by Stella Sky
“The humans?! There is nothing to fear there. They do not know of our existence.”
“No, but they will, and you will be the reason for it. That is why I must stop you, all of you,” he said. He pulled off his cloak, and he shifted into a purple dragon. I threw off my cloak and Baca and I both flew in opposite directions. Candris came after me. I zig-zagged all over the place as he shot streams of fire at me. Candris was an older and stronger dragon. His range was very far. “I know what I am going to do with you,” I whispered to myself.
I lead him to the side of the lake on the shore, the same shore where the monster from the lake had grabbed me. I faced the lake and landed on the sand. I backed up away from the lake. Candris landed in front of me as I slowly walked backward.
“This is the end for you, Prince Cylo!” he shouted. His dragon voice was thick and harsh. He was one of the few elder Draqua that could speak while in full dragon form.
“It’s King Cylo now!” I shouted to him.
“Not for long,” he shouted. He took a step toward me. Boom! The ground shook. I looked at the pebbles that shook on the ground. This was a good thing. Boom! He took another step.
“Say goodbye, Candris. You will hurt me and my family no more,” I said.
The dragon let out a hearty laugh. But then… Whoosh! Large tentacles wrapped around the purple dragon. In seconds the dragon was being crushed in the lake serpent’s jaws. Then the creature dragged the dragon into the water. I flew up into the air as soon as I could so as not to be its next meal. I flew straight up to the cliff where Baca was waiting.
“What the hell was that?” Baca said.
“It’s an old friend,” I said.
Boom! Bam! “What the hell?!” I shouted as I saw a ship get into range and shoot at us. “Go! Hide!” I shouted as we flew quickly into the rock and hid in the brush.
Boom! Our ship was blown to pieces. Another ship landed on the cliffside. Three Draqua emerged. They were looking for Candris. I looked at Baca. He whispered to me “If we don’t take care of this now, then they too will be a problem later.”
I nodded yes to him. We waited until the Draqua were close. Then “Aah!” we charged at them. A full fight broke out.
“Why are they not shifting?!” I shouted at Baca when I got close enough to him as I flew by.
“I don’t know,” he said. We fought, and we fought hard, until there was only one left. The Draqua threw its blaster gun and threw its hands in the air.
“Get on the ground!” I shouted to it. The Draqua laid on the ground and Baca and I flew to it, landing on the cliffs.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Yeqit,” it said.
“Why did you and your friends not shift? It is a much fairer fight that way,” Baca asked.
“Because we can’t shift,” he said. Baca and I looked at each other stunned.
“What do you mean? Do you mean you cannot shift into full dragon? Are you hybrids with humans?” I asked.
“No, I mean we cannot shift at all. We cannot shift into full dragon, and we cannot shift into hybrid like you. We are not human,” he said.
“Holy shit. What the hell is going on out here in Tiok?” Baca whispered to me. I sighed. I had no idea, but this could not be good.
“If you are not with human, are you full Draqua?” I asked.
“No,” he said.
“Then what? Stop fucking around and tell us!” Baca shouted.
“We are hybrid with Aeriwana,” he said.
“What?! No!” I shouted. “Fuck!”
“Yes, Candris has been overseeing the breeding program,” he said.
“Candris…why would he do such a thing?” I said.
“You will have to ask him yourself,” the Draqua said. I looked back at the lake; that was not going to happen.
“It is a little late for that,” I said to myself. Then the Draqua began to speak. “Maybe it is too late for you too. Since you are going to fight to the death. Fight now,” he said.
“What?” I laughed. “Don’t be absurd.”
Bam! Baca hit me on the jaw.
“Baca what the fuck!” I said holding my sore jaw. I saw the look in Baca’s eyes. He was not there. “Oh shit! Baca, snap out of it,” I shouted.
I could hear the Draqua on the ground laughing. “Hit him.”
“No! Don’t do it!” I shouted. I realized that this Draqua that was mixed with the alien race of Aeriwana had the same powers that I did. He had mind control, but I was only able to use it on humans, and not other Draqua. It seemed that Candris was purposely trying to breed a super Draqua. I knew what I had to do. I grabbed a big stone off the ground and flew straight up into the air. Baca followed and I had to use evasive flying to stop him from hitting me. I flew straight down. Bam! I hit the Draqua’s head with the stone. Baca landed on the rocks. “What the hell just happened?” he said.
“Shit. This Draqua had mind control, and he was using it on you,” I said
“What? I thought that did not work on other Draqua?” Baca said.
“So did I. It does not work for me, but it seems to work for these Draqua that are crossed with Aeriwana. This is what Candris was doing out here. He was using the diverse alien races that live on this planet to create a Draqua that he can use as a weapon, and persuasion is a very powerful weapon,” I said.
“Shit. We better get out of here before more come,” Baca said.
“Good idea. Looks like we will be taking their ship back,” I said. We climbed into the ship and made our way back to Kelon.
“When we arrive, tell no one what we have discovered except for Jix. I do not want to create panic among the Draqua on Kelon. They are barely starting to trust each other again, and I don’t want them to think they have to be wary of a new breed of Draqua that can make them do things they don’t want to do.”
“I understand,” Baca said.
It was a stressful voyage. I had to face a close friend and someone I considered to be a second father only to discover that he was a traitor. He was the cause for it all. He was the cause of the opposition uprising, and now I did not see that cause going away. It was only getting stronger. Then I had to deal with the new information that there was a new Draqua out there that was more dangerous than any I had ever known. I wondered how long it would be before they showed up on Kelon. It was probably only a matter of time
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MELODY REEVES
I was worried as I always was when Cylo was not with me. He had a habit of doing this. First, he left me on that cliffside when he went to jump back in the water to get gold from his ship with a monster trying to kill him. Then he left me on the island of Kila alone as he fought his brother. Both times he had me terrified that he was going to die, and now I was worried again. He had been gone for three days.
“He will be fine. He and Baca are a good team. There is nothing to worry about,” Jix said as he whispered to me.
“I know I just can’t help it. That planet is very dangerous. I’ve seen what lives there,” I said.
There was a knock at the door. “Who goes there?” Jix shouted.
“It is Umbvo Corist,” the fisher Draqua said through the door.
Jix opened the door just a crack and said. “Umbvo, this will have to wait. The king is very busy for the next couple of days. I will call for you when he is ready to see you.”
“But it cannot wait. There is a problem with the fisheries on the south side of the island,” I heard him say.
“Show him to the throne room, Jix,” I said.
“What my queen?” he asked.
“Show him to the throne room. I’ll hear his problem and see if I can be of help,” I said.
“But…”
“Just do it,” I said. Minutes later, I was wrapped in long robes. I was not going to wear the island loincloth and tube top bikini with a sheer dress in my pregnant state. I sat in the throne room and listened to the fisherman’s problem. I offered up a solution,
and Jix listened. He agreed with it. I put the solution into action, and before I knew it, I had seen four more Draqua and helped to resolve their problems. It felt good to be of service and to help instead of sitting on my butt all day. Then I realized something, thinking about all the time that I had stayed away from politics with my father. Here I was now actually doing exactly that: practicing politics. I laughed to myself. He would be proud of me.
The next day was another excruciating waiting game. Then a gust of wind hit my face. I looked up to see Cylo standing on the veranda.
“Cylo! Thank god! I’m so happy to see you!” I said as I walked to him and threw my arms around him.
“Mmm… it is good to see you,” he said hugging me.
“I thought you might be hurt. I’ve been so worried,” I said.
“I promised you that I would return, and I always do,” he said kissing me on the forehead. Then he moved into the chambers. “What happened?” I asked.
“A lot. Where is Jix?” he asked.
“He is standing guard outside the door today. I needed a little privacy this morning,” I said as he gave me a look like he was not happy that Jix was not in the same room with me. I was very aware of the dangers that anyone could fly onto the veranda, but I needed privacy! I was a pregnant woman!
“I will tell you everything, but let me get Jix,” he said. He returned with Jix, and they quietly spoke.
“We found Candris, and it is much worse than we thought. He was not only leading the opposition, but he was doing more than that,” Cylo said.
“What was he doing?” I asked.
“He was creating a mating program of sorts with Draqua. He was crossing them with other alien species to see what happened,” Cylo said.
“What? That is insane. How long was he doing this?” Jix asked.
“Years, judging by the fully grown Draqua we encountered that were mixed with Aeriwana,” Cylo said.
“Aeriwana! What?” Jix said.
“Yes, keep your voice down. There is a big problem. The Draqua we encountered mixed with Aeriwana had my powers of persuasion,” Cylo said.
“Mind control?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly, only this one used it on Baca,” Cylo said.
“Holy shit,” Jix said.
“Exactly,” Cylo said.
“So what now?” Jix asked.
“We have to keep an eye on it. These Draqua are too dangerous to be around. One was able to make Baca turn on me with a few words.”
“What? Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes, I am fine, and Baca is fine. We got away and killed that Draqua but I am sure there are more like it. We did not stick around to find out.”
“Anything else?” Jix asked.
“Yes. These Draqua could not shift. They looked like us, but they could not shift to full dragon or hybrid,” I said.
“That hardly makes them Draqua,” Jix said. “Where’s the dragon?”
“I know, but they look like us, which means they could walk among us. So keep an eye out for anyone that you have never seen shift,” Cylo said. “Until then we will have to figure out another way to deal with these Draqua from Tiok. For now, Candris is no more, and that should be plenty for now.
It was a heavy talk, and I had to admit that it had me very scared. The deep space politics was full of backstabbing and opportunists just like on Earth, but here there was magic, and it made it so much more dangerous. We tried to put the haunting notion of mind controlling Draqua that were out to kill us out of our minds as much as we could. We could not go living in fear forever. So we went on with our daily lives, and my new life as queen.
Months later, it was as if the battle never happened. The Draqua began to trust each other again, and they were a lively village. But I think what also gave them hope was the birth of a new generation of royalty.
“I am more happier than I ever thought I could be now that our son Teavin has been born,” Cylo said to me.
“I am too. I am so happy, and he makes me happy every day,” I said.
“And what about me? Do I not make you happy?” he asked.
“Yes, you do,” I said.
Cylo hugged me and kissed me. I was filled with happiness and hope. Now that I had our son, I was able to figure out a time to go back to Earth for a week. This was to keep my father from starting another search party. It was something that was needed, and it was one of the perks of being queen. But what was the best perk of all was the fact that I got to rearrange the household.
Yes, that’s right, I kicked the harem out. Michelle and Sarah. I kicked them out of the palace almost immediately upon getting married. Baca found a new home for them with the warriors, and I was told the women were very happy. I did not care what they did as long as they were not in the palace and were away from me and Cylo. He just laughed the first time I asked him what kind of power I had as queen because he knew what I was going to do with that power.
But even though we had endured some hardship, I knew that I did not regret any of it. I had asked for an adventure, and I got the adventure of a lifetime. It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, being abducted by an alien that happened to be a dragon shifter. My life was never the same after that moment, and I was no longer the daughter of President Reeves; I was the queen of Kelon.
The ominous presence of the opposition was still out there and would need to be faced again, but that would come in time. We did not want to live in fear of it and let it tear the planet of Kelon apart. For now, my husband kept an eye on it, and I kept an eye on our son. One day he would be dealing with the problems of the Draqua. It was something that every royal house of Draqua would face, but none were quite like what I went through and loved.
The End
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Zaine-Verian Mates
(Verian Mates)
By Stella Sky
Chapter 1
Regan Lawrence
“Next! Regan Lawrence.”
I cringed at the sound of my name being called and walked up to the desk.
“Regan Lawrence? Female. Age 26. Location: Zone Seven.”
I listened as my statistics were cited at me and nodded, pushing the auburn hair away from my face. It was hot today.
The frowning attendant handed me my basket of rations and I smiled mechanically as I took it. I had learned as a child not to try to interact with the attendants. Ever since the war between the Verians and Earth had started, when I was just three, you were expected to take what you needed and nothing more, then return home.
“Harbord Griswald. Female. Age 24. Location: Zone Three.”
The voice of the attendant grew distant as I walked the path to the shuttle, where everybody from Zone Seven was being ushered. I took my seat, the same as always, and waited for the driver to bring the last few people onto the bus.
Finally, my seat mate and the other six people who had still been in line returned, and the engine turned. We jerked forward and I kept my eyes peeled to the window. The shuttle had a tendency to give me motion sickness. The jerkiness of the sudden stopping and starting as we attempted to navigate the debris-filled terrain between zones always made me mildly nauseated at best, and borderline sick at worst.
“When do you think the war will be over?” my seat mate, a young man named Trevor, asked out loud.
It was the question on everybody’s minds, but nobody asked it except the very young. I glanced at Trevor and back at the window before answering him.
“It will be over when one side wins.”
Trevor’s restless fidgeting stilled and I heard the soft escape of breath from his lips. I knew how he felt. We all felt it. But we would just have to go on living the way we were living until it was over.
***
It was a relief when we finally rounded
the smooth curve that indicated we were near Zone Seven again. I was anxious to get off the bumbling, rumbling bus and back into my house, where nothing was bound to nauseate me except maybe the smell of my neighbor’s failed attempts at cooking.
The shuttle dropped us off at the entrance and we walked inside, each of us heading to our own homes. Some of us had bikes parked by the fence, while others chose to walk. I was one of the latter.
Things had changed on Earth since the war started, but not by much. We weren’t allowed to drive cars or overindulge in resources, so the military had set up the shuttles and rations bases. The Zones were divided based on necessity, and they were considered relatively safe places for us to go about our daily lives. The only difference was that in the Zones, debris from space was unlikely to destroy our homes. A shield was erected over each Zone to protect us.
