CHAPTER ONE

 

Kil resisted the urge to smash his fist into the smarmy face of the Norvegicus, barely restraining himself. The being told them some crud about testing speakers before one of his bodyguards, a Trudd attacked. The drekker should have known better than to try to take down three Mercenary Division Dhasu warriors.

​

He and his brothers had fought together for many cycles and worked as a tight unit. Few beings could get past them, and especially not while they were on a mission.

 

Kil smirked as Idren slapped a neuro blocker onto the Truud’s neck. The huge being dropped to the floor in a boneless heap and took down a curtain as his brain stopped signalling his limbs. That was when every cell in Kil’s body had zoned onto three naked and terrified human females huddled beneath a group of Reptiles and Ixod arguing over them.

 

An Ixod grabbed the dark haired female by her bicep, ripping her from the floor. She cried out in agony, her features scrunched in pain and confusion as her shoulder snapped from its joint. The two females, still on their knees, cringed and cried out.

​

A tsunami of rage poured through Kil’s body. His claws ached to shred every drekker inside that auditorium, starting with the trembling Norvegicus in front of him. The stench of urine singed his nostrils as Aekon tensed beside him. “Zavis,” he hissed.

​

Kil’s blood chilled. He knew who Zavis was and what he’d done to Aekon. That the drekker was here of all places meant nothing good.

​

Aekon raised his blaster almost too fast to track and fired at Zavis. At the last moment, an Ixod stepped in front of Zavis. A black wound opened on the Ixod’s back and he collapsed onto the stage. Aekon’s skin flashed with a tell-tale sign of burnished gold before he tipped his head back and roared. Gods, it couldn’t be true. His brother had found his bond-mate; one of those terrified human females.

​

The small crowd in front of the stage scattered. Several Trudd stationed around the perimeter of the room rushed toward them. The Reptiles pulled their weapons, aiming at them. Aekon slammed a neuro blocker on the Norvegicus, pulled a second blaster into his hand and snarled.

 

“Looks like this is Plan B, brothers. Don’t let them escape,” Aekon snapped.

​

The seven hells broke loose. Beings of numerous species, none of them mortal, scattered from their seats where they’d been leering at the three naked, huddled figures hunched on the stage at the feet of the beings fighting over them. The Reptiles bolted off stage while an Ixod horde picked up a female and disappeared to the rear of the stage. They had to get to the stage and track them down, but there were a multitude of beings between his warrior brothers and the empty auditorium.

​

A growl slipped past his lips. If they took the females off Grion89, they’d never be seen again, and one of them was Aekon’s bond-mate. It was an absolute, mind-blowing miracle and an absolute travesty that she’d gone through this horror. That any of the females had gone through this horror.

​

With a force borne of sheer will, Kil reigned in control so he could slash and blast his way to the stage. His brothers had similar ideas. Aekon took the centre aisle, while Idren took the far aisle between the seats. This could be a theatre for a stage show, if not for the horrific reality played out there.

“Aekon! Watch out!” Idren yelled.

​

The enormous Trudd raced towards them. Built like mountains, they had sheer muscle on their sides. Kil aimed and fired. He could take them on, but he didn’t have time to play. Blue streaks lit up the theatre as his warrior brothers fired at will.

​

“We have to get backstage to the females. Take the Reptiles down, but keep at least one alive,” Aekon shouted.

​

Kil took the left aisle, fighting his way through the beings trying to get away. Another tell-tale flash of gold flashed in Kil’s side vision as a three horned being charged at him. Kil took him down with a quick snap to the underside of his jaw. The being hit the ground like a sack of rocks. Kil looked at both his warrior brothers. Gods, both of them had sensed their-bond mates. These human females were more precious than ever.

​

“And the rest?” Idren called.

 

“Aim to wound,” Aekon said.

​

Kil whooped. That was the green light he waited for. He was more than happy to mow down any drekker here. They were nothing short of depraved, paying entry to an underground slave auction to purchase a defenceless female. Worst of all were the Reptiles.

​

The Mercenary Division, or MD for short, had chased them all over the ten Quadrants after a trail of selling off human females. No one knew where they’d come from at first. Only that human females were a species the likes of which had never been seen before. At first they came out of thin air, but it was soon apparent that Reptiles were selling them to every known criminal ring throughout the ten Quadrants.

 

Human females were precious, fragile and exotic. The hottest commodity to every species who laid eyes on them and because they were so valued. It also made them a target. The brothers had gotten word of this auction and had barely made it by the skin of their teeth.

 

A Reptile growled, baring its yellowed teeth, and lunged at Kil. He blasted the being through the chest. The faster the Reptiles were eradicated, hopefully the faster they’d rescue the human females. Not an ounce of remorse flowed through his veins at killing the being. “Oops, slipped. Guess we won’t be questioning that one!”

​

“I thought you said to keep one alive,” Idren said.

​

“There’s plenty more under the stage.” Aekon blasted a Reptile hiding beneath the stage and then a Neide who went down between a row of seats. It was taking them too long to get through the sheer mass of bodies to go after the Ixod.

​

“The Ixod will head to the port with the females, but we still need to contain leads here,” Aekon said.

 

The Aiqold controlled the port, but that still didn’t leave them much time. Someone would need to contain the beings here while Aekon went after his bond-mate. Besides, he knew a certain Norvegicus who might know where the Ixod could have gone.

 

Kil nodded. “You go. We’ll contain the beings here.”

​

“Quite happily,” Idren said.

​

“Be safe, brothers,” Aekon said.

​

Idren fired at a being, but it looked as though his power cell was empty. Idren’s face split into a wild grin as he drew his sword from the sheath at his back and down towards the Reptiles while Aekon backtracked out of the theatre and disappeared the way they’d entered. He was trying to get backstage to retrieve his bond-mate.

​

Time was of the essence. The theatre was almost empty, and only one of them would need to subdue a Reptile and question the Norvegicus.

With Aekon tracking down the Ixod one way, Kil knew Idren would be burning to get backstage to save his bond-mate. He slashed through a red-skinned Vemlok to get to Idren’s side. “Go after her, brother. I’ll take care of the rest here.”

​

“Are you sure?” Idren said,

​

Kil slapped his hand on Idren’s shoulder. “Go. I’ll be here when you bring her safely back.”

​

Idren nodded once, his body jangling with the need to find his bond-mate. His eyes flared as he leapt up onto the stage and disappeared to one side. That left him alone with the rest of the drekking beings who would take advantage of females.

 

Movement under the stage caught his eye. He strode towards the snivelling being hiding in the darkness. As most males who sold those smaller and weaker than them, they crumbled like babies when confronted with someone stronger. Cowards. The lot of them.

 

Kil reached in and pulled out a wounded Reptile. The being fell to his knees at Kil’s feet. “Please. Don’t hurt me.”

 

Kil breathed through the rage pouring through him. “I should treat you like you treated those females, scum.”

 

The Reptile shook more. He locked his beady eyes on Kil. “We only wanted to give them a better life. They would have died in those cryo containers.”

​

Kil shoved the tip of his blaster under the Reptiles jaw. “So you sold them to give them a better life?”

​

“I only meant… human females are fragile. They don’t do so well for too long in a cryo sleeper,” the Reptile said.

​

Ships travelled through portal gates, allowing travel across long distances through naturally occurring wormholes. Before that technology was created, cryo sleepers were used. Beings could effectively be in cryo sleep for decades, although those more fragile had to be careful not to extend their time too greatly. Children, babies and species like humans didn’t cope well.

​

Some though, had slept for centuries. The worst case ever found was a cryo sleeper found in a crashed vessel on an asteroid marked for mining. That poor being had been in suspended animation for two millennia. It had been a case against cryo-sleepers and the need to provide safer travel across the ten Quadrants. In short, cryo-sleepers were used as a last resort or for beings who didn’t care if their friends, families or planets were long dead by the time they woke. They were barbaric.

 

Kil clenched his teeth to keep himself from blasting the Reptile’s head from his shoulders, “How long were the human females in there for?”

​

“Not that long. Maybe a few years. A decade at the most,” the being said.

 

Kil’s fangs ached as he shoved the tip of his blaster harder into the soft underside of the being’s jaw. “You’re deplorable.”

​

“And you’re dead,” the Reptile hissed.

​

He lashed out with his tail. Kil moved, but not in time. The barb on the Reptile’s tail scraped his thigh through his suit, but the material took the brunt of the strike, leaving only a scratch behind.

 

The Reptile had only been acting. Kil struck it in the side of its head with his blaster. The being sprawled on the floor, unmoving. Kil slapped a neuro blocker on the Reptile’s neck. If the being had thought he could injure Kil and get away, he had another thing coming. A scratch wouldn’t stop him.

 

It was clear the Reptile couldn’t be of more help and Kil needed to make sure there were no more human females hidden. Unsheathing his sword, he jumped onto the stage, checking the empty backstage corridors. One of them led to an equally empty back alley.

 

Kil returned to the stage and through a set of doors on the other side of the stage. A growl slipped past his lips when he saw the twenty or so empty cryo sleepers and drops of blood on the floor. His furious gaze swept across the room as he imagined the sheer terror those females had gone through. It also meant that there were more human females sold here than the three they’d seen on the stage.

 

There was one being who would know about that. Kil leapt off the stage and strode up the aisle. The charred blast marks on the wall, decimated seating and unmoving bodies were background noise to the need to separate the Norvegicus’ head from his shoulders. As Kil stepped over the downed Trudd, the cloaked Norvegicus disappeared through the front entry.

​

Two strides later and Kil’s claws latched onto the back of the being’s collar. Kil yanked the Norvegicus back into the doorway. “How many more human females did you sell?”

​

The Norvegicus squeaked and his whiskers trembled. “You have to understand, business is very hard on a station such as this. It’s a very competitive market.”

​

Kil shook the being, “How many more human females did you traffic today?”

​

The Norvegicus scratched his neck with a claw. “Possibly… twenty others.”

​

Drek. The number matched the empty cryo-sleepers. Kil snarled, making the Norvegicus hunch into his clothing. “Do you know who bought them?”

“Various buyers. I’m sure I can find the receipts for you. Any friend of yours is a friend of the MD, hey?” The Norvegicus said.

​

Kil’s vision swam, the being blurring momentarily. He shook his head and the Norvegicus snapped back into focus. “Were they all bought by Ixod?”

“Not all from the same horde. No.” The being narrowed its beady eyes on Kil. “You don’t look so good, Dhasu. Maybe you should sit down for a bit. I can take care of you. Get you a nice cold drink,” the Norvegicus said, narrowing his eyes.

 

“I want nothing from you except an answer. Where did the Ixod take the females?” Kil asked.

​

Ixod hordes were never seen together. The infighting amongst the Ixod was legendary, and the only thing that kept them from becoming a real threat to the ten quadrants. Having more than one horde in one place was almost impossible, but he would not overlook the fact that it could be true.

​

“Oh… well… that’d be impossible to know. Any being is free to go wherever they want,” the Norvegicus said. “I’m not one to tell a being where they can use their purchases.”

​

Kil growled, giving into the urge to shake the disgusting creature as his mind conjured up the horrifying image of the females huddled at the feet of the Reptiles and Ixod. “I’ll take you to an auction and sell you myself. As you said, this is a competitive market on Grion89. I’m sure someone would pay good coin for a being such as you.”

​

The Norvegicus’ eyes rolled in his head. “Maybe… maybe if I tell you where a certain Ixod horde went, you might rethink your actions. The one that took a female from the stage.”

​

Kil lifted the Norvegicus one handed so they were face to face. His chest tightened, but he put that down to the rage coursing through his system. One female was not twenty, but he would do everything in his power to track down the yellow-haired female. There was something about her that itched under his skin and made the situation more urgent. “Talk.”

​

“One of the hordes contacted me while you were, erm, otherwise occupied. The Aiqolds have locked off the space port; something about stolen craft they need to investigate. I might’ve told them where they can leave the station and given them the codes to breach the secure-net,” the Norvegicus said.

​

Kil cursed under his breath. The longer the being took telling him where the Ixod had gone, the more likely it would be the females would be lost to him. “And where would that be?”

​

“District nineteen,” the Norvegicus squeaked.

Kil swore. District nineteen was the next district over. They could have left already. He didn’t want to trust the Norvegicus, but had nothing else to go on.

“Drek!” Kil secured a neuro-blocker on the Norvegicus and dropped him on the ground next to the unmoving Trudd. He quickly pinged a comm to Treega asking for a team to secure the venue and bolted out of the entry and down the darkened alley. His wrist comm pinged and Kil slapped it on.

​

“Have you secured the venue?” Aekon’s voice sounded from the device.

 

“Ten clicks ago. All beings inside are currently subdued.” Background noises of the marketplace filtered behind Idren’s voice.

​

“Are you running?” Aekon said.

​

Kil reached the end of the alley. His chest was heavy, his breathing slightly laboured. He rubbed the feeling away as he dashed through the crowd towards district nineteen.

​

“Chasing to be more accurate. Where are you?” Kil said.

 

His knees buckled, and he bounced off the voluminous body of a five-breasted Salean and into a stall selling metal pots. The female was head and shoulders larger than Kil, with skin a shiny and semi-transparent blue colour made from near one hundred percent water.

 

She looked Kil up and down. “Watch where you’re going,” she gurgled.

​

He offered her an apologetic grimace, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Swiping a film of perspiration from his forehead, he kept running.

​

“The Ixod left the station with the human females. I’ve taken the Zephyr, deported Grion89 and followed the Ixod ship,” Aekon said.

​

“Not all the human females,” Idren said.

 

“What do you mean, not all the human females?” Aekon asked. It was exactly what Kil was going to ask.

​

“They split up. The Norvegicus offered information upon further… questioning. The Ixod weren’t all from the same horde. One horde took a female each,” Idren said.

​

“Then we need to track them. I’ll follow this horde. Idren, Kil try your best,” Aekon said.

​

“Of course, brother,” Idren said.

​

Kil staggered into a stall as his vision blurred. Drek, there must have been a poison in the Reptile’s barb. Heavy tooling displayed on a wall dropped around him as he reached out blindly to keep himself upright. A hammer tumbled off its hook and fell on his wrist, smashing his comm beyond repair. His blaster fell from his grip and was lost under the pile of tooling. Pain radiated up his arm, followed by a creeping numbness. What in the seven hells was wrong with him?

​

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” The stall holder looked from the pile of tools to Kil’s face.

​

A terrified scream commanded his attention. A human female! Kil withdrew his sword from behind him. The Norvegicus had been truthful. His blaster arm was useless, but he was still lethal with a blade.

​

“My apologies,” Kil said, his tongue thick in his mouth.

​

His wrist throbbed and he cursed himself for being so clumsy. He pushed off the toppled display wall and wove through the thinning crowd towards the end of the street as though he was wading through tar.

​

He planted his hand on the corner of a building that opened to a junction of wider streets. Five Ixod dragged a human female between them towards a craft that descended from a low-flying trajectory over the top of buildings.

​

Smaller craft compacted into thin sheets of metal when the Ixod cruiser activated their anti grav to land. Windows popped and exploded from nearby buildings as the ship dropped vertically onto the street. Beings screamed and scattered, some were driven to the ground with the force of the ship landing.

​

Typically Ixod designed, it was dark, sleek and promised to contain all sorts of horrors once they got the female on board. Steeling himself to make the distance to the group, Kil lunged for the Ixod, coming up behind them on silent steps.

​

Kil staggered as a wave of nausea cramped his stomach, his foot scraping the pavement. The female twisted around, terrified wide eyes locking on his. A jolt went through his entire body, a knowing that left no question in his mind. His chest filled with heat and then something shifted. A monumental awareness and the brush of a soul so beautiful it took his breath away.

​

The sting from the Reptile’s tail screamed with white hot heat before his legs buckled. Kil came down to one knee as his limbs filled with lead. His sword clattered to the ground. His vision blurred as he looked up at the female, her skin awash with burnished golden light thrown off by his activated nodes as an Ixod smashed his fist on Kil’s temple. His last thought before darkness slammed down on him was that he found his bond-mate and he had already failed her.

​

READ CONSUMED BY THE ALIEN SPACE WARRIOR TODAY