Alien Dragon's Baby: A Scifi Alien Romance (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss)

by Miranda Martin

  "No, it's okay. It's okay," I motion him down with my hands.

  He looks around once more before settling his eyes on me.

  "It's okay," I repeat.

  He kneels back down and turns the second piece of meat. He leans in closer and looks at the first piece sniffing. Apparently satisfied he pulls the stick out and holds the piece of meat out to me.

  "Ca-lissss-ta," he says dragging the S sound out in my name.

  My heart leaps into my throat and I'm grinning ear to ear as he says my name. My own name has never sounded so beautiful coming from anyone's lips before.

  "Yes!" I exclaim, nodding excitedly as I take the meat from him.

  He smiles and I sit back eating the food. It's delicious. Moist and succulent with a rich flavor that is surprising. He watches me eat expectantly.

  "It's good," I say, wiping some juice from the corner of my mouth. "Really good."

  I motion with my hands and smile which he seems to understand. He gets his own piece of meat and no matter that it has to be burning hot grabs it off the stick with his bare fingers and pops the entire chunk in his mouth. He chews it quietly looking out into the distance.

  "Ladon," I say and he looks at me and the scale over his right eye rises independent of the other just like a human might raise an eyebrow to indicate a question.

  I point at him and repeat his name slowly. He nods and smiles.

  "Ladon," he says pointing at himself and nodding. "Calisssssta." He points at me still dragging out the S.

  I smile and nod feeling a deep sense of satisfaction then grab my water bottle and take a drink.

  "I need to get to my friends," I say standing up and looking around trying to get my bearings.

  I'm lost. Well maybe that's a stupid way to think of it. I've been lost since crashing on an unknown planet but now I've got no clue how to return to my friends. Ladon watches me with great interest as I look. I shield my eyes and stare around looking for anything that would serve as a landmark. The shelter we slept in is in an oasis. There's a small pond, maybe a couple of hundred yards wide and about a hundred long, with lush green grass that has wide blades and thick, heavy roots surrounding it. The area is lined with trees. The trunks of the trees are really wide at the base, some of them up to fifteen feet at least, but they grow smaller the higher up the tree goes. The tops are no more than a foot across. The leaves are massive palms that grow right around the top only.

  "Friends," I repeat to Ladon.

  He watches my mouth closely then shakes his head showing he doesn't understand. I try motioning with my hands, pointing to myself then moving in an hourglass figure next to me. I have no idea how to communicate the idea of friends to him. He shakes his head after a I try again several more times. Ladon gathers up the few things we have with us from the shelter. He hands me my bag and slides his own over his shoulder. The last item he pulls from the shelter surprises me. It's a spear but the top of it is a two foot blade that curves at the top. It looks razor sharp and shows a level of craft and skill I wasn't sure he would have. Ladon notices me looking at the weapon. He looks at it then at me again before holding it out between us offering it to me.

  "Oh, uhm, no, I have, uh, yeah," I stutter, holding my hands up and waving it away.

  I've never held such a thing and it intimidates the hell out of me. He smiles, nods, then twirls it easily before swinging it around and fastening it to his back somehow. Well I guess at least I'll be well protected. I look around once more and notice a large flower behind the shelter. It's massive with long fronds that flow from its red-orange eye. The center looks like it has a hole of some kind in it. The leaves and fronds have a rust color to them and lack any shine I would normally associate with life. I walk towards it but he puts a hand on my shoulder and pulls me back around to face him. He shakes his head and says something pointing at the plant.

  I don't understand the words but I get the meaning. He doesn't want me near it. I shrug and he smiles nodding. He points into the distance, says something, then starts walking. He goes four paces then turns and looks at me. I debate what to do but my options are stay here and die or follow the dragon-alien. I think it's pretty clear cut which way to go. I adjust my bag on my shoulder then move up next to him and do my best to keep pace.

  8 LADON

  Calista, I think to myself as we walk.

  I like the sound of her name. It's almost a Zmaj name, it sounds feminine and feels nice on my tongue. She stumbles so I catch her, holding her until she pushes me away. She says something but her words are too fast and full of hard sounds that I can't follow. I smile as she points behind us then at herself and then makes some other motion that makes no sense. I love her energy, she's full of life, though her pale skin is already turning pink. I offer her some more water and she drinks it greedily.

  I have to get her epis soon. It will adapt her to live here. I want her to live very much. I like the softness of her. When I scratch my nose I catch wafts of her scent and it's pleasing. Her soft folds, her wetness, the smell of her, the soft exposed mounds of her breasts, she is beautiful. Strange, different, and I want to give her pleasure again. In time she will pleasure me in return. I'm certain of this, she is not ready yet, but we have time. Once she has epis in her we'll have as much time as it takes.

  She stumbles again and I catch her. She shakes her head side to side.

  "Are you okay?" I ask.

  She smiles, wipes her forehead, so strange with its lack of protective scales, and then nods up and down. Her eyes are bright and shiny and they have no protective lids. Any wind will blind her easily but the sharp blue of her eyes is gorgeous, like perfect shimmering scales. I smile back to her and then start walking. She stumbles once more and falls to her knees. I watch as she struggles to her feet waving me away. She steps towards me and her feet sink into the sand. She has to fight for each step, pulling a foot up, placing it forward, letting it sink in then extracting the back one. It looks exhausting. She needs wings and a tail but barring that maybe she will accept my help. Moving beside her I put an arm around her waist.

  "Put your arm around my shoulder," I say.

  She pushes and pulls but eventually she figures out as I continue to guide her arm to where I want it. Spreading my wings out I walk forward taking some of her weight on me. She's still doing most of it I'm just making her lighter and we begin to make much better time. Glancing at the sun it will be almost nightfall by the time we reach the next oasis where we can rest. We'll make the epis cavern in the morning or early afternoon of tomorrow.

  The sun moves past the halfway point of the sky as we travel. She talks, incessantly, and I try to follow her words. Her language is difficult for my tongue and she speaks fast. Or the words are all very long maybe. I'm not sure. The ground trembles beneath us and I freeze dropping to a crouch. She takes a step further forcing me to grab her by the waist and lift her off the ground. I can't risk any more movement.

  "Still," I hiss.

  She says a string of words too loud. Desperately I shake my head but she keeps talking and the tremble moves closer so I place my hand over her mouth forcing her jaw shut. Her beautiful eyes widen and I recognize the look of fear in them but I have no choice right now. I'll try to explain to her when there's time but now this is survival. She struggles in my grip forcing me to tighten it until I'm sure she's feeling pain. Tears form in her eyes and her mouth moves against the palm of my hand. I want to let her go, to explain, but the ground is trembling more, it's moving underneath us. The slightest sound could attract it. I've fought and killed zemlja before but it's not easy and last time I was severely wounded. I barely survived. There's no way I could protect her while fighting one so I don't let her go.

  It makes me feel bad. I know she doesn't understand. She probably thinks I'm being mean or cruel- the exact opposite of what I want. I want to make her feel good. I want to hear her moan, especially beneath me as I pleasure her. My tail stiffens as my thoughts turn to such things forcing me to
focus. Extending my senses into the ground the tremors are receding. Almost we're safe. She struggles harder and my grip slips as she wiggles free. She's falling to the ground and I see it in slow motion. If she hits the zemlja will strike for sure. Spreading my wings to support myself I lean forward and catch her inches above the ground.

  "NO!" I hiss loudly trying to imitate a word I've heard her say shaking my head side to side.

  I think this is the proper meaning. I've seen her do it before. She's lying in my arms staring at me with her mouth open and as it moves I shake my head even more willing her to silence. Something I do works because her mouth snaps shut and she lies still. My arms burn with the effort of holding her off the ground as I wait for the zemlja to get further away. A tremor runs through my muscles as I strain but I will not let her go. She is my treasure, I will protect her, no one and nothing may have her.

  At last I can no longer sense the tremors and I lower her to the ground. She lays there looking at me without moving until I rise up and she does the same. We stare at each other and she says things. I watch her mouth move but nothing stands out or makes sense.

  "No?" she says shaking her head side to side while she holds her hand up between up palm facing me.

  I tilt my head to one side. "No."

  I repeat the word and shake my head side to side. Using my hands I mime walking by placing one hand down on the air after another in front of me and say the word no over and over. She watches me closely then nods her understanding.

  "Zemlja," I say.

  I mime my meaning by holding my left hand level like it's the ground then bring my right fist and arm up from behind it waving it around like the worm creature that the zemlja are. I open and close my fist to mime a mouth snapping at the air.

  "Ze-l-m-ja?" she says and I shake my head.

  "Zemlja," I repeat, still miming the monster.

  "Zemlja," she says it correctly and points at the ground with a questioning look.

  "Zemlja," I agree nodding and smiling my enthusiasm.

  She's smart and quick. I open my arms and pull her into an embrace showing her that I will protect her by wrapping my arms around her and holding her close to my chest. The heady scent of her hair fills my nostrils. My hands rest on the swell of her ass and my thoughts turn back to pleasing her. She puts her arms around my neck snuggling against me. She's warm, too warm. I push her back to arm's length and look at her closely. She's red and her skin is chapping with an unhealthy look to it. There are cracks along her soft lips that do not look healthy and her eyes are not as bright.

  Pulling out my water bottle I offer it to her again but I know it's not going to be enough. She needs epis. We have to get to the cavern soon or my greatest treasure will not survive. I can't have that. She is mine and I will protect her. She drinks the water greedily, wipes her lips, then smiles at me. A warmth lifts my chest making me feel lighter in some way. A glow inside that makes me happy. I'll save her. There is no other option.

  "Zemlja," she repeats and points to the ground.

  I nod then get her arm around me and we continue towards the oasis. Our water supply is low now but I need much less than she does. I can go without for days, she cannot make more than a mark of the sun before she needs more which is only staving off the inevitable. Her body will shut down from the heat in days without epis. No scales, no heat exchange, fur in strange places, it's exotic and enticing but completely unsuitable for life here.

  The sun makes four marks before we come across the tracks of a pack of guster. I stop and kneel beside the prints studying them. I'd put the pack at six members but one of them is dragging behind with a bad foot. It's dragging the rear leg. I look at Calista and smile. Guster meat is a rare treat. It's tasty and also should help buy some time for her survival. I normally don't hunt them because they're dangerous and meat eaters, unlike the bivo I normally hunt. But the danger is offset by the fact that it will help her. Their meat is very restorative.

  "Guster," I say to her pointing at the tracks.

  She watches with interest and works at saying the word along with me. It takes a few tries and she's still weak on the soft sounds but she gets it. I smile and nod. I take my lochaber off my back and whirl it around then drop it to a ready position. I point to my lochaber than back at the tracks.

  "Guster," I say and she repeats it then says another word.

  I watch her mouth looking at the shapes as she says the word then she mimes taking something out of the palm of one hand and putting it in her mouth. She means food! I smile and nod watching her repeat the word. I listen carefully.

  "Ffffood," I say and she nods excitedly.

  "Food!" she exclaims and her voice is like the soft tinkle of bells, beautiful.

  "Food," I repeat.

  I motion her forward and she puts her arm around my shoulders then we hunt. The tracks are fresh enough that I don't think they'll be far ahead of us. Based on the direction of their travel they're probably going to the same oasis we are and we should get there shortly before nightfall. If we can catch the guster and kill one we'll have dinner ready when we stop for the night.

  I move my wings and increase my speed by taking on most of her weight. Her legs move along as I keep us going but she's barely touching the ground most of the time. Her poorly designed body just doesn't move well across the sand. Having my wings full spread also shades her from some of the sun which is good too. As we move the tracks become fresher. The wounded one is dragging further behind the pack. Its tracks are now off to one side. It will be moving off on its own to die. Guster are pack creatures but the weak ones sacrifice themselves rather than slow down the group. Once they die the pack will feed on them. Though they won't kill their own they're not above scavenging the remains.

  I drop to a crouch pulling her down with me when I hear the soft lowing sound of a guster. It's wounded. I'm not sure how close the pack itself is but we're close to the one I want. I remove Calista's arm from my shoulders and motion her to sit down. It takes a few minutes of motioning and repeating words but at last she is lying on the ground and watching me. I take a layer of cloth off and lay it over her to camouflage her into the sand from any predators that might come our way.

  Once I'm satisfied she's as well hidden as I can manage, I lay flat and work my way to the top of the ridge. Once I get there I shift side to side sinking myself into the sand with the help of my tail then move ahead until I see the wounded guster. The pack is a fair distance off and entering the oasis we've making our way towards. The wounded one is walking in a circle lowing.

  A guster is a large, razor-mawed creature with four legs that have wide webbed feet and hulking mounds across its back. Spines stick out at various points along the hard leather skin to help ward off any predators. Not that guster have any real threats. The only thing that hunts them is the zemlja and nothing the guster does is going to save it from one of those. Though the spikes might injure a zemlja's gullet, it won't save the guster itself.

  I work my way closer keeping myself partially buried and out of sight. The wind is blowing towards me keeping my scent away which is important. The guster may be wounded but it's still very dangerous. Possibly even more dangerous than if it wasn't. My only advantage is now it's alone. I'm within thirty feet when the guster stops turning and stares in my direction pawing the sand with one of its forefeet. The left back leg is the injured one, it looks broken by the way it's twisted and swollen. That will keep it from charging, their normal form of attack but its teeth are its main weapon. I hold stock still waiting to see if I'm spotted or it just suspects. It paws the ground again then runs forward three steps. On its last step the injured leg hits the ground and the creature cries out as the leg gives way. Its rear half slams to the ground and I leap up into the air whirling my lochaber. I'll not get a better opportunity than this.

  I bring the lochaber around and aim down as I spread my wings to slow and guide my descent on the guster. It looks up as I glide in. Its wide mouth opens revea
ling row after row of long, razor sharp teeth. It opens wide as if it intends to swallow me whole. I adjust my direction so that I glide across its open maw instead of straight into it. As I pass over I swipe the lochaber blade through its mouth slicing the tendons that control its jaw. The bottom half of its mouth falls open unable to maintain tension and it howls in pain.

  I land a couple of feet to one side whirling around and stabbing into its side threading my way through the defensive spikes. My aim is off, I hit a rib instead of sliding between them. It whirls towards the new source of pain ripping my lochaber from my hands. I crouch down to make a smaller target as it glares at me. It doesn't hesitate to charge and as it does I hear a distant scream that pulls my attention. Calista is on top of the ridge. The guster slams into me while I'm looking at her and then there's nothing but teeth and saliva moving across me. The razor sharp teeth slice at my skin as I struggle to find a hold on the monster.

  Two long spikes protrude from its head above the eyes and I grab those using them to gain some leverage. The momentum of the monster is pushing me across the sand backwards. I use the horns to keep the teeth from finding further purchase in my skin. My protective scales have stopped most of them but I have several small cuts where they made their mark. I pull back forcing the guster's head backwards then in a desperate move I shove my hand down its throat choking it off. It struggles and fights unable to breath until at last it drops dead at my feet.

  I stumble back from it taking a moment to catch my breath. Calista runs up and moves her hands over my chest, down my sides, along my arms then cups my face. Desire and arousal spring up and my tail is straight out. She looks at each small cut and then tears a piece of cloth from the cover I'd used to shield her, the one that was supposed to be keeping her safe, and uses it to dab at my small wounds. A constant stream of words flows from her. I grab her hands forcing her to stop. She looks up into my eyes.