Page 5 of Bonded Queen: to the Alien Warlord Triad

As unholy as the Priests are, I could not suffer a fate like Krazak. I could not let my Mate be taken from me, ripped to shreds, every bit of her consumed by Scorp.

Even if I lose every bit of myself to get her.

General Gladinus forced us to fly away from her. I did not know her exact location, only a vague sense. It was against every instinct to leave her. When he handed out Bond-Disrupter rings on my finger, rings that would sever any chance of feeling her if the Priests performed another ritual, it was like putting molten fire around my finger.

I still believed in duty. Honor. Against all instincts, I fought battles away from her. I killed slavers that had not taken her. Cut down Scorp that did not hunt her, killed pirates that did not threaten her.

When I saw Krazak scream in agony and heartbreak as he held the sun-bleached bones of his dead Mate, I could no longer fight. I threw away my honor. I led all these triads to be damned, to join the Old Ways. I got us all put on the Kill List. We’ll all be executed without trial if we are caught.

I stare out at the men I damned, knowing I made the only choice I could.

I don’t just have a vague location anymore. The War-God himself is guiding me through the ether, and he told us she is on the other side. That somewhere on the vast planet of Trebulous, my Mate is hiding in fear of the coming Scorp.

We will save her.

We will earn her.

And we will keep her.

“Start the Orb-Drive.” I state the command to my smartwatch. The only ones not in attendance are the crew manning the weapons systems and the Orb-Drive of the ship. The first shift will go easier, then I will direct many of the men in attendance to take to emergency stations, to bunker down and prepare for the second. Others will stay here, ready to pour out immediately to the world…

If we survive.

Orr stalks to the side of the room, checking the blast doors. The meeting hall is against the exterior of the ship, and when we touch down, the wall will open, letting triads rush out with Orb-Blades drawn. The bulk of my soldiers are going to be on the ground, except for a triads of our best pilots who will man the attack ship Reavers, the ships filled with triads who will be airlifted into battle, while the pilots cut down Scorp and provide air support.

Kriz walks through the crowd as he goes to the bridge. They no longer stand rigid, instead widening their stance, preparing for battle. Kriz checks his smartwatch, which projects up pages of calculations.

It used to be that calculations enough could let you Orb-Shift safely.

Now over half of the ships never come back. My battle-brother disappears out the door, but I can feel him walking to the bridge where he will direct the technicians to initiate the shift.

Fear infects the crowd. Every one of us has seen the footage a hundred times of what happened the last time Aurelians shifted en masse. We all watched the holo-vids when Priests fled Colossus, trusting the rift to get them safe to the other side. We all saw ships ripped in half, tens of thousands of men gasping for air and finding only emptiness in their lungs until they burned up in the atmosphere. There’s no fighting the void. It takes what it chooses.

Let Obsidian guide us.

No matter. That fear will disappear when we are on steady ground, with an opponent we can face.

We just have to get there.

“Opened a communication with Obsidian. The calculations are wrong, Ra’al. Completely wrong.”Fear spikes in Kriz’s aura, but I do not let it infect me. He is in the Orb-Shifting room, punching in coordinates which go in direct conflict with the numbers our War-God is giving him. I can feel the awe in Kriz’s aura. He must be speaking with Obsidian himself, through a holo-video communication.

“Orb drive activating. We’re taking coordinates from Obsidian himself,” comes a hushed voice through the loudspeaker. The men controlling the Orb-Shift drive speak to us through the ship’s coms, awe in their voices. Not even the most religious of us truly believed we’d meet the War-God in our lifetime. Now we’ve all witnessed him with our own eyes, the biggest Aurelian I’ve ever seen, with black in his veins and two shadowy wolf-men at his side.

“If we die, we die.”I telepath the words back with finality. I have ten billion souls weighing on me. I cannot add any more.

The walls shimmer and bend inwards. Hardened soldiers gasp, unable to control themselves as we plunge between worlds.

I am alone. I stand in endless blackness. Far away, I can feel the auras of my triad, candle flames burning across an ocean of dark.

She’s there. Obsidian guides us towards her, and she’s frozen in time, sitting on the ground. Her white dress glows, unsullied.

I breathe in. I can taste her. The scent of my mate fills my nostrils. She fills me with life, with need.

If we don’t make it through this jump and the next, that white dress will be stained red with the blood of her heart.

2

Rachel

---