Dezdrin Read online

  Dezdrin (Jorathian Warriors 2)

  by C.R Corbin

  Table of contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  More from the Author

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  Introduction

  My gaze lingered on his bare golden figure, those rippling muscles on his back and his arms tensed up while he looked over at me. I laid on my side, my curves bundled together as the evidence of our love falls onto the soil of Morathia. Above us is a canopy that blocks out most of the light of the afternoon, leaving the two of us in shadow.

  They would be approaching soon, his former comrades would arrive and surely attack…. I was glad that we could consummate this strange passion that has been gripping the two of us. A passion that has erupted ever since I met him on that hill, ever since that attack on our camp.

  His tall Jorathian stature looms over me as he stands before kneeling next to me. I watched those rock hard arms tense up while his chest flexed, his entire body was built for pleasure and yet those eyes, those blue eyes bound me with their love. He had informed me that I was his mate, that I was the one to be with him forever. He swore to protect me, to do all that he could to safeguard me from both of his former comrades and all future threats that may arise.

  He runs his hands along my curves, his fingers stroking me while his claws lightly dashed over my skin. I tremble in his grasp and he sighs as that tight abdomen of his tensed up, all of those tiny scars on his body tensing as he leaned in. I run my hand along the stomach scar that I had healed and allow him to kiss me. We would have our brief moment of love even in the face of death that loomed in this impossibly tall and vast jungle.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Dezdrin

  At the moment, I was hidden behind a rather thick piece of foliage, as were my brethren. My red eyes homed in on the human encampment, I would say that there were about 50 of them, perhaps more. They were scattered about the small clearing in the forest, gripping strange glass vials and happily chatting with one another. Our translators were set to understand their language thanks to the fact that in the last several years humans had been proliferating throughout the galaxy. But what were they doing on Morathia? We didn’t get any notifications or signals that would indicate that there would be research being done here.

  “Dezdrin, what do you see?” Kol asked me and my eyes darted about until I saw her... beautiful.

  Until that very moment I would have had no qualms attacking the human encampment and pillaging them for whatever material wealth that they might have possessed but this woman...she gave me a reason to pause. Her skin was fair, her brown hair is tied back into one long tail that slides against her back, and those curves...oh god she was making me tremble with arousal already. She was laughing and smiling along with a group of other humans, including several men. I immediately felt the fury of jealousy wash over me. I desperately wanted to leap down and snatch her away.

  And yet...I cared, I liked it when she smiled, it elicited a feeling that can only be described as sunshine dwelling in the heart, piercing through the flesh and rushing through every vein in my body.

  “What do you see?” Kol repeated, I watched his green hand lunge up and grip my wrist, shaking me out of my stupor. He was clinging to the trunk directly below where I stood on the branch, his claws dug into the wood and he bared his teeth while I paused for a moment, glancing out at the white tents and looking back before shaking my head.

  “We can’t attack this base.” I said, and he raised an eyebrow.

  “Why not? That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? To get wealthy?” he asked me and I shook my head once more before Mephisal interjects. He was hanging upside down from a branch directly above me, his claws dug into the branch and his grey skin was marked with patches of sunlight that peered through the thick foliage. He hops down and stands on the same branch as me, folding his arms in front of me and sighing.

  I knew that my reason would be her and solely her. They would tell me that they could just attack and take her but...somehow my empathy, something that has been absent thus far, was probing me, telling me that I needed to keep her safe. I had no idea what it was but...I felt this overwhelming need to keep her away from the claws of misfortune and anguish. I could not claim her in such a manner, not by slaughtering her people and forcefully taking her. That was dishonorable even for me.

  That was why I had to keep it hidden. If they found out then they might try to attack her to get back at me, they might try to assault me and I certainly wouldn’t have that at the moment. I needed to draw them away to keep her safe, that was all I knew, I didn’t know the reason but it was slowly creeping up on me.

  She was the one, she was my mate and I knew it down to the marrow in my bones.

  And now the traditional procedure of a raid didn’t seem so appealing anymore. Before we were simple bandits that would find wealth wherever we could whether that be through violent or nonviolent means. There were no qualms before, not since I joined up with them, not since our first murder when they told me that we had to hurt others in order to extract some material wealth but I could not hurt her, that gleam in her eye forbade me from even being a cause of one of her tears.

  “So what is this about then? Why don’t you want to attack? You know we can take them all.” Mephisal said and I growled.

  “It’s not about...I just don’t want to okay?” I said and the two of them began laughing.

  “Alright coward. Why don’t you hide in the trees and we’ll take care of it. Do know that your pay is going to be cut because of it.” said Kol and I snarled.

  “You. Are. Not. Attacking. Them.” I spat and the two of them tensed up, glancing at one another before smiling, I feel Mephisal grip my shoulder, his claws were barely grazing my armor as he runs his palm against my back.

  “You’re actually getting attached to these humans? Really? Since when did you care about killing a bunch of useless researchers?” asked Mephisal.

  “Get the hell off of me!” I snarled and jolted out of his grasp before hopping down from the branch and sliding down the tree, I felt my claws digging into the bark before I felt an incredible force strike my back, moments later I was on my back with Mephisal on top, he cocked his hand back and unsheathed his claws, ready to strike me at a moment’s notice.

  “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you but I don’t care. We’re attacking this place and getting paid whether you like it or not. You fighting us just means that we get a fatter paycheck.” he snarled and strikes me with his claws but I hold up my arm to block, leaving three long gashes on my forearm before I manage to force him off. I reached for my pocket and tugged out my knife before lunging at him, we got into a scramble and moments later I am being tossed into a tree by Kol.

  Two on one, this can’t be good.

  We had come up together since we were young. It’s been nearly 7 Jorathian years that i’ve been with them, ever since I reached the age of 20 Jorathian years which was the traditional coming of age year where I come from. We learned hand to hand combat, shooting , explosives, flying, sneaking, mining, engineering, tracking, all sorts of skills together so I had a pretty good grasp on how these guys fought so I believed my instincts when they told me that I could not take them both unless they were injured or something like that.
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br />   I run from them and they soon give chase, I leapt through the trees and attempted to lose them in the foliage but my blood trail meant that they could track me with a great deal of ease. Just as I was about to leap towards the next branch a rock strikes my back and I fall through the branches, stumbling before ending my skid by using my claws to dig into the tree, I glanced back and I see them, bundled up in the foliage, smiling at me.

  “We’ll make it quick for old time’s sake!” shouted Kol and I roared as I charged the two of them before I feel a bolt from their laser rifle stun me by striking me in the chest. The red beam burned my armor and I stumble backwards, panting before I see Kol leap down from the trees, a knife in his hands. I tried to raise an arm to battle him but Mephisal fires another beam, sticking me in the wrist, causing me to snap my right arm back in pain before I feel Kol grip the back of my head and slide the knife into my abdomen.

  “But since you wanted to fight. We’re going to make it nice and slow. Shame too. Always thought that we would be a trio forever but I guess not.” said Kol as he sinks the knife into me and I grimace as he twists it, the blood begins to gush out of that hole in my armor and I laid back, shaking my head and panting while darkness consumes me.

  #

  Amanda

  "How's it looking back there Josh?" I called out and he gave me the thumbs up. He was currently on his back below a generator with a variety of tools, trying to fix a broke fusion chip or something like that. I didn't know, I was the medical student who just tagged along, not an engineer.

  "Nice isn't it? This place is so....freeing." remarked Kelly as she stepped out of the tent, basking in the sunlight and shaking her head. That blonde hair rushes over her face before she brushed it away to reveal those doll-like features and those brown eyes. I had agreed to tag along with her and the research team because it basically meant a free vacation for me on this new planet and perhaps I could meet some interesting people, maybe even a man.

  "Yeah it is nice...the trees out here are incredible." I remarked as she joined me at the back of the tent to watch Josh repair the generator. She places her hands on her hips and looks around, waving her blond hair over her shoulders and glancing at my blue eyes with her brown. God how was she so much prettier than me?

  "Did you see how thick some of the branches are? Jesus they're as wide as a tractor tire....not much food though although they do have that nice fruit. The one with the blue flesh?" she asks me and I nod as I remembered.

  "Yeah that was good, that was really good." I remarked, the memories of sinking my teeth into that soft and smooth blue fruit that dropped from the trees here in yellow shells. The leaves here were that traditional shade of green that Earthlings usually associated plants with but the fruit and the flowers...god the color was amazing.

  "Well what are we doing later? I heard a group of the geologists and chemists are going into the caverns after all the lab work is done so...wanna join them?" she asks me and I shrugged, she smiled in reaction.

  "Oh I see. You want to go with that cute biologist guy to the fields. What was his name again? Ken?" she asked and my face immediately heated up and grew crimson.

  "No that's not....we'll go with the chemists alright? I don't have any issue with it!" I stammered out and gazed back at the generator that was turning on due to Josh's efforts.

  "Hahahaha! If you like a guy just tell me. I can put in the good word you know? I'm good like that." she remarked and I frowned.

  "Like anyone would like someone with this body....Hell they might go after you instead of me." I stated and she shakes her head.

  "You're going to be making so much more than me soon and besides. No one wants a girl that talks about acids and-" she began, but our conversation was interrupted by a large explosive going off. The force of it was enough to launch us back slightly and I fell on my backside, gazing up at this cloud of smoke surfacing out of the other side of the camp.

  "What the hell was that?" I called out.

  "Attack! We're under attack!" I heard a man yell and I quickly got to my feet. Kelly was right beside me in a second and Josh had just rolled out from under the generator, we were all consumed by panic.

  I see these two shadowy figures leap down in the distance, their eyes glowed red and yellow and they leapt into the camp without any hesitation. I stumble back and see a guard get hurled through the air before crashing into a nearby tent. I look to both Kelly and Josh who were both in shock at what was happening. Those faces, I knew them well, these were Jorathians.

  "Shit shit! There isn't supposed to be anyone else here! Why are the Jorathians doing this?" asked Kelly and I scowled, turning to the forest and glancing back at her.

  Jorathians had never had any substantial issue with humanity and traditionally were oriented to defense so why...why was this happening? This made no sense at all unless this was a rogue team of some sorts and even then, why would they attack us? We had nothing of value for them, nothing substantial at least! Why go after a human encampment of 50 people? I see a guard get hurled onto the floor before a spear is tossed and he is impaled, stuck to the floor with a spear in his stomach. I turned back to my allies and gazed into the woods.

  "We have to run!" I said to them.

  "Run?! What if they're waiting out there? Can't the guards do something?!" she called out in hysterics.

  "Kelly. We need to run!" I said to her, snapping her out of the stupor that she was in before she nodded dumbly and I turned back to see the smoke increasing, the screams of researchers that I had met a few days prior were carving their way through my neurons. I could hear the screaming in the distance and hoped that it would last long enough for us to make it out of here, as dark as that may have sounded.

  #

  Dezdrin

  "Need....to...get..." I said as I limped through the woods, my stomach wound was gushing blood and because of the burn my right arm was debilitated. I gazed at the smoke cloud forming in the distance and frowned. I was likely too late...

  And then I felt it calling out to me, this strange scent.

  It was this strange pulling feeling, this sensation that was nestling its way into the back of my head. I could sense...something in the distance. It was directly to my left and it was getting farther and farther. There was this strange drive to follow the trail and I steeled myself, gripping my wound and groaning before I dashed in that direction. I leave trails of blood on the leaves but I didn't care. I had to reach whoever this was no matter the cost. I knew that much at least.

  We had come to this planet in search of the immense gold deposits that it was said to have had but we ultimately were coming up short. I suppose whoever was spreading that rumor was lying but right as we were about to leave we spotted them, the humans. Under any other circumstance, I would have had no qualms attacking this base and slaughtering them all in order to retrieve whatever equipment or wealth that they may have had, including any knowledge as well, but this woman...she stopped me. She gave me a reason to pause and actually value...her.

  And now I was following her scent, I was sure of it....Could she be the one? I was still in my mating period but I didn't have any luck back home in the last few years.....she might be the one....

  My mate. A human mate which was extremely rare, I think it might have even been unheard of. I never thought that much about a mate to be honest, it was always something that I kept in the back of my mind for when I got older. I thought I would meet a Jorathian woman once we got rich enough with this whole bandit gig, but as the years passed I have found myself being less and less enraptured with the idea.

  Life was war, life was tough and has been ever since I left the planet. I could have become a hunter and simply joined the forces back home but I decided that it wasn't enough for me. I clung to this idea of adventure, of idealistic wandering that had pervaded the minds of all those that were imbued with the blessings of youth and vigor. After years and years of doing illegal activities such as assaul
t, robbery, and murder to support ourselves I found myself growing numb to that old ideal of wanderlust and instead settling on this new concept. Survival.

  Perhaps when I gazed at her I felt something else, I felt a bit of that old passion spark. Perhaps it wasn't even that same old love that I had but it was different in nature from the void that was etched into my heart at this point, that darkness that drew excitement from proving its might, from surviving off of the misfortune of others. There was a bit of that innocence that resurfaced and...I longed for it in that brief moment in time.

  But I had to focus on getting to her first before I could even ruminate the nature of that gaze. I would need to have a closer look, I wanted to get close enough to smell her scent and to bask in her glow, to feel her breath scratch my cheek. That was my sole motivator as of this moment.

  I was lucky that this planet was smaller than Jorath so I could make progress with a bit more expediency due to the lower gravity. Unfortunately for the humans this planet was a bit larger than theirs, not by much from what I understood but by enough to cause a significant increase of fatigue from each of them. Even with my wound I could leap over logs and hurl myself from tree to tree with little effort at all. I see her in the distance, she was currently struggling up a hill, trying to tread over it when I got to the trees directly next to the foot of the hill.

  "AHHH!" screamed the blond woman. There were three of them, a blond girl, my...mate, and a black-haired man covered in grease donning a jumpsuit. I get closer and closer but it seems that they are unreceptive to my presence.

  "I'm here to help!" I shouted, it seems like the pain of my wounds was making a comeback full force after I had tried to force myself to work through it. I bite my lip and shake my head as I fall to my knees. I gaze back at the encampment, they would likely be done slaughtering everyone at this point.

  "How can we trust you?" asked the male and I frowned.

  "Well that's the thing...you pick between me or your attackers back there. You help me with this gaping wound and I help you get away safely. That is if you can help me with this that is." I snarled.