Page 13 of Kidnapped By the Alien Chieftain

Astraxius’s expression darkens, and he stares at his console for a long moment. “More accurate than you’ll ever know,” he murmurs, his voice heavy with guilt.

He looks up at me, his eyes glistening. “I’m still unsure if the human female - you - in this equation will feel the same intense desire to bond. Will the effects work in both directions?” He looks at me as if expecting an answer.

My heart races as I realize the gravity of the situation. “I like Krogoth. He’s easy on the eyes. But I’m not interested in being an experiment in any alien breeding program!” I exclaim, my voice rising in anger. “Why can’t he just ‘bond’ with his own women?”

Astraxius lets out another heavy sigh. “The Scythians took them many years ago. That’s what prompted my research. I fear they are gone now, forever lost to us. Although Krogoth will never hear of it.” A great sadness washes over his weathered features.

As Astraxius speaks, a knot tightens in my stomach, and the gravity of his words sinks in. I can’t even fathom the pain of an entire civilization losing their loved ones. The weight of the realization almost overwhelms me. “I… didn’t know. I’m so sorry.” Stammering, I struggle to find the right words.

Astraxius looks away, his eyes moistening. “Ah! It’s an old wound now,” he says, trying to compose himself. “Listen carefully now. It’s about more than children. The ancient templemurals speak of the bonding being crucial to my people in some way. Although that’s very unscientific of me, I apologize,” he adds, inclining his head.

This is far too much pressure. Those machines! I can’t be here when they come back.“I… just don’t want to get hurt,” I mutter dejectedly.

Astraxius’s concerned gaze falls on me as he speaks. “It is Krogoth who will be most likely to get hurt. He will experience a pull to you; you will consume his every thought. He’ll feel an inextricable desire to be near you. Now that he has met you, it may become overwhelming. And if he can’t have you, I fear what it may do to him.” His words only add to my growing sense of dread.

A sound like a microwave bell rings through the air, the pod door swinging open. “Excellent, the healing process is complete,” Astraxius says, offering his hand to help me out of the pod.

Stepping out, I feel amazingly light. Even my skin and eyesight seem better. “This is amazing. All my aches and pains have vanished. Even the dull ache in my knee is gone!” I say as I roll up my right sleeve to see that my bruised shoulder has completely healed.What if I could get this back to Earth? Could it cure all diseases and ailments, like cancers and failing organs?

“It is my pleasure, young one.” He quickly checks his wrist console. “Krogoth requested I bring you to the training halls as soon as you are healed.” He gestures to a door. “Please follow me.”

I follow alongside Astraxius, who mercifully walks slowly down the now familiar black marble corridors. Taking many twists and turns, I make a conscious effort to try to remember the layout in case I need to sneak off again, but I soon lose track.

“This ship is massive!” I exclaim, feeling both awed and overwhelmed by the sheer size of the vessel.

“Yes, it’s a Scythian Battlebarge Class Warship,” Astraxius replies, extending his hands to either side. “Designed to house and transport thousands of Klendathian warriors.”

“But there’s barely anyone here?” I inquire, puzzled by the emptiness of the ship.

“The War Chieftain only permitted us a skeleton crew for ship repairs. He regrettably cycled the rest of the warriors onto the other ships.” Astraxius finally stops at a door with strange looking spears at either side.

“Ah, our destination… Here, I want you to have this.” Astraxius holds out a smaller version of the now familiar wrist console I’ve seen the others wearing. “This will give you access to many areas of the ship.”

I take the wrist console, grinning. “This is awesome, thank you.” I excitedly place it on my wrist, letting it slide down snuggly.

Astraxius reaches into his robe and takes out a tiny metal object. “Oh, and this, if you’ll allow me, is a translation device.” He places it behind my ear. It makes a slight hissing noise as it painlessly clamps onto my skin. “I just finished upgrading it to include English. My apologies for the tardiness.”

I touch behind my ear, feeling the cool metal translation device. “Don’t apologize. It’s really impressive that you can do so much,” I say, smiling.

“It’s the least I can do.” He smiles. “If you have an interest, I can teach you how to use the wrist console properly. It contains much information that you may find useful.” He reaches over, pushing a button, causing the holographic console to appear. “For example, here, this option will bring up the ship’s map and your current location in it… And to turn it off, just tap here,” he says as the holographic projection disappears.

“I don’t know what to say, Astraxius. You’ve been so kind. Thank you again.” I excitedly embrace him in a tight hug.

“Ah… Yes… Well, goodbye, young one,” he says, looking more than a bit flustered.

I look at the wrist console, surveying it. Seems Astraxius has gone to the trouble of translating the whole console to English. If this computer contains any information on how this technology worked, it would probably be worth an absolute fortune if I could get it back to Earth.

I repeat Astraxius’ instructions to bring up the ship’s map. A small blue projection of the ship appears with a blinking icon for my current location.This will be very useful.The ship truly is huge. They use most of the size for accommodations.By interacting with the projection, I’m able to zoom in and out and pan around, depending on my hand movements.This user interface is nice. I could experiment with this for ages, but now isn’t the time.I turn it off, noticing a carving on the underside of the wrist console, spelling the word “Hope.”

Astraxius, you old romantic. But the one thing I’m hoping for is to get back home without doing something stupid. I feel my nerves building. There is so much pressure now with Krogoth, I don’t know what to make of it all. I take a deep breath and quietly step through the door.

I’m immediately hit by the powerful odor of stale sweat as I step inside the room. The familiar scent takes me back to my college, sport years when I dabbled in judo and eventually took up decathlon. Though I was never the best athlete, I loved the challenge of trying to improve on so many unique techniques; it was addictive, well, until I injured my knee.

As I move further into the room, I hear voices coming from within. The space is vast, resembling a school gymnasium except for its dark black marble walls, illuminated by warm purple lights. There are several pieces of equipment scatteredaround, including massive rocks in various shapes and sizes that look like they would be impossible to budge. Thick ropes hang from different platforms, some of which seem to be designed for practicing leaping, though the distances required are undoubtedly enormous. One side of the room is filled with bumpy surfaces and grips for climbing practice. In the center, there are several rings made of sand, bordered by ropes that remind me of a giant sumo wrestling ring.

Just outside the wrestling rings, there are racks holding training weapons. The room is impressive, and it’s clear that it’s designed to train warriors to be physically fit and agile, capable of facing any challenge that comes their way.

Glancing towards the wrestling ring, I notice a bare chested Krogoth with two younger looking warriors. My pulse quickens when I see him, and I find myself relieved he looks unscathed from the attack. He’s distracted showing the others a throwing technique. I catch myself staring at him, the muscles in his arms flexing with each throw. He’s incredibly tall and imposing, his figure carved out of stone. I watch as he moves with ease, sweat glistening on his chiseled chest.What would it feel like to be held in his muscular hands…? No, I need to focus on convincing him to take me back to Earth.

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