Page 47 of Claimed by the Alien Warrior Triad

As I watch the beautiful, dying beast, I see that an old burn runs from flank to shoulder across the lion’s long body. It’s a deep, old scar. Clearly, the beast survived an attack from the brutal dragon…

…yet, it didn’t survive me.

I know I shouldn’t spare another bullet on this beautiful, majestic, tortured creature – but I can’t stand to let it die in agony. I reload my last clip, and nervously advance as close as I dare to the dying beast.

I look into its tortured, frantic eyes and raise the gun.

One more shot echoes out across the mountain – right through the lion’s eye, ending the animal’s suffering instantly.

Eight shots left.

I continue up the mountain, shuddering as I see more burn marks scalded deep into the rocks.

Apparently, the dragon has been rampaging close to the Aurelian’s home. They escaped death against that beast once – and I hope against hope that they haven’t confronted it since.

I’m nearing the summit, and so impatient that I sprint.

It seems to make sense. I’m so close now, and I can’t afford another mountain lion attack. I was lucky that the last ambush came from far away, instead of getting snuck up on in close quarters.

I guess when you’re a small, slow-moving target, predators don’t think of you as much of a threat. The last time I was on this mountain, I wasn’t. I even had bare feet.

This time, though, I’m prepared with boots and a gun – and my feet pound against the rocks as I scale the mountain, higher and higher, until I finally get to the cave.

I gasp as I see thesameboulder covering the entrance, even after all these years. My eyes widen as I see a tiny opening in the side.

The three Aurelians have left just enough space for me to squeeze through. After all these years, they’ve still left the door open for me, metaphorically speaking.

Hope surges through me. I can barely believe this is happening – after twelve years of thinking I wasinsanefor my memories of the day and night I’d spent here, and twenty more of fighting desperately to make it back. All the political manipulation, the wheeling and dealing, the things I did and promised to get into a position of power just so I could follow up on the slimmest chance of finding and using an Orb...

An entire life I’d built, in pursuit of this moment. A life I simply threw away to get here again; and one I know, deep in my heart, that I’d trade again in an instant.

I squeeze in through the crack in the rock, my heart pounding. Most of the beasts of this planet are oversized and could never fit through this narrow crack. Maybe a baby, I guess…

I shudder for a moment, imagining the cubs of the mountain lion I’d killed earlier. They’d be the size of a cougar on this world; but still as comparatively helpless as kittens.

I push the guilty thoughts out of my mind. There’s no turning back, remember?

“Stryker? Haleon? Brigg?” I stagger into the cavern, and my voice echoes emptily down the long tunnel.

There’s no response, so I hurry into the darkness, trailing my hands against the smooth rock to guide me.

The cave open up in front of me – but it’s empty.

No furs remain. No torches hang on the walls. Only the stone table and chairs are there to show that, once upon a time, three brave alien warriors lived here.

Before I can sob from the loss, I see that there’s a strange glow emanating from the table itself.

What the hell isthat?

I step suspiciously forward, towards it. My finger is on the trigger of my stolen pistol, not sure what to expect on this alien planet – but knowing I must be ready foranything.

The table has a ring of luminescent algae growing on it, obviously cultivated to illuminate the carving.

It’s a map. There is a detailed representation of the entire mountain, and the portal that once brought me here.

Far north on the map, there’s a drawing of a huge volcano, with a dragon perched on the top. It’s carved with such incredible detail I can see every sword-sized tooth in its gaping black maw – even the intense, burning hatred in the dragon’s intricately-carved eyes.

I shudder and look down at the arrow pointing from the mountain home of the three Aurelians, back towards the jungle where I’d first been brought here with them; thirty years earlier.

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