Chapter 42

AUSTROVA
2.3 KILOMETERS FROM COREN RE MYDALA’S ESTATE

The lights of the city in the distance and the many homes along its banks reflecting off the river gave it a beautiful glow along its entire length Sherice thought to herself. It stretched for many miles outside of the city; Arduri telling her it began in the mountains far to the north and ended up nearly a hundred and eighty miles to the south. As she allowed her soft blue eyes to scan the banks of the river with her keen wolf vision, Sherice couldn’t help the feelings of contentment and happiness that filled her now, no matter their situation. As she glanced out of the corner of her eyes, the source of those blissful emotions lay on the hard metal roof beside her behind the massive sniper rifle. Given whom her mother was, and the closeness that she had with all the Leonidas children and the Royal family, Sherice shouldn’t have been taken by surprise at the emotions that flowed through her now. Growing up within Sparta and seeing the unquestioned love of the Leonidas family as well as her own family and so many others within Sparta, it should have been expected. These emotions had taken her completely off guard however, and they had blossomed and grew too powerful to resist far faster than even she had expected. It had all been so confusing to her at first ... that was until she had made the call.

Sherice remembered the conversation with her beloved Lycavorian father as if it was yesterday. It was something she would never forget.

Sherice had done exactly what her father told her to do. She acted on what her wolf blood called for her to do. And she was so very delighted she had.

Last night had been the most incredibly erotic and pleasurable evening of her young life and what made it even better was that she knew it would continue for centuries to come. She had gone to Cowen’s room, unable to hold the burning of her blood for the massive and very shy Kavalian. Cowen had been surprised yes, but that had not lasted long however. Apparently, his emotions were running just as hot as hers. It had taken some nudging on Sherice’s part, but what had followed had been the most explosive, passionate and fulfilling night of sex in her life. Cowen’Shan may not have been Lycavorian, but you would have been hard pressed to convince Sherice of that last night. He had practically torn her clothes from her and then proceeded to spend the next hour simply worshiping her lithe body in ways she had never imagined a man could. He had explored and tasted every curve of her body, leaving nothing undiscovered. His short, light brown fur was so very soft and Sherice couldn’t keep herself from running her long fingers through his fur no matter where on his huge frame it was, as his lips and tongue and hands explored every inch of her body. And his tail ... what he had done to her with his tail was simply divine.

Cowen’s six-foot four body dwarfed her in size, the muscles bulging under his short fur, but for all his size, Sherice had never met a man so gentle but so zealous in his love making. There was nothing he did that came close to the many things she had heard about Kavalians and how they forced their females to be submissive. If anything, Cowen’Shan went out of his way to be the complete opposite. When it finally came time for Sherice to see and experience all he had to give her, she had descended into a world of decadent pleasure that shook her body and her soul right to its core. Sherice was no stranger to men but Cowen filled her in a way that no man had ever been able to do. He was so thick and so long and when she finally grew accustom to his enormous size, he began to make love to her with a fervor that was unmatched by any wolf or elven man that had ever shared her bed. Her half Lycavorian and half elven body was wrapped within his powerful arms the entire time, as one earth shattering orgasm after another piled atop each other. When Cowen finally reached his own peak and the bulb at the base of his huge cock expanded and locked them together Sherice simply screamed in absolute harmony.

A full hour they had remained locked together that first time and during that time they had stroked each other’s bodies and spoke in soft whispers of love and devotion. His soft lips showered her shoulders and neck with fluttering kisses even as his tail danced across her thighs and along her lower back. Cowen did not hold back from her, he didn’t want to, for she had already seen the most private parts of his mind during her schooling of him. It was Sherice who began the next bout of love making between them, and Cowen had allowed her to take the lead. And for a glorious hour Sherice had ridden him, sweat adorning both of their bodies and his amazing cock never ceasing to cause rapturous orgasms to ripple through her, even as her whimpers of delight echoed softly in the room. When she sensed he could no longer hold back, Sherice slammed herself down upon his huge cock one last time and felt that wondrous bulb expand once more, locking their groins together as his hot passion erupted deep within her. Sherice had collapsed into an exhausted heap upon his chest utterly spent after that and while his hands and tail stroked her skin once more, she drifted off into a content filled sleep.

That is where she had awoken this morning. The warmth of his fur covered body and his powerful arms encircling her waist made her feel safer at that moment than at any time in her life.

“Archangel Team One is in position Angel Base.” Cowen’s deep voice jarred her out of her incredible memories as he spoke into his COM implant and she scooted closer to him.

It had been Cowen’s idea to have a Sniper Team higher up than the others in an over watch position, which meant putting them across the river from Coren Re Mydala’s estate on the roof of this building that had not yet opened to the public. Four other teams were lower to the ground and set up in various locations but only Cowen could see the entire estate from his position. This also meant a larger sniper rifle with more range and once more, only Cowen had the skill and experience in distance shooting to handle the Lycavorian Union’s largest and most lethal sniper rifle.

The Union H21A CHAOS was designed and manufactured after King Leonidas returned because of his penchant for durable and reliable weapons. The H21A was the heaviest and longest ranged sniper rifle known to exist today. Cowen’s eyes had lit up when he had seen the weapon and Sherice couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction. It was chambered for the ancient, human .50 caliber projectile round, but each and every bullet was hand crafted and loaded. Each round was tipped with a Dragon Armor casing wrapped around a tiny plasma explosive tip. In tests, the H21A had killed targets over four kilometers away with a one hundred percent success ratio. The action and barrel had been reworked when it was redesigned, the varied materials used to manufacture it lighter than what they once were, but it was still a heavy weapon and looked nearly identical in appearances to its grandfather, the .50 caliber Barrett Sniper Rifle. It had also been proven to be able to punch through thin layers of most known metal and light armor if used by a superior marksman. Cowen’Shan was such a shooter.

Cowen turned his head and let his eyes gaze at Sherice as he felt her press up against his side and lift the macro-binos to her eyes to scan the area. The sun was going down but the glow on the horizon made her skin shimmer in beauty. Cowen too remembered the night before and what it meant for his future. In all his wildest dreams, never once did he imagine he would have a beauty such as Sherice. There were Kavalian females who were equally as beautiful but something about Sherice gave her the edge over them. She was his, of that he had no doubt. She had professed as much to him over and over while they pleasured each other. He had done the same, whispering words of love to her while he allowed her to swim within his mind. Feeling her lush body in his arms was all it took to prove to him that this was no dream and waking with her sprawled upon his chest and sleeping peacefully was all the reward he ever wanted. His life now rested beside him; his life and his future. Cowen had allowed the instincts his father had secretly instilled in him to come out, for he no longer needed to hide these values and ideals among these men and women. He had acted as his father taught him to act. Sherice was a precious gem to him now, one for which he would gladly kill or be killed. His heart belonged to her and she had made it abundantly clear just this morning as they laid in bed that he now belonged to her. He let his eyes wander over her delicately curved half elven ears and the curve or her jaw. Her blond hair was pulled into a tight pony tail as most of the female Durcunusaan and soldiers of the Union did.

“Visibility will be down to nothing in about an hour.” Sherice spoke softly. “You’ll have to use the Low Light Spectral Imaging scope.”

“I know.” Cowan said seeing her face turn to his as she lowered the binos.

Sherice saw his beautiful, feline like hazel colored eyes gazing on her and she felt a shudder of delight ripple through her.

“Sherice I...” He began to speak.

Sherice covered his lips with two fingers quickly and shook her head. She leaned over and replaced her fingers with her lips and kissed him lovingly. It was a slow, lingering kiss of total devotion and commitment. “I am yours Cowen’Shan. I am yours and you are mine.” She said softly.

“Are you certain?” He asked wanting one more confirmation.

Sherice smiled brilliantly. “I am more certain about us than anything else in my life.” She told him.

Cowen’s eyes glittered at her words. “As am I.” He said.

“Good. Now let’s do this, so that we can have more nights like we did last night.” Sherice told him seductively. “Twice was not nearly enough with my new husband and mate, though it was absolutely divine.”

“Yes, it was.” He agreed.

“Archangel Team One, do you have eyes on the entire estate?” The male voice sounded over their COM implants and Cowen smiled and stole a kiss from Sherice before turning his head back to his scope.

“Affirmative Angel Base.” Cowen answered. “I will be switching to Low Light Spectral Vision shortly.”

“Acknowledged Team One. Be advised ... only secure transmissions from here on out. We will be using the newly issued communications designators. Confirm?”
“Confirmed Angel Base.” Sherice answered for them.

General Vengal had sent out the word from Earth and it had reached them only the night before. Admiral Sa’sur had passed it on to them in the daily briefing. The new Communications Designators had been designed in such a way that they were easy to remember, but it would not be simple to pinpoint who exactly was being talked about. Vengal had taken a page from the ancient Secret Service Agency that had once protected the President of the United States back when there had been such a country. Only the Durcunusaan or those close to the Royal family would have the official code words of each Leonidas family member, while their Spartan call signs would remain the same with only minor adjustments to add Fedor and Eirene to the list, as well as Kalis and Karun now. Their sister Nikkei had also received a similar number, but since she had chosen to remain with her mother and follow more the calling of her Kavalian blood, her call sign would remain inactive for now.

Due to his penchant for being so protective of his siblings and his family altogether, Androcles Leonidas would now be known as Archangel among the Durcunusaan. His Spartan call sign would not change from Spartan 11, with Sadi and his other wives and mates carrying a letter designator after the number 11. The King and Queens were Spartan One through Spartan Seven, while Gorgo was Spartan Eight, Deia Spartan Nine and Daniel Simpson Spartan Ten.

“Archangel Team Four is in position and Team Lead would like a description of the area while she aligns the cameras.” The voice stated.

Cowen settled behind the scope as Sherice lifted her binos once more.

“ ... Sniper teams are all in place.” Murano spoke as he reentered the room Coren had used for his office for nearly a hundred years.

He now wore Union Body armor but still carried his Saber Staff and an additional K12 Magnum on his left leg. He refused to carry a P190 A4, but that concerned no one. Androcles hardly ever used one anymore, and Murano had proven more than capable without the chopped down version of the rifle.

“Coren made it out as well?” Andro asked turning from the table they were using as a map tile. It had a holographic image of the estate on the surface, with Denali, Dorian, Deion, Jomann and Dutkne standing around it.

Murano moved up beside him with a nod. “He will act on the new information this Rinel and his friend Jokros were able to discover. It should be interesting what they find.”

“No bets here.” Denali quipped.

Andro nodded and turned back to the holo map. “I will leave that to Coren.” He said.

Murano looked at the detailed holo image of the estate and the grounds. “What is this?” He asked.

Andro motioned with his finger. “The two most likely routes they will take to perform entry onto the estate grounds.” He answered turning back to the map model. “ ... One from the northeast, the other directly from the west. They provide the most cover and concealment leading up to the estate and the least chance to be spotted by Vanari who might be awake.”

Murano nodded his head. “We have already covered this.” He spoke. He looked at Andro intently. “Now tell me what it is you feel boy, or what you two have seen with your Dahakoan sight.”

Murano and Sarlana had spoken many times since that first moment on the ship, mostly of Androcles and Dorian, but of other things as well. A grudging respect and friendship had formed between them and now they felt comfortable being with each other. It was Sarlana who had tried to explain to him why the Dahakoan of old had been so powerful and so successful against the Scourge even though they lacked the Etheric powers of the Pralor Praetorians. The Dahakoan had somehow been able to see into the future for short seconds and were able to almost always predict what the Scourge were going to do. It was like this in personal combat as well and that is why so few of them fell to Scourge warriors in one on one fights. It was sort of a living and moving precognition skill as Sarlana had tried to explain to him, and combined with their natural strength and speed as a species, it had been devastating. Not many people knew of this skill but as a Doraanar, it was one of the secrets that they held the knowledge of. Androcles, Murano knew now thanks to his father, had been exhibiting flashes of this skill all of his life, which would account in part for his incredible prowess on the battlefield. Dorian had showed signs of this as well in several different battles recently on Solmar. Murano had begun calling it their Dahakoan sight and even as he schooled them in Praetorian tactics and skills, he knew this Dahakoan sight made them far deadlier than any Praetorian that had ever lived with the exception perhaps of their father. Martin Leonidas was unique unto himself.

“It’s not that simple Murano.” Dorian spoke. “We can’t exactly control it.”

“We in this room are the beginning of the future of the Praetorians and the Dahakoan.” Murano spoke. “With Sarlana, Dutkne, Nara, Helen and others, we will be the Heralds of a new day. We will be hope for the future of my people as well as your own and the Darastrixi. This is not what I had envisioned happening, but it is what is taking place and we must accept it and embrace it.”

“Really Murano... ?” Deni spoke up now. “No pressure huh... ?”

Murano looked at him. “You believe it is different for me Denali? It is not. I must learn new things just as all of you are. I am still learning, and I believe your grandfather Sumar knew this and that is why he insured I was left behind; so that I could be here and so we could learn together. Teach each other. This power we command is...” Murano shook his head. “We must remain ever vigilant over ourselves and what we can do my friends. I do not wish to change who all of you are. I am the one who must change to suit the times, and I have and still am, but we can learn from the past, just as we learn from the present and what the future could hold.”

It was silent for a moment until Andro met his eyes. “You have been hanging around with Sarlana haven’t you?” He said.

Murano grinned a crooked grin and shrugged. “Perhaps a little.” He answered.

“Anse fervon, for a minute there I thought he was going to go into a Feravomir rant like when we were small.” Denali spoke.

This broke the tension and they all laughed softly as they turned back to the holo map. Andro pointed to the northeast on the map.

“They will come from the northeast.” He stated moving his finger along the path. “From there, right up to the employee entrance of the estate and onto the main grounds.”

Dorian leaned closer to the map now. “They’ll split into two groups. Half will move for the residential rooms, while the others move into the main estate here.”

Murano looked at the map and nodded. “They are confident.” He spoke finally. “Too confident.”

“That is because they have never faced anyone like those in this room.” Dutkne spoke now. “You must remember, with the exception of the Enverr, no one has been brazened enough to confront us directly in this quadrant of space. Not after we had our encounter with the OSG and destroyed one of their colony worlds.”

“It will be full dark in three hours.” Andro said looking up and out of the patio doors into the setting sun. “They will hit us shortly after high moon. When they assume we will be in our rooms sleeping or entertaining ourselves.”

“Well ... some of us would be anyway.” Dutkne spoke again with a grin.

Deion elbowed him gently in the side. “Your day will come Dutkne.” He stated already knowing, as did all of his brothers and sisters that Dutkne was head over heels for their sister Zarah and Lucia. It was only a matter of time before they realized that he was who they wanted as well.

“Before or after I am old enough to remember how it works?” Dutkne asked.

This brought soft laughter from all of them and Murano once more had to shake his head at the laconic nature of Lycavorian Spartans. Most especially those like Martin and his sons and daughters. They viewed danger as a challenge. And they never backed down from a challenge.

“Eirene has set up in Safe House One and is monitoring all of the Vid Feeds from the area. Mari is standing by with her in order to override any electronic measures they might put in place as well as mess with the Vanari systems.” Andro continued. “Eli, Inamarno, Serale and Cvea have the triage set up and standing by at Safe House Two. The tunnels connect them so they will never be out of touch.”

Jomann nodded. “And I won’t tell you the words she used to describe being left out of the fighting.” He spoke up with a smile.

“If this goes to sibfla ... she will be up to her eye balls in fighting.” Andro commented. “She won’t have time to complain.”

“True enough.” Jomann said.

“Fedor and Famus will drop the QRF right on top of us if I call for them.” Andro told them. “Father and Uncle Danny say he is a little on the reckless side, but his tactics and skill are unquestioned. He will come in guns blazing if we need him too, and he won’t be concerned for property damage.”

“Let us hope we don’t need them.” Murano stated. “I spoke to some of Garan’s men after Onterom. Until the moment he was injured they said Fedor and his wife Iama were like ghosts. They took down two teams of Garan’s men before they knew what hit them.”

“Then we must keep the battle contained to Coren’s estate, inside the perimeter that Vanari Commandos loyal to Coren will set up the moment the battle starts. We must move quickly and decisively and keep the initiative. “ Andro told them. “If the fight spills into the streets, you can damn well bet that Ardan will have his own Vanari Commandos ready to act. They won’t hesitate to fire on any Lycavorian they see. It fits perfectly with the picture he is trying to paint of our people. Denali and I now have Vanari wives and mates and we truly do not want to injure or kill their people.” Andro motioned to the map again. “Kalis, Daio, and Ridor will be set up on three points of the compass to insure none of them escape back the way they come in. With Cowen and Sherice directing them from the building across the river, none should reach the wall. We contain them, collapse them and then kill them.”