“So, I see that you have arrived. Tomorrow, we shall face off in a duel to the death!”
“We will once my parents are released!” I insisted.
Demarin laughed a deep, full-throated laugh. “Not to worry. As soon as you arrive at the stadium, my men will release your parents.”
“They must be delivered safely to Yahn’s care. He will be with me at the stadium. Only then will I go forward with the duel.”
"Yes, of course. I look forward to getting rid of you once and for all. I can finish what should have been completed back on Sarceastium, but no matter, I am a patient Sarceastian." He switched off his screen communicator. [G502]
I was unable to sleep very well that night in anticipation of the duel but finally I managed to get some rest in the early hours of the morning. Once I woke up, Yahn did the best he could to encourage me and wished me the best. [G503]
“Just remember everything you learned during your training. If you handle yourself half as well as you did with me and the computer simulation, it will be hard for him to defeat you!” Yahn encouraged.
“With you cheering me on, I know I can’t fail!” I said with a smile, though secretly I doubted I had what it took to defeat Demarin.
We arrived at the stadium accompanied by Sarceastian guards. It was quite ironic receiving such treatment from guards that we had so recently attacked, invading in Sarceastium. Once we got to our quarters, we looked out on the crowd that was seated at the stadium. It was completely packed with spectators. There was a small training area, water and food, and a viewing area closed in with glass that afforded us views of the playing field and the crowd. All around our area, there were mostly humans with a few other aliens sprinkled throughout. On the opposite side, Demarin’s side, there was nothing but Sarceastians, some of them were yelling out my name. I soon realized that on one side of the Sarceastian area, there were the commoners and on the other, there were the more well off Sarceastians who were cheering for Demarin.
“It seems that word has spread to common Sarceastians on this colony about our efforts to liberate them,” Yahn expressed. “You have fans on both sides.”
I did not respond. I was more preoccupied with the challenges that awaited me. What seemed odd was that the playing field was completely empty. There was a large, field-like expanse, but no weapons or obstacle courses. [G504]
“I don’t understand- it’s just an empty field,” I said.
“They will program specific conditions for you to face once you are in the playing field. There are programmers up there, in the main tower on Demarin’s side. I once had a cousin who was captured by humans and forced to duel in this place. I heard that he didn’t make it through alive, but you, my dear will make it!” Yahn stated, kissing my cheek and clutching my hand tightly.
I went into the training room and pushed the button on my communication screen. Demarin immediately appeared and I could clearly see my frightened parents standing behind him with Sarceastian guards on either side of them. They looked to be unharmed.
"Well, Demarin as you can clearly see, I am ready. I need you to bring my parents to me this instant before this duel begins!" I demanded. [G505]
"As you can see, they are completely unspoiled. I will send them your way right now. I look forward to a rewarding duel," he said with a sly grin. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. A Sarceastian guard appeared with my parents behind him .They ran inside and I immediately hugged my poor mother. She was shaking with fear and the tears streamed out of her as she looked upon me. My father came over and hugged me as well. [G506][G507][G508][G509][G510]
“Did they treat you alright?” I asked.
“Yes, we were fed and well taken care of. I can’t let you go through with this duel, Jessie,” my mother pleaded.
“Mother, I have to. Otherwise, those guards will come and take you away and I will never see you again,” I insisted.
“Jessie, if you are sure that you must go through with this, I wish you all the best,” father said.
“She has trained for a month. I wouldn’t want to go up against her, that’s for sure,” Yahn said, as he smiled at them. A second later, the announcer began to discuss the duel and asked the participants to approach their gates.
"I have to go. Just know that no matter what happens, I love you both, and you too, my dear," I said, kissing my parents and then Yahn. Yahn walked with me to the gate that opened onto the playing field. I was wearing a red, white and blue suit that had been provided to me with pads on my elbows, knees and a helmet. There was also a note left behind for me: [G511]
On behalf of your sponsors, we wish you the best of luck, Jessie. We are certain that you will be victorious like you have been with every endeavor. Hope that you like your suit.[G512][G513]
"Wow, I have sponsors!" I said excitedly to Yahn.[G514][G515]
"Yes, contestants that have sponsors get deluxe outfits and accommodations," Yahn answered. [G516][G517][G518]
“That would explain the nice room we have.”
“There are a lot of creatures that are rooting for you today,” Yahn said.
“Alright, it is now time for the duel to commence! All participants to the starting gate. The first mission is to survive the obstacle course in order to obtain your choice of weapons. Once you have obtained the weapon of your choice, the duel will begin,” an announcer said.
“You will be victorious. No need to worry, my love,” Yahn whispered in my ear. We shared a kiss and I went to the gate.
"The gates will open in one minute. Participants will make their way westward through the playing field towards the weapons area!" the announcer said. A screen popped up to my right, showing me the direction to go once I was on the playing field. Then, right before my eyes, the playing field took shape. There was a large pit that opened up in the ground and several snake-like creatures that could be seen writhing in it. Several small stepping stones appeared and then disappeared in the pit. I could not see what was on the other side. [G519][G520]
The gate opened and the crowd began to cheer. I stopped at the edge of the pit and saw Demarin off to my right, some distance away. He was already making his way across the pit. I jumped onto one of the stones and a large creature came up to bite my ankles. I jumped to the next stone just in time, but this stone quickly disappeared. I managed to make it to the next stone just in the nick of time before it also disappeared. I saw the other side of the pit come into view. I had to jump a distance of nearly twenty feet, hanging onto the edge of the pit. I could hear slithering and hissing below me as I pulled myself up at its edge. What was next looked like a clear path to the weapons area which was high on a platform, but quickly I saw that the path was not as clear as I originally thought. Huge spikes began to come up from the ground here and there. I had to move quickly to avoid being impaled by one. One spike even tore through the back of my uniform, but I made it past this area. I looked over to my right and saw that I was slightly ahead of Demarin. [G521][G522][G523][G524][G525][G526][G527][G528]
Now the platform was in view, but I had to climb a tall ladder to reach it. As I climbed, huge insect-like creatures began to swoop at me, attempting to sting me with their enormous stingers. They were red and brown and resembled gigantic wasps. At one point I fell as I lost my footing trying to avoid being stung, but I managed to catch the power rungs of the ladder. The crowd responded with cheers as I recovered and continued to move up the ladder. I looked over at the ladder to my right and saw that Demarin and I were now neck and neck, but Demarin was moving very quickly. I tried my best to beat him, but he managed to get to the top of the weapons platform before I did. As I reached the platform, I saw that he had chosen an energy beam and had moved off to the dueling area that was connected to the weapons platform, high above the crowd. I quickly chose an energy deflector, which I felt was the best weapon of choice under the circumstances.
“As you can see both participants have survived the obstacle course and are ready to duel. De
marin has chosen an energy beam and Jessie has chosen an energy deflector! What a great contest this should prove to be!” The announcer yelled.
I moved into position opposite Demarin and glared at him. Immediately, he came at me, sending energy beams in my direction. I jumped over two of them and managed to shoot another two back at him. He jumped high into the air and the energy beams missed him. He began to send several beams at me in rapid succession. At first, I managed to deflect all of them. I even managed to knock him to the ground with one of them. [G529]
"Ahh!" he yelled, clutching his arm. I came closer as the crowd went wild. Demarin went mad and began shooting beams at me one after the other as quickly as he could. I caught them with the deflector, and sent them back his way. He dodged each one of them. Clearly, anger motivated Demarin. The beams he shot, were threatening to overwhelm what my deflector could take. It began to beep and light up, warning me that it was being overpowered. I wondered if my choice of weaponry had been the right one. Finally, the deflector flew backwards out of my hands due to the fact that the energy was too much for it. I ran for the weapon, but Demarin kept me from reaching it by sending lots of beams between me and the deflector. One of the beams was so close that it knocked me to the ground. Demarin took this opportunity to run in between me and the deflector, blocking my way. The referee had been standing on the sidelines, but now he was over beside me yelling. [G530]
“She is unarmed! It is illegal to vest one’s opponent when they are unarmed!” the referee shouted.
Chapter 11
Yahn
Demarin was poised to strike Jessie, so I sprang into action. I looked around me and saw a young man with a jet pack. I didn’t have time to explain him why I needed it, so I took it from him and immediately swooped in towards Jessie. I could feel the wind of Demarin’s weapon as I grabbed Jessie by the hands and lifted off with her just in time. Demarin frowned at us while some of the Sarceastians booed. The majority of the Sarceastians were cheering for us. The Earthlings were going wild.
"Well, it seems like this match is just one rule violation after the next. I suppose both sides are even on this one," the announcer said.[G531]
We left the area as quickly as we could, making our way towards the Earthling dominated side of the colony where Jessie would be protected. Jessie had hoped that we would meet up with her parents once the duel was done; but now, they appeared to be gone. We were hoping to meet up with them and leave Dweardon as quickly as we could. I knew better than to think that Demarin would let that be the end of the business between him and Jessie.[G532][G533]
Unfortunately, we were astonished to see another message blinking for us on our virtual reality device. Immediately, we both knew who it was from.
"Well, I see you took the cowardly road and fled the duel. I was going to let you up so that you could choose another weapon, but no, you had to flee the scene. Well, guess what? Deal making time is over. Now we're just going to do things my way. Your parents are back in my custody. Here is what you can do to save their lives: Turn yourself in to me and I will release them. In other words, your life or theirs- your choice. It's always nice to have options, isn't it? You can meet me on the top floor of the Royal Executive Hotel- it's a nice Sarceastian establishment. Not to worry, you won't be harmed- until I get a hold of you, of course. Hope to see you soon," he smirked and the message player turned off.[G534][G535][G536][G537]
Jessie sat on the bed with her head in her hands and sighed.
“Well, there’s only one thing to do then,’ she said.
“You’re not thinking about actually giving yourself up to him, are you? We have several other options before us, other than one that will lead to a certain death,” I countered.
"What do you propose we do? I don't want to risk my parents being harmed. I should have known better than to think Demarin would play fair. First, he violates the rules of the duel and now he's gone back on our deal."[G538]
“What I propose is that we use the obvious resource that we are not considering.”
"What's that exactly?" Jessie asked quizzically.[G539][G540]
“You have been surrounded by people who support you since we came here. Sure, there’s a few Sarceastians who are loyal to the executive that hate you, but their numbers are dwindling. We need to implore your supporters to see what information they can retrieve about Demarin’s whereabouts in Dweardon. If we can find him, we will find your parents,” I reasoned.
Jessie sat with her chin resting on her hand for a moment and then looked at me. “Why not- it’s worth a shot isn’t it? What do I have to lose now?”
“You have a lot to lose, but we will make sure that doesn’t happen.” I immediately put a message out on the messenger board of the united cyber network- this was a network of planets allied with Earth that shared a network that they could use to alert one another and stay in contact in case a united effort was required to defeat one enemy or another. I hoped that someone listening could get us information about Demarin’s whereabouts.
To all parties available for help, Private Jessie of the Allied Earth army needs your help. Private Jessie barely escaped being illegally executed by Demarin Goldarn who has kidnapped her parents. Now he wants to make a trade- her life for theirs. Help us to thwart Demarin's plan by giving us information about where Demarin is staying in Dweardon. We are reasonably certain that if we find him, we can find Jessie's parents.[G541][G542]
A few messages of concern came up, but no one seemed to be coming up with any helpful information. It was time to contact the Sarceastians who supported Jessie as their liberator. We decided to go to the Sarceastian side of the colony to see what we could find out. When we got there, many of the Sarceastians pointed at her and whispered amongst themselves. One of them came up to her and bowed.
“Thank you, Jessie of Earth for what you’ve done for my planet,” he said.
“It was nothing,” Jessie answered.
"Actually, she could use your help right about now," I interjected. "Jessie's parents have been taken by Demarin Goldarn and we need to locate them or Demarin. Any information you can obtain for us would be greatly appreciated."[G543]
“Yes, I can find out this information for you. It’s the least I can do after what the two of you have done for me. I am most pleased to meet you, Yahn, the last of the Karkastians. My name is Feraka. I will send word out throughout all of Dweardon. You can bet that Demarin is very close by.” I exchanged codes with him so that we could communicate via the messenger board. We put the word out to every Sarceastian that was loyal to Jessie, and it didn’t take long before they retrieved the information we needed.
We were on our way back to our room in the human settlement when Feraka sent a message to us.
Demarin has been located for you. He is staying near the Sarceastian docking location which is heavily guarded. I have received word that there is a space cruiser docked there. That’s where Jessie’s parents are. Demarin wants it this way so that he can leave with them at a moment’s notice if necessary. We will assist you in your endeavor to take back your parents. At the moment we are assembling participants who are willing to help. We will meet you at the Harbotian, a residence of Sarceastians that has no love for the executive or Demarin.
We were encouraged by the outpouring of support. We immediately made our way to the Harbotian. By the time, we got there, it was already beginning to fill up with Sarceastians who wanted to help. Some of them even brought weapons with them. Feraka came over to the table where we sat and smiled.
“I have assembled a hundred Sarceastians who want to help you. There are more on the way. We far out the executive guard so we should not have any problem getting your parents back now.”
"Thank you Feraka! You have done well. I think we should attack the docking area in two waves and attempt to gain control of the cruiser where my parents are being kept. The second wave of attack will wait in case there are more executive guard troops. That way we can be prepared in case there
is a counterattack."[G544]
We agreed on a simple plan of attack and moved forward. Unfortunately, Demarin suspected that word would get out amongst the disloyal Sarceastians about the location of Jessie's parents. He had put the better part of his guard around the docking area. We crept up as quietly as we could and saw a multitude of guards marching up and down the walkway that led to the docking area. There were several cruisers and fighting ships docked there, but it became apparent very quickly which ship was being guarded the most. There were fifteen guards marching back and forth in front of a sleek black and white cruiser- it was the luxurious cruiser of a Sarceastian military leader. Demarin had to be keeping Jessie's parents in his own cruiser. We tried our best to organize a secret attack, but our troops were spotted by the executive guard immediately. Laser fire broke out and took out several of our men, mostly Sarceastians. There were members of the group from the Earth section of the colony that had joined our effort as well. The executive guard was holding back any takeover of the cruiser. We decided to attack them from several different locations at once, but again, they held their position. In fact, more executive troops were being sent and their army seemed to be growing. More and more of the executive guard were now moving towards the main bulk of our troop.[G545][G546][G547][G548][G549][G550]
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 26
