Page 63 of Bred by the Alien Prince

We got closer to the colony, and now I saw the smoke on the horizon, along with several ships whizzing by overhead.

The colony was under attack!

I ran for the turret. As we flew by, I noticed the familiar animals of our homeworld scurrying toward their barns for safety and people running with their guns beside what looked like Travols. I fired on one ship which hovered over a larger dome. Cormac tilted us and looped around but the fast change in altitude disoriented me and I couldn't get a shot in.

I saw Lorvian touch ground, and I fired on the ship that tried to hover over him before leaving the turret station.

"Cormac, land!" I grabbed the blaster I spotted on the podium console and headed to the airlock.

"This is insane!" Cormac yelled, but he hovered low enough for me to jump.

I opened the airlock, leaped from the ship, and landed on my wobbly feet. Blaster bolts zipped and whizzed through the air, passing a little too close for comfort. Cormac had flown back up, and it must have been Connor on the turret now because each shot landed with far more precision than any of mine.

Rolling into cover, I tried to remain as unseen as possible. I stumbled on a body of a young woman, a human. I held my mouth to stifle a scream. Humans, Travol, and Valisian soldiers were fighting, and judging by the bodies littering the settlement, we weren't fairing too well.

I couldn't find Lorvian among the soldiers, but I saw a familiar face; light-skinned, bald head, dressed in a white and grey uniform that looked militaristic. I ran over to him when the coast was clear.

"Derek!" I shouted but ducked low when a sword swung at my head.

I remembered Lorvian's moves when he evaded my attacks.

"Derek! It's me, Caspian! RA number 88603!"

He halted his attack and gasped. I had to remember how different I looked, I still wasn't used to it because aside from the bouts of pain I didn't feel any different. Before I could mutter a word, he grabbed me and led me inside one of the larger domes, which looked like a factory.

"Caspian?"

"Yeah, it's me, I know I look different—"

"What the actual fuck?!" He touched my ears. "It is you!" He gasped in horror. "I thought you didn't make it. What the hell happened?"

"It's a long story. What's happening here?"

"I guess it's not a surprise to you that aliens are here. Someone named Daruuk prepared us for them. We never should have come here; now, over half the colonists are dead."

"The tall aliens call themselves Valisians."

"Yeah, I know that much."

"Oh. And this Daruuk might not be entirely trustworthy himself."

"You don't look entirely trustworthy. Right now, I don't care, whatever we can do—"

"Lorvian!" I shouted and pushed Derek out of the way as Lorvian punched a hole in the wall where he stood.

Derek fired on him, and Lorvian was on him, the obvious superior fighter.

"Stop it, he's a friend!" I yelled, and Lorvian halted his attack.

"Caspian?" Lorvian looked at me as though he had seen me for the first time.

"Yeah." I nodded and beckoned him to me while Derek scrambled to his feet. "Don't do anything, Derek. It's okay; he's a friend."

"A friend?" He exclaimed.

"We'll talk later once I kick my siblings off this planet."

The foundations shook and rattled the structure. Lorvian held me tight and looked out the door. The horizon lit up in an array of fiery orange and black-grey smoke.

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