Forever askole, p.12
Forever Askole, page 12
Two passes and the dinosaurs had been annihilated.
“Ella,” Skye whispered in my mind.
I glanced over. Shit! She was slumped precariously over a small branch.
“Stay. I will retrieve her.”
Before I could say a word, Vorian appeared next to Skye and plucked her off the branch.
“Don’t touch me.” Skye swung at him.
Vorian easily ducked the blow, tossed her over his shoulder and teleported.
Poof! They were at the base of the tree.
“Put me down,” Skye squawked in outrage.
I grinned as Vorian dumped her on the ground. “As you command.”
Skye shot to her feet. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d kick your ass.”
“I would like to see you try,” Vorian replied.
Zurra peered down at them. “Why do they fight?”
“I think they are attracted to each other and are horrified by that fact.”
“Me hungry,” Bozi whined.
I pointed to some bright green caterpillars. “Can you eat those?”
Bozi shot off my head and jumped on them. “Taste good.”
“Three-eyed never fed us,” Zurra said.
“Go eat. Once this mess gets cleaned up, I’ll make sure you get home.”
“We are not the same. Will we be accepted?” The sadness in Zurra’s voice was heartbreaking.
“It doesn’t matter.” I stroked her head. “I’m a changeling too. We can be family.”
“I would like that. Our children have bonded.”
“Bozi family,” Aulera squeaked happily.
I psychically rubbed her back. “Yes, she is.”
“Dada comes.”
A shuttle landed in the meadow.
“Why don’t you go eat some of those yummy caterpillars. I need to have a talk with Sariel.”
“Remember, you protected your youngling the best way you knew how,” Zurra said.
“I hope he feels the same way.”
“He will.”
Sariel exited his shuttle and walked toward me.
I ported to the ground and frowned when Coletti warriors started teleporting in. God, I hoped Zarek wasn’t with them. “Are they here to exterminate the remaining Kotsors, Vorian?”
“They are.”
“I don’t see any bug spray,” Skye said.
“They are carrying incendiary bombs.”
Skye clapped her hands. “Oh yay! This should be fun. Oh, look Askole warriors are transporting in too.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to have a private conversation with Sariel.”
“Wait! Could you conjure me some popcorn? This is going to be one hell of a show.”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
“Do not provoke them,” Vorian growled and stalked off.
Skye trotted after him. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Taking a deep breath, I waited for Sariel to join me.
Chapter Sixteen
Sariel stared at me for a long moment. “To protect our child from Giovanni three-eyed you cast a spell that would allow her to survive outside the womb if you were killed?”
“Yes, but it didn’t quite work like I had planned.”
“The fact that a three-day old fetus can communicate is nothing to be overly concerned about.”
“There’s more.” I retracted my armor down to my tee-shirt and too tight jeans. “I already have a baby bump.”
Sariel’s tentacles stood up. “Impossible.”
“Afraid not. The spell dramatically increased her growth rate. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but I only had thirty seconds to cast it.”
“Dada. Me name Aulera.”
“Aulera?” Sariel was clearly caught off guard.
“To pay tribute to your first mate.”
“She would have been honored.” Sariel put his hand on my abdomen. “I have informed Tihar.”
“Dada.” Aulera pushed her hand against his palm.
I rubbed my aching forehead. “Sorry, I kinda made a mess of things.”
Sariel pulled me into a gentle hug. “The military grade stun ray would have seriously damaged Aulera. Your fast thinking saved her.” He cocked his head. “You thought I would be angry.”
“Yes.”
“You protected our child. How could I be angry? I want Yann to do a complete work up on both of you.” He urged me toward the shuttle.
“Good idea.”
Tihar zipped up and gaped at my baby bump. “She appears to be four to five months along in her pregnancy.”
I glared at him, “Are you calling me fat?”
“No, lady warrior.” Tihar tentacles wiggled wildly. “The size of your stomach is…unexpected.”
I stared down at my gigantic stomach and sighed. “Sorry, my hormones are turning me into a raging bitch and all sorts of critters are trying to kill me.”
Sariel held out a chocolate bar. “Eat.”
“Thanks.” I took the bar. “Where did you get this?”
“From Zarek. He learned to always have chocolate on hand. It keeps females happy.”
“Un huh.” I ripped the paper off and took a bite. Yum, it was the good stuff.
Sariel turned his attention to Tihar. “Ella’s spell kept Aulera safe, but as you noticed, it had an unfortunate side effect.”
“You named her Aulera?”
“I did.” I licked the chocolate off my fingers. “You’re not angry, are you?”
Tihar scooped me up in a bear hug. “No, you pay homage to my mother’s memory.”
“Can’t breathe,” I squeaked.
“My apologies.” He released me.
“Who that?”
“Your brother Tihar.”
“What brother?”
With a chuckle, Tihar kneeled and talked to my stomach. “Sariel is my father too.”
“We family?”
“Yes, we are.”
Skye stormed up. “Which one of you is…” Her jaw dropped. “Oh, my God. You have a baby bump. I thought he just knocked you up.”
“He did. I screwed up the protection spell and accelerated her growth.”
“Marion might know a way to stop or slow down the growth spurt,” Skye said.
Vorian interjected, “Is Marion a witch too?”
“Yes, but she’s eighty years old. Now bug off. This is a family matter.” Skye gave Sariel and Tihar the stink eye. “Which one of you knocked her up?”
Sariel stepped forward. “I did.”
Skye stiffened when Sariel hit her with the full weight of his psychic powers. “I get it. You’re the big, bad High Commander, but she’s my little sister. No one hurts her.”
“You have my word; I will never harm Ella or Aulera.”
My eyes widened in alarm when Zarek strolled up.
He gave me a conspiratorial wink and on a private link asked, “What have you told Skye?”
Oh hell. “I’ve been kinda busy dealing with the Kotsors and the rampaging dinosaurs. I simply haven’t had time to explain things to Skye.”
He bared his teeth in a not so friendly smile. “Do so now or I will.”
“He mean,” Aulera said.
Out of the mouth of babes. “Momma must deal with the mean man, and I need you to be very quiet. Okay?”
“Kay.”
I gave Skye a bright smile. “I don’t believe you’ve met Zarek, the Coletti Overlord.”
The color drained from her face. “No, I have not had that pleasure.”
“Zarek, this is my sister Skye.”
“You are as elusive as your sister,” Zarek said politely.
“Cautious is a better word. When your world is invaded by aliens, you do what you must to survive.”
Zarek shot back, “By abandoning your people and taking refuge with criminals on the far side of the galaxy?”
“My world is no longer safe for me. Jagger ran a legitimate business and offered me a job as a healer. I took it.” Skye threw a desperate glance around.
I latched onto her arm. Running would be bad. Very bad. Thank God Skye was too exhausted to call a lightning storm down on us. “Vorian and Skye work well together.”
Skye stared at me like I had lost my mind.
Vorian snorted.
Even Sariel shot me a puzzled frown.
Tihar watched us with amused interest.
I threw up my hands. “Okay. Fine. I lied. They hate each other’s guts, but together they get the job done.”
“If Vorian is unable to tame the female, give her to me. In three days, she will be properly trained,” a big, barrel chested Coletti warrior rumbled.
Vorian bared his teeth in a snarl. “Skye is my partner, Chagas. Touch her and I will kill you.”
“She does not wear your ownership band. I have the right to claim her,” Chagas countered.
His eyes cold with menace, Vorian pulled his sword, “I challenge you to combat. Winner takes the female.”
“What? He can’t do that,” Skye gasped.
A smile curved Zarek’s mouth. “Yes, he can.”
“But… But… I’m not a part of the Coletti Empire.”
“Earth and every creature on it, belongs to me.”
“I’m not on Earth any longer and you don’t own me,” Skye spat.
“Oh, but I do.”
I gave Zarek the stink eye. “Not helping.”
“Wrong.” Sparks of energy danced over Skye’s left hand.
Sariel narrowed his eyes. “Do not let your sister attack Zarek. It will not end well.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“No. You are both fearless and take unnecessary risks.” His gauntlet beeped. Sariel frowned and started typing like crazy.
I tightened my grip on Skye’s arm and on a private link warned, “Think. We are stuck on an alien planet with God knows how many Kotsors running loose. Your energy levels are too low to even think about taking on Zarek.”
“True, but no one owns me.”
Fighting back the urge to smack her a good one, I tried again. “Zarek wants to use your abilities to find and destroy Mallox’s labs. Can you imagine what kind of damage the Kotsors could do if they were unleashed on Phoenix or New York or London?”
“Thousands would die.” Skye looked at me with horror-filled eyes. “I would never let that happen, but that bastard wants Vorian to mate with me.”
“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. Vorian wants nothing to do with you or witchcraft, but he’s smart enough to realize he needs your help. Once you’ve eradicated the labs and all of Mallox’s monsters, you can go your separate ways.” Okay, I was lying, but we could work it out later.
Skye’s lips firmed. “As long as Vorian keeps his hands to himself I’ll be his partner.”
“Pray Vorian wins.”
Skye nodded and shouted. “Kick his ass Vorian.”
Vorian shot her a surprised look.
I turned on Zarek. “You are one sneaky bastard.”
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. Skye has agreed to work with Vorian. If you don’t want Chagas crispy fried, you’ll send him away. Now.”
“I cannot. A challenge has been issued.”
“You’re the Overlord, you can do anything you want.”
“Not entirely true. Plus, the battle will show me which one is the stronger warrior.”
“If Chagas wins, he’s a dead man,” I promised.
Zarek’s gaze dropped to my stomach. “Pregnancy hormones tend to make females irrational.”
“Irrational?” I growled.
“You are not thinking clearly. If you attack one of my warriors, you will draw Sariel into the conflict. Our treaty is very important to him.”
Fuck!
“Keep your sister under control, or I will,” Zarek warned.
I pulled back my fist. Overlord or not, I was going to knock him on his ass.
Sariel scooped me up. “My apologies. My mate has been through a great ordeal and is hormonal.”
Hormonal my ass.
“When Detja was pregnant she was easily angered too.”
“That’s because she was living with you,” I muttered under by breath. I struggled to get free. “Let go of me.”
“No. Zarek set this challenge up for a reason and you need to calm your sister down before she does something rash.”
Tihar had an armored hand wrapped around her arm and little bolt of energy danced around her fingers.
“Put me down before she zaps Tihar. I promise I’ll behave.”
“See that you do.” Sariel said and sat me on my feet.
Chagas licked his lips and thrust his hips obscenely. “Soon little female, you will be screaming my name.”
Vorian stepped in front of Skye. “The only one screaming will be you.”
“Never.” Chagas pulled his sword.
The Askole and Coletti warriors automatically formed a circle around them.
On our private link, I asked Skye, “Should we say something about Vorian’s magical sword?”
“Nah. Why spoil the surprise?”
I grinned. “My thoughts exactly.”
“What are you two plotting?” Sariel demanded.
I gave him a wide-eyed innocence look. “Us? Nothing.”
Aulera giggled.
“This doesn’t seem like a fair fight. Instead of a battle suit all Vorian has on is a flimsy jumpsuit,” Skye growled at Zarek.
I bit my lip. He was wearing armor but since the Rodan soldiers had just beat the hell out of him, I figured Vorian could use the extra protection.
Zarek ordered, “Retract your armor Chagas.”
“As you command.” His armor shrank away to reveal a hairy, scarred body.
Ick. The dude was butt-ass-naked, and a big chunk of his derriere was missing.
Sariel glanced up from his gauntlet and frowned. “Why are you staring at Chagas’s butt?”
“Well look at it. Something bit him on the ass.”
Tihar chortled.
“The only ass you are allowed to stare at is mine,” Sariel stated.
“Okay, no looking at Chagas’s pathetic behind.”
Sariel gauntlet beeped again. He tapped an icon and studied the display.
Chagas strutted up to Skye and spread his thickly muscled arms. “I have never been defeated in battle. I will soon be your master.”
“Over your dead body. Vorian gonna fuck you up,” Skye sneered.
“No death blows,” Zarek quickly inserted. “The last warrior standing is the winner.”
Chagas and Vorian saluted the Overlord with their swords.
“Begin.” Zarek teleported away.
Poof! Zarek appeared next to me. I gave him the evil eye and moved to the other side of Sariel who was still studying a stream of data.
I turned my attention back to the combatants. One minute they were standing still, the next they were teleporting in and out in a deadly dance. Their blades clashed loudly as Vorian blocked, dodged, and evaded Chagas’s vicious cuts.
Chagas vanished. A moment later, he was back and swung his sword at Vorian.
The War Commander did a spectacular backwards somersault and slammed his right boot into Chagas’s chin. His head snapped back and down he went.
Skye punched the air. “Woot! Woot! You are the baddest of the bad.”
I let out an ear-shattering wolf whistle. “Way to go War Commander!”
Vorian bowed.
Zarek walked over to Chagas and scanned him. “Skye is yours. What I want to know is why you did not use your sword more?”
“Vorian didn’t want to cheat,” Skye answered.
“Cheat?”
“Yeah, he has an enchanted sword,” I replied.
Tihar let out a shout of laughter. “You gave the War Commander a magical sword?”
“Giovanni three-eyed took our weapons, so we improvised.”
Sariel hugged me. “You continue to surprise me.”
“For human females they are adequate warriors,” Vorian stated.
I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and spun around in time to see Chagas thrust his sword toward Vorian’s back. “You backstabbing creep!”
Shock flashed across Chagas’s face as his blade shattered against Vorian’s magically armored jumpsuit.
The War Commander pivoted and lashed out with a solid sidekick, knocking Chagas off his feet.
With a snarl of fury, Zarek pulled his sword and decapitated Chagas.
Whoa! I hadn’t seen that one coming. “Guess that answers your question of who is the better warrior.”
Zarek inclined his head in a mocking little salute. “It does.”
Vorian picked up Chagas’s broken sword and ran the broken blade across his arm. It didn’t even scratch his jumpsuit. “Magical armor?”
“Did you think I would let Skye, or you, die at Giovanni three-eyed’s hands?”
A faint smile touched Vorian’s mouth. “No.”
“What spell did you use to conjure the jumpsuits?” Skye asked as she wiped Chagas’s blood off her bright pink, armored jumpsuit.
“I used the one Marion sold us.”
“She does have the best spells. I just wish they weren’t so damn expensive.”
Sariel inquired, “Where does this Marion reside?”
“On Earth and don’t even think about approaching her,” I warned.
Tihar scoffed, “The Askole fear no one.”
“Marion’s very, very old and she has a bad heart. The lot of you would send her into cardiac arrest,” Skye replied.
I added, “And I need her alive to give me a remedy for Aulera’s growth spurt.”
“Once we have destroyed the Bjarke mercenaries hiding on this planet, we will travel to Earth,” Sariel advised.
Bozi and Zurra zoomed down and crash-landed on my head.
“Ouch!” I plucked them off. “What’s got you so rattled?”
“The Kotsor Queen comes,” Zurra cried. “With thousands of her children.”
That was a good reason to panic. “Where?”
“They fall from the sky!”
I looked up and gasped.
Kotsors silently floated down on large silky parachute-like webs.
