get us back to Rathia,” I ordered.
“What about the Nurrin?” M.C. inquired.
“Let them eat each other for all I care. Get me home so I can celebrate my father’s death!” I stated.
“It’s a few days journey, Captain. I can think of a few fun ways to start that celebration now!” M.C. replied, eyeballing my First Officer suggestively.
I grinned at his idea. “Get over here, you piece of K’ Rai!” I told Sestus. He
recoiled in surprise but I grabbed him by the throat and pulled him closer. “Suck my dick while I plan ways to torment you.”
----------
The house of my father was decorated already when I returned. News traveled quickly when a Rathian Raider died. My mother was dressed in her finest robes and I greeted her with a deep bow. She scornfully glared at me a moment longer than held out her hands to me.
“Mother!” I cried out, jumping up and lifting her off her feet, swinging her around.
“Whelp!” She crowed, delighted. “Now put me down, you damn idiot or I’ll put your eye out!”
I set her down at once. Her tail and claws were wickedly sharp. I announced, “It is done! Father is dead!”
She smiled, saying, “Then we shall enjoy this victory with a Rite of Death Celebration!”
I glanced at the make shift coffin she had already set up for the occasion. The body that would stand in the place of my father’s looked surprisingly like him. Usually no one bothered with that much detail. Any of the older whelp could be killed to take the place of a missing body for instance. I wandered closer to see which of my older brothers had been slaughtered in my father’s stead.
I was startled to discover it was my father, very much alive. He leapt up with his weapon drawn.
I cried out, “What is this?”
My Missions Commander chuckled from where he watched a safe distance away. He explained, “Your father knew you’d never turn your back on an opportunity to kill him. He paid me to help him set you up.”
“And you mother?” I asked.
She tilted her head and feigned a bored yawn. With a wave of her hand she dismissed my anger and shock. She replied, “Who is stronger, better to align with… the pebble or the mountain from which it came?”
“Oh, very fucking poetic! I’m going to hurl, mother!”
My father and former crewmember both came towards me. I backed away, considering my options.
My father said, “Now, now, my youngest whelp. We will spare your life.”
I frowned at him, stunned. What trick was this? “Why?”
“You have two options. Mate the Xolian or live out the remainder of your days banned to the moon of Ceres Major.”
I barked a wry laugh and said, “Where I will likely die from exposure within days!”
My beloved father smirked, stating, “Well, there is a distinct downside to that option, yes. Will you mate the Xolian then?”
Defiantly I gave my answer, “I’d rather be torn apart and crapped out by a Krid! I choose to be banned!”
My mother replied, “Guards, take him!”
CHAPTER FOUR
Braxx:
“He’s where?” I questioned my brother Quinn.
Quinn handed me the data pad with the information. Instead of giving me the chance to read it he said aloud, “Ceres Major, a really crappy moon in Rathian Territory. They banned him there when he plotted his father’s death, apparently.”
“And you think I’m going to like this Rathian?” I asked incredulously.
Quinn sighed. He took the pad from my hand and set it upon the table. Taking a seat he indicated for me to do the same. I didn’t budge.
“Braxx, trying to kill your father is common on Rathia,” my brother answered.
“Mmm, I can see the appeal,” I told him. My brother nodded in understanding.
He added, “Oh, believe me, I agree.”
“Our fathers let you mate with the puny human,” I complained. What did Quinn have to gripe about? He always got what he wanted. Spoiled first-born.
“They tried to get me to mate with General Masonn instead.”
I shuddered. “Ew, ok. So maybe they aren’t always on your side but still.”
Quinn inclined his head again towards the chair. This time I sat in it. He said, “Braxx, they won’t force you to go through with this if it isn’t working out. Give it a try. After a year, give them your decision.”
I huffed in sarcastic surprise. “Really? You think they’ll drop the issue after that?”
“I’ll back you up,” Quinn reassured me.
“Why would you do that, Quinn?”
“You’re my younger brother, I do care for you,” he said.
“The truth now, dear brother. Why are you willing to support me, Quinn?”
My brother chuckled. He responded, “Del would kill me if I didn’t.”
“I think I may like your little human mate after all,” I said.
Quinn asked, “So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, why not,” I said. “You can do anything for a year, right?”
“I’ll have you dropped at the rendezvous site, Braxx, and picked up from the same place in three months. Get your desert gear ready. Hastor will meet you down there so just take what you really need.”
I inquired, “Why leave us there three months?”
“That is what Rathian law requires, a three month trial period before it can be made official through the Blood Letting.”
I squirmed a bit uncomfortably, “The what?”
“Blood Letting Ceremony,” Quinn repeated. “He cuts his palm, you cut yours. A cloth is wrapped around your hands and a chant is said sealing the two mates together in the spirit world.”
“Okay, sounds interesting.” I huffed. “Three months, huh?”
“Just going to be honest, Braxx, no one has actually heard from Hastor since they abandoned him. He may be dead. You’ll have three days to use the tracker they provided to track the chip they implanted in him and if you don’t find him, I guess you’re off the hook on the whole mating thing.”
----------
The first day was a disaster, of course. Hastor was nowhere to be found near the drop off point. My shelter was torn apart in the dry, blasting desert wind, then my blade snapped as I tried prying a small edible creature out of its hiding place within the rocks. Finally, as if fate was guiding me swiftly to my death I took a misstep and fell down into a steep, sandy ravine where I managed to tear open my protective layer of clothing. I had to figure out this survival thing and fast or I was going to be just another pile of bleached bones for the next idiot to marvel at.
To make matters worse, I wasn’t certain if the Rathian was alive or dead. Before I called in for extraction I wanted to be sure. The little red dot on my tracker wasn’t moving and when I located the source found the tiny chip to be lying on the ground smashed under a footprint. It was covered in blood and flesh and looked like my mate had simply bitten it out of his forearm. I glanced around for clues to his location but found none. The wind had swirled away almost every sign of him. Shrugging, I moved on to find a source of shelter of some kind. I wasn’t all that anxious to meet my mate but I sure as high hell wanted to know where he was if he posed me a threat.
Several times throughout the day I thought I caught a sound of something following me. I’d whip around, broken dagger drawn, to view the barren landscape behind me. Finding nothing, I’d walk again, ducking my head down under my hood to keep the glare from blinding me. My nerves were jumpy as shit. Even a tiny creature with hundreds of legs managed to startle me when it emerged from under a rock, scuttled across my boot and buried itself in the loose grit. “Damn it,” I exclaimed, kicking at the spot where it had disappeared.
A snorting laugh caught my attention. This time when I spun around I found myself face to face with the Rathian Raider that had been stalking me. A loose cloak and hood covered his head and shoulders and the long leather flaps of his kilt-like Da’ Shari protected his hips and upper legs. Underneath those two items he was bare-chested and I could see thin snaking scars crisscrossing its tightly muscled expanse. He wore dark glasses over his eyes, a bow across his shoulders and soft black leather boots. Behind him, his barbed tail thrashed in his amusement.
“What’s so funny, Hastor?”
“You seem well prepared, Xolian,” He chuckled. “To die.”
I rounded on him angrily. “You were supposed to meet me at the r
endezvous point! This was supposed to be simple and quick! Pick you up, return with you to Rathia! But no! I had to sleep in a freaking tent, break my dagger on a rock and nearly starve to death because YOU were too stubborn to do what you were ordered to do!”
“You forgot about almost falling to your death. That was amusing.”
“You saw that?” I snarled. “And you didn’t even come to help?”
“Oh, I CAME, just not to help you. Your struggles excited me,” Hastor replied. He grasped his cock beneath the kilt and demonstrated.
“Am I mated to a Go’Ral? A psychopath?” I asked aloud.
“Rathian. Same thing.” Hastor shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to observe you, Xolian. I was hunting and saw only the fall.”
“My name is Braxx,” I told him, growing annoyed. “Since we are stuck together for at least the next three months you should call me by my name.”
Hastor spat onto the sand, his lightly striped face drawing into an unpleasant snarl. “I’ll die before I call you my mate or use your name. You want sex, fine. I can copulate with nearly anything that squeals nicely for me.”
I sighed. Yes, my fathers hated me. Why else would they pair me with a Rathian Raider? Diplomacy be damned. I wanted nothing more to do with this creature. I turned and walked away from Hastor, leaving him to fend for himself.
“That way is the open desert, Xolian. You’ll be desert Haratha poop before morning!” Hastor yelled after me. I froze and surveyed the flat terrain. Deciding he was teasing me, I continued onwards in search of shelter. My brother’s ship was due to check back in with me in two days. Surely I could survive that long.
“I don’t need your help, Rathian!” I shouted as I swung around to face him.
I didn’t hear his reply. He stood frozen staring at the sand near his feet. It shivered and slid until several cute toad-like blobs appeared and made soft chirping sounds at us. My stomach rumbled and I decided to have one of these sweet orbs for my meal. Hastor raised a hand to stop me as I approached him.
“Don’t move,” Hastor hissed. “I said freeze, damn it.”
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