Xilon (Aliens of Renjer Book 3) Page 11

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  Also by J.S. Wilder

  Before the slayers came, Kohlxchijr was prince along with his brothers. Now they were half-starved and refugees in their own land. His nights were filled with all the battles they’d lost and his fallen family. He stretched his wings and groaned as one of the dragon spikes adorning his head hit the roof of the cave. A rumble echoed from the other side of the dirt-packed catacombs. His brother Taurian must have felt the vibration. That was the hassle with sleeping chambers in a labyrinth of caves instead of his father’s castle.

  Once, his family had ruled the skies. Now they were forced to hide during daylight and scavenge at night. As princes, Kohlxchijr and his remaining seven brothers shouldn’t be cowering deep in Renjer’s caverns, but be free. For now, staying alive took precedence.

  “Keep it down, Kohl,” Taurian grumbled from another cave. “Your fidgeting is sending rocks raining down on my tail.”

  “Stop whining. At least you have room in your cave to move around.” Kohlxchijr snorted, a puff of smoke wafting out from his nostrils. Never fire, like his brothers, but why did he always hope it would be? Yet he had the ability to shift into a human form while they couldn’t change. They’d been born from a shell, while he’d had a human mother who died giving birth to him. His heart rose into his throat. He didn’t even remember her, and his father refused to discuss her or humans or Earth.

  His brother didn’t respond to his argument, but Kohlxchijr imagined him rolling his eyes and settling back down to sleep.

  Kohlxchijr hunched his shoulders and cringed as his tail scratched along the side wall. It was shorter than his brothers and sisters and didn’t have any spikes.

  “Don’t make me muzzle and chain you,” Taurian warned.

  The rusty chains hung on Kohlxchijr’s back wall as a constant reminder of his father’s overprotectiveness. He had locked him down here when Kohlxchijr refused to hide from the aliens that now reigned his homeworld. Tryn. They devastated every place they touched on Renjer, moving on like insects to the next place. In the battles, when the Tryn had first come, dozens of minor families had been slaughtered. Three of Kohlxchijr’s brothers, a sister, and five cousins had been killed. Their hides used as cloaks and skulls bleached white in the sun on poles outside of what had been their family’s castles.

  Kohlxchijr had visited Earth a dozen times before the slayers came and wrecked their lives. Then his father forbade all off-planet travel, especially Earth. Twice he had spoken with his father about how their devices worked better on Earth than on their homeworld after the invasion. His father had refused to listen to his speculation that some power crystals embedded on Earth could help them turn the war around and chained him to his cave wall for days. It wasn’t until Kohlxchijr had agreed to forget the matter and never bring it up again that he was released. Still, Kohlxchijr had slunk away to Earth a few times searching for the crystals. Of course, the local human women had sidetracked him a few times. They were complex and pretty and he wanted to learn about his mother’s people. At first, the trips were merely a curiosity. Then a brown bear—isn’t that what his Earth friend Dena had said it was when he described it—had come after him. In a last effort to get the Earth beast away from him, he turned his device on it and was shocked when it worked.

  Around him, his brothers’ rumbling breaths echoed in their sleep. Instead of being comforted that his family was safe and sleeping, the walls closed in on him. His chest constricted. He had to get out of there because, like most days, the pressure built until he couldn’t stand the claustrophobic sensation a second longer. If the Earth had the means to save his people and planet, he had to try.

  Sunset was at least an hour away, but he needed to get out of there now. Fill his lungs with fresh air rather than the stale dirt and his brothers’ scents and take another trip to his mom’s world. As half-Renjer, when he reached puberty, he had the ability to shift into human form, something only his father knew. He had forbidden Kohlxchijr to do this in front of his brothers as if being half-human was some great depravity. Inhaling and holding his breath, he let his dragon form shrink down. Within a few seconds, he was in his human form. He hiked up the path to the surface, carefully dodging Nimra’s tail with its spiked end. A cluster of rocks fell beside the twins Symon and Lyku’s cave, and Kohlxchijr waited, holding his breath until their snores resumed.

  Near the opening, Kohlxchijr transformed back into his dragon form to gain ground away from the caves in case any of the enemy lurked nearby, his wings bursting through his back and his body growing. Bones cracked and moved into place, muscles and flesh stretched. His skin morphed into hardened dragon scales. He panted, waiting to catch his breath for a moment. For some reason, it was always more physically demanding to change into the dragon, the form he remained in most of his almost twenty-one years, than it was to shrink down into a man.

  Outside, the sun hung low in the sky. Any Tryn about would spot him and give chase so he needed to move quickly. If he could breathe fire, he’d welcome their fight, but with only puffs of smoke, he didn’t stand a chance against their dragon-flesh cutting weapons. Somehow the enemy had jammed his father’s laser and cannon weapons and moved them back to the ancient times. Now only handmade weapons of metal and stone worked. And firepower.

  He flapped his wings and soared to a cluster of clouds, freedom singing in his lungs. Lightning flashed in the distance. A thunderstorm! Perfect. Renjers could travel on lightning to other planets. Lightning fueled the gateway and could be used to travel to other worlds. All of his kind had nanites embedded into their DNA that opened a portal, but without power from the crystals, it didn’t work. The nanites were a mix of synthetic and biological components that gathered energy from the electromagnets the crystals gave off when empowering their weapons.

  In the last few years, Kohlxchijr had visited Earth five times hoping to learn more about his mother’s people. He had clothes and cash in an old cemetery, hidden under a tombstone. Tomorrow night was his birthday, but like all the ones in the past, he could rely on his father and brothers not to acknowledge it as only millennial birthdays were celebrated after puberty. What better way to celebrate his than with his mother’s people? He would find the crystals and return a hero to all.

  A spear whizzed past his left wing. Freck! A Tryn zoomed underneath him, a filthy black beast with red eyes, sharp teeth, and a nasty attitude. Some had horns and all had pointy tails and leather wings that never allowed their bulky bodies to get far off the ground. This one had a broken horn and another that was twisted slightly giving the Tryn an almost comical appearance. Kohlxchijr dove straight for the creature. It shrieked, turning and racing away first on two legs than four. The useless wings fluttering behind it.

  No, you don't get away that easily. It was too close to his family’s shelter to let it live. Kohlxchijr broke his descent, spreading his wings wide, and lashed out with his talons grabbing up the Tryn. He flapped his wings to lift away from the ground before crashing. The creature tore into Kohlxchijr with its claws and teeth, fortunately, unable to break through Kohlxchijr’s scaled skin without effort.

  The Tryn screamed, its forked tail slapping against the underside of Kohlxchijr’s thigh. Even though Tryn’s had leather wings like Kohlxchijr and his kind, they were smaller.

  “Time to die!” Kohlxchijr yelled.

  This was for his family and friends who perished. The creature squealed again. Dozens of poisoned-tipped spears shot up from the ground. Warts! An ambush waited below, a few miles from his cave. Kohlxchijr couldn't fight all of them. The air whipped around him as he banked right. More barbed spears shot up and one tore into his side. Blood gushed down his flank and dripped off his leg making the squirming Tryn in his talons slippery. Not worth the trouble.

  Kohlxchijr dropped the be
ast. It fell then rolled onto a tree, breaking its fall. No wonder his dad kept Kohlxchijr locked up when they went to battle, he couldn't even kill one of the bastards. But he couldn't go back to the caves wounded. Tryns could scent blood miles away. He would lead them right to his family.

  His body shook from the blood loss and he had to get the spearhead out before the poison took hold and put him to sleep. Where could he hide that wouldn't bring the Tryn scrambling after him? He needed somewhere to recover and heal where he wouldn't have to worry about his family or Tryns. Earth!

  It had been months since he'd visited and his friend Dena was an animal doctor, so she could patch him up.

  His vision grew fuzzy, but he shook his head and turned his wing to the thunderstorm brewing in the distance. He just had to make it to the lightning. Hopefully, this time the storm would put him close to Dena. Never knew where on Earth he'd land. First time had been near what humans called the North Pole and he nearly froze before flying out of there. Second time he landed on a building in Tokyo. The third time he landed in a swamp near Dena’s raft as she was letting loose an alligator who had surgery at her clinic.

  He blinked, long and hard. Just make it to Dena.

  A bolt flashed yards away and the burning ions hit his nostrils. Kohlxchijr pictured the small vet clinic near the New Orleans swamp, he smelled of the quagmire, hearing the drawl of Dena’s speech.

  His body quivered and he lost altitude. No! He couldn't stay on Renjer. The Tryn would find him and kill him. His father would be devastated. Have to hold on...have to get to…

  Lightning coursed through his body and he convulsed. Pain lashed through him, jolting him. His mind was a jumble of thoughts. Blackness zapped him and he fell, plummeting, claws and teeth slashing into him. Instead of reaching Earth, he had fallen into a Tryn lair. He'd failed.

  Also by J.S. Wilder

  Taurian flew over the gorge, hunger clawing at his insides. The drameze herd below would have to wait. He had to find Kohl. His brother had given himself to the Tryns to save their father. No, to save them all. Desperation twisted Taurian’s insides. His brother couldn’t be dead. He was the youngest of them all and brave to a fault.

  But Taurian had never heard of their enemy taking prisoners except for their older brother who was working alongside their father as king. Tryns were nasty little parasites with short black fur covering their bodies. Claws and rows of teeth. Their bite poisonous if it got through any Renjerian’s scales. The buggers coated their weapons with it. And though the Tryns couldn't fly, despite their leathery small wings, they launched their barbed spears and had brought down many of his kind.

  He inhaled. Scents from the pinxula bush blooming with purple flowers and toxic white berries filled the air. Beneath the plant lingered a metallic glimmer. Hope soared in his chest. It smelled like his brother’s blood. And if he was bleeding, then he was still alive.

  Gods, he wanted Kohl to be okay and bring his brother home safely. Their father was overprotective of Kohl. All because Kohl's human mother had died giving birth.

  Taurian snorted. Females on Earth were too fragile. Too swooning or screaming and fainting when they saw a Renjerian...or wait...what did they used to call his kind, dragons.

  Yup, Taurian hadn't visited Earth for fifteen hundred years and didn't plan on going back. Their superstitions alone made him shake his head. Believed they were the only beings in the universe. Fuck! Even Xyrians weren't that arrogant.

  Once his rebellious brother was back home, Taurian would celebrate with a visit to the Crimson Lane district and eat and screw alien females until he could no longer fly straight.

  The wind above him picked up and he grunted as Desmonda landed beside him. His sister's copper wings glowed in the sunlight. Having her out in the open was dangerous. She was too easy a target for the Tryns, but she had the best nose of all of them. Taurian didn’t care if the bastards spotted him. Let them come and I’ll roast them all.

  Desmonda shook her head. “I smell Kohl...and another scent I can't make out from this distance. A female.”

  “Tryn?” He'd only ever come across male Tryns, but that didn't mean anything. Their enemy had been smart. Swooping in under their noses and taking out the quasicrystals that fueled their weapons before attacking.

  The wars and slaughters that had followed still kept Taurian up at night. His father had to gather what remained of their family and go into hiding. Palace walls that Taurian had taken for granted were now replaced with a labyrinth of caves in the mountains.

  “No, I've never smelled this before. It's not from here. There's a sweet aroma like a flower.”

  “Can you locate the source without being discovered?” Taurian wasn't going to let anything happen to his sister.

  “Have you ever found me during our hiding games as hatchings?”

  “Twice.”

  She ruffled her leather wings, her spiked tail hit the ground to emphasize her words. “Those were the times I got bored waiting.”

  “Be careful.” He placed his talon on her scaled head, but she shook it off.

  “Always. Follow my lead.” She rose into the sky with a few flaps of her wings. “When we find Kohl, I'll take him home,” she called out.

  “And I'll destroy whoever has him.” Taurian launched himself skyward and followed after his sister.

  In silence, they flew over the gorge, allowing the overcast clouds to shield them. Ions charged the air. There would be a storm later tonight. With his luck, Kohl would be home on his sleeping mat and Taurian could ride the lighting to fuel his transporter comm strapped to his forearm. Crimson district, here I come.

  Who was he kidding? He hadn't left the planet since the Tryns came. Best he could ask for was a day of no fighting.

  Desmonda dove forward, landing in the river below him. The water splashing against her scaled abdomen. Had she found something? He peered into the distance and blinked. Two humans...here?

  But when he inhaled, he caught Kohl's scent. No human could smell like his brother. Being half-human must mean his brother could shift back and forth between his patronages. Desmonda’s mom was Zumarian and she had a double set of ears, forked tongue, and extra olfactory glands.

  Joy paraded through Taurian’s heart, they’d found Kohl. But his brother wasn’t moving and his breathing was shallow.

  Taurian glared at the human pulling their brother on some sort of handmade raft. Kohl wasn't moving and his blood covered him as he bobbed along on the river’s surface.

  “Distract the female and I'll take our brother home. He's got the Tryns’ toxin all through his bloodstream.”

  Taurian growled. “How about I eat her in one bite and bring Kohl—”

  “No,” Desmonda said sharply. “The woman is pregnant with hatchlings.”

  Taurian narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?” His chest tightened. Had Kohl found his mate or was this a trick?

  “Find out what the female knows,” Desmonda whispered, turning back to him, “and if she's a danger or not.”

  He balked, but Desmonda placed her talon on his scaled cheek. “You thought the same when the first Tryns arrived and left us with half our brothers to party on Lexy Prime.”

  Sorrow slammed into his chest. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't wonder if he and his brothers had remained home if they could've stopped the attacks before they had started. But the Tyrns were barely bigger than a large boar. How did Taurian know there'd be so many of them by nightfall or that their poison could kill a full-grown Renjerian within two nights? That the creatures who looked like devils would target their weapons and kill their brother, who had newly been appointed king under the guidance of their father. And that so many of his people and family would die while he was gone and in the months that followed despite his return.

  “Fine. I’ll distract her while you get Kohl out.”

  She grinned. “Don’t let Father catch you calling Kohlxchijr by that nickname. He says it’s too short for a Renjerian prin
ce.”

  “Kohl likes it.” He shrugged. “And Father has too many things to worry about besides his youngest’s name.” Leaving his sister, he launched himself into the air.

  Yards from the human woman, a stripped lynich dashed into a bush on the river’s edge. The woman glanced at it and overhead, Taurian circled past her. He lowered his altitude and swept past her again. This time the force of his wings blew her backward and she lost her grip on his brother’s raft. The water surged around her.

  Instead of looking at the danger from above, she spun to find his brother and waded after him.

  Enough of this. His brother needed medical help and to get home. Taurian lowered into the water, his wingspan brushing the sides of the riverbank, the impact tumbling the human woman under the water. Well, if she drowned, it wasn’t his fault…exactly.

  Desmonda grasped Kohl and the raft in her talons and flew toward home.

  When the human surfaced, sputtering, she glanced in the way Kohl had disappeared. Taurian frowned and stomped his scaled feet into the water until she gasped, staring at him.

  He snapped his teeth at her, and she yelped, dipping under the water again. ‘Bout time the woman acted like a proper scared senseless human in his presence. Then again, maybe her bravado was what his brother liked about her.

  It was getting late and Taurian wanted to know how his brother was doing. The only reason he didn’t kill this female was Desmonda had said she was pregnant.

  “What have you done?” Taurian barked.

  “P-Pardon?” She struggled to keep afloat and backed away from the tide pulling her toward him.

  “My brother, human.” He narrowed his eyes and inhaled to sense if he could smell the hatchlings when the scent of smoked fur reached his nostrils. Tryns. Was this a trap? “Are you working with the Tryns? You smell of their vile scent as well.”