Page 64 of Bred by the Alien Prince

"Zantos has lost his fucking mind!" Lorvian gasped at the bombardment.

Lorvian yanked me deeper into the structure and held me close to his cold armor as rubble broke apart above us, taking us down with it.

I couldn't see much of anything, but I could feel the warm blood spill on my face and leak between my pecs.

"Lorvian!" I yelled, but I got no response.

I used my feet to press against the thick rubble on his back, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but I pushed with the strength of my legs and was surprised when it gave way and shifted until it fell to the side.

He used his body to bear the brunt of the fallen rubble.

Derek poked his head up once everything was clear. When I looked to the skies, I saw peeking from the clouds was a massive ship while the other tilted. Smoke bellowed and burned before it backed off and disappeared from the sky, leaving that other massive ship. I didn't know what to expect, but the Valisians were scrambling to their shuttles and departing.

All became quiet, the fighting was at an end, smoke and debris littered the area along with greenish and black blood intermingling with red. That large ship still lingered in the sky, filling me with dread, yet it did nothing.

"Sir!" I heard a voice through the static, it was Swarti.

I grabbed Lorvian's wristband communicator as he lay in the heap. "Hello! Lorvian is hurt! We need help!"

Shit! The static overpowered his voice; I called for him a few more times before giving up.

"Derek!"

"Yeah, I'm still alive." He limped toward me, holding his bloody sides. He looked over at Lorvian, who was unconscious. "They don't look so scary up close." Blood shot out of his mouth.

"He's not here to hurt you. he saved my life and has been taking care of me since I got here." A little lie wouldn't hurt.

Derek dragged a slab of the prefab siding over and tossed it over Lorvian, shielding him from sight. "You have a lot of explaining to do," he groaned. "But right now, let's make sure no one kills him. We have a hospital in the dome on the eastern section of the colony. If it's still there, we can grab a rover and some supplies and patch him up."

This was the only plan that made sense. I slipped my hood over my head to cover my ears, and together, we walked through the leftover carnage. A tall, red-haired woman stood at the Outer Worlds Medical Center entrance, ushering the wounded inside.

"Derek!" She ran over to him to help him inside.

"It looks worse than it feels." He groaned when she sat him in a chair.

Every bed looked like it was occupied, blood and debris littered the floor, this was a war hospital and I couldn't stand the symphony of wailing that bellowed throughout the hall. I needed to get to Lorvian as fast as possible. There was nothing I felt I could do for them but tell them what was going on as much as I could and leave.

Or maybe I was hit with the desire to run away like I ran away from my problems back home.

A man entered the glass doors, but he wasn't human at all. He was Travol, and unlike Tavi, his face was wider and his jaw stronger. His blue face carried several scars and markings. He looked hardened, like he was ready to kill at a moment's notice if given the opportunity. This was Daruuk himself, Tavi's brother, the man who used her with her father.

"Hey," Derek called him over. "We have a Valisian, alive at the recycling facility, what's left of it."

"No!" I shouted, feeling betrayed. "Derek!"

"I'm sorry, Caspian, but I don't know what's happening to you, and we can't take a chance with our enemy."

"A living Valisian!" Daruuk's face seemed to light up. "He won't be for long!" He rushed out the door, and I ran after him, grabbing him and pulling him back with a strength I didn't even know I possessed. He kicked me away and tore at my hood until it ripped off and displayed my ears and whatever else may have changed. I heard the charging weapons behind me, and Daruuk held up his hands to stop them.

"What manner of creature is this?" Daruuk walked a circle around me.

"I'm human!" I said, a creepy shiver crawling along my spine.

"I don't think so, at least not anymore. You're more understandable than the others. You humans, your language is so fucking difficult even with the chip!"

I saw our ship land at the large landing pad behind him and all I wanted was for Connor or Cormac to fire on these bastards, I wanted to leave now! I wanted to go back to our ship with Lorvian and just stay in the stars. It was like reality was hitting me all at once, and Tavi's words rang in my head that I couldn't fix my planet's problems.

"Lock it up," he ordered when a small jingle sounded on his communications. "Tavi!!" He gasped, as if he knew straight away it was her.

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