Pythen Blessing: An Alien War Romance (Galactic Order Book 6)

by Erin Raegan

  Ignyt looked at me. “He’s right. Save who you can, but their lives are not worth our own.”

  “You knew they were coming?” I asked, shocked. There was never going to be another ice storm. Tyrl had told the city a lie. They had been waiting for this?

  “Trust me,” Ignyt implored, fear and rage ruling his eyes.

  I didn’t understand everything else that was said, but I understood they had set a trap and we were the bait.

  I nodded. Ignyt pushed me back into the room, and he and his brothers walked out onto the balcony, looking down. They pointed and talked into their comm units while I trembled and watched them.

  I was so busy watching them, I didn’t even know another alien was behind me until all four of his pale grey arms came around me, one of which wrapped around my neck. I gasped and Ignyt spun on his heel. His eyes widened and filled with fury. He stepped back into the room, but a low, slithery voice tsk’d, tapping a claw on my neck.

  “No, warrior, it will take nothing more than a thought from me for my will to take hold of her.” A claw dipped into my throat, nearly piercing the skin.

  Hylg and Ohta growled, their eyes bouncing from me to Ignyt.

  “Leave her,” Ignyt snarled. His fist wrapped around a blade.

  The slithery voice chuckled above my head. “I don’t think I will. You have a clever healer, warrior. I had not expected to be found out so soon.”

  “Why are you here?” Hylg snarled.

  The voice sighed. “Orders, of course. But I suppose I enjoyed it.” He hummed. “Now, you see, I am trapped. Your king watches the skies and I cannot make my escape without a little aid.”

  “You will die here, Bour,” Ignyt spat. “Release her and I will give you a head start.”

  “I am called Liytheniyr,” the voice purred. “And you are?” The finger tapped my throat.

  “Don’t,” Ignyt said.

  The claw dipped harder into my skin, and I gasped. “Lydia.”

  “Pleasure, Liydiya.” A smooth face rubbed against the side of mine. “You will help me, won’t you?”

  I trembled, tears brimming in my eyes.

  A grey hand plucked my fake baby from my arms and tossed it onto the floor. “A shame. I would have enjoyed a snack had the halfling truly been with you.”

  I swallowed down bile.

  “Now,” he whispered in my ear, “be a good little human and come with me.”

  He backed up, dragging me with him.

  Ignyt snarled and lunged for me. But claws snagged my hair, wrenching my head back. I shouted in pain, and another hand clamped down on my wrist, snapping it. I screamed again, the sound shredding my throat.

  “Stop!” Ignyt dropped to his knees. “Leave her, I will go with you.”

  Liytheniyr chuckled. “Sweet of you to offer, but humans are far tastier.”

  I sobbed, holding my broken wrist to my chest.

  “Besides, I have seen how your king defends the humans. You, he may sacrifice, but her?” A slithery tongue licked the side of my face. “Oh, he will open his skies for her.”

  The male dragged me back toward the staircase.

  “No!” Ignyt roared and crawled forward. “Take me with her then!”

  “Tempting, but no.” He backed up the stairs.

  Ignyt crawled forward on his knees, the picture of submissive, but I knew those eyes. I knew him. He was seething. Trust me, his eyes implored. I sobbed and nodded, knowing he would come. Ignyt would never leave me.

  “If your companions are waiting for me up there,” the male sang, “I shall snap her neck.”

  Ignyt stayed at the bottom of the stairs on his knees, holding my eyes, infusing me with strength and love.

  Cold air whipped at me as we got to the top of the building. A small ship sat to our right, and a door lowered.

  Liytheniyr backed toward the ship as Hylg and Ohta landed on the edge of the platform. “Tell your king to open his skies or she will be shot down along with me!”

  Ohta shouted something in his comm, watching me. Then Ignyt was there and I was stepping back onto the ship. For every step we took back, he took one forward, stalking us.

  “Say goodbye,” Liytheniyr taunted.

  I bit my lip, watching Ignyt. I wouldn’t need to say goodbye because he would come for me.

  24

  Ignyt

  “What do you want to do?” Ohta asked, his palm on his comm unit.

  I panted through my rage. The terror threatened to buckle me, but I would not, could not cave to it. I hit my comm. “Father, destroy both Dahk ships.”

  Hylg closed his eyes slowly in despair but just as quickly opened them. Nothing but resolve remained.

  Son?

  “The Bour has Lydya.”

  Silence. Then, Go to her.

  “I’m taking Wohn’s ship. It will leave you weakened.”

  Go to her, son.

  I nodded, clicking over. “Wohn?”

  I’m coming for you. I will not leave the city undefended, but my ship is yours.

  I looked at my brothers. They thumped their chests.

  I clicked over to Uthyf. “Let him go.”

  You know I cannot.

  “He will kill her,” I snarled.

  He will kill her if he leaves.

  “My king, I am going after her. Open the skies.”

  Do not let him get away.

  “I will bring him right to you.”

  25

  Lydia

  Liytheniyr tossed me onto the floor of the ship and sat in the flight control chair. I scrambled back, clutching my wrist to my chest.

  He hit the controls and Uthyf’s face appeared on a large screen in front of him. “I have the human female. You will grant me safe passage or she will die.”

  Liytheniyr slammed down a lever and the ship drifted into the air, shaking and rumbling.

  “I will not,” Uthyf growled. “You will pay for your crimes.”

  Liytheniyr chuckled. “No, you will grant me passage or it will be your human I come for next.”

  Uthyf snarled, “What is it you’ve come here for?”

  Liytheniyr scrunched his hairless, smooth grey face, the blue jewel in his crown scrunching into a wrinkle of skin. “A little chaos. A little world domination.”

  “Who sent you?”

  Liytheniyr grinned. “Well now, I think we both know the answer to that.”

  “Viytenus? Why?”

  “Boredom, I suppose. Or perhaps he’s grown tired of all your bickering. The Juldo did that, the Dahk took this, the Guhuvin King won’t share his toys.” Liytheniyr snickered. “My ruler put up with you lot far longer than I would have.”

  Uthyf’s face twisted in rage.

  “I am approaching your perimeter, king.” Liytheniyr pointed at me over his shoulder. “Let me pass or I will kill her in front of you.”

  Uthyf smiled sadly. “How do I know you won’t kill her the moment you leave?”

  Liytheniyr sighed. “I left her very pissed off Dahk mate behind. I have a feeling he’ll be coming for her soon.”

  “You’d be right,” Uthyf snarled.

  “Hmm, perhaps you should warn him about the Xixin blast cannons installed on this battle cruiser then?” He grinned. “If he does come, he will be nothing but cosmic dust as I blast him into your dead star.”

  My eyes widened and I looked away, swallowing back fear. Fear for myself. For Ignyt. I looked around the ship and spotted a million things I could use to attack this alien, but I had lost my courage somewhere back on Earth. Just when I thought I was getting it back, this alien ripped it away from me.

  “Bour, if you blast her mate, what is keeping me from sending a thousand others to return the favor?”

  “You will not kill the human,” Liytheniyr scoffed.

  Uthyf looked at me as I inched along the wall. His eyes held a deep sadness. “Yes, I would. If her mate is killed, then their bond shall die and she will soon follow. I would end that hell for her. I would ens
ure she could not suffer at your hand and give her a quick death.”

  Liytheniyr snarled, baring his razor-blade teeth at the screen. “You lie!”

  “You sealed your fate the moment you set foot in my kingdom, Bour. Nothing will save you from meeting the consequences.”

  “Open your skies!” he screamed.

  The ship lunged and swerved to the side. I rolled, slamming into the wall and screaming as my hand was wrenched back. My face was smashed against a small portal and I looked down at the icy ground. We were maybe a few thousand feet in the air and traveling fast. The ground sped by at dizzying speeds.

  Liytheniyr righted the ship and slammed his fists on the control deck. He was circling the planet, trying to find a way off. We hadn’t left yet.

  I didn’t know why that did it for me, but I was full of relief and no small amount of hope. The Juldo had taken me so quickly, I hadn’t had a second to even think about escape. Now though, I had a chance.

  He shouted at Uthyf and slammed down on the deck again, cutting Uthyf off the screen. An alarm blared and I scrambled for an upended box. Inside were rations and blankets. I scrambled to a new box and nearly cried when I spotted a long baton hanging from the wall. I didn’t know what it did, but it was thick and metal and I wrenched it from the wall with one hand, nearly dropping it.

  “Release me!” Liytheniyr screamed. “Open the skies!”

  “Land and give her back to me,” a voice that sent sparks throughout my entire body growled.

  I spun and gaped at the screen. Ignyt was there on the screen and he was inside a ship. I stood slowly, wonder and love filling me. Liytheniyr screamed incoherent curses and swerved the ship. I slammed into a wall.

  “If you do not let me off this blasted planet, I will drive this ship straight into the king’s front door,” Liytheniyr snarled, spittle hitting the screen.

  Ignyt shook his head. “Give her back.”

  Liytheniyr screeched and jerked the ship again, slamming into something. Ignyt snarled on the screen and something behind him burst into sparks. We had hit him. I crawled toward the flight chair. Liytheniyr was going to make us both crash. I couldn’t let that happen.

  As the ship swerved, I stood on shaky legs and lifted the pipe. I had never hit anyone in my life. The closest I’d ever come to it was that Dahk in the tower and I couldn’t even see him. But this monster was right in front of me and he was going to kill my Ignyt. If he didn’t do that, he was going to kill everyone in the castle.

  Ignyt’s eyes widened in horror as I brought the pipe down on the back of Liytheniyr’s smooth grey head. The alien jerked forward, shouting, and reached back. The ship dipped and I fell into the chair, clutching it. I brought the pipe down again and he jumped up, holding onto the controls and swiping at me.

  “Lydya, no!” Ignyt shouted.

  I ignored him and leaped over the chair, smashing the pipe into every part of that bastard I could reach. One well-timed hit impacted when the ship jerked and he fell flat onto the floor. I brought the pipe down again, falling to my knees as the ship rocked. He didn’t move, and grey blood coated the back of his head.

  “Lydya!” Ignyt thundered. “Lydya!”

  I gasped and scrambled away, looking at Ignyt with wide frightened eyes.

  “Grab the controls, love. Do it now!”

  I jumped into the chair and grabbed the lever I had seen Liytheniyr pull on, and I yanked it toward me. We dipped down and my stomach slammed into the control deck.

  “Away from you!”

  I pushed it away from me and my back slammed into the chair.

  “Good, love, that’s good,” Ignyt rasped. “Now slowly pull it toward you and level out.”

  I slowly pulled it, and the stars in the window moved up until ice and stone creeped up from the bottom.

  “Right, go right!”

  I sucked in a breath and pulled it right, narrowly missing the side of a mountain.

  “Left, go left!”

  I sobbed, trying to keep up, but everything was coming at me so fast. I had never been a good driver and this was so much worse.

  “You need to land, Lydya.”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing!” I cried.

  “There’s another lever at your left side. It controls your speed.”

  I looked there. “Which one? There’s more than one!”

  “Watch outside!”

  I swerved right, and something scraped along the side of the ship.

  Ignyt cursed and turned around. “Get in front of her and guide her.”

  A massive ship sped ahead above me and lowered down a few yards ahead.

  “Move like Hylg, follow what he does.”

  I nodded, my tears and snot mixing together.

  “Now, there’s a lever that’s taller than the others. That controls your speed.”

  I quickly looked over and back before reaching for the tallest lever. It was nearly too far for me to reach, and my wrist was broken. I cried in pain as I wrapped my fingers around the edge of it. “I have it.”

  “Pull it toward you, love. Nice and slow.”

  I tried, but it was so heavy and I didn’t have any strength in my wrist. “I can’t! I can’t. It hurts.”

  Ignyt snarled in rage. “Listen to me, you can do it. Pull that lever and land that ship and I am coming for you, love. I am coming and I won’t ever let you go again.”

  I wheezed though my sobs, screaming and pulling on the lever. It slowly moved toward me.

  “That’s it. A little more.”

  I gritted my teeth through the agony and pulled it harder and the ship shuddered, slowing. “H-how do I land?”

  Ignyt cursed. “You can’t.”

  I looked at him then back at the window. “What?”

  “Landing would take too long to walk you through, and I don’t think you’ll be able to maneuver the controls. You’re going to have to glide down.”

  “You mean crash?”

  “Not crash, no. Glide down and we will stop you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think I can do that.” I was still going way faster than a car. I would crash right into the ice.

  A groan came from my feet and I gasped, looking down. Liytheniyr was moving.

  Ignyt cursed. “He’s waking up. Do it now, love. Dip down, pull down on your speed, and glide onto the ice. You can do it. Just glide down and we’ll stop you.”

  I nodded, terrified that the monster at my feet would take away my one chance. I slowly guided the ship’s nose toward the ice, slowing myself as much as my wrist would allow. As I got closer, Ignyt instructed me to level out. I could see the ice just below the ship, inches away from scraping it.

  “Lower.” Ignyt’s voice was lined with tension. “Lower and hold on.”

  I dipped lower as hands grabbed my legs. I screamed and Liytheniyr lunged, slamming into the lever and shoving it all the way forward. The nose of the ship hit the ice and we tumbled forward, rolling.

  I heard Ignyt scream my name, but the noises of the crash were so loud and I couldn’t breathe. My head slammed into something metal, then I heard nothing.

  I woke in so much pain, I could barely breathe. Every part of me ached. My eyes blinked open and I looked into the face of my best friend. My lover. My everything.

  Ignyt’s silver eye was glassy, and mine filled with tears.

  “Welcome back, little song,” he whispered.

  “Hi.” His lips touched mine and I breathed him in. “Am I alive?”

  Several chuckles met my ears.

  Ignyt smiled. It trembled. “Yes. You’re alive and with me.”

  “Good,” I whispered, my eyes closing. “I missed you.”

  “Sleep, love.”

  I smiled, loving his lips on mine, and slept. I trusted him to be there when I woke. I trusted him to always be there.

  Epilogue

  Lydia

  I was pretty busted up.

  I’d broken my hand and sprained my ankle. I had cuts o
n my face and arms, and my back was scraped so bad it took several days of healing before I could sleep comfortably again. But I was healing.

  I groaned as Ignyt rubbed my sore ankle. He chuckled and kissed the skin there, looking up at my face. “Why are you awake?” I croaked. It was still early. It felt like we had just fallen asleep.

  He looked at me and sighed. “I don’t want you roaming the castle today. Ohta will stay with you.”

  “That meeting is today, isn’t it?”

  Ignyt nodded and went back to massaging my ankle.

  I scrubbed my hands against my face, wincing as the cast on my hand scraped my cheeks. My ankle brace came off yesterday and it was so stiff but my hand still had a thin rubbery cast and Gryo said it would be another week before it came off.

  Drowsiness clouded my brain still. But today was a big day. Uthyf had kept the planet completely locked down ever since Liytheniyr and the crash. He was locked away. Thank the stars. But the threat of his species, the Bour, hadn’t gone away.

  Ignyt didn’t tell me much, but I knew enough to know that Uthyf, the Guhuvin king, and the Xixin King were on high alert. They were traveling here today and the Kilbus’ Lord would comm from Earth while they discussed what to do about the Bour and the Galactic Council.

  At first, I didn’t understand the significance of the meeting, but Mona had explained to me and Roxy how it was rare for the Dahk to open their borders to outside visitors. In the past, the Dahk’s allies only met on Hugund, the Galactic Order’s outpost. But that was no longer possible. They could have spoken on comms but Uthyf needed to gauge the kings’ willingness to fight against Viytenus and the Galactic Council and I supposed the Guhuvin King and the Xixin King also felt strongly enough that they were coming all the way here. That and Gryo was now completely engrossed in studying everything about Liytheniyr that Ignyt and his brother’s could get out of him so that we could understand the Bour in a way that had never been possible before. He would be sharing all that he had learned with them.

  We had to be ready in case another Bour tried to infiltrate us again.