Page 77 of Protected by the Alien Warrior Triad

My stomach rumbles. Diana reaches into a pocket and pulls out a piece of jerky. “They gave this to me. It’s all we’ve been eating since we got here… I wish we could have some vegetables, or some fresh game.” She hands me a piece of dried meat.

I take it gratefully and chew until my jaw aches. I wonder idly what strange beast from this jungle planet died to make this jerky.

Not a fish, that’s for sure.

“Forn,” I say in the guttural language of the Aurelians. He ducks a jab from Darok. I feel guilty for interrupting their training, but there’s something I need from him.

Forn walks to me. My heart breaks at the way he stares at me, as if he’s already resigned to losing me. I’ve never had anyone I cared about enough to hate the idea of losing them – at least not like this.

“My love,” Forn says, and his words make me shiver. I’m shocked there is a word for love in his violent language, and as he says it, I see the humanity in him. It’s almost enough to make me forget that he’s going to be trying to beat members of his own species to death in just a few hours.

“I… I need your dagger,” I tell him. “If… If something happens to you, I’m not going to go with those fish-eating bastards.” I take a huge breath in. It feels like I just got a huge weight off my chest by saying those words out loud.

Forn pulls out his Orb-Dagger. He hands it me, and our fingers touch.

Forn meets my gaze, and I meet his.

“To activate it, all you need to do iswantit to exist.”

I nod, holding the hilt in my hand.

The irony was that to Forn, the weapon might merely be a dagger. To me, the length of it was more the size of a short-sword.

Exist.

The blade hums to life, shimmering in the air. I remember when I was rushing out of Lord Aeron’s private chambers and I so desperatelywilledthe blade to exist, somebody naturally understanding how to use it.

Forn looks at me with sadness, then takes my left, empty hand and places it against his jugular.

“This is a kill,” he says softly.

Then he pulls my hand down to his heart. I feel it beating and I hope desperately that it will still beat by sundown. “This is a kill.”

Next he pulls my hand down to his armpit. From my nursing studies, I know that he’s touching my fingers to the axillary artery, deep in the armpit. The Orb Blade can cut through any tough muscular tissue without needing any force, and even I will be able to take down an Aurelian with it.

“This is a kill,” he repeats, staring in my eyes so he knows that I understand.

I shudder as he brings my hand down to his femoral artery. I’m now touching such an intimate part of him, and I hate the idea of his blood being spilled. My eyes grow wet, but I know that he’s not seducing me, but teaching me exactly where to strike the huge Aurelian fish-eaters if they “win” me in combat.

“This is a kill – aquickkill. Do you understand?” Forn’s voice is a low, pained rumble. I know that he’s filled with grief at the thought of losing the battle and forcing me into such a dangerous situation.

“I understand,” I answer in a whisper.

I can already picture the evil triad trying to force themselves on me, and what I’d have to do to defend myself. There are two directions this day could go in: Tragedy or victory. If even one of my triad is slain, there’ll be a hole in my heart for the rest of my days.

“Where?Wherewill you fight?”

Forn clenches his teeth. There’s something inhuman about him when he thinks of battle. I can see in his green eyes that some part of him is actuallyeagerfor the bloodshed.

“In the ancestral battle grounds,” he growls, and turns away from me. I’m left clutching the Orb-Dagger as he returns to his sparring.

---