Chapter 4: The Chosen One

It had been a quiet few days for most of the crew, Poco had his fill from the supplies which were taken from the mining ship, and had spent most of his time in a burping, farting and drunken stupor, it was no wonder Lane had told him to go and take two or three showers in as many hours.

Lane was normally the one who gave commands, so it was a change for him to have some quiet time. Although he was the type to take advantage of the quite periods and make his advances to Kreena, the thought of returning to Niyros had somewhat occupied his mind.

It was only Threx and Kreena who had enjoyed any excitement, they had found the time to explore each other’s bodies and feelings without the others noticing. Threx had been constantly thinking about how the situation would change once they had sold all of their hauls. But first things first, they had to appease King Raph.

Lane and Poco had been busy, they had been in the hold and had sorted a variety of items which they would present to the king. And they had glittering jewels as big as goblets, and precious metals which could be made into any number of jewelry items for the king to wear.

Lane was in the cockpit, he buckled himself into his seat and said to the others, “Buckle up, we are just about to exit hyperdrive.”

The crew clambered into their seats and strapped themselves in. Lane knocked off the auto-pilot and flicked the hyperdrive switches, Chymeera let out a groan as she came to a glide, her engines were glowing white hot, and the remains of the plasma let off a wretched smell as they hit the glowing metal. Then as the engines began to cool, the smell began to find its way into the cabin, it was a putrid smell which filled the air.

“Poco, did you have a shower?” Lane said with a laugh.

“I had three as you requested,” Poco replied, “It’s the ship, not me,” he added as he smelled himself just for clarification.

“Do all the checks, and we will go home,” Lane said, “just keep your fingers crossed, the king is in a better mood than normal.”

The crew runs through all the checks, with the ship ready for entry into the atmosphere. Lane takes control and makes the descent, Chymeera is cast into darkness as she enters into…

“Sandstorm,” Lane bellows, “fucking sandstorms, I hate them.”

The ship is cast from side to side, the wind from the storm fighting against Chymeera, it takes all her strength and the skill of Lane to pilot her through the storm. When they break from the darkness and can see before them, the violet glow of their home. Niyros is a small planet, and is surrounded by three suns of different colors, the spectrum of light which is cast over the planet’s surface is like living in a kaleidoscope. The days cast in a glow of violet or orange and at dusk, the colors meld into each other, with the lights and shadows dancing like fairies over the white buildings which adorn the city, but as they say, “all that glitters, is not gold.”

The Niyrosans are a breed of thieves, and the ship and her contents must be secure, and Lane guides her to a landing pad which is out of view. Although this is their home, they trust no one, and many would just love to get their hands on Chymeera.

The crew gathered the king’s bounty, and headed towards the castle, Kreena walked close to Threx, as she had many glances cast in her direction. Her head was bowed, so as not to spark any reactions from the Niyron women folk.

When they reached the entrance to the castle, it was then she raised her head, there were Niyron guards stood shoulder to shoulder around the castle wall, the king it seemed, had increased his number of guards. They were stood there, motionless and as many have said, they had been carved from pure Dragonite, a rock which had been molten and formed by a dragon’s breath, and so hard it had been known to break the greatest of swords.

The four entered into the guard lined grand hall, King Raph was sat at the head with his personal advisor. The Skreal appeared many years ago, in a shroud of mystery, they were tall and had never shown their face, it was said, because they did not possess any facial features and they had the power of the darkest magic in the galaxy. King Raph never went anywhere without Skreal by his side.

Lane, Poco, and Threx lined up in the front of the king and laid out his bounty before kneeling in respect, and Raph’s eyes lit up at the sight of the treasures, but he soon lost this spark when Skreal placed his hooded face next to the king’s ear and whispered something. Raph looked towards the three, and cast his eyes on Kreena, his raised his hand, pointed at her.

“I only want the girl, take your other pitiful things and be gone,” Raph boomed, the sound of his voice echoing through the vast hall.

Without any command, Kreena was grabbed by a couple of Niyron guards, the touch cold against her skin which sent a tingle down her spine. The crew looked at each other in disbelief, there would be no arguing with the king's demands. And what he said was as good as written in stone.

The crew grabbed their things and were escorted towards the door, a sense of loss overcame them as they had lost something which had become precious to them. Threx glanced over his shoulder and watched as Kreena was taken in the direction of the king’s quarters. He had lost more than all of them and decided to tell Poco and Lane about the extent of his feelings towards Kreena and how she felt about him as well.

The guards reached the king's quarters and opened the door, Kreena was pushed inside and she heard the key turn as the door was securely locked behind her. Kreena quickly checked all the rooms to see if there was any way to escape, yet everything was securely fastened. It seemed like a fortress within a fortress, no way out and no way in. She felt the situation had become hopeless, was she destined to be like the others she had heard stories about? Raph had his way in his chamber, only to find he tired of them, yet no girl had left these quarters alive or with a mental capacity to say what had happened.

Kreena had heard the king liked to control his women, his fetishes had pushed many of them to a point of being broken, both physically and mentally. Kreena was not one of these normal women, he may abuse her, but she had no intention of ever becoming broken. Kreena entered the king's inner chamber and looked at his equipment, he had chains, whips, shackles and all things that could punish a woman, just to satisfy his twisted mind.