Chapter 17

 

 

He realized after he had left the village that he only had his blade on him. He should have asked ZenIM for a blaster. Running down the dirt pathway through the woods, his heart skipped a beat when he heard screams from females and young ones. The shuffling of the bushes ahead of him had him reaching for his blade tucked in the side of his boot.

“I see movement ahead!” Commander Kayley yelled out. They ran faster, spreading out a little.

Zander motioned for them to stop as he moved forward carefully toward the bushes moving around. He moved forward with a hand outstretched to move leaves out of the way, ready to strike with the blade in his other hand. He scented his sister at the last minute and lowered his weapon.

“Easy, it’s my sister.”

“Zander?” his sister asked, standing up and revealing her hiding spot.

“Thank the Goddess! Are you okay?” he asked as he pulled her into his arms. At least he tried to, but three or four young were clinging to her.

“I’m fine, just scared. I think most of the young ones made it out. They’re hiding in the bushes.” Lizetta, the rest of the young ones, and almost all of the village females came out into the open. He frowned because not everyone was there.

“Where is HonORa?”

“She told us to run and while we were making our escape, she stopped one of the males that was chasing after us. She took their attention off of us long enough so we could escape. She saved us.”

“I want you to go with the young ones back to the village. They have safe locations for everyone. Stay where it’s safe until I come for you.”

“Where are you going?” Lizetta asked worriedly.

“After HonORa.” He looked over at Commander Kayley. “Would you go with them and make sure they are safe?”

“Of course. Good luck.” Kayley took the hands of a couple of the young and Lizetta carried the smallest as they hurried down the dirt path toward the village.

Zander followed the other warriors through the jungle. A few more females were found hiding, but HonORa was nowhere to be seen. He used his senses and when he came to the opening where the garden was, he became furious. Two females were injured and several Colonial warriors were helping them. Where was his female?

He paused at an area where the grass and leaves were pressed down. Sniffing the air, he knelt down. HonORa had been there along with a male, one that had a spicy smell to him. Her fear permeated the area. She was definitely scared. Pride filled him at the thought that even as scared as she was, she protected his sister and the young ones. His female was amazing.

Standing up, he used his senses and followed her scent toward the trees. She was being chased by several males. He wanted a different view, so he climbed the nearest tree to the highest limb. At the top, he got a better view. A slope down the side of the mountain led to where a winding creek eventually fed into a river near the base of the mountain. Movement caught his eye.

Looking about a mile or so ahead of him along the edges of the creek, several males were searching for something. He didn’t see HonORa, but he suspected she was what they were looking for. Time to hunt.

One thing his people were good at was moving through the trees. It helped when hunting dangerous beasts who traveled on the ground. Zander jumped to another tree making sure to land on a large limb that would hold his weight. It did it so deftly that the tree barely moved giving away his position. He continued using the trees jumping from one to the other. Soon he would run out of trees to use as the wooded area opened up to the river.

Jumping down, he jogged through the jungle. He was a great hunter. His mind mapped the area and he could run with the full pathway. He knew where the males were located and would be able to run around them. Taking them out was the last thing he needed to do. Something inside him was telling him that he had to get to HonORa first. She was in danger.

As he came close to where the males were, he was glad to see that ZenIM and his males from the village were watching, hunting them. Zander had a better angle on them. He came up on the males when their backs were turned.

“You have no honor!” Zander yelled loud enough so that ZenIM would hear him.

One of the males tried to fire his blaster at Zander, but he was ready for that. He trained specifically on how to deflect from such blasts. His people were also very fast. He swiftly moved to the side to avoid the hit. Another warrior tried to grab him but he moved back then grasped the male by the throat with his artificial hand and lifted him straight up into the air leaving the male’s feet dangling helplessly.

“What…are you?” The male choked out barely breathing. Zander sniffed at him and scented and scented HonORa’s scent stronger on this one. It infuriated him.

“Your worst nightmare,” with that Zander threw the male against the nearest tree. The hit was hard enough to cause damage as the male cried out in pain and fell to the ground. The other males looked at him in fear. He would take them down one by one but…there was no time. HonORa was in trouble.

“I’ve got this Zander, go get your female,” ZenIM told him as he and his warriors took hold of the attackers.

Closing his eyes he used his senses to pin point HonORa’s direct. Moving at a fast pace he followed the creek. There was a voice in his head telling him to keep looking for HonORa, that she was in trouble. Half a mile from where the intruders were, he caught sight of something floating in the water. It was a head bobbing up and down, then it disappeared beneath the current.

“No!”

Zander didn’t think twice, he jumped off the edge into the creek. Using long arm strokes, he swam out to where she had gone under. The water was a little muddy, making it impossible to see under the water, but he was able to stand on the rocky bottom and used his hands to reach beneath the water. Finally, the tips of his fingers touched fabric. He lurched forward as far as he could. Once he had a tight grip on the fabric he dragged it upward to the surface.

HonORa’s wet dark locks covered her pale face. He pulled her into his arms and waded to the embankment. It worried him that she was unconscious.

Laying her down on the ground, he touched her face with concern. “HonORa? My love, wake up.” He laid his head close to her chest to listen for a heartbeat, but he couldn’t hear one.

“No, Goddess KatieRI, please don’t let her die. Please.” He didn’t care that he had tears in his eyes. His heart was breaking at losing the only female he ever loved.

“Breathe for her.”

He jumped, looking around. No one was there but he heard a voice, or thought he did.

“My child, breathe air into her.”

It was definitely a female voice in his head. He didn’t understand it, but he would do what the voice said if it brought HonORa back.

Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his and breathed into her. He saw her chest rise but she didn’t wake. He did it again and again. Just when he was about to give up and call out for ZenIM, her body jerked and HonORa turned to her side to cough water out of her lungs.

“HonORa, my love. Are you all right?”

She turned back into his arms and looked up at him. “Zander?”

“Yes, I have you.”

“I need to…tell you,” she coughed out, still taking in as much oxygen as possible.

“Don’t talk honey, just breathe.”

“I have to tell you…I love you.”

His heart swelled with so much love for her, but this wasn’t the place he wanted to express their feelings. She needed a medic to check her over and she need to be moved somewhere a lot safer. There were intruders out there that had attacked her and the others.

“Shhh, no talking. I need to get you to safety. That takes priority.”

He picked up her and began walking in the direction he remembered that he came from. Luckily, there was a stone path crossing back to the other side of the creek. He easily maneuvered over the stones to the other side. Then he walked through the jungle, making sure to steer as far away from where he had left ZenIM and the intruders.

HonORa passed out again and was shivering. ZenIM approached him when he got back to the stone path leading to the village.

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. She took a lot of water into her lungs. I thought she had died when I first pulled her out of the water. She needs a medic.”

“One of the warriors is a trained medic. I’ll have him take a look at her.”

“Did you catch all of the attackers involved?”

“Yes, though the one that you fought didn’t live. He suffered.”

“Good.” Zander had no sympathy for a male who would attack innocent females and young ones. “Get the medic to come quickly. I’m taking her to my cottage.”

*****

HonORa heard voices all around her but she couldn’t focus enough to figure out who was speaking. One voice she did know and it pulled at her, making her long to be with them.

“Please my love, don’t leave me.”

She knew that voice. It belonged to a male that was was dear to her. The voice wanted her to come back through the water, but it was too cold and it hurt to go back through it. She had managed to get to the other side and was pain free and floating along the embankment. A peace was filling her but that voice was persistent.

“Please, HonORa, I need you.”

“Who is that?” she wondered out loud. It was a male and he sounded so familiar.

“It is your true bond mate,” a new voice spoke, much closer than before. A female voice she recognized as the Goddess KatieRI.

“I don’t have a bond mate.”

“Yes you do, I brought him to you as a gift for your service. Are you going to leave him now?”

“You mean Zander?”

“Yes. Zander Bardo is your true bond mate. Not many are gifted with a bond mate. They should be treasured above all else.”

“Am I dead?”

“You have not crossed the line to the afterlife yet. Is that what you wish to do?”

Did she? Was she ready to give up her life, give up Zander to go to the afterlife, a place of peace and love? Images of her brief time with Zander flashed before her eyes. Those short moments she’d had with him meant more to her than all the years she had been on her own. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more time with him, to have a family with him. Help him raise Lizetta so that she would one day have her own family.

“I want to be with Zander,” she told the Goddess.

“Then open your eyes my child.”