Page 39 of Alien Knight Teddy Bear Troubles

Taeger reached back over his shoulder to draw his sword from its scabbard. Even cloaked, his hand reached unerringly for the hilt. As he drew the blade forth, a mixture of solid and liquid metal appeared, shimmering and swirling with a black so deep it was almost blue. The ancient runes etched down the center flashed with blue light as he reached out with mental fingers to the power he’d always sensed resided inside it. Been drawn to it as no other. He’d chosen the sword as a young man so many centuries past he could no longer recall how long they’d been together.Ruehnar. Light of Justice. My old friend.

Time to begin. Taeger carefully positioned Ruehnar so that he could make a tiny cut on the palm of his hand, then returned the sword to its rune covered scabbard, cloaked once more. A single drop of blood beaded on his palm. Smearing the drop across a small digital display on his armored forearm, he typed in a series of Lumerian symbols.

“Identify,” said a disembodied, digital voice in Lumerian.

“Taeger Norasair,” he replied.

“Error. Incomplete,” said the voice.

“Prince Taeger Norasair,” he barked, grimacing. He would never forgive his king for bestowing the title and all its privileges and responsibilities upon him just before he’d whisked Ion to safety. He’d never told a soul. Should anything happen to Ion, he would have to assume the role in truth. Not. Happening.

A blue sheet of light emanating from his digital display panned Taeger from head to toe.

“Artifact?” asked the voice.

“Lumerian Orb.”

“Retrieving,” said the voice.

Taeger raised his hand, palm up as a blue orb materialized as a tiny pebble, then expanded until it encompassed both Cassie and him. Their warm breath crystallized and mixed with a swirling silver and gray mist as they exhaled. The blaring alarms they hadn’t silenced faded into distant echoes inside the orb.

“Cassandra,” Taeger called, his heart near bursting as he knelt beside the woman he’d come to love. Treasure beyond his own life. “We don’t have much time. I want to bind us together. It is forever. Our energies will be linked. More than that. Combined to become a greater force together than either of us can ever be alone. You must agree to submit to a ‘Yielding’.

Taeger drew his sword once again. “I hope you can hear me. Understand. I will place my sword between us. Ruehnar, Light of Justice, is far older than I, from a distant past full of wonder and magic. He will carry us through. Have faith in him. Faith in me. Faith in us.”

Taeger carefully made a small cut on her finger and placed a drop of blood on the crystal embedded at the end of the hilt. Immediately, the cold air inside the orb felt charged. Every hair on their bodies stood on end. “This will link our life-forces. The power inside you is too great. You need an anchor, someone to absorb some of the power. It is the only way to survive what’s happening inside you. With your consent, I would be that anchor. I will not lie. Yieldings are dangerous and you may die if you cannot complete the ritual.”

Taeger deliberately withheld the fact that he would die as well. He could not burden her with that information. It was enough that he knew and was willing to take the chance. “Cassie, you must yield all that you are to me; your heart, your mind, your soul, your life, and I will do the same for you, to become something more together. Do you understand? You might think in terms of a human marriage, only more. Good or bad, it’s forever. Do you agree to begin a yielding, Cassandra Davis of Earth?”

Cassie forced her eyes open. Forever? With Taeger? She loved him. Loved him with every breath in her body. There was nothing she wanted more. But did he feel the same? She’d rather die than trap him into a marriage he didn’t want, or because he felt obligated out of a misplaced sense of guilt. She coughed, her body wracked with pain. Every cell in her body hurt. She turned her face away so Taeger would not see the tears that slipped from under her lashes. “No.”

“No?” Taeger’s heart sank. This woman, this warrior, would prefer death to a life with him? He had to be sure he understood. He couldn’t afford mistakes. Had to be sure. “Cassie, you are dying. This could save you.”

Cassie swallowed. She understood. “HUA,” she gasped.

“Who-Ah? Who is Ah? I don’t understand. We’re out of time. Say yes, dammit,” he half growled, half begged.

“No.” Cassie turned back to Taeger, her eyes over-bright with tears, and placed her hand on his arm. “I said no, my love.” She would not destroy his life, bind him to her out of a sense of duty when she knew she was dying.

Angry, heartbroken and desperate, Taeger did the unimaginable. The unthinkable. Without hesitation he sliced open his hand. The cut was deep. Blood flowed freely, mixing with hers atop the crystal embedded in the hilt. “Very well. I’ll just have to show you and hope you change your mind, for both our sakes because I, Taeger Norasair, yield to you. I yield all that I am to you; my heart, my mind, my soul, my life. I yield everything to you, you stubborn woman. And so it begins. We live together. We die together.”

Just as he finished, one half of the ancient runes on the blade began to glow with an eerie blue light. An arc of lightning lashed out from the pommel and struck Taeger in the heart, holding the connection between his body and the sword. He convulsed, arching back from the electrical current.

The second half of the ancient runes on the blade began to glow with the same eerie blue light. A second arc of lightning lashed out from the pommel and struck Cassie in the heart, holding the connection between her body and the sword. She, too, convulsed, arching away from the current.

A third arc of lightning lashed out from the pommel and struck the top of the orb, spreading jagged fingers of lightning throughout the crystalline shell. The heat from the lightning shimmered in the air like a desert mirage. Thunder clapped inside the small ship, nearly deafening him.

Taeger and Cassie levitated several feet above the floor of this ship, forks of lightning wrapping themselves like tentacles around their bodies, binding them more and more tightly together.

Wave after wave of electricity arced between them. For an instant she was free. Truly free. Her spirit soared. Lifted. Connected to another.Taeger.

He shared everything with her. His fierce loyalty. His endless courage. Strength. Centuries of leading a hopeless existence because he made a promise to protect the king’s son. Pain. Agony. Loss. Grief. Rage. She felt it all. Every memory, every battle ripped through Cassie, mixing with her own. And at the center of it all was an unquenchable, burning love for her.

Stay with me, Cassie. Forever. Always. I love you. Say you will be mine forever. Yield to me.

Taeger. My love.Cassie breathed through the fire raging inside her body, incomprehensible power flowing through her muscles, running through her veins. She wanted so much to be with Taeger, his love for her a bright shining star, comfort in her darkest hour. She wanted to be his. Knew she already belonged to him, and now he to her, if she just surrendered. She always tried to show her best side. The confident, capable fighter pilot. Fearless. A bit brash. Intelligent. Tough. Single-minded. Driven. She knew he could relate to all of those. But would he be able to accept the rest of her? Her softer side? Her insecurities, her fears? Her desire not to have children? Her need to have someone by her side that encourages, but doesn’t control?

Woman! Whatever is holding you back, share it with me! Trust in me as I trust in you. Trust that I want all of you, as that is the truth. You have seen my every flaw. I vow to happily spend the rest of eternity fixing whatever faults you see in me that are holding you back now, but you must first yield to me. Yield!

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