Page 29 of Made For The Alien Warrior

She was running out of energy fast. Resisting the calling was sapping everything she had. If she didn’t find her way back to the sacred damas soon, she’d definitely pass out.

Scraping the last of her will together, she pushed forward. Her hands flattened on alien trees, using them as support so she could keep moving.

Just as she passed a tree she wassureshe’d seen already, Symphony heard a low growl. The sound made her stop in her tracks and whip her head around.

“Who’s there?” she whispered.Please be another alien rabbit.

She spotted two large, glowing yellow eyes in the darkness.

That was not an alien rabbit.

Symphony went stiff as her flight or fight instincts roared to life. Maybe if she played dead, it would go away. Symphony went perfectly still.

The air hung heavy with danger. The ground shook as a giant lizard creature stepped out of the bushes. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, crying out and covering her head with her hands.

The lizard monster screamed, opening its jaw to reveal sharp fangs. Symphony stared at the drool stretching between its teeth. Her world snapped into sharp focus, punctuated by the fear and adrenaline rushing through her veins.

In the midst of her panic, she saw everything with frightening clarity. The creature’s short snout and small arms. The thick, leather scales on its back. The stench of its breath.

Her heart thudded frantically. A strange, itching sensation pumped through her body. The worst of it was concentrated in her nano-tech arms. Symphony screamed, cradling the limb as striking pain pulsed from within it.

At that moment, the alien beast charged at her, destruction clear in its gaze. She closed her eyes and braced herself for collision when something thumped. Symphony whipped her head up and saw Tiegan standing between her and the alien beast.

His long hair flowed down his shoulders, moving in the wind. He held daggers that looked almost like broken spines. His eyes flamed with fury and his teeth were gritted.

Her heart skipped a beat. He was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. “Tiegan.”

The creature growled and pawed the ground.

Though he was several times smaller than the alien beast, Tiegan yelled and charged. The creature snapped at him with its giant jaws, but Tiegan was too quick. He slid to his knees, propelling himself beneath the creature’s feet and stabbing his daggers into its underbelly.

As he skidded on the dry leaves, he moved the dagger with him until he’d created a giant line in the creature’s flesh. It roared and swiped at him, but Tiegan leaped in the air, grabbed its neck and slashed.

The beast shuddered and fell, its blood gushing everywhere. Tiegan wiped the spray of blood that had smeared his face. Deep, purple eyes rammed into her. Symphony gasped, digging her fingers into the ground. He tossed the dagger and strode slowly toward her, his eyes more furious than before.

“Why did you run?” His voice was low, but the scolding within it was so thick she winced. His tail stiffened, whipping through the air and punctuating each word. “You could have been killed. Or kidnapped! What were you thinking, female?”

“Find me,”the voice whispered.

Symphony tilted her chin up. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you do not know?” Tiegan spit, his eyebrow nubs pulling tightly together.

“Something’s calling me.” She turned her face in the direction that she felt the pull. “I need to find out who it is and why.”

Twelve

Tiegan

“Over my dead and decaying body,”Tiegan hissed, planting himself in front of Sim-pony. The fallen rizera lay in a bloody heap behind him. The stench of its rotting core bathed his skin and made him even more frustrated.

Tiegan had never felt such panic as he did when he saw the rizera hovering over Sim-pony. His heras had flung right out of his chest and his vision turned red. All he’d been able to do was feel. Rage. Desperation. Anxiety. It had overwhelmed him to the point that he hadn’t feared the rizera at all.

The beasts were known to be violent foes, able to take down an excellent Plutonian warrior. Tiegan was glad his training had kicked in and taken over. He had fought on emotions and it was absolutely dangerous to do so. Had he made one miscalculation, he and Sim-pony would be dead.

“Tiegan, I have to—”

“You have to donothing,” he snapped, his voice lashing out like a whip. She winced and he immediately regretted the tone. Softening a little, Tiegan knelt in front of her. “Are you hurt?”

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