Wexxon the Great Alien Warrior - Juno Wells Page 0,30

his heart.”

“What happens if…” I barely wanted to ask the question, fear rising through my voice. “What happens if Wexxon dies? In battle?”

“He will be remembered as a great warrior—”

“What happens to me?” I clarified, my eyes shifting away from her own. “What happens to…what happens to our child?”

“I was wondering when you were going to get around to telling me that you were with child.” Palqeet lightly chuckled, her hand soon resting against my shoulder. She then looked over at me with a sympathetic expression. “And if anything were to happen to Wexxon, you would be well taken care of. By me. By Aldvirion. By those who’d wish to honor his memory and preserve his family line.”

“You’d take care of me?” I was surprised by her response. “But you barely know me.”

“It does not matter how well we know each other.” Palqeet smiled. “You have come into our lives as blood, and you will be treated as such, especially your little one. Wexxon would have it no other way.”

“…I don’t want to watch him die,” I murmured as I slightly shook my head. “Palqeet, I can’t.”

“Have you no faith in Wexxon the Great?” Palqeet beamed in my direction.

And I faked a smile in return, even though I didn’t say a word in response. A few moments later, I heard what sounded like a large horn, blasting out in rapid succession, one harsh note after the other. After that, I noticed the energy in the arena turning into even more of a frenzied state, with Xelxar citizens stomping their feet and clapping their hands, some even throwing what looked like flowers and coins down toward the arena itself, the whole of it soon littered with various objects and offerings.

And then, I saw Wexxon. He was walking from the other side of the arena, the side that’d been cut off and impossible to see from the gate, surrounded by a group of other warriors, too. They arranged themselves in a tight line, with each warrior taking a turn to look to their left and right, seemingly greeting each other as their swords hung down their sides. And when it seemed like the niceties were over, the warriors raised their swords toward the sky, the crowd erupting in yet another round of cheers and excitement.

But almost as soon as the crowd had finished with their round of cheering, an eerie silence fell over the arena. I then watched as one of the warriors on the very end of the line-up pointed his sword over at Wexxon, the tip of it resting against his shoulder. He looked almost identical to Wexxon’s muscular build, but there weren’t as many scars on his frame, and I briefly wondered if that meant that he was a few years younger than Wexxon, too.

“He is being challenged to go first,” Palqeet whispered down at me. “To challenge a warrior such as Wexxon to battle first? It is unheard of.”

“…He knows about the wound in his side.” It suddenly felt so hard for me to breathe, all the air in my lungs turning hard as stone.

God.

Oh my God.

I grabbed onto Palqeet’s hand, squeezing it in my own, as I continued to watch the scene unfold in the arena. Wexxon then raised his own sword over at the challenger, too, their blades crossing over one another’s, the action causing the sound of cheers to quickly return to the arena, the silence completely faded away.

“Wexxon has accepted the challenge,” Palqeet murmured.

And when I looked back down at the arena, the line of warriors had disappeared, with only Wexxon and his challenger remaining on the green sand that lined its ground. Wexxon then nodded over at his challenger before he set himself into a fighting stance, his sword held out from his waist as his feet were planted firmly underneath him.

And then the battle began. There was no warning before the challenger struck out toward Wexxon, no trumpeting sound to signal that the match was officially starting. And as Wexxon held him off with his sword, their blades coming down against each other hard as the warriors circled around each other, it felt like there was bile making its way right up my throat.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My fingers squeezed Palqeet’s even harder as I watched Wexxon duck away from his opponent, narrowly avoiding a sword slicing down his shoulder. Wexxon then took a quick step toward the young warrior, close enough to slice down his arm, the warrior crying out with pain soon