Page 40 of Chosen By the Dragon Alien

Fivra followed Turi’s gaze toward the overseer—whose name was Ellion? She hadn’t known he had a name. The towering male had once been a figure of authority and untouchable power back at the settlement. He was still as imposing as she remembered. His wings, deep and shimmering like dusk on the horizon, moved slightly with the faintest pulse of energy. His sharp, angular face was unreadable, but his silver eyes were identical to Cyprian’s and they were locked on Cyprian’s unmoving form.

The overseer didn’t spare another glance at Turi or Fivra. His long strides carried him forward, closing the distance to Cyprian within moments. Fivra tensed. Her relief at seeing Turi alive and well quickly gave way to a ripple of unease. Why wasn’t he saying anything? This was the overseer—the same mysterious figure she and her people had feared and revered for years. And now he stood before Cyprian, still and silent, his gaze fixed with an intensity that made her heart race.

Fivra’s hands trembled at her sides. He moved deliberately, lowering to a knee and touching the ground with one hand while placing the other gingerly against the scorched scales of Cyprian’s chest.

“No,” Fivra whispered. The sound barely carried over the emptiness of the moon’s surface, but something in her brokefree. The protective instinct flared inside her. She hesitated only for an instant before rushing forward. Turi’s lingering grasp fell away as she moved. Her heart hammered as her boots slid across the frosted ground until she dropped to her knees beside Cyprian, on the other side of the overseer.

“What do you want with him?” she asked, her gloved hand landing on Cyprian’s chest in a gesture both possessive and defiant. Her voice trembled. “Don’t hurt him.”

The overseer lifted his head slightly, his silver eyes flickering toward her. There was no malice in his gaze, no threat—only curiosity, mixed with something that felt much heavier, much older. He tilted his head, and his expression softened. Ellion smiled. His sharp features, so often cold and unreadable, seemed…gentle. It was a smile that disarmed Fivra, stripping away her prepared fear and defiance.

“I want only to meet him.” His deep voice was steady and calm, with the faintest hint of nerves. “To know him. I have never even seen another of my kind.”

“He hasn’t either.” Fivra relaxed a fraction. “Will he be okay?”

“Yes,” Ellion replied, placing his fingertips on Cyprian’s throat. “He is alive and will remain so, if I have any say in the matter. Are you his mate, Fivra?”

“I—I…yes.” How strange it felt to acknowledge it to this male. Even stranger to sit there and converse with him. But she lifted her chin, refusing to be intimidated. “I am.”

He smiled wider. “Good. Your mate is stronger than he looks. He needs rest, which will heal most of his wounds, and a bit of repair to his wings. The shift to his dragon form has drained him. He will revert to his two-legged form soon, though he will be weak and his body sore for a time. We should bring him back to my ship.”

Fivra watched him warily. Her hand still rested protectively on Cyprian’s massive chest. The faint rise and fall of his breathing beneath her gloves offered some comfort. Her voice came out strained, edged with suspicion. “You mean your fortress that can suddenly fly? I don’t know…” She could feel Kaelen step closer behind her, no doubt tracking the overseer’s every subtle movement.

“My ship isn’t going anywhere right now,” Kaelen said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re getting on that thing with you.” He nodded toward the massive ship.

The overseer’s gaze flicked back to Cyprian, lingering on the crimson scales that still glowed faintly with the embers of his fire. His wings shifted slightly, as if contemplating how best to answer. “He is safe with me,” the overseer said slowly, his voice heavy with meaning. “I will protect him with my life.”

Fivra’s breath left her in a shocked exhale. Her head turned toward Turi instinctively, searching for some confirmation in her friend’s expression, but Turi only nodded slightly, her green eyes cautious and somber. Fivra turned back to the overseer, her voice tremulous but insistent. “Why?”

“We learned there are others like me, and with you and the other four females who were taken, we became determined to find my people and yours.” His voice was quiet, reverent. “We intercepted an Axis transmission that mentioned a Zaruxian and a Terian on the run. I set an intercept course immediately, and we arrived in time to assist.” His silver-eyed gaze shifted to Kaelen, who listened but did not put his weapon away. The overseer’s voice remained calm and deliberate. “I give you my word. I will not harm either of you. Nor your smuggler companion.”

Kaelen’s golden eyes narrowed skeptically. His grip on his weapon stayed firm. “Forgive me if I don’t leap at the chance to trust the towering mass with wings and a fortress for a ship,”he said sharply, gesturing at the vessel behind them. His voice was rough, but there was an edge of caution, as though he were weighing the sincerity in the overseer’s words.

“Is this true?” Fivra asked Turi. She kept her hand pressed firmly against Cyprian’s chest. “The Axis ruled over our settlement for generations. They allowed… They endorsed suffering. The overseer was there among us. He was—”

“I know,” Turi said quietly. She reached out and took the overseer’s hand. “He was a guardian put on that mountain to enforce their rule. And for many cycles, he did. But the settlements overthrew the Axis’ rule. They’re free, thanks to Ellion.”

The overseer sighed—a sound deep and somber. “My actions—my presence—were conditioned and controlled, just as Cyprian’s were. The Axis makes tools of those they fear. They kept me isolated, distant, beholden to their directives. They tampered with my mind, with my instincts. I do not excuse my compliance, but I want you to understand: I was not free.”

“You were imprisoned.” Fivra’s voice softened slightly, though her skepticism remained. “Controlled, just like we were.”

The overseer’s wings shifted again, a restless ripple that sent a faint haze of frost scattering around him. “Yes. The Zaruxians under Axis control are not prisoners in the traditional sense. We are…assets. Tools molded to serve. They feared what we might become if our fire burned freely. They conditioned us, monitored us, and ensured our bonds to them were unbreakable—or so they believed.” His eyes rose from Cyprian’s form and settled back on Fivra. The weight in his gaze was heavy. Burdened. “Meeting Cyprian was no coincidence. The Axis must have feared the bond forming between Zaruxians and Terians was more than anecdotal. And they were right.”

“That corroborates what I have heard,” Kaelen said. Finally, he slipped his weapon back into its holder on his hip.

Turi stepped forward, her hand brushing Fivra’s arm. “He’s telling the truth,” she breathed. “He’s the only reason I’m still alive.”

Fivra didn’t know how to feel. Her heart swayed between disbelief, anger, and the slow, creeping understanding that perhaps she and Cyprian weren’t the only ones tangled in the Axis’ web of control and manipulation.

Kaelen crossed his arms. “I intercepted a few reports of my own. You made out a lot better than the inmates you were watching over.”

The overseer’s eyes turned to Kaelen. There was no hostility in his expression, merely a deep, endless weariness. “It was…survival,” he admitted. “At first.” His wings drooped slightly, his posture losing some of its imposing rigidity. “But they erased my memories when I defied their commands. A Zaruxian’s fire burns brighter, stronger, when it ignites for a mate. That bond allowed me to break free of them for good. That bond can make others rebel, as well.”

Fivra stared at him, her breath catching in her throat. The words echoed in her mind. The bond she felt with Cyprian—it was undeniable, elemental. It was as if the very core of her being had been rewired to respond to his presence. “They did not know,” she whispered. The weight of the overseer’s revelation settled like a stone in her chest. “When we were auctioned off, it was just business, but we wound up finding Zaruxians. And two now have rejected the Axis’ control.”

The overseer nodded, solemn but firm. “Now they’re trying to extinguish fires before they can truly burn. But they underestimated something, Fivra.” His eyes flickered to Turi briefly, then back to Cyprian’s massive form. “The fire in us cannot be controlled forever. Bonds like yours with Cyprian—like mine with Turi—are more than mere biology. They areinexorable. A force that even the Axis, for all their might, cannot hope to contain.”

Her gaze turned to Cyprian, whose still form was far too quiet for Fivra’s liking. She needed him to wake up, to behere. “We need to move him inside.”

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