CHAPTER 17
MARIA COVALLOS
Saying goodbye to Cerik was harder than I thought it would be. It was possible that he was going off to die; it was a hard pill to swallow. It was also completely unfair; why did this have to happen in the moment of extreme happiness. I had only known that I was with child for less than twenty-four hours, and then the celebration was ruined. We were in a state of bliss and out of nowhere this invasion comes along. I did not get to have a chance of having one full day of knowing that I was pregnant and spending that time with my lover, the commander.
But I was completely shocked when he asked me to promise him that I would find another lover if he did not come back. He was not the type of warrior to say such a thing; he was arrogant and selfish. He wanted me all to himself; he couldn't even handle my friendship with Hekan when there was nothing there. So for him to tell me that I should find another if he did not come back made me feel sick to my stomach. It made me realize just how dangerous this invasion was if he was already thinking in those terms.
“This way, follow me. Dekan, stick close to me. Do not wander off,” Amelia said, grabbing her child's hand. I followed them across the rope bridge from her home toward a massive tree. We went through the arch, and there was a spiral staircase inside. I quickly followed her down the stairs. There was a lot of chaos and shouting as others moved down the stairs as well. The commotion in the village was getting louder.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Into the jungle. There is a secret underground bunker. It is where all of the females and children are heading. We must go quickly,” she said.
We emerged from the massive tree and out onto the ground. Amelia grabbed her child's hand and looked at me. Then she began to run at a fast pace; I ran after her into the jungle along a dense path. There were many running in the same direction. Overhead, I could see many full dragons and hybrids flying, as well as the hum of ships criss-crossing. It was complete chaos in my heart was beating so fast.
“We are almost there!” Amelia shouted at me over her shoulder.
Soon the jungle cleared, and there were many females and children lined up and entering a massive hole in the ground. It wasn't a raw hole; it was more like the entrance to a tunnel that went straight down with stairs.
“That is it. That is where we are going,” Amelia said.
“I understand,” I said. Then she squatted down next to her child and began to comfort him. I looked around at all of the females doing the same, at least those that had children. Others were just helping where they could as they entered the tunnel. Finally, we were at the entrance, and I followed Amelia and her child in. It was a good four flights of stairs before we reached a massive room. It looked like an airplane hangar.
“This is massive,” I said.
“Yes, let's find a place to camp,” Amelia said.
I followed her to a couple of beds in the corner. She sat on one next to her child, and I sat on the other.
“Each bed has a basket underneath. Look, there will be food and water,” she said to me. I watched as she took out a basket from underneath her bed. She opened the water and gave it to her child. I took the basket out from under my bed and put it on top. I drank some of the water. I could not eat. My stomach was in knots.
“How long do these battles last?”
“It is different. I have only seen one before, and it lasted less than an hour. But I have heard that in the past they could last days.”
“Days? That is insane,” I said.
“I know. But you must not worry yourself. Ravinn and the commander are excellent warriors. You have nothing to fear. They will return to us,” she said.
I wondered if she was saying it because she believed it, or if she was trying to persuade herself that was the truth.
“It is just that… I am pregnant,” I said to her.
She smiled a big smile, “Congratulations, Maria. That is excellent news. I am happy for you and the commander.
“Thank you, but now I am extremely worried. What if he does not come back to me and I am in this condition?”
“I am in the same condition,” she said.
“Oh my God. You are right. I am sorry. You have two children now; I know that you are worried just as I am.”
“I am. But we must not let that worry harm us. Did you have time to eat breakfast?”
“No, we had only just awoken when we heard the news.”
“Then let us eat. I did not eat either, and we are both with child, and we cannot let the children inside of us suffer because of our nerves. We must put something in our bellies.”
“You are right,” I said glad that she was here with me. She was helping and very calm. She knew more than I did about this entire crazy alien life. I rummaged through the basket and pulled out some dried fish and dried fruit and began to eat. Amelia did the same and also gave some to Dekan.
About ten minutes, later I was full. I put the basket aside, and that was when I heard a loud boom. I looked at Amelia.
“It is starting. That was the sound of battle,” she said.
“Oh God,” I said as I stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the bed.
“I am so worried,” I said.
“I as well,” she said. But then she turned to her child and began to keep him occupied. She had a light conversation with him, a cheerful one. She had to keep him from being nervous as well.
“Come back to me, my love,” I whispered to myself.
Then I walked down the aisle, away from the bed. I walked around the entire half of the room and was inching my way toward the entrance. I didn't plan on it, but as I watched everyone huddled together and keeping each other calm, I knew that I could not stay inside this bunker. I at least wanted to climb the stairs to see what I could hear. Perhaps I could hear warriors talking on a radio and know what was going on. I climbed one flight of stairs, saying that I would stop at the top, but then I climbed another and another; before I knew it, I was at the very top of the stairs. There was no one standing there; I thought it was strange. I assumed there would be warriors keeping guard, but maybe they were all needed for this fight. That's how massive it was. I looked at the panel on the wall. There was a red button and a green one; it was not hard to figure out which one would open and close the tunnel. I took a deep breath. Cerik would be really pissed if he found out that I left the bunker. But what if he never returned anyway? I needed to see what was going on. I needed my own peace of mind to get through this. I was not one to follow the rules.
I pressed the green button, and the entrance began to slowly slide open. It was so slow that I was able to step out and reach my hand in to hit the red button. It began to close behind me as I stepped onto the ground of the jungle. I waited until it was completely closed. There was no one outside the bunker, and I could hear the loud chaos of battle in the distance. There were blaster guns and bombs going off. I quickly ran for the path that led back to the village. I ran hard and fast, trying to stay under the cover of the trees. I realized how stupid I was to do this, but I needed to know. I needed to see.
Finally, I emerged from the jungle into the village. I ran across as fast as I could to the beach. Once I got there, I hid behind a large amount of brush. I was on my knees as I watched. What I saw in front of me made my mouth fall open. It was absolutely intense and chaotic. I had never seen a battle before. Over the ocean, about four hundred yards off the shore, was a massive battle. There were two large ships that seemed to be the center of it all. Then there were smaller ships that were engaged in battle chasing each other and firing at each other. But what really made me feel complete shock was the fact that there were Draqua, both hybrid and the full dragons, fighting each other without a ship. They were flying around on their own wings. They were shooting blaster guns at each other as well as fire from their mouths. Some were fighting hand-to-hand combat in the air and spiraling toward the water. I could not believe the scale of what was happening. This was bad; it was really bad. How could anyone survive this type of fight? How could Cerik survive?
As I watched, it looked like it was very obvious that our warriors were trying to keep the opposition from reaching the village. My eyes looked to the two massive ships. Then I thought I saw Cerik. His long black hair and his physical form were something that I knew well. But if it was him, I could not believe what he was doing. I was absolutely shocked and pissed off that he would do such a thing. I saw him fly and spread his wings wide as he jumped out of a small ship that was flying around one of the bigger ships. He flew to the ship and landed on top of it.
“Jesus! What are you doing, Cerik? Are you absolutely insane!” I said to myself. Panic set in as I saw his form crawl on top of the large ship. He was making his way to the massive windshield. What the hell was he doing? Then I saw laser blast emerge from his gun as he shot at the windshield. The entire windshield broke apart. Was he trying to get inside that ship? Why would he put himself directly in front of those opposition warriors like that? I was filled with panic as I watched him. He crawled in through the windshield, and I saw a warrior being thrown out of the windshield. I could not tell exactly what was going on now that Cerik was inside that ship. But I did know that he was a very stupid Draqua for attempting such a thing. But he was also very courageous and an overall badass. This was what a hero looked like: an alien Dragon shifter hero. He was mine, and I was proud to call him the father of my child.