Page 34 of Asmodel

The guards all wore serious, stern expressions. The fur on their tails was puffed and their claws were wrapped around the weapons they carried.

Asmodel focused his attention on Commander Jaltaar. The overwhelming sense of fear coming off the male was a surprise. Probing deeper, he discovered his terror had nothing to do with him personally. It was a female scikvak he recently met in the jungle. With a sharp tendril of psychic energy, Asmodel entered the male’s memories and discovered not only the illicit meeting he had with a female, but that he’d left Izzy with that female. Tal…. The female’s name was Talira.

Asmodel pulled out. It was obvious Izzy was in excellent hands for now. But the village where Talira took her to lacked the advancements of Panterion Prime. If any zaltrixan found out where she was, it wouldn’t be hard for them to capture her.

He took a chance to get into Raxx’s mind without Echo blocking him.

Raxx.He whispered mentally.It’s Asmodel. Can you hear me?

The man didn’t so much as stumble.Fuckin’ A, dude. I should have known you were some type of freaky.A mental sigh.Okay, what now?

JR13, just told me Izzy isn’t here. She’s in some type of village a day away from here.

Yeah, I know.Raxx shrugged his shoulder as if to settle a cramp.Echo heard the message from his father to him.He twisted his neck until it cracked.

Asmodel narrowed his eyes at the back of Raxx’s neck. He didn’t have time to bitch at Raxx for using Echo to listen in on JR13’s transmissions. Letting his irritation go, he addressed what was more important.We’ve got to get out of here and find her.

Yeah? And just how are we supposed to do that?The tone in Raxx’s answer was full of snark.

Once I put my hand on your shoulder, I can teleport us back to your ship.

Way cool, man! Wait, I think we’re here.

Sure enough, the troop stopped before a huge double door with elaborate etchings of gold on the wooden surface. As the soldiers faced it, they stomped their booted feet in unison and snapped their fisted paws across their chest.

Their leader, Jaltaar, faced the two guards outside the door. “Announce us immediately.”

“Yes, Commander!” The guard on the right snapped to attention and placed his paw on a panel on the wall behind him.

The doors had to be ten feet tall and slid open sideways, disappearing into the wall.

Hang on. Let’s hold off for now.Raxx suggested.If we just disappear, we won’t know what they’re planning. Besides, I’m dying to see what’s on the other side of this door. Maybe when this is all over, there might be an opportunity for me to open some kind of trade with them.

Asmodel grunted. He was right. And it couldn’t hurt to see the dynamics on CeluriaVO. Maybe they’d end up as allies in the upcoming fight against the Krystalii.

Once they crossed the threshold, Asmodel stopped. There, sitting next to the obvious Supreme Alpha Regent Krovex, was a crystalline creature of bright yellow. She had to be the same species as the blue crystal man Abalim showed them on the video he brought back from theGalaxy’s Pubon Hiigar. What took him aback was the alien was in a humanoid feminine form, dressed in a sheer, wispy luminescent gown that left nothing to the imagination.

“Who is this, Jaltaar?” The regent stood. The orange stripes bisecting his forehead went around his cheeks and down the sides of his throat. “I told you to bring back a human female.” His thick claws slid out as he waved to Raxx. “I may not know anything about humans, but I know that is not a female.”

“Too right, my man!” Raxx grinned and acted like he wasn’t in a life-threatening situation. “Glad you recognize I’m one hundred percent macho man.”

“Quiet, human.” Jaltaar’s voice had a bite of a hiss. “You will only speak if the regent or the Krystalii, Prisma-Solara, addresses you.”

“Sure, sure.” Raxx rocked back and forth with a grin. “Whateva you say, dude.”

The crystal female gracefully rose from her seat and approached Raxx, her glowing eyes deepening in intensity. She gave him a brief up-and-down look before focusing on Asmodel in his scikvak disguise.

“What have we here?” She reached out and poked his forehead with a slim finger.

Asmodel didn’t feel her touch as a wave of overpowering psychic energy hit him like a sledgehammer. He staggered as his body reformed without his control. When the sensation subsided, he slowly opened his eyes and stood in his full normal form. Thank the goddess, the scikvak clothing conformed to his bigger size.

The room filled with a collective gasp.

“Ah, another human.” The female’s voice was lyrical in its derision. “But yet not.” Her shrug came across stilted and abnormal, as if she was trying to imitate something she didn’t understand. “Tell me, abominable one, where is the female?” She moved in closer.

Asmodel’s eyebrows rose at the warmth coming from her body as she stood mere inches from his chest. At first, he didn’t understand the malicious glee crossing her face, until a small, worming sensation burrowed into his mind. With impenetrable firmness, Asmodel thwarted the crystal woman's attempt to enter his consciousness. But he couldn’t prevent the grip she had on his body. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His slight grin wasn’t nice.

Her lips pinched, causing their deep-gold color to lighten.

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