Page 1 of The Alien Warrior's Vow

One

Lans

“What doyou mean they’re all dead?” Korben’s eyes widened and he stared across the room at the projection. “No, that can’t be right. One hundred Plutonian warriors can’t just… no.”

Lans struggled to contain his fury. It was a massacre, but it could have been avoided. “The tribas to the north grew impatient.”

Korben slammed his palm on the table.

The wood shook.

It was the only thing that moved.

Everyone else in the room remained frozen.

Lans turned sideways, noting Clavas’s tightening lips. He lowered his voice. “It is not your fault, Clavas.”

“It is.” His friend glared into the air, no doubt thinking about his escape from the Heronas prison. Only two sun rotations ago, Lans had joined in the mission to free Clavas and the Healer. They’d been half successful, having only gotten to Clavas in time.

Tiegan leaned forward, his voice gruff. “How did it happen? What… technology is that?”

“We’re still analyzing the footage.”

“We?” Tiegan lifted an eyebrow nub.

Lans cleared his throat. “Chozo and I.”

Zar scowled. The hulking warrior barely tolerated having a Heronas expeh in their midst. Though he had been a lab rat for his species, Chozo was still—technically—the seed of their enemy. Lans had been just as suspicious when Zar and his mate, Simone, brought Chozo to the camp, but the brood had proven to be invaluable.

“Should we trust a word he says?” Korben asked pointedly.

“Chozo has intel into the Heronas’s mind. It’s an unprecedented advantage.” Lans moved his eyes gravely to the projection. “And one we’re going to need.”

Shuddering slightly, Tiegan mumbled, “How did they just… evaporate?”

“We’re not sure.” Lans tapped his interface and pinched the raised holos that appeared on his arm. “According to the report, they believed the Healer was within the clutches of a Heronas city near their camp. They gathered all their warriors and rushed the walls only for that to happen.”

The footage expanded around them.

Light filled the room, revealing a hundred Plutonian warriors.

Valiant fighters.

His comrades.

They shared his blue skin, his tail and his loyalty to their species.

Each one was precious in their own right, but even more so because they were the last of their kind. Plutonian females were no more, and there had not been a Plutonian birth in many sun cycles.

But perhaps that would change.

Korben had recently informed them that humans could mate with Plutonians and bear their offspring.

An image of a female filled Lans’s mind.

Pale skin. Sharp eyes. Lips so soft they often fooled him into thinking that sweet words would come out of it. And they rarely did. At least when he was around.

Eema.