by Maia Starr
“I’m so sorry,” I cried, my lip shaking and trembling even as he set his thumb against it.
“For what?” he laughed, wiping my tears away and drawing me into a beautiful kiss. “You did what you were told, for once,” he teased.
“I thought you were dead,” I bellowed.
“But I’m not,” he said and brushed his hand through my hair, pulling me down onto his chest. I embraced the warmth of him and knew from this moment on, I would never doubt him again.
“Thank goodness because… we have a lot to do,” I said with a bashful laugh. “Right?”
He nodded. “You got it.”
“I love you,” I said, breathing slower now. Happy to be back in the presence of the only real safety I had ever known.
A wry smirk tickled its way up his lips and with a wink in his tone he said, “It’s about time.
EPILOGUE
Tessoul
In the months that followed, Sidney and I had made a family together with another clan of humans far south. We’d taken a handful of women with us and returned to my base covertly to gather Karen, Tiffany, and their mates, along with a handful of other Vithohn who supported our cause.
Together, we would start a new family.
We’d agreed on scouting the land, going from human camp to human camp, scouting out wild Vithohn and those predisposed to listen to gather treaties of help: a warning of the war to come.
The current pack of humans we had taken up with were bunkered down in an abandoned hospital. It made for the perfect base: medical supplies, food, clean beds. It was perfect for us.
For now, at least.
“What do you think, champ?” Sidney said, bathed in sweat as she moved the hair from her forehead and smiled at me.
She was lying in a hospital bed, weak and impish and bursting with laughter.
I looked over at Stephania, our resident nurse, and she held a small newborn in her arms, murmuring with cries and a fresh take on the world.
I looked down at the child, holding it up in my hands and into the light. It looked just like her: imp nose and freckled cheeks and a mane of red curls. With my smooth skin and a small tentacle down her back.
My eyes brimmed with tears and I held back my emotion, partly so I could enjoy the moment with Sidney and partly because I knew she would make fun of me if I did.
Our mission was to set up a treaty system, readying our forces before the real Kilari invasion began. We had spent a year already going from town to town securing our allies.
I felt uneasy, the pull strong and growing more powerful every day, but I knew that Sidney could make everything better. She was my perfect other. My perfect partner.
So perhaps we would spend the next couple years on the move; fighting for our cause, but until then, I thought, there was no reason not to stop and have a family on the way.
“She’s perfect,” I said and kissed Sidney on her forehead, lifting our child up to her and showing her what we’d made together in love. “And so are you.”
The End
Nykon-Zenkian Warriors
By Maia Starr
Chapter 1
Amber Lynn
Gina and I were in my living quarters inside the Grantsion mountain base. We were drinking Inta and having a talk. Gina was human, like I was, but we were living among the Zenkian aliens on the Anvin planet, far from Earth.
“Do you want some more Inta?” Gina asked as she walked across the room. Her short blonde hair was in a bob, but it was curly. She was tall, with long, lean legs and a long body. She was opposite of my petite curvy body with brown hair.
“Yes, just a little bit more. We are going to have to return to work,” I said handing her my cup. It was made of a rich clay from the mountain and beautifully decorated with green and blue paint.
She poured about an inch of the liquid into my cup and handed it back to me. I poured water into it to dilute it a bit. It was like a rich wine, only stronger—much stronger.
“What are you going to do when you return to Earth?” she asked as she poured water into her cup as well and sat down at my table in my living quarters.
“Eat pizza,” I laughed. “A very greasy pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. I might eat two of them, actually,” I said.
“That sounds delicious. I miss pizza,” she said. “I miss pizza and cheeseburgers and all that crap.”
“What about you?” I asked. “What are you going to do when you return to our home planet?”
“Go see my parents, of course. I miss them,” she said sadly.
“I am sorry about that. My parents are long gone. I don't have any family at all on Earth. But I am still excited to return,” I said.
“Yes, me too. Can you believe that in six months we will be back on our own planet?” she said excitedly as she got up on her knees. Her wide smile was an expression of pure joy.
“It is hard to believe. I am really excited. I can't wait,” I said finishing off the Inta.
“So am I,” she said. “Stoked!”
“I am going to freshen up before we get back to work. Don't drink anymore. We can't have you drunk while attending to an injured soldier, now can we?” I said to her playfully.
I went to the washroom of my living quarters. It was small but functional, with all the essentials. The water poured out of a spout. It was crisp, clean mountain water, and it even tasted delicious.
I washed my face and rinsed my mouth a couple of times to try to cover the smell of the drink. Our supervisors, mainly a doctor that oversaw our work, did not want us drinking before returning to work, but what else could we do to cope with our situation? We were human females that were taken against our will to another planet and had been through a lot. Drinking helped with this uncomfortable reality, and I was not ashamed of it.
But the Zenkian aliens that we worked with now were not the ones that had abducted us.
We were abducted by the Waysaw Zenkian. They were red-skinned aliens that were mean and brutal. They took me from Earth against my will. They made me a slave in the Waysaw city. I was a slave for almost seven months before I escaped.
When I finally escaped, I made my way to the Grantsion village; we all knew they were an ally of Earth. We knew that they would provide safety to any human females that showed up in their territory. It was part of the agreement they had with Earth. So that was my goal, and I did not stop trying until I was successful. Now I was glad to be in the Grantsion Village; it was better than the brutal life that I lived with the Waysaw Zenkian.
But I still was not back on Earth. That was my ultimate mission. I wouldn't stop until I was able to return to my home planet. I was so close. I was doing everything that I could to make sure that I would be on the next voyage to Earth. I wanted to be off this planet and as far away from my abductors as possible. Even just thinking about them, the despicable couple that held me captive, made me nauseous. I had to force myself to stop thinking about it. I splashed my face with water again in order to erase it from my mind, then grabbed a cloth and dried off.
A couple of minutes later, I went back into the living area of my quarters. It was like a studio apartment. It was just one large room with a bed, a sitting area, and a small kitchen area with one large window that looked out over the Grantsion Village. It was a great view.
“All right; I am ready. Are you ready? I hope you didn't have another glass,” I said to her.
“I had a half a glass. Let me use your washroom to cover up the evidence,” she said as she walked past me. I laughed at her. “Yeah, but don’t be too long. We are going to be late, and you know how they hate that.”
I pulled on my boots, lacing up the straps. Then I pulled my brown hair into a high ponytail and then braided it tying it with strips of ribbon. My brown dress was very basic; it reminded me of burlap. But it was well-made, and it was suitable for being in this village and for the work that Gina and I did. It tied around my neck like a halter top and flowed all the way down to my ankles.
> Moments later, Gina and I walked across the village area. It was like a large plaza where the market was located, and it was the main gathering area of the Zenkian aliens. We weren't the only humans there. There were quite a few human females that had escaped from the Waysaw Zenkian and some that had come from Earth on purpose. Most of them were involved in the politics going on. But Gina and I had been captured by Waysaw against our will. Gina had been captured many years before me, but we had escaped around the same time, only months apart.
We went to the soldier training grounds. This was where Gina and I worked. You see, since I’d arrived at the Grantsion village, I had been put to work in exchange for my stay with the Grantsion aliens. My work involved being trained in what could be described as physical therapy or a nursing. Gina and I both saw to the injured soldiers that would come in from battles and skirmishes, but also from training accidents.
We were walking down the hallway to the treatment rooms. Just then, a Grantsion soldier walked out of the room with another soldier. They both looked at Gina and me up and down. I had never seen this soldier before in the months that I had been in the village. He was tall, just the way all of the Zenkian were, towering at almost nine feet. He had black and blue hair; the blue was in large streaks. His black eyebrows hovered over his light brown eyes; they were so light they looked almost looked translucent. It was his eyes that really caught my attention. He had the typical blue skin of a Grantsion Zenkian, and the tight gray uniform showed off his strong physique.
They walked away and down the hallway. Once they were out of sight, Gina and I looked at each other.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“I don't know. I have never seen him before. Have you seen him around?” I asked.
“No, I have not. But I would like to see him again,” Gina said playfully.
“You are so bad,” I said to her.
"I know. But you know the rules: the Grantsions Zenkian are not allowed to be intimate with human females, or they will be banished. It is completely different here than with the Waysaw, isn't it?” she said.
“Yes, it is. And I am thankful for that,” I said to her. “Come on let's get to work.”
Chapter 2
Commander Nykon Reev
Boom! Bam! Cling! The sound of our swords crashing together echoed in the training ground. I made a swipe at Rizim's feet; he jumped over it. He came back at me swinging towards my head, and I ducked and maneuvered behind him. We went at it for ten minutes, practicing. Rizim was a good soldier, but I was better.
"Nykon! Good work!” our trainer shouted.
We ended the fight. I shook Rizim's hand, and we moved off to the side of the training circle in order to let two other soldiers practice.
I took a large swig of water.
“That was good work. You really had me going there,” Rizim said.
“Yeah, you did too. I thought you were going to knock me out for a second,” I smiled at him.
“So how is it going with Neton?” he asked.
“Good. He spends most of the time with his mother, Keirin, and Telon,” I said not really wanting to talk about it.
“That must be hard,” Rizim said.
“It is. But he stays with me in my new dwelling from time to time. I am still his father after all. He is still my son,” I said.
“Yes, that is true, Nykon. Do not forget that,” he said as he gave me a pat on the back and walked away.
It had been hard since Keirin had left me for another soldier a year before. We were a family for years. We had a five-year-old son together. I thought that I would be with Keirin forever. But one day I found her having sex with Telon.
I had been scheduled to train soldiers all day, as I always did. But when I got to the training grounds, I was not feeling like myself. I had come down with some sort of illness; I thought that it was just something that would pass. But it was not.
“Nykon! Come here!” my superior the captain called me to him.
“Yes, Captain?” I asked.
“What was that? You are all over the place. You are here to teach, but you were showing sloppy technique. That is not your typical fighting and training skills,” he said.
“I know, Captain. I woke up feeling ill, but I thought it would pass,” I said wiping the sweat from my forehead. I was burning up, and it wasn't just because of the heat from training in the sun: I was sick.
“Then get out of here! You know the rule. You do not come to training if you are sick. I cannot have you getting the other soldiers sick. Go home,” he said and stomped away.
“Yes, Captain,” I said. I left training and walked back to my living quarters. I had not left training early in years. I was very strict with myself.
I walked into my living quarters. They were large, comprising of five large rooms. I had a son that was four-years-old, but he was at the school this time of day.
“Keirin, I am home. The captain sent me home. I am not feeling well,” I said as I walked in and put my equipment by the side of the door. There was no response from her.
“Keirin?” I asked again. Still no response. She must be in the market or around the village somewhere, I figured. I just wanted to take a shower and get into bed. I needed to sleep and sweat the fever away. I opened the door to our bedroom, and heard moaning as soon as I opened it.
“What the hell? Fuck!” I said as I saw my wife in a compromising position with another soldier.
“Nykon? What are you doing home?” she said as she grabbed the sheets against her.
I looked at the soldier and growled. “Get the fuck out of here!” I shouted.
He scrambled out of bed and grabbed his uniform. He walked out the door naked. I looked at Keirin, my heart broken. I walked back-and-forth trying to get rid of my rage. I could have killed the soldier.
“Why Keirin? What are you thinking? We are a family. Does loyalty mean nothing to you?” I said.
“I am sorry. You must forgive me,” she said.
“How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“I know I should not have done this,” she said beginning to cry.
“Answer my question, Keirin! How long have you been fucking that soldier?” I said with anger in my voice.
“Does it really matter?” she said.
“How long?” I shouted as loud as I could.
“Nine months, give or take,” she said.
I turned to her in shock. It was not the answer I was expecting. I expected her to say a couple weeks or two months, not almost a full year. I was in shock. She had been lying to me for nine months. For nine months she was not the person I thought she was. She was not my loving wife. She was a disloyal, cheating female. I was so angry. I did not know what to do.
I walked out of the bedroom. I could not stay there.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“That is none of your business. Anything I do is none of your business. You have ruined us!” I said.
I walked out and went to Rizim’s living quarters. He wasn't home; he was at training all day. But I knew the combination to get into his living quarters as we were close. I was glad for the fever because I would not have been able to sleep otherwise.
The Grantsions Zenkian were a loyal group, so it was shocking to find her cheating on me with another soldier.
After that, there was no coming back from that the betrayal. We separated and went our own ways. Keirin was now with Telon, but we shared in raising our son. I had him sometimes, but Keirin had him most of the time. She was his mother after all, and I was a soldier. I was often gone on missions, so it worked.
Now standing to the side as I drank some water taking a break from training, I thought of that moment. Even though more than a year had passed since that awful day.
“Nykon, I saw you out there. You are simply amazing,” a female Zenkian named Jessica said as she walked up to me.
“Thank you, Jessica. I did not know that you were watching,” I said knowing th
at she was flirting with me. I wasn't interested in her, or anyone at the moment, but I could indulge in a little flirtation every now and then.
“Yes, I came to refill the water holders. And I could not help but to watch you,” she said.
“That is a big compliment. Thank you. You will let me know if my skills become lacking,” I said.
“Yes, you work very hard. You deserve a hot meal. Perhaps you can come over tonight, and I can make you something hot,” she said flirtatiously.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I must decline,” I said as I walked away from her.
She was offended by my rejection, but I wasn't interested. I had to be honest. I was focused on my training and making sure that my skills were sharp. The Waysaw were always a threat. They invaded without warning. It had become worse since our village had become a sanctuary for human slaves that had run away from the Waysaw.
