Page 62 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

The cold enveloped us even before we reached the battlements, but none of us cared as Gryck, Kendryx, and I stared astounded at the hundreds of Vandall ships moored in the Dark Sea, close to the shore.

A flock of birds caught my attention before I realized,nyck,those aren't birds. Whatever it was, they were flying in too perfect a formation for birds.

"Drones," Chrissy spat out and Alahna faltered, unable to translate the word.

Chrissy turned to Gryck. "You need to let me go. Those are drones. My people will use them to get a lay of the land and spy on you."

Off to the side, Brogan lined up his archers and ordered them to, "Fire!"

Anxiously, I stared at the sky and watched the impressive sight of hundreds of metal arrows let loose on the swarm of drones as they flew through the sky. Many arrows bounced off the drones without deterring them, but many drones fell out of formation and tumbled out of the sky and to the ground, where they either sunk in the Dark Sea, got buried in the sand, or broke into a thousand pieces as they crashed against the cliffs.

"We can take them," Cassair cried in triumph, giving voice to all our delight.

"Fire at will!" Vandor ordered and more deadly volleys entered the sky.

"Stop!" Chrissy yelled, making me suspicious of her intentions. She was human. Thesedroneswere human made. Was she hoping they would come rescue her?

"You're only wasting your arrows. You might shoot all of them down, but the Terran Confederation will send more and more after that. Let me go, and I promise I will put an end to this," she pleaded.

"What do they do, and why are they here?" Gryck asked between clenched teeth.

"Those are drones sent by the Terran Confederation to survey the area. They will send pictures back to headquarters, show them what everything looks like on this side of the ocean. The Confederation is getting ready to invade. You are running out of time." And then she pleaded one more time. "Let me go."

Gryck stared at her long and hard.

"I will go with her," Kendryx promised.

Gryck nodded.

"She is my prisoner; I will go too," Uthar stated.

"If you go, you will take your people with you. I will not harbor them without their leader," Brogan threatened, and I didn't blame him. I didn't understand why he allowed our enemy to camp in his backyard in the first place.

"The two of us will be much more inconspicuous," Kendryx argued. "We will get your lands back," he added, looking straight at Uthar.

Uthar glared at Vandor and shook his head. "How will you even get there?"

"With the ship you will donate to the cause," Kendryx grinned.

Uthar threw his hands in the air. "Fine. I'll find you a small vessel best suited to sneak across the Dead Sea."

"Won't the drones detect you?" Alahna asked, making me wonder if all human kallinies were as shrewd as her and my mate.

"There are ways to disguise it," Chrissy said. "But even if they do spy us, they won't pay any mind to one lone vessel, not yet anyway."

"May the gods be with you," Bryck nodded at Kendryx.

"Come. You will need thick clothing and—" Alahna offered, but Chrissy broke her off.

"My uniform will be more than adequate to keep the chill out. It has before."

"You will still need… things," Alahna insisted and pulled Chrissy with her.

Damaris gave me a questioning glance, and I nodded at her to follow the kallinies if she so wished.

As soon as the kallinies were gone, Bryck ordered, "Keep shooting them down. They might have a near endless supply, but so do we, and the longer we can hold them off fromsurveyingour lands, the better."

Then we returned to the small room we had used earlier to discuss Kendryx's mission in more detail.

---