Table of Contents
Title Page
UNEARTHLY WORLD BOOK 2: ZURI’S ZARGONNII WARRIOR
by
C.L. Scholey
TORRID BOOKS
www.torridbooks.com
Published by
TORRID BOOKS
www.torridbooks.com
An Imprint of Whiskey Creek Press LLC
Whiskey Creek Press
PO Box 51052
Casper, WY 82605-1052
Copyright Ó 2013 by C.L. Scholey
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-61160-719-2
Credits
Cover Artist: Gemini Judson
Editor: Melanie Billings
Printed in the United States of America
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT
GAME ON!
This is one married couple whose appetites for each other grow ever stronger with each passing year. They thoroughly enjoy discovering new ways to keep the spark alive and thriving. Allowing another couple to share in their fun only seems to increase the possibilities. Keeping the love alive is certainly not a problem for Mac and Jenney, which makes their escapades deliciously fun to read. ~ Coffee Time Romance
ENGULF – NEW WORLD BK 5
Abri is a strong female heroine. She didn't let deafness define who she is. Raiden is a likeable guy. Why? Even though Abri is deaf, Raiden picked her for his female.
C.L. Scholey has done a terrific job of creating this futuristic romance series. We have action, romance, adventure & mystery all in 102 pages. ~ Romance Bookaholic Traveler
THE BRETHREN OF TAVISH – VAMPIRE COVEN BK 1
The Brethren of Tavish is a wonderfully written book. The characters are well rounded and bring you into the story as if you were really there. The story flows smoothly tying one part to the next. The plot is well thought out, giving you plenty of action… ~ Night Owl Reviews
Other Books by Author Available at Torrid Books:
www.torridbooks.com
Game on!
New World Series
Shield
Armor
Impenetrable
Apparition
Engulf
Vampire Coven Series
The Brethren of Tavish
A Vampire to Watch Over Me
Unearthly World Series
Bay’s Mercenary
Dedication
For those of you who can find the beauty in differences.
Chapter 1
“What the hell is that?”
“That, is our next assignment.”
“That’s what we’re hunting?”
“Yep.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, Kobe.”
Citun’s snarling growl made Kobe realize that might not have been the best question to ask his leader. When he had made his way into a small briefing room, he was startled to find Citun staring at a picture above the lit console. It was impossible to decipher Citun’s look when he settled his gaze back onto the depiction. The image of the two-legged, two-armed pink being on the monitor made Kobe skeptical.
“Well shit, Citun.” Kobe gasped. “That thing is female.”
“What was your first clue, genius?”
The basically bald, naked, small creature had hair on its head and a tiny amount on its mound shaped in the oddest pattern, rounded at the top in separate half circles shaped to a point. From her spread-legged position, Kobe could definitely tell she was female. Her folds looked like delicate petals. Her entrance, which her fingers exposed, though tiny, was compatible with a male Zargonnii. The idea was intriguing as well as disturbing, because the female was so small.
Kobe knew what their Zargonnii females felt like in their lower region, but he had never gotten so much as a glance; the females on his planet moved too fast to get a good look. Plus, they were covered from head to toe in a fine layer of fur, unlike male Zargonnii who, like the Earth female, had bald patches. But here was this human Earth creature spread out before his eyes; no one was holding her in place. She was smiling, with tiny, white, even flat teeth. In order to get an image of a Zargonnii female in that position, she would have to be dead. To Kobe’s knowledge, no images of Zargonnii females existed.
Looking closely he could see this being’s long fingernails were purple. What a weird color. Two separate blond eyebrows were arched above unusually-colored blue eyes with a black dot in the center. Birth defect? Around her eyes were darker colors, greens, blues, black. On her cheeks were pink-red streaks—war paint? Kobe knew of cultures who tried to intimidate with intricate designs on their faces. It wasn’t exactly a terrifying sight if that was the image she was trying to portray. If anything it made her look—odd. Artificial. The entire pose made her seem unreal.
Long shiny things dangled from her earlobes. Someone had stabbed this poor female through her flesh. How cruel. That piece of information alone made him realize this creature was vulnerable. The glossy odd pieces of equipment looked like torture devices. Kobe’s people weren’t slavers; he wasn’t certain if the objects were symbolic to the female or placed there by an owner. A fine spray of black spiked hair was growing around her eyes, across the top and along the bottom. Kobe had no such hair there; his eyes could blaze into fire, so any hair there wouldn’t last long. Her little ribs were showing, tapering to a teeny belly which sported a small roundish indent—puncture mark? Kobe had never seen such a tiny nose; even baby Zargonnii males had larger noses at a month old.
How the hell can this creature breathe?
Citun called up another two images. Kobe blinked hard. For a moment, he stood openmouthed. He had heard of human Earth females, but realizing he was actually looking at three of them was astounding.
“Where did the images come from?” Kobe asked. There were three in total; each female had different color eyes and hair. He peered closer at the blond Earth female’s lips. They were bright red, not the Zargonnii blue he was used to. Strange. Had she been in a fight, or maybe she was bleeding. The Zargonnii had been told earthlings had red blood, another oddity. Kobe had been told Zargonniis had blue blood. He supposed it must be right; he had never seen his own blood. Being a mercenary warrior, Kobe had seen other species’ blood, blues, black, yellow, but never red.
“A rogue Tonan wanted fuel; we wanted to see these human Earth beings. He didn’t have any live specimens, but he did have pictures,” Citun said.
“The Tonan are known for their lies, maybe the images are doctored.”
“I think they are, in a way. But not by the Tonan. The Tonan said most females he has seen weren’t wearing war paint.”
“Are those breasts?” Kobe asked, incredulous. “Where is its babe? Females only have breasts when they have babes. A female never puts her babe down in the first month while she’s feeding.”
To Kobe’s knowledge his
mother had never put him down, until the day he was a month old. It had been terrifying. All Zargonnii males remembered the feeling of abandonment. They remembered the fear of being left alone, being helpless. It’s what made them strive to be powerful, dominant. Kobe had loved his mother, he knew she loved him. In some dark corner of his mind, he could still hear her wail when his father picked him up off the cold jungle floor. She had sounded so forlorn. Kobe had cried for her—for him. He had never seen her again, but to this day, he could smell her scent lingering on him and on his father. It’s what helped a male bond with his new parent, scent.
“Maybe human females aren’t maternal. Maybe she birthed a male babe and gave it up early. She’s small; let’s face it, a Zargonnii male child could kick this being’s ass.” Citun chuckled as he said this.
“But all three? All three have breasts, and the one with red hair has huge ones. Zargonnii females don’t inflate like that. It looks like someone blew into the nipple to expand them. If those things are rock hard, how the hell can a babe latch? Human babies must be born with overlarge mouths. Shit, can you imagine the noise they could make? I bet their screaming could clear a room. And the nipples are pink, not black.”
“Maybe it’s normal for their kind. And their mouths must shrink as they get older; these females have small mouths. I wish we’d had time to pick up a healer. Band might know. I’m sending him the images to study to aid with the human area we’ve prepared. I wasn’t sure of the amount of protection they needed, but from these images, I may need to double security. It’s apparent they’ll need more heat. When the Tonan said they were virtually bald, I was skeptical. Definitely a washing area will have to be provided with slow moving water; their skin is so pink it looks like it might peel off easily. With their flat teeth, we’ll really have to grind their food, like we do our young’s.”
“They’re kinda funny looking, don’t you think?”
“I dunno, I kinda like the breasts,” Citun said.
So did Kobe, but he had meant the entire Earth being itself. The three females were, well, not female Zargonnii. Both mercenaries stared hard at the pictures. Each tilted his head to the left, then the right. They backed up a step, moved closer, then closer. Citun sighed.
“I think we could look at the images standing on our heads and they would still look the same.”
Mentally, Kobe concurred. “This one’s eyes are blue,” Kobe mused. “Maybe it can freeze people.”
“No, they appear to have random eye color that does nothing but see. Although I could be wrong, I doubt I’m wrong.”
“Maybe the green-eyed one can grow foliage.”
Citun made a sarcastic huff. “What about the one with brown eyes, huh? Think they’ll shit on you?”
“Ha ha.” Kobe was equally sarcastic. “Maybe they have other abilities.”
“Such as?” Citun’s eyes were sparkling and Kobe knew he was waiting to make a fool of him.
“Well,” Kobe drawled petulantly. “They look squishy.”
“Squishy?”
“Maybe with them being bald and small they can squeeze into tiny places.”
“So?”
“They’d make good spies.”
“Spies?” Citun started laughing. “Who the hell are they going to spy for? They stand out like a cyron at a bangor party.”
Kobe scowled. Cyron beasts were massive creatures, whereas the bangor were smaller and covered in red fur. A party of bangor would be a funny sight; Kobe could squash them. Cyrons were another matter entirely. Female Zargonnii stood between the males and cyrons on their planet. Even if their species didn’t cohabitate, their females protected them from the massive beasts. Rarely did a cyron beast get past the females’ area, except during the Holiday. All male children were kept inside for their own safety during that time.
The trek from the female area to the males’ was dangerous. Kobe’s mother had come across a cyron beast while taking him to his father. Her long white hair wrapped around him, cocooning him, leaving her hands free. His mother had kicked the beast’s ass. Cyron beasts were stupid creatures. Too dumb to realize you never messed with a female Zargonnii, especially when she’s protecting her young. Still, the emotional impact was profound. Kobe hated the beasts.
“Look at this one’s hair,” Kobe said, changing the subject. “It’s all red, like a fire. Human females must be color-coded for a reason.”
Citun became thoughtful. “They do appear to be color-coded. All of our people are born the same time every other year; we all have white hair and red eyes. Maybe earthlings judge age by hair color. Maybe all brown-haired earthlings are born in a different season as, say, the red-haired ones.”
“That’s a good theory.”
“Maybe the eye color has something to do with it as well. All Zargonnii have red eyes for a protective reason, but look at this one with brown eyes. She is pouting, whereas the other with blue eyes is smiling. Perhaps the eyes of humans turn color to match emotions.”
Kobe became excited. “Yes you’re right. Look at this one with green eyes, she appears to be watching someone over in a corner and she looks angry. None of them have the same facial expression.”
“True.”
“What about their males?” Kobe asked.
“I was told by the Tonan to watch out for them. They are dangerous and many are larger and stronger than human females.”
“What an odd, turned around culture. I feel bad for their offspring.”
“Perhaps these earthlings aren’t really that complicated. After all, we’re worlds away so you would expect some differences. We just need to be smarter than they are. Our females may be stronger and larger, but the male of our species is smarter. We will just need to watch out for their male species. They could be a threat.”
Kobe stood staring at the three Earth females. His eyebrow dipped into a frown. He wasn’t so sure about that. There was something about these females, something about their vulnerable looks. Their multi-colored eyes might be a great advantage; they would always know an Earth female’s mood.
“I wonder where the Tonan got these images,” Kobe said.
“The Tonan have been to Earth. They are actively searching for these creatures. Apparently, the females make a good bargaining tool when dealing with Castian warriors. There isn’t much of the planet Earth left, unfortunately. The Tonan said he didn’t think any more humans were alive. The entire planet is either frozen, barren, or under water.
“A shame really. I wouldn’t mind taking my own look if this mission proves to be a success. If we don’t want the human females, we can trade them to the Castians. Or our counterparts on our planet; Titus is interested in these creatures.”
“What about the Tonans?” Kobe asked. Titus might be Zargonnii, but he and his men were on the opposite side of the planet. Titus and his warriors were South Zargonnii, and the different sides didn’t always get along.
“I’m told the Tonans aren’t very careful with human females, I wouldn’t want any to be harmed unnecessarily. I’m also told they kill the males regardless.”
“Tonans aren’t my favorite species, but they must kill the human males for a reason.”
“Tonans like to kill. First it was Castian females, now its male humans. Tonan creatures leave a bad taste in my mouth.” Citun made a face as though he had tasted something foul. “The Tonan I spoke with had a tail almost as tall as he was, you know what that means. A filthy liar, so we have to decide what parts of the conversation are true. Regardless, we’ll keep an eye on any males. And hope these images of human females are real.”
Kobe had never dealt directly with a Tonan. The Castians and Tonans had been warring since he could remember. He knew very little of either species. Castians were immortal and mated for life. To Kobe, it was an oddity; if a Castian was killed, so was its mate. Their ways were strange. Kobe didn’t understand why a Castian wanted a female mate. The Zargonnii way was better. The females lived in one area, the males in another. They c
ame together for the Holiday and parted.
When a Zargonnii male was born, he was left near his father’s domicile at the age of one month. His mother would watch from a short distance until the babe was discovered, she would then move off. Kobe had never seen a female Zargonnii infant. The mothers kept any female offspring. The situation seemed perfect. Integrating male and female issues together was redundant. Males had their own troubles, females theirs. Why should they take on each other’s problems?
It was on the tip of Kobe’s tongue to ask Citun why they should bother, but he was curious. A small female was interesting. The beings in the pictures were cute, if strange. Besides, it wasn’t his place to ask; he had a duty to perform.
“What strength level do we assume with Earth females?” Kobe asked.
“That’s something we need to discuss as a team,” Citun replied, now all business. “We should be arriving at the planet soon. It’s time to gather for a briefing.”
Kobe took one last look at the images and shook his head. He followed Citun out, smiling. Kobe enjoyed being a mercenary; he enjoyed when he needed to be a warrior. This mission was more of an extraction, a mere game of hide and seek. It had been a while since Kobe had played; he was looking forward to engaging his prey.
Chapter 2
The night was black as pitch and seemed to hang in the air just as heavily as the thick substance. Zuri could feel her heart hammering in her ears, her breath dragged from her lungs. She could hear the other human survivors using the strange, practiced calls and whistles to alert one another of their general presence and direction. Until noise became too dangerous. Zuri was alone with her thoughts, her fears. The human survivors had to split up; there were too many warrior-creatures. When the aliens had attacked, stormed the broken shuttle, the human refugees had scattered into the wind from small escape holes in the twisted metal. Zuri remained in hiding, a fist pressed to her mouth to stifle noise.
The ground beneath her feet was cool; rich black dirt settled between her toes, separating each individually. Zuri felt like that—separated, an individual, alone, cutoff from the others. She was crouched low to the ground; the smells of the planet’s strange jungle foliage seemed intensified. But like Zuri and her friends, all animal life was eerily silent. The deep guttural voices of the beings were sporadic as they hunted their prey.
C.L. Scholey - Zuri's Zargonnii Warrior (Unearthly World # 2) Page 1
