by Vi Voxley
Gathering Zoey in his arms, he slipped it between her cold lips, praying. Daegon didn't do that often. In fact, he wasn't sure when was the last time he’d turned to the spirits, but he did then. As he fought, he had to keep his mind on the enemy, but now the battle seemed to grow distant despite happening a few feet from him.
All he wanted was for Zoey to breathe. Nothing more. The rest he could deal with. Daegon knew he'd do anything in his power to make sure she never had to suffer again, but first she had to live. Such a simple thing to ask for, but bearing the weight of the world.
“Breathe,” he whispered, pleading with her.
Holding her beautiful form in his embrace, waiting for her heart to start beating, the longest moments in Daegon's life passed.
Then she coughed.
Immediately, Daegon lowered her head even more, letting Zoey spit out all the water she'd drawn in. She clung to him, disoriented, shivering from cold. Resisting the urge to pull her as close as he could, Daegon gave her room to stabilize her breathing and gather herself.
"What... what happened?" she asked. "Those bastards, I saw them jump in, but they were so fast, I..."
"They're dead now," Daegon said. "Can you walk?"
Zoey nodded, looking at him from under the wet strands of her long dark hair.
"Yes," she said quietly, "but I don't know if you noticed – we're kind of in the middle of a thing right now."
"Them?" Daegon said, standing up and looking around. "This is not a battle, my love. It's only a cleanup."
Her eyes went wide, seeing the havoc Daegon's warriors were wreaking through the ranks of the Yemalan. Not wanting her to see the brutality, the warlord turned her away. It irked at his pride to leave the battle before his men, but he'd spoken the truth. There really wasn't much else but to catch and kill the last fleeing remnants of the Yemalan.
They descended the steps of Loxer Garden slowly, surrounded by his guards. Daegon could hear the sounds of war. Gun turrets barking, plasma weapons with their signature deafening bursts of distorted air, simple clashes of metal on metal. Overhead, fighters sped to reach their new directive.
It was the opposite of what he’d wanted for Zoey. A part of him wished he’d left her on the holy world, but then none of their time together would have happened.
He swore he would give her days of peace.
Zoey stopped so suddenly that, for a moment, Daegon looked for a sniper and a wound in her side. The uniform she was wearing protected against some things, but not a straight shot from a good gun.
"Daegon, he told me something," she said. "The traitor."
The warlord frowned. He didn't want Zoey more involved with the war than she already was. It would have been better if she forgot all about it as soon as she was safe.
"What did he say?"
"About the coming invasion," she said.
"This is an invasion."
"No, no," Zoey went on quickly, grabbing his arm. "Oh god, I remember now. Right before you arrived, he was so mad, I think he forgot I was there. I heard him say something over the comms. About it being time for the real invasion."
Daegon considered that. Looking around, it was clear there was a conflict on Poural, but it was still less than he'd expected. Considering the fact that all of the Yemalan forces were there, their motherships doing battle with the Wraith above their heads... He'd presumed more. Not that he wished for it, but the troops on the ground made up for an insignificant part of the Yemalan army.
Could Zoey really have overheard the enemy's plan?
"I need you to tell me exactly what he said," Daegon told her. "Every word is important, but any name doubly so. Reports are coming in from all over Poural. He's attacking all the presumed strongholds. What else does he want?"
He had never seen a look of such despair on her beautiful face. As soon as he spoke, Zoey's face dropped. Daegon hated seeing such sadness twist her beauty into something less than it should have been, smiling and happy.
"I didn't hear much else," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," he said, instantly regretting putting too much pressure on her. "This is already good. I can tell my warriors to look out for any signs of odd activity. I can even tell your friends."
A coy smile dawned on Zoey's face, widening into a mischievous smirk. Just like that, the woman he loved was back.
"That I'm not going to apologize for," she said stubbornly. "They can help."
"I know. I can see that."
"You wouldn't have asked them."
"Of course not," Daegon said, grinning. "I would have lost my clan at once. I still might. You heard Arboc."
Zoey glared, looking oddly cute. Once again, Daegon had to exercise self-control, afraid he'd hurt her with his embrace.
"You won't attack the Union, will you?" she asked.
"No," Daegon replied seriously. "I didn't ask them to interfere, but now that they are here, as long as they work with us, they can stay."
Zoey beamed at his words.
"That's great," she said at once. "I can act as a mediator for you and the Union. It's pretty much my actual job."
Daegon smiled to her, glad beyond anything that the whole ordeal hadn't robbed her of her spirit. They began walking down to the surface again, but Zoey was still thoughtful. She was also clearly cold and Daegon meant to send her to the safest, warmest place with the first transport he could find.
The job of a link between the Corgans and the Union didn't require her to spend any more time on Poural than she absolutely had to.
"It doesn't make any sense," Zoey murmured to herself, her hands wrapped around her body to keep warm.
"What doesn't?" Daegon asked.
"The thing Arboc said. I didn't hear all of it and his voice was so raspy. Maybe I misheard. He said that the real invasion was about to begin and that the chieftain would fall today. What do you think he meant? I know he's after the chieftain, but he's back on Gaiya..."
She looked startled when Daegon took a hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him.
"Zoey," he said, his deep voice etched with barely contained anger. "I need you to be absolutely certain. Is that what you heard him say?"
"Yes," she nodded, confusion reflected in her green eyes. "But that can't be. Nadar Brenger isn't here."
Daegon pulled her along and now they were running as fast as Zoey could go.
"He isn't," the warlord explained. "But Arboc didn't mean him. He meant The Chieftain."
"Is that a place?" Zoey asked, understanding.
"You would call it a temple. It used to be a refuge for our people, and then a holy place, but it isn't in use right now. It's carved into a mountain like the Citadel, but it's much, much older. Some decades ago, it began to fall in, so no one goes there now."
"So what does Arboc want with it?" Zoey asked.
Daegon bared his teeth in a snarl. The other clan lord had really outdone himself if his plan was anything what Daegon thought it was.
"That's where the civilians are," he growled. "He truly wants to wipe out Poural."
Chapter Sixteen
Zoey
Zoey listened to Daegon explain with a terrible sense of dread.
I really am leading an interesting life, aren't I? In the past week, I've been kidnapped and almost executed, kidnapped again and almost drowned. And now he tells me it's about to get bad.
Under normal circumstances, Zoey thought she would have been a little more upset about everything that had happened, but Daegon's presence changed everything. For one, she discovered she no longer had the fear of dying. Even standing there, with a Corgan warlord holding her hostage, she hadn't doubted for a second that Daegon would save her.
There was something eternally comforting about him, so at odds with his menacing figure.
He was looking at her now, the hard lines of his face taut. The ink running over his skin only accentuated that image, giving her a glimpse of why men ran from him in battle. She'd even seen the
Yemalan back away when Daegon got truly furious.
His explanation ended with, "I'm sending you away."
Again.
Gods be damned, can’t he get it through his thick skull? Zoey thought. I'm not going to run away and leave him to his fate.
“For a man who claims to love me, you sure seem to hate my presence.”
Apparently she'd said that last part out loud, because Daegon seemed to struggle between amusement and annoyance.
"Don't even joke about it," he said. "This is war. It's no place for –"
"Women?" Zoey offered.
Daegon glared, but he didn't seem able to muster any anger towards her, although Zoey knew she was being unreasonable to his eyes.
"That has nothing to do with this," the warlord snarled. "I have many female warriors. I mean civilians."
"It's a good thing I'm not a civilian then," Zoey replied happily.
It was very odd, to be happy at such a time. She was cold and injured, having almost died, and frankly, horrified by the events surrounding her. And absolutely unwilling to be sent away from the battlefield once more, no matter what Daegon said.
"You're incorrigible," the warlord said, but his blue eyes were warm when he looked at her.
"Yes, I imagine that was why I was chosen for this job," Zoey replied. "Now where is The Chieftain, so I could inform the Union forces?"
Daegon looked like he still had plenty to say about her being there, but time was pressing and the situation was more than urgent. They left Loxer Garden behind as fast as they could and Daegon led Zoey to the first fighter capable of getting better transmission than the simple comm link on his wrist.
He waited, consulting with his warriors, while Zoey relayed the news to Captain Eruit. She could feel the disgust the Palian captain felt emanate even through the speaker. Going after defenseless civilians was the worst thing for Palians who barely believed in violence at all. They had a complicated relationship with wars in general, Zoey knew – perfectly capable of them but always looking for a way to avoid the worst.
"Be careful," she warned the Union forces. "There will be all kinds of Corgans there. Do not shoot Daegon's clan or the one who was stationed here. Only Arboc."
She then let a Corgan officer called Yarl take over. The warrior seemed a little disgruntled at having to talk to the Union, but one look from Daegon silenced any protests he might have had in mind. Zoey listened to him start to explain how to differentiate between men and fighters and clans, hoping that it would be enough. There was no need to add friendly fire to the list of atrocities going on.
Finally, confident that the Corgans were working together with the Union at last, Zoey left them to handle the war. She knew Daegon was right, after all. She had no place on Poural at that hour, but something had changed in her during the past week. Like a spirit released within her body that she hadn't known to be there.
It was that newfound desire to do more than her part that had driven her to lie to Daegon, and now she was cooking up an even more dangerous plan.
Carefully, Zoey considered the option of telling him. She discarded that idea almost immediately.
No. He'd never let me go, but no one else could get close enough to Arboc. It has to be me. Besides, none of them have bothered to learn a word of Yemalan.
Back on Terra, every book and every article she'd ever read on love had put the truth pretty plainly. There was only so much lying and cheating you could do in a relationship before it went downhill, fast.
Spirits of the Corgan, if you can hear me, Zoey called in her mind. Let me get away with this one last time and then I never have to lie to him again.
Poural wasn't a holy world, but she hoped that some spirits were present, at least. Then she set her plan in motion.
Warriors were all the same.
They were thinking of traditional weapons, of unit dispositions and fighter formations. Zoey grinned to hear Yarl directing the Union troops with glee in the background. She supposed bossing them around was a great thrill for the Corgans. But they all thought the same – clash two armies together and see who comes out the winner. It might have been either.
Only while they contemplated that, there were people caught in the middle and countless men were about to die in the process of figuring out who was stronger.
Zoey hoped she'd found a way to make do with less bloodshed, but the plan was not without dangers. In fact, she was consciously considering letting herself be kidnapped for the third time.
But this time, on my terms.
First, she needed a Union ship and just a bit of time. Zoey had always had a knack for languages, but Yemalan was one of the most difficult she'd ever encountered. Palians would have said that every species was unique and deserving of life, but honestly, Zoey thought they sounded like people on Terra when they were coughing up something.
Daegon was so obviously relieved by her promise to leave that she felt a physical tinge of pain over lying to him all over again. The warlord immediately ordered Yarl to call a transport for her, going so far as to threatening the pilot to take her to safety on the pain of death. Zoey cursed his over-protectiveness under her breath, seeing the way the Union pilot nearly crawled out of his skin to nod.
That did not bode well for her.
"You don't have to do that," she told him, smiling in a way she hoped was disarming. "For the time being, you're allies. No need to throw your weight around, I can handle myself."
Daegon grinned, clearly amused by the Union pilot's reaction.
Roughly, he growled, "You heard the lady. Take her where she says."
Since that was considerably better, Zoey leaned out of the ship to kiss him. It was both a goodbye and a way to silence him before he could say anything to dissuade her. She nearly whimpered out of pleasure when his arms closed around her, pulling her into his embrace gently. Zoey thought she would have to kiss him so much more when the chaos was finally over.
Around them, the war continued. She knew that Daegon would be heading for the temple as soon as she was gone. As it happened, they were going in the same direction. Before she could somehow give herself away, Zoey smiled and shut the doors of the ship.
"First, take me away from the battle, somewhere we won’t be shot at," she ordered.
As the pilot took them up and away, he sent her a weird look.
"Was that the good kind of Corgan you were talking about, Miss Swann?" he asked. "He’s –"
"He is very intimidating, yes," Zoey interrupted, already accessing the Union's mainframe through the fighter's systems.
She knew where the files that she needed were. After all, she'd installed the data herself, thinking she might need it. And now the time had come.
"I should take you to the Defiant," the pilot offered, but Zoey shook her head, already reading about pronunciation and grammar.
"No," she said. "Just take us down somewhere quiet. And don't disturb me."
Apparently she was considerably less frightening than Daegon – no wonder – since the pilot wouldn't let up.
"You'd be safer with the rest of the –" he began, but Zoey cut in with a fierce glare.
"Hush now. Remember what the scary man said. Shut up and let me read," she said, enjoying the look of petrified fear on the pilot's face.
He obeyed this time, not one word following her reminder of Daegon. Zoey went back to her work.
* * *
After an undetermined period of time, feeling both like an instant and forever at the same time, she got up from her seat and walked around in the fighter. The Union had a wide array of them and the one they'd sent to fetch her was large enough to move around in a bit.
As the pilot observed her preparations suspiciously, Zoey wondered what Daegon was doing. She had no doubt in her mind that the warlord had had the fighter tracked, but there wasn't anything suspicious about her actions so far. For all intents and purposes, she'd parked herself out of active battle and that was all Daegon had asked for. So no complai
nts from him.
Maybe he thought it was odd she didn't go further, but it seemed he was getting used to her never going far.
Zoey smiled to herself quietly. Thinking about him made her all the more anxious to get going, but she would only get one chance, if that. She knew that she could have been better prepared, but time was running out. Every second that she spent there, people might have been – and probably were – dying.
A quick search surrendered the item she had been looking for. Zoey turned it on and said a few words in Yemalan. The device played her clumsy words back clearly enough.
"Are you ill?" the pilot asked, hearing that.
Zoey chuckled. It truly was a beautiful language, wasn't it?
"I'm fine," she said, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "Now take me to The Chieftain. It's supposed to be a huge temple. Bring up the Poural maps."
"I only have initial readings," the pilot said, frowning. "This is a Corgan world, we haven't mapped it yet."
"Good things come to those who ask," Zoey replied, looking at him. "We are allies. Ask them."
"Ask who? The Corgans?"
"If you are too afraid, I'm sure the Defiant already has. Get it from them."
It was very obvious to Zoey that every word out of her mouth was making her increasingly unsympathetic to the man, but that was not her problem. There was no time to waste on pleasantries. She waited while he called up the coordinates to the temple and the fighter rose again.
Zoey gripped her seat, not looking forward to the next part of her plan at all. There were about a billion ways it could go wrong, so she figured it was better not to think about any of them.
As they got closer, she finally saw The Chieftain. Zoey was pretty certain her mouth dropped open. Mara James had described the Citadel back on Gaiya as a huge fortress carved inside a mountain, but at least it still looked like a mountain.
She would have taken The Chieftain for a statue. A huge, towering, mountain-sized statue. Higher than any peak on Terra for sure. It was shaped like a Corgan warrior, unsurprisingly, a tough-looking man wielding two swords. It was so gigantic that when they flew closer, Zoey started to lose the scope of the thing.
