Defender of the Gods (Warrior Unbound Trilogy Book 3)

by C. M. Kane

  Latrissa handed it to her and smiled. ‘I think this will make you feel better, it will not only help with any abrasions you may have from wearing animal hide, but it will make you smell wonderful to a male again.’

  Tae blushed scarlet at her words. ‘Believe me, the last thing I need right now is to attract anymore males, I’ve just about had it with all of them for life.’

  Latrissa peered at her closely studying her for a moment. ‘That is a pity; your Lord Loki couldn’t seem to keep his eyes from you every time he thought you weren’t looking.’

  Tae’s head snapped up in interest immediately, but Latrissa simply smiled at her and gestured towards the bath. ‘I will bring you fresh linens to dry yourself with, and I will pop over to my neighbors to see if they have anything clean you could wear.’ She eyed Tae’s body critically. ‘I think you are around the same size as their youngest son Ooda,’ then she turned off the tap of the now half filled tub and left Tae to her bath.

  Tae stripped and washed quickly and thoroughly, it felt wonderful to have all the blood and sweat gone from her and to be clean again. She noticed her own body had healed the small amount of chaffing she had all by itself, which was a relief. She guessed being part Vampire came in handy after all in times like these. Latrissa came back just as she had finished, as she hoped out she handed Tae a large roughly woven towel and some fresh clothes before leaving her to dry and dress herself. After quickly drying off she dressed herself in a simple short creamy colored shirt that laced up at the front and some soft woven pants in the same material, they were kept up by a simple drawstring. She folded the cuffs up a little so they weren’t dragging on the ground and then put her socks and shoes back on before re-strapped her knives to her waist.

  She now felt wonderful, as if she could actually start to forget about all of today’s embarrassing events, now that the reminders of it were finally gone. She took her hair out of her pony tail and gave it a quick run through with a large bone comb that Latrissa gave her, finally satisfied she simply left it to hang loose.

  ‘So,’ Latrissa smiled when she came back out to the small sitting room again, ‘Now you are clean and comfortable again, do you wish to speak of what has you so upset?’

  Tae pulled her head back and looked at Latrissa in both annoyance at her nosiness, and surprise at her astuteness.

  ‘God slayer,’ she said gently, ‘I may be unmated, but I have known many males, as is a woman’s right. I am not a fool, and I do not mean to offend you, I am simply used to asking questions of people when I see they are in pain.’ At Tae’s startled look she continued. ‘You hide it well most of the time, especially for one so young, but I can see that something is bothering you greatly. I thought perhaps I may be able to help, after all, over my lifetime I have both seen and experienced many things.’

  Tae hesitated, she had only been wishing either her mother or Valaria were here so she could talk to them. She looked into Latrissa’s kindly brown eyes, and promptly burst into tears of confusion and misery. When she finally brought herself under control again she proceeded to tell Latrissa every detail of what occurred in both the turbo lift and the cave with Loki. When she was finished she looked at the old woman who was nodding her head and smiling. Tae was outraged, she found her story funny?

  Latrissa saw the look on Tae’s face and held up her hand. ‘I am not smiling at your pain, god slayer, I am smiling because it seems the gods are far more like our own males than I had ever thought possible. Perhaps it is a trait common to all males,’ she speculated, frowning at the thought. Tae leant forward still confused, but also interested in what she was saying. Latrissa scratched a horn absently and smiled. ‘I think your god may be feeling embarrassed young god slayer.’

  Tae frowned. ‘Please call me by my name, it’s Tae to my friends, and what do you mean he’s embarrassed, it was me that made a complete idiot out of myself by throwing myself at him. Hell, I basically molested him,’ she said in embarrassment.

  Latrissa nodded smiling again. ‘Let me explain, Tae. You say you caught him frowning and looking angry after he had bitten you and found his own release. Well, I think the anger you saw was more than likely directed at himself, and not at you, as you seem to think.’

  At Tae’s continued look of disbelief she sighed. ‘When you are older and more experienced you will learn that males can be very prideful creatures; especially about their ability to pleasure a female, not to mention their sex organ itself. I swear for the most part they seem to be more enamored of it, and what it can do, than with their mates. I used to think they were half in love with it themselves when I was younger.’

  Tae started to giggle at that. ‘How can anyone be full of pride about their penis? That would be like me being in love with my boobs, I mean, I like them, and I think they’re a pretty good shape and all, but when it comes down to it there just breasts aren’t they, they’re no better and no worse than anyone else’s, that’s just plain stupid.’

  ‘Ahhhh, but a female doesn’t think like a male now does she, we are far more practical and down to earth when the need arises. A male on the other hand, well, he sometimes seems to look at the world through the eyes of his own pride, and I’m quite certain that his sexual ability is somehow all tied up in that. From the sounds of it, your Lord Loki is embarrassed by his performance. He probably feels as though he should have lasted for far longer than what he did, and not being able to touch you would have added to his frustration, especially as he was aware you were untouched. No,’ she nodded to herself firmly. ‘I think his pride has taken a bit of a battering, because not only was he helpless and you had to save him, but he couldn’t do anything to you that he might have wanted to. Then to make matters worse, when he finally gave in and bit you, he couldn’t hold on any longer because of the Harpies poison.’

  ‘But I did too, he wasn’t the only one, and I wasn’t weird about it,’ said Tae in exasperation.

  ‘Ahh, but you’re forgetting, he is male,’ said Latrissa, as if that one sentence explained everything. ‘Also, as a general rule males like to think they will be the hero’s; that they are the ones who will rescue the helpless female in distress, and we, for the most part, allow them this small delusion. No, all things considered, this must have been a very unsettling experience for him, especially as he is a god!’

  Tae had never thought about it like that, can this even be possible? She looked into the kindly brown eyes of Latrissa and realized that she obviously thought it was true. ‘But he knew how badly I needed him,’ Tae said in utter embarrassment as she remembered her own wanton behavior. ‘I basically offered myself to him on a platter, yet he hasn’t said a word about what happened since. Why hasn’t he even tried to talk about it with me?’

  Latrissa shook her head. ‘Who can tell with a male, but once again I would think it’s due to his own embarrassment. As I have said, the male species can be very peculiar creatures, Tae, and unfortunately they do not think the same way a woman does, mores the pity.’

  ‘Oh no!’ Tae gasped as she remembered what she had said outside the cave in an effort to lash out at him. At Latrissa’s questioning look she told her what she had said to Loki in front of the Tore. ‘I’ve really made a complete hash of this haven’t I? Why couldn’t he have just said something instead of making me feel like crap?’ she said in confusion.

  ‘Tae, the fault is on both sides, far more Lord Loki’s than your own. He is a god; he’s so old he makes even our oldest villager look like a newborn calf. He has enough experience and knowledge to know better than to treat a young innocent in this way.’ She sighed deeply, ‘but as I have said, males can be odd and confronting creatures, especially when their pride is wounded.’

  Why are males so utterly weird? And more importantly, is Latrissa right; did he treat me like crap because he was embarrassed? Either way I look at, he still acted like a total turdball! Tae thought angrily, before she had another, far more disturbing thought. Oh by all the gods, is this a universal probl
em with the males of all species, or is it just a localized event? She shook her head; she was suddenly very glad she was a woman.

  Latrissa cocked her head to the side as a sly grin stretched across her lips, reminding Tae very firmly of Valaria. ‘Of course if you want to test the theory of whether Loki is angry with you or himself, then all you have to do is flirt with him,’ she smiled wickedly. ‘I would bet by the end of the night he would be panting for another chance to prove his ability to you, much like a Minotaur going to his first Harpy, you could get him to move the very stars for you I’d wager.’

  At Tae’s own puzzled look Latrissa told her of the details of their treaty with the Harpies. Once every five years any Minotaur Male who had reached their sexual maturity, and who wished to, would deliver themselves to the local Harpy flock for sex. Once the Harpy thought she was impregnated they were allowed to leave. Tae was surprised when Latrissa told her there was always a lot of volunteers, so it suited both parties well. Since the arrangement had come into force there had been peace between the races, broken only by the occasional incursion of another flock, which was usually quickly beaten back.

  Tae relaxed as she felt a huge mountain of hurt and humiliation leave her, if this is his problem then it can be fixed, she thought, if I want to that is. She was still smarting a little– well a lot, if truth be told- and she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk going through anything like that again. On the other hand, this flirting business sounded interesting. Apart from a childhood attempt with Adams grandfather, who had given her Brightmoons nanites when she was twelve years old, she’d never tried flirting before. Her mother had tried desperately to teach her how though, and had given her several lessons. Tae now wondered if she should give it a go or just give up totally and protect her own wounded pride; after all, there were other available men out there that she could switch her attentions to.

  ‘So what do your leaders want to ask of Loki then,’ said Tae switching the subject abruptly. She thought she would think over Latrissa’s words privately a little later, at the moment she had to remember she was in a strange environment, and one that could possibly become hostile at any given moment, the more information she had the better.

  Latrissa smiled knowingly at the abrupt change of subject before answering Tae’s question honestly. ‘They wish to ask Lord Loki if they can once again leave this planet. They want to join the gods and travel between the stars with them again.’

  Tae stared at her. ‘You’re kidding?’ she said. ‘Well they’ve certainly picked an interesting time for it.’ At Larissa’s frown Tae simply shrugged ‘I’m sorry, but that’s up to Lord Loki to divulge, I’m merely his liaison with his ship Brightmoon.’

  Tae stopped suddenly as she remembered Brightmoon, her eyes automatically looking up towards the ceiling. She’d told Brightmoon she should only be gone a few hours, she figured her few hours were well and truly up by now. Had the Dreadnaught been moved to the front line as Loki had asked, or was she still sitting up there refusing to budge? Tae prayed the great ship was at least behaving herself; after all she wasn’t that long overdue.

  Chapter 20

  Vulcan sat at his new work bench studying as Brightmoons many larger bots scurried around him retrofitting the buzz bombs to fit the Felice ore they would soon be carrying. He was totally in awe of what the Dreadnaught was capable of, he loved talking to and working with her, so much so that he would willingly give up everything he had built to gain this ship, she had an incredible mind. But he knew Zeus was right, she was Loki’s to command, or as he was rapidly finding out, Tae’s. After a brief discussion they’d had about Tae, he knew she was the ships heart, and as it turned out, its one concern. Loki had been right in his advice on handling the ship, slow and steady, and under no circumstances should anyone touch either her or Tae. Brightmoon had to learn to trust them, and that would take time. Still he was going to enjoy every moment he could while he was with her, she was highly intelligent and surprisingly resourceful, and much to his delight she played unusual Terran music- which he thoroughly enjoyed- as they worked together.

  If only she were a real woman, he thought to himself, she would be utterly perfect. He didn’t know it yet, but his perfect woman was about to give him some major problems of his own to deal with.

  The com-screen in front of him switched on and Captain Settria’s voice, but not her face, addressed him. He had discovered that Brightmoon was extremely private about her laboratory; and he was the only being that had ever been allowed inside this domain. Even Tae had not been invited to this inner sanctum, he didn’t know why the Dreadnaught allowed him this access, although he thought it might be because he could understand most of what she was trying to do, and how she was trying to do it, but either way, he had no intention of abusing this rare privilege. If he was lucky, it might even help to build some trust between them. He listened quietly as the Captain began to speak.

  ‘Lord Vulcan, I’m afraid we have a problem, the troop transport has returned to the ship as per Lord Loki’s orders, and the Warriors have reaffirmed their earlier message that our Lord may have been taken, by a Harpy flock, along with all of the men. We were preparing to move as ordered but Brightmoon is refusing to budge. She has now locked everyone out of her controls, including her weapons; all we have access to is communications.’

  Vulcan stood; he knew what had happened to Loki and understood his orders. It was imperative that they get at least those five bombs to the front line at Salernis in case the Titans came through unexpectedly early. ‘What has Lieutenant Rames said?’ He asked.

  There was a long pause where he realized the Captain was about to tell him something unpleasant. ‘I’m afraid it appears that Lieutenant Rames has left the ship, My Lord. I think she may have gone to the planet by herself to mount a rescue attempt of Lord Loki, the returning troop jumper said they passed a small jumper when they were returning to the ship.’

  Damn that girl, thought Vulcan angrily. Now what the hell are we supposed to do? He rubbed between his eyes tiredly, he knew without the slightest doubt that they had no hope of convincing Brightmoon to move whilst Tae was not onboard, but what to do?

  ‘I’m coming to the bridge,’ he said as he moved to the door, only to find that it refused to open, worse still, he felt the added power to the engines, Brightmoon was moving. He opened a com-channel back to the bridge. ‘Damn it I’m locked in, I’ll be up as soon as I can get out of here,’ he said. He closed the com link and looked around, as if for inspiration.

  ‘Brightmoon,’ he said softly, ‘what’s wrong, where are we moving to? And why have you locked me in here, what have I done wrong?’ The ship ignored both him and his question.

  Captain Settria’s voice came over the main com panel again. ‘Lord Vulcan, I’m afraid we have another problem. I ordered one of the techs to open a panel to see if we could bypass the ships propulsion system, and Brightmoon switched off the life support system to the bridge. It occurred as soon as the panel was taken off, we stopped immediately and replaced it, but it made no difference. She has also sealed the turbo lift and refuses to turn it back on. I’m thinking of trying the star chair that Lieutenant Rames uses in an attempt to reach her and reason with her before things become critical, but I’m frightened I might once again exacerbate the situation, do you have any suggestions, My Lord?’

  ‘Damn it, Captain, you were told under no circumstances to touch this ship. Leave it with me and I will do my best to reason with her from here, in the mean time, do not, under any circumstances, touch a damn thing, is that understood.’

  ‘Yes, My Lord, I await your instructions,’ she replied.

  Vulcan switched off the com- panel and attempted to communicate with Brightmoon again. ‘Brightmoon, we are friends are we not? If you share with me what is wrong I promise you I will do all in my power to help you,’ he said looking around at her now stationary bots.

  Slowly he saw one word appear on his work screen… Tae, and then just as suddenly the w
ord was repeated over and over again until the whole screen was filled. Every com-panel rod in the Lab suddenly switched on and went straight to three dimensional projections. Vulcan looked around him and found her name floating over every panel in the room until he seemed surrounded by it.

  ‘Yes, Brightmoon, Tae is on the planet below, she is trying to rescue Loki from some trouble he has got himself into,’ he said patiently. Immediately the displays filled again.

  Unable to locate, WANT BACK! WANT NOW! Then those same two last words filled all the room and seemed to float around him in a silent demand.

  Vulcan sat for a moment thinking fast, he hadn’t been surprised that Brightmoon had no linguistic channels that it could use to communicate, or that she’d had to resort to text. After all, it had the star chair and could talk to its Captain through joining with her mind. He figured the Dreadnaught had never even considered it would want to talk to anyone else, so she’d simply never bothered to build anything else into her systems. He felt a sudden vibration under his feet, quickly followed by several more. He knew immediately what they signaled. Brightmoon was firing at something, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she was now moving erratically, as if she were too close to the planet below. He still had no idea what to do, females had never been his strong suite, and he accepted Tae’s word that Brightmoon was a female at heart. All he knew was that he and the crew were in a great deal of trouble, because from what little he could tell, it seemed as though Brightmoon was having a major temper tantrum. He thought that if Tae didn’t return soon, or if he didn’t find a solution, than he and the rest of the crew were going to be in some seriously deep shit. He placed his hand on the com-panel in what he hoped was a soothing gesture; (he had seen Osiris touch Isis in such a way once when she was upset, and he figured it couldn’t hurt.)