Page 28 of Reaper

I nodded slowly then bit my bottom lip, wondering if I should go ahead and ask the question that was burning my tongue.

“Speak freely, little human,” Reklig said. “You are among friends here.”

This time, the usual teasing and provocative tone was absent from his voice. He was looking at me with a gentle, almost protective expression on his alien face.

“I… I was just wondering if you are happy on Khepri,” I said, not daring to fully express the real question.

He stared at me for a second, weighing my words. It worried me that he hadn’t immediately said ‘yes, of course, I’m happy there.’ But it also made me very curious about the answer he would give.

“Are you asking me a general question about how I feel about Khepri?” Reklig asked cautiously. “Or are you asking me how do I, Reklig, feel about Khepri as someone so completely different from everyone else?”

My cheeks burned at the sheer accuracy of his question and at how it could be perceived as an insult. Instead of getting upset, stiffening, or turning to his go to of taunting and sarcasm—which I was beginning to suspect were a defense mechanism—his face softened to something almost brotherly, if not paternal.

“I am very happy on Khepri. My people and I were created by the General to be monstrous, bloodthirsty, mindless killers. Our appearance and our ability to read and control other people’s minds made us understandably terrifying to the members of the Coalition we were meant to hunt. And yet, here we are with our own city there, our females and offspring thriving in a safe environment, and wonderful women such as my magnificent Madeline seeing the male within the beast.”

He turned to his mate with such a tender expression on his face that I couldn’t help the pang of envy. Madeline extended her pale, albino hand towards him. He took it delicately before lifting it to his lips and gently kissing her fingers. Who could have imagined such tenderness from this intimidating male?

“The Vanguard is one huge family, and its homeworld, Khepri, is the realm where every dream can become a possibility for those who come with goodwill and a sincere heart,” Reklig continued. “We do not control how we are created and for what purpose. The Dragons, like your Reaper, didn’t get to choose their sire or the nefarious plans he had for them. But we chose the path we wanted for ourselves and Khepri gave us the power to do so, to be more, to be something we could be proud of, instead of ashamed.”

I shifted uneasily on my seat. My eyes flicked towards Brees, surrounded by some of the other modified Creckels, busy slicing some of the meat. My gaze then rested on Reaper who was helping Stran to peel off the skin of a Zebier before turning back to Reklig.

“Reaper will follow you,” the Scelk said with a certainty that left me reeling. “Whether you choose to stay with the Creckels on Dreija, or come with us to Khepri, Reaper has pledged himself to you. You will find that there are certain things Dragons do not play with. Their word is their bond.”

“But what if he regrets his hasty pledge?” I asked in a small voice, stunned how easily the Scelk was making me voice the fears lurking in my subconscious.

Reklig smiled again, but it was Martha who answered.

“There was no hastiness in his pledge,” she said. “I have been Reaper’s Soulcatcher for three years now. He’s a wonderful man and the big brother I’ve never had. Dragons and Xian Warriors are genetically conceived to react in a specific way to certain people. It’s encoded in their DNA. For example, they could never cause harm to anyone that shares Gomenzi Dragon blood like they both do. The mere thought makes them physically ill. They are also unwaveringly loyal to those they consider their people, humans featuring at the top of that list since it is the species of their mothers.”

She flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder and examined my features with a somewhat wistful expression.

“But the bond he has formed with you transcends any of that,” she said in a warm voice. “To him, you have become the most important person in the galaxy. I hope you choose to come with us to Khepri as I would hate to lose my brother. But whatever your decision, I am happy he found you.”

My jaw dropped, and my gaze turned back to Reaper. I was pretty confident I wasn’t misunderstanding her implied meaning. Had his DNA truly told him our futures were inevitably linked? No doubt sensing the weight of our stares on him, Reaper’s head jerked up. His multifaceted eyes naturally made it difficult to know specifically what he was looking at. But in this case, the blur from the distance between us made it impossible for me to read his features.

Despite that, I could sense his suspicion just by his body language and the way he looked at all of us in turn. He opened his mouth, probably to ask what was going on when Doom’s voice resonated in my mind, startling me. From everyone else’s reaction, he had broadcast the message to all of us.

“We’ve opened the way to the basement,”Doom said.“Our scanners do not pick up any life signs, but there is a stale, rotten scent that could hint at potential bacteria in the air. Thanh is sending down a probe with a camera and air filter to decontaminate the place. Camera feed incoming.”

My heart skipped a beat, and my stomach knotted at the thought of what we would find below. The Creckels—and especially Stran—became extremely agitated. Madeline all but ripped her work gloves off her hands and fumbled with a device I couldn’t identify. A giant holographic display deployed above it. We gathered around it, eagerly waiting for the image to appear.

And finally, it did.

As the probe descended into the room, we first saw the ceiling and the upper part of the walls. What little patches of ventilation membrane remained on the ceiling had deflated and withered. As the camera continued its descent, I gasped at the sight of the door and a large section of the wall that had sealed in the Creckels holding area being completely destroyed. Tears filled my eyes as I realized they had tried to break free after the Soldiers had sealed them in.

A whimper rose from my throat as the camera finally showed the floor, covered in rows upon rows of original Creckels, rolled up in mummified balls. My knees nearly buckled, and Reaper’s strong arms wrapped around me, holding me up. Tears poured down my cheeks as renewed pain of the loss of my friends hit me. Seeing the tiny ones in the back crushed me even more. This was the fate that would have also befallen Brees and the others had the Vanguard not rescued us when they did.

A loud, keening sound pierced through my sorrow. It was Stran, howling his own pain. That further broke my heart. So few of them had survived the war against the Kryptids, and many of those in the basement were likely acquaintances of his, although none were recognizable in their current state. The modified Creckels surrounded us, bumping their snouts against Stran and me, and rubbing their scales against us in a comforting gesture. But Stran seemed almost possessed.

He started emitting a series of growls between his keening sounds and all but shoved the other Creckels away before running to the entrance of the base. His distress dampened my own, the irrepressible need to calm him, to soothe his pain coming to the forefront.

“Stran, you can’t go down yet,” I called out to him, freeing myself from Reaper’s hold to hasten after the Creckel.

He ignored me, continuing to emit those desperate sounds.

“Peace,”I mind-spoke to him before sending him calming imagery.

He immediately bombarded me with a flood of images at such a high speed I easily missed half of them.

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