Taken by the Alien Dragon Page 16

  The base was virtually empty. Half-heartedly I blew a column of flame at one guard tower and got a small surge of pleasure when a guard emerged from the top and tumbled down off the side, seeming to snap nearly in-half as he collapsed into a bonfire at the base of the structure.

  Just as we were approaching the other tower, Essie’s rifle clattered off my neck, and tumbled down into the inferno below.

  “Essie?” I called.

  No reply. But she had been losing her voice…

  I wheeled toward the other guard tower, and atop it I saw a single, smirking fur-bastard with a giant sniper rifle. He was pointing it directly at me. I launched a cone of fire just in time, melting his projectile before it could reach me, and then my flame finished the job on the would-be assassin too. Like his colleague in the other tower, he tumbled to the ground as a broken, greasy smoking mess.

  “Essie?” I called again as I went to land a short distance away from the encampment.

  There was no answer.

  Panicked, I landed, and twisted my neck around as far as I could to try and see her. With the stench of smoking Pax in my nostrils and fiery anger in my veins I stared at her wide-eyed.

  “Essie!” I shouted again.

  She was slumped across my back, unresponsive.

  The sniper bastard had got her.

  29

  Esmerelda

  You ever wake up after drinking two bottles of galactic-whisky and wonder just what the fuck you got up to the night before?

  Because I have, and it felt a hell of a lot better than I did when I woke up after the Battle of Thirren.

  My eyes were stuck together with bleariness, and when I went to move my right arm to unstick them, I let out a yelp of pain. Both my right shoulder and my head had exploded in the kind of pain that makes you want to hurt someone, badly.

  Tentatively, I moved my left arm. That hurt like fuck-me-dead, but not as bad as before.

  Using my index finger I pried my eyes open and then slammed them shut again. It was way too bright.

  Gently, I managed to crack them just enough to begin to see again. I stared at my left arm. It was red.

  Then a few things slowly began to come back to me. Armor. I’d put on my armor. My bulletproof, crazy-expensive body armor that was supposed to protect me from harm. So why the fuck was I in so much pain?

  There was a rumbling growl, and wave of smoky heat passed over me. That sure-as-shit woke me the hell up. I forced my eyes open — fuck the pain and the light — and stared.

  My left hand whipped down for a weapon, a knife, a gun, anything to shoot the monster that was right in front of me. Two big lizard eyes and a maw the size of a small cave with teeth like stalactites. A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but not much.

  “Essie?” growled the monster.

  “Argh!” I shouted as threateningly as I could. It didn’t come out though. It seemed my throat was fucked along with everything else. All that emerged from my mouth was a throaty plaintive wail.

  The monster lowered its chin to me, resting it on my stomach, so I smacked it on the nose. It pulled its head back, staring at me. “Essie,” it said again.

  I blinked some more. My head decided to slowly let the fire that was raging inside it die down, and slow as molasses, coherent thoughts began to make their way back again.

  “Wha—” I said, my vocal cords deciding to give up the ghost entirely half-way through the word.

  I guessed the world was lucky they weren’t going to be hearing my complaining any time soon. Very lucky, because I had some serious complaints about how I was feeling and whoever the fuck had made me feel that way was in some serious trouble.

  “It’s me, Moddoc,” said the monster.

  Moddoc. Monster.

  No, not a monster.

  I rubbed my throat with my hand, hoping it would help. It didn’t. Still no words came out.

  Moddoc. That’s right… and slowly, it came back. The battle. My ship, my fleet, my armada… and then Tarion – the bastard, coming aboard my ship and taking it all away from me.

  And then… Moddoc! He’d turned into a motherfucking dragon!

  I stared some more and realized: Holy fuck, I’m dating an actual no-shit dragon. Not just an eight-foot-tall uber-man, but one who could turn into a freakin’ dragon as well.

  I felt something at my mouth, a straw. I turned my eyes down, and saw a furry arm thrusting a hydro-pack into my mouth. A smile appeared on my lips. I sucked greedily at the drink, feeling my scratchy throat begin to soothe in an instant.

  “Thanks, Alm,” I said, finally able to speak again.

  The happy little creature pushed the hydro-pack between my shoulder and chin to hold it in place, and then clapped its hands together with a squeal.

  “Where am I? Did we… win?”

  Moddoc’s head rose, and then, like magic, he shifted back into his giant, but not as giant as before, humanoid form. My eyes immediately flicked down his naked torso. Yep, still pretty damn giant there, too.

  He kneeled down beside my bed, putting a hand on my brow and gently wiping it.

  “You’re okay?” he asked me.

  “No, I’m fucking not.”

  That made him laugh. Which, somehow, actually made me feel better — normally that reaction would piss me off.

  “Don’t laugh… I’m in pain.”

  “Sorry, but the fact you could answer like that means you’re not dying anymore.”

  He grasped my left hand and held it tightly. It was good to feel his strength.

  “I feel like I’m dying,” I complained.

  “See, you’re feeling again. Better than being unconscious. You’ve been out of it for nearly an entire solar. You were shot by a sniper— he got you right where the wings adjoin your body armor. There was a crack.”

  “Must have been a hell of a shot,” I said with bitterness.

  “I’m sure it was just luck.”

  “The battle?”

  “We suffered heavy losses in space, but on the ground, we tore them a new one. Your dirty little scout ships tore apart a huge number of their fliers and did a hell of a lot of damage to some of their ground emplacements too. Dragon flame did the rest.”

  “What about my Pax Prime?”

  His face fell.

  “Unfortunately, if you want one of those… well, you’re going to have to piece it back together.”

  “Damnit,” I said, though I didn’t really mean it. Maybe it was time to take a break from being a crazy space-pirate anyway. It felt like I was going to need some serious recovery time.

  “Were you guarding me? Is that why you were still a dragon?” I asked.

  “Yes.” From the way he said it, I knew there was more to it than that though.

  “What?”

  “I… I’m not very good at controlling myself. I had not shifted in years and I struggle when I’m emotional. I couldn’t shift back while I was worrying about you.”

  I squeezed his hand. “I made you emotional, huh?”

  “You did, Captain Esmeralda Black. You did.”

  And that was about the most heartfelt thing he’d ever said to me. With a happy smile, I closed my eyes, and soon I was dreaming of riding my dragon.

  In more ways than one.

  Epilogue

  Moddoc

  Six Months Later

  Essie and I sat near the head of the table, beside Tarion and Carissa. We were in the Hall of Victory, the first monument that was created to celebrate the recapture of Thirren, dedicated the very night of the first victory. Of course I had been beside Essie at the time, watching over her and praying that she did not die.

  “How are the defenses?” Tarion asked with a grin.

  He always asked me that. Every damn time I saw him.

  “The rebuilding of defenses is progressing at a rapid rate. The new, decentralized system seems to be holding up well. I’ve conducted more than a dozen tests in the last week. Even with fifteen different defense commanders
out-of-action, alerts were raised almost immediately, and defensive response was barely hampered.”

  “Excellent,” said Tarion with a nod. “Keep it up.”

  Once again, I was in charge of ground defenses, but from now on there would be no chance of a repeat of what had happened before. Although I was overall commander, there would be hundreds of ways for alerts to be raised without me. As an added form of security, Ranel would be overseeing my operations directly as the head of security.

  We would never suffer an attack like the Pax had waged on us in the same manner again. And I intended to make sure our defenses were exceptional in every other regard too.

  There was a nudging at my leg, and I looked down to see Alm, staring up at me with the biggest, roundest eyes you’ve ever seen. I snatched a melberry from the table and tossed it down to her.

  “Still got that little thing, huh?” Tarion asked. His tone was affectionate, like a kindly uncle toward the small creature. “What is it again?”

  “Turns out, it’s a Pimpom,” Essie said with a smile.

  “A… pimpom?” Carissa asked, disbelievingly.

  “Yep. We spoke to a vet.”

  “Not a doctor? That’s a bit… mean...”

  Essie and I exchanged amused glances.

  “Turns out,” Essie said, “this creature is neither a baby, nor all that intelligent. It’s smart, like a dog from Earth, and of course it’s got hands so it can manipulate more stuff, but it’s not a kid and it’s not going to grow up into a y’know, productive adult.”

  “How big do those things get then?” Tarion asked.

  “It’s fully grown. The big, cute eyes are just a survival mechanism. As is the sweet demeanor. The vet thinks this one is around seventy years old. They live up to almost two hundred though, so I guess in a way it’s still a kid.”

  Carissa whistled at that. “Huh. Come ‘ere, sweetie.” She offered a piece of fruit, and the pimpom hurried over to her and snatched it out of her hand with apparent delight.

  “Cute, though.”

  I stared down at Al—Puff. She was cute. It was strange to think I’d thought it was some kind of reincarnation of my lost offspring. I wasn’t thinking straight back then. In a way, I’d been crazy. Helping the Pax. Trying to make a copy of my dead daughter, even though it would only be that — a copy — not the same one brought back to life.

  “What are you going to do?” Carissa asked, glancing in Essie’s direction.

  She shrugged.

  “I’m taking a vacation.”

  “A vacation? From being a… pirate?”

  Essie grinned and nodded. “Yep. Just figuring things out.”

  Essie had sent what was left of her fleet off under the command of her loyal lieutenants to repair what they could. They were to return in a cycle or two.

  “Have you thought about my offer?” Tarion asked.

  Essie slowly nodded her head. Under the table, she put a hand on my knee and squeezed it affectionately.

  “Yeah, I’m still considering it. I mean, it’s a great honor and all. But I’m used to being the one in charge. I’m not exactly the best at taking orders.”

  Tarion had made her an offer to be my number two, and I was hoping she was going to take it. But I wasn’t going to push her. I knew her well enough now — the worst way to get her to do something was to tell her to do it. That would only lead to rebellion on her part. So, I was biding my time. I had a feeling she was going to come around.

  Under the table Essie’s hand began to creep higher and higher. It had been a long meal, and I was pretty sure she wanted to get to bed soon.

  Up the hand went. Up, and up. I coughed and pulled my chair in, so that my neighbors would not be able to see what she was doing.

  The heavy stone doors to the room burst open, crashing back into the cavern wall behind them.

  “Sir!” yelled a young Drakon. I squinted at him. He was one of mine.

  “Yes?”

  “Sir, a short while ago a Pax scout ship uncloaked. It just landed outside the city. It—”

  Tarion’s eyes lit up. “Sound the alert! Get all—”

  I held up a hand to Tarion to stop him.

  “My department, remember?”

  “What happened, lieutenant?” I asked him.

  Under the table I squeezed my hands tight. They better have followed protocol…

  “Sir, as per standing orders, defenses were activated immediately. The nearest dozen defense posts were automatically alerted. Only after all procedures had been initiated was I sent to inform you, sir. Teams were being dispatched as I came here.”

  Thank the smoky heavens. They’d done as requested.

  “Excellent.”

  “It sounds like you have things under control,” Tarion said with a pleased nod. “Let me know as soon as we know what these Pax are doing here.”

  “Well, it’s been a lovely evening, but duty calls. Essie?”

  Hand in hand, we walked out of the Hall of Victory behind my lieutenant.

  Once we were outside, Essie pulled my hand for a second to stop me.

  “I’ve made up my mind, Silver.”

  “You have?”

  Nervously, I stared at her.

  “You can call me Number two.”

  I picked her up bodily, spinning her around, and pressing our lips together in the hottest kiss I could remember.

  We were going to be a team.

  Something hit my leg. It was Puff, and she was pointing at the lieutenant.

  Sometimes, I thought she was smarter than she looked.

  “Come on,” I said, putting Essie down and grabbing her by the hand. “We’re a team now.”

  Hand in hand, with Puff trailing and the lieutenant leading us, we went to see just what it was the Pax were up to now.

  Whatever it was, I knew we could overcome it.

  Together.

  Get ready for book 6 in the Galactic Alpha’s Conquest Series, Conquered By The Alien Dragon.

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  Chapter One Preview – Conquered By The Alien Dragon

  Illion

  "Illion, what are you doing?" My mother’s voice interrupted my pout.

  I looked up at her as she climbed the stairs to our roof, smiling sadly at me. "Nothing," I said sullenly. Rudeness wasn’t tolerated, but I was far too mad to be any more polite.

  "Why are you on the roof this time?" The sunset was beautiful, but neither of us was there to look at it. We’d been here before, talking about how unfair certain parts of life could be and how we could overcome challenges.

  "No reason." I didn’t want to tell her the real reason. It hurt her to know I was sad. I’d learned to hide the hurt from her.

  "Were they calling you Smearling again?" She sat beside me on the edge of the roof and looked down at the children playing below.

  "Yeah," I whispered. Tears prickled behind my eyes, but I knew better than to let them fall. Drakon men didn't cry. I would be a proud Drakon man, and those jerks would show me respect.

  "Did you do something to them?" Her hand made slow circles on my back, comforting me. “Something to provoke them?”

  "No. I just wanted to play with them." I only ever wanted to be accepted.

  Jerking out of my memory, I focused on the woman speaking to me. "Our planet is in danger. If we don’t act quickly, we will be forced to abandon it." The human female stared into my eyes as if I was the only person in the room. For a member of a weak species, Carissa, human mate to my Drakon commander, Tarion, made me feel like she knew my every secret as I shook off the memory of the first time I’d met most of the other Drakon men sitting on the long bench beside me.

  She moved her gaze to the man next to me. "You will each be assigned one element. Your job is to secure enough of your element to help save your home. Thirren is ours again, but it is so damaged we will not be able to stay here without help." She paused to let that fact sink in as she stared holes through the five of us.

  I co
uldn't say I was happy to be in such company, but I was thrilled to be in the room. Finally, a chance to prove myself, to prove I was more than they could ever imagine.

  "You will not know who is retrieving what element besides your own." The Drakon beside her finally spoke. Moddoc. Why was he even in the room? After his spectacular failure allowing Thirren to be occupied by the Pax, he should've been in the mines, lower than a slave. How many were dead because of his incompetence?

  "You will not know who won until everyone has returned," Moddoc continued. "However, the reward for the winner will be beyond any of your wildest dreams. Your own command in the fleet and more treasure than you could raid in half a lifetime."

  My imagination went wild imagining myself at the helm of a brand-new ship, stylized to mimic me in my dragon form, surrounded by loyal crew members.

  As Moddoc continued describing the jewels, ships, and rare implements we would be rewarded with, my eyes drifted to the Drakon on the other side of Carissa. Ranel. The current head of security and land forces on Thirren. Clearly, he wasn't happy about it either. His body language was completely disengaged, leaned back with his arms crossed. He didn't want to be here.

  Carissa noticed my eyes on Ranel and shot him a disgruntled look. "You're dismissed to wait for us in the hallway. We will discuss each of your missions one on one. Yauralin, stay here. You're first."

  We stood and walked single file out of the meeting room to wait in the hallway outside the battered hall. It had once been a great building for meetings and government business, but the war had nearly ruined it. The five of us had been soldiers since our first change, eager to defend our planet and join the fleet, rising in the ranks like our commander, Tarion.