Page 84 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

“Did you just hit mine?” I bellow back.

There is silence, which means he shot first with the intention of asking questions later, something Driok has always done, our time after the wormhole notwithstanding.

Dangerous and now feral. It’s what made us warlords in the first place. I’d just prefer he wasn’t shooting at me…or near me.

“I’ve got engine trouble, you never. Shoot around me.”

“Got it,” Dante shouts down the comm, his voice distorted with the volume of his cry.

Nev! If there are two of them, these two in particular, I have been doomed to die in the crossfire.

“Nev the lot of you to the ancestors,”a third voice growls through the system, followed by an almighty implosion which sends me spinning towards the surface of the dead planet.“If you want something done, do it yourself.”

Yep, I’m dead, Kerra is dead, the humans and my brother are dead. I have three warlords occupying one area of space, and they’re the worst of the lot.

“We heard you might need some help, Darax,” Driok says.

“No,” Dante interrupts. “I told you he was going after his female, and you wanted to see if he’d find the rest.”

“I am only here for the females Darax has been keeping from us. The rest of you can nev off to the ancestors.”Dexx’s dark voice slides down the comm. Make that four warlords.

I manage to get my spin under control and find my port engine has been sufficiently repaired I can execute a burn to escape the limited gravitational pull the empty husk has.

“Did any of you nevvers get a good view of the ship which attacked me?” I growl down the comm.

TheAmber Gemis, if not yet a piece of spacejunk, going to need some serious time in dock.

It seems she is unlucky wherever she goes.

“You’re venting atmosphere,”Driok says.

“It doesn’t matter. We have to follow the life signs. It’s where the Veseli are keeping my female,” I respond, plotting a course which will take me as close as I can whilst hoping to remain out of scanner range.

Dante’s ship roars over me, turning and turning as he heads in the direction I have plotted in.

“Nev! Dante!” I fireAmber Gem’s engines into life and follow him, despite my damaged state, overtaking the nevver before he can do any harm.

Which is when I see it.

The vast construction, not yet finished, it has to be twice the size of Vorostor Central.

“Nev it to the ancestors.” Dexx comes over the comm. “If you wanted to find a fight, Darax, you certainly found one.”

“I wasn’t sure whether to believe Dante about the Veseli.” Dalox’s dark, deep voice rasps from the comm. “But it seems our work wasn’t finished.”

“This can’t all be the Veseli,” Driok says. “They weren’t capable of this at full strength, never mind the fact we thought we’d dispatched them all.”

“Someone else is using them, like they were using the Madar,”Dalox growls.

I hesitate. If he knows about the Madar, he knows about the trap in my sector. He also knows more than Dante could have told him.

“Does it matter?”Dexx growls.“I want a female.”

“She might not want you, you filthy nevver,” Driok responds with a chuckle. “Even if there are females.”

“I want my mate, and I’m going in. If any of you nevvers decide to join me, I might not shoot first and ask questions later. But don’t take too long deciding.”

Amber Gem’s engines rasp as I push them to their limits, closing the gap between me and the structure.

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