Page 40 of The Dreamer and the Deep Space Warrior (Xaal Alien Romance #1)

Isobel

The night deepened around them, but hope flared through her as bright as any burning star.

The only lights now were the lime-colored illumination from a moon obscured at her current angle and the dancing flames at the center of the islet. Through the fog, Isobel could make out the edge of the water in all directions, but the Xaal stared across the lake like they could see much further.

They were waiting.

Breathlessly, she searched the darkness for any sign of him.

Despite the uncomfortable position they’d tied him in, Kravis, too, peered up from his kneeling spot. He ignored the thick cord that dug into his throat as he did.

She knew when Ved arrived because a palpable ripple ran through the Xaal gathered in front of her. And something pulled at her, a familiar magnetism, like she’d suddenly entered a planet’s orbit again.

Then two glowing eye shields appeared, rising from the dark depths, piercing through the fog. The swamp poured off his armor with each step he took to shore. His presence was otherworldly—a death god stalking forward.

Ved.

This was not the space sailor who had danced with her under the moon between the hedges. Who had met her in the rain, called her a lethal weapon, and touched her.

This was the focused hunter. The deadly warrior. This was Ved Qon Cleave.

A rolling growl full of deep clicks came from him. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up at the pure terror the sound evoked. He threw something down, and it bounced and rolled until the Qon of Clan Rax stopped it with his foot.

Isobel recognized it as a Xaal helmet. The Qon kicked it aside, unbothered by his lost man.

Ved said something, his voice harsher than she had ever heard it.

The leader replied, splaying his hands.

She needed to know what was being said. Isobel didn’t want to take her eyes off Ved or leave Kravis, but she glanced at Andrix standing nearby and watching the exchange. He stood far apart from the other Xaal as if he didn’t want to be seen as part of their clan.

When she glanced back to Kravis, he was wholly focused on his bruvya. She approached Andrix slowly, not wanting to draw attention to herself. “What is going on? What are they saying?” she whispered as she came to his side.

Andrix didn’t answer her right away, but when he did, he seemed unbothered. “Ved Qon Cleave has accepted the blood challenge. They will fight to the death. To the victor goes the clans.” The other Xaal gathered were saying something now, and Ved responded to each in kind with a single word .

She hadn’t prepared herself for what it would be like to see him standing there, to see him threatened.

Everything depended on this single moment.

His life, hers, and Kravis’s. It made her want to fight, to take his hand and wrench him away from this dreadful place where only ruin could be found. Something frenetic surged through her.

“I won’t allow it,” she said, making to march forward.

Kravis growled something, and Andrix swung his arm out, stopping her advance. “If you try to stop it, you will either die in the process or distract him. The best thing you can do for him is witness him.”

His words sank in, and perhaps it was the lack of sleep or the adrenaline pumping through her veins, but it almost sounded as though he didn’t want Ved’s opponents to win. “What happens if your clan leader loses?”

Andrix turned his head to look at her briefly. She imagined that beneath the mask his expression was one of either skepticism or warning.

“Then he loses,” he said simply. He pulled something from his armor and dangled it in front of her face.

“What is this?” she asked, taking the device.

“Translates.” He didn’t turn his attention from the impending battle, and she wondered if he was as concerned for his qon as she was for Ved. Or did he have some other stake in this fight?

The object he’d handed her was curved, made from a flexible material with a hard center. Chatter came from it softly, and she held it up to listen.

“It hooks around your ear,” Andrix instructed.

Isobel fixed it hurriedly around her earlobe.

Though it was somewhat large, she was able to fit the center piece inside.

A mechanical voice came to life. At first it cycled through several languages she didn’t understand before finally letting out a musical beep.

“ I am br4-CH, designed for your understanding. Would you like me to translate the dialects presented? ”

She nodded, then caught herself. Hoarsely, she whispered, “Yes, please.”

It was then that Ved looked at her. She knew he was scanning her, ensuring she was safe.

But even more, she had a feeling that he was trying to convey everything to her in that single glance.

He’d raced across the cosmos just to get to her, he wouldn’t fail now.

She pressed a hand over her heart. An imperceptible nod was his only response.

He couldn’t afford to show any sign of weakness to his enemies by doing anything more. She had to believe there would be an after with him. She had to believe he could win, but she also didn’t trust this other clan. They’d already proven they didn’t fight fair.

But Ved had to win. Any other option was unfathomable.

The group of Raxans withdrew, creating a half-circle around Ved. Two, however, stood before him. There was an exchange between the three that her translator didn’t pick up.

“What’s happening now?” Isobel dared to ask Andrix.

Andrix didn’t look away from the fighters. “They have all challenged him, so they will all fight him. It’s nothing more than a game to them. They look to weaken him for their qon. Loyal, but honorless.” He sounded disgusted.

“That’s not fair,” she murmured. “Will you also stand against him?”

“My fight is not with Ved Qon Cleave.”

Could Ved win against all these opponents?

She worried at her bottom lip as the two attacked him at once, their blades swiftly descending on him. He easily dodged their strikes and made quick work of them. But their bodies hadn’t settled for more than a moment before two more stepped up to take their place .

Ved held his fist up, and surprisingly, they halted. “Which of you pieces of vorg shit put a slave-choker on her?”

No one moved at first, and Isobel searched the group to find Breg with his dented armor. He swaggered forward a moment later. Another Xaal clapped him on the back as he passed.

But the other who’d collared her, Sabis, did not step forward with him. “Sabis of Clan Rax,” she called out before she could think better of it. Andrix huffed out a breath, and Kravis rumbled with something that sounded like approval.

The moment his name left her mouth, she knew that she’d just ushered him to death’s door. She should have been racked with shame, but instead, all she could think was that she hoped they were scared. As scared as she had been when they’d tortured her.

Sabis shrugged as if he were trying to rid himself of her accusation before moving to stand beside Breg.

Ved pointed his blade at them. “You’re next to die, then.”

Breg advanced with a snarl, Sabis a step behind.

They were more careful about their approach—strategic, even.

They circled Ved. One would lash out while the other looked for weak spots and openings.

But it didn’t matter. Ved acted with perfected brutality.

He dodged Sabis’s attack and used his momentum to stab him in the shoulder blades as he pivoted.

Without pause, he grabbed Breg, who made a sound of surprise. Ved punched him twice in quick succession in the stomach. He doubled over and tried escaping Ved’s grip, but only managed to fall to his knees.

“This is the position you should be in,” Ved growled.

“On your knees before her. Look at her now.” When Breg didn’t obey, Ved grabbed his helmet and forced his head back.

No matter how much the Xaal struggled to stand back up, he couldn’t.

The ground beneath him was muddy and slippery, trapping him further.

Isobel almost cried out as Sabis recovered and lunged for Ved again, stabbing wildly, but Ved twisted to kick him back. “I’ll deal with you in a moment.”

Isobel covered her mouth. Though she knew what was coming, she couldn’t look away.

Breg snarled. “You should have seen how she writhed and begged. I should have killed her. I should have ripped her—”

His words turned into gurgling blood as Ved slit his throat.

He collapsed. Lifeless.

When Sabis rushed him this time, Ved grabbed him and hauled him off his feet. He was a force of nature—all wrath and ruin. They struggled against each other with snarls and low curses. But then Ved threw Sabis forward.

Into the pyre. There was a brief moment where he was perfectly silhouetted within the flames.

Then the fire burned darker—voracious in its appetite.

Sabis screamed, agonizing screeches that tore through the night.

It seemed to last forever yet only seconds.

A scent she’d never smelled before filled the air.

Burning flesh.

Before she could fully come to terms with the violence, before she could think to be sick, the remaining Xaal stepped forward. All except the qon, who simply watched.

There was no hesitation to them then. They came from all sides, attacking in coordinated ways even as Ved fought for the upper hand. Any time he managed to knock one back, another was there to take his place.

It was a bloody massacre .

She couldn’t see him. The throng of fighters was so thick that Ved was just flashes of black armor in a silver sea.

They were going to kill him.

Isobel moved forward, and this time, Andrix didn’t stop her. She wasn’t certain what she could do, but she felt the overwhelming need to fight with him. To fight for him.

Just as she was looking for anything that could be used as a weapon, her collar let off that dooming sound. “No,” she said desperately, pulling up short. A heartbeat later, she was thrown to the ground. Pain racked her body—an endless fiery current of it.

Her hair was pulled tight, and she was dragged backward. It was all she could do to hold on to the collar and keep it from choking her. Her teeth were clenched so tightly she feared they’d shatter.

Any moment—it would end any moment. She wished for mercy, or death, even. Anything, as long as the agony stopped.

As if by a miracle, it all faded away. Darkness filled its place.

She didn’t know if she blacked out or for how long, but when the world came back, it was with a vengeance.

The fighting sounded closer; the snarls and the clashing of metal on metal seemed like they were echoing inside her brain.

Her muscles twitched and spasmed, sending deep, aching pangs through her.

“Say his name. Call out to him.”

Isobel groaned and her captor shook her. A thick arm was around her midsection in a brutal grip, and something sat against her throat, cutting into her skin.

It wasn’t the collar—it was a dagger.

“Say it,” came the harsh voice. The Qon of Clan Rax. He was speaking Xaala, relying on the translator that still functioned in her ear.

She had little control over her limbs, but she attempted to kick and squirm anyway. Her captor responded immediately, tightening his arm around her and pressing the dagger just deep enough to draw blood.

His hold was so severe she feared he’d snap her ribs.

She pressed her lips together and tried to make sense of the fight before her. She still couldn’t see Ved through the thick wall of Xaal fighters. What if he was hurt? What if they all died here?

She let out a whimper—a pitiful thing.

Qon Rax hauled her forward three steps. Fisting her hair again, he jerked her head back. “I want him to know his starborn mate is in danger. Call for him!”

Mate?

The word clawed down her throat. Pushed into her lungs.

And when she inhaled, it was the force that drove and broke her voice. “Ved!”