Page 83 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

I check my surroundings. They’re free of cockroaches, and I make a run for what appears to be the edge of the vast hangar I’m in. When I reach it, I’m surprised to find it’s metal.

Metal which I can feel has a chill to it. A familiar chill.

I thought we were still on Vorostor.

I am wrong. We’re in space. The last time I felt the cool radiating from metal in this way was when Rosalie and I were stuck on the pirate space ship, living in the conduits.

My heart hits my boots. How long have we been here? Where are they taking us? How am I going to find the Sarkarnii when I don’t even know where I am?

Can I have lost Darax so soon?

The disgust I feel at myself for pushing him away, for not allowing him to be what he is, for wanting something different, for expecting something more human, rises within me.

He didn’t tell me about his brother, not to keep a secret but because Deus was so damaged, and so far from help, Darax didn’t know what to do. He probably didn’t even think he was doing the right thing himself.

And I blamed him for it, for not telling me something straight away before he knew me.

His rut and our relationship are not the same thing. But our failure to extract one from another means we are where we are.

In my case, on a ship full of cockroach aliens with a tracker in my neck. In Darax’s case?

If it’s true what he says about his mutation and his rut, he could be turning into his brother at this very moment.

I can’t unsee the pain in Deus’s eyes when he looked at me, or rather through me. It wasn’t the pain of betrayal. It was the pain of loss. Whether he truly believed Darax was responsible for his mate’s death, I really don’t know. What I do know is when she died, he lost more than just her. He lost his brother…and his sanity.

My stomach dips, a sob rising in my throat, one I have to hold back, hard. I can’t risk making a sound, regardless of whether the Veseli know where I am or not.

I have to get a message to Darax, and I have to find Deus. They need to be together, as much as I need to see Darax.

Because if I don’t make it back to him, I have a very clear idea of what will happen.

And one insane Sarkarnii is enough.

DARAX

The dead planet spins darkly, its surface a blasted mess. The molten core has long since been plundered, no life left on the surface or beneath it.

It’s what the Veseli did to their own planet. It’s what they sought to do to many others, until they came up against the Sarkarnii.

Their mandibles bit off more than they could handle when they angered us. Except our hoped for extermination of the creatures, detested within this galaxy and beyond, does not seem to have worked. My shipboard sensors are detecting something in a low orbit.

But it’s not Veseli. This thing is larger than their usual vessels, and it’s made from a material which makes it hard to detect. It’s only the mass of lifeforms which give it away, not the structure itself.

I activate the stealth plating on the hull of this ship, another reason we wanted it, as it makes sneaking up on pirates menacing the planets under our protection significantly easier, whilst the rest of the fleet remains out of sensor range. The activation makes the light within the ship dim and giveseverything a slightly translucent quality which is disconcerting if you are unused to it.

And something slams into my port engine. It grinds through the damage, and the nanos get to work on repairs as I spin the ship using the single engine to get to my attacker. The damage has also knocked out most of my sensor array, meaning I’m flying on instinct, not external sight.

Another pulsar cannon bolt comes out of nowhere and hits the underside of the ship. It goes through far enough I’m venting atmosphere, something I can only survive if I shift.

Shifting isn’t an option.

With the second engine only working at half power, I release a volley of pulsar torpedoes in the hope whatever is attacking me is in the firing line. One hits, and I redouble my efforts in the area where there was an impact.

It doesn’t stop the ship from firing another bolt which barely grazes my starboard engine but sets something on fire.

Alone on the ship, which should have more crew, I’m struggling. I use the internal flame dampeners to deal with the fire, but it’s bigger than they can handle. And I still haven’t been able to locate my assailant or gain any knowledge of who is attacking me—attacking a Sarkarnii ship—which is usually considered to be suicide among the pirates who were plundering this galaxy.

“Nev you, Darax, will you move your piece of space junk out of the way!”Driok’s voice comes down my comm, distorted by the damage. “We’re trying to hit the other ship.”

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