Interlude

Chapter 27

Brannock

Iheave out the breath I’d been holding and drop my hands to my sides, pulling out both of my weapons now that we’ve arrived at the location. The site is eerily silent, much like when we were harvesting yesterday. The magic circle must deaden the noise around us, which is hardly ideal for the ambush we know is waiting for us.

“Are we sure the Madovian’s are hiding somewhere in there? They don’t have a circle to protect themselves with.” Lila sounds skeptical as she studies the forest in front of us with a frown.

I don’t look at her. Seeing her as an Aaz’axian is doing things to my body that I haven’t felt for a very long time. When she shimmied her spines earlier, I almost attacked her and forced her to ride my cock, desperate to allow my spikes to pierce her body, fill her with my seed, and watch her body round with my child. I pride myself on my self-control, but it’s frayed to its very edges. I loved my wife, but not being able to fuck her to completion was devastating. I was constantly lying to her, and I felt so much guilt. It’s part of the reason I agreed to the IVF, thinking it would never work. Hearing Lila refer to me as her mate was nothing short of a miracle, even though I don’t think she meant to say it out loud.

Lila is gorgeous as an Aaz’axian. She’s gorgeous anyway, but seeing a female of my species is something I never thought I would ever see again. There are supposedly one or two still alive in the galaxy, my daughter being one of them, and I’ve hoped and prayed every day since she was born that being half human would be enough to save her from the curse that decimated the female population. If not, then I will beg the Celestians or Lila for another flamegem flower to save her. Thankfully she has shown no signs of being unwell up until now. I can only hope it’s the same since I’ve been gone. I’m dying to get back to Earth. Thankfully she is too young yet, but Smith has plans to breed her and create their own army when she becomes of age. I will see them all dead before that happens, especially that traitorous member of my old team. I will make him suffer for what Chloe has had to endure.

A rush of desire floods my body as my eyes drift to Lila again. Fuck. I shake my head and assess the terrain in front of us.

“I doubt they care if one or two get picked off,” Saxon mutters as everyone spreads out with Lila strategically located in the center.

The forest before us is black and dead. A thick fog covers the ground, concealing anything that may be lying in wait for us. The sky-high trees are withered and gnarly, bent at odd angles which makes it difficult to walk in a direct line. It’s going to involve us dipping and ducking to get in and around the dense jungle.

I watch as Lila steps toward a waist-high bush and brushes a curious finger over the strangely charred leaves. It turns to ash and crumbles into dust, disappearing into the fog at its base.

“It’s dead,” she says, looking toward us in amazement.

“The whole forest is.” A voice behind us has us whirling and holding up our weapons.

“No!” Lila screams, but luckily no one gets off a shot at the god who is now back in his humanoid form.

“A little warning would be nice. We’re all a little jumpy,” Silac hisses, and the god inclines his head.

“My apologies. I wasn’t thinking. Do not allow the residue to rest on your skin, or you will feel fatigued.”

“I thought you said it would burn if we used our dragon fire. That’s already dead.” She sounds confused, pointing at the bush that just disintegrated.

“Everything beneath the canopy is dead, but the canopy itself is very much alive. Those large trees are what suck life out of everything beneath it. They are what will kill you if you go too slow. No animals will live in the forest, or they get the life sucked out of them as well.”

“Right, trees are bad. Do not stop long enough for the trees to get you.” Lila nods her head, and her voice rises with a touch of hysteria. “What were you thinking when you created this planet? Everything is out to kill everything else.”

“Actually, as far as a natural ecosystem goes, it’s fairly harmonious. It’s only intruders that get targeted without prejudice. This was my safe haven. We all had one. While I did create this planet, this forest is a product of the goddess of death. She is basically my sister, but she is also a slave to her nature, and over the years, instead of celebrating the rebirth facet of death, she wallowed in its destructive nature. She liked to leave her mark on any planet that has too much life. We permitted her to do things like this, because it was a way of managing her. It didn’t hurt anyone unless they ventured into it, and very few do, except if they were looking for death.”

“What about the green circle of magic surrounding us? It repels the creatures on this planet, so will it repel the Madovians?” Lila asks, but Zeydan only shrugs, disappointment in his eyes.

“I do not know. I have never tested it on other species except for the ones native to the planet. I’ve never needed to.”

Lila bites her lip, which seems to be a bad habit when she worries about things. I see a smear of blood appear, and she grimaces, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She must have forgotten she has fangs in this form as well.

“Shall we stop yapping and get on with it?” Xavier asks as he holds out his hands, and two balls of magic appear in each palm. “I’m ready to get back to our normal lives where all we have to worry about is keeping our children alive and making sure Lila’s kraken is well satisfied.” The guys chuckle as he winks at his mate, and I see her shoulders relax slightly.

“I will shift and take point. The snake and lightning cat can flank me, leaving the rest of you to follow behind. I have seen no signs of them yet, but the forest has a soul, and for all I know, it may be assisting our enemies,” Zeydan says, and we all concede to his plan. He knows this terrain best, so it would make sense if he was out in front.

“Stay behind us,” I instruct the bear. “We need you to get to Lila’s grandma, and you can’t do that if you’re dead.”

He rolls his eyes. “Glad to see you care,” he mutters but does as I say. The warlock said he was to be trusted, but I know firsthand how easy it is to hide true motivations, though he did allow the warlock to search his mind. He wasn’t able to get into mine. It’s the one reason I am grateful for the chip in my head. It gives off a low frequency that makes it seem like there’s a steel wall around my thoughts.

“We will watch our backs.” The dragon drops back, giving me a knowing nod. I know he was pissed at me, but learning that it was because of my child made him more inclined to forgive me. He was more welcoming to the bear. He saved Lila, after all, but he is still on high alert, especially after my confession. It’s going to take a bit for the men mated to Lila to trust the rest of us.

The nine of us make our way through the forest. It’s slow going for most of us, but the three shifters in front seem to have no problems navigating the awkward terrain. Their animals are just that much more agile than us. Silac changed from half form to full now, and he is somewhat terrifying. Hopefully his ability to capture someone with his gaze will be able to stop some of the Madovians on the spot.

The light doesn’t penetrate the forest, and the farther we get in, the more Zeydan’s fox form seems to glow with an inner fire that lights the way. The green circle of protection surrounding us also gives the area an eerie glow, but it’s much better than black as night.

The forest is unnaturally quiet, but whether that’s because nothing lives in here or because of the magic protection, I don’t know. It’s only the sounds of our breaths and the occasional crunch of an unseen twig underfoot that breaks it up.

Zeydan suddenly stops, sniffing the air. Maxsim’s tail comes up, and his lightning fizzles, the scent of ozone erasing the dank smell of decay that permeates our noses. Silac hisses, and his hood spreads out as he rises up on his tail.

“Lila, be ready,” I whisper as Saxon and Xavier both become even more alert than they were. Saxon has his finger on the triggers, and the balls of energy in Xavier’s hands grow bigger.

The smell of smoke joins the scent of ozone, and when I turn to look, both Ghosie and Tirrian are also scanning the area behind us for what set off the shifters. I feel better knowing they are guarding our backs.

“Just burn this fucker down if you have to,” Lila mutters quietly, but I hear the dragon grunt his response.

“As long as everyone else is safe. It’s likely to go up like an explosion if anything does catch on fire.”

He’s not wrong. There doesn’t seem to be any moisture in this forest at all, it’s a lightning strike away from a fire storm. Shit, lightning!

“Max, make sure your hits strike the reptiles and not the trees, otherwise we’re all going to burn,” I warn quietly, knowing his shifter ears will hear whatever I say.

He turns his head and gives me a quick nod of acknowledgement, and that’s when they strike, but we miscalculated. We were so worried about what was in front of us, none of us thought to look up. Something shoots out of the trees, and Xavier is encased in a sticky web-like net, pinning his hands to his sides, gluing his lips shut, and wrapping his body in a cocoon. He topples over, effectively removing him from the board.

“Xavier!” Lila screams as I look up to where the web came from, my heart sinking.

“Fuck, Nelecs.” Up in the tree above me is the ten-legged, two-headed, multi-eyed alien that is very similar to an earth spider crossed with a scorpion. Its barbed, serrated stinger sticks up high in the air, waiting to strike its netted prey to inject its venom. They aren’t particularly intelligent, but they take orders well.

I raise my gun and shoot the one that entrapped Xavier. The laser pierces its tough outer shell, and it falls to the ground, making a squelching sound as its insides splatter everywhere. As I look around and tune back into what’s going on around me, I realize it wasn’t the only one. Zeydan is down too. He’s struggling more than Xavier is, his form jerking as he tries to remove the sticky substance from his body, but it seems to make it worse.

Saxon aims and takes out another one as I hear shots behind us as well. Instead of joining in and firing into the top of the trees where the Nelecs are, I keep an eye on the bushes surrounding us. The Madovians are here, they just sent the Nelecs to be cannon fodder and to take out our strongest. It’s a smart battle strategy, but they don’t realize we’re all weapons in this fight.

Silac must sense them at the same time I spot the first one approaching us. He lunges forward, growing even bigger, latching his fangs into the reptilian creature. They are in their beast form, which is a cross between a snake and a water dragon. They have a long, undulating body with a hooded head, and small limbs and wings that help them climb surfaces they may not otherwise be able to. Their fangs drip with poison, and although Lila has healing powers in her Celestian form, it would be better for none of us to be bitten or spat on.

Silac yanks back, tearing out his victim’s throat and spits, blood from the Madovian he attacked flying from his mouth. She starts screaming in pain, his venom already killing her. I see one of them approach Lila, who is desperately trying to remove the web from Xavier. I can’t stand around and watch anymore, I need to join in. I fire my gun, and it rips the one behind Lila in half.

“Leave him. He will be okay. You need to fight back,” I shout at her before I turn, and my eyes widen at the sheer number coming toward us. Tirrian roars and races forward as Ghosie approaches me and Lila.

“Go, I’ve got this,” he shouts. “Lead them away, and I’ll make sure the warlock and god are safe.”

Lila and I exchange a glance, and we both get up and race into the fray. I fire my gun at anything that’s black and red and moves, taking out three more of our enemy.

“We need to move. We need to draw them away from Xavier and Zeydan so Ghosie can do his thing,” I shout to Saxon, who is covered in a thick black substance that I know is Madovian blood. His eyes glow with bloodlust as he gives me a nod and starts to run. Maxsim joins him. He’s limping slightly, and his mouth and chest are also covered in the thick black substance. I fire at the one that attacks him from the side that he missed in his impatience to keep up with Saxon. It goes down with a thud, and Maxsim jumps to the side. Tirrian puts another shot in that one just to make sure before he, too, follows behind them.

“Come on, Lila,” Tirrian growls. “We need to go.” He grabs her arm and tugs her away, urging her to follow the others.

“But we don’t know where we’re going. I can’t leave them,” she chokes out, stumbling, torn between staying and following the others.

“I know the way. Zeydan showed me in my mind. Now hurry,” he argues. There’s a piercing scream, and Lila watches with horror as a Madovian catches up to Maxsim, his limp slowing him down. He goes down in a tangled heap, the godawful screeching echoing through the forest.

“Max, no!” Lila’s form pulses, and I feel her berserker mode push its way forward, triggered by her injured mate. Her body changes, getting larger and broader, her spikes retract, and her color changes to red and green. She growls and starts racing toward the melee. My excitement spikes, and I let my own berserker out. There will be no more damage to any of us, Lila and I will make sure, but I hope they can pull us back after we take care of this mess.