Protected by the Alien Warrior Triad Page 18

  “Don’t go any closer,” I say, my voice tight and filled with warning. Diana stops in her tracks. The three Aurelians talk in urgent voices.

  Minutes later, an Aurelian walks out of the jungle carrying an amulet that glimmers with a small Orb shard. It takes me a moment to realize it’s a child coming towards me – as he’s roughly my height.

  This ‘boy has no tattoos on his body, and I wonder if it’s some coming-of-age ritual for the Aurelians to be adorned with that green-black ink.

  The child doubles over with a racking cough. On the outside, he appears healthy enough. On the inside, though, something horrific is clearly happening to him. Red flakes of blood mar his perfectly white hand as he pulls it away from his lips, and my heart aches for this towering lad.

  Bright, red blood. So, he doesn’t have the same green blood of these three Aurelians. What does that mean?

  The child regains something of his strength, and forces himself to stand tall. I know he’s putting on a brave face, though. The child sets the amulet down on the ground before us, and Forn walks towards it.

  “Stop!” I say firmly, and he looks back at me, cocking his head quizzically.

  “Isn’t that the amulet Lord Tenderfoot talked about? The one that will let us talk to the Aurelians?” Diana looks at me in confusion, not understanding why I’d want Forn to stay put.

  “It is – but that boy must be infected, and if it’s a virus causing the sickness, then we need to stay here overnight and let anything living on it die off. Dammit! I just wish I had my med-kit! I could have run diagnostics!”

  Diana looks at me with wonder. “Are you a doctor?”

  I snort. “Maybe in another life.”

  If I had my med-kit, I would have be able to run diagnostic tests on the amulet and determine if it was covered in viral cells, or maybe some kind of bacteria. It would have been the first step towards potentially find a cure.

  As frustrating as the lack of a med-kit is, I suddenly feel a sense of purpose and focus that overwhelms much of my earlier anxiety.

  I suddenly feel as though I was meant to come to this jungle planet, and now it all makes sense – I was brought here to cure this tribe.

  Maybe… Just maybe Lord Tenderfoot opening that portal wasn’t the ‘accident’ I’d thought it was. Maybe I was fated to be brought here. Maybe I am truly destined to belong with these three Aurelians, and it isn’t all just a big coincidence.

  Then my medical training kids back in – the analytical, scientific reasoning.

  Or, maybe I’m just looking for any explanation that will convince me this wasn’t all a big fluke.

  Hadone looks me up and down, then takes a step towards the amulet. I rush to him, and grab his arm, looking up at him pleadingly. I shake my head, hoping that the gesture is universal. Hadone stares at me, his grey eyes flecked with green, and for a moment I think he’s going to ignore me and reach for the amulet.

  I know he wants desperately to communicate with me, and I want to understand him as well – but we can’t take the risk.

  Instead of continuing towards the amulet, Hadone leans forward and his lips press against mine.

  I don’t know what to do. His huge lips pressing against mine ignite a desire deep within me. I suddenly shudder with need. I reluctantly push Hadone away from me, my eyes wide with indignation.

  “I have a job to do, damnit!”

  Hadone looks wounded, so I jerk my head over towards the sick members of his tribe. I can’t believe Hadone is thinking about anything but the safety of his people right now!

  Hadone gives me a slight smile and I’m suddenly very aware that my hand is still on his arm. I pull it away as if he’s venomous. I can’t have him thinking that he affects me this way...

  Of course, he does affect me, in a way I’ve never felt before.

  I shudder. My nipples are still hard from his touch, and my body is aching for more.

  But his people are sick. I need to find out why.

  The Aurelian tribe are standing near the edge of the jungle. I realize with horror that although they look sick, and the sounds of the jungle are often overpowered by hacking coughs, these are the Aurelians among the tribe who are considered healthy enough to come to the edge of the jungle in the first place.

  That must mean there must be women, children, and elders deeper in the jungle, who were too sick to even come this far. I have to help them. I have to find out what is causing this sickness.

  If only I could speak to the Aurelians! Forn was coughing, though he’s practically better now, despite his injuries. He would have a wealth of knowledge about the disease, and how he recovered from it!

  I need to get closer to the patients, even if I get sick myself. If I want to heal the Aurelian tribe, then I have to take the risk of being infected.

  That means talking to Forn, despite the risk of the virus or bacteria contaminating the amulet.

  I take a deep breath and walk to the amulet. I lift the chain and place it around my neck.

  I thought I’d feel something when I put it on – to be able to tell if it’s working or not. Instead, I feel nothing.

  I turn around, feeling foolish, wondering if the story of this miraculous amulet was all just a fairy tale.

  What the hell am I thinking? An amulet can’t make me understand a foreign language. That requires technology – not some piece of jewelry. I just risked getting sick for nothing.

  “Can you understand me?” Forn asks, and I nearly fall over in shock.

  It doesn’t sound like he’s speaking the common tongue. He still speaks in his guttural language – yet, somehow, I can now understand it!

  “Yes,” I say, shocked, and the word comes out in his language; a single, sharp syllable.

  “You healed me,” Forn demands. “Can you heal my tribe?”

  The way Forn looks at me makes me melt. He isn’t just looking at me like some foolish little human woman, or a breeding mare to be seeded. He’s looking at me with wonder, and respect.

  It’s not something I’d expected. I know that Aurelians live much longer than us, and they have a not-undeserved reputation for treating humanity as though they’re nothing but foolish children.

  Yet Forn clearly trusts my abilities. I want to be able to live up to that honor, and to help him and his people. I nod: “I’ll do everything in my power to help you all.”

  Diana snorts. “You’re driving me crazy,” she complains, and I realize it’s a little rude to be speaking when she can’t understand – but I don’t care at all right now. I ignore her, not worrying that she’ll think I’m rude.

  “I knew that our God brought us to you for a reason,” responds Forn, nodding gravely. I shudder, not wanting him to know that the only reason he was able to meet me was a random, coincidental opening of that portal by Lord Tenderfoot.

  That’s something to think about later. Right now, I have to focus on healing these people.

  I walk towards the child who dropped the amulet.

  “You’re not going to touch him, are you?” Diana asks, incredulous. I know she’s right. I’m out of my mind to be approaching an obviously sick, potentially highly-infectious child. Although the Aurelian is not even a teenager, it seems strange to call him a child when he’s at least an inch or two taller than I am.

  “Hello, what’s your name?” I say softly.

  The Aurelian looks up at me, puffing his chest up. Even young, he’s starting to develop muscles. He has bright green eyes that are going to make human woman swoon when he’s older.

  “Gord. I am of the Scorp-Blood tribe,” he says, his chin high. The young Aurelian has the pride of a warrior. “I have fought…” He suddenly breaks into a ragged staccato of coughs, and loses track of his sentence.

  The boy falls to his knees and blood flecks his lips. My heart aches, but I look away – knowing somehow that his pride will be wounded if I treat him with anything but respect.

  “When did you get sick?”

  He
composes himself. “Fifty nights ago, the same time as the rest of us.”

  Fifty nights ago. If the days here are as long as on my home world, that’s almost two whole months.

  “Have many died?”

  He nods, and tears come to his eyes. I look away, not wanting to witness his emotions. I don’t know much about these Aurelians, but I know that the Aurelians from my part of the universe consider showing weakness to bring great shame.

  “Many. More than half of us.”

  Hadone growls from behind me. “More than half? That’s impossible! Only a few had perished when we left, days ago.”

  The small Aurelian nods. “It’s gotten worse. Much worse,” he says, and a coughing fit takes him again. I realize that talking is making it worse.

  I walk forward into the jungle. Aurelians instinctively back away, not wanting to infect me.

  “Come back,” growls Darok, and I turn. He has concern in his eyes. I shake my head.

  “I was sent here to help your tribe. I can’t do that without going in to see if I can find the root of the problem. Please, you three, stay here and guard Diana.”

  “I know you’re talking about me, I heard my name,” says Diana, annoyed again. She’s starting to get on my nerves. I know that she was brought up to always be the one in charge, and not being in on the conversation must be driving her crazy.

  I’ll do my best to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I’m starting to wish she’d remained behind on my home world.

  “I told them that they need to keep you safe,” I say, in the common tongue, “and that they should stay out here where they won’t get infected. Only I need go and deal with this.”

  For a moment, I feel an insane surge of jealousy. I hate the idea of the three Aurelians being alone with Diana all night. I know that, so far, they’ve only wanted me – but perhaps the temptation of the young noblewoman’s slender body might be too much for them to handle.

  I’ve heard the rumors of the mating frenzies the Aurelians descend into from Anna and Jade. They used to giggle and blush when they talked about the way the alien species turned into literal beasts during the passionate lovemaking.

  Well, so what if they do? If they take their pleasure with Diana, then she’s welcome to them. Good riddance. They’re nothing special if they so quickly switch the focus of their lust.

  Though I think the words, I know that they’re not true. I can still feel the imprint of Hadone’s lips against mine.

  “Why didn’t you take the amulet right away?” Forn asks.

  I give Forn a long look. “Because the illness could have been on it. It could have made me sick.”

  Hadone rushes towards me, and I jump back. I can see in his eyes that he wants to rip the amulet from my neck.

  “It’s too late!” I tell him. “If it’s got the plague on it, then I’m already sick - but I had to get more information about this disease.”

  Darok licks his lips nervously. “You would do that? Risk your life for our tribe? We’re blessed to have you as our mate.”

  I put up my finger. “Now, hold on a second. I’m not your mate.”

  Forn snorts. “You are, Tammy. Can’t you feel it?”

  I try to shake my head, but I can’t. He’s right. I do feel it. Since the first time I laid my eyes on these three Aurelians, there’d been something about them that drew me in. I know I should tell them that Lord Tenderfoot had opened the portal, and not their Orb-God guiding them to their one, true mate – but for some reason I can’t right now.

  Are they really saying that I am mated to all three of them?

  “So, which is it? Which of you believes they are intertwined with me?”

  “We all are,” the three of them say softly in unison, as if for a moment they share a mind. I imagine losing myself in three sets of arms, with so many fingers trailing over my body and making me moan and melt. It’s so tempting to give in. It’s so tempting to let them all ravish me…

  And why should I resist? Why should I deny myself this pleasure?

  I take another step back.

  Because I have a job to do. I need to heal this tribe first.

  “I have to go into the jungle. I need to meet with your tribe.”

  Forn steps closer to me. “I will go with you. I can’t let you be there alone.”

  I shake my head. “No, you could get sick.”

  Hadone cocks his head. “You are an expert in medicines. Which of the three of us is least likely to get sick?”

  An expert. Hadone speaks to me as though I’m some a brilliant doctor, and not a nurse intern who couldn’t even finish schooling.

  “Forn,” I answer. “He was already sick, and his body beat it. He’s the least likely to get sick again.” I turn to him. “But there is still a chance, and I can’t let you get sick again.”

  Forn reaches forward, and this time I don’t shy away from his huge hand.

  He trails his fingers against the amulet. His fingers graze my neck and send tingles throughout my body.

  “You could have gotten sick, but you choose to put the amulet on anyway. I will not let you go into the jungle alone. While our tribe is strong-willed and honorable, there are still those who’d see a beautiful human female and covet her. We didn’t earn you the way that our tribe usually does – through a blood sacrifice to our Orb-God – and therefore there are some among our people who might feel that we do not deserve you, and will see you as fair game to be seduced – or claimed.”

  His voice is calm, but it makes my eyes widen to hear this. I realize that I truly am on a jungle planet with savage men. I was lucky that Forn, Hadone and Darok seem to be concerned only with keeping me safe. There are those who would take advantage of me.

  Forn and I walk towards the jungle and the tribe slowly moves back into the trees with us. Many of them walk slowly, pausing to catch their breath every few moments.

  I watch and analyze all these clues. That might be a symptom that their lungs are weakened by the perpetual coughing. I look back, and see that Hadone and Darok are breaking down a lone tree to make a shelter. Without their Orb-Weapons, they have to use their mighty muscles to crush the wood and break it apart. I get a tinge of jealousy, and I hope that they’ll make a second shelter for Diana rather than share theirs with her.

  We continue for a while, before Forn finally stops near a swath of green jungle. He opens up a door I hadn’t even seen to a cavern I had no idea was down there. It was brilliantly hidden in the green canvas of the jungle floor.

  The pathway down has steps chiseled into the stone, and Forn helps me down them, his bicep flexing as he bears my weight without complaint, lowering me to the floor.

  Now underground, I step forward into the tunnel. The walls are smooth, as though they were made from sanded wood. I touch my palm against the side of the smooth walls. It feels as soft as the fur behind the neck of a puppy.

  This tunnel must have been honed with the Orb-Weapons that these aliens all seem to have. Well, had. Only Forn has a single one of his daggers left.

  I’m going into completely unknown territory, and yet I feel safe and secure with Forn behind me. The huge alien’s presence is reassuring, and he doesn’t feel like that of a stranger even though I’ve only known him for a couple of days.

  His words echo in my mind as we walk. It’s true - I do feel a connection; not only to him, but to the two other aliens as well.

  Perhaps that’s simply a connection based on the fact that these three have saved my life countless times over the last few days?

  I mean, given the circumstances, of course I’d feel a connection!

  Forn reaches forward and grabs my arm, stopping me in my tracks. I’m constantly aware of how much bigger he is than me. His fingers wrap around my arm easily, while mine wouldn’t be able to fit even around his wrist.

  What about around his cock? Would my fingers be able to fit around that?

  I feel a flush of shame.

  Oh! Get your mind out of the
gutter, Tammy.

  Forn’s looming bulk makes me feel so tiny, so vulnerable and yet so protected all at the same time. I know how easily he could push me against the wall right now, pressing his lips against mine. If I tried to push my hands against his chest, he’d simply grab my arms by the wrists or merely swat them away. I’m helpless in the presence of this huge, gorgeous alien – but when I shudder at his touch, it’s not out of fear.

  “I go first,” Forn warns, as we approach the end of the tunnel. “Not all within are friendly.” His voice is a deep rumble that echoes in the tunnel. I nod, my heart pounding.

  Forn travels down the last of the long hallway. He’s usually calm and composed, but I can feel an edge to his body language. He stalks like a jungle cat, ready to pounce at any moment.

  We turn the final corner, and my heart suddenly breaks.

  I was expecting a proud, warrior society, with tall fighters ready to protect their women and children.

  I’m greeted instead by a scene straight from a hospital. Huge Aurelians lay on the ground, coughing and hacking. A stream runs through the large cavern with a vaulted ceiling, and torches give the entire place a warm, welcoming feel. This contrasts with the pain and suffering being experienced inside.

  Women hold crying children, yet are themselves coughing and hacking. Some of the once-proud warriors are so weak that they can’t even stand.

  There’s a throne of sorts, hewn from stone, where an older Aurelian sits. I know instantly that he must be their leader. Near him stand two other large Aurelians, both with short, gruff beards. I know that the leader must be part of a warrior triad, just like Forn is, and that the other two are his blood-brothers.

  The leader tries to stand, but is wracked with a deep cough. His white beard is flecked with blood and when he flops back down, he looks utterly defeated.

  “Chief Rattler” Forn calls. “I come with my mate.”

  The Chief doesn’t answer. One of his men steps forward, giving a harsh gaze to Forn.

  “This is the one you bring? Who did Hadone steal her from?” I can hear the venom in his voice, and I’m glad that I’m with Forn and not Hadone. The leaders of this tribe must obviously have a bone to pick with the second member of Forn’s triad.