Driok
Whilst having my mate by my side makes my heart beat harder, it is also a concern. It would be more of a concern if she wasn’t with me as it would appear I can’t imagine her being out of my sight. She is my all.
And she is armed. My cock hasn’t quite let me forget this little fact. Or the way it nearly exploded from my pouch the moment she handled the pulsar pistol with competence.
Maggie is my mate. There could be no one else.
We continue through the passages up into the main dome and encounter no further hostiles, despite having to dispose of the Madar following us.
No threat to my mate can go unpunished.
We reach the final door, and I hold Maggie back as I extract my pulsar rifle and the psi-grenades before tossing the bag away.
“Are you ready?” I ask her.
“I thought this overseer was helping you?”
“Sort of, but he might need some persuading.”
Maggie takes out her pulsar pistol and primes it. I hold back a groan.
“I’m good at persuasion,” she says with a grin.
My little mate is not afraid. Of course she is not afraid. She is ready. She is mine.
“Stay behind me. Only shoot if I say so,” I say to her.
“I’m going to shoot when I want, Driok,” she says, baring her little white teeth.
“Good.” I give her a smile which is probably more fang than I intended but then I’m not actually in control of my body anymore.
Save as to dealing with any threats to her.
I place my comm device next to the locking mechanism on the door and activate the override nanos. The door opens, and I step through, my body, if not controllable, certainly a shield to my mate. Which is helpful as several pulsar bolts sear past me, and I use my rifle to deflect several more.
“Overseer!” I bellow. “Lord Driok of Vorostor, member of the High Bask and Sarkarnii descendant of the great General Draxx,” I announce. “I am here to claim what you promised me.”
I let rip with a volley of pulsar bolts.
“Nice.” Maggie looks at me. “Now he thinks you’re a complete twat.”
“Is that a good thing?”
A smile quirks the corner of her mouth. “Oh yeah, Driok. It’s great.”
“Then I am a complete twat.” I give her another fang-filled grin. “And the overseer will give me what I want.”
“Lord Driok.” On a platform above us, the overseer appears.
Another large bulbous Madar, he’s wearing a set of flowing robes made from the finest Zio silk.
“It looks like you have recently come into some credits, overseer.” I place the pulsar rifle on my shoulder and shift out my wings and tail, both of which have no hesitation.
With a gulp, I fill my accelerant sacs too.
“What I have and haven’t got are no business of yours, Sarkarnii,” he says.
“I beg to differ.” I launch myself into the air and land on the platform next to him in a single beat of my wings. “Because you have something which belongs to me, and I want it.”
The Madar rubs his three hands together, his small, dark eyes looking everywhere but at me.
“You were…not supposed to make it this far, Lord Driok,” he responds.
“What do you mean?” I growl. “Do you have the grav-coils or not?”
“I…I…” he gibbers, walking backwards until he reaches the wall behind him and can go no further.
“Do you?”
“I’m sorry, Driok. I like the Sarkarnii. What you have done for this galaxy has made a real difference, but…”
“But?”
“They have more credits and they don’t ask nicely,” he says with a weak, lopsided movement of his lipless mouth, his four eyes blinking at me.
The fifth eye is gone.
“What did you do?” I snarl.
“I’m sorry, my lord.” He sidesteps away from me and is swallowed by a personal portal I see too late.
“Maggie!” I’m in the air, dropping back to where she is waiting for me.
“What’s going on, Driok?”
“We’ve been double-crossed,” I growl. “The overseer sold us out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nev it!” I turn back to the door which is closing and slam my hand through the remaining gap.
I can’t hold it.
“Driok!” Maggie yells at me. “Stop, you’ll lose your hand.”
“Better than being stuck in here,” I snarl, redoubling my efforts to hold the door.
Maggie grabs hold of me, her touch sending strange spikes of emotion into my veins. “Stop, Driok. I want you whole.”
I release the door, which snaps shut. I scramble to find another way to get it open. My comm will not work, not a second time, or a third or more, despite increasing the level if programming in the nanos.
“Driok.” Maggie is holding her head. “I don’t…feel so good.”
I catch her before she hits the floor, her eyelids fluttering closed and her body going limp.
“Maggie, my mate, my spitfire.” I shake her gently. The pulsar pistol falls from her hand and is absorbed by the floor.
For a long time, I stare at the spot it was. How can the floor do that while we’re standing on it?
“It’s about time I got a Sarkarnii of my own.” A voice seemingly drops into my head rather than echoing off the walls of the dome.
“You do not get anything,” I respond, the words coming out like day-old fee, sticky and difficult to move.
I gather Maggie into my arms and shift into my Sarkarnii form. It’s hard at first, but once I get her scent in my nostrils, it becomes easier.
I’m too large for the space, but now I have no overseer to please, I care not.
Instead I let rip with a flame at the side of the dome, on which is hotter and deadlier than anything I’ve ever used before.
The metal melts, and I shove my way out, taking to the air over the city, in time to see the most tremendous explosion in the distance.
My ship…my crew…
I look down at Maggie in my arms. My head swims. I don’t know how far I can fly or how long I can hold this form.
But I must. For her. For our sarkarnling.
I must save us all.