FERAL FEVER
By
Skhye Moncrief
© copyright by Skhye Moncrief, April 2011
Cover Art by Eliza Black, April 2011
ISBN 978-1-60394-493-9
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
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Dedication
To Melinda who really needs to get back to writing.
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Chapter One
(Earth year 2013 AD)
Knives became my friend years ago in Egypt. I didn't like leaving them behind. But I had enough sense not to question my commander about weapons and what I didn't see while staring through the shuttle craft's window across the burning sands ending at the base of the mountain where my superior officer swore a wormhole connected planet Slaken to the world of the Luvks. Or so an Earth girl reasoned. But Aisling Bjorn wasn't on Earth anymore and reason had been cast out the window with a proverbial bucket when I bailed on my home world about a year ago. Especially when Commander Goro had insisted we leave our knives in the shuttle today. Better to gulp back my questions and observe over Goro's shoulder where he toyed with the space shuttle's controls.
Surely the gateway was there in the glinting face of the blood red sedimentary rock. My vision just couldn't detect whatever indicated its presence. But this singular point in the universe was where we intended to walk into another dimension. Or something equally bizarre. Rarely did scientific explanations make sense after I joined the Order of the Marshals a year ago in that Big Apple New Age bar, The Awakening, because there really wasn't a scientific explanation for this wormhole. It merely existed, according to my psychic superiors.
And who could demand more explanation when you just woke up one day in a crazy dream that defied all the logic a girl absorbed studying the rise and fall of civilizations in archaeology? After all, the last thing archaeologists believed was that extraterrestrials built anything on Earth. Or that aliens even existed at all. But nobody on earth, including archaeology, knew about the Blood Wars or the extraterrestrials who made appearances in Earth legends as werewolves and vampires.
So, joke's on me. A secret doorway was about to lead my team into an alternate universe where cat-like people required a were-assassin Marshal to help them coexist with the winged beings here on this side of the portal, on planet Slaken. Since both populations are telepathic, meaning composed of higher-evolved psychics, my earthling peer and I, lesser-evolved psychics, will bond perfectly with the populations to complete were-assassin bonds. So, I'm going to become a were-wolf…
"How do you feel, Aisling?" Goro asked me in his calming half whisper of a voice without turning away from the shuttle's control panel.
"Ready to go."
"Like change knocks at your door?"
Yes, especially because my door is that I'm psychic. Or so The Marshals swear my powers of healing make me so. But I can't control my power. Even better, I'm going to intermarry with one of these higher-evolved psychics to create a political alliance through marriage. Why? Marshals have the upper hand in sheltered thoughts because were-wolves have impenetrable minds like lesser-evolved psychics. Like me. So, no mind control and a whole lot of terrifying power lay in my future.
"Just remember, the Luvks are matriarchal," Goro noted. "Their society is ruled by seven queens whose sons form a Royal Guard for each matriarch. But the provinces war among themselves. Adding healers to the picture instead of psychics who can remote view or kick butt with telekinesis should buffer the friction between warring groups by saving the wounded without causing conflict in interfering in other ways." Goro's tall black-leather-clad form climbed out of the pilot's seat. "That's what will keep you alive on Luvk."
But what I don't understand is why me? Goro's wife always said I shouldn't open a tuna fish can let alone touch a bleeding person until I learned to manage my psychic power.
"Let's go." Goro shot me a stoic glance before sliding his commanding gaze to my peer Johnson and strode across the shuttle's sterile metal interior. "Let's not keep the warriors waiting."
For some reason, I couldn't conjure a picture of these cat warriors in my mind. I'd never been one to gravitate toward vampires, werewolves, or cat people in fiction. I was a sci-fi girl. My thoughts were always on things lost to time and how they worked into the natural order of bigger things as well as how they had become lost to time. Science. Scientific mysteries are my passion. And one stared me down. That's probably why I was so gung ho about leaping through this invisible portal.
Goro headed toward the gaping sun-lit hatch, his long black hair swinging with purpose.
Finally. I shoved into the commander's shadow, throwing my light backpack of personal items over my shoulder, and followed him into the warm sunlight.
Bringing a couple things from home had been a silly act in grasping at my childhood baggage. But something comforting lay in the few pieces of clothing, a paperback novel-just in case I have a child so far from home and want to teach him to read and write his mother's tongue-a postcard image of Earth I lugged along for posterity. So, call me sentimental. The postcard was my adult equivalent of a teddy bear or security blanket. But the point is that I'm fully aware of the point.
Goro's swinging tails of his long black leather coat lured me toward the accumulated bits and chunks of debris at the mountain's base.
Time to experience something no other scientist would ever experience back on earth.
My heart squeezed out a tiny cringe.
For joy or fear? I'd been in space about a year now. Nothing short of amazing had happened. I landed a seat at the head of class in Marshal Law and everything in cultural studies from Quadrant One to Twelve they had managed to cram into one year. An anthropologist couldn't grumble about one second of said year. But now I headed into the unknown. Like an exalted Mayan volunteer who'd been wined and dined for a year but faced the ritual blade that would flay his hide into a priest's cloak as he became the symbol of fertility, the Xipe Totec. This was it. My future. Aisling Bjorn literally died today on her home side of the gateway in an act of sacrifice for humanity. Well, planet Luvk's humanity.
A stone hit the heel of my boot.
"Sorry," Johnson muttered.
Was he a better choice to marry into the Luvk society? The Luvks were warriors, combative, and always one wing shy of winning a fray. Apparently they could hold their own enough to operate independently of the Slakens. But Johnson was probably the best candidate for working with the Luvks. He could heal a wound with one touch resulting in a momentary flash of light that looked like the lights flickered. Me, I struggle to focus my psychic energy only to drive it all into a person and suck myself dry. I always collapsed into an unconscious heap afterward. The Luvks will think I'm weak. Most likely useless. Johnson was the best bet to secure a strong Marshal presence among the newly liberated colonials. But that left the elitist bastards for me to contend with. I just couldn't decide what the best option is for The Cause.
Goro stepped up to a grainy red stone wall, never paused, and disappeared through what appeared to be solid rock.
Maybe the commander had some kind of psychic power associated with his vision. I don't know. But I closed my eyes, gripped my backpack straps beside my armpits, and just followed in his footsteps without missing a beat. Two steps later, someone grabbed my elbow.
"You're here, Aisling," Goro said.
At the risk of looking like a fragile terrified female, I opened my eyes.
The most beautiful forest of green raced upward
across a mountain toward rocky barren peaks in the blue sky. "It's like earth." I sucked in a deep breath.
"In landscape, yes." Goro pointed to my left.
To at least a dozen extraterrestrial humanoids lined up before a tree line, standing on the edge of a grassy meadow. Luvks. All were menacing, striped like tigers, wearing enormous shield-shaped metallic masks above a metallic o-ring with black leather lacing for a halter. Or something that had to serve solely as some decorative clothing instead of functional armor sparingly covering their broad chests. But their black pants made the warriors a sight to behold. Someone in all her infinite wisdom dressed these males in pants that had almost completely open sides. Something along the lines of chaps. The gaping sides of each pant leg were strapped together with small black tabs, probably leather, just enough to make the pants functional but show off the musculature and striping on each man's legs. Cap off the perfect picture with knee-high black boots and this display of power and beauty was only overshadowed by the intimidating metal mask each of the warriors wore.
These guys were dark. Deadly warriors.
"Now this is a planet," Johnson sighed.
The warriors didn't seem to notice Johnson's compliment. But how could anyone tell without their facial expressions to factor into the mix? The warriors just stood there, waiting. The one in the middle stood quite a bit taller than the others. The three long horns lined across the top of their masks only made him appear taller still. His height probably won him a lot of respect.
For the most part, they looked identical. Massive arm muscles, the kind a girl could wrap herself up inside and nap away the day. But that's just a detail worth noting because these guys had yet to reveal their perspectives on life. A little menacing presentation didn't tell anyone squat about the Luvks other than outsiders needed to walk very carefully over this planet's smoldering coals the Slaken's couldn't extinguish.
"You left your knives on the shuttle, correct?" Goro asked.
Now, that wasn't something I wanted to recall. "Yes." But these warriors looked like they could take care of a few aliens on their turf. As long as they were on our side all would be fine.
Johnson nodded his reply.
Goro turned to the warriors. "Greetings, Borun."
Across the few hundred yards of boulders and grass separating them, the tallest warrior nodded and threw an arm backward, waving behind him.
Apparently, he was in charge.
The other warriors turned and disappeared into the trees.
The motion provided an excellent view of the stripes on their backs. I couldn't see any indication of fur. Grant it, quite a distance separated us. Nor did I detect tails. Each man had dominant black striping. But their other stripes were a color ranging from a vibrant orange to a dull gold or white. All the patterning appeared like a genetic tattoo. Or these guys spent a lot of time under the needle. And they each had bluntly cut hair pulled back in a queue. The hairstyle made sense given they wore masks. Although, a person would expect functional masks to cover the backs of the warriors' heads as well. These masks did not and left their purpose a mystery.
The tall Luvk, Borun, quickly walked toward us. Strong muscled arms swinging to maintain his pace, his stature demanding we take note. Quite a bit over six feet tall, he cast a long shadow when he stopped before Goro and scanned the shorter Johnson from head to toe.
"This is Marshal Johnson, Borun." Goro's calm cool voice smoothed over any friction between the two males during the Luvk's assessment.
Borun's gaze snapped back to Johnson's, and the Luvk nodded once.
That movement seems to be the standard universal acknowledgement between males.
Borun's brown gaze coolly slid to mine and paused, for a moment as if drawn to something in my eyes, then he assessed my person. Hopefully just my attire. But something told me by the slight pause of his gaze at my breasts and hips that he was studying me for other reasons.
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Chapter Two
"Aisling, I'd like you to meet Prince Borun," Goro stated with that almost whisper of his deep calming voice.
Why had my bad ass alien boss gone from Johnson's formal introduction to making mine more intimate? Screaming sexual harassment wasn't going to get me anywhere.
Borun's gaze snapped back to mine, to consider something with a glint, then pulled away to Goro. "The female won't be safe until we reach Queen Ishan's palace. She rides with me."
Just what in the hell was going on out here in an alternate dimension, or whatever where this warrior spoke perfect English? Or am I lighting a match to burn my bra? I could use a little bit of goddamned respect.
Borun pivoted, his orange and black slashed body revealing movement at the tree line.
The warriors had returned riding large dog creatures. Or something equally formidable. Okay, so maybe I didn't want to ride a monster alone. Yet. Even a dog-thing or whatever they were. These beasts' muzzles weren't wide enough to resemble bears. But I wasn't going to quibble over which animal they resembled most when these creatures could obviously rip me to pieces with their canines. Something about their heads reminded me of the were-form Marshals transformed into. But on four feet instead of two. Strength. Terror. A few memory flashes from the past year were just what it took to send my gaze racing back to my boss.
Goro waved us on to join the Luvks.
Well, here goes my big anthropological adventure.
* * * *
Borun wasn't certain what lunacy unfolded around him as he headed to his war mount, Jonner. But something went terribly wrong, he thought. This female looked like my sister from a distance, in every detail down to her black leather boots, pants, and long sleeved white shirt. Up close, anyone who'd seen Frenyl would know Aisling was not the princess. They'd see her for what she was-a Marshal-and take her for what she could be-a mate simply because there were so few noble females of marriageable age among the provinces. But the fact these Marshals presented new alliance opportunities for each clan meant every Queen wanted her son to be chosen to mate into the power and prestige associated with these off-world beings who promised to end the sky demon raids.
But this female changed political games here on Luvk. Now any Royal Guard could vie to land among her consorts, representing his realm and queen among her mates. Her mates could then sway her choices in dealing with the seven realms. Would she be strong enough to see outside the desires of her mates? Or would she buckle to their whims leaving Luvk clans even more at odds with each other? But a Royal Guard's problems only just began. He could convince her to request him for one of her mates or kidnap her to eliminate the decision.
The sound of crunching grass behind me noted the Marshals followed me.
Extremely wise. Surely, the forest crawled with princes out to steal away with that female. I would be to blame if Mother didn't have the right to choose between adding the male to her consorts or mating off one of her sons to Aisling. Given the Marshal's pale skin, flowing white hair, and blue eyes, Mother might just choose one of her high-caste sons to breed more high-caste granddaughters for political marriages with Aisling instead of taking the wormy male into her royal bed. I wouldn't put it past Mother to have planned to use Aisling in that manner all along. There was no telling what passed between Goro and the Queen during their private discussions.
Mother was conniving enough to have arranged for Aisling to come if Goro had mentioned her skin, hair, and eye color. I met Jonner's red gaze, grabbed the pommel of war mount's saddle, and hopped into the saddle's firm seat high above the ground.
Harin waited nearest on his war beast.
Would the others balk with the female among them? I reached out with my mind to mindspeak to my half brothers. "The female rides with me. You and Clor take the males. We must move quickly. Two days' ride is too long with her in tow."
"I heard that," Goro said, moving toward Harin, reaching up for a handhold to climb up behind Borun's half brother. "What do you mean? You can tell me. The other Marshals don
't mindspeak. You won't alarm Aisling." Goro turned to Johnson. "Give her a hand into the saddle."
The slight weight of the female settled in behind me comfortably as if she'd always ridden with me.
The fit she managed more easily than her uncomfortable glance. I should have been more charismatic. Mother always told me my charm was what would win me a mate. Since when did I listen to her? At least the little hitch in the female's heartbeat I'd heard back when I walked up to her was gone. Maybe she merely feared me now. All the better. The last thing I want is to have anything to do with Mother's manipulation. She could mate off one of her Pure Hearts to the Marshal and torture that unfortunate prince with a ruler's interference. Better him than me. I shot Goro a stare. "She is of highest caste in appearance. There will be trouble."
"I wish your mother would have told me that instead of encouraging I bring a female with Aisling's coloration." Goro seemed to frown.
But Goro probably feigned the gesture. The commander had a way about him that all the Royal Guards used to move through Luvk society. One never knew what to expect from the sugared lips of a Royal Guard until it was too late to escape.
The female sat quietly, watching me over my shoulder.
By the twinkle in her dangerous sky blue eyes, it was only a matter of time before she tasted power and tormented her own harem. And a harem she would be forced to take once the provinces heard of her beauty. The real test of my duty would be delivering the prize at my back before every prince in the seven realms descended upon me. Why do I feel like Mother sent me on my last quest? I kneed my mount in the ribs.
Jonner hopped into his anxious trot indicating his readiness to move on.
The female's palms fell on my back, seared my skin with a softness I'd rather not remember. Gods' torment, I did not even want to begin thinking about her as anything other than my charge.
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