Page 60 of Protected by the Alien Warrior Triad

That was all I needed to hear.

I turn and see Stacy looking up at me, her eyes huge and filled with tears. My heart breaks at having to leave her – but if what Lord Tenderfoot tells us of this jungle world is true, then I can’t in good conscience take any of the children there.

I cross the room and give Stacy a huge hug.

“This is what needs to happen,” I reassure her, squeezing her tightly. “You’ll get an education, and you’ll be able to have the life you’ve always wanted.” I lean in closer to her ear, whispering. “…andyou need to take care of Tod and Tyler.”

Stacy looks up at me with wet eyes, then nods. She turns to her friends. “Okay guys, we need to be secret. So, no yelling or crying, okay?”

I look down at her with beaming pride. Just as Runner’s fate was twisted by the hateful rhetoric of his father, Stacy has learned bravery and independence from me. I know she’s going to be okay- and Tod and Tyler will too, with her to look after them.

The two boys listen to Stacy’s words and nod reluctantly. Then they rush to me, wrapping their little arms around my body in a huge hug. I squeeze them right back, knowing I’m going to miss them dearly – but if I’m truly going to a distant, jungle planet, I can’t keep them safe anymore.

My heart breaks knowing I might never see them again, but I can’t be selfish and bring them with me.

Eagles the size of a Gods-be-damned transport ship? It’s enough to worry about the kids, but maybe I should worry about myself! I’m goingthere?

Diana swallows. She’s been trained from a young age to hide her emotions, but I can see them through her calm veneer. “Great… winged… reptiles… What did you call them? You said like… like dragons from the old fairy tales?”

Lord Tenderfoot looks nervous, too. He speaks in the guttural language to the Aurelians. I’m shocked that the three of them laugh in unison – a deep, booming sound that I want to hear for the rest of my life.

Lord Tenderfoot smiles. “Therewasa dragon, but it was slain many thousands of years ago by a great group of Aurelians… and a beautiful human woman who’s gift to the tribe was to share an amulet that allows communication between your kind and theirs. When you arrive, you’ll not have to learn their language to understand these men.”

A tinge of nervousness goes through me. I feel like I know these Aurelians, but I haven’t yet shared a single word with them other than our names.

What if they’re like the soldiers on the transport ship? Full of machismo and crude jokes? What if they see me as nothing more than an animal to be bred?

My thoughts stop as the Orb suddenlypulses.Tendrils of lightning arc out, but there’s no pain as they touch my body. The Orb caresses me gently, and the Aurelians look at me with awe. Then, with a sharp crackle like a bone breaking, a portalslicesthrough reality right in front of us.

The table laden with books is cleaved in half. A wind from nowhere gusts through this underground chamber. The orphans jump back with a gasp and Diana lets out a faint scream.

Suddenly I’m not looking at a dusty underground study any more. The hole in reality has opened to verdant plains, and hot, sticky air gushes through the flickering, crackling rend in reality.

Forn takes a deep breath and smiles in satisfaction, clearly tasting the air of his home world. I peer through the shimmering portal and see tall stalks of grass lazily swaying in the breeze on the other side. Suddenly, I yearn to step through and leave behind the cold, merciless reality of the Capital behind.

But am I really going to do this? Am I really going to leave itallbehind?

As I stare out into the jungle planet, it really starts to hit me. I’m giving upeverything.

But what is that really? I don’t evenhavea life here anymore. My city, where I worked hard every day to eke out a meagre living, is now burnt into a smoldering pile of ashes. Everyone I once saw on my daily walk to work is now ash and memory. I have nothing behind me. If I stay on Independence, all that awaits me is being chased and harangued by the Viceroy’s forces until I am finally taken and executed for my treachery.

Forn, Hadone and Darok may be brutal warriors, but they have light in their eyes as they stare through the portal. I remember what Lord Tenderfoot said: That though it is a dangerous planet beyond this shimmering portal, there will be a means on the other side for me to communicate with these three alien warriors.

But what will happen when they realize that I’m not their fated mate? That they found me only because Lord Tenderfoot was coincidentally opening a portal to their planet while he thought of his niece?

It’s a chilling thought – cold despite the glow of the hot sun streaming through the rippling portal.

When the three Aurelians find out that I am not special, will they decide that Diana is the one they want? It’s not fair – she has such effortless beauty; a grace and pose that I could never dream of having.

Diana is elegant while I, at my core, am nothing but an impoverished mechanic just trying to make ends meet.

I give the orphans one last hug, one by one. When it comes to Stacy, my eyes well up with tears.

“You take care of those two, okay? You’re so strong – I have faith in you.”

Stacy forces back tears. I know she’s trying to look strong for me, so I won’t worry. I break off the hug before I break down in tears, and she gives me a tiny, scared smile. I trust Lord Tenderfoot to give her a better life than I ever could – whether here, or on the forbidding jungle planet that awaits.

Forn grunts out some words in his guttural language. Lord Tenderfoot responds, the old man smiling and extending his hand. I watch them shake each other’s hands in the manner of Old Earth, and the nobleman’s small hand disappears within Forn’s huge palm.

Finally, the Aurelian leader releases Tenderfoot and just walks right through the portal – as if it’s as natural as stepping from one room into another. His ivory skin glimmers as he walks into the sunlight of the distant world that is now going to become my new home.

I can’t look back. If I take one last look at Stacy, Tod and Tyler, I’ll want to stay – but I know I’ll only draw danger to the three of them if I do.

So, instead, I take a deep breath and step through the portal – into the heat of a distant, alien world.

I’ve just left my old home world behind – and taken my first step into my new one.

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