Alien Beast's Warrior Bride - Juno Wells Page 0,16
others were there?”
The Sonarian shakes his head again, slamming one big paw into the side of his head. Finally, he answers, “We were four claws in number. After much suffering we were three.”
Glancing down at his paws, I see four digits that are a bizarre cross between paws and fingers. He has a claw sitting upon each digit. A little quick math and some common sense tells me that four claws probably means there were sixteen of them. He’s also saying something traumatic happened and their numbers dropped to twelve.
“You attacked our human queen and we were forced to kill the others in your pack.”
“How many? How many did you kill?” The creature is now panting like he’s been running for miles. It makes me wonder if he’s having a reaction to the medications the healers gave him. Still, he’s looking worlds better than he did before. They’ve even fixed his face. The Draconians have good medical skills, as evidenced by the fact that I can’t tell he once had three eyes. That’s when I notice that he looks deflated, smaller somehow. That can’t be right, can it? Before he was the size of a small car, but now he’s more like the size of a single bed.
Mathadar responds quietly, holding up five fingers, four on one hand and one on the other. “We killed this many, but it was in self-defense.”
“You are food. Food has no right to kill the Sonadraid.”
I speak up, my curiosity getting the better of me. “What are the Sonadraid?”
He growls at me. “Shut up, meat. Though I no longer hunger, I plan to eat you first whenever I am in need of further sustenance.” He rubs his nose on one paw, mumbling something that sounds like he’s reminding himself to eat the pretty one first.
Borak moves forward to stand at my back. Our talkative prisoner seems nonplused by the huge warrior coming closer. He glances up at us and continues speaking through pants. “Your male will not save you from becoming my food. I will eat him as well.” Lifting his head, he lets loose with a deafening roar. “I will eat every single one of you. Wait and see. I will devour you with great delight for I am power and light and goodness.” He kind of runs out of steam towards the end of his little rant and flops down onto the floor. Then he’s out like a light before anyone can blink.
That’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a while. Folding my arms over my chest, I frown. “This has been fairly nonproductive.”
Before I can ask about our next move, Borak sounds off beside me. “We learned that there are more of the mutated Sonarians being held captive somewhere on this planet.”
Kryos joins the discussion. “We need to find them.”
A solitary voice sounds off from a nearby control panel. “You mean rescue them, of course.”
Whirling around, I see the face of a huge Sonarian female on the three dimensional viewing screen. I can easily tell they’re the same species because she’s a much healthier female version of the one we caught. She’s got sleek green and purple striped fur and emerald eyes. “My kind are being held against their will and starved until their minds no longer work properly.”
Before any of the others can speak, I step forward. “We don’t know that for certain. They could be collaborating with the enemy.”
She snorts a sound of disapproval. “They are Sonadraid, sacred warriors among my kind that are tasked with protecting our spiritual places. They care not for alien wars or leaving our home world.”
I shoot back, “I suppose they don’t run around eating people either.”
“We normally eat fruit and vegetation, but I’ve heard it said if we are forced to eat flesh it becomes difficult to reorient our tastes. We are a rare and ancient species.” Looking from one to the other of us, she continues, “Unlike the queens of Earth, our kind are protected by the intergalactic council.”
When he speaks, Mathadar’s tone of voice sounds off, seeming almost reverent. “What do you wish of us, Queen Trovena?”
“I command you to locate and rescue the remaining Sonadraid. My human and I will rendezvous with your vessel. They will tell me all that we wish to know and then you will release them to my care.”
A tall white being with a featureless face leans into range of the viewing screen. “No humans. I will accompany Trovena myself. We will take custody of the