Chapter 2

THE WILDS
2.9 LIGHT YEARS FROM LYCAVORIAN BORDER

BLOOD REVERENCE-CLASS DREADNOUGHT

INQUISITOR

His curved talons clicked on the floor of the padded deck, his sixteen meter long body lean and muscular, though he was a bit leaner for his age of twenty three years old due to his poor diet. He had never been fed the correct proportions of protein rich food throughout his young life, and his abnormally large size for a Firespitter was only due to his ceaseless hunting forays. He should have weighed several hundred pounds more than his four metric tons, but he was in far better health than any of the other dragons among his kind with the exception of Deneth.

The light reflected off his cerise red colored scales, his magenta tinted eyes large and very alert. He moved with precise confidence and grace common to his kind, nimbly dodging the dozen or so crew members within the landing bay, as he made his way to his large pen. Though the BLOOD REVERENCE-Class VHC Dreadnought was larger than its predecessor, it was still a ship designed only for combat, with no comforts added for dragons. He entered the pen slowly and found who he knew he would find.

Her diminutive figure sat lotus style in the soft golden hay he slept in, her shiny raven black hair cascading well past her shoulders. She wore the matte black leather like uniform that conformed to her body like a second skin and the black non-skid combat boots. The portions of her exposed skin were tanned and flawless in their supple lines, belaying the fact she was a pureblood vampire. She had obviously made it a point to get more sun than the others as her skin was tanned and glowed in health. Her lips were full and coated with a shiny gloss the same color as his cerise colored scales and he watched as her eyes opened and her head lifted to gaze at him as he approached. Those deep Maya blue orbs were filled with a myriad of emotions, intent and feelings and he could spend hours staring into them and just listening to his bonded sister talk to him.

He moved right up to her and settled his massive body to the deck as she uncoiled hers and rose to her feet with the agility of a DeneBoli Striped Puma. She stood perhaps five feet two inches tall, her breasts high and firm and very prominent on her small frame. The leather like material of her skin tight body armor revealed lean sylphlike legs, a tiny waist and an ass that he had heard many of the ship's crewmembers make sordid comments about. She may have carried the title of Princess, but she was not looked at in the same light as her younger sister because of who her father had been. It had taken all of his willpower and control to keep from ripping those men open with his curved talons, especially the man that was her husband. His comments had been far worse as they always were, for he had actually tasted her many physical charms, and he spoke of her now as some sort of prized possession and piece of property. The man chosen as her husband was vile, cruel and nothing more than a disgusting brute and he could only hope that one day he got what he deserved for treating her as he did.

Under his talons would be ideal.

She always came here after having to endure his foul company and his attentions, for their bond always soothed her angry, burning emotions and the feelings of humiliation she felt after he had taken her, often times against her will. Coming here allowed her to find peace, at least the peace that her life so far allowed her to have.

[Carisia?]

She stepped up to him with a gentle smile and placed her small hands on either side of his large snout. [I am fine Anthar.] She spoke softly bringing her forehead to the blunt edge of his snout and touching her warm skin to his cool scales.

[You are not fine Carisia.] He told her. [Your heart is heavy and you only come here with a heavy heart after that foul fool has had his way with you. Why do you endure his touch upon you?]

Her maya blue eyes shimmered in the light and she smiled at him warmly. [I endure his touch because he is my husband Anthar. It is my place and I must endure if we are to have a chance at succeeding in our goals.]

[A husband you did not pick! Why did your mother force this upon you?] Anthar barked out.

[Anthar, it is the way of things.]

[She only does it out of spite to hurt you Carisia, you know this. Nothing you do will ever please her Carisia ... you must know this by now my Bonded Sister?]

[Perhaps.] She said softly with a smile. [Anthar ... do I detect a sense of jealously in your voice.] She asked him.

[Of course you do! I am your Bonded Dragon Brother Carisia. Without you ... without you I am nothing.]

[Be careful using those terms here Anthar.] She warned him. [There are eyes and ears everywhere.]

Anthar rolled his magenta colored eyes. [You know as well as I that no one can penetrate the Mindvoice shields we have established.] He spoke confidently and with a glint in his eyes. [Not even your grandmother and she still is persistent in trying even to this day. It is what we are, you and I Carisia, not the twisted pairs that the others act as.]

[That does not mean we should be careless my bonded brother. If she knew what we intend... ?]

[We have trained together for sixteen years of our lives my sister... ] Anthar spoke calmly. [Trained for this very mission and purpose. This has always been our goal. I know everything you know and you know everything I know. I even know of your dreams of them.]

Carisia looked at him intently. [What do you mean?]

[Blue eyes. And the one with golden hair. I have seen your dreams of them Carisia.]

Carisia nodded slowly and rubbed his snout under his eyes gently, this loving movement making his wings twitch. [As I have seen yours Anthar. She is quite beautiful for a dragon.]

[Now it is time for us to show what we can do Carisia. It is our time to live. To be free of the oppression. We can only have that... ]

[I know Anthar. I know.]

Anthar canted his huge head to the side as he looked at her with keen eyes. [Do you have second thoughts sister?]

Carisia looked at him and shook her head immediately. [Never my brother. I am just frightened Anthar. Frightened of what the future holds for us. Frightened to think if they will even feel the same thing. Frightened of what could happen if they ... if they refuse us.]

[Together we will be fine. You will see.]

[We will have my brothers and sister with us as well Anthar. Marux and Naruth are not like you Anthar. They are cruel like Dante and Javier. Seyra is not evil, but she is not you. And you know how Vollenth views both of us.]

[Vollenth and your mother harbor ill feelings because we trounced them last year.] Anthar spoke. [I am not concerned with him.]

[And what of Deneth and Narice?]

[They are ... they are an unknown. We have not seen them very much except in passing. And Princess Narice can shield just as well as we can.]

[That is why we must be mindful of our actions.]

Anthar snorted loudly. [They and their dragons do not compare to you and I, Carisia my sister. We could defeat them with our eyes closed. They are arrogant and over confident. They will be surprised when we arrive I am thinking. Surprised at how easily they are struck down.]

A loud chime sounded in the landing bay. "Princess Carisia please report to the forward conference lounge! Princess Carisia please report to the forward conference lounge!"

Carisia shook her head rolling her beautiful eyes. "It seems another intelligence briefing is being called my brother." She spoke softly now. "My adopted father loves them it seems. This one should not be as long as the others."

[I will be listening.] Anthar spoke.

Carisia leaned forward and kissed Anthar's cool scales tracing her fingers around his magenta colored eyes as she knew he liked so much. [I will return later and we will discuss what we have seen.]

"There is not a whole lot of intelligence in regards to his children." Robert Moran spoke as he slid the data pads across the polished surface of the large table to Carisia and the three others who sat on either side of her. They were her younger brothers and sister, Dante, Javier and Lucia, born beginning two years after her and one year apart from each other. They were the products of her mother's marriage to her consort and now husband Robert Moran.

Carisia was nearly twenty-six years old, daughter to Yuri and Vavant, the pureblood son of one of her grandfather's most loyal supporters of that time. Her father was long dead now, murdered by her step father's own hand of that she had no doubts, though the details of his death were confusing. He had been a pig according to her mother, both sexually and politically, and had chosen the wrong side when the Zaleisian and Kavalians had invaded the High Coven some twenty-five years ago. It was his eyes she had inherited, and if everything else she had heard about him was true, not much else. Not all of that information came from her mother or within her circle. Her father's own blood could not stand him and called him names. Carisia had no doubts that everything about him was true.

Carisia had been born eight months after the start of the war and was sequestered away to live with her grandmother's servants on Nuwaroa for most of her early years, while her mother had fought in the war. Almost two years later Dante had joined Carisia, and then Javier a year after that. Lucia had followed within two years. Carisia hated them all, Dante and Javier because they were typical pureblood vampire males, or so they liked to consider themselves and Lucia because she thought herself superior to Carisia in almost every way. It was Dante, Javier and Lucia who garnered almost all of her mother's time and effort in training and schooling, and even though Carisia was the oldest, with the exception of several Immortal Guards, she had been left to her own devices in her early years. It was obvious that Yuri hated her, hated the very thought of her because of who her father was amongst other things. Carisia often wondered why she did not just have her killed. It wasn't until Carisia had become bonded to Anthar that she began to matter.

Carisia didn't know where her mother had acquired the dragon eggs, or how she had forced them to hatch. She was returning from a training class when she was only eight years old and heard the roaring of a very pissed off Anthar. The men left to tend him while he grew were cruel and abusive to him, and Carisia had been awestruck with him. She had disobeyed her mother's instructions to not enter the large shelter, and walked right up to Anthar and touched him. The moment that had happened, their whole world had changed. Anthar had been meant for Yuri herself, a fact which caused Yuri to hate her even more, but once Carisia had bonded with him there was nothing she could do. Dante, Javier and Lucia were also bonded to dragons, but no where near as completely as Carisia and Anthar had now become. Their dragons had also developed personalities similar to their riders and they were arrogant and thought themselves to be unbeatable. Anthar had become her only friend, the only one she trusted, and they shared everything with each other. She endured the harsh treatment from her mother and brothers and sister, if only to spend time with her bonded brother. Carisia did everything her mother asked of her, trying to win her favor in any fashion she could. She had tried being ruthless and immoral, killing a dozen Kavalian prisoners with Anthar in an attempt to win Yuri's love. Nothing seemed to work. While Dante, Javier and Lucia were trained by High Coven Royal Weapon Masters, Carisia was instructed by High Coven Immortals who pushed her even more ruthlessly than her half brothers and sister. It almost seemed as if they were pushing her for some reason she did not understand. They tried to break her mentally as well as physically, but Carisia had endured it all. They had even taught her many things she should not have been instructed in, and this was another reason Carisia questioned their purpose. It was not something she would ever discuss or mention, for while they trained her mercilessly, they at least treated her as a person and they showed her the respect she did not received anywhere else. Carisia was perhaps the most lethally trained hand combatant on the ship, and while Dante, Javier and Lucia were well trained, they did not come close to her skill. They could not wrap the shadows around themselves as flawlessly as Carisia did and they could not blur with such focus and speed.

It wasn't until three years before that Yuri began to open up to her and spend more time with her. At first Carisia had reveled in the attention, basking in the glow of her mother's praise and efforts to instruct her. It was what she had waited for her entire life and it made her sing. Until she realized that Lucia had drawn away from Yuri somewhat and that her mother was only setting Carisia up to the fact that she had to take the disgusting pureblood sitting three chairs down to her right as a husband. Carisia knew without question what her mother's intent was when she was introduced to the much older pureblood. Thast slobbered and pawed her firm body whenever he had the chance and opportunity now. He was easily four thousand years older than she was, and there were times when he forced her to do things in their bed that were vile and almost made Carisia sick to her stomach, but he was very strong physically and exceptionally cruel.

Carisia watched as Robert Moran moved one of the pads in front of her mother Yuri and her grandmother Aikiro as well as three other officers that sat at the table, noticing that her mother didn't even pick it up.

"Whether that is by design or not, we don't know." Moran continued. "They have always been a very private family ... and it appears that has not changed. What you see in front of you is the normal public relations file downloaded from their Netnews channels, and some minor intercepts we have obtained from outside sources. None of which can be accurately confirmed." Moran turned to the female vampire officer along the wall. "This is Captain Toria Dellion ... she is from the Intelligence Division of the Venorik Elghinn and she will be taking part in this mission. Captain ... I'll let you pick it up from here."

The female officer jumped to her feet. "Thank you Admiral." She spoke moving to the large wall monitor.

The female officer stood in front of the large monitor. She was only five feet six inches tall and perhaps just over a hundred pounds, but no one doubted her abilities once Moran told them where she was from. No member of the Venorik Elghinn was given a free ride, and if she worked in the Intelligence Division, she was just as lethal as she was beautiful.

And she was beautiful.

Her chestnut red hair cascaded past her shoulders to curl around her large breasts. Her sky blue eyes were gripping in their intensity and contrasted incredibly with her lightly tanned and freckled skin. The daughter of purebloods loyal to Aikiro and the High Coven, Toria was driven by her parents to excel at everything she had ever done. Her parents pushed her into the intelligence posting and then into the Venorik Elghinn as a way to hone her skills, but also as a way to enhance their status with the High Coven hierarchy. Toria had done what they wanted for most of her three hundred and twenty-seven years because they were her parents and she loved them, something Toria was not afraid to admit in her younger years. She had committed herself to the High Coven and was diligent and exacting in her duties. She had killed when needed, ruthlessly in fact, and she had spared life when required to complete her mission. She was experienced and exceptionally intelligent. She was privy to almost every operational mission of the High Coven against the Kavalian Federation. She had been a loyal and proud citizen of the High Coven for all of her life.

At least until she was forced to become the unwillingly plaything for her Empress and Admiral Tesand.

Toria was not shy or unknowledgeable when it came to sex. She had bedded with half a dozen different men in her three hundred years, none of whom she allowed to feed on her blood and none that enticed her enough to want to do that. Tesand had come to her privately about joining him and Aikiro. He had told her the Empress found her very attractive. Toria thought it would be for only one time, and that it would help her career. That had not been the case she soon learned, and while pleasing her Empress sexually was not something she found distasteful, she actually relished the times she had pleased her Empress in that way, however the way they treated her was vile. They used her as a whore for the most part, never giving back to her what she gave to them. She had been forced to sleep with Aikiro's grandsons at her request, and Toria found that to be the most distasteful of everything. Dante and Javier had used her harshly more times than she could remember now, and she was sore for days afterwards. They also were not in the least bit gentle, often times slapping her hard enough to bring tears to her eyes, or yanking on her silky long hair. Toria hated them ... and that hatred had only grown in the last year, and had caused her to begin to doubt her faith in the High Coven.

Toria met Aikiro's eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "Since the debacle on Lycavore twenty-five years ago, all intelligence in regards to the United Lycavorian Union has been at a premium, at least for us to obtain. They spent the better part of the next two years purging, and I do mean purging their entire government, military and even all of their commercial industries of even very minor High Coven agents. They were very thorough and their actions deprived us of dozens of assets. With the help of the traitor Vonis they were able to discover and destroy nearly ninety-six percent of our intelligence assets within the Union to include four of our deepest penetration agents after the clone Gorgo. Once they reconfigured their intelligence apparatus, and that dog Armetus took over the entire network, any sort of penetration into their networks has been next to impossible. We do still have some assets however and..."

"That information does not need to be discussed at this time Toria." Moran spoke quickly before Aikiro had the opportunity to open her mouth.

Toria nodded quickly. "Yes sir." She said with a nod. "Over the next twenty-three years they have prospered incredibly, monetarily as well as expansion wise, even while we have fought a very costly war with the Zaleisian/Kavalian Federation Alliance. King Leonidas has pulled every intelligence asset they had in High Coven territory home, something he did almost immediately after our war with the Kavalian scum began. They left in place only those agents in the Wilds, and those agents are so well covered it would be next to impossible to discover their identities." She touched the panel on the wall and the picture changed to nine individual images. "At the Admiral's direction I will dispense with the intelligence profiles we have on Leonidas and his Queens since all of us are already fully aware of them and what they are capable of, and I will focus this briefing on his oldest children, the Crown Prince most specifically.

"The Lycavorian Union recently fought a war with the Evolli Triad. It lasted for a total of six years and ended with complete and utter victory by the Union three years ago. Apparently the Evolli did not appreciate the elven Queen Dysea pulling some of their trade agreements over minor infractions and they launched a brutal invasion of some smaller Union planets along their border. The war was never really in doubt ... the Union forces are just far too well trained and led, however there were several savage and significant battles that give us some insight into his children and their abilities. The oldest seven of his fourteen children fought in this war, the Crown Prince and his half sister Lisisa from the outset, the others joining over the course of the next three years. They were joined by two more in the last year of the war, one as a STRIKER DT pilot and the other as a ground combatant."

"Fourteen children?" Empress Aikiro spat in disgust, shaking her head and looking at Yuri. "I was right all along ... they do breed like animals!"

This comment brought laughter out among the men and women in the room, all except for Carisia who sat silently watching her grandmother intently. Over the years Carisia had discovered just how ruthless her grandmother could be. Anthar was right, there were many times when she had tried to penetrate the Mindvoice shields that she and Anthar had established almost naturally, but even she could not delve her way through the multitude of defensive layers she and Anthar had built over the years. It was something that made her grandmother, a woman more powerful than anyone Carisia had ever seen within Mindvoice, very angry at times. There was nothing she could do however.

"The STRIKER DT as you all know is their standard dragon transport." Toria continued. "They have all the speed and armament of the normal STRIKER ATs, which is considerable, but these STRIKER DTs are heavily armored with the Dragon Armor Alloy that they now employ on all of their front line warships, and they are also able to carry up to two dragons. There have been sightings of similar ships that can carry upwards of six from what I understand. They were supposedly designed in a similar fashion as the smaller DTs, but allow all of the older children of Leonidas to ride on the same ship. The designation of these ships, if they even exist, is unknown to us."

"That is a tactically unsound move." Javier spoke up. "Having all of his older children riding on the same ship together? It doesn't sound like something the Lycavorians would do father."

"It isn't confirmed information." Robert spoke meeting his son's eyes. "A lot of what we are getting comes from the Netnews intercepts and intelligence reports we have procured from other sources, none of which can be confirmed as I said. Until we actually see it ... I would not put much faith in it. And you're right Javier ... putting his six or seven oldest dragon riding children in one ship, does not sound like something they would do." Moran turned. "You may continue Toria."

"The Crown Prince is named Androcles..." She touched the monitor and the helmeted face of Androcles became a close up. His azure blue eyes and lips were the only really visible features under his crested helmet, and all of them could make out the strange design of the dragon on his helmet. "If their own reports are accurate, and we have no reason to not believe them at this time, he is the exact duplicate to his father in almost every way. He was awarded the Union's highest award during the fourth year of the Evolli War, the Shield of Valor, for his actions on the Evolli held world of Alba Tau. Very little is known of this Alba Tau or what occurred there, Lycavorian Intelligence has classified most of what took place, but from all the civilian accounts we have seen, it was the turning point of the war and a particularly savage six month long siege. Androcles Leonidas received nineteen other decorations for bravery over that six year span if the Netnews profile is accurate."

Dante leaned forward in his chair as Carisia studied this Androcles' eyes, her heart beginning to race. They were his eyes, the eyes from her dreams. "It was my understanding that the Lycavorian Union was very stern and quite harsh when it came to awarding combat decorations." Dante asked smugly. "How is it that this boy was decorated twenty times during a war that only lasted six years?"

Lucia laughed out loud. "This boy is older than you brother." She spoke casually. "And he is not so bad looking for an animal."

"Lucia?" Aikiro gasped ... but wearing a smile on her face at her granddaughter's returning grin.

Lucia laughed and waved her hand. "Grandmother ... you don't honestly believe that I would find this animal attractive do you?"

Aikiro chuckled for a moment as she realized her granddaughter was making a joke. No doubt part of the dry humor she inherited from her father.

"He is a Lycavorian dog!" Dante snapped. "And fighting the Evolli is nothing! Child's play compared to our sessions with our Royal trainers sister! I could defeat him easily!"

Carisia turned her head ever so slightly to look at him as Lucia laughed again. "Perhaps you could brother ... just insure he has a muzzle on when you fight him ... in case he decides to bite you instead of fight you." She spoke. Her words caused Yuri, Aikiro and several others to laugh softly.

"Underestimating your enemy is perhaps the most lethal of practices nephew." The soft voice spoke now and all eyes went to where Narice sat next to her mother Aikiro on the left.

Narice was almost twenty-seven years old ... the last of Aikiro's children with Veldruk. She had inherited her mother's exotic and incredibly alluring beauty, as well as the supple and lush figure. Like Yuri, she was intimately skilled and schooled by the finest Masters within the High Coven. She was considered extremely adept at almost everything she did, and almost methodically driven. Her Mindvoice abilities had reached nearly the level of her mother and sister, and outside of Carisia and Anthar, her bond with her rare, black and white scaled dragon Deneth was the strongest of any within the High Coven. Narice was also the only one to have treated Carisia with anything remotely like friendship or concern, perhaps because they were so close in age. She was very soft spoken, but intelligent enough in most matters that her words were at least listened to by others.

"My idiot father underestimated these Lycavorians on far too many occasions and it ended up costing him his life. Never assume you are superior to your foe Dante, for more often than not you will regret that." Narice finished her statement.

Aikiro nodded and reached out to squeeze her hand. She had always allowed Yuri and Narice to make their own conclusions about Veldruk, and over the years both of them had come to the conclusion their father was a fool.

"As I reported Prince Dante ... the only information we have obtained up until now comes from the Union's own Netnews reports and the few intercepts we have obtained and they will undoubtedly be bias to some extent." Toria replied as she continued with her report at a nod from Moran. "As I understand it, this Alba Tau battle accounted for all but nine of the twenty-three dead Mjolnir's Hand members that were killed in the war. The Evolli Triad devised a unique weapon to combat the dragons and their riders and it was very effective for the first three years of the war until the Union engineers began to find ways to defeat it. We have an operation in the works now that will allow us to obtain some of the weapons to develop tactics to use against them. The information we have been able to obtain from the Evolli agents we control and these Netnews reports indicate the Evolli have since cursed this Prince Androcles and his dragon Elynth in their own native language. However ... their language translates to something very different when spoken in other languages."

"If they allowed those amphibian animals to develop weapons that could beat them, then they obviously have no idea how to ride a dragon!" Dante snapped once more as he leaned back in his chair. "The fools should have been killed if they allowed the Evolli to defeat them in any battle!"

Toria kept the comment on the tip of her tongue to herself and switched the screen to a picture of the Netnews file on Androcles. She had heard that Dante and to some extent Javier were exceptionally arrogant. She had never seen this part of them where they were fucking her because her mind was not her own, but seeing it now, the Intelligence Officer within her saw that it was in fact very true.

"As you can see he fought in every major engagement during the six year war according to this time table with this four month exception apparently to recover from injuries sustained on Alba Tau. Our analysts within the Venorik Elghinn say he must have also taken part in several missions that are not listed with the others to have been decorated this many times in a six year span." Toria spoke.

"So these were secret missions Toria? Classified operations?" Aikiro asked.

Toria nodded her head. "That is what our people believe Empress." She replied.

Aikiro nodded her head. "That is interesting. You may continue Toria."

"His two sisters and two brothers closest in age to him are also bonded to dragons as you, Prince Javier and Princess Lucia are ... and from all accounts they are quite skilled as well." Toria went on. "All five of Leonidas's youngest children have bonded with dragons as of this latest Netnews report but all of them are well shy in terms of years and being able to actually fight. There are two sets of boy/girl twins, one each from his pureblood Queen and the Hadarian witch as well as the youngest child, a son from his second elven Queen."