by Corin Cain
Forn takes a deep breath and smiles in satisfaction, clearly tasting the air of his home world. I peer through the shimmering portal and see tall stalks of grass lazily swaying in the breeze on the other side. Suddenly, I yearn to step through and leave behind the cold, merciless reality of the Capital behind.
But am I really going to do this? Am I really going to leave it all behind?
As I stare out into the jungle planet, it really starts to hit me. I’m giving up everything.
But what is that really? I don’t even have a life here anymore. My city, where I worked hard every day to eke out a meagre living, is now burnt into a smoldering pile of ashes. Everyone I once saw on my daily walk to work is now ash and memory. I have nothing behind me. If I stay on Independence, all that awaits me is being chased and harangued by the Viceroy’s forces until I am finally taken and executed for my treachery.
Forn, Hadone and Darok may be brutal warriors, but they have light in their eyes as they stare through the portal. I remember what Lord Tenderfoot said: That though it is a dangerous planet beyond this shimmering portal, there will be a means on the other side for me to communicate with these three alien warriors.
But what will happen when they realize that I’m not their fated mate? That they found me only because Lord Tenderfoot was coincidentally opening a portal to their planet while he thought of his niece?
It’s a chilling thought – cold despite the glow of the hot sun streaming through the rippling portal.
When the three Aurelians find out that I am not special, will they decide that Diana is the one they want? It’s not fair – she has such effortless beauty; a grace and pose that I could never dream of having.
Diana is elegant while I, at my core, am nothing but an impoverished mechanic just trying to make ends meet.
I give the orphans one last hug, one by one. When it comes to Stacy, my eyes well up with tears.
“You take care of those two, okay? You’re so strong – I have faith in you.”
Stacy forces back tears. I know she’s trying to look strong for me, so I won’t worry. I break off the hug before I break down in tears, and she gives me a tiny, scared smile. I trust Lord Tenderfoot to give her a better life than I ever could – whether here, or on the forbidding jungle planet that awaits.
Forn grunts out some words in his guttural language. Lord Tenderfoot responds, the old man smiling and extending his hand. I watch them shake each other’s hands in the manner of Old Earth, and the nobleman’s small hand disappears within Forn’s huge palm.
Finally, the Aurelian leader releases Tenderfoot and just walks right through the portal – as if it’s as natural as stepping from one room into another. His ivory skin glimmers as he walks into the sunlight of the distant world that is now going to become my new home.
I can’t look back. If I take one last look at Stacy, Tod and Tyler, I’ll want to stay – but I know I’ll only draw danger to the three of them if I do.
So, instead, I take a deep breath and step through the portal – into the heat of a distant, alien world.
I’ve just left my old home world behind – and taken my first step into my new one.
15
Hadone
I step through the portal and see the most glorious sight an Aurelian can see - his mate, awaiting him on his home world.
She’s mine, now – here with me for eternity.
My pride pulses through the Bond between us, magnifying as we breath in the hot, wet air of our planet. No longer do we have to taste the harsh, dry air of the alien planet where Tammy came from. No longer will we be hounded by Scorp, or the humans with their deadly sticks that shoot lethal projectiles.
Tammy is a healer. She will heal the sick members of my tribe. She can heal anyone! I mean, I thought Forn was dead back on that planet – slain by the old man with that strange weapon, right in Tammy’s home. But Forn survived thanks to her magic. Imagine what else she could accomplish!
The start of a smile comes to my face, but then turns cold. A surge of panic hits me as I look at Tammy. She’s so perfect, but like all humans, so fragile and delicate, with a small body that could become an easy target on our world.
But it isn’t her body that I worry is fragile.
A wave of grief hits me as I remember the last human woman who cared for me.
I killed her.
16
Tammy
My foot comes down against soft ground and the long stalks of soft green grass tickle my legs. Above, the huge red sun beams down against me. A smile flickers to my lips as I get a strange sense of peace from this brave, new world.
The icy ball of stress that has lived in my heart ever since my parents died – when I was forced to leave the Capital – finally melts away. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I only notice my grief through its absence.
Eagles the size of transport ships.
My eyes dart upwards as I suddenly remember Lord Tenderfoot’s words – but the thought barely worries me. Not with Forn beside me.
The towering Aurelian is calm as he stands beside me, and then Hadone jumps through the portal behind us, followed closely by Darok. The Aurelians take in huge breath of the sticky, humid air and smile like twins.
But there’s no Diana. The rippling portal looks hazy from this side, with only muddled shapes visible through it.
For a moment, I feel a surge of shameful hope that the gorgeous noblewoman won’t step through – but then I watch her graceful foot step into my world, and as she takes her first step she stumbles.
Hadone catches Diana effortlessly in his huge, muscled arms. Another pang of jealousy hits me as she looks up at him with a grateful smile. I’d imagined her doing a faceplant into the soft dirt and part of me still wishes she had.
Stop it, Tammy! It’s not Diana’s fault she grew up rich, while you grew up poor.
I think the thought, but I know that’s not what’s bothering me. As Hadone sets Diana on her feet, I feel a tinge of worry. If the Aurelians find out that the portal that opened to my planet was a simple fluke – and not the fated will of their Orb-God – then I’ll stand to lose every quality that made me special to them.
Once I lose that, surely there’s no way I can compete with Diana.
But I push those thoughts out of my mind, and for the first time in what feels like my entire life, I take a second to relax.
And, oh my Gods – these guys are hot!
In the brilliance of the alien sun, I can see every detail of the huge alien warriors even more clearly.
In our dark fumbling in the lean-to, I didn’t fully appreciate their beauty. It feels weird to think of men as beautiful, but I don’t know how else to describe these towering warrior-gods.
The three Aurelians seem chiseled out of marble. Their pure white skin is flawless, making their hard, muscled bodies somehow as smooth as the skin of a baby. Yet they’re not pure white, like the Aurelians I’ve read about on Independence. These three are adorned with those intricate, bright green tattoos that do not mar the lines of their exquisite bodies, but instead somehow enhance them.
Yet perhaps even sexier than their physical appearance is the presence of these three alien warriors. They’re so brutal and in control; confident and poised like predators.
In the jungle world we’re now on, I can clearly see that they stand like the apex predators.
I know how violent these men can be – and yet, with me, they held back and demonstrated incredible tenderness.
Just one of these huge aliens could pin me to the ground and take me hard. Three of them together could do anything they wanted to me, and I’d have no choice but to take it. I wouldn’t even be able to move without their approval.
Yet, thinking of being with them that way – of all three of them taking me at the same time – is as intoxicating as a stiff drink. I know I’d melt in their hands, under their three tongues, and that their three bodies would make me feel so small and vulnerable; yet so protec
ted all at the same time…
I blush, the heat in my cheeks mimicking the sudden heat between my legs. It’s so hard to push thoughts of these three warriors out of my fevered mind when they’re all standing so close – towering like Greek Gods in all their glory.
“Well, which way?” Diana asks primly.
I shrug. “I don’t even know which galaxy we’re in.”
I shake my head slowly and swallow, thinking of the orphans I’d left behind. I know it was the best choice for them – but the selfish part of my brain still wishes that I could have brought them with me.
Then, as if denying my wish with certainty, the shimmering portal finally winks out of existence. I watch the empty space where it once shimmered and rippled, like a tear in space and time itself, and a sudden pang of loss grips my heart.
My past is gone, blinked out of existence.
I’m now on a dangerous, new world with four others who might as well be strangers. I knew how to make a living in the cold underworld of Barl. I survived on the cold streets of the periphery city, and took care of the four orphans who relied on me. Here? Here I have no idea how to make ends meet. I have no idea how to stay alive. I hate that I’ll have to rely on these three huge, alien warriors from now on – instead of my own guts and brains.
The tendril of worry grows inside me.
What if they abandon me when they learn that portal opened by accident, and didn’t guide them to their so-called ‘fated mate’?
What if Forn, Hadone and Darok only protected me from the Scorp warriors because they thought that I was their destined woman? Will they abandon me to the creatures of this dangerous paradise as soon as they discover the truth?
Forn looks at me and says something in his language. It makes me so frustrated that I can’t speak back to him in a way he’ll understand.
At least this way I can’t tell him I’m not the girl he’s looking for. I won’t have to face the choice of explaining that their Orb-God didn’t send them to me.
Forn knows I don’t understand, so he points in the distance. A mountain looms above. Birds flutter from a thicket of tropical trees. It’s all so alien compared to the urban dystopia of Barl. It looks like paradise on the surface, but I know there are dangers my instincts haven’t prepared me for lurking all around.
We trudge forward. My shoes are worn at the bottom, and are past their prime by a year, but I’m doing better than Diana, who is is barefoot. She lost her highly-fashionable, yet barely-functional heels at some point during our desperate chase out of Lord Aeron’s manor.
After half an hour of walking, I start to tire. The sun is beating down on me and making me sweat through my clothes. It starts to hit me that I’m no longer in the modern world. I can’t use a washer and dryer to clean my pants and underwear. I can’t replace my shirt if it rips. In fact, if these Aurelians are any indication, the fashion of this planet is heavily skewed towards loincloths.
Forn turns and sees my weariness. For a second, he looks as if he’s about to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder, so I pick up the pace.
This is fucking insane. I’m on a jungle planet with three Aurelians. A week ago, I would have said I’d hated Aurelians…
I swallow hard, trying to get my head straight. I’m going to be joining a very primitive society. A primitive society that hopefully, if Lord Tenderfoot was correct, has a method of communication between these Aurelians and the likes of Diana and myself.
But what if that miracle reveals that this whole time, the three gorgeous Aurelians are just a trio of assholes? Maybe I was so attracted to them because I couldn’t understand them.
My foot gets caught in a divot and I tumble forward. The soft earth makes a good cushion for my fall. Instantly, the three Aurelians are all around me. I blink, the sun blinding me, and accept Forn’s hand as he helps me back up to my feet.
He towers over me, his shadow blocking the hot sun for a merciful moment. I’m so close to his rippling muscles that I feel a hot shudder of lust through my body.
Gods! If he wanted to, he could lean down and kiss me right now, and I’d just melt in his embrace.
I pull my hand away from Forn’s a little too angrily. If there’s hurt in his green-flecked eyes, he doesn’t show it. I feel attached to these three warriors, and I worry that’s ridiculous. I haven’t understood a single word spoken by them yet, and still I foolishly feel like I already know them.
Forn is courageous, but cares deeply for the safety of his two friends. Hadone is reckless, willing to risk his life for glory. Darok is strong and silent, bordering on dour - although now he looks at me with trust instead of suspicion.
“Tammy,” says Forn, tasting my name on my lips. Hearing him say it makes me shudder.
I want these men. I don’t just want one of them. I want all three.
“That boy likes you,” whispers Diana from behind me. I can’t help but feel color coming to my face.
My face is red because of the hot sun and the long hike. I’m not going to blush like some schoolgirl.
But I am blushing. I’m blushing like a virgin… because I am one. Back in the tent was the closest I’ve ever come to losing my innocence. When you spend your days barely eking out a meager existence, and protecting children with what little extra you have, it’s hard to trust men or even find time for them.
Poor Runner. Tod, Tyler and Stacy will all have beautiful lives, but he is going to be indoctrinated into further hatred by the Viceroy.
I can’t let myself think of that, not right now. While he’s young, Runner made his choice – and I made mine. I could have chosen to be an outlaw on my home planet. I could have run from the law, and been hounded by the Viceroy’s troops for the rest of my life.
Instead, I choose to follow three almost-strangers back to a distant, alien jungle somewhere lost beyond the edges of the universe.
And yet, I’d make the same decision in a heartbeat.
Two of those strangers have already tasted my lips.
I shudder, trying to push that thought out of my mind. We set off walking again. The edge of the jungle is deceptively far away, and my legs are already aching – but I’ve got too much pride to ask for help. I already feel too dependent on these Aurelians to survive on this jungle planet. I won’t let them pick me up.
Maybe the Aurelians could massage me tonight…
I shiver at the thought, then angrily snap myself out of it.
Focus, Tammy! Focus!
I turn to Diana and respond to her comment from earlier.
“He’s not a boy,” I answer back – and it was true. Forn towers over the both of us. One in a million humans might be seven feet tall, but they aren’t built like these three Aurelians are. These alien warriors are wide. Huge, broad shoulders swollen with massive muscles that make me feel so small and vulnerable in their shadow – and yet so protected and desired at the same time.
“Oh Gods, how much longer?” Diana sighs, and when I turn my head she blushes. I can tell she meant to keep the complaint in her head.
I feel bad. It was cruel to think of her as ‘just’ a spoiled royal. She’s been through hell. Snatched up from her family, imprisoned, and barely making it out alive? I didn’t have anything left to fight for back on my home planet – everything I’d worked for and everyone I’d ever known or cared about had been killed or burnt to a crisp in the firebombing.
Diana, on the other hand, had been forced to abandon a life of luxury she’d been born into, and now she was alone on a jungle planet where her last name carried no weight or meaning.
While I have fears that the Aurelians will stop caring about me when they find out the truth of how they came to find me, Diana doesn’t even have a single alien warrior looking after her.
As we get closer to the edge of the jungle, I realize I have no idea of what’s awaiting me there.
Do the Aurelians have a tribe? Are there more of them?
I wish I’d asked Lord Tenderfoot more questions, or asked
to take one of his books with me! But back in that dark basement everything had felt like such a chaotic rush.
Now it’s too late.
The answer to my first question becomes apparent as we approach the edge of the jungle, however, when a loud horn sounds ahead of us.
Birds fly up from the trees, adorned in features of a hundred brilliant colors. As they flutter into the air they look like gemstones flung from a giant’s palm. Diana gasps, and I realize that my mouth is hanging open too as I watch these feathered jewels fluttering up.
They’re birds of such different gorgeous hues, reflected by the hot, heavy sun in so many ways, that I realize I’ve never seen such beauty before.
The only animals in my home town of Barl were the mangy street dogs that I would throw scraps to – plus the ever-present plague of rats and pigeons trying to eke a meager living just like me.
I hate that I have more in common with a pigeon, while Diana has more in common with these birds of paradise.
The three Aurelians stop short. Out of the jungle come men – strange men!
As I’d thought, this answers my first question – Darok, Hadone and Forn do have a tribe.
The strangers are towering Aurelian men, who should appear as strong and healthy as the triad of warriors standing beside Diana and I.
Only they’re not – these new arrivals are not straight of back or strongly postured like my three saviors.
While the Aurelians coming from the jungle may be the same age as Forn, Hadon and Darok, they’re bent over. They walk out slowly, dragging their feet and coughing. My eyes go wide as I see that they’re clearly in ill health.
The nurse that still lives inside me immediately starts documenting the symptoms these Aurelians are exhibiting – the worst and perhaps most telling of which is that constant, hacking cough which slows the formerly strong men in their tracks.
“They’re all… They’re all sick,” says Diana slowly.
I’d noticed that Forn had been coughing when I’d first met him, but this is far worse. There’s something horribly wrong with the Aurelians of this tribe.
