by Vi Voxley
"You're as stunning as the day I met you," Magorra said, coming closer with slow, prowling steps. "I have to congratulate you. Usually I take whichever female I fancy and use her until I'm tired of her. You... you have never left my mind."
"Flattered once more," Riley said, inching her fingers closer to the gun so carefully it seemed an eternity laid between her and the weapon.
"And me?" Magorra asked with a cruel grin. "Females tend to remember me as well. Although I must say most of them don't have that much time to forget."
Riley didn't reply at once. The nightmares came back to her with a rush, flooding her body with fear, the last emotion she wanted to feel at that moment. She saw Magorra framed by dark, angry flames, walking unscathed through the explosion that had nearly killed her.
His horrid laugh had haunted her dreams and waking hours. The promise to make her his was the worst.
Before she came to Octava, Magorra had been a genuine terror for Riley as he was to every woman in the Alliance. Now, after enjoying genuine happiness in the arms of Harbor and Cole, he was so much more. Riley didn't think she could bear another man's touch on her after her fateds, much less from one like the Eridon warlord.
He wasn't just a threat to her, Magorra repulsed Riley to her very core. Perhaps that was why he had such an impact on her. The warlord was the anathema to everything her fateds were.
At that moment, staring down the man they'd been trying to shield her from, Riley finally reached the truth she'd searched for.
All her high-reaching thoughts about exposing some great galactic secret or finding the holy grail of journalism were always going to end in disappointment. Instead, fate had given her a chance to be happy with her fated like the bond promised.
It had even saved her from an explosion that should have claimed her life and given her the miracle that was Mya instead.
And Riley she'd gambled with it, unable to believe it could be real.
The fear of losing her one shot of being happy with Harbor and Cole was more terrifying than Magorra had ever been. In that moment, Riley wanted to live more than anything, to return to Mya and her fateds.
"I asked you a question," Magorra repeated, his cruel yellow eyes seemingly looking right into her soul. "Did you forget about me, female?"
As always, Riley opted for the truth.
"No," she said quietly. "I didn't."
The warlord grinned, the smile spreading on his face without it doing anything to make him look less threatening. If anything, the vile smirk made the already harsh features twist and make Magorra look sick with a hunger that was eating him up inside.
"Good," the warlord whispered, his face inches from Riley's now. "Because I know who you are, little Terran. The fated of my worst enemies. They have been a pain to me for a long time. Now that I have you, I have them at my beck and call. What do you think they would do to get you back?"
Anything.
"Could I make them turn those fancy guns of this flagship on Octava? Join the League, only to hope they could see your pretty face again?"
Okay, perhaps not anything.
Actually, Riley wasn't so sure. The Gargon bonds were absolute. They said nothing about being blackmailed by enemies. With her life at stake, she honestly didn't know what Harbor and Cole were capable of.
"That would be a false hope, of course," Magorra went on and Riley could feel his stinking breath on her face. "I will have broken you a long time ago by then. You should see some of the females I've kept for a while. How they huddle and scrape when I enter the room.
“How willingly they present themselves for me, uncaring of what I do to them. Pitiful, weak creatures. I expect better from you."
Riley was barely listening. She could imagine it well. Desperate, terrified women who clung to the false hope that if they pleased Magorra, he might not tire of them. As far as she knew, none of them had ever succeeded.
She didn't think she was special in that regard. Perhaps Magorra would keep her long enough to bait her fated, no more.
Seeing the Eridon soldiers prepare the small ships for departure, Riley felt her pulse quicken. If they managed to get her to one of those, if Magorra managed to slip with her into the dark where he'd come from... She would never be seen again. And she would never see those she loved either.
Magorra's hand shot out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his sunken yellow eyes.
"First lesson," the warlord gargled to her. "You don't look away from me when I'm talking to you, little whore.
“I like your temper. I will enjoy breaking you in but don't expect me to go easy on your for that. You will learn to know your place like the other females have. On the floor where your place is, waiting for my attention."
The craziest idea occurred to Riley right then. It shot through her head like a lightning bolt and refused to leave, tingling there like a power source.
Magorra had never stopped hunting for her, all those long years she'd laid in a coma somewhere on Octava, out of his reach. It meant he found her to be special and it was painfully obvious what happened to women who bored the warlord.
It was the riskiest decision she'd ever made. Riley didn't need to consider for very long. If there was a chance she might buy herself time, it was better than nothing.
She raised her head, looked the warlord right in the eyes with a furious smirk and spat in his face.
Riley could hear the hush that went through the room. The Eridon soldiers with their poisoned spears came closer at once, ready to nail her to the ground of Harbor's flagship. Riley forced herself to stay perfectly still, her chin still caught in Magorra's vise-like grip.
The warlord was staring at her, his entire attention fixed on her.
"I'm not a fucking dog nor a slave," Riley replied, making sure her voice wasn't shaking. "I don't crawl on the floor."
Slowly, Magorra released her chin and wiped her saliva off his dark gray skin.
"You will make a delicious treat," he snarled at her, horrid lust glinting in his eyes. "You may think what you want. There isn't a female I haven't been able to make forget she ever had any pride. You all become whores in the end. If you're very lucky, I'll enjoy breaking you so much I'll gift you a swift death."
He got up and Riley knew it was the end. There was nowhere for her to run and the enemy outnumbered her to a ridiculous degree.
For the first time since... actually since she'd set her foot on Octava all those years ago, Riley's mind was perfectly clear. She finally knew what she wanted and that it was worth fighting for.
The second Magorra turned his back on her to make sure the ships were ready to depart, Riley drew the gun from her hip and fired.
She could hear it hit because Magorra rounded on her with a blood-freezing cry, clutching his side. In the next second, he'd slapped the gun from her hands. It slid on the floor, clattering, way out of Riley's reach.
Then Magorra's armored fist hit her across the cheek. Riley's head turned so sharply for one mad second she thought the warlord had knocked her head off with one blow.
He hadn't – although the searing pain made Riley wish he had. She spat blood on the floor, her hands shaking. She screamed when Magorra grabbed her hair and began dragging her towards the waiting ships, clearly out of patience with her. Riley didn't think that last decision won her any points with the warlord but she had to try.
She kicked as hard as she could, fighting through the terrible pain as she was nearly scalped by the rough treatment. Tears beaded in her eyes, her resolve only strengthened to fight Magorra until the very end, whatever that was.
She could feel the cold steps of the Eridon ship under her fingers, knowing her time was almost up when the fighter bay was drowned in ear-shattering noise.
Magorra stopped to look for the source just like Riley did. Her heart was beating so hard she thought she was going to pass out. One foot in the Eridon ship, was rescue really coming at the last second?
Hope filled every inch of her. R
iley wanted nothing more than to see her fateds one more time, if that was to be her end, she needed them to know –
The ceiling of the fighter bay broke and fell. Not nearly as strong as the doors that had kept the commanders separated from her, it cascaded down upon the bay.
And in the midst of metal and glass and wire, two figures in Gargon armor landed, dropping from a height so high Riley could barely see it. They hit the ground with a nauseating thud and rose like the warrior gods they were.
In the smoke and flames, Riley only saw their burning eyes but that was enough for her to know.
They'd come for her.
34
Cole
There were many different battles in a warrior's life.
Some were fought with honor, some with reluctance. It was generally agreed that warriors enjoyed simple yet hard fights the most. The sort where the enemy was so utterly irredeemable there was no question about the legitimacy of destroying them, and in addition they offered the warrior a challenge as well.
As Cole approached Magorra, he knew there was one more. It had been a while since he'd experienced that particular one.
The world itself seemed to be painted in the color of blood which he hungered for. All his years of learning and training, trying to find the best opponents to hone his skills, they were nothing to Cole right then.
He wanted to rip Magorra to pieces with his bare hands, tear his throat out for ever daring to speak to Riley, to crush the Eridon's beating heart in his fist.
No restraint, no mercy, no nothing but the call of death rang in his ears. By Cole's side, he knew Harbor felt the same. It was a terrible shame only situations like that managed to bring them together in agreement. Gone were the quarrels of differing fighting techniques, all they wanted was sweet revenge that had been denied to them for years.
There was only one problem.
Magorra still had Riley.
"One more step," the Eridon warned as his soldiers approached cautiously, still remembering what had happened to their brothers in the dark corridor, "and I cut your fated's throat."
The warlord wasn't joking. The jagged blade he was renowned for was in his hands, pressing down on Riley's pale neck. Her eyes were wide and Cole could see her trying not to breathe.
Harbor and he stopped in their tracks, saying nothing. All reason and sane caution had been left back on the upper floor where they'd cut and broken and slashed their way through the floor to the fighter bay.
Harbor's blade was practically dull but it was still one hell of a blunt weapon. His own spears hadn't fared any better. One was broken, left discarded somewhere.
He still had his knives, though.
"Don't miss," Harbor said with terrible calm.
It was strange hearing that. The man who always hesitated, took every danger and threat into consideration, who never risked with anything, was telling Cole so publicly to go for it.
With a savage grin, Cole's fingers found the daggers strapped to his thighs. The movement didn't even take a whole heartbeat. He could see the widening of Magorra's eyes as the blades went whirring through the air, hitting him square in the chest. They didn't do much damage to the tough Eridon armor.
What they did was throw him away from Riley.
Everyone in the bay suddenly sprang to life. Riley scrambled out of the way, ducking under the wing of the Eridon carrier ship. The soldiers who had so far sneaked closer attacked as one, seeing their leader being taken down like that.
And Magorra rose from the floor like a vengeful spirit, the jagged blade in his hand ready to deal out the worst kind of torturous death.
Wordlessly, Harbor and Cole maneuvered themselves so they stayed between Riley and the Eridons.
There were about twenty of them, including Magorra, one of the best fighters in the galaxy. It seemed he was doing the same math in his head because the grin on his lips definitely didn't say he was ready to surrender himself to their non-existent mercy.
"You better give up the girl," he said with a dark smirk. "She has already become quite attached to me. Females do that sometimes. You don't need to worry. I'll make sure gives me great warrior sons before I send her to meet you in the afterlife."
Cole didn't move. It was utterly unlike him, to let the enemy bait him with words like that and not give in to the taunt.
Never before had Riley's life been the price of his mistake, though. It truly was a day of insanity if he had to admit that Harbor had been right. Sometimes being careful won the battle. As long as they kept Magorra's attention fixed on them, he didn't get anywhere near Riley.
It was hard to stay true to that, of course. The red fury was still seething in Cole's veins as he looked at the Eridons, silently praying for them to fall into the trap of attacking them head-on.
"You Gargons really are fools," the warlord bellowed at them. "Dying over some little whore."
The same one you've been hunting for all these years.
The sudden sharp sound from the double doors told Cole that the plasma cutters had finally arrived. It looked like Magorra realized that too.
He was trapped and the commanders were blocking his way to the ships.
"If you want to get out of here alive, you have to face us like a man," Harbor said quietly. "For the first time in your life."
That did the trick.
The Eridon warlord was a powerful fighter, strong as a bull despite his looks and quick as lightning. He wasn't the type of man who charged headlong into battles he didn't think he could come out of.
He was still an Eridon, though, deep down in his core, and they never gave up. Cole watched on with morbid glee as Magorra roared and charged them.
What a waste, he thought as he met the jagged sword midair with his one remaining spear. The other Eridon soldiers were rushing to intercept Harbor before he could cut off the head of their commander.
It truly was a waste. Magorra was an excellent fighter who Cole could have learned a lot from. At that moment, all he could think of was that the Eridon needed to die as quickly as possible.
He didn't hold anything back. There was no finesse to his attack, no mercy and no self-preservation. Out of the corner of his eye, Cole could tell that Harbor was the same.
He didn't rush into the most dangerous situations, standing guard before Riley and cutting through the Eridon troops with grim determination. He advanced slowly and carefully, yet he didn't delay the death blow when the slightest opportunity presented itself.
With his free hand, Cole drew one of his daggers. It wouldn't do anything against Magorra's blade. It didn't need to. Facing the Eridon warlord, they crashed together so hard Cole felt his armor shake under the impact.
Gritting their teeth, both tried to force their way through the other's defense and feed them the metal of their blades. Already dripping with blood, the sword and the spear covered them in crimson as they fought furiously, not bothering with blocking blows that didn't look lethal.
It meant it hurt, especially when Magorra's blade cut his flesh and fed the poison on it straight into his nervous system.
Cole shook his head, growling like a wild beast as he fought to keep his head clear.
The rage was doing a good job at that. Cole was in the strangest sort of serenity in his life. Knowing that Harbor was more than capable of keeping Riley safe, approaching steadily, ready to join the fight with Magorra as soon as he was sure no one else threatened Riley... it left Cole free to give his fury free reign.
The spear in his hand blocked the jagged sword again and again and every time it did, Cole stabbed with a dagger, leaving the blades in Magorra's armor. The warlord fought through the pain, his vicious face twisted in rage as they clashed.
Cole kept it up with the meticulous patience only a warrior could muster until there were at least six daggers in different pressure points around Magorra's armor.
Then he pulled back and grabbed a better hold of the short spear. Cole knew he was risking going nearer to Mago
rra. The prospect didn't scare him.
Since the daggers didn't go deep, Magorra had ignored them, even turning his body to block some of the blows. Cole wanted to yell at him and stomp the warlord to the ground for taking him for such a clumsy fool.
He would have to be satisfied with making sure Magorra knew the truth.
Gripping his spear, Cole charged the Eridon and the first blow he delivered hit one of the daggers right into Magorra's stomach. The blade was blunted but that was all he needed to hammer the razor-sharp dagger into the enemy.
Jumping back, Magorra finally realized the peril of the daggers all over his armor. Naked fear appeared in his yellow eyes as Cole didn't stop for a second, taking blows that knocked the air out of his lungs to do the same to the other daggers.
With every blow, Magorra bled more and got slower. So did Cole. The poison of Magorra's blade was finally starting to take hold of him and the commander didn't know how much more he could take the punishment of the jagged sword.
Eridons were known for their stamina, though. Even weakened by several critical wounds, Magorra fought like a cornered predator, lashing out at Cole with his blade. There was no carefulness in the battle anymore, only a race to see who could kill the other first before they died.
And then Harbor was there. He had fought himself near enough to distract Magorra for a second as the tall warlord loomed over Cole, ready to deliver the killing strike. Harbor's long glaive cut through the air and Magorra stumbled.
Cole thought he heard Riley's startled gasp and then the spear in his hand flew through the air. He jammed it through Magorra's chest so hard it made his fingers ache in the gloves of his armor, growling as he watched the enemy sink to the floor as Harbor finished off the last Eridon soldiers around them.
The look frozen on Magorra’s face was one of incredulity.
Standing silently over the fallen corpse of their enemy, Cole almost missed the moment when Riley joined them. The eyes of his fated were big and wide as she looked at the monster who'd haunted her days.
