Chapter 28 Brux
brUX
Brux was led into the main courtroom of the Monstrum Mother Ship. The air inside seemed both solemn and alive. Which, of course, it was—because aboard the Monstrum Mother Ship, nothing was built in the human sense of the word. Everything was grown.
The courtroom was a vast circular chamber with high, arching walls made of living wood that had been coaxed and shaped into elegant curves.
Thick vine—columns twined upward toward the ceiling, their leaves a deep glossy green and their trunks braided together in natural spirals.
Blossoming wall—sconce plants gave off a steady golden light, their petals half—open and glowing from within like living lanterns.
The floor under Brux’s bare feet was smooth and springy, formed of tightly interwoven roots polished by time and use. It smelled faintly of clean earth and sap and flowers—strange for a place of judgment, but unmistakably Monstrum.
At the far end of the chamber was the judge’s bench—a raised dais grown from the same living wood, its back arching upward like the flared trunk of some great tree.
Thick green vines had been braided around its sides and tiny white flowers bloomed here and there among them, giving the whole structure an almost sacred air.
And seated upon it was Commander Rarev.
Rarev looked, as always, like some impossible fusion of regal warrior and apex predator.
His face was leonine, with a thick tawny mane framing it and golden eyes filled with wisdom.
His shoulders were massive beneath the formal dark robe he wore.
On either side of him, seated on lower living chairs grown in a half—circle, were the other members of the Council.
A Felinus Panther Monstrum sat to Rarev’s left, sleek and dark as midnight, his black fur seeming to swallow the light. Next to him was a Felinus Tiger Monstrum, broad—shouldered and striped in deep orange and black, his heavy golden eyes narrowed in stern concentration.
On Rarev’s right sat a Fox Monstrum with russet fur and a lean clever face, his pale amber eyes bright and watchful. Beside him was a Bear Monstrum–huge even by Monstrum standards–with thick dark brown fur and a blunt, serious face that looked carved from stone.
Brux’s stomach tightened. Rarev used to rule alone as the High Commander–he must have convened a council just for this–just to judge Brux.’
This was true judgment, and he was about to be tried.
The warriors escorting him brought him to a stop in the center of the chamber on a circular platform grown of woven vines and roots. It was not a cage, exactly, but it might as well have been. Brux could feel every eye in the room on him.
He stood as straight as he could, though the restraint cuffs still glowed around his wrists and the weight in his chest felt heavy as iron.
Commander Rarev looked down at him gravely.
“Brux, the Lykan Monstrum, you are here on several charges today,” he says.
“First, you are accused of stowing away on the Monstrum Mother Ship when you knew that your kind—the Lykan Monstrum—were expressly prohibited from the Mother Ship. Secondly, you are accused of endangering the life of a female by spending time with her in your primal form, when Lykans are known to be the most mindless, aggressive, and dangerous. You could have killed her at any time and since every female life is sacred to us, this is the most serious charge by far. How do you plead?”
Brux hung his head.
He could feel the shadow growing in his heart and the yawning void trying to suck away his sentience.
Even here, in his humanoid form, with all his memories and reason mostly intact, the old guilt was enough to make the darkness stir.
The more he thought of Kiera alone on Plo’nix without him, the wider the void seemed to yawn at the edges of his mind.
Still, he forced himself to answer.
“It’s true, I stowed away,” he admitted.
“My…my mate had been killed and I saw no future left on our home world.
I don't know why, but I still wished to live.
And so I hid in one of the lifeboats of the Mother Ship.
When it came through into this universe, I jettisoned the lifeboat, thinking to fly away to safety.
But I didn't expect the loneliness the loss of my mate would cause…it stripped me of my mind and by the time the alien scientists found me, I was locked in my primal form, little better than a beast.”
There was a low murmur among those gathered in the chamber.
The Bear Monstrum frowned deeply but said nothing. The Fox Monstrum’s sharp eyes narrowed thoughtfully. The Panther’s tail flicked once against the roots beneath his chair.
Commander Rarev nodded slowly.
“Well, at least you’re being honest. Continue—what happened next?”
Brux drew a breath.
What happened next? How could he possibly explain Kiera? How could he put into words what it had meant to scent her for the first time, to feel her kindness pulling him back from the void, to know with utter certainty that she was the one thing in all creation that still felt right?
He opened his mouth.
“I can answer that!” a voice called out.
Brux turned in surprise–the voice belonged to Iyanna–the human woman who was friends with Kiera. He recognized her more by her scent than her face, since he had been locked in his primal form the last time he saw her.
She was standing just inside the chamber entrance, her brown skin glowing warmly under the flower—light, her expression earnest and intent. One hand was pressed to her chest as though she had hurried to get here and her heart was pounding.
“Please, Commander Rarev–I was there when he met my friend, Kiera. I’m actually going to go get her so she can speak for him, but I wanted to be sure my voice was heard first before I left.”
Commander Rarev nodded gravely.
“Very well, you may speak, Iyanna, mate of Dra’vik. You are known to us.”
“Thank you.” Iyanna nodded. “A few months ago, we went to the BAR ship—the Ba’ltzian Animal Rescue—so Kiera could collect some more animals for her sanctuary.
And that’s where she found him.” She nodded at Brux.
“He looked like a giant wolf at the time, and it was clear right away that he wanted to be with her–he gave her the saddest eyes. And, well, Kiera wanted to be with him, too.” She sighed.
“That’s how she is–she just loves animals–even big, scary ones.
She adopted him right away and took him back to live with her on the animal sanctuary. ”
The Tiger Monstrum let out a low rumble of disbelief.
“She took an unknown apex predator home because it looked at her sadly?”
Iyanna winced a little.
“When you put it like that, it sounds bad, but that’s just how Kiera is.”
“It was bad,” the Panther Monstrum said flatly. “A female alone on a frontier moon with an unstable Lykan locked in his primal form? It is a miracle she survived!”
Brux felt heat fist in his chest. He took a step forward before the warriors at his sides tensed.
“She survived because I would have died before harming her,” he said hoarsely. “From the moment I scented her, I knew she was the one who could save me–the one who could bring me back into the light.”
The Bear Monstrum looked at him long and hard.
“A feral male does not always know what he will do until it is too late.”
Brux bared his teeth before he could stop himself.
“I was never fully feral. I could still think–—though dimly–when she found me.”
“Perhaps you weren’t fully feral,” the Fox Monstrum said mildly, folding his hands in his lap. “But the distinction between fully feral and partially feral may be difficult for a dead female to appreciate after you lose control and kill her.”
That shut Brux up. Because there it was again—that cold, sharp truth he had no answer for. His time with Kiera might have ended differently if she hadn’t been able to pull him back from the void.
Kiera might have died.
Commander Rarev lifted one hand and the murmuring ceased.
“Let us hear more of how you spent your time after Kiera ‘adopted’ you. How long were you locked in your primal for?”
“Well–” Brux began.
Suddenly a thunderous feminine voice interrupted them.
“Silence! There is no time for this trial!”
It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The living walls shivered and the glowing flowers in the wall sconces flared brighter. The very roots under Brux’s feet seemed to vibrate with power.
A divine presence filled the courtroom, and Brux knew who it was at once—not with his mind but with something deeper…older and more instinctive inside him.
His heart leapt into his throat, and he dropped to his knees instinctively, as did every other being in the courtroom. Even Commander Rarev bowed his great, leonine head.
The whole chamber smelled suddenly of spring rain and wildflowers and the charged metallic tang of a coming storm.
“Goddess?” Rarev asks, looking around.
“Yes, it is I—the Mother of All Life,” the Goddess responded. “I understand that you are trying to safeguard a female's life—for which I commend you. However, you must let this warrior go at once—the female I have set aside for him is in mortal peril and only he can save her.”
Brux was on his feet in a heartbeat, his hackles rising.
“Kiera’s in danger? Where? What happened?” he demanded.
Around him the chamber erupted in shocked whispers, but he barely heard them.
Kiera–only Kiera mattered.
“The one who attacked her before has taken her,” the Goddess told him. “Go back to where you came from—her scent will lead you to her. Go swiftly, warrior—you have no time to lose.”
Then her presence faded as abruptly as it had come.
The flowers dimmed back to their normal glow, the roots underfoot stilled, and the scent of storm and blossoms vanished, leaving only the ordinary warm smell of living wood and the shocked Monstrum who were still looking warily around.
For half a heartbeat, everyone in the chamber seemed frozen…then the whole room was in an uproar.
“What did she mean by ‘set aside for him’?” the Fox Monstrum demanded, half—rising from his chair.
“Did Higgs take her?” Iyanna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
The Tiger Council member was already barking orders to one of the armored warriors at the back of the room.
Commander Rarev rose to his feet, mane bristling, eyes blazing. He seemed about to speak but Brux couldn’t wait to hear what it was the Monstrum leader had to say.
“A ship! I need a ship!” he roared.
“You can take mine!” Iyanna said quickly, pressing an unlocking mechanism into his hand. “It’s the shuttle closest to the Docking Bay entrance and it’s already got the coordinates for the animal sanctuary coded in.”
Brux snatched the key from her so fast her fingers barely brushed his palm. Then he looked at Commander Rarev.
Rarev held his gaze for a long, charged heartbeat. Then the lion—faced commander gave one sharp nod.
“Go,” he said. “The Mother Ship will fold space for you. And we will pray to the Goddess that you aren’t too late.”
Brux didn’t wait for another word.
He spun and raced down the hallway toward the Docking Bay, the restraint cuffs already falling away behind him as one of the warriors deactivated them.
The living corridors of the Mother Ship blurred around him—arched walls, flowering sconces, woven—root floors all flying past in a streak of green and purple and gold.
He ran as hard as he had ever run in either form and all he could think about was Kiera.
Kiera tied up somewhere, and frightened…Kiera calling for help…Kiera alone with that stinking bastard Higgs.
A low, savage growl built in his chest as he ran. If Higgs had hurt her—if he had laid one hand on her, one filthy hand—
Brux’s vision went red at the edges as Rage threatened to take him over.
If the woman he loved had been hurt or killed, he would go completely primal–he knew it.
He would let the beast have its head and use every ounce of the animal strength he had been trying so hard to keep chained— to tear the male apart with his bare hands. He would rip him limb from limb and leave the bloody pieces for whatever scavengers prowled the edges of Plo’nix’s hills.
The thought didn’t calm him in the least–it only fed the Rage growing inside him and made him run faster.
Kiera, he thought wildly, racing toward the Docking Bay and the waiting shuttle. Hold on, sweetheart–I'm coming!
And may the Gods help anyone who got in his way.