Page 18 of Fated to the Alien Chieftain

“How do we know what the current power level is?... Oh, I know. It’s ninety-eight percent,” Pebbles pauses. “This is so freaky. As soon as I thought of it, I just knew the answer.”

Now back beside Pebbles, I take off my warvisor. Opening the tiny compartment at the bottom of the mask. I show her the small sphere of Elerium. “Here is where you replace it. But you shouldn’t need to worry about that for a while yet,” I smile at her before continuing. “And now you know how to use your warvisor.”

Pebbles removes and scrutinizes her golden mask, running her delicate hand over its surface. “Amazing and also terrifying.”

“A gift from the Gods,” I nod.

With haste, we continue in silence towards Lanaisor. The forest is becoming noticeably darker, despite the sun being high in the sky, but with each passing moment, the moon inches more and more to obscure portions of the sun. The trees and foliage whirl past me in a blur as I leap over or duck under treacherous branches, hidden rocks, and crevices. So close now to the temple with the solar eclipse looming, I can hardly wait another moment.

I glance over my shoulder to see Pebbles struggling but still close by. Joy wells within me. Few could keep up with me at this pace and yet she manages.My beautiful golden blur of fierce determination.I turn my head forward again to see the templeof Lanaisor coming into view beyond the thick trees. “There!” I exclaim, coming to an abrupt stop.

Unlike the underground temple of Sunaisor, Lanasisor proudly sits upon the land, looming large and tall. Its rectangular stone shape is covered in ancient runic designs and images that I do not recognize, and embedded along the walls are enormous statues of Klendathians standing serenely. In the building’s heart, there’s an immensely tall spiraling tower that reaches such heights that it vanishes into the clouds above.

“Wow,” Pebbles says as her eyes travel upwards, following the massive spire.

There’re no trees or bushes near the temple, only short reddish grass. An unnaturally large clearing as a perfect circle has somehow originated from its center.The work of the Gods?Eager to see more, I boldly stride into the clearing, until Pebbles’ thoughts come through my warvisor.

“Wait! A small ship is coming,” she stands still in the woods, her masked face follows something in the sky. “Four people, armed.”

Adrenaline already rushes through my veins, my fear now realized. Immediately we retreat, seeking refuge amongst the trees. A glider rushes into view, hovering high above the clearing with one of its doors open. I can just make out two Magaxus warriors with arc blasters unloading super-heated plasma bolts in my direction.

“Run!” I roar at Pebbles, fearing for her safety. I pump my legs and arms, sprinting with all the speed I can muster. I dare not look back. The slightest delay could spell death for the both of us. Pebbles, heeding my words, hurries into the woods, disappearing. My sense of relief is short-lived as splatters of scalding hot earth explode around me, the zap and sizzle of plasma bolts narrowly missing me follows me into the woods.

“Pebbles engage cloak,” I command, as I do the same.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Krogoth. What the fuck is going on?” Pebbles asks. The warvisor conveys her sense of panic.

From the corner of my eye, I can see the glider repositioning.This will only end one way.They move the ship to hover amongst the trees, weaving and turning, barely avoiding trunks and dislodging branches. Their reckless disregard for their own safety takes me by surprise. More blistering blue plasma bolts soon come raining down after me as I dart, zigzagging amongst the trees for cover.

“Magaxus warriors want my head. I’ll lead them away from you.” This must be the work of Zyraxis. Attacking me, a Chieftain in my own territory with forbidden technology, is an outrage. He condemns himself to death with this action, the mad fanatical bastard.

“I’m not leaving you!” Pebbles’ stubborn thoughts come through.

The sounds of blasts and chunks of wood exploding grows increasingly distant as I frantically navigate my way through the forest. The glider while nimble, still has trouble getting around the huge thick trees. One thing is clear though: they can see me despite being cloaked. I rack my brain for a way out of this mess.How do I overcome such an overwhelming disadvantage?

A large tree looms ahead, with many branches leading from the ground to the very top. giving me an idea.

“Pebbles, I’m going to attack them from above.”

“Above?” Pebbles asks incredulously, but I don’t have time to answer.

I scamper up the tree, leaping from branch to branch as quick as I can. The sound of the glider hovering closer with each passing second causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. Within moments, I reach the top limb, peering down just in time to see a bright blue bolt whizz towards me, the heat distorting the very air as it burns through the branch I’mstanding on. I attempt to leap back out of the way, but it’s too late. My platform half melted, sloughs off from the tree, taking me with it.

Desperately I reach out with my claws, clutching, grasping for a branch, the trunk, anything. But there’s nothing, only the terrifying plummet back to the ground. Tensing my muscles and gritting my teeth, I curl, positioning my heavily armored back, preparing for the impact. With a deafening crash, an explosion of agonizing pain erupts in my mind. The force of my impact nearly knocks me unconscious as it jolts my head forward and back. The air is forced from my lungs as I wheeze between bruised or maybe cracked ribs, trying frantically to suck in more.

All around me is darkness. I would assume I’m in the afterlife if not for all the pain. Waving my arms around, some light reaches my eyes.It’s leaves! I’m covered by leaves and broken branches.An unwelcome and familiar sound catches my attention, although muffled and fuzzy. The glider. It’s slowly lowering its altitude.

“Krogoth, you, okay? I heard a loud crash,” Pebbles’ frightened voice echoes through my hazy mind.

Pebbles, I need to save her!Brushing more leaves away, I try to rise, but I’m half buried in the very soil itself, having fallen so far and with such significant weight. Glancing up at the glider as it hovers a short distance away, I can clearly see two warriors adjusting their arc blasters, about to confirm their kill... No doubt, no fear, no hatred, just the cold, uncaring face of the warvisor.Ironic.

Suddenly frantic barking can be heard, as a flurry of flapping wings comes crashing on top of the glider, sending it spinning wildly out of control.What in the void?One warrior aboard the glider is flung out, plummeting to the ground. A brutonous chick, no Cupcake, has her talons dug into the glider flapping, her huge wings turning and twisting. The pilot has no chance ofregaining control as it continues to spin, crashing into a thick tree.

Cupcake barks nosily, letting go of the gilder after it smashes against the tree before she hovers watching the pandemonium. The glider, a peacetime vessel, is not designed to withstand any serious attacks. It collapses easily against the hardwood tree, plummeting to the ground into a burning wreckage.

I blink in total amazement.Pebbles’ pet brutonous just saved my life! I’ve never witnessed nor heard of anything like this.Struggling, I wiggle out of my crater in the ground, wincing in pain with each breath, as I survey the scene of chaos. My warvisor enhanced senses tell me two of the four warriors are dead, one is heavily injured, barely conscious.

“Pebbles, you may not believe this, but Cupcake just saved my life.”

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