Taurian growled low in his throat as he marched to his father's chambers in the maze of underground tunnels and caves.

Darkness pressed against the sides the further he went down into the earth but his Renjerian sight adjusted quickly. His father needed to know of Kohl's return and that he had a human woman with him. Yeah, Dad's going to love that. It would be good to see the old man's reaction when he realized that his favorite son had disobeyed his orders of not traveling to Earth or consorting with the humans. Taurus loved his brother, all of them. But the risk posed to their kind in bringing a human here was too dangerous. Both for her and the other Renjerians. Tryns scented out humans like zyants did sweet berries. Taurian didn’t want to tell his father about Kohl’s woman, but the safety of their kind was more important.

“Father, Kohl's been found,” he said as he entered his father's lair. The cave was the largest in the labyrinth and the walls were smooth from his father’s often temper and fire. “He's unconscious, but Desmonda is tending him now.”

His father blinked his serpentine eyes and rose, snorting. “I smell...a human?” He roared. “Who dare has gone against my decree?” His scaled head moved back and forth, then paused. “Taurian, you reek of the female Earthling.”

Taurian chuckled. His dad knew he was always a rule breaker. “Not me this time. I had to carry Kohl's woman here.”

“No human is allowed in our domain!” his father boomed and the dirt ceiling crumpled in patches, raining down dirt on both of them for a second. “Fly her home or on the other side of the planet, just get her away from Kohl. Offer her gold, humans like riches.”

Taurian didn't think this female would take a bribe to leave his brother. He'd seen the fire in her eyes when she faced a full-grown Renjerian, what she would call a dragon in her world...and his brother was a runt compared to the rest of them.

“She tried to get him here on her own, going against the river's current while she pulled him along. Yes, he was and still is in his human form, but I doubt she'll go away for payment.” The human loved his brother and Taurian had never been as jealous. He’d slept with plenty of women, but none looked at him like the human did his brother.

“So, she's infatuated with him...or our kind?” He wished his spiked tail. “Bring her to me.”

“No.” Their concern should be his brother and the enemy not scaring harmless human, making her run off.

“What did you say?” His father shot out a stream of fire.

“Hear me out.” He raised a talon. “Let Kohl be the one to turn her away if you truly want them apart. Anything less and both will resent you and their bond will strengthen.”

The fire sizzled along the rocks, turning them bright red. His father snapped his teeth, then nodded. “Perhaps you are right. Send for me when your brother awakes.”

* * *

Taurian stomped to his brother’s chamber to check on him when the human woman cried out, “Help! Someone, please help.” She paced up and down the winding hallway.

“Hush human,” he yawned. All her shouting would wake the dead. “It won’t bode well for you to wake every Renjerian with your screeching.” Some might even eat her to keep her quiet.

“Kohl's having a seizure. Hurry!” Unafraid, she grasped his talon, pulling him toward Kohl.

Inside the chamber, his brother twitched and twisted. Taurian rushed to his side. “Peace, brother.” When he reached out for Kohl, the vile stench of the venom hit his nostrils. “He still has some of the blasted venom in him. I'm going to have to suck it out of him...it’s too close to his heart.”

“T-that doesn't work.” She swallowed and back peddled when he growled at her. Finally, a proper response she should give a Renjerian. “At least, that's what I've heard a-and you could infect yourself as well.”

“I'm not as puny as my brother nor half-human so my immune system is stronger. More able to handle small amounts of poison. This is the only way we have of getting the venom out.” Without awaiting her response, he grazed Kohl's chest with a claw. The blood bubbled up to the surface. Red mixed with the black poison. Then Taurian sucked at the wound, spitting every few seconds at the cave floor in a corner.

Deep in the caves beneath them, a roar echoed, sending a vibration of worry snaking through him. The battle cry? Here, so close to their hiding place…had the Tryns followed her somehow? He’d been stupid to bring her to their home. He ground his back teeth realizing he should’ve left the damn woman on her own.

“What was that?” she squeaked.

He spat out Kohl's blood and wiped his maw. “A warning. Tryns must be nearby. Stay here.” He pushed past her.

“What about Kohl?”

“I've done all I can for him, but he would want me to protect our family and not worry about him.” When Taurian left, he took one last look at his brother. Kohl’s breathing was labored and his skin gray. He hoped he’d gotten all the venom out, but he had to go. More Renjerian roars filled the air nearby. The enemy was close…too close.

Taurian fled through the chambers to a second exit that was a higher altitude and burst outside. Swarms of Tryns littered the mountain below him. They searched for the cave entrance he guessed and if they’d found it a few hours ago, the vermin would’ve poured inside already. None of the enemy acknowledged him and the others and he breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded to his siblings and few cousins to span out. If they could fry all here, they might be able to keep their cave homes without fear of attack.

“Come and fight, Renjerians!” a base voice called.

Shielding his gaze from the rising sun, Taurian gasped. The beast was eight feet tall and a Tryn. What magic was this? All Tryns were four or five feet tall. Another giant Tryn stepped from behind a tree and another. Taurian spun as the horde surrounded him and his other brothers and sisters.

“Fly and fire!” Taurian shouted and shot up into the air. But before he could gain altitude of more than a few feet, one of the huge Tryns leaped onto his side. The beast’s claws cut into his scales. He roared, doing a barrel roll to knock the enemy lose, but it held fast.

“Give us the human woman and we’ll leave you in peace,” it said.

“Lies!” Their reputation on his planet only had shown that they lied and cheated, doing anything to gain an advantage. But why did they want the human woman? Was it because of her pregnancy?

The Tryn bit onto the edge of Taurian’s wing near his shoulder blade. He yelled and flapped his wings harder, soaring higher and higher. “So you’re envious of my wings? Let’s give you your first flying lesson. How to fall.”

Tryns did have black leather wings, but they were much smaller compared to their bulky, hairy black bodies and unable to lift them more than a few inches off the ground. The giant Tryn smacked into Taurian’s side. Claws raked into him as he rose higher. The mountain fading below them as he and the Tryn hit the first layer of clouds.

“Take us back down!” the Tryn grunted, but didn’t release its hold on Taurian’s back.

“Don’t like heights?” Taurian reached around to grasp the enemy in his jaws, nonetheless, the beast clung to him. A blast of fire should loosen him. He’d enjoy watching the creature fall and splatter on the rocks below. Then he’d go after the next one and the next until his home was safe.

“I told you to—” before the Tryn could finish, lightning flashed in front of them.

Taurian pulled up short. Shit! Renjerians rode the bolts to other worlds. It was enough energy to power his and the others of his kinds’ comms embedded in their wrists and nanities flowing in their bodies to take them wherever they wanted to go. Problem was, with a passenger, the energy could get confused and take them into the middle of space or the bottom of a volcano or a mix of where this creature wanted to be and wherever Taurian thought of.

“Enough! Time to die.” Taurian shot out his fire, but the Tryn dodged the flames by hiding behind his wing.

“I will kill you for this,” it seethed and bit into his wing again and again.

Taurian roared and twisted to remove the leech when an orange brightness illuminated everything around him. Air sucked out of his lungs like a vacuum. His insides burned. Bones snapped and muscles spasmed like he was being ripped apart from the inside out. Pain lacerated every inch of him. His wings buckled, burrowing into his back. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t shout. Couldn’t do anything but ride the warped waves of agony as they burst inside him and continued pounding him.

With another flash, the force flung Taurian into the ground. He grunted from the impact and the air finally rushed back into his lungs. Everywhere hurt. And the flesh underneath his scales felt exposed as the wind brushed against his body. A strangled gasp escaped his lips as he opened his eyes and rose.

“No, no, no!” he shouted. His scales were gone. No, his entire Renjerian body was now a freaking human? How the fuck is this possible? He’d never transformed into anything before—so why a man? Was it from Kohl’s blood somehow?

This wasn’t Renjer. He and the Tryn had traveled through space to this planet, wherever it was. He spun, searching for the Tryn he’d come here with, but found nothing except a small home nestled beside a smelly swamp.

“Get off my property, naked man, before I blast a hole in you!” a human woman shouted holding a metal stick.

Taurian smiled. Earth. He hadn’t been here in a millennia.

“I’m warning you.” She cocked the weapon, pointing it at him.

The item she held was strange, neither an ax or a sword or an arrow. He stepped forward. “You’re in grave danger, there’s a Try—”

She clicked the weapon and an explosion sounded and a chunk of earth erupted in front of him.

“Last chance, pervert. Next one won’t miss.”

How is it she used magic against him? A Renjerian! Maybe she was the reason his form had changed to that of a mere human…but one with magical powers. He remembered the human name for her kind from when they were burnt at the stake. “Witch! Turn me back now or I’ll flay and roast you for my meal.”

“Wrong response.” She clicked the weapon.

A blast hit him in the chest. He flew backward, pain radiating through his torso. Blood coated his front. If he survived this, he was going to kill her.