Abalim sensed when Althea once again became the alien’s focus.
Finally,a solution toa problem that has eluded me for far too long.
Abalim trained his psychic consciousness on a higher plane to confront the disgusting animal.I won’t allow you to get near her or any other human.
A hard grasp around his physical throat stopped Abalim from advancing toward the threat. He jerked to get away, but couldn’t pry the invisible fingers off.
Listen to me, you sanctimonious insect. For I will allow you this one chance to convince me you are the intelligent, sentient “threat” you claim to be.
The entity slammed Abalim back into his physical body, and the choke hold released as everyone in the room froze in place. Disoriented, he rubbed his eyes before focusing on the strange creature gliding around Althea. At first, it was hard to understand what he looked at, but soon the alien solidified. The strange being appeared humanoid with two arms and legs, but that was where the similarities to an organic creature ended. This one had a strange amalgamation of crystals, or glass, or mirrors, in various shades of blue. His surface had smooth flat panels, but also sharp crystal protrusions in various lengths jutting out from his body in all directions.
When the creature stopped beside Abalim, he became bombarded with images that sped through his mind at a blinding speed. He shut his eyes, putting the heel of his palms over his lids as if that would help control what was happening to him. Just as abruptly as the images came, they stopped. He lowered his hands and blinked his eyes open. The eerie silence in the room was dense. The only sound was his heavy breathing.
He was sure the demonstration lasted only seconds, but the information left behind was clear as hell.
This alien came through a black wormhole from a different dimension where he and his kind, called the Krystalii, had eliminated all other sentient life and built an undefeated empire. Their goal was to spread their kind in every universe to “purify” them. This creature was here to determine if this galaxy had the necessary materials to transform the planets into the atoms and molecules needed to start the nucleation process to make more of their kind.
“You may address me as Lord Baelon.”
The alien moved close, and his warmth took Abalim by surprise, but he clenched his hands to stop from showing any reaction. He slammed a psychic shield around his mind to keep the damn thing out. He’d do everything in his power to stop the asshole from getting into his mind again.
“Listen to me carefully, you soiled maggot.” The nasty sneer on Lord Baelon’s face had to match Abalim’s. “I am the beginning and the end of all there is. Follow me, and I will save you from all you fear.” His hypnotizing voice was a mélange of cries from a thousand voices. “I will lead you to a place where death and sorrow can never find you.” The creature leaned in and whispered, as if sharing a secret. “If you follow me, I’ll introduce you to a realm where your feeblest fantasies pale in comparison to the dark wonders there waiting for you.”
Abalim jerked his head away. “Yeah, sure. I’ve heard that type of bullshit from assholes like you before, youfrukingbastard.”
The alien straightened. The sneer on his thin lips morphed into a cruel, wide smile.
Abalim’s stomach dropped.
“Just as I surmised. No intelligent life here.” The crystal creature took a step back. “However, you have shown me a clear path to something I must accomplish first. I will have my people find those human women you’re looking for.” He glared menacingly at Althea with his icy-blue eyes, radiating an aura of wrath. “This one is a lost cause, since she has already gone through a transformation. What I need is a fresh supply of human females to bring Krystaii glory to a whole different level. Once I have them, I shall transform this puny dimension into something of beauty and power. This will be the highest fulfillment of my destiny.”
Abalim became Lord Baelon’s sole focus.
“And I shall relish the pain everyone in this galaxy will endure as I accomplish this.”
He vanished. The last word stretched and echoed in his wake.
Everyone in the room moved, like someone had clicked the pause button to resume.
Abalim searched with his psychic senses to see if anyone else experienced what happened between him and the crystal threat. No, all was calm. “JR15, were you able to keep recording what happened between me and that alien while everyone else was frozen?” He spoke in a low voice to the small green-and-silver droid resting on his shoulder.
“Yes, Mister Abalim, sir.” The little bot shivered. “I’m afraid I did.”
“Oh, look!” Althea’s excited voice caught his attention. “Lok’s on stage. Oh my God, he’s going to sing.” Her hands gripped together so hard her knuckles turned white. “You don’t have to do this.” The last was said in a quivering whisper.
It was hard for Abalim to follow the dynamics as to why the Zerin being on the stage affected her so deeply. Especially after what he’d just experienced with the looming threat from the Krystalii.
He sent a gentle probe to Althea and discovered the Zerin had been held captive in isolation for over fifty years. For the male to allow himself to be the center of attention was a huge step for him to make. Abalim admired how the determined Zerin confronted his worse fears to show his TrueBond their love was more important than any phobia holding him back.
Perched on the edge of a backless stool, Lok’s fingers moved gracefully over the strings of his seven-chord instrument, producing an emotional melody. The bittersweet lyrics floated through the room with an aching, smoky edge. There on the small stage, his heartrending words filled the air as he sang of forever, of longing to be with the one he loved with a fervent passion.
Abalim sat in awe, entranced by the sound of another man pouring his soul out for his woman. The music washed over him like a tempestuous wave, bringing with it an understanding for the first time in his life of how true love was a relentless and unstoppable force. One that could never be defeated. It had a solid strength that couldn’t be broken, no matter how powerful the enemies’ psychic armaments were.
Peaceful determination washed over Abalim. Armed with a new sense of courage and conviction, he knew without a doubt the crystal alien’s threats didn’t stand a chance. The mind-hold the alien shared fortunately ended up on a two-way street. He discovered the aliens weren’t ready to come through the wormhole en masse just yet. They were in the process of sending out scout ships first. Their directive was to search for the missing human women Abalim and his brothers had been sent to find.
Lord “Freak-Show” Baelon somehow planned to use human women to propagate their species in a new, time-saving way. Which didn’t make sense. How could humans and the crystal alien possibly be genetically compatible? That’d be something he’d have to talk about with his sister-in-law, Queen Inanna, the brilliant scientist.
But the main thing he was sure of was they had a small window of opportunity to come up with a way to stop the Krystalii from expanding their access to this dimension with more than just scout ships.