Defender (New World Book 7) (2 page)

“I love you, Mother. I love you, Father. I have to go now. My shield is telling me I’m not safe here. I wish you could explain how I know what my shield is thinking, Father.”

Taz cocked his head. The voices were whispers in his mind. The thoughts weren’t his when he left the house and began to run. The ground was eaten beneath his claws and talons. Energy such as he’d never known ached to leap and jump. Tree to ground to tree. There were few furry male rodents left in the area that moved as Taz was moving. Branches near the skies in the tree tops were sponge-like aiding his firm grip.

The tree fort was nestled in huge thick branches out of sight. Taz dumped his satchel on a wooden table. He gazed around. His father was very creative with his talons and Taz loved the intricate designs carved in the wooden walls and on the floor. Each told a story. Cuddled in his father’s lap the warrior would tell tales of exploits when he was much younger, before meeting Taz’s mother. Fondly, he told Taz his mother didn’t tame him as other warriors would insist; she gave him the gift of her presence, and then Taz’s.

Taz was lonely, never having been in the tree without his father. Before long, darkness settled and Taz curled in a ball in a corner. The rumble of his belly distracted him. He rose and pulled fruit from his satchel and scurried back to the corner. Another storm hit, rocking the tree house. An old blanket his mother had made sat on a tiny bench and Taz retrieved it.

“I wish you could tell me a story,” he whispered aloud.

The strangest thing occurred. Within his mind stories were whispered and he was certain several were in his father’s voice. Times of long ago and Tonan survival captured his attention until the sounds of the storms faded. History of thousands of years played out in his thoughts. Finally Taz closed his eyes and slept, the voices whispered a child still needed to sleep.

Days passed and Taz spent them the same way, wandering the forest in a daze. Wandering by day, huddled by night. His food was gone. This time when his belly rumbled he had nothing to eat. The quiet of dark was oppressive. A few furry little creatures ventured into his tree house. Taz welcomed them and stroked their fuzzy fur happy something could make him smile.

On his fifth day Taz had little energy to wander, he stayed inside. His shield closed around him to generate him but something inside Taz knew he needed to eat; he was too young to go for too long without sustenance. Food aided his growth. At some point sustenance wouldn’t dictate to him, but for now it did. His shield had knowledge but was recently created, it was young too. His shield dropped and from his height he could see out a large window to the ground below. His heart pounded when he spotted the powerful warrior, shielded.

“Father,” Taz cried out.

He was mistaken, his father
was
alive. All this time he must have been searching for Taz. He and his mother must be so worried. Shield up, Taz went flying out the window. He raced down the tree wanting to be in his father’s arms. The warrior grabbed him up off his feet and instead of holding him to his chest, Taz was smashed, back first, into a tree. A huge forearm pinned him under his throat.

“Drop your shield, little warrior. Or die,” was commanded.

Taz was told his shield was indestructible, but he was a child. The stronger warrior could beat him until his shield faltered. The shield was whispering to him. He needed to make a deal. Taz wasn’t certain what that meant.

“My shield demands a nego…a negochy—ation.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. If my shield drops, you’ll kill me by crushing my throat.”

The warrior dropped the part of his shield against Taz’s neck. His bare arm wasn’t as strong, and his grip loosened. Taz dropped his shield. The warrior lowered him to the ground and yanked him away from the tree. When the warrior’s shield came down, he walked around Taz as Taz held still.

“Your mother is dead if you have your shield.” It was a statement.

“I don’t know what dead is. She’s sleeping with my father. They won’t wake up.”

The warrior bent down and gripped one of Taz’s arms pulling him into the air to dangle. Taz struggled but his shield stayed down. The dark-haired blue-eyed warrior laughed at Taz.

“They’re dead, boy. It means they will never wake again, and do you know why?”

“No.”

“You killed them. The second your shield went up you slaughtered them both.”

“No,
no
. You’re a filthy liar. My parents love me. They know I’d never hurt them. I would never.”

Taz’s shield went up and he slashed the warrior’s chest. The warrior’s shield went up and he shook Taz until Taz screamed in terror. His clawed feet struck the warrior in the chest sending Taz spinning to the ground. He ran. The warrior tackled him in mid-flight. They crashed to the ground. The shield calculated Taz’s movements, but he was a child and had never battled. Movements his shield wanted executed were beyond Taz’s comprehension. The warrior was hundreds if not thousands of years older. The rest of him remained shielded, but the warrior dropped the shield from his face to his neck.

Each blow Taz took weakened him until his shield fell. Each blow he had no choice but to gaze into the warrior’s eyes. The warrior released him. Taz turned and was panting on his hands and knees, lifting his head up to glare at the warrior. The warrior was almost as large as his father. There was something different about this warrior. The look in his eyes was animalistic, deadly. There was no compassion. Evil glared back.

“I hate you,” Taz said.

The warrior dropped his shield and squatted in front of him. “Good. Hate is the best place to begin, little warrior. I’m the perfect teacher.”

The warrior stood, his shield went up and he pulled Taz into the crook of his arm. At a fast pace the warrior flew over the terrain, taking the little warrior to his new life. Setting the path to Taz’s destiny.

“The planet the humans call Earth has been targeted. The wheels are in motion.”

Taz looked at his mentor Krish. Taz hated him as much after four hundred years as he had the first day they met in the woods. As mean as the bastard was, Krish kept Taz alive. In his early years, the other Tonan warriors teased him mercilessly. Krish wouldn’t let them kill him for sport. At least Krish’s kind was kept at bay. Though, it was rare for Krish to expose Taz to other Tonans for the first three hundred years of his life. Occasionally Krish had no choice, so he said, more often than not it was to remind Taz he lived only because Krish said so.

Not all Tonan warriors wanted Taz dead or tormented. Others would tolerate him, or even friend him, if Krish allowed, he never did. Taz learned there were two kinds of Tonans. Taz’s father was a scientist, capable of leniency, he loved Taz’s mother. Krish and his kind of friends, acquaintances, were Tonan but incapable of love—ever. Their ancestors were missing a vital chromosome, making them impervious to pity, all were pure evil and lived to hate.

The Tonan scientists on the planet had been tricked into developing the poison water killing off all females hundreds of years ago. It was a supposed war tactic to kill Castian warriors. If a Castian was mated and his female died—so too did the Castian. Unfortunately for Taz’s kind it also meant if a Tonan was mated and his female died—so too did the Tonan. The scientists outsmarted themselves costing many with their lives. Because of the poisoned water no other living creature resided on the planet Bagron, nor an exiled planet Dargon, nor on Taz’s planet. Any and all females died out except the male warriors. During Taz’s four hundred years he learned how to be cruel to survive, but he was saddened as a child when the last of the furry tree creatures died.

“Why do we want humans to come here?” Taz asked.

“Do you have to be so fucking stupid where others can hear you?” Krish snapped.

Other surrounding warriors laughed. Taz knew better than rise to the bait. He didn’t care. Krish picked Taz to go to Earth on a lone scouting mission. The scientists created a machine to manipulate Earth’s atmosphere. Massive storms were popping up all over the continents. Many humans were dying and terrified. The Tonans fed into their terror, suggesting all humans flee while there was time and the Tonans could offer them a safe haven.

“You got rid of our females, you accomplished what you wanted,” Taz said. “The Castians have been exiled and imprisoned on different planets.”

“The war with the Castians is going in our favor. Cobra has been banished. The Castian warriors remain loyal to Cobra but will be hitting the must cycle. Cobra banned all talk of females after their deaths for a warrior’s peace of mind. Many don’t remember they had a mother. With only male warriors around they never broached the subject, Cobra kept it that way. His overprotectiveness with his warriors is asinine.

“With war raging they don’t have time to care of what they thought could never be. A female can make a warrior insane with want. Our prisoners will tell us anything to be near a female. They’ll never know what hit them. And it will be Cobra’s fault for not preparing them. Many of the little warriors were young like you and weak when females died. They still are weak and pathetic.” Krish scowled at Taz. The barb didn’t go unnoticed. Taz’s feathers ruffled for a second; he was young at four hundred but no blubbering tot.

“The human males? What of them?” Taz asked.

“Damn you,” Krish roared.

“I want to know if the males I encounter are of value. How can I complete my mission if you don’t give me the information I need?” Taz insisted. “I know nothing of humans, or females.”

“We want the females of child bearing years. I don’t give a damn what you do with the males or their offspring.”

“Offspring? Humans have children?” Taz asked.

“What have I told you?” Krish bellowed.

“Not fucking much,” Taz yelled as his annoyance grew.

Krish smashed Taz into a wall, his forearm pushing him lower as Taz was taller. Krish hated that Taz looked down on him when they stood together. Taz knew better than to lift his shield. He was used to Krish’s rants and was more annoyed than anything.

“Listen you little puke,” Krish said snarling. “Go to Earth, observe, do not interfere, do not let them see you shielded. In fact don’t let them see you at all. Shielded or not, you’re fucking ugly, you’d scare them.”

“So Earth’s government is going to hand over its human citizens on a silver plate?” Taz asked.

“Earth is full of stupid officials who will ‘save’ their people and take them away from the storms, as long as they can afford the price. They can make it seem the people who pay go first because they are paying for the shuttles and necessities here. It’s their false sense of security and logic—self-importance. Even when their planet is dying, many Earth officials think about votes. It’s so sick it’s funny. And as long as they make sure all the ‘important’ humans go first, most are happy. They are a race of hierarchy. Some officials are skeptical, some remind me there are two types of Tonans, as well as two types of humans. What they don’t realize is the important ones to us are females of childbearing years. Males are for sport,” Krish said.

“Why me, Krish. You hate me,” Taz said.

Krish released him and ruffled his hair. “Because like a dog you were beat until you learned to obey. And if I hated you I would have killed you long ago.”

Taz knew Krish didn’t trust anyone—except Taz. And maybe not even him. “When do I get the hell out of this shit hole?”

When do I get my chance to finally escape from you?

“Today.”

Krish propelled him outside to a shuttle. Taz groaned. It was a piece of shit vessel the Tonans helped the earthlings create. Awkward, silver, a Neanderthal of space. Taz loathed the vessel already. This vessel was somewhat more durable. There were subtleties a human wouldn’t notice. No doubt inside was better than what the humans would be given technology wise. Other than that the shuttle was garbage.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” Taz drawled. “I need to blend in. You
want
me to crash.”

“It has a tracking device. You will not crash regardless. I’m not nearly done with you.”

“I feel special.”

Krish smacked him on the back. “Try not to fuck your mission up.”

A few Earth vessels were being tested on Earth. With the storms their defenses and satellites were destroyed. The Tonans wanted the earthlings to think Mother Nature meant business. Before the first Earth vessel landed on Taz’s planet, Krish and the others wanted to know exactly how vulnerable humans were. The first wave of Tonans to aid Earth and strike a deal were Krish’s kind. Krish told Taz he sensed the scientists were hoping for mates; it wasn’t going to happen. There was talk the scientists were interested in Krish’s venture. Each side had its own agenda.

Taz didn’t know much of humans, having only heard of them recently. Taz was informed humans were weak and killed easily. He was a warrior, he wasn’t delusional and he didn’t believe it for a second. Why send him for information if they weren’t already positive? Taz was expendable. At four hundred years old he was one of the youngest Tonans left living. He knew Krish was wondering if Taz’s young age played a factor, if humans might be able to kill Taz’s kind. Time would tell.

The flight would take a week or more. The shuttle had a single cot, a table, chair and a place to regenerate. Taz brought a small cage in case he found an interesting animal. He’d have to hide anything he found from Krish. There was nothing more. The second Taz took off, he was bored. Images of Earth and what he could expect were programmed into the data base.

An image of a human female came up. Taz had seen the picture before. She was young with long dark hair and blue eyes. The first time he saw her, his mother came to mind. He hadn’t thought of her in years. Humans basically looked the same on the outside as Tonans, except Tonan and Castian males had no nipples. It was a mystery to Taz why a human male needed them. What purpose could they serve? Yet Krish stressed it was an anal sore point with humans. One human accidently saw the difference; how were Tonans to know of a human’s abnormality? The ignorant human commented rudely at what was thought to be a Tonan abnormality, pointing it out to three others—the four humans were dead now. Tonans were a tad touchy.