What was undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the kingdom that they now wandered into, however, was the people. All around them were still, silent people, their bodies shaped into the postures of normal life, but none of them moved or breathed. It truly looked like they had been stopped, crystallized into a single second of their existence, and had not moved since.
"Everyone spread out," Pyra said evenly, slipping the book that held the map to the kingdom into his bag so that his hands were free, "Explore as much of the area as you can, but make sure that you keep contact with at least one other of us. We don't need anybody getting lost."
At that command, the men slowly dissipated, wandering in their own direction further into the kingdom as if each of them were drawn toward a certain place. It was unnerving to see the people scattered through the space, their eyes open but unseeing, their bodies primed for action but unable to move. There was a large garden in the center of the houses and Lynx saw several people in it, tending to crops that were still perfect after all this time. One woman leaned over, her hand just cupped around a vegetable she intended to pick while a man nearby rested with his arms crossed on top of a tall gardening implement. Lynx sighed, musing that that man could not have imagined how long his break was actually going to be when he stopped his work on that fateful day.
To one side Lynx could see a small group of children playing, locked in their laughter and joy, and he had to turn away. It was too painful to see the innocence of little ones stolen from them because of a war between adults, a conflict that they would never understand.
Turning his back toward the children, Lynx walked toward one of the houses. It drew him in in a way that the others didn't, and he felt compelled to go inside. He called out to Ty who he saw walking along at the end of the street, letting him know that he was going inside the house so that someone knew where he was should the rest of the men decide to leave the kingdom before he got out of the house, or if there was something inside that might threaten him.
He didn't expect the door to open as easily beneath his hand as it did. When it opened fully, he stepped inside the cool, airy house and looked around. Just as the outsides of the homes were more complex in their design than the Denynso homes back on the compound, they were more complex on the inside as well. Multiple rooms stretched out from the front entryway, and a set of stairs headed up to another floor. He followed his instincts and let them pull him to the stairs, keeping him focused on the landing above him as he climbed them.
At the top of the stairs Lynx let the strange, tight feeling in his belly guide him toward a room at the center of the hallway. The door was partially open and when he pushed it the rest of the way open, he felt his heart constrict.
It was a bedroom with pale yellow walls, airy white curtains on the window, and a large canopy bed tucked in one corner. On that bed lay the most beautiful woman that Lynx had ever seen, and as soon as his eyes rested on the long strands of coppery hair spread across the pillow, her pale, delicate face, and full, pink lips, he felt everything inside him unravel as an overwhelming sense of love, desire, and the need to protect her took over.
Lynx walked cautiously to the side of the bed and gazed down at her face, so perfect and calm in the sleep in which she had been locked. It made no sense, but he felt completely and inarguably in love with her, the same intense, immediate feeling of soul-wrenching attraction and need that the other men had described when talking about meeting their mates. This was a woman who had lived generations before he was even born, and yet Lynx felt inextricably connected to her, as if all this time she had been lying here sleeping, waiting for him to come find her.
Something on the nightstand beside her bed caught Lynx's eye and he picked up a silver-framed picture that looked like a younger version of the woman in the bed standing with two older people in front of a large house that resembled the houses along the main street, but much larger. Lynx flipped the frame over in his hand and released the brackets that held the picture in place. When the backing came off of the frame, he rested it carefully on the nightstand and took the picture out so that he could look at the back.
Visit to the homeland
Earth
Rain, 22 years
Lynx gasped as he realized what the inscription meant. These were not some strange, unknown species that they had never encountered. These were creatures with whom the Denynso were becoming quite familiar.
The Light Ones were humans.
Taking the picture with the intention of showing it to Pyra, Lynx took a final look at the beautiful woman, whose name he could only guess to be Rain, and then turned to the door to leave. Before he could take another step, however, a series of deathly sharp black spikes came around the doorframe, cutting into the wall as they gripped into it to pull massive black bodies like gruesome spiders into the room and toward Lynx.
End of Uoria Mates II Preview…
You can purchase the Complete Uoria Mates II Box Set on Amazon.com currently on sale or for FREE with Kindle Unlimited at the following link:
http://bit.ly/uoria2
Alien Warrior: Dragon Riders of Markham
A Fantasy Romance
Complete Series (Books 1 – 6)
HOT BOOKS PUBLISHING
Contents
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 1
Chapter one
I opened my eyes and I could feel this pounding headache that just wouldn’t go away. I wanted to get up, but my limbs felt like they were weighing me down heavily. I didn’t know what happened. The last thing I remember is having a party after hours at the club that I bounced at. I can see the banner with happy birthday Shana written across in bold red letters. I remember taking shots of tequila like I was drinking tap water. I’ve always been known to break free of convention. You may not know it from looking at me, but I can handle my liquor, unless of course I go overboard.
I stared up at the sky and it was such a brilliant blue that it almost blinded me. There is something different, something that I’m not quite sure what it is, but I know that there is something. I feel a cool wind tousle my raven black hair. It feels nice and it’s a momentary reprieve from the pounding drum that is incessantly getting on my last nerve.
I recall seeing all my friends and everybody having a great time. There was this man and he tried to put his hands on me, only to find out that I was not that kind of girl. He left there with a permanent limp and most likely a sprained wrist from when I turned it in just the right way to make him bow down at my feet. I think that most guys believe that I am a lesbian, but they only believe that because they want to.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like guys, but I was particular in who I spent my time with. I certainly didn’t want a drunken slob pawing at me and telling me how beautiful I am. I also didn’t want that guy with the gold chains and the first three buttons on his shirt undone leering at me and telling me that my dress would look good on the floor of his bedroom.
For the most part, I would say that they leave me alone and I must project an air of confidence that either scares them or makes them rethink their approach. Most often than not, I am the one that initiates, but only if I feel that the man is worthy.
My job is very important to me and my two coworkers, Simone and Gary are two of my closest friends. It was them that put on this shindig for me and I could honestly believe that we would be the best of friends for the rest of our lives. All three of us had opened the place together and even though my contribution was more physical at the door, didn’t mean that I wasn’t raking in the profits from my 25%. Nobody knew about our arrangement and that was part of the deal when I decided to jump feet first into this venture.
I heard what sounded like a wild animal, but it sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life. I once again tried to rise up to assess my situation, but all I could do wa
s stare at the sky and wonder where the hell I was.
Back at the club, I saw Simone dancing on top of the bar and slinging drinks like a master mixer. I had to give her credit for going to Bartending School and learning the craft from the bottom up. She became quite the natural at twirling those bottles and not spilling a drop. This was all to the chorus of applause from the crowd. She was the spectacle that brought those men in from the cold. She put on a show that was worthy of her own extravaganza in Las Vegas.
“Shana, you should get up here with me and show them how to shake their money maker.” She was the quintessential blond bombshell with the type of breasts that defied gravity. I could be so bold and join her, but that would only be pandering to the crowd. Besides, they were all drunk and I had no interest in looking down from on top of the bar to see them gazing at me with animalistic desires that were never going to be fulfilled.
“You’re doing just fine on your own, Simone.” She was shorter than me at 5’4, 130 pounds with most of that up front and center. I was a Raven haired vixen and I liked to tease the masses with brief peeks at the good stuff. My claim to fame was tight jeans, because my best asset was my tight and firm ass. My abdominals were flat and were the result of many hours sculpting them in a gym. I was freakishly strong and growing up with three brothers had made it a necessity to learn how to survive.
My father was single and our mother was absent, until we got older and we decided to give her a second chance. For the most part, our father was the one that raised us. He was very hesitant in allowing me to join him and my brothers out in the wilderness. I guess I was a tomboy from early on.
The party was still in full swing at 3:00 AM in the morning and from there, things began to get a little fuzzy around the edges. I got dizzy, but it was nothing that I hadn’t experienced before.
I think I walked out to get a breath of fresh air and then everything went blank. It was like a whole section of my memory had been excised. I couldn’t recall how I got out here in some field in the middle of nowhere.
I was finally able to lift myself up and I saw these weird mutant flowers that I’d never seen before. They seemed to sway back and forth with the breeze, but the petals were moving like they had a life of their own. They seemed to be dancing to their own tune and then this insect flew by and got the shock of its life.
Those odd purple and black flowers snapped forward and grabbed this insect out of the air like it was nothing. I was truly transfixed and I didn’t even realize that there was the sound of hooves on the ground, until suddenly they were right on top of me. It was then that I realized that the blades of grass around me had a different texture with these fine coarse hairs that you could barely see with the naked eye.
I poked my head above them and I noticed a figure kneeling and wearing what I could only assume is red armor. With the sun beating on it, it was like 1000 light bulbs going off in my eyes at the same time. I had to shield my eyes. I was trying my best to understand any of this. I lived in a metropolitan and yet this was some kind of country setting that reminded me of Iowa, but on a different scale.
“Don’t worry, Rankin. We’re just making a pit stop. Those Talons will not come anywhere close to you. Just between you and me, I’ve always thought that those flowers should’ve been banned. Unfortunately, my pleas fell on deaf ears. The council believes that the flowers are a necessity to the natural evolvement of our society. I think they only say that because they know that cultivating the flowers will bring prosperity. It’s just a matter of getting the right equipment to do the job. We’ll be home soon and then you can enjoy the stew that I made. I always make too much.” He was talking to himself and then he took off his helmet letting go a mane of blond hair that fell to the small of his back.
He looked around like he was nervous. He started to pull the armor from his body, until he was standing there with nothing, but a smile. I couldn’t see his face. I did put my hand up to my mouth in complete shock to see him completely naked from behind. He was a Greek god and that was the kind of body that I would like to start exploring in the morning and end up in his arms spooning at night.
“I do have to say that you make a fine sight for a woman that has just woken up.” He was startled and he inadvertently turned and gave me a brief glimpse at his most prominent region. He clamped his hands over it and moved behind the horse. It wasn’t actually a horse and there were two horns sticking out of its head.
“I don’t know where ye came from, but it’s not nice to sneak up on someone.” I don’t know where he got his vocabulary, but it sounded like something you would hear in the olden days. Perhaps I had fallen into some kind of renaissance fair. “Why are you out here in the middle of the day? Curfew has already started. If you’re seen trespassing on private land, you’ll be punished severely.” I was willing to play along, but I also needed to know where I was.
Chapter two
He was a little embarrassed by being seen with no clothes on, but he soon got over that shyness. He dressed behind his horse. He came back out wearing a sort of armor that melded to him like a second skin. I could actually see the material rippling along his muscles to conform to his frame and likeness. It was the strangest thing that I’d ever seen.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me where I’m at?” I was still wearing my customary blue jeans, denim shirt and a black leather vest. I was always big into motorcycles and I had a custom made Harley that would make most people cringe when I drove by with those aftermarket pipes making quite the noise. I wore one of those helmets that looked like it was back in the war torn days of Korea. I did wear a pair of sunglasses and had a kerchief around my mouth to prevent bugs from choking me to death.
“Are you daffy or something? You’re in the land of Markham. This is the countryside on the outskirts of town.” I took a step back, when I noticed that the horse had wings and then it snorted with blue fire coming out of its nose. I was totally stunned, completely taken a back and I had no idea if what I was seeing was real. It could be that I was in a hospital with some kind of concussion or in a coma where I was living out a weird kind of dream. It didn’t feel like a dream and just touching those blades of grass was very real.
I wasn’t sure if I could tell him the truth, so I decided on a story that would make a little bit more sense. “I guess I got turned around.” I couldn’t help but to look at his armor and the muscles that were now bulging. There was one in particular that caught my attention and I found myself staring at it despite how I feel about men doing the same thing to my chest. I was treating him like he was man candy and I was wondering if he would melt in my hand or melt in my mouth. This thought made me giggle and to him I must’ve looked like some kind of crazy person laughing at nothing.
I needed to get a lay of the land, before I decided to reveal the true reason he had found me in that field. “My name is Braden. It’ll be my honor to escort you back to town my fair maiden. If we’re lucky, we won’t be stopped by the sentry.” I took a few steps closer and I came within a hair’s breath of actually reaching out and touching him in a not so subtle way.
“I really don’t have any place to stay and I’ve only come here to visit.”
“Watch out.” I saw something in my peripheral vision and it was moving towards me at a speed that didn’t seem possible. Braden snapped something from a kind of holster and I thought it was a sword, until I noticed that it was almost like energy. He slashed it through the air and the thing that was coming towards me got cut in half and fell at my feet. The snake’s head was spitting what looked like green venom and on the other end was another snake’s head doing the same thing. Its eyes were fluttering and then it died with a breath of air that came from its lungs, as a last ditch effort to grab onto any kind of oxygen that it could find.
“The land of Markham is obviously made up of four territories. I did not think that you came from the west, so I can only assume that you came from the east.” He was staring at me and I reali
zed that his interest was in my clothes. “You easterners are always a bit strange, but this is even weird for you.” He motioned for me to come closer and when I did, he lifted me with such ease that he made it appear like I didn’t weigh 135 pounds.
I landed on this scaly hide and I watched as Braden leaped with the finesse of a gazelle in front of me. “Braden, I would like you to take me back to your place.” I knew how it sounded and I certainly didn’t mean it in a sexual way. It wasn’t that I wasn’t attracted to him, because he was built like a football player and had this animalistic heat that was making me aware of my own libido.
“I’m not accustomed to bringing somebody home that I don’t know. Never let it be said that I do not act in a chivalrous way. I cannot deny your request, since you stated it eloquently. Let us be off, before the sentry makes its way over this terrain.” I barely cinched my fingers around his waist, when this creature lifted off the ground and took flight. I had to pinch myself several times to make myself wake up, but it was to no avail.
“If it helps, my name is Shana Moore.” I remember him saying that he didn’t like to take strangers back to his home. If we were on a first name basis, maybe he wouldn’t feel that way.”
“You speak strangely and I’ve never heard anybody that referred themselves with two names.” Apparently, his name was Braden and like Cher, he only had one name. It was funny, but I could swear when he brandished that weapon that killed that snakelike creature that the actual energy came from his hands like a whip. I looked at his armor and I saw no place to hide any weapons, but this was unlike any armor that I had ever seen. Back where I came from armor was clunky and had the kind of feel that would make it almost impossible for a knight to walk comfortably.
Another Uoria Holiday: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Holiday Romance Page 53
