by Maia Starr
“What is this place? Is this your home?”
“No, my home is next-door. This is what we call a bank. Or used to call a bank. It is where valuables were kept, like money, in safes. Are use it now to keep items that need to be safe, like extra ammunition, guns, and important documents.
“A bank…” he said as he looked around.
“Yes, this is where I will keep this virus that you speak of. Now that you know where I will keep it, can I have a look at it?
“That was not the agreement,” he said.
“Fine, I will see this shifting that you talk of,” I said rolling my eyes. In truth, I did want to see yet. I was very curious and anxious, but my pride would not let me show any enthusiasm for it.
He took several steps away from me and moved around to the corner of the room that did not have any furniture.
“Watch closely; it happens fast,” he said.
“I am watching and holding my breath,” I said with sass.
He smiled. He liked the way I was talking to him and that only made me infuriated. I wasn't trying to have fun with him, but clearly, he thought it was fun and games.
He stood there and then in a flash faster than my eyes could see, he shifted into weredragon form. His emerald wings spread out behind him. I gasped. I didn't mean to; it was involuntary. But it was such a damn impressive sight. His arm muscles flexed as he rolled his shoulders forward to allow his wings to stretch. Then he rolled his shoulders back and his wings folded behind him. My mouth opened as I watched him. The scales along his chest hardened, reminding me of the iridescent inside of an oyster shell.
“It happened so fast. How do you do that?” I asked.
“It is a skill of the Veruka. It is not to be explained, only to be witnessed,” he said.
“But it makes you stronger?” I asked.
He took a step toward me, and then another. Now he was directly in front of me. Having his manly physique so close to me and dragon form took my breath away. I looked up at him. He grabbed my hand. I wanted to pull it away, but I was hypnotized by his presence. He placed my hand firmly on his abdomen, just below his hard pecs.
I gasped. “You are hard,” I said.
He smiled. “Yes, I am. Do you feel that, Sheila? Hard dragon scales. It does make us stronger. We are able to withstand gun blasts. Getting punched or kicked, we hardly feel a thing. But the scales do not cover our entire body. So we are vulnerable, just like you humans.”
I moved my hand up and down his abdomen, feeling hard scales that felt like bone. His skin was very warm. I heard a soft moan escape his mouth. I looked up at him, and he was looking down at me with a big smile on his face. I immediately pulled my hands away from him. I felt my entire face flush. I turned away from him and walked around the bank.
“Well, I held up my end of the agreement. Now it is time for you to stick to yours. Tell me about this virus. What is it? I want to know everything,” I said.
“All right, Sheila. I will keep my word. I always do,” he said. He reached into a small compartment on his belt. He pulled out a small drive. “Hold out your hand,” he said. I swallowed. I held out my hand to him with my palm up. He placed the small drive in my hand and then smiled at me.
“On that drive is the virus. A human in the Haven Brook developed it. You are a lot like her. I am sure that you two would get along. She is stubborn as well,” he said.
“I am not stubborn,” I said.
He laughed at me. “Of course not.”
“Her name is Dr. Vanessa Lopez, a scientist and medical practitioner. She developed this virus and was able to implant it inside a keddle herself. The virus loaded onto the keddle and brought the keddle down. The entire cyborg army that the keddle was the leading died.”
“But how did she plant it inside the keddle? You can't just walk up to them, you know,” I asked.
“Yes, it was very complicated. You see, we learned a lot, including the humans during the time that I was at Haven Brook. Dr. Vanessa Lopez was abducted by the cyborgs. She was taken to a cyborg base camp. The keddle opened itself up to her like a clamshell. Then she was forced to sit inside it as the keddle connected to her. She believes that it was trying to learn about human anatomy and download information from her,” he said.
“My God. That is the first time I am ever hearing of something like that. If that is what they are doing, abducting humans to gather information, it means that they are evolving. They are learning a new way to take over the Earth,” I said astounded by this news. I could not believe it. It was terrifying.
“Yes, but it did not last long because my colleagues, including my king, rescued her before it could finish with her. After we took her back to Haven Brook, she got the idea that maybe if she was near the keddle again, it would open up to her thinking it needed to finish downloading information from her. So she willingly went to the keddle with a virus in her hand. On a drive just like the one that you have there. But this time when she sat down, she plugged the virus into the keddle. It downloaded, thinking it was downloading information from her. That was how it happened,” he said.
“Unbelievable. I have never heard of such a thing. Humans have never been able to get near the keddle before. They are guarded like a treasure by the cyborgs,” I said.
“Yes, we don't know how we can download the virus into the keddle considering this happened to be a lucky coincidence, but that is not going to stop us from trying. Our first mission is to get the virus to humans, then deal with implementing it. I will give you more copies,” he said.
“Thank you for this, General,” I said.
“Azlo… Call me Azlo…” he said in a husky voice filled with desire again. He took a step toward me. “We are truly here to save you, Sheila. I know you doubt my intentions, but my intentions are true,” he said as he grabbed a strand of hair by my cheek and ran it down his fingers. My breath caught in my throat. I wasn't expecting him to be so sensual. His ice blue eyes locked with mine. Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. They felt warm, very warm. I was shocked at just how much heat was radiating from his body against my chest. I lost all sense of control and opened my mouth, letting his long tongue inside. He slowly twirled it around mine. I kissed him back. I was breathing hard. I didn't know who I was any more at that moment. He let out a soft moan, and the sound brought me back to my senses. I took my mouth away and pushed away from him. I suddenly thought about my fiancé; this was wrong.
“I think you should go,” I said turning my back to him.
“Sheila, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…”
“Sergeant Adams. Call me Sergeant Adams. Now please go; I have a lot of work to do,” I said walking away from him.
I heard his heavy boots walk across the floor. I heard the door open. I turned around; he was gone. I got control of myself as I leaned against the wall. Why did his kiss taste so good? Why did it make me feel sexier than I ever had in my life? Why was it the most passionate thing I had ever done? He was an alien, after all, and there was something very exotic and tempting about it.
“Get a hold of yourself, Sheila,” I whispered to myself. Then I remembered the virus in my hand. I knew just what I would do with it. But no one could know what I had in the vault of the bank. It was my secret, and I was glad that I had kept it there because now I could actually use it for something. I went to the door and locked it so that I could go into the vault to hide the virus.
Chapter 5
General Azlo Bron
I walked out of the building that Sheila called a bank feeling a combination of extreme happiness and frustration. I felt euphoria. It was as if hot to blood was rushing through my body and vibrations were tingling my skin. I felt like I was in a blissful place that I had never been to before in my mind. It was very strange. I remember Karik speaking about this extreme happiness after being with a human female, but I thought he meant after having sex. I wasn't expecting it from one single kiss. It made me feel good; it made me feel damn good. But I felt frustrate
d that she had pushed me away. Her body was telling me that she wanted me to kiss her, and for a moment, she was in deep. She had kissed me back; she had relaxed in my arms. But then out of nowhere, she stopped and grew angry with me. I knew not to stay longer considering she wouldn't even talk to me. She made it clear we were not on a first-name basis when she told me to call her Sergeant. That was fine. I couldn't expect that she would be open to a stranger she had only known for less than a day, and an alien at that.
Still, I felt the bliss inside of me, and I was happy about it. I went back to the base camp to oversee the setup. And the next thing that I would have my soldiers tackle was a project to secure the fence. We could figure out a way to electrify it, but I would need to know what resources Providence had at its disposal. The skies looked gray and overcast the entire time I had been there, I wondered if this was a winter season symptom or if it was always like this in this area. It meant solar power could not be used to electrify the fence. I knew they had plenty of trees in the forest to cut down for firewood to keep these fragile humans warm in their snowy environment, but did they use the fire for energy as well? There were many things that we would need to know, and that my engineers would need to use in order to problem solve when it came to defending the fence and the gates.
“Have the scouts returned?” I asked Lieutenant Reqan. I had sent several weredragons out flying and all directions for one hundred miles to see if there were any cyborg armies in the area. It was best to know as much ahead of time as we could.
“Only one has returned from the north. Good news: he did not see anything that would indicate a base for a cyborg army. We are still waiting for the others to return, but it is early. The weather is strange here; storms could erupt and force them to seek shelter. We have no reason to be alarmed yet,” he said.
“Good, keep me posted. I am ready to meet with the engineers. Send them to the fourth floor,” I said walking into the office tower building that we had taken over.
“Right away, General,” he said.
I spent the next two days planning with the engineers. Sheila did not talk to me directly, only when I had specific questions for her. She was avoiding me the entire time. She preferred to talk to my engineers directly about matters of fortifying the fence. It was irritating. But since I kissed her, I had not had one symptom of the blackness plague. I was happy for that. But I thought it curious that she had two days with a virus so far and did not have any more questions for me. I assumed that she did not have computers in the village, just the way Haven Brook did not have them either, considering computers had been outlawed when the machines took over. It was only luck that Dr. Vanessa Lopez had found one and kept it secret while she invented the virus. Maybe Sheila was hiding a computer as well and did not want to tell me. Whatever the reason, she was up to something, or she would be asking me more questions about it.
“General, all the scouts have returned,” Lieutenant Reqan said as he entered the room I called my office on the fourth floor of the building.
"Give me the report,” I said.
“All scouts have reported that the area is clear for one hundred miles. There are no cyber encampments to report of,” he said.
“That is good. That is very good news. Make sure the scouts get adequate rest,” I said as I stood up from my chair. But as I did, I felt dizzy. I sat back down quickly.
“General? Are you all right?” Reqan said as he came to my side.
“Fine. I just stood up too fast,” I said.
“It is the blackness,” he whispered.
“I told you not to speak of that,” I said.
“It is getting worse, General. You must take care of this. Find a human female, mate with her, be cured. We need you to lead us, not to be sick,” he said.
“I will be fine. Now go see to the scouts, and tell no one about this,” I said.
Reqan gave me an angry look. Then he walked out. He was only being loyal.
I walked out of the building and decided to walk down Main Street to get some fresh air and to see what kind of resources these humans were living off of. I was not in dragon form, yet everyone stared at me as I walked; it was to be expected.
“Excuse me, General Bron, is it?” I heard a delicate female voice behind me.
I turned around to see a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She was about the same age as Sheila in human years. She was beautiful and had a big delightful smile for me. She had very large breasts in a tight sweater and tight pants.
“Yes, that is what I am called. And what is your name, human female?” I asked.
“Oh, human female… I guess you would call me that considering that you are an alien,” she said looking at me up and down. Was this human female looking at me with desire in her eyes? It was a look I had not seen before on a human female. It was interesting. Maybe I was reading too much into it.
"Yes, I am an alien and a weredragon. What is your name?” I asked again.
“My name is Crys; he Jones; it is a pleasure to meet you. I have wanted to speak to you since you arrived,” she said.
“You have?”
“Yes, I have. I wanted to see how things were going. I also wanted to lend you my services if they were ever needed,” she said looking down at my crotch and then back up at my eyes. Was she offering what I thought she was offering?
“And what kind of services are those?” I asked.
“Well, I can cook. I would love to show you the communal kitchens that we have here. I think I am the best cook here. I would love to make something hot for you,” she said with desire.
I raised an eyebrow at her. She was flirting. She was begging for me to take her.
“I might take you up on that. I have work to do at the moment. Perhaps another time?” I asked her.
“I look forward to it, General. I want to show you just what I can do for you,” she said with a big smile. Then she turned around with a bounce and walked off. I watched her walk away. It was a good sight to watch.
I could take her. I could have sex with this human female Chrissy Jones, and it would save my life, according to Karik. But I would be bonded with her. I would share her DNA. Something inside of me prevented me from doing it at that moment. As soon as she was inviting me, I thought about Sheila. I wanted Sheila. But how long could I wait for her? What if she never wanted me in return? I could die waiting for her. Here was a human female willing to take me today if I wished, and I would be rid of the blackness plague.
Was I being wise in the following my heart and wanting Sheila? Or was I being incredibly dumb in refusing Chrissy? I was being selfish. I wanted what I wanted, and in doing so, I was putting my life on the line. That wasn't fair to my soldiers that had followed me to Providence hundreds of miles away from our king. A part of me wanted to go after this human female named Chrissy in order to heal myself, but the other half of me wanted to wait for the challenge that was Sergeant Sheila Adams. It was a dangerous game to play with her, and yet I was willing to play.
I continued walking until I came across a mechanical shop. There was an older human male working on what looked to be a power generator and a couple of human vehicles.
“Hello, human; my name is General Azlo Bron,” I said.
“Hello. I know who you are, alien,” he said with a smile.
“Of course, I guess the entire village does,” I said.
“Yes, Sheila made sure to introduce you so that the town didn't freak out. You know, aliens and all…” he said playfully.
“To me, you are the aliens,” I said.
“That is true,” he said.
“So what do you have going on here, sir?” I asked looking at his work.
“My name is Richard; call me Richard,” he said.
“All right, Richard, what are you working on?” I asked.
“These are some generators that I am hoping to bring back to life,” he said.
You are an engineer?” I asked.
“No, not as educated as
that. I was a mechanic of sorts back in the old days,” he said.
“You fix things? You make things?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” he said.
"Then you are an engineer,” I said.
“I will be sure to tell Sheila that,” he said.
“Tell me about Sheila. Is she always that… reserved?” I asked.
“You noticed?” he said.
“It's hard not to,” I said.
“It just takes her a while to warm up to people, or aliens in your case,” he laughed.
“What's her story?” I asked.
“She lost someone close to her when the wars broke out. It was her fiancé, a man that she was going to marry. I don't think that she has healed from that pain, if she ever will. Will any of us? I lost loved ones to win the war is broke out,” he said.
