Chapter 16

 

 

Zander walked out of the cave where the Morinian male elders were being kept. They had finally given a few coordinates where Morin activity had been suspected. It would take a few weeks to months to investigate each one. If he chose to be a part of the investigation, it would mean he would have to leave Lizetta and HonORa here. Things weren’t quite right between him and HonORa. If he left now, she may not wait for him. Did he want to risk losing her?

“Are you going to go to investigate those coordinates?” Commander Kayley asked, coming up to stand next to him.

“I’m not sure yet.”

“It’s your chance to seek revenge.”

“I know.” He just couldn’t imagine leaving his family here while he left them. HonORa was part of his family now, a part of him. He thought of her that way but they he left things…she may not be willing to be a part of that family.

“I’ll have to talk to my sister about it.”

“I would go myself, but I have to wait here for the Katierans to send a transport. I’ll be helping to search for a new unoccupied planet that will support all of my people.”

Guilt filled him as he realized that he had been neglecting finding the remaining Norads a real home. He had put his seeking justice above everything. Maybe what HonORa had said about him being consumed with revenge was right. Even if he found the Morins, killing them would not bring back his parents or any of the other Norads that had been killed. Revenge was not the way to honor their memories.

Suddenly, some of the Colonial warriors rushed past them, speaking into their comm links. Zander’s intuition told him something was wrong. He followed them toward the courtyard where ZenIM stood giving orders to other warriors. Commander Kayley was right there with him.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

“There’s movement on the ground spotted a few miles away from the village. I’m sending out warriors to hunt them down.”

“What about the females? They’re still out in the gardens,” Zander asked filling dread fill him.

“I have males already guarding them, but I’m sending more.”

“How did this happen? I thought you said that this place was secure,” Kayley asked.

“Whoever these trespassers are, they don’t know exactly where the village is located, they are not traveling in a direct path here, but veering off to the perimeter.”

“Straight for the gardens?” Zander asked.

ZenIM nodded, “They could find the gardens or they could miss the location altogether.”

“I’m going to the gardens,” Zander told him.

“I’ll go as well,” Kayley added.

“Fine, follow Warrior TrET. I have several warriors staying here in the village and will direct people to safe locations. LarIS is sending help. I’m going to hunt down the intruders.”

Zander felt a fear inside, similar to what he felt when he was on Norad when the Morins had attacked. He would do everything he could to prevent the same destruction from happening again. He would not lose HonORa now that he had found her.

*****

HonORa smiled as a group of young ones at varying ages were playing hide and seek. They ran past her to find a place to hide in the hip-high leafy produce. Lizetta and a few of the older girls were watching over the little ones, making sure they didn’t get hurt. Having a role to play was the perfect thing for Lizetta to get her mind moving forward.

“Are you going to mate with the blue male?” It was spoken by one of the villagers she had made friends with, CarOLa.

“His name is Zander Bardo. Why would you think that?”

CarOLa gave her a knowing look. “I noticed how the two of you look at each other.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I also know that when you took the containers of stew to the Morinians who remained in their cottages the other day, you didn’t return to the village square.”

“I was tired.”

“Rumors are surfacing about seeing you disappear into Zander’s cottage and not coming out for a couple of hours.”

 She gave the other female a stern look. “I think people need to mind their own business.”

“It’s okay, Priestess. We would all love to see you settled down with a mate. You deserve happiness. We just thought maybe you would mate with ZenIM. He fancies you.”

HonORa snorted. “I think ZenIM fancies all available females.”

“He’s looking for a mate. There’s not many choices among us villagers. It is not a comfortable situation for him to mate with someone he watched grow up.”

“There are plenty of females living in the Colonial prime city.”

“That is true, but not many would want to leave the city to come up into the mountains to help ZenIM lead his people.”

“If she was his mate, she would have to move.”

“Are you willing to move wherever Zander wants to go?”

There was the crux of the issue, the one she used to push Zander away. “I don’t know.”

“I would think if someone loved the person enough, they would do anything to be with them, even move,” CarOLa said.

“I know you’re right. When people are in a relationship, there are compromises that have to be made, that each person must make.” She had said those same words many times to young couples when they sought the goddess’s help with their relationships.

“I had hoped that you would make the Colony your home. Zander and his sister seem to fit in perfectly here.”

“There are only thirty of his people left and he won’t abandon them.” She knew that to her core and admired his commitment.

“Once there Morinians leave, there will be plenty of available cottages,” CarOLa told her.

They both turned to look at a laughing Lizetta. HonORa smiled at the sight. “She has blossomed since coming here, I think.”

“She’s so serious, it’s good to see that smile. It lights up the world,” CarOLa noted.

“It does,” HonORa agreed.

“I hope things work out for you, Priestess, with your blue male. You make an interesting and lovely couple.”

“Thank you.” HonORa didn’t correct her about them being a couple. There were still too many things they would need to work out first, but she did know that life with Zander would always be an adventure. Hope filled her at the thought of a life with him. She was falling in love with Zander. She prayed to the goddess that they could overcome their obstacles.

“Halt everyone!” one of the warriors in charge of security called out.

Everyone, including the young ones, stopped and waited for the clear signal. HonORa frowned, not liking how long it was taking. Her heart was racing and she had a prickly sensation on the back of her neck. Something bad was about to happen.

“We have intruders. All females and young need to head back to the—” the warrior never finished, as he took a direct hit from behind. He fell to his knees. “Everyone get down!”

Oh Goddess, no! HonORa didn’t think twice, she ran toward where Lizetta had been playing with the young ones. She was fifteen feet away when a laser blast hit the ground in front of her making her skid to a halt. She looked up at Lizetta, who was holding several little ones close to her.

“Keep low and head back to the village!”

“I don’t want to leave you!” Lizetta cried out, keeping hers and the young ones clinging to her squatting down in the shrubs.

“They need you. Go!”

Lizetta picked up the smaller child and urged the other young ones to run with her toward the trees. Good, the trees would give them coverage. Unfortunately, one of the males attacking their group started to run after them, holding his blaster out preparing to fire. She couldn’t let that happen. No honorable male would fire on young ones. Goddess, give me strength.

HonORa jumped up from her hiding area and ran after the warrior, tackling him from behind. She surprised him by the attack and he lost his weapon. It left her one-on-one with a male that was twice her size. What was she thinking? Her aura-reading abilities wouldn’t help her fight him. Her only chance was to run and hide until help came…and she knew without a doubt that Zander would come for her.

Standing up, she stomped on the male’s private parts—hard. He groaned out in pain. She bent to grab his weapon then headed for the trees, but in a different direction than where Lizetta had gone. She hoped to lead them away from the young ones and the other females. She stopped right before entering the trees and fired at the attackers to get their attention. It worked, they were now focusing on her instead of the young ones. Goddess watch over them, please.

Running through the trees, she heard more blasters being fired but none seemed to be close to her. A female screaming in the distance tore at her heart. Who were these males and why did they attack helpless females and young ones? That was so dishonorable. The sound of foot steps following her had her pick up her pace.

Her breathing was labored and she didn’t know how much further she could run. Coming across a narrow creek, she thought that the water might help cover her tracks. Slowly she started to cross the rocky creek. The water was deeper than she thought, in some places coming up as high as her hip. The water was cool and the rocks were slippery. She lost her footing and slipped. The strong current pulled her under. Her last thought was that she wished she had told Zander that she loved him.