Prologue

MEGEWA III

THE WILDS

SIX MONTHS AFTER THE EVENTS ON ENURRUA

Megewa III, one of the seedier planets in The Wilds.

Like its larger cousins spread across The Wilds, Megewa III was a haven for mercenaries and smugglers like herself. She sat in the corner of the medium sized tavern and watched as each individual or group entered. Her back was against the rear wall of the establishment, and she was near the only other entrance. It was an entrance that led into a disgusting, garbage filled alley in the rear that usually had a body or two in it at any given time, once again attesting to the lawlessness that reigned supreme on Megewa III.

The tavern, Star's Ghost, was one of the more popular spots on Megewa III because it actually had decent food and strong ale to drink. The owner of the establishment was a huge Unsaur, and former Bounty Hunter who went by the name Cyngi. His seven and a half foot height and six hundred pounds of muscle was enough to tame most of the trouble makers the moment they came into the place. His gray skin and long fangs took care of what his other physical dimensions did not. He took no lip from anyone, and he offered decent food and drink for a reasonable price as long as you stayed out of trouble. He was known to have squashed several Erogani Assassins who thought they would come in one evening and make trouble. Two of their bodies rotted in the alley behind his establishment for a month after that. She always maintained a good relationship with him, and he sometimes was able to obtain excellent paying jobs for her. She had her own table, for which she paid a tidy sum every season, and was always given first dibs on any new food his cooks were able to throw together. He had a way of obtaining many things that other such establishments couldn't get, because he was discrete and trustworthy and did not make waves.

There were some items he no longer carried, mainly because the new King from the Lycavorian Union had laid waste to Chetak's ridiculous Republic; and due to this he no longer carried any dragon based items on the menu. He knew he was far to close to the Union border, and it was said that the new King had taken quite a liking to the dragons and even flew on one's back. It was said he had incredible Mindvoice powers and could throw glimmering spikes of energy at you. It was said he destroyed Chetak's empire just for taking a simple woman from him that he considered his Queen. She must have been some woman if that rumor was true she thought to herself. Rumors about this new King were filtering all over The Wilds, many of them made up and crazy enough to have been concocted in the mind of a mercenary on mind drugs. He had four Queens, and five concubines, among them the new Hadarian and Elven Queens; he had glowing yellow eyes and was as big as an Unsaur. There was one rumor that was accurate she knew, and that was the fact that he had shattered the High Coven garrison of Ukwav into oblivion with only a single Fleet Group and primarily twenty thousand Spartans.

The fact alone made him someone she probably did not want to be angry with her. She was no fool, and she had not survived alone for all these years in The Wilds by being stupid. She stood only five foot five and a hundred and twenty pounds, but it was lean muscle she had toned over the years. She was Hadarian by birth, but she had never known her birth parents, both of them killed in a transport accident only a few days after she was born. All she could remember of her early childhood were the Phacca man and women who had raised her until she was seven. They had been butchered in a raid by mercenaries one night and she was taken prisoner and sold into slavery. That had begun her long period of pain.

Pain and despair had become part of her life then, the brutal rapes and beatings suffered at the hands of the first and second of her three owners while a slave, and then the mental and physical anguish her third owner, an Elgebar Priest, had made her suffer. Cyngi had been the one to pull her from that life after she had snapped and killed her third owner in a fit of rage, along with his entire family, including his three children, who took great pleasure in tormenting her whenever they could. She was a hundred and thirty two years old when she found her way onto his ship and stowed away. When she was discovered, she had so impressed him with her abilities to bypass the security measures of his ship that he had kept her on. It wasn't an easy life, as Cyngi was a taskmaster, and there were many a times when she had scrubbed the disgusting decks of his ship with only a brush as punishment for screwing up. She discovered that she had a knack for electronics and building things, and that she was a decent pilot in her own right. He never treated her as anything more than a possession, and he could get violent at times, but he never beat her unnecessarily and he never attempted to force himself upon her. It would not have been easy regardless, male Unsaur were know to be extremely well endowed and could only mate with females of their own race because of their size.

She began making a name for herself while under his tutelage in repairing things that couldn't be repaired, and he even taught her to fly and to fight as the years passed. Soon he was sending her on operations all by herself, and using his name as contact, she rapidly gained small fame in The Wilds as a smuggler and pilot who could out fly almost anyone. Pain remained in her life however, for that is what kept her alive and that is what made her know she was alive. She was quick tempered, and had received her fair share of beatings over the years due to an off hand comment she made to a potential customer or such. She was not helpless, and more often than not could get away or win the fight, but she always relished those moments. She had tattooed her body as well, as a reminder that pain was a constant in her life, and the feel of the tattoo needle sometimes drove away the pain in her heart and soul. Cyngi had taught her never to trust anyone but yourself, and never to let anyone close to you. He had taught her always to be prepared and when faced with a situation, always shoot first and ask questions afterwards.

There were half a dozen Lycavorian mercenaries sitting at a single table laughing and slopping food into their mouths. Most of the Lycavorians she had met over the years were no different than these. Mindless idiots who thought they were tough and deadly because they were big and could shift forms to a wolf. Many had either been drummed out of the Union, or could not follow its laws and had left to become mercenaries. Three Kochab Bounty Hunters sat at another table, while an assortment of others occupied the remaining tables and stood at the bar. No one of any importance or threat as far as she was concerned.

That was until they walked in.

The dark haired female who led them was obviously a vampire. That in and of itself was nothing special, many vampires prowled The Wilds seeking their own brand of violence and blood. She had no use for vampires; to her they were nothing more than conquering animals that killed without regard. This dark haired female was different though. She moved with extreme confidence, secure in herself and her abilities.

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