by Maia Starr
CHAPTER TWELVE
COMMANDER CERIK HADE
“Be on the lookout for anything suspicious. We don't know what this potential virus looks like. So just keep any and all Draqua away from the water tanks. Ravinn is speaking with the King now, and I am sure he is going to double security. But I had to get over here as soon as possible just in case. I will need a water sample in order to get tested,” I said to one of the stationed guards. I knew all of the Draqua that were currently working, and they were to be trusted. One of them nodded in response, “Yes, Commander, right away.”
He went to get a large jug with a rope attached to it. He dumped it into the main water source. He closed the cap and handed it to me.
“Remember, be on the lookout. No one gets near this tank,” I said to them before I flew off in the direction of the king's palace.
“I am here to see the king; tell him it is Commander Cerik Hade,” I said to the guard on duty outside the palace.
Minutes later, I was walking into King Hydros’ chambers. Ravinn was still there.
“I have the water sample. I have given the guards at the water tank the warning. They are on the lookout,” I said, setting the sample on the table.
“Good. Yeqor is here to test the water,” the King said as he nodded at a Draqua that was waiting against the wall. We watched as he poured the water from the jug into various containers and began to do tests.
“You gave him the device with the file?” I asked Ravinn.
“Yes, he did. I must commend you on a mission well done, Commander. You will be rewarded for your efforts. You went through great pains to get it, and you succeeded,” King Hydros said to me.
“Thank you for your praise, my King,” I said as I nodded.
“It’s clean. I will take a copy of the file and analyze it. We will need to start working on a vaccine right away, just in case,” Yeqor said to the King. I was relieved that the water was clean.
“Good, go and do your work. Thank you, Yeqor,” the king said.
Yeqor left, and Ravinn and I were left with the king.
“If I may be dismissed, King, I have a newly arrived human female to attend to,” I said.
“Oh yes, the human female you used as bait. How is she adjusting? Did Ephane harm her?” the King asked.
“Not as far as I can tell,” I said.
“If she will have you in return, then she shall be your mate. I grant it. You deserve the reward for your work, and we will discuss your promotion to Captain,” the King said.
“Thank you, King Hydros,” I said with a nod and left. I flew back to the village. It was then that I saw Maria leaving the healer’s hut. Hekan was leading her across the bridges. I stayed at a distance and watched. I knew that Ravinn gave him orders to see Maria to an empty hut, but not the healers. Why was she there?
I waited and watched as Hekan showed her inside a hut. They were in there a few minutes with the door closed, and my jealousy was starting to get the better of me. Why was he taking so long to come out? He did not even need to go inside! I was beginning to fill with rage. But then Hekan finally emerged from the hut and flew off. I sighed in relief.
I flew to the hut and landed outside on the platform. I was not thinking straight. I was in a rage after seeing Hekan with Maria. Why were they at the healer hut? They were keeping a secret. I barged right into the hut. Maria let out a scream. I looked and saw that she was in the tub. She sat up quickly and grabbed a piece of cloth and put it across her body. But it was too late. I already got an eyeful of her beautiful and plump breasts. Flashes of her underneath me as I took her came back to me. I felt my cock growing hard. Only an instant of seeing her naked flesh was all that it took.
“Cerik! What the hell are you doing?” she shouted at me.
She was wet. Her long brown hair was drenched and sticking to her beautiful face. The cloth she was using was now drenched and sticking to her wet body in the water. It was hard to restrain myself and not get in that tub with her.
“What were you doing at the healer?” I asked.
“How did you know? Were you spying on me?” she narrowed her eyes at me.
“No, I came to check on you and saw you leaving the healer with Hekan,” I said.
“I just had a headache is all, and he offered to take me to the healer,” she said. I could tell that she was not telling me the truth. I took a step toward her.
“Don’t come any closer,” she said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“I don’t want you near me,” she said.
“You’re are still angry with me. How many times must I apologize that I did not tell you about the mission? I could not. You must see that,” I said.
“No. I don’t. You can apologize until you are blue in the face and it won’t matter,” she said.
“Blue in the face?” I asked.
“It’s an expression. Now get out. I just want to enjoy my bath and relax. I need to sleep,” she said.
I felt guilty once more. She was tired and not feeling well, and it was my fault. I cared for her, and I wanted her to be comfortable. I knew that I really cared for her because the old Cerik would not care for these things and would march straight over to that tub and join her. I would seduce her until she was begging me to fuck her. But I wasn’t going to do that now.
“There should be food there,” I said pointing to the food preparation area. “The water has been cleared. There is not a virus in it, so it is safe for drinking,” I said as I got one last look at her. She was not budging. She was being stubborn and headstrong.
“I will check on you later, Maria,” I said.
“Don’t. I don’t need you checking on me. I just need you to leave me alone,” she said.
I wanted to argue with her. She did need me. She was alone on an alien planet damn it! But I did not. I turned and walked out the door, closing it behind me. There was a lot of sexual tension and anger built up inside of me. I needed to cool off. I ran and dove off the platform and spread my wings wide. I soared in the air and made my way out to the ocean. I flew fast and hard and dove straight into the water. I don't down into the depths; I needed a good hard swim. I spread my wings and push the water behind me over and over as I swim through the deep. Seeing the various life forms of my beautiful planet was good for me. It gave me a sense of calm. I stayed in the water for a long time before I finally emerged and shot straight into the air. The sun was beginning to set. The thoughts of Maria still raced through my mind. I could still see her naked in that tub.I could still feel her as I pushed my cock inside of her. It was enough to make a dragon insane. What the hell was she doing at the healers really? I knew exactly who would know the answer. I needed to go find Hekan. I swam over the crashing ocean waves, zigzagging up and down. I flew toward the village and to the warrior barracks. There I found Hekan working on the closing responsibilities of a mission. I landed in front of him.
“Hekan, I need to speak to you,” I said marching to him.
“Yes, Commander, what is it?” Hekan said as he put the box down.
I whispered, “What was Maria doing at the healers? Why did you take her there?”
He was quiet, and I could see a bit of panic in his eyes. Then he calmly said, “She was not feeling well. Her stomach was bothering her, and I offered to take her there. That is all,” he said.
Maria said she had a headache, and Hekan was saying that she had stomach problems. They were both lying. Their lies did not match. I wanted to punch the truth out of him.
“Commander,” Ravinn said as he flew down and stood next to us. It was probably obvious that there was tension between Hekan and I and once again Ravinn was stepping in.
“Yes, Ravinn?”
“The King has doubled the security at the water tanks. I think our mission is done for now. I told him about the preparations you saw on the space station and how you think that it could be preparations for a battle or an invasion. First thing tomorrow the barracks will be prepared for such an
invasion. For now, our mission is complete.”
“That is good to know,” I said.
“Did you check on Maria? How is she adjusting?” Ravinn asked.
“She is not feeling well,” I said looking at Hekan. He looked away.
“It is a hard adjustment for any human. Perhaps I shall have Amelia visit her in the morning. Maria will need her rest tonight. But Amelia is a friendly face, and she has been through this before, years ago. I think it is always best for a new human arrival to be greeted by another human; it will make her feel better.”
“I think that is an excellent idea, Ravinn. Thank you,” I said, knowing it was exactly what Maria needed.
“Speaking of Amelia, I have been away from my wife for too long. I will go to her now. Hekan, will you go to the water tanks and make sure that everything is in order right now?” Ravinn said.
“Yes, on my way,” Hekan said as he stepped away from us and then flew away. I knew that Ravinn had given him the order in order to put space between us. It was probably for the best. I knew that he was hiding something and I did not know what. But I was going to find out.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MARIA COVALLOS
I pulled myself from the tub and dried off with the cloth. I could not believe that Cerik had barged in like that. What was worse was that he saw me leaving the healer. He was now very suspicious. But what bothered me was that being naked and wet in the tub and seeing him in Dragon form had turned me on instantly. It took every fiber of my being to turn him away. Half of me wanted him to ignore me and pull me into his arms. I would have kissed him back. I would have melted against him. But the worry took over me. It was easier for me to be mad at him, that way it was easier to keep him at a distance. I did not want to fall for him more than I already had, and being intimate with him one more time would do just that for me. If I fell for him more and then he found out that I had the virus and could not give him offspring, then he would reject me. I could not handle that rejection. So, for now, I had to keep him away from me until I found out for sure whether or not Ephane gave me that damn virus.
I moved around the hut looking through various things. Then I opened a panel on the wall, and I was surprised to find clothing in there, there were many sheer dresses, just like the one that I had. But they had many different colors. I chose a purple one.
“But what the hell do they wear underneath this?” I said looking at my bikini on the floor. I was sick of wearing that. I continued to look through the closet area and found what looked like a mini skirt, almost like the loincloth that the warriors wore. I held it up. Then I found another piece of cloth that was thinner and tied. I realized that it was almost like a tube top. I put the loincloth on and then the top. Then I pulled the sheer dress over it. I hoped that I had figured this out right.
I went to the food area and grabbed some fruit and placed it on a tray. I took it over to the window and stood there snacking on the delicious fruit. It was early evening. The sun had already set, but there was still a light glow of light. I looked out over the village. I could hear a lot of laughter and commotion and a few fires burning. I looked down and thought that I could see humans, but it was hard to tell at the height that I was at. I looked at the sky and saw a few hybrid dragons flying around. But then I dropped the piece of fruit as I saw something that I was not expecting. I saw a full dragon flying around. It was not a half-man, half-dragon like the rest of them. There was nothing man about it. It was a full Dragon, just like the kind that I had seen in fairy tales.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered to myself.
Then I changed the direction of where I was looking and noticed that there were lots of complete dragons flying around. It was absolutely beautiful to watch, and I smiled realizing that I truly was on an alien planet. I moved back inside the hut and lay down on the bed. I felt exhaustion coming over me. I had been through a lot, and there were still more to come. I fell asleep quickly and deeply.
The next morning I woke up sort of expecting that Cerik would be sitting there watching me sleep, but he was not. I sighed and got up from the bed. I washed up and then went to the food prep area. I was sick of fruit and needed something heartier. I drank some water and wondered how I could get down to the village. I could not fly after all.
Knock. Knock.
I smiled and quickly pushed my hair back. I was excited that Cerik was checking up on me. Of course I was not going to let him know that. I opened the door. But Cerik was not standing there.
“You are human,” I whispered in disbelief.
“Yes, I am,” the woman smiled. She was petite with red hair and blue eyes. She was lovely.
I hugged her. I was so excited to see another human. She laughed.
“I completely understand what you are feeling. I felt the same way when I first came here.”
“I am so happy to see another human!” I said.
“My name is Amelia Sanders Keed. I am the wife of Ravinn Keed. I thought I would introduce myself and take you down to the village to eat,” she said.
“Yes! I am ready. I am sick of fruit,” I said as I walked out onto the platform and closed the door behind me. I got a quick look at her outfit and realized I had put the clothing on correctly. She was wearing the same thing as I was, only in red and white.
“Come, I will show you down,” she said leading the way to the bridge.
“I was wondering how to get down from here,” I said. “I was flown up here.”
She laughed. “Yes, it is interesting, isn’t it? To live in the trees?”
“Beautiful, but strange,” I said.
She led me over two bridges and then to a massive tree with an arch on the side. We walked inside the tree and there was a massive spiral staircase that led down. It was exquisite.
“The communal kitchens and eating areas are over there, I will show you them later, but for now we are going to go check on my son. He will help feed us,” she said with a vibrant smile.
“Son? You have a son? As in a…”
“Yes, a hybrid son. Ravinn and I have a son. He is only seven years of age, and he is the joy of my life. He is special too; he acquired some of the powers that a few of the Draqua are able to have with they breed with humans,” she said.
“What?!” I said shocked. “What powers?” I said.
She laughed. “You are still very new. Some Draqua have been able to tap into the untapped areas of the human brain and have powers like reading minds, the power of persuasion, and more.”
“And your son can read minds?”
“No, he has telekinetic powers. He can move objects with his mind. You will see.”
“That is incredible,” I said.
“Yes, yes it is,” she said.
A few minutes later we were out of the village on the sands of the shoreline. It was my first close-up look at the crystal-clear waters. It was stunning. We continued walking along the beach and I felt like this would be something that would cost lots of money to enjoy on Earth, like a luxury vacation. It was still very early, and I wondered if that was why there were very few Draqua about. There was a boat on the water in distance being pulled onto the sand by some Draqua and children. It looked like it was made from a giant tree trunk.
“Good morning, Pila!” Amelia shouted to them.
“Mother!” a younger Draqua shouted and ran to her.
“Good morning, Amelia!” the elder Draqua shouted back.
“That is Pila,” she said to me. Then the child made it to her and hugged her tightly. “And this is Daken Keed. My child. Daken, this a new friend Maria.”
“Hello, Maria. Mother, I caught a massive fish!” he said excitedly.
“Oh good. I have come to eat and share with Maria. Should we have a cookout on the beach?” she said playfully to the child.
“Yes!” he shouted and then ran back to Pila. “Pila! We will have a cookout for breakfast!”
Pila smiled at us and nodded as we walked over.
> “Good morning! Come!” the Draqua named Pila said with a smile. This friendliness and seeing Amelia with her offspring touched my heart in a way that was so profound. I knew this could be me in the future. This was what Cerik wanted for us, and why he chose me. But now it was possible that I would never be able to give him offspring. I held back a tear.
