by Stella Sky
He stomped toward me with anger in his eyes. Whack! He backhanded me across the cheek. The blow nearly knocked me off my feet. I grabbed my cheek as the pain shot through me.
“Your shouting made me bring you here. I did not have a choice. If you would not have yelled like that we would be on a ship back to Tiok and to your damn Dekario. Instead, you foiled that plan for me. I had no choice but to bring you here,” he growled at me.
“Good. I am glad I spoiled your plans. You thought you could just barge in and take me without a fight. That is not so. As you see, you have underestimated me. You know nothing about me. I am a smart human female and if you had realized that you would have stayed away from me,” I glared at him.
“Yes, a smart human female that has forced me to put her in more danger than she knows,” he said as he looked out over the volcano interior.
“What are you going to do with me? Take me back to the village now,” I narrowed my eyes at him.
He laughed. “That is not possible. You will never see that village again. I have no choice but to see if I can use one of these ships to get to Tiok, but it will not be easy,” he muttered under his breath as though he was thinking out loud to himself and not including me in the conversation.
Then he turned and looked at me. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed as he used the pressure to direct my body. “This way, damn human female.” He turned me, facing the wall of the volcano interior. I noticed then that there was an arch opening in the rock wall. He pushed me through it. There was a long hallway and switchback stairs that went up and down the interior of the volcano.
“Down the stairs,” he said. I was scared of his destination. Was he taking me to a place to be alone so he could violate me? I would kill him if he tried. But to my relief, that was not where we were going. He kept telling me “down” every time we came to a new level on the stairway. We were going all the way down to the base inside the volcano. When we emerged, I noticed just how much activity was going on. As I walked further in, the Draqua warriors stopped and looked at me. They glared at me. My presence was not welcomed here, and I realized then that this was definitely the opposition and they despised human females. If they found out that I was pregnant, they would kill my unborn child and me. I held back tears and stood tall, trying not to give my condition away.
“Commander Triq! What the hell is this?!” a booming voice shouted. I looked over to see a massive Draqua warrior stomping toward us. He had long gray hair and was obviously an elder Draqua, but still strong and menacing. His stark green eyes made him look very primal.
“Captain Hicium, I had to bring her here. I had no choice,” Commander Triq said. It was then that I realized that this other Draqua was in charge. Captain Hicium was obviously angry at Commander Triq, and that made me feel very good.
“No humans allowed! You know that rule just as clearly as everyone else does. Now we know that you have been working on the inside and bringing us information. You have been our link to know what is going on inside the village, but lately there have been rumors about you, and now you show up with a human female!” Captain Hicium shouted.
“What rumors?” Commander Triq growled out the words. I took this time to slowly sway my body sideways. I was trying to remove myself from this argument as it looked like these two could be going at it at any second, and I had my child to think about. I had to protect my child at all costs.
“That you have been taking up the Aeriwana Draqua breeding program that we abandoned years ago. That your missions to Tiok have not just been for the king, but for yourself,” the Captain said, pacing back and forth in front of Commander Triq like he was a lion preparing to attack.
“And what proof do you have of these lies?” Commander Triq growled again.
“There is no proof, which is why you are still alive. But those rumors do not look good in light of you bringing this human female here now. This is precisely what we are against,” Captain Hicium said.
“I told you I had no choice. My departure in my ship was compromised in the village, and I had to make a quick getaway,” Commander Triq said.
“Compromised because you decided to steal a human female? That is very unwise, Commander Triq. You have put us all in danger now. They will be looking for her. They always do. Now she knows too much. She cannot go back there. We have no choice but to kill her,” Captain Hicium said.
As soon as he said it, my heart dropped to my stomach. This was it. I was going to die here. These Draqua were opposite of the village Draqua, and they hated humans. We were the problem, and I was going to lose my life because of it.
“No. Not yet,” Commander Triq sneered.
“Oh, I see. You want to have your way with her. You are truly not opposition, are you, Commander Triq? I do not know why you are involved with us or what else you have intentions of doing if you are willing to take this human female to bed. We despise humans. Or have you forgotten?”
Commander Triq was breathing hard and pissed off. He was glaring at the Captain. I was in complete confusion. This Captain was saving me from being taken by Commander Triq against my will. But in return, he was going to kill me. I was not safe with either of them.
“Lock her up in the cells,” Captain Hicium said.
Commander Triq growled at the order. Two Draqua warriors stepped to my side and grabbed my arms. I did not struggle. I went quietly and willingly. This at least would buy me some time. I would be locked away from Commander Triq, and the rest of the Draqua here despised humans, so I was not in danger of being violated by them. It was the best thing for me and the baby at the moment.
“This is your punishment, Commander Triq. Maybe now you will learn not to make this mistake again. You will not have your treat of this human female. All this trouble you went through to bring her here was for nothing. I do not have time to deal with her now. We will deal with her later. For now,” he turned from the Commander Triq and shouted, “prepare for possible invasion! It is possible Commander Triq will be followed by the king’s warriors. We must be prepared! This is not a drill! Go now!”
Every Draqua warrior went into action, and it was then that I saw many more of them flood out from the inside of the volcano. There were much more than the fifty that I thought there were. Shit, I thought. Now the king’s warriors will be flying into a trap. Dekario, come to me. I need you.
CHAPTER TEN
LIEUTENANT DEKARIO DUNDRA
“Take the ship. Fly her straight,” I said as I unbuckled my belt as we flew into Kelon.
“What? Why? What are you doing?” Kavik said as he grabbed the wheel piloting the ship.
“Get her to a thousand feet. I’m getting out,” I said.
“Are you insane? Can you not wait until we have landed the ship?” he said.
“No. It is a waste of time,” I said as I shifted into dragon form. “There is no time to lose. Commander Triq would already have her by now. Any second now could be the second he tries to take her,” I said in anger.
“But only a few more seconds until—”
“Kavik, what if it was Luka?” I said angrily.
He was quiet and then said, “Nearing one thousand feet in twenty seconds. Twenty, nineteen…”
As he counted down, I moved toward the door and grabbed the latch. He shouted, “One thousand feet!”
I opened the door, and the air rushed in. I jumped from the door and flew into the sky. We were very high, and so I dove straight down as fast as I could plummet. It was such a high speed that I just folded my wings behind my back and allowed the pull of Kelon to take me down toward the surface. When I was a hundred feet above the surface, I spread my wings and flew out toward the village in the distance. In seconds, I was standing on the veranda with the four huts where the humans Luka, Phoenix, and my Reena were staying.
“Reena! Reena!” I called out to her as I moved to her hut. I kicked open the door as I yelled for her. “Shit,” I said. There were signs of a struggle, and it was obvious th
at he had already been here. He must have her.
“Reena!” I shouted.
“Dekario?!” I heard a female voice say. But it was not Reena. I ran out the door of the hut onto the veranda.
“Dekario! Thank god,” Luka said as she ran toward me. “Where is Kavik?” she asked looking concerned.
“He is on his way. He will be here in minutes. Where is Reena? What happened here, Luka?” I asked in a panic.
“She was taken. I saw it. I have just come back from telling the king!” Phoenix shouted at me as he ran across the bridge to us.
“He is right. It was Commander Triq. He took her. We heard her screaming, but we could not get to her in time,” Luka added.
“It was the black dragon. I was running toward her hut when it emerged from her hut out the window with her screaming in his arms,” Phoenix said.
I growled at hearing this. I did not like to think of her in a frightened state. I did not want that for her. Commander Triq would pay for this.
“He went that way, toward the port. But Reena’s screaming woke up the entire village and I think that deterred him from landing there. So he flew that way, over the jungle. Then he was out of sight,” Phoenix said.
“You have told the king this?” I asked.
“Yes. He is gathering a search party of warriors now,” Phoenix said.
“That will take too long. I am going now. Tell the king I have returned and followed the path of Commander Triq,” I said.
“You are going by yourself?” Phoenix asked.
“I have to. Go tell the king now,” I said.
I jumped off the veranda on the tall tree and flew out away from the village above the tree canopy of the jungle in the night sky. I could see that it was almost dawn at this vantage point as the sun’s light began to illuminate the ocean. My mind raced as I thought about where Commander Triq could have taken Reena. There was nothing out in that direction except for a dormant volcano called the Manta. That would be the perfect hiding place. It was uninhabited, and no one went there often because it was a long flight.
“Dekario!” Kavik shouted as he shot up through the canopy and hung in the air.
“Tell the king I am to the Manta! I am sure that is where he has gone!” I shouted back at him across the trees as I hung in the air.
“By yourself? You cannot go by yourself. Wait for us to gather!”
“No, you go and gather forces, but I’m losing time every second she is in danger. Go now!” I shouted as I turned and flew in the direction of the ocean.
I was not going to wait for reinforcements of any kind. I had already lost a lot of time by being unconscious on Tiok. I only hoped that I was not too late. If he harmed her, then I would tear him to pieces with my bare hands.
As I thought about it, I grew angrier and angrier, and with this anger, I was somehow able to push myself faster through the sky. It was as if my mind was allowing it to happen. I was using the power within me to cut through the sky so fast that everything was a blur to me. I had never flown this fast before, and it was a new experience.
Then as I came upon the black cone of The Manta sticking out from the sea, I slowed down. I did not know what I would be flying into. The sun was barely starting to peak over the ocean, and everything was illuminated a shade of orange and pink.
It was then in this light that I noticed activity on the volcano island. I could see movement, and that let me know that the king’s suspicions were right. There was activity on the outer islands without his knowledge. This must be a post of the opposition, and now that I knew that Commander Triq was a traitor, this would be the perfect place for him to go. I would have to be careful, and I would have to infiltrate this quietly.
I flew to the top of the volcano and landed on along the rim. I laid down, clinging to the outside wall as I looked in. I was shocked at what I saw. There was an entire base inside the volcano. I felt a sense of failure as I saw it. I had failed the king. He was right all along, but we had been looking in the wrong place. Now, this opposition base had been put together right under our noses.
“Take the prisoner water and food. Do not speak to her!” I heard a voice shout. It caught my attention. I looked down to see a familiar Draqua. I had seen him many years before when he was exiled from Kelon. He was known as Captain Hicium. He pointed in the direction of the prisoner. Was it Reena? Why would they have her prisoner?
Then I saw Commander Triq moving toward Captain Hicium. He was angry, and he spoke loud enough for me to hear at the height that I was at. “This is unnecessary. I have told you that I was not followed. There is no need to prepare for an invasion by the king’s warriors.”
“I am in charge here. I am to be trusted, not you. I would not expect you to understand how you rampaging through the village with a screaming human female in your arms would cause alarm and a search party to happen. That is probably why you never made it past commander even in your old age. I am a captain for good reason,” he spat the words at Commander Triq. I tried to hold in my laughter as he berated Commander Triq, but I needed to go into action. I knew what side of the volcano she was being held on because the Captain had pointed in that direction. Now that Commander Triq was occupied with his squabble with the captain, it was the perfect time to find her and get her out of this hell hole.
I moved to the other side of the volcano and found an entrance. There was no one guarding it, and I remembered the Captain say they were getting ready for an invasion by the king’s warriors. This was good for me. That meant there would be very few guards at positions because they were all getting ready for battle. They were expecting a large force and not one single Draqua slithering about the place.
“Here, human! If it were up to me, I wouldn’t feed you at all!” a voice echoed up the stairs. I heard the clinging of metal bars.
“Hurry, Captain wants us manning the ships now!” another Draqua shouted. I heard the bars cling again. Then heavy footsteps went away from me. I lightly stepped down the stairs, careful not to let my heavy boots make a noise.
Then my heart stopped when I heard sobbing. It was Reena. I would recognize her whimpers anywhere. Grief filled me that she was in this spot instead of in my warm bed with a smile on her face. She should not be experiencing this, and it was my fault for not staying with her. I had a dark feeling that something was looming in her future but I had brushed that feeling aside, and now she was paying for my carelessness.
I quietly appeared on the prison level and walked in. There was one guard standing there, and he was watching the warriors in the courtyard scramble and prepare for battle. I caught him off guard and hit him in the back of the head with my gun. He fell to the ground. I pulled him into an empty cell and pulled the keys off of him and then I closed and locked the cell door. Then I walked down the corridor of cells, and the sobbing became louder.
“Reena?” I whispered.
“What? Dekario? Is that you?” she said with such hope.
“It is me…shh,” I said as I ran quickly toward her.
“Oh my god. I can’t believe it,” she cried so hard she was convulsing.
“Shh… it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m right here,” I said as she hugged me through the bars. “I’m going to get you out of here. We must be quick.”
“I had hoped and prayed that you would show up, but Commander Triq told me he had you tied up on Tiok and I lost all hope. Captain Hicium wants to kill me and…”
“Shh, Commander Triq underestimated me. Come on, let’s get you out of here,” I said as I opened the door. She ran to me. I threw my arms around her and pressed against her trembling lips. Her face was wet from crying. She was violently shaking as she cried in my arms. I could tell that she was truly scared and I wanted to kill Commander Triq for putting her through this.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I heard a voice boom behind me. I turned to see Commander Triq glaring at me with shock.
I put myself in front of Reena as she gasped. “You underestimated
me again,” I said as I used my mind power to throw him into the air quickly. His head hit on the rock ceiling of the corridor. He fell to the ground, but he was not knocked out, only dazed.
“What the hell are you up to now, Commander Triq? Did I not tell you to leave the human female alone? She will be dead in hours!” another voice said. Captain Hicium walked in. He took one look at us and pulled out his blaster gun faster than anyone I had ever seen. But I was on top of it and used my mind power to pull it out of his hand and across the corridor to the other end.
“You hybrid scum!” he shouted as he came at me. I flew over to the side away from Reena.
“Reena hide!” I shouted. She screamed as she ran away from me down the hall. I needed her to be out of harm's way in order to not be distracted from this fight.
“What is it with this female? Why is she so special that you and Commander Triq are after her?” Captain Hicium shouted as he charged at me again. I didn’t answer him. I wanted him to take his focus off of Reena.
