“Members of an Earth unit were hidden on the ship in some hole my men never thought to check after we initially boarded!” he angrily rasped. “Can you imagine the extent of cooperation Aigean’s staff used to get them aboard this ship?” His chest rose and fell with fury and his hands wrapped around his bald, tattooed head again. “Is there no sense of duty among my own guards?”
“I rather think your guards were led by example. Fornax may have provided them with a bit too much entertainment and not enough discipline,” Soldar advised. “It certainly seems they were remiss in their duties.”
“This ends here and now!” D’uhr shouted.
All movement and general hubbub ceased once the admiral had everyone’s attention.
D’uhr paced and snarled for a moment before he issued his last orders for the men and women lined up against the Venus.
“I will find out when this happened. I demand an accounting of my officers’ whereabouts at all times. Anyone on duty when these enemy soldiers were rescued will be skinned alive and their testicles roasted. Am I clear?” he roared.
The Condorians still well enough to stand jerked to attention and remained silent.
“Fornax, I want these insects squashed!” D’uhr shouted as he pointed toward the Venus’ victims. “Incinerate them. Behead the fighters who were smuggled aboard and mount their skulls on pikes. Record the images and send them on full broadcast to every known receiver in the galaxy.”
“Father, such a broadcast could be traced,” Fornax warned.
D’uhr grabbed his son by the front of his leather vest and shook him violently before letting him go. “It matters not. We will not be in this sector when this location is plotted. I want the allied superiors aware of my wrath. Now carry out my orders.”
Fornax displayed a vicious smile. “If you will allow me, Father … I ask permission to bring forth one of the crew.” He turned his gaze toward Soldar. “This is an opportunity for your Craetorian lover to prove his devotion. He can take one of these maggots’ heads and present it to you with his own hands.”
D’uhr displayed a snarling smile, nodded, and slowly faced Soldar. “What say you, my bronzed lover? You should be glad for the opportunity to confirm your loyalty.”
Soldar opened his mouth to refuse, but Fornax and a burly guard were already dragging one of the doomed crew forward. This soon-to-die victim wore a blue robe. It trailed in the dust as Fornax threw the man down again. The harried figure hesitated for a moment then struggled to kneel at
his
feet. As this individual tried to catch his breath, the guards grabbed his hood and pulled it back. The face that turned upward was one Soldar recognized. He froze as his beloved little brother met his shocked stare. “
Cordis
,” he whispered.
“Father,” Fornax loudly announced, “your lover is not the only Craetorian aboard. And Soldar even recognizes the man!” He pointed toward Cordis. “I think it’s no coincidence that he’s here.”
D’uhr grabbed a long section of Soldar’s hair and pulled it. “Tell me you have nothing to do with this Craetorian. He can be nothing less than a sworn enemy or he would not be in the company of wounded fighters.”
Images raced through Soldar’s head. He saw himself and Cordis playing in the gardens behind their family’s country estate. Then they were laughing and chasing each other through fields of wildflowers. He saw memories of a day when they raced home, and their beautiful mother opened her arms to joyfully embrace them.
Deep raging anger, regret, and protectiveness all surged up from some dark place. He heard D’uhr questioning him. Fornax stood nearby and wore a vindictive expression on his face. Soldar could no longer make out D’uhr’s words, but he understood the accusatory inflection in the Condorian’s voice.
In that moment, Cordis smiled.
His
little brother put the palm of his right hand over his heart. This was a customary tradition of their ancestors. One he hadn’t seen his sibling use before. The gesture was a show of great love.
A long knife was shoved into Soldar’s right hand. He didn’t know who put it there nor did he care. He had just been ordered to prove his loyalty by taking his brother’s head.
And who had made the sickening command? Who was screaming and petulantly waving his arms in the air as if he was a small child in need of discipline? Who would destroy his world and everything good, clean, and decent in the galaxy?
D’uhr!
Soldar began to shake. The need for vengeance mingled with shame and self-loathing.
What have I done?
He sensed the coming change and eagerly embraced it.
Lyra could barely see out her left eye. But even with impaired vision and the environment working against her, she could still watch the enemy frozen in mid-gesture. All their attention was on one, very large Craetorian.
From her vantage point near Myranda and the injured allied soldiers who lay against the hull of the ship, she saw Soldar’s face and body begin to transform. He dropped the long knife that had been shoved into his hand and he stiffened.
His lower jaw began to protrude and very long fangs dropped from his top mandible. The muscle of his body grew until veins seemed dangerously close to popping from beneath the skin. Sharp, animal-like claws extended at least eight inches from his fingertips. The clothing he wore was close to ripping. His hair grew several inches and changed from golden blond to silver or white. Given the lack of light, it was difficult to tell the exact shade, but that was the only part of the shifting she questioned. Everything else stood out in stark relief, despite the haze and dust.
His eyes glowed red and actually expanded back and up, making them several times larger and tilted. His ears elongated into points that pierced through his thick mane.
If she had to describe him now, he was like some cross between a legendary werewolf she’d read about as a schoolchild and some new species of feral lion. Even the color of his skin seemed to grow darker by several hues. It was as if his body was attempting to assume the color of the landscape.
The overall change was simultaneously hideous and fantastic. While she watched, she sensed absolute, utter fear in the Condorians. Those with weapons began to slowly lower the muzzles. Their eyes widened so the whites were clearly visible. It was like they were afraid of attracting the creature’s attention.
No one made a sound except for Soldar.
He opened his be-fanged jaws, drew air into his lungs, and roared like a beast declaring its territory and supremacy. The sound of the deep bellow filtered through the landscape and into canyons many yards away.
He curled the lips of his upper jaw, and slowly brought his arms forward in a bunched position similar to the way body builders posed to display massive pecs.
The leather of his high boots split and fell from his legs in long strips. His feet grew and his toenails lengthened just as his fingernails had.
When it appeared the transformation was complete, he swung his lion-wolf head to the left and right. Lyra felt her heart beating so hard that everyone near must surely hear it. Her mouth went dry and sweat broke out on her forehead. But some instinct made her pick up one foot, then the other. Even as others remained immobile, she slowly stumbled forward.
Soldar swung his massive head toward her and lowered his chin. The effect was chilling. His red eyes narrowed and he glared at her menacingly. He lunged forward taking in yards as he did so.
She heard Myranda whispering commands to stop, but those words seemed to come from another reality. A few seconds more and she didn’t hear the entreaties at all. Sol still barreled toward her like some rabid beast. His muscular arms pumped as if doing so would generate speed. Then he stopped a few feet from her, in a sliding whirl of dust and rock. With her presence so much closer, he issued another long, warning growl.
His eyes glowed more fiercely as he stared straight at her. As far as she knew, everyone else remained still. He leaned toward her and she felt his hot breath against her cheeks. Their noses almost touched and drool fell from his jaws in thick, foamy strands.
She never lowered her gaze.
What seemed like an eternity later, his growls faded until he made no sound at all. As she stared straight into his eyes, his ears slowly turned forward. It was as if he was listening. For a long moment neither of them shifted their stances.
That was when she knew a heart could actually break.
Tears clouded her vision and fell down her cheeks. Salt in them stung wounds on her face as sadness overwhelmed her.
At first site, she’d assumed he’d tear her apart. Perhaps she’d moved toward him so he would. Her body ached, but repeated blows from a drunken Condorian guard were nothing compared to the pain in her soul.
How could she have fallen in love with this self-serving, devious man?
He could have shape shifted into any horrific creature and it wouldn’t have mattered if he’d actually been the hero she’d made of him. Everything she knew about Soldar Nar was a lie and she’d had a lot of time to think on that as she’d been beaten. Her once beloved Craetorian warrior was in the company of murdering savages who would butcher everyone aboard the Venus, including his own brother.
There was no doubt in her heart that Cordis was an ally. D’uhr hadn’t yet made the familial connection between the men. When Cordis was dragged forward, the look she’d seen on Soldar’s face was worth a million words. The agony of D’uhr’s command forced his shifting experience. He’d been unable to control his emotions, and now he stood before her as some manifestation of his own, horrible guilt.
In a cruel twist of fate, he would experience what millions of others had at the enemy’s hands. He’d see his sibling die. Worse, he’d see it done by his own hands. And he was sleeping with the man who’d ordered it.
There was nothing she could do to him that God wouldn’t. For however long he lived, he’d have his sibling’s blood all over him. She could almost pity him.
Almost
.
The beast before her tilted his head one way, then the other.
No language would ever come out of those misshapen jaws. His canine-like tongue couldn’t be capable of forming words. But she believed he was aware of everything. Somewhere in that animalistic shell, a man was still alive and he knew what he’d done. His anger had driven him toward her, intending to rip something apart. What was left of any conscience made him stop when she confronted him.
She slowly shook her head, turned away, and prayed he’d rip her back open. With her heart smashed, someone or some
thing
needed to end her suffering. He whined plaintively. She sensed he wanted her to face him again but there was nothing left to see.
He’d made his choice, she’d make hers.
She stumbled back toward Myranda and was quite ready to die with the others.
• • •
Soldar reached out for her, his palms upturned in a supplicating gesture. He knew he’d changed and recognized the unmoving terror on the faces of everyone present. But seeing the pain in Lyra’s eyes was devastating.
He dropped his arms and stared at the back she presented. There were things she didn’t understand and he could never explain. Even now, at the end of their lives, he still loved her. Nothing would ever stop that.
That man — the one who’d lain with D’uhr —
wasn’t
him. Memories bled into one another, but his soul, heart, and conscience all denied that foppish, self-serving coward who’d so readily ingratiated himself with the enemy. He had not betrayed his world and had never been imprisoned on Signus Mondi or any other penal colony.
Something was wrong with the way his past and present were all colliding like some bizarre collage in his brain. He raised his clawed hands toward his head as a stream of images threatened to blind him.
A sudden scuffling sound made him whirl in an instant. His focus immediately returned.
Fornax was now positioned behind Cordis and had cruelly grabbed a section of his hair. With it, the Condorian pulled Cordis’ head backward and exposed his neck. In Fornax’s right hand was the sword
he’d
been order to use.
Soldar snarled and bunched his muscles to bolt to his brother’s defense, but Fornax manifested one of the more evil grins Soldar had ever seen and raised the sword higher.
“If you can shape shift back, you’d better do it!” Fornax warned. “It won’t stop me from killing whoever this is, but I can do it slow or quick … you decide.”
Soldar felt intense anger and hatred again. Even if he’d wanted to, there was no way to calm himself. Instinct told him that controlling his emotions was the only way to resume his real persona.
D’uhr moved to Fornax’s side and pointed toward Cordis.
“Who is he?” D’uhr demanded. “Do as my son says and shift back now.”
Soldar looked down at Cordis. His brother knew how to get out of such a compromised position. They’d practiced it as cadets many times. He was either injured or afraid for
his
sake. And that he couldn’t stomach.
His animal alter ego wouldn’t be quashed. There was no reason to return to his real body as long as he could fight better in this one.
He lowered his gazed to the dirt, and breathed deeply.
Cordis’ scent came to him. It was recognizable in its cleanliness and its lack of fear. He closed his eyes for a moment and hunched downward in a subservient position. His acute hearing picked up the most subtle movement indicating the two Condorians had moved closer together. He didn’t need to see either of them to know exactly where they were.
From a crouching position, he propelled himself forward with such speed and ferocity that no volley from any weapon would stop his forward momentum, even if the guards had the presence of mind to gather their wits and fire.
With his body in flight, he raised his head and roared. His outstretched, clawed hands hit both Condorians at the same time and sent them sprawling many yards away. D’uhr had time to draw his sidearm, but it went flying to the left. The sword Fornax held to Cordis’ neck also took flight and swirled some yards away.