Chapter 2 Wrexxon
Wrexxon
Istood on the transport as we descended through Lexxona's frozen atmosphere, hands clasped behind my back, watching the planet's surface rise to meet us. The endless white of the icy planet was only punctuated by bruised patches where ice gave way to frozen rock.
"This place looks as welcoming as a temporal void," Kolt muttered beside me. My battle chief had fought at my side for as long as I’d been Raas, and he had yet to keep a thought to himself. It was one of the reasons I valued him.
On my other side, Venik grunted. My majak, or first officer, did not always agree with my battle officer.
“The planet might not look like much, but the colony once supported a significant mining operation. It was abandoned by the Zagrath when their empire first collapsed, but now their forces have started to return.”
Aside from being my first officer, Venik possessed a talent for finding the unique aspects of every planet or colony we encountered, as well as the finest artisans or crafters. It was why our horde now employed gifted metalworkers and skilled tinkers, talented herbalists and master brewers.
Kolt rocked back on the heels of his sturdy boots. “Because it’s so far on the Outer Rim, the Empire thinks their incursions will not be noticed.”
“Which is why they need us," I said, my voice flat even as my tail slashed behind me and betrayed my agitation. “The Empire is using the planets on the Rim to regain their foothold.”
"The question is whether we need them.” Kolt pivoted to face me fully. “Our hordes are spread thin as it is, Raas. Every settlement we defend is another resource drain, another potential liability. And this far out on the Rim?"
My jaw hardened, knowing full well that my battle chief’s distrust of humans was another reason he questioned my decision. “That's exactly why we must secure these territories now, before the Empire uses these distant colonies to rebuild.”
Venik folded his arms over his bare chest. “They were all but wiped out a decade ago by the Raas brothers.”
“And the Lunori Raas,” Kolt added, his dark eyes flashing like they did anytime Raas Vassim, the Deranged Raas, was mentioned.
“An empire with so much wealth, so many resources, and so many who feared them would never be quashed so easily,” I said, thinking of the tales of the Zagrath in retreat. “They would always be a threat waiting to awaken. It was why we were summoned to continue the fight.”
Venik made a rough sound in the back of his throat, acknowledging this truth. “The Zagrath are a plague.”
I kept my gaze on the approaching ground, on the humble structures huddled together against the cold like cowering prey.
“They are not a mindless swarm, which is why they are so dangerous.
The Empire is a shrewd, well-funded plague that slowly absorbs every outpost and colony in its path with promises of protection and riches that never come.
Our people have seen it happen before. I will not see it happen again. "
The transport fell silent except for the hum of engines and the whisper of systems adjusting for landing. My warriors knew better than to argue when it came to the Zagrath and our mission to cripple them.
But Kolt, blessed or cursed with the courage to speak his mind, pressed forward. "And the payment, Raas?”
“The war bride?”
No one met my gaze. It wasn’t unusual for a Raas of the Vandar to take a bride as payment, even a human one, although I fully understood that Kolt would have preferred no human ever set foot on our warbird.
His grandfather’s death due to the betrayal of humans was something that haunted him, even if it was never spoken about by any of us.
“During the first defeat of the Zagrath, all the victorious warlords had claimed a human bride for themselves,” Venik said, always the rational one.
“Vandar-human offspring are common among our population now, and the first children of the pairings are already in training to be the next generation of warriors.”
Kolt scowled, this reasoning clearly doing nothing to change his mind.
"It is necessary," I said, thinking of the concept I’d devised and the contract I’d drawn up for the colony on Lexxona.
The contract that promised Vandar defense of their planet in exchange for a single female to be taken onto our warbird.
The contract that stipulated a war bride be given to us as a promise they would not shift their loyalty to the Zagrath.
The contract that gave me permission to claim any female on their planet for myself.
Venik cleared his throat, a sign I recognized as a preface to a warning. “When Raas Kratos took his bride--”
“He was considered a brute,” I interrupted. “A savage. A marauding raider who stole a woman for his own pleasure. But he was none of those things. I am none of those things.”
“It has taken years for us to shake off the reputation the Empire branded us with, Raas. Do you think—?”
“I think people will believe what they wish. Only we know the truth of our honor.”
“He is right,” Kolt said with a curt nod. “Those who think us monsters will never be dissuaded, but those who know the truth, know we are heroes.”
“Demanding war brides from those planets we protect ensures they will not betray us.” I turned to face my majak fully, meeting his concerned gaze with my resolute one. "Their loyalty is bought with this bond. Her safety depends on their cooperation. It is strategy, majak. Nothing more."
He didn't look convinced, but he nodded and returned his attention to the view of the barren planet.
What I told him was the truth, but it wasn’t the entire truth.
I hadn’t told him about the execution list I’d received from the spy we had embedded within the Zagrath or that the random lottery to select a war bride would be anything but random.
This I’d kept to myself, although I was not entirely sure why.
I could convince myself it was to keep our spy’s intel as protected as possible, but I was very aware that revealing the true nature of my plan would invite challenge from both my majak and battle chief, for entirely different reasons.
The transport touched down with barely a shudder, and through the front glass I could see the colony in clearer detail now.
It was barely more than a cluster of buildings around a central square, although the houses that hunched shoulder-to-shoulder were at least built of stone.
Gray stone that was as dull and cold as the sullen sky.
Despite spending years on a stark warbird built for battle and not comfort, the desolation of the colony sent a shudder through me.
"I want to see this place for myself.” I turned on my heel toward the transport’s exit. "Before the ceremony."
Kolt fell into step behind me. "You should bring a guard detail."
"I am the guard detail." I didn't slow my stride. "And I am the threat. If there's danger here, it runs from me, not toward me."
The ramp descended, and the cold slammed into me.
Even prepared for it, even being from a species resistant to cold, the wind that knifed through me was vicious.
One of my warriors stepped forward, offering me a heavy fur cloak.
I wrapped it around my shoulders but left it open in the front, the wind whipping at the leather of my battle kilt and chilling my bare legs and chest. The cold might be bitter, but it sharpened my mind and honed my battle instincts.
I descended the ramp, my boots crunching on frost-covered ground, and headed toward the colony, which was still shrouded in darkness and slumber. The platform in the central square stood empty and bare. No welcoming committee had assembled yet, because we'd arrived earlier than announced.
This was no mistake. I wanted to see the place before it had prepared for the fearsome Vandar raiders.
I walked the snow-packed road, feeling the weight of unseen eyes. Curtains twitched as I passed, and I caught glimpses of faces fogging glass before quickly disappearing. Fear had a particular energy, and it radiated from the gray stone houses like heat from a forge.
Did they know who I was or was their fear for all Vandar?
Did they know I was known as the Qeth’rex?
The Scourge? Did they have any idea that I had burned Imperial outposts without mercy and scattered their fleets, that I had avenged a hundred massacres and protected a dozen colonies?
Did they know I was the most feared Raas since Kratos and his brothers had torn across the skies along with the Mad Raas and then the Lost Vandar who’d been reunited with the clans?
I gave my head a shake, pushing aside thoughts of those long-fought battles and even the one that had claimed my father’s life. These colonists knew none of that. They’d played no part in it. But they would still be required to make a sacrifice.
Guilt twisted my gut at the thought of the female who had no idea how her life was about to change.
With a growl, I crushed the feeling immediately, grinding it beneath mental boot heels.
This was weakness, sentiment, sympathy. All luxuries I could not afford.
I had a duty to the Vandar who depended on my leadership and my willingness to do what was necessary, as well as to the galaxy I was protecting from Imperial control.
Then I spotted a single window glowing with warm light in the pre-dawn darkness. Through the frost that webbed the glass door, I could make out a simple line drawing of a loaf of bread. The universal sign of a bakery.
My stomach clenched with sudden hunger. When had I last eaten? Not that morning as we’d approached the planet and launched the transports. I touched a hand to my rumbling stomach, the skin bare and cold.
Then I caught the scent of yeast, faint but unmistakable.
Suddenly, memories rushed over me unbidden.
Memories of my mother that were tangled in the savory aroma of baking bread and the heat of ovens and the soft touch of hands.
I could no longer picture her face easily, but when I inhaled the scent of baking bread, I was back beside her, cocooned in warmth, safety, and love.
I moved toward the aroma and the glass door as if propelled by memory alone. Through the iced glass, I could make out three figures moving inside. I hesitated. Rarely was the appearance of a Vandar Raas met with welcome.
Then I remembered who I was. The Qeth’rex. The Scourge. I had no reason to concern myself with what others thought of me. Even if I did, I would have been helpless to resist the pull of the familiar aroma and the sense of comfort it triggered within me.
I pushed open the door.
The warmth hit me first, followed by the even more potent punch of yeast. It wrapped around me like an embrace that had been long forgotten, such a stark contrast to the cutting wind outside that my muscles involuntarily slackened.
Then I saw them. Three females staring at me with identical expressions of shock. Sisters, clearly since they had the same dark hair, though worn differently, and the same wide eyes. But only one drew my gaze.
She appeared to be the eldest, wearing a simple work dress and an apron dusted with flour, with her dark hair pulled back in a practical braid, a few rebellious curls escaping to frame her face. There was flour on her cheeks, on her hands, and a smudge on her nose.
Our eyes locked, my tail went still, and my breath stopped.
I had faced death a hundred times without flinching, but this female, covered in flour, looked at me like she could see straight through the armor I'd built around myself, and something in my chest cracked.
It was only a breath before I regained control again, but it had been long enough for me to realize that everything I'd planned had just become infinitely more complicated.
Because I knew that I was staring at the woman whose name had been on the execution list. The woman I'd come to save.
The woman who was going to despise me for it.