Chapter 17

LYCAVORE
TWENTY-TWO KILOMETERS WEST OF SETTLEMENT

Anja looked down the tunnel from where she squatted, the dimness of the work lighting in the tunnel not hindering her altered wolf eyes in any way. The tunnel was at least thirty meters wide and sixty meters high, the rock walls glistening with moisture in some spots. The entrance had been deserted when they arrived and it was a simple matter for her small team to move into the tunnel from the deep timber surrounding the entrance. They had moved slowly so that Tina could take as many readings as she was able with the small portable scanners she carried. Anja had not worked much with her in the past two years, but she admired the woman's toughness. She never complained even though Anja could smell the tiredness coming from her after the first hour of moving. She was first and foremost a pilot and engineer and while she had been on the ground before, it was never for more than a few minutes. Anja and the Spartans had no trouble slipping through the terrain with barely any effort, but since Tina was human they had to move slower than they normally would have. Atropos had picked up on this as well and adjusted his pace within the tunnel so that it was not as bad as the movement they conducted from their landing point six kilometers away where Torma and Miath had left them.

They could see dozens of tools scattered throughout many portions of the tunnel, some of them advanced sets of drills and even ancient looking hand tools near where the veins of dark red and yellow Rubidium Ore within the rock itself resided. They had moved past half a dozen tunnels that connected to the main one they were now in, but their motion and sonic sensors told them they did not go for very far, always dead ending. The small amount of Rubidium radiation they were absorbing was nothing to be concerned with. The radiation did not affect them as it would the vampires, and any adverse effects could quickly be dispelled by either Anja or Seanna's healing ability.

Anja Peterson.

Or just plain Anja she thought to herself with some humor, since her people did not have surnames. She secretly preferred Anja Leonidas herself, and if they had never discovered what they had these last two years, Anja would proudly carry that name with no hesitation or regret. She knew it did not matter however and that suited her just fine too. Martin was in her blood more deeply than just a name, and everyone who could detect her scent knew that without question, just as she was in Martin's blood. It was something that had been in her thoughts lately and something she would bring up to Aricia and the others when they were together again. Taking Martin's last name as their own would be one of the surest ways they could show him how much they all loved him and she doubted any of them would think twice about this.

Anja was a Queen to trillions of beings, some of them that looked no more like her than the rock she now looked at, that fact still mind boggling to her. Yet at this very moment as they rested within the tunnel, Anja's only thoughts were on the sister she had never known. Sivana was back at ANVIL with the rest of their group waiting for them to return. They had talked briefly before she and Miath had leaped from near eighty thousand feet above the planet, but Anja had noticed the differences in her sister almost immediately. Though they had known each other less than a month now, the similarities between them were easy enough to detect. Their facial features were almost exactly the same, and while they were not identical twins, it was easy enough to see that they were fraternal twins. Anja shuddered inwardly to think of the life her sister had led up until they had discovered her. Anja knew she herself was strong willed; it was something the human man who she called father for so many years had always told her. Yet Anja did not believe she could ever have survived the life her sister had survived. Over a hundred years of slavery, having no say in your life and basically at the mercy of whoever claimed to be your owner ... in more ways than Anja cared to contemplate.

Since discovering her real history and past, Anja had spent as much time as possible on Hadaria with her grandfather Fuleos discovering all that she could do with her amazing healing ability, as well as working to make the art of medicine better for everyone. The equipment that existed was unlike anything Anja had ever seen or used, but surprisingly she learned like a sponge and it seemed as if she knew what each instrument was before even picking it up. These were the things she would have to teach her sister. Sivana was not going to be as easy to convert into a healer as she had been. Anja had already been a premier bio-research scientist and doctor, a field she had entered almost without thought growing up. The decision to join the Navy SEALs on Earth was completely hers however, and looking back it was something she realized she had done to impress the man she had called father for so many years.

Now Sivana was discovering what it would be like. Their Aunt and Uncle had constantly badgered Anja about bringing Sivana to Hadaria and letting her stay with them. Anja knew all they wanted to do was fill her with their dogmatic view of things and how it was wrong for Anja to be part wolf and always spending more time off Hadaria than on. She was protecting Sivana and in the process protecting herself. Only their grandfather Fuleos cared nothing for that as long as he was near his granddaughters.

Sivana and Belen becoming a romantic item; that was not going to make her anymore friends among the older Hadarians either Anja thought with some humor. Not that she really cared since most of them were stuffy old men and women who complained about everything in regards to her. How she wore her hair, how she dressed far too sexily for a Queen, how she should not have a Mage Warrior as a lover, it drove her batty sometimes. Eurin was the only person who understood, and though she was among the oldest of their people, she was far more open in her thinking. It was Eurin who put Hadarian Healers back among the general military as had been their way in King Resumar's time. The results of that act were showing across the fleet and all the ground forces. The readiness of hundreds of ships and units nearly doubled, for every Spartan, every troop no matter their species; they all trusted Hadarian Healers without question. How was she going to explain Sivana and Belen to her Aunt and Uncle? They would be furious she knew, and more than likely blame her, but it would give Sivana an insight as to the type of people they truly were and hopefully cause her to stay on Apo Prime with Anja most of the time. It would also allow Anja to let Sivana see that the relationship she had entered into was not just flying by night. Belen was a very traditional Spartan like his father, he was also an Alpha and would protect her ruthlessly if need be, and fight for her without question against any other male, regardless of species. Anja was certain Sivana understood some of it, she was exceptionally intelligent, but she wanted to help her sister in any way she could. At least before she became too pregnant to do that.

Anja let her hand drop to her abdomen for a brief moment and amazingly she could feel the life stirring within her womb even though the baby was only a few days old. Anja had never once imagined herself as a mother, but shortly after re-discovering Martin Leonidas and falling shamelessly in love with him all over again, Anja had wanted nothing more than to have his child. Like Aricia, Dysea and now For'mya, as female wolves it was in their blood to want to have children, yet also like them, only Martin could stir their blood enough in that way. It was only Martin's children the four of them desired to carry, for they knew that once they gave him a child they would be bound to him for all eternity until death, and that prospect did not frighten them in the least. They had decided long ago that all of their children would be born in Sparta, for that city on Earth held so much significance for the man they all worshiped. They also knew that without exception theirs would be a communal family, where they would care for each others children as if they were their own. It was the way of the wolf pack in all of them anyway, and they had made this decision without Martin knowing, for they knew he would love each of them and all of his children equally, no matter what.

It was the reason that over the past year Aricia, Dysea, Isabella, herself and For'mya had pushed him to give Yuriko more and more of the resources she needed to find Lisisa. After their initial anger over discovering he had a child by their hated enemy, it did not take long for them to come to realize that it was not something they could hold against him. When he had shared Yuri's bed, he did not know what he was, or who he was for that matter, and he had not known about Lisisa's existence. Secretly they all cherished the fact that Martin had not dismissed her existence and that he had given Yuriko all she had asked for in order to find her, to include the help of the man who he considered a brother above all others. The finely upgraded High Coven Runner, unlimited funds to spend what she needed to find Lisisa, all of these things that had led them here. They knew that Martin would act in this way with any of his children, no matter who had given birth to them, and that fact made all of them love him even more.

They did not know how he could love them all so completely, and they had talked of it often in the past as women and lovers themselves, but Martin did love them all. Even though they all knew Aricia would always have hold over him as they could not, none of them cared in the least. Aricia had shown them all on many occasions that she did not care that she was his favorite, for she loved all of them almost as intensely as she loved Martin, and it was Aricia who always made time for them to be together and be able to share Martin and each other no matter what they were doing. They did not know yet if Isabella would ever be able to have children with Martin as it appeared Yuri had been able to, but furtively all of them hoped this was the case. They could not explain the connection they all had, or the overwhelming desire to be so physically close to one another, yet Anja could not deny the power of that draw. While Aricia, For'mya and herself had been able to share in pleasures with Isabella the night before they left for Elear, Isabella had not yet been able to share in Martin with them. Anja shivered at the memory of Isabella's fangs biting into her flesh just above her clit, and experiencing the wave of enormous pleasure that produced, but Anja knew she wanted to share that with Seanna more than anything else.

Anja glanced at the dark haired Hadarian woman that captivated her life almost as much as Martin Leonidas. Anja would never deny her touch to the others or theirs upon her, but when all was said and done, it was only Martin and Seanna who could make her sing like no others. Seanna had opened up and changed so much in the last year and Anja knew she would soon join them willingly in their bed and in their arms. Seanna's sweet coconut scent wafted with the desire to explore with them and contribute to what they all shared together and only decades of old tradition and culture stopped her. Tradition and culture that Seanna was rapidly and quite willingly leaving behind her the longer she remained with Anja and shared in her life. They had come so far in the last two years and experienced so much that Anja sometimes wondered when she would wake from this dream. The fact that she was actually living it was far more than she had ever dreamed for and it made her perpetually happy.

Anja took another bite out of the protein bar she held just as Tina moved up next to her and squatted down. Her dirty blond hair was tied into a tight pony tail and she filled out her uniform quite nicely. Anja wasn't attracted to her in a sexual way but she could and did admire an attractive female when she saw one, something that this new life brought out in her. Anja also knew that Tina had been involved with Endith and Ben for the last two years and it was well known that their love affair was just as torrid now as it was when it had begun. Tina was one of the few handfuls of people who Martin considered being, if not family, the closest of friends, and all pretenses were dropped with them. There were no formalities within that small group of men and women, and Tina was among them. That suited Anja just fine.

"Anja ... I'm getting some strange readings." Tina spoke.

Anja looked at her. "Strange how?"

Tina shook her head. "That's just it ... I don't know." She answered. "The motion sensors seem to be working fine, but since we entered this portion of the main tunnel I haven't gotten a solid return from the sonic sensors on the right side. It's like the sonic waves are being absorbed by something."

Anja looked at her oddly. "Absorbed?"

Tina nodded. "Weird huh?"

"What would absorb sonic waves and give no signature back?" Anja asked.

"It would have to be some sort of bio material." Tina answered. "Nothing that I know of or have studied in the last year would do that I'm sure. And since Endy, Ben and I moved to Apo Prime we have studied every known metal to exist."

"Bio Material ... down here?" Anja asked looking around now. "How far down are we anyway Tina?"

"The last depth scan I did put us at a hundred and two meters." She replied looking at Atropos as he settled to the tunnel floor beside his Queen. "It's been fluctuating between ninety and a hundred for about the last quarter of a kilometer that we have come."

Seanna leaned forward now as well. "The Rubidium deposits we have seen ran out a hundred meters back the way we have come." She said taking the portion of protein bar Anja held out to her without thinking. "I have not seen any since, which is very strange to be honest."

"Then why would they keep digging?" Atropos asked. "If there is none of this ore in this rock around us, why keep drilling down at such a gradual slope. Wouldn't you want to find more of this ore and make dramatic changes in direction?"

"Why indeed." Anja said. "Tina can you tell how much further this tunnel goes before stopping?"

"The deposits we have seen are very rich Anja." Seanna spoke. "If the ore colors and concentration I have noticed are accurate, they should be harvesting Ore from those deposits for decades to come. It does not make any sense to continue to drill further when there is so much back there."

Tina looked at the small box like sensor attached to her harness. "Another three hundred and twenty meters before we come to the end. And I'm not detecting any signs of Rubidium in that direction. But I am showing the same type of sonic disturbance from further down the tunnel that I'm picking up here only stronger."

"Why do I get the feeling that there is something more happening down here than just drilling for this ore?" Anja spoke. "Atropos ... five more minutes and then let's keep moving. I want to see what is at the end of this tunnel if anything before we head back to the surface, and I want to link up with Nayeca and Jobel before they get too far ahead of us."

Nayeca had volunteered to come with her and Anja had eagerly accepted knowing the skill the young Drow warrior possessed. She and the female Spartan had been moving ahead of their group silently and acting as scouts.

Atropos nodded and moved to where the other three Durcunusaan sat. Seanna looked at Anja as she gazed down the tunnel and she moved closer to her, pressing up against her side without pause, her large breasts pushing against Anja's arm as her hand dropped to Anja's slim muscular thigh. Anja was her Queen yes, but she was also her lover and best friend, and Anja had made it very clear to her on many occasions that if she acted in any other fashion it would make her very angry. She would not have them hiding their relationship or their love for each other from anyone.

Seanna had never expected to have this type of relationship with any female let alone her Queen. When she became a Mage Warrior she had resigned herself to remaining without male companionship for her entire life. Being lovers with a woman had never even made her pause in thought for it never crossed her mind that it would occur. Meeting Anja on Earth that first day had changed everything, and as far as Seanna was concerned, changed it for the better. They slept together, pleasured each other without question, and recently Seanna had grown brave enough and comfortable enough with Martin to share their bed together with nothing but their flesh pressing to one another. Seanna knew that she desired her King, his body was chiseled from granite it appeared and he was extremely well endowed, Anja willingly sharing this information with her before Seanna had actually seen it for herself recently. Seanna knew all she had to do was ask, but she also wanted to make sure Anja was with her, for she had never been with a man and she wanted to make sure it was perfect when that day came. She had seen Martin without clothes and he was huge to say the least. There were nights when she heard Anja cry out in passion in his arms, and she always wondered what it could be like.

One day she would know and Seanna had no doubts she would relish it.

"What are you thinking my love?" She asked Anja softly. "Something is going through that head of yours."

"Something is nearby Erranyaenyla." Anja whispered turning to look at her. "Something that even I can sense in Mindvoice and it is very powerful."

"Something dangerous?" Seanna asked.

Anja shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. I can't tell. One thing is for sure, if I can feel it, you can damn well bet Martin and Helen can feel it, not to mention Torma and Miath. They are stronger within Mindvoice than me."

"Do not sell yourself short Anja." Seanna spoke with a smile. "I have heard Martin and Helen talking about you. Helen believes you to be the strongest Mindvoicer behind Martin and Aricia, and she says your bond with Miath with only continue to grow. Dysea and Iriral will be powerful, but Helen believes you will come closest to Martin and Aricia."

"They told you that?" Anja asked surprised.

Seanna smiled. "I actually was eavesdropping on them in the lounge of HOPE'S QUEST. I heard them there."

Anja chuckled. "I've created a monster." She exclaimed leaning over to kiss her warmly. Seanna took her face gently and slipped her four inch tongue between Anja's lips, eliciting a soft moan of delight and an immediate response with Anja's own four inch tongue. Another delight Anja had discovered when she and Seanna had become lovers. All of her people had exceptionally long tongues. The kiss was intense but short as they knew it had to be and Seanna rubbed her nose gently with Anja's as she pulled back, her dark green eyes smoldering. Anja looked at her boldly. "You do realize Erranyaenyla that if we were alone I'd throw you to the ground and take you right here after that."

Seanna chuckled now as well. "Only after I had you first." She spoke.

The soft beeping caused both their heads to turn.

"Movement!" Tina hissed out bringing up her motion sensor as she got to her feet. "Three hundred sixty meters! Moving towards us! I got four! What the fuck ... I'm reading them on the other side of where this tunnel ends!"

Anja looked at her. "Nayeca and Jobel?"

Tina shook her head quickly. "They are moving back to our location! A hundred meters in front of the contacts."

Atropos looked at her his eyes wide and determined. "Do we extract?" He gasped out the question. "We aren't supposed to have any contact!"

Anja made the decision quickly and all based on what her gut and her heart told her. "No! We wait and see who they are!"

"My Queen ... we..." Atropos saw Anja tilt her head at him and give him that look she always did when she wasn't going to listen to him. He stopped talking and shook his head. "Oh never mind." He said.

LYCAVORIAN SETTLEMENT

"BLOOD!"

It was perhaps the most devastating use of controlled, precision violence that Visam and the others had ever seen. They had been raised seeing the High Coven demean and subjugate their people, beatings, rapes and even murders. They had never resisted, never given thought to resistance and watching Danny, Anuk and Yuriko spring smoothly into action at that one word shout was unlike anything they had ever witnessed.

The moment that one word left the black skinned Spartan's lips, the three of them became a blizzard of lethal motion. Martin's actions in killing the Immortal and their officer had frozen the dozen other High Coven troops. This ultimately turned out to be the main reason for their demise, but none of the High Coven soldiers was even in the same league skill wise as Martin and the others. All of them present saw the silver/white flash of three Shi Viskas and then the razor shields were in the air as Danny and Anuk both brought up their P190s and began tracking targets. The two of them alone had perfected the unique ability to launch their shields and lift their 190s in the same blink, allowing them to get off one and possibly two bursts from their rifles before having to reclaim their shields and then re-launch them. Martin's Shi Viska simply slashed through the crowd of bodies with a mind of its own, for only Martin and Aricia had the Mindvoice ability and power to direct and guide their shields while in the midst of battle as they fought with other weapons. Danny, Anuk and Yuriko had spent the better part of the last year fighting and searching together, the three of them had, with Nayeca and Filrian by their side. They had trained almost daily in the hours of down time searching for Lisisa to think and act as a team, and that is what they did now with devastating results.

Yuriko's dual blades appeared in her hands as if my some magical force and she shoved Lisisa to the ground as she used her vampire speed to blur in motion to the closest soldier. There was a soft gurgling sound and then a great fountain of blood erupted from his sliced open throat as his hands dropped his rifle to try and stem the flow of life giving blood. Lisisa didn't see Yuriko blur in motion again as there was not often reason for the vampire soldiers on Lycavore to utilize this skill, and even those who could were no where near as proficient and skilled as it appeared Yuriko was. Lisisa didn't hear the soft sound of the silenced P190s as Danny and Anuk dealt out three round bursts of death with lethal accuracy, their movements almost faster than she could follow as they twisted and turned, reclaiming their Shi Viskas and then launching them once more in the blink of an eye. Lisisa's eyes saw none of this because they were focused entirely on the huge figure of the black haired Lycavorian who was her King.

And her father.

The moment Martin launched his Shi Viska he did the one thing that would utterly throw the vampire troops into chaos in such confined space. He knew from experienced they did not like to fight in enclosed spaces while he and Spartans trained for it everyday. He shifted into his wolf form in a near blinding flash of white light and launched himself into an attack. Lisisa was among the others who could only stare in awe at the size of the raven black beast that fell upon two Coven troops without pause or regard. Massive paws of black razor like claws snapped out, shredding flesh and snapping bone. His three hundred plus pounds of tightly corded muscle smashed one trooper to the floor, the air leaving his lungs as the added weight of the enormous wolf crushed several ribs. The huge head lowered and there was the snapping sound of huge steel trap jaws as Martin's muzzle crunched closed on the vampire's neck and tore his throat free like paper machete. As blood fountained into the air, the black wolf moved with speed unlike anything any of them had ever seen from a wolf, one four inch wide paw whipping out and tearing into the second trooper's head, four long deep slashes tearing open his flesh, sending hair and bloody scalp flying and ripping one of his eyes from its socket. As he fell to his knees his weapon forgotten and his lips opening to scream in agony, Martin leaped again and hit him with his full weight, once more driving a Coven soldier to the floor. Blood spewed from between the soldier's lips as the three hundred plus pound wolf once more snapped ribs like dry timber, two ribs tearing into his lungs. Once more those large teeth and incredibly powerful jaws bit into flesh, and once more another Coven soldier died before he ever really had a chance.

Martin's huge head whipped around and he heard the gasps of not only Lisisa but her female vampire friend as they saw his blazing yellow/gold eyes fall of them. Melita had never seen a wolf of such size in her entire life and she had lived around Lycavorians since she was a small child. This black monstrosity was four foot at the shoulder if he was an inch, and she estimated he was easily twice the size of any wolf she had seen in her life. His black steel claws clicked on the floor of the hall as he leaped once more towards a Coven soldier that was raising his weapon on the red haired female elf. Melita's eyes flew open when those massive jaws clamped shut on the trooper's shoulder crunching through flesh, muscle and bone. She heard the snap and pop as his shoulder was torn from its socket and with a devastating shake of his massive head and shoulders, Martin ripped a huge chunk of flesh away bringing with it the soldier's arm in its entirety.

Then it was over as quickly as the violence had begun.

Danny and Anuk stood side by side, the smoke curling from the barrels of their P190s, their changed eyes sweeping the mass of dead bodies for any sign of movement. Yuriko stood to the other side of the hall, both of her blades stained red and held back against her arms defensively as she stood in a combat crouch, her cobalt blue vampire eyes also surveying the room, her lips curled back over her fangs.

Lisisa could not tear her eyes from Martin Leonidas. His presence was so imposing, his commanding aura blasting every wolf in the room including her, announcing who he was for all to feel. Visam and the others had dropped to their knees, their heads bowed in submission, only Donus being disrespectful enough to keep his head up and looking at Martin as he shifted back into human form in another flash. He was crouched then, his yellow/gold eyes not moving from where Lisisa sat on the floor where Yuriko had shoved her. Lisisa held Melita's arms tightly as she watched him, his eyes scouring the room and coming to rest on a toppled pitcher that was leaking water. He snatched it up quickly and rinsed the blood of the dead vampires from his mouth before lifting his left arm. Several people jumped back as his Shi Viska zipped from the corner of the room where it had been hovering and quickly settled to his arm. It too vanished as Danny and Anuk willed their Shi Viskas away.

Martin stood up and went to where his Nehtes was protruding from the chest of the dead Immortal and he grasped the shaft of the spear as Yuriko moved up next to Lisisa as quietly as a ghost.

Lisisa's head snapped around to look at her. "Yuriko ... Yuriko ... that ... he..." She whispered softly, her words broken and stammering as she was shaking in a combination of fear and discovery.

Yuriko took her hands with a smile and nodded her head. "Go to him sister." She said softly pulling Lisisa up to her feet. "He is our father and we have searched long and hard for you. Go to him now, for he has longed for this moment since he discovered you existed."

Donus disregarded her and moved to step around Lisisa and speak but Danny's arm stopped him. "Don't even think about it pal." He spoke in a menacing tone.

They all heard the sound of the Nehtes being pulled from flesh and they watched Martin depress the small button on the shaft, collapsing the Nehtes to its smaller size. He turned as he replaced the spear in its thigh sheath, his yellow/gold eyes once more falling on Lisisa. He watched her take a deep breath and step away from Yuriko and Melita, her forest green eyes never leaving his face. Lisisa was shaking badly, all the years of wondering if he would even want her rushing back on her. She stopped moving towards him, unsure of what to do. She was a half breed, part vampire. How could he care for her? How could he see her as a daughter?

Martin decided everything for her by covering the distance to her in three steps. Lisisa inhaled sharply when his powerful mint scent filled her nostrils, and his aura poured forth to surround her. He reached out his hand and placed it against her cheek, Lisisa's eyes closing as she felt the warmth of his touch. Tears erupted from her eyes then, splashing across his skin and she lifted her hands to cover his as it held her cheek.

"Hello ... hello Lisisa." Martin spoke softly, his eyes now returned to their normal dark brown. He had removed the contacts right after the confrontation with the mercenary frigate. He hated wearing contacts because they irritated his eyes. His other hand came up to take her other cheek and his lips parted in a smile. "Lisisa ... Lisisa Leonidas."