Page 3 of The Arabis Triad

One miracle had resulted in many more, the best one being the female in his arms.

“Gods. She is hurt badly, brother,” Coltan said as he stared in wonder at her from Paxt’s side. He sounded worried.

Her slim fingers curved around Paxt’s biceps. Shewasin bad shape. Blood coated her skin. She was covered in filth, her hair matted and dirty. Her clothing hung from her bony frame no more than rags. Bruises, scratches, and gouges raked her skin. She trembled, cold to the touch. Her teeth chattered, and she began to mumble. He caught a few words, the translator the Ozar had fitted allowing him to understand both the scaled ones and the female’s language.

“Save… them.” Her eyes flickered closed and only half opened despite her trying to fight consciousness.

Worry pounded through his veins. They were not going to lose her just when he’d found her.

“She’s worried about the other females,” Ashir said. He brushed a matted strand from her forehead, revealing a gash that oozed a deep well of blood.

“She needs immediate medical attention,” Coltan said. “We’re taking her back to our ship.”

Their warriors had flown their personal war-cruiser while they’d led the fleet with the foreign craft. It had worked, allowing them to come close enough to this ship to enter, but now they had their mate. Their ship was fitted with the best medical equipment and that was where she was going.

Paxt held her against his chest, taking care not to jostle her. She weighed no more than a feather, sharp bones poking through the clothing he would burn once he got them off her.

Her eyelids fluttered and a whimper left her lips. Red filled his vision as he was consumed with rage. She had been mistreated and abused in the most malicious of ways by the scaled creatures. They were no more than monsters in his eyes.

His gaze flickered over the cages and the state of the other females trapped within, sickened him to the pit of his stomach. They had survived in absolute squalor.

Bodies of dead scaled ones lay strewn over the floor, limbless and headless. It looked as though his warriors had ripped them limb from limb with their bare hands. A fitting fate.

The battle had ended, and his warriors rented open the doors of the cages to help out the pitiful, scared creatures inside. The females cowered in the cages, whimpering and sobbing. They were in a drastic state, in similar condition to their mate. It was deplorable. Some didn’t stir. One looked as though she had been murdered while helpless in the cage.

“Easy with them!” he barked to his men.

His mate jolted, her eyes opening wide. She roused momentarily, staring up at him with a pain-filled look. “Please. Don’t… hurt them.”

“It’s is all right, mate. We are here to help. We would never harm any female.” He spoke softly. Even though she wouldn’t grasp his words, he hoped she would at least understand his tone.

Her gaze drifted to an empty cage he wouldn’t even keep an animal in. “They have Lucie… Help her too.”

“One of the human females is missing. Track her down,” Paxt barked to his warriors. Several bolted from the cargo hold.

“Highness. Our warriors have reported several shuttles leaving this ship.” Trum, his highest ranking general, strode into the room. He looked as though he had enjoyed battle, with fresh blood coating his breast plate. He came to a halt as he scanned the pitiful contents of the room and his face twisted in horror.

“Gods. What did they do to these females?” Trum’s gaze snagged on one of the human females. His eyes widened and his entire body went stiff. “I can’t believe it. Our mate!” Trum murmured.

The rest of his Triad appeared right behind him. All their attention went to the one female, and they rushed to her cage to ease her out as best they could while avoiding her injuries. She cried out and their mate stirred, her eyelids flickering toward her friend.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead to calm her. “She is being cared for, little female. Do not worry.”

Gods above, this cargo was more precious than he’d thought. For a non-royal triad to have found their mate was nothing short of a miracle. The Arabis Crystal must be near if Triads were able to find their mates at long last. The human females seemed to be a missing key between the power of the crystal and reigniting the mate-bond.

It was vital they retrieve the crystal so that others across their Homeland could find their Quads. There had been no new Quads formed at all throughout their Homeland since their crystal was stolen. That was horrifying enough, but when the Ozar had invited them to their kingdom, he’d learned that the Ozar and Erion crystals had also been stolen. The theft of their crystals affected their entire Homeplanet. If not found, their species faced total extinction. If they weren’t found and reinstalled, their home planet faced extinction.

He wanted to let Trum and his triad attend to their mate, but he had to interject, “Trum. What of these shuttles?”

Trum murmured to his brothers before standing to attention. Tension crossed Trum’s face in the set of his eyes and straight line of his mouth. It was only the fact he was a highly disciplined general that he was able to stop tending to his newly found mate. Paxt wouldn’t have even asked it of Trum if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

“My apologies, Highness,” Trum said, his voice strained. “Several shuttles have escaped. The scaled ones have escaped with a human female and the Arabis and Erion crystals. The Erion Triad are in pursuit of one of the shuttles, no doubt the one with the Erion crystal on board.”

The Erion Triad was already on the move. They needed to do the same. “Then we shall waste no more time. Can we track the direction of the Arabis crystal!” Paxt said.

Although he would have recovered both crystals if he could, it was imperative they recover their Homeland crystal. Those Erion bastards were more than capable of retrieving their own crystal.

An ear-splitting boom echoed ominously throughout the ship and the metal walls and floor about them shuddered. A groaning metal on metal sound vibrated through him, echoing throughout the entire ship. The floor tilted sharply. Paxt bent his knees and slid on the filth of the floor to keep his balance, holding their mate as gently as he could, but also trying not to drop her.

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