Axxeon King's Captive

by Liz Paffel

  Tryllin put a hand to his ear and nodded, said something she couldn’t hear. His body tensed as he spoke to someone communicating through the headset he wore, the portal wavering a bit as his arm went tight.

  “Quixx, they are coming. Hahn and the team are driving them here.”

  Jahtal stepped forward with her arms crossed. “Shall I head to the Command center, my King?”

  “No,” he said hurriedly. “Ensure the holding cells are ready. We’re not coming back empty handed.”

  She nodded and looked between Alora and the portal. Suddenly, a crash broke through the lab. Priya backed up, looking around wildly as both men jumped in front of her, pulling what looked like guns from their weapons belts. Tryllin touched his fingers to the side of his helmet and a face mask dropped over his face, followed by a sparkling blue-green energy shield washing over his body. Quixx followed suit. A crash followed by a roar and a flurry of black took over the portal. Hulking bodies encased in what looked like a hard shell with a thick tube running from the base of the skull to the center of their back materialized in the room.

  “Nozing.” Jahtal spat the word, her feet going apart, her spine straight and elbows bent as if she were preparing to fight.

  The aliens were so close, Alora cringed as they moved, hoping they weren’t going to pop through the portal. Tryllin reached behind him and slung his arm forward, a slender, intimidating weapon strapped to his forearm. A ball of light blasted from it, hitting a Nozing in the center of the chest and driving it backward onto the floor. It lay motionless, but two more filled the space ad rushed at the King.

  The room became a flurry of flashing lights, booms, grunts and the electric sound of energy revving up. Alora desperately sought out Priya, finding her in the corner, her hand shaking as she reached for the button on her collar.

  The view screen went blank. With a growl, Jahtal bent her arm with a thrust and shook the device on her arm. Nothing.

  “We’ve lost signal. Don’t worry; the Nozing will not best our King. They will make it back safely.”

  Alora had nothing to base that proclamation on, yet the words were somewhat comforting. Thinking of Priya in the middle of an alien battle made her stomach turn sour. Her friend was a scientist and a foodie, a lover of romantic comedy and Japanese candy. Even if the Axxeon gave her a weapon, she wouldn’t know what to do with it any more than Alora would.

  “Priya isn’t a fighter.”

  “She is today.” Jahtal headed to the door. “Come with me.”

  Alora didn’t hesitate to follow, rushing to keep up with the other woman’s long-legged stride and haste. They walked into a room that clearly looked like a command center. Large screens lined the walls 360, the middle of the room layered with workstations sporting tech that appeared to be some kind of flat glass-top computers. Grids and maps hung in the air, workers speaking in low voices as the watched the monitors. The screen directly in front of them showed what appeared to be body-cam type footage from her lab.

  Priya was encapsulated in some kind of energized cage. Around her, both Axxeon men wielded weapons and the floor was littered with the intimidatingly dark bodies of their enemy. To the far left stood a group of men, all dressed like Tryllin and Quixx, several of them holding prisoners with glowing yellow ligatures around their arms and necks.

  “Good,” Jahtal said, relief thick in her voice. “The Prince and his men arrived in time. They will be returning soon. Let’s go.” The woman paused with a look back at Alora. “Do I need to cuff you?”

  Alora’s lips parted. She was being given the option, meaning, Jahtal must trust her a little bit. “No.”

  Jahtal didn’t wait and Alora hurried double time to follow down a maze of hallways and into a set of double doors with a hall that lead steadily down, down beneath the Earth. Hazy yellow lights turned on as they walked, their hue seeming to fracture in Alora’s eyes. Pain beat at her temples as she became dizzy and nauseous.

  “I’m sorry for your discomfort. The lights are designed to cause spatial confusion and disorientation. It is the same technology in the cuffs that you wear. If a prisoner were to escape, he’d be too disoriented to leave the tunnel. This way. Cover your eyes and hold onto me.”

  Positive she was going to be sick, Alora grabbed the waist of Jahtal’s skirt and clenched her eyes, thinking about each step to be sure she didn’t fall. A sudden rush of cool air and sensation of being closed in said they’d moved from the tunnel. She opened her eyes to a room lined with cells featuring bars that glowed with a neon yellow electricity, similar in hue to the lights in the hall. The space was otherwise sparse, save for a large metal table and chairs in the middle. She hugged herself as an all-consuming chill wrapped around her. Making a perusal of the room, she noticed the cells contained a narrow cot with one blanket—not nearly enough for a cold place like this— and an overhead light that shone with the same disorienting yellow hue as those in the hall. She turned and noticed the last cell on the left offered a bigger bed, a pile of blankets and a desk, chair and small wardrobe. A few pots of succulents sat on the desk, and the overhead light was a soft white instead of yellow.

  Jahtal saw her looking.

  “Why is this cell so different from the others?” Alora hugged herself harder as the room seemed to chill more. The Axxeon woman tapped on the comm device on her wrist.

  “It was supposed to be yours before the King decided to have you closer to the lab.”

  “Mine?” She shivered as the word popped out of her mouth. To think, she could have been put down here, at the end of a tunnel, in a room barely above freezing. For how long? The rest of her life?

  Tryllin was bringing enemy captives here, yet she was no better in his eyes for some reason. Not if he’d intended to house her here, in the same discomfort and solitude in which he kept his enemies. Maybe he’d tried to dress up her cell, give her a few more creature comforts, but the idea behind his intent was the same.

  She. Was. His. Captive. She’d allowed him to touch her body, to spank her! And she’d allowed herself to enjoy it, momentarily forgetting that he wasn’t human, and he certainly didn’t have any soft feelings for her. He was using her, her mind and if she let him, probably her body. The entire purpose of human women being brought here was to breed babies for Axxeon warriors. But not her. The King had said she wasn’t supposed to be part of the Summons, that it had been a mistake. No, he wanted her to create a weaponry delivery system. Not his child. So, what would happen to her once she was done with her task?

  “What is the expression on your face?” Jahtal cocked her head.

  “It freaks me out to think I was going to be imprisoned down here.”

  “So, that expression is, ‘freaked out’?”

  “I suppose, yes. I can’t see my own face, so, I don’t know what you see.”

  “It looks like this,” Jahtal said as she widened her eyes, furrowed her brow and made a weird, crooked frown. “I am trying to learn more about human facial expressions, to know what they are feeling, since I will be helping the Summoned become accustomed to their new, temporary home here.”

  Alora had a flashing thought of Pasha. “Will the women be… imprisoned in a place like this?”

  Jahtal gave a start. “Of course not. They will be housed with their new mates on Axxeon 9.”

  “So, only me, then.”

  The Axxeon gave a wan smile. “The King has plans for you.”

  Just then, the door opened, and heavy footfalls stomped in, followed by shuffling and grunting. She spun, her heart catching in her throat. Tryllin stopped before her, intimidating and impressive in his battle suit, his eyes dark and brilliant at the same time. His hair was mussed as if someone had been running their fingers through it, his lips hard, yet sensual. She let out a breath, drinking him in as if she suddenly couldn’t get enough.

  He locked gazes with her, and the side of his mouth twitched before he looked away.

  Behind him, Axxeon warriors pushed in a group of humanoi
ds bound together in glowing chains. A few had their helmets off, revealing startling human-like features, but it was hard to get a good look as they shuffled along, heads down, long, stringy dark hair hanging around their shoulders.

  Tryllin waved a hand at someone behind him. “Strip each to their bare skin so I can see what mutations they’ve done.”

  The Nozing were pushed forward, a wall of Axxeon behind them. Alora looked away, her heart pounding as a warrior stepped in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. He tapped his fingers to the side of his helmet and the face shield disappeared, revealing strong, handsome features so like Tryllin’s.

  “This is her, brother?” He said without taking his eyes from hers.

  “Yes.”

  “You are sure?” The man’s hand snaked to her left side. Alora gasped and jerked back. He grinned and narrowed his eyes.

  “I marked her myself, Hahn. It is her.”

  Her jaw began to tremble. That was it! This was the second time it was implied that these aliens had done something to her. Ripping herself away from the man’s grip, she crossed her arms and tried to hold back tremors.

  The King moved to her in the blink of an eye, gripping her arm and spinning her. Warmth beaded where he held her, her body tingling all over.

  “Look,” he demanded, pointing her at the row of Nozing prisoners. Bile lurched into her throat at what stared back at her. “You will pick two for your experiments.”

  “What?” She looked at him in disbelief. “What experiments?”

  He looked down at her as if she were slow.

  “How will you know if the device you create for the xerron-G is effective if you don’t test it?”

  “Why don’t you test it yourself?”

  Tryllin pulled her quickly to him, her body slamming up against his. His grin was tight and challenging. “You are testing me, little human. Remember how your ass hurt the last time you spoke back to me? I will triple it if you keep up this behavior. Is that what you desire?”

  He let her go and she smoothed her hands over her hips. Maybe she did… but she’d never admit it. Not to him.

  Chapter Ten

  Alora didn’t look pleased at his gift.

  Handing over two of his most hated enemy instead of killing them with his bare hands was difficult, but it needed to be done. She needed to test the xerron-G against their biology to be sure they hadn’t modified some type of immunity to it.

  Considering every Nozing had been wearing respiratory protection, and they all appeared sickly and weakened, he doubted they’d given themselves protection against much. They were concerned about the viruses and bacteria on Earth that might pose an infection risk. The Axxeon were susceptible to little. Aside from the virus that wiped out their women, their immunities were like a superpower, warding off insidious diseases that killed lesser humanoids. The Nozing had never been biologically strong, hence their urgency to genetically modify themselves for strength and health.

  Whatever they were doing was failing. The men before him were mutant patchworks, nearly unrecognizable from the Nozing species he knew as a child. Their skin was a mosaic of textures and patterns, looking to be several species’ skin growing at random, their flesh lumpy as if new limbs or enhancements had started to grow and failed. Prominent ridges along their spines suggested modifications to enhance spinal strength gone wrong, craniums turned to misshapen domes where, likely, bigger brains didn’t grow. Matted hair grew in various lengths on their oddly shaped heads, prominent foreheads leading to wide noses covered in scales.

  They were all… monsters.

  All save for one.

  “You,” Tryllin said, stepping forward. He stopped wide-legged in front of a Nozing who looked the way Tryllin remembered. Broad chest, narrow abdomen with ten bands of muscle criss crossing over the length, huge arms and thighs. His torso, back and arms were covered in close lying, interlocking gray scales, the length of his spine slightly raised where larger protective scales protected bone. His hair was long and nearly white, pale eyes wild yet gleaming with intelligence.

  “What is your name?”

  The Nozing snapped his head to the left and back again, not making eye contact. He stood there, naked, hands bound behind him, as if he were completely unaware of his surroundings. Tryllin stepped into him, nearly bumping chest to chest. The scent of unwashed flesh and sickness made him recoil.

  “I found this in his clothing, my King.”

  One of the Axxeon warriors held out something, an emblem on a thin chain.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, my King.”

  Tryllin held it to the light. The emblem glittered and shone like a small galaxy of purple, yellow, pink and orange, all coming together in the shape of a crescent moon surrounded by an oval. It was the emblem of Nozing royalty.

  He grinned. They’d captured a member of the Nozing royal family. And he was healthy.

  Aware of movement behind him, he caught Alora’s scent. It settled in his chest, causing warmth to spread there. He savored it. This had been a very good day. His prisoners would be used as bargaining chips to find the human firefighters, and a cure for the fires. And then, he’d destroy them all.

  She stepped closer, her presence making the back of his neck tingle inside his suit. He wanted to rip it off and take her into his arms, pressing her naked body to his. He’d been strung so hard and tight since giving her a spanking. He needed more, so much more.

  “What is happening to them? They look… hideous.”

  “Genetic modifications. They are an inferior race and are attempting to create stronger versions of themselves.”

  One of the Nozing made a guttural sound, spitting out choppy words with a nanosecond delay before they turned into language Alora could understand.

  “Not too inferior to kill all of your women and female children, Axxeon dogs.”

  She looked around, seemingly confused. Tryllin pointed to the ceiling. “There are translation devices in the room.”

  Jahtal moved beside her, her jaw set tight. “You did not kill us all.”

  The Nozing narrowed reptilian eyes and yanked at his chains. “You can’t repopulate an entire species, woman. Soon, we will outnumber you and erase you from the galaxy.”

  “You are too weak and misshapen to put a child in your women,” Jahtal spat, eyeing the Nozing’s genitals, which were stubby and covered in wart-like bumps.

  Tryllin put an arm out to hold Jahtal back. “Enough. He is not opposed to running his mouth. We will ensure he keeps running it.”

  Two Axxeon retrieved the man and took him to a cell on the far right, tossing in plain pants and a shirt behind him. Alora was taking everything in with wide eyes when he made a half-turn to look at her. Her face was pale. He disliked that shade. It reflected her fear and anxiety. He’d brought her here for a nefarious purpose, but he did not enjoy her discomfort.

  “Jahtal will take you back to your quarters. I will collect you in one hour.”

  “For what?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Jahtal stepped in and whisked Alora from the room. Pulling his thoughts away from the Earth woman, he surveyed his captives and ordered them into their cells. His men had gone through the Nozing’s suits, pulling out communication devices and weapons. They’d pull frequency information from the comm devices and uncloak the Nozing for good.

  Satisfied that the prisoners were secured he headed to command to check in with his units on the ground looking for cloaked Nozing craft. So far, they had nothing.

  There were small fires burning everywhere, literally and figuratively. Fire was slowly consuming the city, humans had gone missing, the Nozing had gotten through their monitoring systems and were threatening everything. The Summoned had arrived, an event that was to be celebrated and joyous, yet had been lackluster thanks to the chaos around them.

  In his quarters, he stripped out of his gear and rinsed off. Eyeing the human clothing in his wardrobe, he fiddled with the vario
us fabrics and styles. He settled on something called a tee-shirt, slipped it over his head and found it, as usual, to be too small. It clung to his torso, the sleeves barely stretching around his arms.

  He put on soft, worn leather tactical pants, opting to compromise between Axxeon and human clothing. On a whim, he pulled a blue and white flannel shirt from the hanger and shrugged into it. His advisor had found one in extra-extra-large and it fit, hugging his broad shoulders and chest with enough room that he wouldn’t have to rip the sleeves off and fall into that ‘redneck’ category. The blue matched his hair—hopefully acceptable for the whole ‘matching’ rule.

  The fabric was warm, maybe too warm, considering the solar panels beneath his skin had absorbed more than enough heat for today. But maybe his appearance would put the little scientist at ease. She was stressed, and he didn’t like it.

  He didn’t like what he had planned for her, and the feeling was unfamiliar. He wasn’t sure what to do with it, how to make it stop. Guilt wasn’t an emotion he had a lot of experience with, and he wasn’t in a hurry for a repeat. Yet, the more he contemplated what he had planned for her, and how little time she had left, the more potent the emotion became.

  He clipped his comlet to his wrist, strapped on his weapons belt and went to Alora’s quarters. She was sitting in the chair from her desk, facing the door as if she were waiting for something. She didn’t move or look at him as he walked inside. Concerned, he strode over to her and touched her shoulder.

  “Are you unwell?”

  She moved a chunk of hair behind her ear. “Just thinking about my brother.”

  “My warriors are working on gathering intel at this very moment.”

  “Did you get the sample?” She stood abruptly and sidestepped away from him. Tryllin reached into the thigh pocket of his pants and produced the sample case. Her eyebrows shot up. “Have you looked at it yet?”

  “I would not know what I’m looking at. I need you to help me.” She looked eager to comply, but he held up a hand. “First, I’d like to know something.”

  She licked her lips, seeming to really notice him for the first time… taking in his shirt, her eyes roaming lower and then up again where they lingered on his chest. “Are you wearing regular clothes? I haven’t seen a single alien here in normal clothes.”