Chapter Twenty-five

The beast came running out of the cell it was placed in. His eyes were focused on the creature before him. It was small, but he wouldn’t have pity for it. That creature hurt the female only he was allowed to do that. It had speckled skin a combination of red and green making it especially easy to find in the monotone brown surroundings. The only red here was the fire.

He chased it until the creature was caught between a wall and him. His lips turned up showing the lethal teeth in his mouth. He roared before he grabbed the creature.

It screamed for help using the words the male inside of him used. He raked his claws down his back wanting the words to stop. Now it was whimpering pleading for mercy. He had shown none to the female, there would be none for him. He grabbed the creature between both claws and pulled, ripping his body to shreds. To be sure it was dead he dropped half of him in one fire and the other half in a different fire.

He sat and watched as the two halves of him burned. There was a feeling in his chest. He found the word peace to describe it. The creature would no longer endanger the female. His head was shaking because nothing was making sense soon he would kill the female. Why did he exact vengeance for her?

It didn’t matter; he would kill her and then find a way out of here.

“Lucca.”

He roared how dare someone call him that name.

“You don’t like being called Lucca? How the mighty have fallen. Your beast has taken you over, and you will kill the female you proclaimed to love. When you’re done, your soul will belong to The Darkness. You thought you could escape your fate; you were wrong.”

“Elandra.” The male supplied the name. He was the enemy. He wanted something that would enslave the beast. There was no enslaving him; he would also kill this being.

He stood the other creature’s body was just a memory now. He looked around to see there were now three beings in the area, he would kill all three of them, then no one would ever challenge him again.

The lust for blood sizzled through his veins as he tracked the Elandra creature.

“Yes, I can feel your bloodlust. The easier to take you over to call you ours. Kill the female. I know your kind hates females. You slaughter them whenever you catch the sight of one. I’ve even caught the other male for you. Kill him first to stroke your desire to kill her. Join me, Lucca. You two can be a puppet of The Darkness.”

What was this puppet he spoke of? He ran to give him a killing blow, but he disappeared and reappeared at his side.

“You can’t kill me. Only The Darkness can kill his toys. I am one of his toys the thing he likes to punish in horrible gut wrenching ways. You’re a doll compared to The Darkness. Soon you will understand. Here kill the treat I have for you.”

He let the other male go.

“What did you do to me?” Harold tried to vanish but couldn’t leave.

“I made it so that you won’t be able to leave this little area of hell. You’ll be here until you’re dead. I’m sure that will be soon.”

The male’s screeching was bothering him, but he ignored it. He came to kill the female, and that’s what he would do. He headed toward her.

The shackle on her leg opened giving her the ability to run, Lucca was after her, and he didn’t look friendly. His legs were so much longer than hers that she knew he was playing with her. Having watched him tear that creature apart wasn’t giving her warm cuddly feelings.

Her back was against the cliff, and she debated trying to climb it before she took off again. There was no need for her to try to make herself as tall as he was.

She ran for what felt like hours. The longer she ran, the more tired she became. Holding out her hand she called to the wind. It wasn’t coming. She was on her own. Not knowing what else to do, she pushed herself into a small crevice in the cliff.

Her breathing was much too fast; he would find her by sound if he hadn’t seen where she went to. Both Harold and the other male were watching her. They knew what was going to happen, and they were laughing. They acted like she was filming a commercial.

‘For a good time, call Tempest.’ It would end with a sultry wink and a flash of the dagger she’d be carrying. The only one who could have a good time with her was Lucca, and he didn’t want her anymore.

Her breath caught in her throat when he laid down in front of the opening.

“Bruiser, you found me.”

He shook his head trying to escape that name. That’s what the male called him. He said it had to do with his genetics because he was so large.

“Lucca told me about you.”

She saw him and Lucca as two entities not one. He wouldn’t kill her yet.

“He told me how the Scientists came to your planet and killed several of you before they drugged one and dragged it to their ship.”

It was so much more than that. His people lived their lives staying away from the mass of beings in the galaxy. They were different, and they liked it that way.

One look at them and the fact that they had two forms and a halfway form scared every race of beings they ever met. Then one day the Scientists came. They couldn’t identify that what they were looking at was one race. They killed the children who were mostly in their serpentine forms, their half forms. It was the easiest one for children to take.

Then they killed the women who were in their dragon forms because it was easier for them to take care of the children in that form. They called them a different species and identified the planet as all male. No one, including the male he was one with ever told the Scientists the truth.

Each of them let them believed they didn’t know love or want a female of their own.

He stuck one large hand in the hole expecting her to press herself against the wall and cry for mercy.

She crept up to him, and her tiny hand came out to stroke his.

“Our menace is the bravest female in the whole world.”

The male was proud of her. He wanted to bellow his disgust, but he was proud of her too.

What are you doing Tempest? This is the scary Lucca monster called Bruiser. He’s going to tear us apart. She knew that in her brain but not in her heart. If she was going to die, she was going to go out showing Lucca and Bruiser what real love was.

“Why are you doing this?”

She could hear him in her head. Her heart rate sped up, and her palms were sweaty. This was Bruiser, not Lucca.

“I think you’re going to kill me like you killed that creature.”

“He hurt you. The male wanted him dead so you would never fear him again.”

“Thank you. I am no longer scared of him.”

“You’re scared of me.”

“Yes.” She trembled, “and no.”

“I know that you can kill me quickly. I’m pretty skinny.”

“Slender and curvaceous.”

“You must be talking to the male.”

“I don’t like him, but he is talking to me. Why are you doing this?”

“I want you to know that you are as worthy of love as Lucca is.”

“Love?”

“That soft feeling you have when that special someone touches your hand or kisses your cheek.”

Was this love? He liked the way she was stroking the back of his hand. He turned it over to see if she would stroke his palm. Her hand touched the rough skin heating him up.

“Just kill her.” The male called Elandra screamed at him.

The other male stood there smiling.

“Break the seal, then I’ll be on my way. I could always kill her for you.”

He looked at each of them. They all wanted the female dead and thought to make him the tool of her demise.

“It is time for your death, little female. Place yourself in my palm. Is there anything you wish before you die?”

“I wish for the death of Harold. He will try to kill the other females who are mates to your brothers.”

“You want him dead even though you will die?”

“Yes.” She crept close to him before she finally placed her body in the palm of his hand.

He gently withdrew his hand making sure not to hurt her then he stood. All it would take is closing his hand to crush the life out of her. Instead, he reached into the air and pulled out the male’s symphor. He handed it to her and waited to see if the first thrust would be into his body.

“I am ready.” She held the sword tightly with one hand.

He held her up until she was able to move to his shoulder. She clutched the hair that covered his body.

Harold moved backward, and she laughed. “You thought I was joking when I told you that I would kill you.”

He ran, and Bruiser stalked him. When he had him cornered, he let him go. Harold screamed for his friends to come save him but no one showed up, and Elandra just laughed.

“Now little female.”

Harold was cornered up against the side of the cliff, where he was the wall went straight up with no hand holds there was nothing to grip. Tempest dived off his shoulder holding the symphor in both hands in a downward motion.

It went into Harold’s heart as she hit against his body, he reached out and punched her knocking her to the ground. Bruiser roared and took off his head with his claws.

She stood on unsteady legs. “That hurt. Good thing the hurt will be over soon.”

Harold’s head was lying feet from his body. Feel remorse she shouted to herself, but none came. He wasn’t dead if she believed what he said. If he came back, she would find a different way to deal with him, but this was for the pain he had put her through and for what he did to Lucca.

She turned to look at Bruiser. He placed his hand on the ground, and she stepped onto it. He brought her up close to his face. Without thought, she leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. He put her on his shoulder as his form began to change. Soon he was a dragon, and she was clutching onto his scales. His wings beat against the windless air; she watched as he lifted off the ground carrying her high until they were at the top of the cliff. He placed her there and dropped back to the Earth taking the shape of the humanoid.

Great, there’s no way I am getting down from here. Why hasn’t he killed me?

She watched as he turned around and faced the last male there. His eyes focused on the last male who began to back up trying to avoid him. They circled each other looking for a soft spot to inflict pain and death. Bruiser lashed out drawing first blood; they fought until they were both covered in bruises.

“You can’t kill me. I told you that before. Only The Darkness can do that.” He ran a knife down Bruisers chest opening him up.

Tempest screamed as her chest was also torn wide open. She looked down to see her heart beating. If only the heart beating in her chest belonged to her. She fell to her knees before she hit the ground and passed out.

“This is impossible. I won’t let this happen.” He reached into his chest trying to pull out the heart that belonged to Tempest. He couldn’t grasp it.

“You think you escaped the wrath of The Darkness. This is where you will both die.”

He lifted his knife anticipating shoving it into Lucca’s body when the voice of The Darkness demanded that he stop.

Elandra hung his head. He would have to report his failure and take the punishment that came along with it.