Commander Nykon Reev
Boom! Bam! Cling! The sound of our swords crashing together echoed in the training ground. I made a swipe at Rizim's feet; he jumped over it. He came back at me swinging towards my head, and I ducked and maneuvered behind him. We went at it for ten minutes, practicing. Rizim was a good soldier, but I was better.
We ended the fight. I shook Rizim's hand, and we moved off to the side of the training circle in order to let two other soldiers practice.
“Yeah, you did too. I thought you were going to knock me out for a second,” I smiled at him.
“Good. He spends most of the time with his mother, Keirin, and Telon,” I said not really wanting to talk about it.
“It is. But he stays with me in my new dwelling from time to time. I am still his father after all. He is still my son,” I said.
“Yes, that is true, Nykon. Do not forget that,” he said as he gave me a pat on the back and walked away.
It had been hard since Keirin had left me for another soldier a year before. We were a family for years. We had a five-year-old son together. I thought that I would be with Keirin forever. But one day I found her having sex with Telon.
I had been scheduled to train soldiers all day, as I always did. But when I got to the training grounds, I was not feeling like myself. I had come down with some sort of illness; I thought that it was just something that would pass. But it was not.
“What was that? You are all over the place. You are here to teach, but you were showing sloppy technique. That is not your typical fighting and training skills,” he said.
“I know, Captain. I woke up feeling ill, but I thought it would pass,” I said wiping the sweat from my forehead. I was burning up, and it wasn't just because of the heat from training in the sun: I was sick.
“Then get out of here! You know the rule. You do not come to training if you are sick. I cannot have you getting the other soldiers sick. Go home,” he said and stomped away.
“Yes, Captain,” I said. I left training and walked back to my living quarters. I had not left training early in years. I was very strict with myself.
I walked into my living quarters. They were large, comprising of five large rooms. I had a son that was four-years-old, but he was at the school this time of day.
“Keirin, I am home. The captain sent me home. I am not feeling well,” I said as I walked in and put my equipment by the side of the door. There was no response from her.
“Keirin?” I asked again. Still no response. She must be in the market or around the village somewhere, I figured. I just wanted to take a shower and get into bed. I needed to sleep and sweat the fever away. I opened the door to our bedroom, and heard moaning as soon as I opened it.
“What the hell? Fuck!” I said as I saw my wife in a compromising position with another soldier.
“Nykon? What are you doing home?” she said as she grabbed the sheets against her.
I looked at the soldier and growled. “Get the fuck out of here!” I shouted.
He scrambled out of bed and grabbed his uniform. He walked out the door naked. I looked at Keirin, my heart broken. I walked back-and-forth trying to get rid of my rage. I could have killed the soldier.
“Why Keirin? What are you thinking? We are a family. Does loyalty mean nothing to you?” I said.
“Answer my question, Keirin! How long have you been fucking that soldier?” I said with anger in my voice.
I turned to her in shock. It was not the answer I was expecting. I expected her to say a couple weeks or two months, not almost a full year. I was in shock. She had been lying to me for nine months. For nine months she was not the person I thought she was. She was not my loving wife. She was a disloyal, cheating female. I was so angry. I did not know what to do.
“That is none of your business. Anything I do is none of your business. You have ruined us!” I said.
I walked out and went to Rizim’s living quarters. He wasn't home; he was at training all day. But I knew the combination to get into his living quarters as we were close. I was glad for the fever because I would not have been able to sleep otherwise.
The Grantsions Zenkian were a loyal group, so it was shocking to find her cheating on me with another soldier.
After that, there was no coming back from that the betrayal. We separated and went our own ways. Keirin was now with Telon, but we shared in raising our son. I had him sometimes, but Keirin had him most of the time. She was his mother after all, and I was a soldier. I was often gone on missions, so it worked.
Now standing to the side as I drank some water taking a break from training, I thought of that moment. Even though more than a year had passed since that awful day.
“Nykon, I saw you out there. You are simply amazing,” a female Zenkian named Jessica said as she walked up to me.
“Thank you, Jessica. I did not know that you were watching,” I said knowing that she was flirting with me. I wasn't interested in her, or anyone at the moment, but I could indulge in a little flirtation every now and then.
“Yes, I came to refill the water holders. And I could not help but to watch you,” she said.
“That is a big compliment. Thank you. You will let me know if my skills become lacking,” I said.
“Yes, you work very hard. You deserve a hot meal. Perhaps you can come over tonight, and I can make you something hot,” she said flirtatiously.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I must decline,” I said as I walked away from her.
She was offended by my rejection, but I wasn't interested. I had to be honest. I was focused on my training and making sure that my skills were sharp. The Waysaw were always a threat. They invaded without warning. It had become worse since our village had become a sanctuary for human slaves that had run away from the Waysaw.
We didn't intend to become a sanctuary city; it happened slowly over time. At first only a few runaway human slaves would trickle in, and of course, we could not turn them away. But once we had signed an agreement to help Earth defend itself against the invading Waysaw, everything changed.
You see, a decade or so ago, we entered into an agreement with Earth. The Waysaw Zenkian had been invading Earth for many years to steal their resources and taking human females as slaves. The Waysaw planned to eventually conquer the humans and take over Earth. Because we were a rebel group against the Waysaw, this would not be good for us either. The stronger the Waysaw grew, the easier it would be for them to conquer us. We could not have that happen. Therefore, we joined up with the Earth soldiers to defend Earth from the Waysaw. We had Grantsions soldiers on bases on Earth teaching them how to fight against the Waysaw, but also fighting alongside Earth soldiers anytime a Waysaw invasion happened. It was becoming successful, and together, Earth and the Grantsions were able to fight back against the Waysaw. We were starting to deplete their armies. But the Waysaw was still a big threat.
Because of our agreement to fight alongside the Earth army, it also came to pass that we entered into an agreement to return human female slaves that ran away from the Waysaw city. If they made it to the village, or one of our scouts picked them up, we would take them in and offer them sanctuary. Then if the human females wished to return to Earth, they could do so on the next voyage, which happened every six months to a year.
I was all for this program. I didn't think the humans had any business being on our planet of Anvin. Having the human females using the Grantsions village as a sanctuary only brought us trouble. I wished that we would force all of them to return to Earth, but that wasn't the Grantsion way. Instead, we allowed those that wished to stay with us to stay as long as they wanted. I thought that was a crazy program and only made us a bigger target for the Waysaw.
But I didn't know then just how much humans being in our village was going to affect everything. How could I? I had never even seen her, that human female, until that day.
I walked with Rizim outside of the treatment rooms. We both went to see a doctor there after a very serious training session. We both hurt. Rizim had managed to get the blow of a club past my defenses, and it struck me in the rib just above my stomach. I had struck him on the arm. Now we were both paying for it and went to see the doctor to get some ointment.
“Here you are, Nykon. But I am scheduling you for a session tomorrow. I want you to apply this ointment tonight, and return tomorrow at your scheduled time. You will see and be treated by one of my assistants. That bruised area needs to be massaged daily, or it will grow a blood clot, and that will be more damaging. Is that understood?” the doctor said to me.
“Yes, I understand. I will return tomorrow,” I said, not wanting to waste any time in the treatment rooms, but I had no choice. I needed to get better quickly, and I had to follow the doctor's orders.
“Rizim, I want you to do the same,” he said handing him a bottle of the plant ointment.
We both walked out of the treatment rooms into the hallway. That's when I saw her. Two human females were walking toward us. But one of them caught my attention. I had never been with a human female before; it was forbidden among us Grantsions. But there were some that were able to get around this law for one reason or another. I was not one of them. I had been married to a Zenkian female, and I was only interested in Zenkian as far as romance went. But this female caught my attention in a very desirable way.
She was a petite female, shorter than the other female standing next to her. She had brown hair that was pulled up and braided and gave me an unobstructed view of her round face. Her big brown eyes locked onto me. Her pink bow mouth opened slightly. She was wearing the standard long dress that the Grantsions females wore, but it had been cut to fit her body. There was nothing striking about her; in fact, I would consider her plain. I had seen many human females, some of them stunning, but not this one. I think that was why I could not stop looking.
There was something different and mysterious about her, almost vulnerable even. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that I had to find out.