by C. M. Kane
Tae stood frozen to the spot as he calmly leant across her and closed the doors. She had thought he was with his men; he must have nipped back to his room for something while she was adjusting to the real world after disengaging from Brightmoon.
She waited for him to move away from the door so she could get out, but instead of moving away, he slowly started moving closer to her, his eyes intent. ‘I leave soon,’ he said quietly, as he crowded her into the curve of the lift wall, still not touching her.
Tae nodded and swallowed nervously, she felt as if she were some kind of prey he was stalking. Her heart rate accelerated and her breathing quickened at his close proximity, she couldn’t have moved if she wanted to. Right at this moment she thought they’d probably need a strong winch and some blasting powder to drag her out!
He edged closer still, then simply stood there looking down at her, his eyes filled with an intensity she’d never seen before. They were so close they were almost touching; she felt her own body screaming with awareness. Some part of her mind registered that he’d be getting a pretty healthy dose of Pheromones right about now, and what’s more, she didn’t care. The time for caring about pheromones had passed the moment she had seen him enter the bridge with his new body. He leant in slightly and Tae shivered in anticipation.
At that moment the turbo lift door opened, a young tech was about to enter when he noticed them standing there. ‘My apologies, My Lord, but Sergeant Mara sent me to look for you. I was to tell you that the men are assembled and stand ready in the Hanger bay as ordered.’
Loki’s eyes never wavered from Tae’s for a moment, he simply nodded in response. ‘When I return we will begin this, Tae, make no mistake, I will be returning for you.’ then he stepped back, never taking his intense gaze from her own.
After staring back at him for a long moment she finally made herself move. Silently cursing the young tech to hell and back for his interruption, she practically staggered from the lift, before she could turn back the doors had closed and it was gone, taking with it the one person she now wanted more than anything in her life. She rushed to her room and looked in her mirror at her glazed expression and flushed face. As soon as she brought her still rapid breathing back under control she thought about what had just happened. Loki wanted her!
He wants me! ME! TAE! And as soon as he got back from this stupid mission he was going to come for her. She grinned stupidly at her reflection as she murmured, ‘he really wants me,’ to herself. As if saying the words out loud would make it more real to her.
After what had just happened in the lift she was now totally honest with herself. While she may have been highly attracted to Vesh- the wolven was after all, absolutely gorgeous- from the first moment she had laid eyes on that picture of Loki in her classroom, in what now seemed a lifetime ago, she had wanted him. She had never been able to admit the true depth of that desire before now, because she had never thought, never dreamed, that she would ever have a chance at someone like him. He was after all a God- and always would be in her eyes, despite what she now knew- he could have anyone, and now it seemed he wanted her. She had teased herself with little thoughts of him of course, small wishes and secret dreams that perhaps he had noticed her, but really that’s how she had always kept them in her mind, just simple dreams that were always doomed to failure. Besides, she had told herself, he was an idiot, a total loser; he would never really look at someone like her anyway.
When he returns, she thought in shocked delight, her grin widening as she remembered what he had said. The promise of delights to come had practically dripped from his every word.
When he returns! She thought again in growing excitement. Already she felt like she’d waited an age for this moment, somehow she’d make it through another couple more days. SOMEHOW!
She opened her wardrobe and began looking through her clothes, picking out some of her prettiest underwear, as well as the dress of straps that she had once shoved up the back in disinterest. She looked at it critically before grinning again; it seemed this creation was going to get worn after all. She was the daughter of a talented pleasure giver; she would spend the rest of the day going over her half remembered lessons, as well as raiding any data bank that Brightmoon might have about sex. She then looked at herself critically in the mirror, she wasn’t stunning like her brother, yet Loki had still found her desirable. At last she had found someone who genuinely wanted her, just as she was. And boy did she want him back.
She closed her eyes and did a little fist pumping dance of delight, her pheromones exploding from her as she let her fertile imagination of what was to come run riot. When he returned, she was going to be ready. Boy was she going to be ready! She thought determinably.
Nothing was going to stop this; at long last it was really going to happen! She had seen the look on his face. She had had sensed his desire for her, this was really going to happen, and nothing was going to stop it! Nothing!
Chapter 15
The sweet smell of dried herbs permeated every nook and cranny of the small room. Jars of what looked like crushed and dried bone stood neatly on shelves besides various containers of different colored fluids and thick gelatinous substances. Feathers and talons of various sizes hung from several hooks on the wall above a spotlessly clean work bench.
Several huge creatures milled restlessly in front of a middle aged female of their species. They disliked this room, despite it being a place of healing it was also a place of what they saw as magic. This was where their Oracle chose to have her visions, and they found this magical foresight extremely unsettling.
The female sat quietly in meditation, letting her mind drift, allowing the currents of the Universe to enter her and show her the way. Hopefully, with the help of the herbs she had smoked earlier, she would be able to glimpse a small part of the future. It had been a long time since her last vision and she knew the leaders of her people had become anxious, the time she had so long ago prophesized was at hand, and they now needed more information.
Feelings, hunches, vague pictures, all entered her mind; it was up to her how she interpreted the coming events. Unlike the Oracles of legend, she had only ever been able to see tiny snippets of what might be, but sometimes they were enough. She snapped open her eyes and faced the milling males, noting their customary discomfort with amusement.
‘The slayer comes, very soon you will be faced with a choice, make the wrong choice and we all remain here for eternity; choose wisely, and we will all have the chance at freedom, and redemption, if we should wish to take it.’
A large male stepped forward, his burnished horns almost touching the ceiling of the small room. ‘What shape does the slayer take, and what do we do to earn this redemption?’
‘That I have not foreseen,’ she said quietly. At her words angry snorts from the assembled males filled the room.
‘The Universe does not read like a scroll!’ She snapped. ‘It lets me see what it wishes, nothing more and nothing less. I do know that it will be very soon though, before the next new moon, which is less than five days away.’ More restless shuffling and indrawn breaths greeted her words, ‘the outcome will depend entirely on how you react to something that occurs within our boundaries,’ she added.
‘What?’ The large male asked.
The woman sighed tiredly. ‘I don’t know, Commander Borig, all I can tell you is I saw green eyes, brown feathers, twilight, and running water, so I’m assuming that whatever happens, it has something to do with the god slayer, the harpies, and the river, perhaps near nightfall, that is all I was shown.’ She watched as Commander Borig closed his eyes in frustration, his hand automatically gripping the large spiked war club that rested at his side on a wide leather belt.
Patience and subtlety were not a strong point with the Minotaur, and having to rely on the oracles mercurial form of visions were extremely hard for them, but they had been waiting seventy three years for the original vision that she’d had as a child to reach fruition. It seemed
these last few days would prove to be the longest. She had seen their races salvation, the slayer of Hera, their jailer, would travel to Tartarise. His or her arrival would be a catalyst somehow, which would give the Minotaur one chance, and one chance only, to escape the planet where Hera had banished them to so long ago. Their warriors dreamed of the days when they had served the gods nobly and with honor, their current situation as little more than trapped animals on a dangerous forest planet with no hope of escape was untenable to them, they needed more. Now, at long last, the wheel of fate had turned full circle, their chance of freedom and redemption was almost upon them.
‘Soon, Borig,’ she said quietly, ‘and then all of the fates of the Minotaur will be in your hands. You must make sure your own temper and pride does not destroy both yourself, and this one last chance.’
Borig lowered his massive body to crouch in front of her. ‘I will not fail woman, one way or another we will redefine our future. We will once again take our rightful place amongst the star, just as you have prophesized. I will allow nothing to interfere with this, even if it means I must capture the mighty god slayer and force him to negotiate with us, then so be it.’ He stood again, turned abruptly, and walked away from her and out of the small room, ducking his head under the low door frame as he left, his Warriors followed silently behind him.
She shook her head as she watched them leave. Borig had such pride; she only hoped he could curb his temper and not ruin this one chance for the others. Personally she thought it improbable that all of the Minotaur would leave their home, most of her people were surprisingly content with their lives. But she also knew that the majority of the Warriors would relish the chance to redeem themselves, and to travel the stars again in service to their gods. She hoped that now they just might be able to have that chance. Although what that would mean for the rest of them she had no idea. She sighed tiredly; her own horns were now feeling incredibly heavy because of the herbs she burnt to enable her to “see”. Although feeling the stirrings of hunger, she lay back on the soft blankets where she sat and closed her eyes for a quick nap. Soon, she thought as she quickly drifted off to sleep.
***
So far things were going well for Loki and his Warriors. They had found a small outcropping of the Felice emitting rock reasonably near where they had landed and they had managed to crush and fill five containers so far. He decided that he would send the warriors back with them soon, but he wanted one more days search first. They had camped the night at a picturesque waterfall as it had a cave with a narrow, easily defensible opening. When he considered some of the things that he knew would be roaming about, he had felt the risk of being trapped was more acceptable compared to the real risk of being caught out in the open by some of the creatures that lived down here. Several guttural roars through-out the night had only convinced him further of wisdom of his choice. His only problem as he now saw it was getting enough of the rock as quickly as possible, so that he could get back to his growing obsession, namely Tae.
Unfortunately the interlude in the turbo lift had only served to exacerbate his growing need for her. She had no idea how close he had come to simply pushing her up against the wall and having her.
If that Tech hadn’t interrupted when he did then… His thoughts trailed off as his senses went on alert, he had heard something that the Warriors on point had missed, a soft rustling from above, he looked up quickly then yelled. ‘Harpies!’ It was too late; they had inadvertently wandered into the middle of a large flock that had all launched themselves at them at his initial warning.
Screeches and screams filled the air as they attacked, between slashes of his twin swords Loki yelled at the female Warriors to take the filled canisters back to Brightmoon and order them to take them straight to the front line. He wanted no rescue attempt of either him or the men until that mission was completed. Once they were gone he started to methodically cut down his attackers. His men were being overpowered quickly, while still he continued to duck, weave, cut, and slash, in the hope of trying to help his Warriors, but despite his efforts they were falling quickly to the Harpies tactics.
As they would try to fight against two or three of their attackers another would simply swoop down from behind and poison them with her talon, then she’d dart away again to the safety of the tree’s. Once the warrior began to stiffen and slow they were easy prey and would be snatched up quickly, their swords and equipment thrown aside as the Harpy dragged the helpless warrior to the nearest tree in preparations to procreate with them. The fight was brutal, and the Harpies relentless, when only a half dozen of his men remained one of them mistakenly tried to use himself as a shield to protect Loki against a concerted attack by four Harpies. Unfortunately all he managed to do was to get thrown into Loki’s side just as he was delivering a killing blow to his eleventh victim. As the Harpy screeched in its death throes and fell to the ground, it slashed out with its talon and grazed him along his arm as the Warrior inadvertently knocked him towards it.
Loki was furious, but before he could turn and berate the man, the idiot was snatched away by yet another of the flock. He glanced around quickly as he felt the beginnings of the Harpies poison start to take effect on his muscles. Already they were beginning to stiffen as his reflexes began to slow. If he had been a mortal like his Warriors he would already be unable to move. Despite now having no working nanites he was lucky that his own bodies natural defenses against the poison were slowing its advance, but he knew that wasn’t going to last for much longer. His men were now gone, his would be protector had been one of the last of them; their equipment lay scattered all over the floor of the forest, a testament to their inability to fight the flock. He looked skywards to see another half dozen of the flock join the four left attacking him. He realized that sooner or later he would fall, that left only one solution, he had to find cover, and at the rate his body was beginning to seize up, he had to find it soon.
His mind made up he leaped up suddenly and slashed open one of the hovering Harpies stomachs, it was a death blow he knew; in the same moment as he swung his swords he turned gracefully in mid-air, just as the Harpies began to beat their wings furiously to get higher, away from his deadly reach. He knew they would be thinking of simply waiting him out now, so when he hit the ground he started to run, taking them all by surprise.
It took him a further fifteen minutes to reach the cave by the waterfall. He knew the Harpies had followed him once they had recovered from his quick deception, but he also knew they would never follow him in. Caves and Harpies simply did not mix; in the air and tree’s they were both deadly and graceful, but on the ground they were slow and clumsy; meaning they were very vulnerable and open to attack. Loki just hoped they thought the same way he did, if so he was now safe… at least from them.
Also on his side was the fact they already had a lot of men to pass around for the time being, so he felt relatively safe on that front. The cave was his salvation from the flock, but it wouldn’t protect him from other sources of danger. Still it was the best he could do under the circumstances; maybe he would be lucky and last long enough for Brightmoon to return to for him. In a strange way his captured men were now far safer than he was. His arms started too lock as he moved stiffly through the narrow opening and then into the largish inner cave. He sighed as he settled himself against the far wall then dropped himself into a sitting position. His swords dropped from his now numb stiffening fingers as he placed his hands on the floor palm down, he knew he wouldn’t become totally immobile like his men. His body was still vastly superior to normal warriors, but even he would be incapacitated for at least a full day, unless he found sexual release somehow. He sighed heavily. Well there’s nothing for me to do but wait and hope for the best now, he thought.
His mind drifted to Tae again, he had spent the last few days not only trying to get his body back to what it once was, in an effort to impress her, but he had also been taking her brother Jason’s advice. He had been learning all he could
about the music she liked, and what her best studies were at her old school. He had found, much to his delight, that although young she was extremely well read. She obviously had an agile enquiring mind coupled with a real thirst for knowledge, something which delighted him no end. And she’d proven time and time again, she could put woman twice her age to shame.
His secret enjoyment though was her music. Much to his surprise he found that he genuinely liked it. He now thought that perhaps the other gods might have been just a tad hasty in killing off over three quarters of the planets population. If only they had known they had this to offer them things might have turned out a little differently– well at least for the bards anyway.
He now began to make new plans, when he rescued his men, and when Brightmoon got back, then, and only then, would he introduce his young Tae to a whole new world, but this one would be one of pleasure. He may be too old for her, as her brother had said, but one of the advantages of his advanced age was that he knew tricks that would have her teetering on the edge of ecstasy all night, and he fully intended to show her each and every one of them. With those thoughts firmly fixed in his mind he settled down to wait and plan.
Chapter 16
Anxiety, restlessness, and a strong undercurrent of lust ruled Tae for the next day and a half. Loki and his warriors had now left for the planet and were out of communication range because of the Felice. Out of everyone, Radnor seemed to find this the most disconcerting. He constantly paced around the bridge annoying the sensor operators with inane questions he already knew the answer to, only to start pacing again once his questions were answered. Luckily, through a process of trial and error, Tae had discovered she could get a glimpse of Loki’s position from the sensors. All she had to do was set them at maximum and zone in on his last known position whilst focusing with all her might, and voila, she’d get a quick look for a moment. It wasn’t much, and it gave her a pounding headache, but at least she knew he was still alive and moving. She decided against telling Radnor of this little discovery, she had the feeling he’d be perched besides her asking for constant updates if she did. Besides, at the moment everyone was leaving her alone, and that left her free to think.
