Chapter 9

ENURRUA

DAY TWENTY

Joric grunted his release into the whimpering female beneath him, tears streaking her face, her hands clutching the twisted sheets of the bed. His upper body was soaked in sweat as he had been raping her for several hours and between the exertion of that and having to beat her twice to submit to him, he was tired and worn out. He finished empting himself into her warm depths and then shoved her forward on the bed and let her curl up in a fetal ball clutching her stomach.

She was youngest daughter of one Atlatus's most prominent wolf families. Barely a day past her Coming of Age and he had been her first. Even though the fever burned in her, she had refused him and he had beaten her into submission, laughing the entire time. After taking her the seventh time, he could feel the barely detectable aura of new life within her womb. The fever had made her very fertile and now she would have his eleventh child. She was his now, and she would make a satisfactory mate. At least until his brother brought home this blue eyed elf he had claimed. Rommna had said she was quite a catch, with sapphire colored eyes and very sweet smelling. Joric wasn't surprised Isra had beaten Rommna to claim her. Isra was a large wolf for his age, nearly as big as Joric and their father, but he lacked the killing instinct, and when Joric fought him for the elf wench, he had no doubts he would win.

He still regretted Aricia's death. She had smelled the sweetest of all, and she seemed to actually begin to enjoy when he took her unnaturally. She had the softest lips he had ever felt around his cock. Joric's eyes narrowed as he lifted the ale to his lips and stood from the bed. He had emptied his seed into Aricia twice as much than this wench beneath him, just in the first few hours alone. Aricia's scent and firm body driving him to new heights of endurance before he was spent and still he had felt nothing inside her womb. The Lunmai was supposed to be even stronger than the first Coming of Age for a female and she should have conceived within the first few hours, yet as he thought back on it, he had felt nothing. So wrapped up in the pleasure he was taking from her he hadn't thought to...

Joric's eyes darted to the darkened wall and grew wider. He tossed the ale to the side and grabbed the heavy robe he had been wearing when he brought the wench up here. He hadn't been in this room since that night and as he grew closer to the dark wall he reached up to rub the scar on his face. He slapped the table light the servants had put in and it bathed the wall in its unearthly glow, Joric's eyes going wide. The wall where her Shi Viska had been buried was now empty, only the deep three foot long gouge where the shield had been now visible. Joric spun around and rushed from the room, a cold knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He moved like a man possessed, down four flights of long stairs and through three drafty corridors before bursting into the room where his father was meeting with three other family heads.

Chetak laughed when he saw his son's clothing state. "Forgive my son," He spoke to the three men. "He has been breaking in a new mate."

The three men smiled knowingly and continued drinking their ale. Chetak stood and moved quickly to Joric, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the side.

"What are you trying to do fool?" Chetak growled. "These three men are our most avid supporters! They are going to help purchase more companies in the Union. Soon we will be even more powerful than we are now."

"It's gone!" Joric hissed in a whisper.

Chetak did a double take. "What? What is gone? You are speaking non-sense."

"The bitch's weapon!" Joric snapped, "Her Shi Viska! Aricia's Shi Viska is no longer embedded in the wall upstairs father!"

Chetak's eyes grew a little wider at this news. "No one removed it?" He asked quickly.

Joric shook his head. "They stopped trying after the blades sliced open three workers! I told you the only way to remove it was to remove the section of wall and replace it. You said to leave it!"

"You did not order this?" Chetak asked.

"Father the gouge is still there, but the weapon is gone." Joric spoke heatedly. "You know as well as I, a Shi Viska will not respond to another user except the one it is branded too. The only one who could have pulled it from the wall is her. She's still alive father!"

"Impossible! The Firespitter caught her full blast in the stream of flame!" Chetak spoke. "You saw this!"

"I also remember that Tablina told us the serum would amplify the effects of the Lunmai in her father. It didn't come to me until just now after finishing with the wench upstairs. I must have emptied into her body a dozen times in the first few hours. I never once felt a flicker of life in her womb." Joric spoke.

Chetak looked at him his eyes narrowing. "You are sure of this?"

Joric nodded his head. "I've bedded enough females to know what to look for father." He answered. "Aricia should have conceived within those first few hours. She didn't. And that can only mean Tablina lied to us."

Chetak looked at him. "We must not be too hasty." He spoke. "The serum she gave us worked Joric, or else you would never have been able to take her, even with the fever. I will contact her in the morning. Remain clam Joric. I want you to double check with the house servants that none of them removed the shield to sell it in the market. I need to finish with our guests and then we will decide what to do."

Joric nodded. "Father ... if she is alive..." Chetak looked at him. "I want her back for doing this to me." He spoke rubbing the scar on his face.

"Why are you staring at me?" Aricia snapped loudly. She was leaning against the rock wall, her arms wrapped around her shoulders huddled in as small a ball as she could to keep from shaking.

She had lifted her arm to call her Shi Viska, only remembering she had lost it during the dragon's attack on Joric and his father. Then the huge black dragon had whipped out its tail and struck her. The pain from three breaking ribs had been severe, but as she sailed through the air out of the cave and began to fall, Aricia surrendered to what awaited her at the bottom of the four thousand meter drop. She would die instantly, and the pain and shame she felt would never matter again.

That was until this azure colored dragon had swooped from the dark sky and snatched her in those flesh tearing claws as gently as a newborn baby, quickly spiriting her away from the mountain. She had cradled Aricia in her forelimbs as they flew. Flew for what seemed like hours until the splash of fresh cold water had jarred her awake and then Isheeni was gently putting her down on the cool rock beneath her. Aricia had scrambled to get away from her, the pain of her broken ribs making her mind sharp and clear. She moved until she found a corner in the cave and tucked herself into it.

Isheeni had taken Aricia to a part of the Enurrua that very few came to anymore. The bombardments from above thousands of years ago had turned this area into a wasteland and it was only just now starting to return to its former beauty. This is where the dragons had lived before Chetak's people had come. This cave was where others of her kind had been hatched. The twenty meter wide waterfall no longer carried soiled brown water, but fresh mountain water from the streams above. The trees had become towering green points again, and the land below was once more growing green. This was where Torma had taken her that first time after their bonding. He had discovered this cave on one of his solo sorties hundreds of years ago as a hatchling, and it had been their sanctuary since that time. Isheeni had brought a fresh stag from below that she had killed, and it was laid on the ground between them.

You ... you have not eaten or healed your wounds, Isheeni spoke softly. You must shift to heal. Tablina told me this of your kind. It is quite amazing to have this skill.

"I'm not hungry!" Aricia snapped.

Only food will keep your strength from faltering. You must live.

Aricia leaned her head back against the rock wall. "I don't want to live." Aricia spoke softly. "You should have let me fall and die. I would have been happier."

I could not do that Aricia of the Bluest Eyes.

"All I have ever wanted has been torn from me." Aricia spoke her voice still just above a whisper. Isheeni moved a little closer to her, feeling the waves of emotion flow from Aricia into her. Mournful emotions, a pain of the heart Isheeni had never felt before. "You and your friends helped in that action. I can not fight you; at the very least you could just let me die. Then I will no longer need to carry the pain in my heart."

Isheeni watched as the tears rolled down Aricia's cheeks, tears of sorrow, of shame, of betrayal. She moved closer still, lowering her large head to brush against Aricia's raven mane of hair. If ... if you will not heal yourself Aricia of the bluest eyes ... for my shame of what we have done to you ... let me at least give you warmth.

Aricia was so tired.

Days without sleep, having to endure agony like she didn't know could exist. It was too much for her. She allowed the change to take her, Isheeni watching with wide eyes as the silver/white light shimmered and then the black hair, blue eyed wolf was in front of her, moving towards her. She felt a moment of fear, the directions of her mother when she was young to fear the wolves of the night, but Isheeni didn't move, not this time. She felt a momentary flash of physical pain in Aricia's eyes as the change knitted her broken bones back together, and then another shimmering flash of that silver/white light and the supple figure of Aricia pressed against her azure scales drawing from the cool warmth. Isheeni extended one of her wings and wrapped it around the small Lycavorian Queen and she realized then that Aricia had dropped all of her psychic shields in exhaustion.

The power of Aricia's female aura burned brighter than even Tablina, and the old Lycavorian female was perhaps the most powerful Mindvoicer next to her own mother. Yet the power Isheeni felt trembling within this small female was staggering. Isheeni reached out tentatively, her mother's words when she was still a hatchling coming back to her.

Among the stars there will be few who can Mindvoice as we do daughter. Among them the race that hunts us now. They are called Lycavorians, able to take the shape of wolves. Those out there among the stars are not like those on this planet. Those Lycavorians are just and fair and compassionate. And among them there are powerful Mindvoicers, some even more powerful than I.

No one is more powerful than you mother. Isheeni had said.

Arzoal had chuckled softly. I am strong daughter yes, but when you see the Dragon's Heart, then you will know power. And that power will either condemn us all, or save us all.

Isheeni's own azure blue eyes glanced down at the glittering coral red necklace that rested between Aricia's breasts over her heart. She lowered her Mindvoice shields and reached out with her mind to touch the young Queen, to learn and experience the pain they had brought upon her. As Aricia's life flashed through Isheeni's mind, she shared the ups and downs, the highs and lows. She was still very young for a Lycavorian, Aricia was, but she possessed within her a power that Isheeni had never felt before. It churned beneath her being, behind psychic shields of such magnitude that Isheeni dare not attempt to penetrate, but that Aricia could tap into without thought.

The Isheeni saw him.

The black haired giant of a man who had claimed her very heart and soul as she had done his. She saw the red haired female and the blond elf, even the black haired vampire princess, all of their psychic auras interwoven in such a way as to make them nearly one in love and thought. It was a union of beings that Isheeni was stunned to see so completely joined. And within that fabric of auras was that of this young Queen and the King. Their two auras were not only interwoven, they were joined completely. You could not tell where one started and the other ended. It was as if the others swirled around these two together, but Aricia and the King were still separate, if only a tiny fraction. She saw the long black hair and dark brown eyes, the physical proportions of this King, and her eyes grew a little wider when she saw him as a wolf. The yellow/gold eyes and his immense size; larger still than even Chetak and Joric. He...

Isheeni.

She turned her head and saw Torma move slowly forward. So engrossed within Aricia's unshielded mind, Isheeni had failed to sense her mate splash through the waterfall and land meters away from them.

Torma ... my mother...

I told no one my mate. Torma spoke quickly as he saw Aricia's now sleeping form tucked under Isheeni's wing. Our sanctuary is ours alone. She is concerned because you won't answer her. Isheeni I was...

You were protecting me Torma ... you need not explain your love for me husband. I ... I could not let her die. Isheeni spoke.

Torma moved close to her, gently rubbing his obsidian colored scales against hers and seeing her wings flutter in delight. He brushed his snout against her scales behind her head, tracing the curve of her powerful neck, down her back and shoulders and to the tip of her tail, checking for injuries and displaying his commitment to her in dragon fashion. He finished by drawing in a deep breath of her female scent and allowing it to course through him. Isheeni turned her head when he was done, her azure eyes bright and clear, and she gazed at him as he settled to the floor next to her.

Why have you brought her here?

I have touched her mind Torma.

Torma's yellow eyes flared. Isheeni why? Your mother would be very angry. It is not allowed!

She is in such pain my husband, so tired. Her shields came down and I could not help myself. Torma ... remember how much you ... how much you told me you cherished me, the day you took me as your mate. Why?

You know why Isheeni. He spoke softly.

You could have had any female Torma. Many courted you. You waited until I came of age and still you bonded with me knowing I could not give you children for two hundred and fifty years. You could be a father now husband.

Isheeni when I first saw you that day in the main cavern. I knew it was you and only you that I wanted. No others. I would have waited a lifetime for you. We are fated for each other.

Isheeni nodded and brushed her snout against his chest. That is what Aricia shared with this King Torma. They were fated to be together. And we have torn them apart. Our actions have torn them apart husband. I have seen him Torma, in her mind.

Show me.

And Isheeni did. All that she had seen and felt she passed to her mate. She saw his larger black wings ruffle as he too felt the enormous power and love, and now the pain.

Torma looked at her. Isheeni ... he ... he is the most powerful Mindvoicer I have ever felt. He dwarfs even your mother.

I know.

This child has it within her. She trembles with power Isheeni.

And where he once stood within her mind is now nothing but a black abyss husband, an empty void that we put there with our thoughtless actions. Isheeni spoke.

We are trying to save our people Isheeni, you know this. Tablina is trying to save her people. They are Aricia's people. Torma spoke.

Isheeni nodded slowly. Who gave us permission to act as the changers of fate husband? Who gave us permission to act in such a way? In doing what we have done, instead of saving ourselves husband, we may have doomed ourselves as my mother said.

Torma was silent for a long moment staring into her beautiful eyes. Is there nothing we can do? He asked finally.

Isheeni looked down to where Aricia slept in the embrace of her wing. I will bind myself to her Torma. I will help her in any way I am able. We have altered the path of fate husband, and now we can only hope it is not destroyed for all time.

LYCAVORIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC CRUISER

Tarifa staggered against the bed as Isra nearly tossed her through the door of his quarters. "I told you woman!" He hissed at her in a pain and anger filled voice. "I told you to not go out there!"

Tarifa whirled around, her sapphire eyes wide. "I only wanted to see this ship! What it looks like! You have kept me locked up in here for almost two weeks!"

"And I told you why Tarifa!" He groaned loudly as he engaged the lock on his door. His left arm was shredded, blood pouring out onto the floor. His leg burned with pain and he moved quickly to the cabinet, Tarifa seeing for the first time the injuries he had sustained and gasping in horror.

She had ventured into the corridor after the boredom of remaining in these quarters for so long. Isra had duties to perform she knew that, but he seemed to be spending more and more time away from the quarters as opposed to in them as when they had first started this journey. They were only a day from his planet he had told her, and then things would begin to move rather quickly. Instead of doing as he asked and reading the information on the computer he had brought up for her, Tarifa had decided to go for a walk.

It had very nearly been the end of her.

The moment she stepped into the corridor she could smell the heavy male scent, and it had immediately caused her own wolf scent to react. Within moments there were two very large men moving for her, lust and desire in their eyes, and not the pleasant kind. Tarifa had no doubts about what would have happened if Isra hadn't intervened. She saw the dirty blond wolf sail past her shoulder and attack the two men viciously. Isra was large in wolf form, bigger than Dekton, but no where near as large as she now knew Martin to be. The battle had been short and vicious, and before she knew what was happening he had grabbed her arm and rushed her back to the quarters.

Now she saw the results of her actions.

Isra peeled off the jacket he wore to reveal the shirt sleeve that was torn open, the flesh of his arm with three long tears in it.

"Give ... give me the spray in the cabinet!" He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Isra you're injured!"

"What did you expect?" He snapped. "I told you to not go into the corridors of the ship Tarifa. Did you think I was lying to you woman! That is what will happen to you Tarifa! That is why I only give you my clothes to wear! To keep some small portion of my scent on you so that they don't break into my quarters while I am gone! You saw them Tarifa, anse forn! They will detect I have not mated with you and think you are free game regardless of what I have claimed!" He moved from the chair to the cabinet himself and took out the spray.

"I only wanted to see the stars Isra!" Tarifa spoke.

He glared at her. "Then you should have asked me!" He growled. He turned quickly to a small panel on the desk, typed in a command and stabbed his finger down on the panel.

Tarifa jumped back at the sound, and she watched as an eight foot portion of the wall next to the bed lifted and recessed into the ceiling, exposing a stunning view of billions and billions of stars, trillions of stars. Her eyes were wide in wonderment as she looked out the large view port.

Isra groaned and drew her attention back to him as he used the spray on his arm. "Isra ... I'm sorry!"

"Help me and remove my boots!" He hissed. "I must shift to stop the bleeding in my leg and I can't bend over."

Tarifa rushed forward, her fingers working madly on the straps and buckles of the heavy combat boots, fumbling with the final buckle before finally pulling them off his feet. She looked at him as he was treating his arm. "What else?"

Isra used his uninjured arm to unbuckle the top of his pants quickly. "Pull my pants off!" He spoke.

Tarifa looked up into his face frozen in her spot. "Isra..."

"Anse forn woman! If I had wanted to force myself on you I would have by now! I am losing blood and I can't bend over! I would prefer not to shred my clothes! Pull off my pants upaee!" Isra barked.

The decision was easy for Tarifa because she knew he was absolutely right. He had shown her what his aura could do to her, how it made her wolf blood burn, and yet he had never once even looked at her in such a way. She gripped the legs of his pants and began pulling as gently as she could, wincing as his face grimaced in pain. As she pulled the pants down she saw the wound and almost cried out. It was deep, so deep she could see the bone of his thigh, the tear in his flesh ragged and torn. She could see the pulsing of the main artery of his leg, and the torn muscle and tissue.

"By the gods!" She muttered softly.

"Hurry Tarifa." He gasped.

Tarifa did as he told her, finally pulling the pants completely off his legs and turning to look at him as he forced himself up to his feet. Tarifa noticed two things right away that she had not taken notice of before. His body was even more defined and sculpted with muscle than even Dekton had been, and he had the largest cock she had ever seen in her life. As she staggered back, she saw the yellow/gold shimmering light and then he was before her once more in his wolf form, dirty blond in color, muscles rippling beneath the shoulders and haunches. Yes ... he was much larger than Dekton had been, more packed with muscle, but still smaller than Martin.

He shifted back and forth three times before the wound in his leg had sealed enough to stop bleeding, and on the third time he shifted back, all that remained was a large ugly pink scar.

Isra settled back onto the chair once more, his body coated in a fine sheen of sweat from shifting so many times in succession. Tarifa felt something inside she hadn't felt before now, and it stunned her to feel it sweep through her.

She felt desire for him.

"Tarifa!" His voice brought her eyes back to his face from where they had been lingering on his crotch, and she looked at him, her face red with embarrassment.

"Yes."

"The dispenser! Get me an abeld goda!" He spoke.

Tarifa looked at him, "A what?"

Isra shook his head. "Did your mate teach you nothing of the ancient language? Abeld Goda! Fruit juice!" He snapped.

Anger flared in her eyes as she went to the dispenser and tapped in the code for what he asked for as he had shown her. When it opened she took the glass and returned to him, thrusting it out to him.

"Dekton was a Spartan!" She snapped. "He was a great man and would not have done any of what you have done! He had too much honor for that!"

The pain in Isra's violet eyes was very real and Tarifa immediately regretted having said what she did. Whatever may have happened to bring her to this spot, if not for the man in front of her now she would have been raped far more times than had ever occurred in her lifetime, or she would be dead.

"Isra ... I'm ... I'm sorry." She spoke quickly.

He finished the juice in the glass and set it on the table. "You are right." He spoke softly. "Forgive me for mentioning him." Tarifa saw the flash of shame in his eyes and a pang of hurt touched her.

"Isra ... I'm sorry." Tarifa spoke.

"Give me my pants." He said quickly. "You do not need to see me like this any longer."

Tarifa picked them up and held them out to him, this time avoiding where her eyes wanted to go, and she rose to her feet as he pulled his pants up. She watched as he pulled his boots over and began returning them to his feet. "Isra ... what ... what did you mean before?"

He didn't look up at her, "About what?"

"You said they ... they could smell that you hadn't..." Tarifa couldn't complete the sentence but Isra stood up and looked at her.

"Tarifa ... my people are not far removed from the instinctual nature of our forefathers. We did not follow King Resumar when he pulled us out of that part of our lives and put us on the path to freedom and choice and honor." Isra spoke. "I have claimed you as my mate, but I have not forced myself on you. They can detect that by just your scent. It is why I can still smell this Dekton in your blood. You have not taken another after him have you?"

Tarifa shook her head. "Not ... not a man. No. Nya Istel..."

Isra nodded. "Yes I know of your lover Tarifa. You call her My Light; that is very fitting for one with eyes such as hers." He looked at her. "My scent is not in your blood Tarifa. My people can detect that. It is why I have made you wear my older uniforms ... to protect you in some fashion. It is why I told you to remain in here and not come out. It is why we will need to move quickly when we reach my planet. I will not be able to protect you long. We will have to move..."

"Where do you go when you leave me here at night?" Tarifa asked. "After that first night ... you haven't spent any others here. Why?"

Isra took a deep breath. "I have a friend several doors down this corridor. I have remained in his quarters and returned before the change of shift. He believes as I do, that we need to change our peoples' ways. I can not stay in here with you."

"Why?" Tarifa asked.

"It does not matter why. You..."

"It matters to me." Tarifa spoke. "Why can't you stay in here Isra? I would think I am much safer with you in this room with me."

Isra stared at her with those violet eyes and Tarifa felt a shudder of desire at what she saw in them. For her.

"I ... I have never been with a woman Tarifa." He spoke finally. "I can not stay in here with you because your scent drives me mad! It swarms around me all the time. It fills the room!" He exclaimed. "I am strong enough to resist it, I have learned that much, but the part of me that desires you still pulls against my control and it is better to remain away from you."

"So ... so you don't take me against my will?" Tarifa asked him with a neutral voice.

Isra shook his head. "That is something I will never do! I have told you that!" He spat. "I stay away because ... because I don't want ... I don't want to feel what I'm beginning to feel for you. And it grows stronger every hour."

Tarifa didn't know what she expected to hear, but she was sure it wasn't that. She could feel this man, his scent filling the air around her. The wildness that he kept controlled. She had felt it in Martin and Dekton both. That was part of what she found so attractive in them, how they harnessed that wildness and made it part of themselves. He had never been with a woman, and yet his very society demanded he force himself on women, something he would not do. She stared at his face, examining the lines of his lips and chin, the depth of those violet eyes. Tarifa took a deep breath.

"Then take me." She said.

Isra's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Take me Isra. Make love to me. Right here. Right now."

"Are you malda woman? I told you I would not do that!" Isra snapped. "Are all elf females as malda as you?" He saw her confusion. "Crazy! Are you all crazy?"

"You said it was the best way to protect me." Tarifa spoke trying to keep the desire she felt out of her voice.

Isra nodded. "It protects you, yes Tarifa, but it is not foolproof!" He spoke. "I've told you how cruel my people are. If another male wants you, he will challenge me. I can't beat them all. I'm a large wolf, but I am not the King."

Tarifa suddenly wanted to feel just how large he was too.

"I don't want to be raped Isra." Tarifa spoke.

"I will not take what is not offered to me regardless of the circumstances!" He growled. "I will protect you until my dying breath, you need not worry about that, but I will not do this as a means of protecting you. It is wrong."

"What if it is what I want?" Tarifa asked.

Isra shook his head. "You are malda." He spoke. "You no more want to be with me than you want to be with Rommna. If you did ... it would be leaking through your aura. It is not."

"You forget Isra ... my former mate was a Spartan. He did teach me many things. One of them was how to shield my aura." Tarifa spoke. "So I would not distract him." And then Tarifa lowered her shields.

The reaction on Isra's face was immediate and predictable. His violet eyes went wide and he took several steps back. The desire from her was very real, very strong and directed at him. He shook his head.

"Don't." He spoke quickly. "You should not ... you should not desire me like this?"

Tarifa stepped closer to him. "You have been nothing but kind and protective to me Isra." Tarifa spoke. "Were we in any other situation, you would have sensed that I do consider you very handsome and desirable." She said softly, feeling the burning of her wolf blood in her now. Tarifa projected her aura at him as Dekton had taught her and she saw him shake his head again.