Page 50 of Einar

Leaningback against the console,RowanandIboth face away from the screen asIstart my story from the beginning.

“Iam the middle offspring born of my life givers.Slavicis the oldest, thenRuarc, myself,Falon,Bikar, and finallyMurgul.Withthe exception ofSlavicwho was born on our home world ofUzrul, we were all born on a planet calledViri9.Aninsidious race called theAynarcame toUzrulunder the guise of saviors.Theywould help my life giver’s generation provide a better life for their younglings, in exchange for my people working for them.FromwhatIwas told, and later educated about,Uzrulwas a harsh environment, and every day was a struggle to survive.Thatis why theAynar’soffer was so tempting, but everything those fracking fairies said was a lie.”

“Fairies?”

“Yes, some call them that because to most they appear as such.Delicate, fragile, ethereally beautiful, but it is all a façade.Whatlies beneath is far more insidious.Theirtrue forms are born from nightmares, with solid black eyes, leathery wings, and layers of razor-sharp teeth.”

Memoriesbombard me, taking my breath away.Ithas taken me many orbital rotations to lock these recollections behind a steel wall in my mind.Atentative touch on my hand pulls me back into the here and now.

Rowanhas reached out with one of her tiny hands and is holding as much of my hand as she can grasp.Thatmy mate, who has been abused by everyone except her sister, offers to comfort me?Well, it melts my hearts.Herpale skin contrasts with my green hide, andIsee her face furrow in confusion when she feels the scales that blend perfectly with my skin.

“Whatyou are feeling is part of the story as well.AsIsaid,Slavicwas the only one of my brothers born onUzrul, and as such, he is the only pure bredRukuhkamong us.Therest of us have been… augmented in one way or another.Mamwas pregnant withRuarcwhen they left forViri9, and all was well in the beginning.However, slowly but surely theAynarbegan pushing our sire and his workdays became longer, and his time spent in the dwelling less frequent.Theywere testing the heartbonds to see how long it took for a mated pair to start experiencing separation sickness.

Mamcollapsed and a youngSlavicrushed her to the infirmary.Thatis where it began.TheAynarwere experimenting on all the younglings while they were still within their mam’s wombs by splicing ourDNAwith that of other species.Someextinct, some not.Inmine,Bikar’sandMurgul’scase, theDNAthey spliced us with is from a long dead, reptilian species.TheAynar’sgoal was to create the perfect worker and warrior; one that did not tire easily and was difficult to harm.Andsince my species is hardy, strong, and experiences high birth rates, we were the perfect species to test their experiments out on.Sirewas allowed to come home long enough to impregnate mam before his workload would miraculously double.Bythe timeMurgulwas born, it was blatantly apparent that theAynarhad been meddling in things they ought not.

Slavicwas thrown into the mines when he refused to take a less experienced warrior’s life.Thatwas the last timeIsaw him for orbital rotations.Slavic’srefusal to kill an innocent, and his consequential punishment was the day theAynarrevealed themselves for the evil frackers they are.Ruarc, being the second oldest, was left in the dwelling with mam,BikarandMurgulwhile they were still younglings.Later,Ruarcwas sent to the mines to join sire andSlavic.FalonandIwere forcibly removed from our home to begin our specialty training.Iwas sent to medical andFalonengineering.WhenBikarandMurgulwere old enough, they too were sent off, butBikarwent into communications and whenMurgulshowed promise for weapons design that is where he was assigned.LaterIfound out that our sire pulled in every single favor he had left to make sure we were all selected for different training assignments.Hewas planning long term.”

Rowaninterjects with a gentle question.

“Youand your brothers are so big.Howdid a race that looks like an evil fairy control you?”

“Ah, yes.Yousee, all the younglings they altered could be controlled by theAynar’smages.Asimple thought in our direction dropped us to the ground in mind numbing pain.Theyengineered us to serve, regardless whether we agreed with what we were being forced to do or not.Thatis how they controlled us, and if that did not provide the desired result, they would threaten our mams or siblings to encourage cooperation.Orbitalrotations went by beforeIsaw one of my brothers again, andIalmost did not recognize him for who he was whenIdid.

Slavichad been caught in a cave-in deep in the mine, but our sire was able to get him to my infirmary for care.Youwould not know it now, butSlavichad hair similar to my own, and dark green skin versus his current bald, gray skinned appearance.Theenvironment in the mine was extremely hostile.WhileIworked on him, we exchanged as much information as possible.Itold him where the rest of our brothers were, howSiremaneuvered us into varying training programs, how mam was taken to their main laboratory, and that none of us knew where she was.”

“How… how did you escape?”

Rowan’sbroken question pulls me from my memories; her hand is clinging to mine, andIbrush my thumb across hers in reassurance.

“Thesimple answer is our sire.RememberImentioned he was planning for the long term?Well, he spearheaded a revolt against theAynar.Asecret rebellion to save our people, his family, and most importantly his mate from the evil frackers.Hemanipulated it so a ship would be waiting in the loading bay at the mine.Normallythe workers just hauled the onyx up to the bay and put it in containers that would later be loaded onto ships via auto bots.Thiswas so there was never a ship in the loading bay at the same time as aRukuhk.SiresentMurgul,Falon, and myself a message through a fewRukshe trusted, that when we heard the explosion to be ready to move, and head to the loading bay.

Theexplosion, when it came, was significant and could not be missed.Sireblew up the entire fracking mine and it rattled theAynarenough that there was pandemonium.Iwas able to make it to the ship without resistance as didFalonandMurgul.Wewere standing in the cargo bay, waiting for our life givers,RuarcandSlavicto join us when we heard something hit the ramp just beforeSlavicappeared with a woundedRuarc.SlaviclaidRuarcon the floor, turned and bolted right back down the ramp.Thethree of us followed him only to be hit with wave upon wave of unrelenting pain.Throughthe pain,Iwatched sire fight with severalPyrkyneguards beforeSlavicwas able to him to help.

Somehow, one of theAynarmages figured out what sire was up to, and he brought mam with him to the loading bay to dangle her in front of us.SireandSlavicfroze.Sirebellowed, ‘‘Slavic, save your brothers, get to the ship now, and do not make our sacrifice be in vain,Son.’

Everythingthat happened after that was a blur.Slavicbarreled up the ramp, dragging myself,Murgul, andFalonback into the ship.Oncewe were out of the mage’s line of sight, his hold on us broke, but we were all weak due to the torture.Slavicwatched that evil fracker slit our mam’s throat and when sire stumbled, the death of his mate such a shock he could not move,Pyrkyneguards overwhelmed him and murdered him on the spot.Somehow,Imanaged to hit the control to close the ramp beforeSlaviccould leave the safety of the ship.Ittook all of us to hold him down in his grief andIended up having to sedate him for many risings before he was able to control himself.

Heis the one who figured out a way to survive.Wemay be brigands, but we have never harmed the innocent because we know how it feels to be the guiltless.Weall know what it is like to be controlled, manipulated and violated.”

Iwatch asRowan’seyes flared at the comparison.Hereyes are glassy with unshed tears.Shesniffles before getting up from the stool and moving around in front of me.Thisis the closest she has allowed me to be to her since she awoke and just her company is a balm to my tortured soul.

Tomy dismay, she lets go of my hand before shocking me completely with a hug.Thetop of her head only reaches my sternum, and our size differences hit me anew.Herslight form is trembling, andIdo not know if it is due to my story, her fear of males or a combination therein.Cautiously,Ilower my arms, giving her plenty of time to back away beforeIlightly wrap my arms around her, hugging her in return.Hervoice is muffled where it is buried in my chest.

“Iam so, so sorry,Einar.Idon’t have the words to tell you how sorryIam for all that you’ve suffered.”

“Thankyou, littleStarshine.Iwould endure it all again.”

Myheartfelt words cause her to jerk her face away from where it’s pressed against my chest to shoot an incredulous look up at me, andIsee that her tears fell as she embraced me.

“Donot look at me so.Iwould do it all again, andIwill tell you why.Itis because all those events led me to you.”

Shockmakes her jaw drop in astonishment before her brows crease.Ignoringher ire,Icarefully pull her back to me.

“Comenow, let me hold you for a moment longer before we are needed elsewhere.”

Shegrumbles a bit, butItake it as a resounding win when she settles back against my chest and lets me hold her.

ChapterThirty-Two

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