CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MARIA COVALLOS
I pulled myself from the tub and dried off with the cloth. I could not believe that Cerik had barged in like that. What was worse was that he saw me leaving the healer. He was now very suspicious. But what bothered me was that being naked and wet in the tub and seeing him in Dragon form had turned me on instantly. It took every fiber of my being to turn him away. Half of me wanted him to ignore me and pull me into his arms. I would have kissed him back. I would have melted against him. But the worry took over me. It was easier for me to be mad at him, that way it was easier to keep him at a distance. I did not want to fall for him more than I already had, and being intimate with him one more time would do just that for me. If I fell for him more and then he found out that I had the virus and could not give him offspring, then he would reject me. I could not handle that rejection. So, for now, I had to keep him away from me until I found out for sure whether or not Ephane gave me that damn virus.
I moved around the hut looking through various things. Then I opened a panel on the wall, and I was surprised to find clothing in there, there were many sheer dresses, just like the one that I had. But they had many different colors. I chose a purple one.
“But what the hell do they wear underneath this?” I said looking at my bikini on the floor. I was sick of wearing that. I continued to look through the closet area and found what looked like a mini skirt, almost like the loincloth that the warriors wore. I held it up. Then I found another piece of cloth that was thinner and tied. I realized that it was almost like a tube top. I put the loincloth on and then the top. Then I pulled the sheer dress over it. I hoped that I had figured this out right.
I went to the food area and grabbed some fruit and placed it on a tray. I took it over to the window and stood there snacking on the delicious fruit. It was early evening. The sun had already set, but there was still a light glow of light. I looked out over the village. I could hear a lot of laughter and commotion and a few fires burning. I looked down and thought that I could see humans, but it was hard to tell at the height that I was at. I looked at the sky and saw a few hybrid dragons flying around. But then I dropped the piece of fruit as I saw something that I was not expecting. I saw a full dragon flying around. It was not a half-man, half-dragon like the rest of them. There was nothing man about it. It was a full Dragon, just like the kind that I had seen in fairy tales.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered to myself.
Then I changed the direction of where I was looking and noticed that there were lots of complete dragons flying around. It was absolutely beautiful to watch, and I smiled realizing that I truly was on an alien planet. I moved back inside the hut and lay down on the bed. I felt exhaustion coming over me. I had been through a lot, and there were still more to come. I fell asleep quickly and deeply.
The next morning I woke up sort of expecting that Cerik would be sitting there watching me sleep, but he was not. I sighed and got up from the bed. I washed up and then went to the food prep area. I was sick of fruit and needed something heartier. I drank some water and wondered how I could get down to the village. I could not fly after all.
Knock. Knock.
I smiled and quickly pushed my hair back. I was excited that Cerik was checking up on me. Of course I was not going to let him know that. I opened the door. But Cerik was not standing there.
“You are human,” I whispered in disbelief.
“Yes, I am,” the woman smiled. She was petite with red hair and blue eyes. She was lovely.
I hugged her. I was so excited to see another human. She laughed.
“I completely understand what you are feeling. I felt the same way when I first came here.”
“I am so happy to see another human!” I said.
“My name is Amelia Sanders Keed. I am the wife of Ravinn Keed. I thought I would introduce myself and take you down to the village to eat,” she said.
“Yes! I am ready. I am sick of fruit,” I said as I walked out onto the platform and closed the door behind me. I got a quick look at her outfit and realized I had put the clothing on correctly. She was wearing the same thing as I was, only in red and white.
“Come, I will show you down,” she said leading the way to the bridge.
“I was wondering how to get down from here,” I said. “I was flown up here.”
She laughed. “Yes, it is interesting, isn’t it? To live in the trees?”
“Beautiful, but strange,” I said.
She led me over two bridges and then to a massive tree with an arch on the side. We walked inside the tree and there was a massive spiral staircase that led down. It was exquisite.
“The communal kitchens and eating areas are over there, I will show you them later, but for now we are going to go check on my son. He will help feed us,” she said with a vibrant smile.
“Son? You have a son? As in a…”
“Yes, a hybrid son. Ravinn and I have a son. He is only seven years of age, and he is the joy of my life. He is special too; he acquired some of the powers that a few of the Draqua are able to have with they breed with humans,” she said.
“What?!” I said shocked. “What powers?” I said.
She laughed. “You are still very new. Some Draqua have been able to tap into the untapped areas of the human brain and have powers like reading minds, the power of persuasion, and more.”
“And your son can read minds?”
“No, he has telekinetic powers. He can move objects with his mind. You will see.”
“That is incredible,” I said.
“Yes, yes it is,” she said.
A few minutes later we were out of the village on the sands of the shoreline. It was my first close-up look at the crystal-clear waters. It was stunning. We continued walking along the beach and I felt like this would be something that would cost lots of money to enjoy on Earth, like a luxury vacation. It was still very early, and I wondered if that was why there were very few Draqua about. There was a boat on the water in distance being pulled onto the sand by some Draqua and children. It looked like it was made from a giant tree trunk.
“Good morning, Pila!” Amelia shouted to them.
“Mother!” a younger Draqua shouted and ran to her.
“Good morning, Amelia!” the elder Draqua shouted back.
“That is Pila,” she said to me. Then the child made it to her and hugged her tightly. “And this is Daken Keed. My child. Daken, this a new friend Maria.”
“Hello, Maria. Mother, I caught a massive fish!” he said excitedly.
“Oh good. I have come to eat and share with Maria. Should we have a cookout on the beach?” she said playfully to the child.
“Yes!” he shouted and then ran back to Pila. “Pila! We will have a cookout for breakfast!”
Pila smiled at us and nodded as we walked over.
“Good morning! Come!” the Draqua named Pila said with a smile. This friendliness and seeing Amelia with her offspring touched my heart in a way that was so profound. I knew this could be me in the future. This was what Cerik wanted for us, and why he chose me. But now it was possible that I would never be able to give him offspring. I held back a tear.
“What catch have you this morning, Pila? Plenty to share with my new friend for breakfast? We are very hungry,” Amelia said.
“Many bounty! Good eating. We have had a good morning. There is plenty for us to eat as well as to take back to the village for the day’s eating. Come join us!” Pila said.
“Thank you, Pila. This human is Maria.”
“Welcome, Maria,” Pila said.
“Look mother!” Daken shouted. I looked at him and was astounded. He was gathering massive tree branches and piling them up for a fire, but he was not using his hands. He was using his mind. They were floating in the air. I gasped.
“That is so good, Daken! Practice your accuracy like father said,” Amelia said in her motherly tone.
Then she looked at me. “He is very special, and I have another on the way,” she said rubbing her tummy. She was not yet showing and was surprised to hear her words.
“Congratulations!” I said.
“Come, do you want to take a dip first? I do it every morning. The water is very nourishing to the skin. They will take a while to get the fire going and cook the food.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Mother, watch me light the fire!” Daken said. I turned to see that he had changed into dragon form! It was astounding. He had wings and looked like a miniature version of his father. Then he drew in a sharp breath of air, and his torso glowed yellow. Fire shot from his mouth onto the wood pile.
“That is marvelous, son!” Amelia said as she clapped. I clapped too and was amazed.
“They can blow fire?” I whispered.
Amelia looked at me and laughed. “Oh, girl you have so much to learn.”
“I guess I do,” I said.
“Help Pila prepare the bounty for cooking, Daken! I am going to take a swim!” Amelia said.
“Yes, Mother!”
She nodded to me, and we took off our sheer covers and moved into the water. It was cool and refreshing and just the thing I needed to wake up. We went for our swim and then made our way back to the sand.
Minutes later we were all seated around a makeshift table which was a large piece of driftwood and eating.
“This is like crab on Earth, only better,” Amelia said as the shell broke open and exposed steaming white meat inside. I sampled it. It was incredible. I ate more of it with fish and a fruit sauce, as well as a salad of greens. Amelia showed me what everything was called and how to harvest it. I had a great time eating freshly caught breakfast with her as well as watching her with her child, even if I was a bit jealous.
Then after dinner, we watched as the Draqua and her son prepared the baskets of bounty to be taken to the village. It was at this time I decided to ask, “Amelia, how did you get here? Were you taken?”
“Yes, I was taking a break from my rat-race lifestyle as a secretary in New York City. My life was boring, and I was treated badly at work. It seems like ages ago. Time flies by very fast when you are you’re on an alien planet,” she laughed. Then continued, “I took a break and went to Upstate New York and was on a hike when it happened. When I was taken. I was frightened and angry of course, but now I am glad that it happened. I would not trade it in for anything, and you couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to go back to Earth. My life is here. You will see too, Maria. It is an adventure here, and we are privileged to even know that aliens exist like this,” she said.
“Yes, it is very magical here,” I said.
After our breakfast, Amelia showed me around the communal areas of the village, and I met a few other human females who all seemed happy to be there and also met Draqua females who seemed to live happily alongside the humans. It was bizarre and not what I was expecting. I spent the next two days with Amelia. On the second day, she had an outing prepared for me along with a few of her friends.
“Maria, this is Michelle, Stephanie, and Brenda. They are good friends of mine as well. We are going into the fields today,” Amelia said to me.
“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” I said to the human females. With the company of so many humans, I was missing Earth less and less, even the friendship that I had with Claudia, even though I would always hold it dear to my heart.
“Let us go,” Brenda said leading the way. We followed her out of the village and into the island interior, the jungle.
“What fields? Where are we going?” I asked Amelia.
“The flower and herb fields. That is what these baskets are for. We will fill them with edible flowers and herbs for the kitchens. It sounds like work, but it is so beautiful it is actually a luxury. I think it is the perfect meditation,” she said.
“I love gardening, I bet I will absolutely love it,” I said to her. As we walked along, Brenda, Stephanie, and Michelle walked ahead of us, talking to each other. While Amelia and I lagged behind. I looked ahead at the women.
“I assume that they have their own stories as well, their stories about coming here,” I said.
She laughed. “Yes, of course. But I will let them tell. Feel free to ask them whenever; no one here is a shame to speak of it.”
“I will keep that in mind,” I said.
“Amelia, may I ask you a question?” I said.
“Of course,” she said.
“How did you know that Ravinn was the one for you? The absolute one,” I whispered to her.
“Good question. I didn't know right away. But it was a feeling. We fought a lot when we first met, but it was fiery and explosive. There was a lot of chemistry there; it was almost animalistic. Before I knew it, I could not be apart from him, and being apart made me feel sick to my stomach. I knew then that I loved him.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I think you know,” I said.
“Oh yes, the commander. He is much sought-after as a mate,” she said. “Before you arrived of course.”
“Really? I did not know that. He is something else. But it is more about being taken from Earth to be a mate. It still feels a little weird to me.”
“Yes, I want to say that will go away but it never really does. It is a strange fact, and it is a brutal one. These warriors are very dominant, and they want what they want. They want us, so they take us; there's something very pure about that but also very wrong. Lucky for most of us, we have fallen in love with our mates. Not to mention that the king is very good about making sure the female also wants the Draqua.”
“Really? So if I chose to not want Cerik?”
“Then you would not be forced to marry him. You would be able to live here and find a new mate. There are plenty to choose from, and almost all of them are incredibly sexy.”
I giggled at her remark. “I did not know that I would be able to choose.”
“Yes, I was told it was not always like that. But the queen has a lot to do with it. She is a human too, if you do not know.”
“I have heard that. But I wasn't exactly sure.”
“Yes, she keeps the king in line as far as the human females are concerned. No one is to be treated badly, and that is something that she requires of him. He is very much in love with her and does whatever she says.”
“She must be a very strong person,” I said.
“Yes, and very kind. You will meet her. Eventually, everyone does. Look, we are here,” she said as she skipped ahead of me.
I looked to see the jungle path giving way to a large field. I stopped in my tracks in gasped. It was absolutely beautiful. There were very tall flowers, some of them towering above us. The smell that the colorful field gave off was heavenly. There were blue flowers, purple, yellow, green, white, and on and on. There was a large variety, and as soon as the women entered the field, they began to skip around and frolic. I joined them. I ran into the field, jumping and dancing around. There were massive butterflies flying around landing on the large flowers. It felt like the entire meadow was alive and vibrating. I was astounded by just how magical it was.
“Come I will show you what to pick,” the woman named Michelle beckoned me to her.
“Thank you,” I said as I followed her. She showed me how to identify the various herbs and flowers. It was a beautiful lesson, and I was enjoying it immensely. Before long, I was identifying the edible herbs myself on my own. I had Michelle go through my basket before we were done to make sure that everything I had was the right ones. She was very impressed that everything I had was right. It felt good. I felt useful, and I was enjoying that feeling. If this was work on this island, then I was very lucky to be a part of this alien planet. Everything felt like a luxury vacation, from the tree houses to the crystal-clear water of the beaches. Before we left the meadow, we all laid down in the tall grass and looked up at the sky. We took a good thirty-minute rest, and Stephanie dozed off a little. It was a very relaxing afternoon. It was a reward for having done the work. I laid on my back and looked up at the sky and felt more relaxed than I ever had on Earth. Not even a getaway in the desert made me feel this relaxed. I wondered if it was the potent fragrance of the flowers that was making us feel so calm and peaceful. After half an hour, our time was up. We started to make our way back from the fields.
We walked through the jungle back to the village. But as we walked, we decided to take a different path.
“This one goes by the barracks,” Stephanie said, moving her eyebrows up and down. We all laughed. As soon as we were close to the military installation, I could smell the manly musk. I was becoming aroused by all the testosterone and wished that I were with the commander. I was suddenly very turned on and wanted that release. The girls giggled as we watched the Draqua in training. Some of them were training by fighting each other, and it was very interesting to watch. It was a mix of flying and ground fighting. I had never seen anything like it.
“Come on, we should get going we need to help with dinner,” Amelia said pulling us away from the fun. Some of the girls groaned in annoyance.
Finally, we arrived at the outdoor kitchens. It was nothing but a few outdoor stoves and pits, like barbecue pits. I liked that it was outdoors because the weather was always beautiful and it would not be so hot. I took the herbs and flowers I picked, and the women showed me how to clean and hang them. We had a lot of fun talking and working. We sometimes talked about things from Earth that we missed, like shopping and makeup. It was fun to have people that understood me around.
Then a friendly Draqua female named Ashleen showed me how to prepare fish and crab, as well as cook it. I was learning a lot, more than I would ever learn on Earth. I was hardly a cook on Earth. Here I was learning to prepare and make healthy meals, and I was enjoying it.
The next morning I stayed in bed a little longer. I was feeling tired and thought that perhaps it was just from overdoing it the day before. I got up from the bed and ate a snack; then I fell back to sleep. I had not done that in a long time, not since my partying days back on Earth.
When I finally woke up, I decided to take a walk. I needed some alone time. I did enjoy the company of Amelia and the other human females. But sometimes you just want to be alone. I took a few winding paths that I had never taken before and found myself in a place I had never seen. I looked up the rocky mountainside and saw the beautiful palace that I had only seen from a distance before. Now that I was getting a closer look I saw the exquisite stonework carved into the mountain. It was beautiful, better than any castle you would see in England. I looked up at the palace remembering what Amelia had said; the queen was human. She was the reason we were treated so well. I wondered what her story was, like how did she come to be on this planet anyway? I hoped that one day I would be able to ask her. I walked back toward the village. I thought I would make myself useful and went straight to the kitchens, mostly because I was hungry, but also to offer any help. I helped prepare a late breakfast and ate while I prepared.
But while I was working in the village kitchens, I saw Hekan gesturing at me from afar. I excused myself from the kitchens with a promise to return for breakfast the next day as well. I quietly made my way over to Hekan.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Jrarka has asked for you,” he said.
My heart stopped. “Do you think he has results for me?” I asked.
“It is possible,” he said. “Come, I will take you.”
I held my breath and followed him.
Moments later, we were in the familiar hut of the healer. I had an enormous amount of anxiety inside of me. It was fluttering around like a massive butterfly in my stomach.
“Maria, how are you feeling today?” Jrarka asked.
“I am feeling fine. I am feeling more like myself now that I have had a lot of rest and eat properly. Why? Should I not be feeling good?” I wrung my hands together.
“I have looked over the viral recipe that the king gave me. I did not detect any of the abnormalities that should show up in your blood if you have it. So far, I think you are fine. Unless this virus has a very long gestation. I still need to play with it a little longer, and my colleagues are working on a vaccination. There is a whole team behind it. But for now, I can positively say that it is not in your blood.”
I sighed in relief. “ So you are saying that I am cleared?”
“Yes, Maria, you are in the clear. You are all cleared,” Jrarka said.
“That is great news!” Hekan said. I was so excited that I turned to him and hugged him.
“Cleared of what? What the hell is going on here?” I heard a deep voice growl.
I turned to see Cerik standing in the doorway. He had a look of murder on his face, and I thought that he would kill Hekan, the way he was looking at him.