Attack of the Warrior Queen Series: The Saga of a World Called Htrae

By Dee Krull

The forth book in the series finds Laurel and Learden waging a deadly war with the aliens who are now using the portals to bring in another alien they call the ‘tall ones’. To make matters worse she finds that her mother’s sister, who was believed to be dead, is alive and well and is a master of dark magick. She would have Laurel as her slave and her army at her command if she could gain the upper hand.
In order to keep her from doing just that she and Learden must separate so the ‘dark witch’ cannot use Learden to gain access to Laurel and her Gard. Apart they are devastated and must focus on eradicating the aliens seperatly. Learden connects with his past and fights the aliens the only way he knows how with his old crew and others with the same goal.
Laurel and Banrion, the beautiful white griffin, and her Guard fight together from the sky while Learden fights on land and finds other ways to communicate with her. But when the aliens gain the upper hand Laurel is captured by a new faction of Elves who eventually become her allies. They help her search for Learden.
Meanwhile Learden is captured and escapes only to discover there is another danger to the planet and it’s daoine (people), one that has been there before and they are more fearsome and evil than even the aliens who are preparing to bring them through the portals.
Summary: Book four begins with Kronus shooting Laurel and Banrion, out of the sky. Banrion escapes, but he captures Laurel, telling her he is taking her to the alien base camp on West Continent. She manages to escape but when Learden and Banrion, take her back to the base camp Mother tells her that her mother’s sister Kala better known as the ‘dark witch’ is trying to find her and the only way she will be safe is if she and Learden break their bond.
Laurel is devastated and tries to hold on to him, but Learden’s love for her convinces her she must; even though it will break both their hearts. Once they have separated she begins to focus on ridding her beloved planet of the aliens once and for all. But her campaign is interrupted by the Goddess’ new choice for her consort; Kronus. When Kronus takes Alela she has no choice but to deal with the ‘dark witch’ who Kronus is working for. She has her family and the threat becomes too dire for her to ignore.
When her war takes on another sinister note keeping her and her female bodyguards away from the guard, they are captured by the King of the Elves and his thousands of Guard, not to mention his son, the prince who is enamored with Laurel and wants to challenge Learden for consort to the queen. Eventually she finds them to be allies and they help her search for Learden while finding a new enemy; prehistoric Vampires who have come to take their planet back and they have a deadly secret that could cost Laurel her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dee Krull
• Release date: Oct 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311166470

Dee Krull

I am a retired clinical hypnotherapist. I completed my Ph.D. in 1990 and started a private practice which lasted twenty-five years in Southern California. I moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2005 with my late husband Chad where I began to explore my creative side in singing acting and writing. I have three children living in Southern California, one who adopted me in Sparks, Nevada and seven grandchildren."Dreams and Vampires" was inspired by my late husband's love of science fiction and my own inquisitive nature of "what ifs." It is a combination of science fiction and fantasy with my own experience as a hypnotherapist thrown into the mix.I wrote "Dreams and Vampires" in Arizona. However, when I decided to place the beginning of my story in Arcata, California it rekindled my love of the North West and the peaceful solitude it has to offer. I will soon move to Northern California with my cat Gwynie and Finish writing my second book in the series of "The Saga of a World Called Htrae."

Book preview

Attack

of the

Warrior Queen

Dee Krull

Smashwords version

Copyright © 2015 by Dee Krull

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage, and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction, Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015915637

Softcover ISBN-13:978-1515164791

Ebook ISBN-2015-10-19781311166470

This book was printed in the United States of America

Prologue

Htrae is a beautiful planet with a hostile background; even though it rains almost constantly it also has high desets that get very little rain and uninhabitabe deseerts. The only thing that can live in this desert are the sand demons; brought to Htrae by the aliens calling themselves priests.

There was a time of peace and harmony between the different species under the first King Lysander; known to be a direct descendent of the mating between an original Vampire and a Human from Earth. Bery little is known about his past except that he was a good king who also took a Human from Earth as his mate, eventually turning her to the Vampire species so she could live on Htrae with him and have a child.

They named their child Laurel. she grew up in a villa deep in the forest on North Continent primarily with her mother since her fathe the King spent most of his time at the castle. When the king became ill he appointed another to take his place on the throne. Uralic, was his trusted advisor and believed in the kings desire to keep peace among the species and he was instrumental in helping Lysander find the portals to other galaxies. Uralic stayed by his bed until he died of unknown causes, it is said that he was over two thousand years old.

Times were good for a time until an alien invaded our world and threatened our way of life, but after many losses we made peace with the aliens and life turned back to normal, with one exception; Uralic became a tyrant after loosing his mate to the war. He refused to allow the species to cross breed and he began to partake of Human blood instead of through the mating with another of his kind.

By this time Laurel had grown into a beautiful female Vampire and he took notice of her. She moved to the castle, had her own rooms and became his constant companion. Until the day that Kasan and Rouxor took matters in their own hands, forcing Uralic into a war between the Vampire and Weerewolf which lasted for a hundred bloody years. Unfortunately it caused more distention between the species sseparating the continents with fear not knowing who was friend or foe.

Slowly over the years, Lysander’s prophesy surfaced, found among the scrolls and passed no by mouth, construed and misshaped by the king and others who feared what it predicted. And then I was born; ten years later than predicted I started having dreams of na alien planet I knew eeven then that someone was waiting for me; I just did not ealize it was an entire planet.

The maps will aid you in following me and my Guard through our struggle to save our planet and maybe even the blue planet called Earth. I shudder to think what would happen to that small world should the aliens find our portals and cross over to such a fragile race.

These maps were found in the castle when we took Kasan’s throne away from him and have been very instrumental in locating our enemies.

The maps will give you a better idea of where the action is taking place as the Queen’s Guard makes plans to wage war against a foe who would enslave Htrae if given the slightest chance.

The Houses

The diagrams of the houses are where part of the story unfolds. The first one is The Village House where Learden and his old crew gather to plot the downfall of the aliens.

The second and third ones are Irena’s House, (Laurel’s mother) which encompasses two levels where Laurel and the Dark Witch, battle for the lives of her family and the safety of her Guard.

I have provided these so that you, my readers, may have a more visual experience when they are used with the story. (The maps and house diagrams can be found on my website at http://www.deekrull.com)

Chapter One

Below me the destruction the aliens were leaving behind stretched as far as the eyes could see. The forest around the beautiful valley was a sobering contrast to the black boneyard of trees and the once lush green grasses; now gone, revealing only charred black soil. Trees that now looked like twisted, deformed black hands jutting out of the ground; soot lifting into the air by an unrelenting breeze that swept through the valley. The acrid smell made my nostrils flair with the burning sensation it left behind. Nothing was spared the destructive force of the sand demons. I watched, my heart pounding in my chest, as they continued to lay waste to everything within their reach.

Banrion and I were concealed by the billowing white thunderheads that were threatening to unleash more rain. We were high enough above the ground to keep our presence hidden, but I felt better as we climbed higher into the clouds making it less easy to glance up and see us.

"Come on Banrion, I murmured, we need to get out of here before they see us. Even though she was a pure white griffin her immense size might be enough to cause one alien to see a flash of movement; to raise the alarm. As if they heard me; a fireball shot past her wing, sparks fanning out behind it. Shit! We need to get out of here before their aim improves." An explosion of air passed over her enormous wings, giving her strength as we tore through the clouds and out of sight.

When my heart stopped trying to beat my chest to death, I took a deep breath before I bid, Banrion, to take us home; home being our new camp on the other side of the mountains. The sound of exploding fire bombs grew dimmer as we left their destruction behind us. A shadow passed below us, causing me to peruse the surrounding clouds for an intruder. It must have been my imagination, I thought. But I still looked around nervously as we headed back to camp.

If someone had told me several years ago that I would be astride the back of an enormous griffin, combating aliens on a parallel world one day, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were watching too much television. And if they had said, oh yeah you will be the queen of a world full of mythical creatures, I would have called the nearest rehab and checked them in to have their head examined. But here I am, the chosen queen of an entire planet the size of Jupiter, flying on the back of a giant, white griffin as I looked down at an alien race that were hell bent on enslaving and destroying our beautiful planet of Htrae.

My best friend, Raithe, and I used to kid about not belonging on Earth. Like everyone else on the planet, we watched TV shows like ‘Ancient Aliens’ and thought to ourselves; why not? Some scientists believe we were drawing on the memories of our ancestors as our technology becomes more sophisticated. Are the people of Earth advancing so rapidly because of alien interference? Or is it because some of us are actually from another solar system? Planted there to accomplish what? Raithe and I were both kidnapped and brought to Htrae by the same Vampire. She was a seed while I turned out to be part of a thousand year old prophesy and well; the rest is history.

I wondered how long it would be before everyone knew that Humans might have come from someplace beyond this space and time. And I wondered how many twins were still on Earth, waiting to wake up one morning to find they were on the planet that they had been dreaming about for most of their lives. That was thanks to King Kasan, who was no longer king, for separating twins at birth and depositing one of them on Earth, seeds, to eventually marry and have children on Earth; while the other one remained here to survive on a hostile planet; depending on their species. At the age of forty the seeds on Earth were compelled to get a tattoo of a galaxy on the right side of their neck. This allowed the retrievers to find them and bring them back. Since Raithe and I were best friends she convinced me to get one too; the only difference was I was fifty. Later I discovered that Mother was the reason I was not compelled to get mine ten years before. I made a mental note to talk to Naken about the seeds and whether someone was retrieving them anymore. Naken was the one who brought Raithe and I to Htrae.

We had all talked ad nauseam about King Kasan’s reasons behind this. Most thought it was to make Humans live longer, but to what end? So far I was not able to figure out why, and I had my doubts that I would. Those who knew were not talking about the why behind it and I had a feeling it was something the priests designed. They were aliens on this planet; aliens who were now trying to take over our world for our natural resources. That was the reason for this war; to eradicate them all together before they could turn all of us into slaves, and destroy our planet.

On top of everything else, Earth had no idea that an alien race was on the verge of destroying their world and that another world was trying to stop them. I embraced Htrae as my planet and home, but for some reason I still thought of Earth as my world. I had nothing to do with Earth’s part in the aliens desire to destroy it but I still felt responsible. I wondered what would happen if I contacted the world leaders of Earth; filling them in on what was happening. Would they believe me? My guess is that they know more than the populous of Earth does regarding life on other worlds; fearing the worst if they divulged the information they had.

I decided it was time to stop surmising and go home. I sent, Banrion, an image of us banking left. We were almost to the mountains when Learden’s thoughts pervaded my mind.

"Laurel, when are you coming back? The Commander is asking for you and the Elves are becoming concerned. They had no idea there would be so many of us. Are you alright?"

I smiled, Yes, I am on my way back. I was perusing the damage the aliens have left behind. I was not able to locate Kronus. I am still not sure he is aiding the enemy. They have devastated the valley, Learden, and there are as many sand demons as there are aliens now. Even the tall ones are expanding in numbers, we need to look at the maps and decide which continent is the most viable for the aliens to survive on. Find out where all of the sand dunes are and how feasible they are to defend.

"Alright, I am waiting for you, please get here sooner than later, I think there will be anarchy if you are delayed, and it is time to ‘not sleep’ again." He sent.

My smile grew. Our ‘not sleeping’ was code for replenishing our energy; feeding while mating. It was coined by Naken after we replenished all through the night. Yes, I know, my love, my body is feeling the need as well. I am over the mountains now. Just as we banked left I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but before I realized what it was, I heard a familiar sound . . . zing . . . zing . . . zing. I had heard that sound two times since my life on Htrae began, and each time was devastating; the first time was when Learden and I were caught by the King’s Guard and the second was when Kiina, Kianas’ sister, who was like a sister to me, was killed. My breath caught in my throat; my fear ratcheting up, when Banrion’s shrill screech sliced through the chill night air. My hands flew to my ears; my eyes shut tight in lieu of the pain in my head. When my eyes finally opened, my heart beat flew up my throat; there were two arrows sticking out of her right wing. The first one was lodged in the membrane on the lower part of her wing, but the other one had sliced almost completely through the meaty part of the upper wing; and it was bleeding profusely.

"Banrion," I yelled frantically. Hold on, I will get you down! I desperately sent her pictures as I perused the ground for an open field to set down in. As soon as I found it she practically fell out of the sky; gliding to keep from using the injured wing. I lay tense over her back, and whispered, Show me the shooter! Instantly she sent me an image of Kronus.

I panicked, Learden, Kronus just shot Banrion down; I have no idea where we are exactly, just that we are in a field somewhere in the center of the mountains. I hit the ground running as soon as she landed to keep from being thrown when her wing dropped sideways. Her wing jerked into her body, followed by an earsplitting screech that shot pain through my head like a dagger.

Running to her, I reached for her neck and pulled her face down to mine, Shhh . . . it will be okay, I whispered. Trying and failing to calm my own nerves, I stroked her neck; our foreheads touching. She was breathing heavily, but she finally calmed as I managed to calm my own fluttering stomach; I knew her distress was more from fear than pain. Immediately I sent her images of the wounded wing open, and dropping to the ground. "I am going to break the arrows and pull them through, Banrion, then I will heal you; but you must be still until I am finished. Do you understand?"

She answered with the familiar trill that came with a vibration in her neck. When her breathing slowed, I moved slowly around to the injured wing as she watched me. I trusted Banrion with my life but an injured animal could be unpredictable. I perused the damage from the ground, which at first glance, did not look that bad, but it would take some doing on my part to get to it. Her size made it difficult to reach the part of her wing that sustained the worst damage and teleporting was out of the question. We were in a rocky area so it was easy to find something to stand on; I stacked the flat rocks high enough to reach the arrows. I quickly broke both arrows at vampire speed and pulled them through. The bleeding on the upper wing gushed faster than I would have liked but there was nothing I could do to prevent it.

I quickly put my hands over both wounds and imagined healing energy moving through me and into her through my right hand. At the same time I pulled her wound into my left hand, through my body, and allowed it to dissipate down my leg and foot into the ground.

She bucked under my hands, "Shhh . . . Banrion," I whispered to calm her. The fountain of blood that poured out of the upper wound did not help, but I held on to her. Slowing my breathing I gathered the surrounding energy allowing it to flow through her injuries through me taking the negative energy and sending it back into the earth where it would be purified to be used again; I hoped she would realize that the fire that moved through her was just the healing process that she felt.

Before I was able to complete the healing within myself, I was yanked abruptly away from, Banrion, and hurled to the ground. I gasped and collapsed over my body as pain shot through my right shoulder; Banrion, screeched. When I looked at the damage I noticed it was healing but since the healing was not finished I was bleeding pretty badly from the wound I had taken from her. I am an empath and have the ability to draw a wound into my body and heal myself after. Considering my shoulder was a lot smaller than Banrion’s my injury was larger, and I had not healed myself yet. We both turned toward our attacker at the same time.

What the hell? I yelled. When I realized who had pulled me so abruptly away from healing Banrion, the flair of heat ignited in my face. My heartbeat was loud in my ears as anger filled my thoughts; I stared into hostile Vampire eyes; Kronus.

Ignoring me he crouched low as he watched the griffin ready to kill her if she attacked.

He was still the tall, muscular, dark Hybrid that I knew intimately, but at the same time; he was different. He wore the black uniform of the Hybrid. His face was drawn, his features sharper and his eyes were blue crystals. His vampire fangs below his upper lip sent the message, I have the power, and I knew he would not heed anything I had to say. My gut told me that I had to get, Banrion, into the sky and away from him. Learden, my love, I am sending Banrion to get you, but you must be careful. Kronus will kill her if he can and I am wounded from trying to heal her wing. He stopped me from completing the healing and he has a crossbow. I sent quickly.

Learden’s thoughts were quick to respond, We are on our way, Laurel, I will watch for Banrion and guide her to us. Stay alive, I will find you. I will rip out his heart if he touches you. What does he want?

"I do not know, he is still threatening to kill Banrion, but so far he has said nothing." I could tell Learden was angry, I could almost hear the growl in his voice.

I trained hostile eyes on him as I communicated with Learden giving away nothing to Kronus, I should have known the stories were true. I growled with every word. How could you turn against your own kind? What do you have to gain by this Kronus? Pain, sharp and hot, shot through my shoulder as I moved toward him. I grabbed my arm, trying not to show the pain on my face. I was glad, at least, that Banrion was fully healed. I saved your life Kronus, and this is how you recompense my kindness?

One corner of his mouth turned up as he made a mocking bow to me, it is good to see you as well my queen. I eyed him warily as he walked slowly around me, one eye still on the griffin. He reached out to press his hand down hard over the wound in my shoulder forcing me to my knees. The bleeding had slowed, but started again, with his abuse. Still; I could feel it healing, one of the perks of being Hybrid Vampire. I could not, however, stifle a groan; which brought a smile to his lips.

Banrion lunged at Kronus, her powerful beak open and ready to bite him if he came too close. If I were you, I would back away; she could kill you with one bite. I said a malevolent smile on my face.

His smile faded as he stumbled back a few steps; his eyes guarded when he looked up at her. He pulled the crossbow from behind his back, I think not, my queen, He growled with anger, she would feel the bite of my arrows before she had a chance. I would suggest you make her stay back if you want her to live. He finished with a menacing growl.

What do you want Kronus? I have already told Learden that you brought us down. He is on his way to find me and when he does, you will die. Withdraw while you still can, I hissed at him. Banrion moved closer behind me and Kronus stepped back again. Holding my arm close to my body I tried to stand up while pulling my knife from my boot; hiding it in my hand by turning the tip of the dagger up my arm.

Before I could stop him he raised his crossbow and fired at, Banrion, narrowly missing her when she raised her wings. That was a warning, he growled. The next one will be between her eyes.

No! I yelled moving in front of her; I dropped the knife back into my boot, then I frantically sent her an image of what would happen if she interfered; sending another image of her flying away. Holding my arms out in surrender, I begged him, please do not harm her, she is only trying to protect me. He just glared at me and kept his crossbow aimed at, Banrion’s head.

An image of Learden on her back flickered through my mind; I took a chance and turned my back on Kronus. Reaching up to stroke her neck, I returned her image and whispered, Make it quick, he will try to shoot you down.

When I turned back to Kronus, the crossbow was still aimed at her, but he could not watch us both. I lunged at him, knocking the bow out of his hands, making him lose his balance; then I heard the familiar sound of wings as, Banrion, took to the sky. When he realized she was gone he let out a low growl, That was a mistake you will regret, Queen Laurel. He grabbed my wounded shoulder and pushed me to the ground again. I fought back a whimper, trying to keep him from realizing the extent of my wounds but I could not keep him from seeing the tears in my eyes.

With the crossbow aimed at me, he leaned down, and reached behind a rock; pulling a backpack out. I guess we will have to do this the hard way, he growled. He pulled out a brightly colored rope. Turn around! He said roughly.

I complied and he jerked my arms behind my back. Ouch! I complained. You know you will never get away with this, I said as I tried to pull away from him, Learden will find me. My first thought was how naive he was to expect ropes to hold me; he knew what I could do. But as soon as the rope touched the skin on my wrists I understood. They began to burn, as if he had set the rope on fire. I finally realized it was the rope the aliens use on the sand demons, to contain them, and I soon discovered I could not teleport out of them. When the ropes were secured he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

What is it about me that makes everyone feel the need to carry me like a bag over their shoulder? I growled.

Shut up! He growled back. Or I will tie your feet as well and drag you!

I realized complaining would not help my situation so I shut up. My shoulder was healing quickly but the jostling as he ran caused more pain than I thought possible. I tried to focus on healing my shoulder but my mind focused, instead, on the pain around my wrists. I gave up and decided my body would heal itself, in good time. I shifted my attention to my surroundings.

The deeper into the woods he ran, the colder the air became. I was immune to the cold, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the snow would fall and obscure his tracks. It was time to contact Learden again. Learden, my love, he has me tied with the fire rope the aliens use to control the sand demons. I know he plans to hand me over to them but I still have no idea where he is going. I think we are moving northwest but I cannot be sure. If you have a map of the West Continent you may be able to figure out where he is going. I am still healing but the pain from the rope is not allowing me to heal the wound in my shoulder.

"Is the injury to your shoulder the one from Banrion? It should have healed by now."

"Yes, but she is fine. She was healed before he pulled me away. My shoulder should be healed but I think the ‘fire ropes’ are preventing it."

"I will kill this Hybrid when I find you. Once more you broke our vow, Laurel. Never to be separated again?" I could almost hear the growl in his voice.

"Leave it to you to state the obvious, my love." Something caught my eye, I see the volcano to my right, Learden, and I am pretty sure where he is headed. I can see the mountains to the north of us, do you have a map?

"Yes, we will stop to look at the maps." He sent before he went silent.

Kronus, I need you to stop for a moment, I pleaded.

He chuckled, And why would I do that, my queen. His mocking tone set my teeth on edge and I hated to let on that every movement triggered lightning stabs of pain in my shoulder. I thought he would use it against me again so I took a chance and lied.

The jostling is hurting my shoulder and I am still losing blood. I happen to know the aliens would not be happy with you if I died or arrived near death. I said sarcastically.

I knew I was right when he growled and stopped. That did not keep him from rudely dumping me on the ground.

Ouch! I glared up at him, even though it hurt my pride more than my body. Was that necessary? When I tried to get up he pushed me back down.

You can heal your shoulder while sitting; any more complaints and we will take off again. He waited expectantly, one eyebrow raised. Good decision!

I gave him a dirty look and closed my eyes, focusing on my shoulder but I was not able to keep the light for longer than a moment. Frustrated, I tried to pretend I was healing myself but he saw past my subterfuge.

He sighed, Give it up Laurel; you cannot heal yourself with the fire ropes around your hands.

I peeked at him with one narrowed eye; he was staring at me, a slight smirk on his face. If you knew that . . . I said as I opened the other eye . . . why did you let me try?

I just wanted to see what you would do. I know you are speaking telepathically with your precious Leaden, and I also know he has to be on the other side of the mountains. He will never find you in time, and yes I know you transported the camp to a new location. I know it cannot be that far, your Guard is too large to hide for long. The aliens will find you sooner or later and by then they will be too many to engage in battle.

I glared up at him defiantly, even as a tear escaped my eye, Why Kronus? Why are you doing this? What could you possibly gain from allowing the aliens to annihilate your home?

My home, His voice was derisive as he twisted away from me; his hands clenched in fists and I could see the tension in his jaw. When he turned to face me again, his eyes were crystalline and there was a dangerous air about him. This has never been a home to me! he growled. His face was a mask of pain. I was born a Hybrid to a pure blood Mother. She took me to the mountains when I was only three and left me to fend for myself. Luckily there were Humans nearby who took me in and raised me; until I began to change. You see my true father was Vampire and Werewolf, and even though my mother passed as a pure blood she had Witch in her linage. I was the product of her tryst with a Hybrid and when the noble born Vampire, I thought was my father, found out; he told her to get rid of me or he would kill me. Unfortunately the vampire in me was dominate, so when my eyes changed they were blue crystals, like the Vampire; they stayed that way. He went on, his voice low and tense, At the age of eighteen I was thrown out of the Human colony that had become my home. I did nothing wrong, they were just afraid I would try to feed on them, so I was alone until you came and fulfilled the prophesy. His eyes met mine, As I trained with the other Hybrids, it was then that I was made aware of my ability to change my eyes back to my brown Human eyes. He said angrily.

Then why . . . ?

It was too late, the damage was done! He interrupted me with a menacing growl. When the Hybrid began to search for others of their kind, they found me living in a cave. I was twenty six and had been on my own for eight years, it left me bitter and wanting vengeance on this planet. I realized this was my chance so I sought out the aliens and became their spy.

Finally he sat down and put his head in his hands. I know this is not your fault but there is no going back for me.

I could not believe what I was hearing; he had to understand what was happening on his own world. Kronus, you do realize that the king is the one responsible for what happened to you? Indirectly, yes, but he was the real reason the Humans were afraid of you. I said frustration in my voice.

Ignoring my question he stood up, looking around; It is time to go, stand up. He ordered with a gesture. His mood had changed; I could hear the decisiveness in his voice.

Before I stood, I asked the question; And what did they promise you?

He stared past me as if seeing something else for a moment, A new home, away from here.

I gaped in surprise, Surely you would not go to their planet. I have seen it and it is a hot barren world with no plant life of any kind.

For a moment I saw a bit of the mad man flit across his face, then he answered simply; Earth.

I took a sharp breath through my teeth, How? You cannot pass for Human, you would be discovered.

He smiled, Thanks to you, now I can; and I will be stronger and faster than anyone. You know yourself that I can breed with Earth Humans. I could create my own Guard of super Humans and no one would be the wiser. He held his hand out to me, Now it is time to go; you have stalled enough. No you cannot do this. How can I convince you? I thought.

I looked at him horrified, No, Kronus please, you cannot do that. You would be interfering with the natural order of the planet. There had to be a way to make him understand.

He laughed as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder again, In case you have not noticed, my queen, the king has already done that. All I have to do is search out the twins and my Guard will come together rather quickly.

He was running again, but I had to get through to him. How would you find them? Who are you planning to use your Guard against?

The priests have been privy to the king’s planted twins. And if you must know, I plan to come back to Htrae and destroy what the aliens leave behind. He growled.

Kronus, the aliens plan to destroy Htrae; there will be nothing to come back to. I pleaded.

He laughed and kept running. You give them too much credit, Laurel. They are not smart enough to destroy this or any planet.

I soon realized there was no getting through to him and I needed to help Learden find me before Kronus found the aliens. Learden, my love, where are you? Did you find anything on the map?

I waited for what seemed like a long time when he finally sent; Yes Laurel, he is taking you to the alien base on the sand dunes. It seems the dunes on this continent take up most of the northern part of it. And the land between the forest and sand dunes is nothing more than a desert which is also sand, rock and some pretty nasty plants.

Shit! I said out loud before I realized what I was doing. Dam Laurel, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut? I admonished myself.

What? Kronos asked. When he was about to stop again I panicked, knowing he would alter his course if he thought I was talking to Learden.

I am in pain! My shoulder is still not healing! I spat at him in an angry tone.

He laughed and picked up the pace again, Sorry, my queen. We will be there soon.

The air was getting dryer and the vegetation sparse; I knew I had to do something. Learden, he slipped and told me he is on the west side of the mountains and the trees are getting thinner. You know the aliens will not kill me they will use me to subdue the planet, and Kronus thinks they will leave something behind for him to conquer.

"What? Either he is very naive or just plain stupid. Anyway, Banrion has found us; I will send her the message to call more griffins so we will find you before he reaches the base. I plan to give him to Banrion; I imagine she has a score to settle for the both of you."

"Learden, we need to question him before we kill him. He knows where the base is and more. He has been spying for the aliens since the beginning of the uprising against the king."

"This is not another Ben problem is it Laurel?"

"Absolutely not. Yes, he shared his energy with me, and was very good at it, but I have no love for this Hybrid. He hates his own kind as much as the aliens do. It is a long story and a sad one but the damage is not fixable, he is lost to us."

"Very well, the other griffins are on their way and I am taking Banrion up to find you, the others will follow when they have griffins to ride. I will see you soon my love."

From my vantage point it was hard to pay attention to the terrain around us. I was too busy trying not to bite my tongue every time he took a step, but I noticed the fact that the trees were getting thinner and the ground was getting rockier. I knew we were getting close to the aliens, and I was afraid Learden would not make it in time. When I moved my hands I was met with searing pain, but I had to get them off. My hands and wrists were slim and I had always been able to get bracelets off by pulling my thumb and little fingers in; making my hand as small as my wrist. I managed to get one of them almost to my knuckles but it was extremely painful and they would not budge any farther. My frustration and the pain made me less cautious and the movement made Kronus stop.

What are you doing? he growled. I know you are in pain but you are not helping yourself by squirming around. When he stopped, I fell to the ground on my back, knocking the wind out of me; immediately after my head exploded in a cacophony of light; my head had hit a rock. One of my hands had finally come free so I kept my hands behind me.

When Kronus reached out, he grabbed the hand that still had the rope around it; so I reached down with the other one and pulled my long-knife out of my boot. The hand with the fire rope flew up around his neck, startling him; then the knife came up as I pulled him down to it. Without thinking I sunk the knife into his abdomen before he could grab me again. When I moved away from him I slipped and fell to the ground; the bloody knife still in my hand.

He stood above me, a stunned look on his face; before he fell, his hands went to the gaping wound I left behind.

When I realized what I had done I jumped up, angrily pulling the fire rope from my other hand. Shit! No, you cannot die damn you; I need you to live Kronus. Learden, where are you? I am free and I may have just killed Kronus. I need you to be here now; find me. I am going to heal him if I can but I need you to be here to keep him from taking me again if he lives. I will not be able to defend myself.

"Cac! Laurel, you cannot heal him, you will leave yourself open to capture again. Did you cut off his head?"

"No, of course not, but he has a gaping wound in his chest and will bleed out if I do not heal him."

"Laurel, why do you insist on putting yourself in danger? Tell me what you see around you?"

"I think we are on the fringes of the desert. The trees are thinner and I need to focus or he will die soon. Let Banrion guide you, her vision is better than yours; she will find me faster." As I scrutinized his wound I realized he was already close to death, the wound was deep and his body could not heal him fast enough; he was bleeding out. Shit, here goes; I’m sorry Learden, my love, but I cannot let him die.

Fear suddenly took hold, constricting my chest; knowing I was putting myself in danger, once again. But I knew I had to do this so I called on the Vampire inside me; knowing it would give me the courage I needed to hold on until Learden arrived; I would not let Kronus take me again.

Leaning over the unconscious Kronus, I put my hands over the gaping wound in his chest that was bleeding profusely. I must have severed an artery when the blade sunk into his lower chest. Once I drew on the power surrounding me I created the image that would bring the wound into my own chest, allowing his to heal, I knew I was open to attack or, gods forbid, Kronus would take me, as planned, to the aliens. My shoulder healed quickly after I got rid of the alien rope, and I was in no danger of dying from my wounds as long as I remained in control.

It seemed like time stood still and a lifetime flew by, but when I felt the wound opening in my own chest I faltered; calling on the Vampire inside for help I pushed through the fear and willed myself to heal. It was subtle at first, a tingling sensation then it felt as if I moved aside to allow the monster to come out. She was strong but not quite strong enough to quiet the pain that suddenly formed in the center of my chest. Gripping me like a vice, my breath caught in my throat, breathe, I thought to myself. I am Hybrid and, after all, I was the one who inflicted the wound; I saw the