Dragon Soldier: BWWM Scifi Romance, #1

By Tyra Clark

When I wake up in a green tank filled with ooze, I know it isn't good. When I break out, creatures with weaponry so advanced it can't possibly have come from earth show up.

I don't know what they plan on doing with me, but I'm not sticking around to find out. I'll do anything to escape. Even release the gigantic, captive dragon they have on their ship.

Let's just say he's as eager to get out of here as I am. After freaking ripping apart the ship, we crash land on a prehistoric planet where everything wants to kill us.

Yes, us. The dragon man is with me. Great. He's made it very clear he's going to protect me. And feed me. And keep me very warm at night.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyra Clark
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393541493

Tyra Clark

Hello I am Tyra Clark and thank you for checking out my books. Some authors do a lot of crazy things, but I don't know how they have time for all that! Me? I work, spend as much time with my family as I can, and in the little spare time that I have, I write. Well, when I'm not reading that is. Writing is a lot of fun and it helps supplement my income and fund my reading habit. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my books.

Book preview

Madison

Every year, on the anniversary of our mother’s death, my sisters and I gathered at the cemetery.

I’d been half-way around the world on a tour of duty when she passed. I still felt guilt for not saying goodbye. My oldest sister, Breanna, had taken care of everything, Mom’s funeral, my three younger sisters, and somehow had managed to find the time to get her own nursing degree.

Maybe that’s why it was so hard to come home. Every time I saw them, I guilt swarmed in my stomach. I wished I could have done more. Done something.

But it hurt too bad to stay and see all the things I couldn’t fix. And besides, as an Air Force pilot, I had an excuse to leave. So I took it.

And I wasn’t the only one.

My second eldest sister, Vanessa, was standing next to her nine year old daughter, Tia. Tia sat on the hood of her mom’s silver Subaru. Vanessa was on her phone, probably juggling appointments. She’d busted every myth about a teen mom and had become a successful psychologist.

It’s hard to believe mom has been gone for four years, Breanna said.

I looked down. It was hard to believe. I wished she were still here.

Yeah. Wonder if dad even knows, Vanessa muttered.

Vanessa, Breanna warned.

Don’t worry. I’m not gonna get into it, Vanessa vowed, turning to fuss with Tia’s hair.

I sighed with relief. Dad skipped town when I was eight. Mom didn’t even try to cover it up by saying he died. She knew we weren’t stupid enough to buy that since there was no funeral.

Breanna thought that dad’s disappearance hadn’t been voluntary. The rest of us... well, let’s say we looked at the facts, not memories of his supposed love. The only one who believed Breanna was Emma, and he’d taken off before she’d even been born.

Good Morning everyone! An annoyingly cheerful voice called out. Emma was fresh out of high school and had a bright and happy demeanor about her. Always. She strolled over and took a seat on the hood of the car right alongside her niece.

Another car pulled up. Imani stepped out, looking like ten miles of bad road. The deep dark circles under her eyes claimed she hadn’t slept much at all.

Hey guys, she said, meekly. She’d gone to Hollywood to become a singer or an actress. She’d been chasing the spotlight, but had come back as if she’d seen only darkness. I wanted to reach out to her. We all did. But there were wounds she wasn’t willing to expose yet. We’d have to wait until she was ready.

You didn’t have to come if you’re sick, Breanna said. She was ready to mother Imani back to health.

"No, this is too important," Imani said.

Breanna looked like she was about to say something, but the rumbling of a motorcycle engine echoed in the distance. Kayla’s Harley Davidson roared toward us. She made damn sure she was the object of attention.

Though Kayla was Imani’s twin, they couldn’t have turned out more different.

As children they could pull it off but that twin train was long gone. Imani strived to be a Hollywood starlet. Kayla was anything but the feminine ideal. Tattoos covered her lean muscles and she wore her hair in a tight bun. I was surprised she didn’t go all out and shave herself bald.

Kayla stepped off the bike, and pulled out a can of beer from the six pack.

Beer? Really? Breanna said.

What? You wanted a friendly get together, didn’t you?

You’re driving.

I waited ‘till I was parked to start, Kayla said, taking a sip.

This is a memorial, not a party. And you aren’t even twenty-one, Kayla. Breanna frowned.

Age is just a number, Kayla replied. Here, Madison. Catch!

I was looking at the monuments and tombstones. From my periphery, I saw the arc of the can and caught it in my hand before it hit me in the eye.

There’s that Matrix shit I expect to see! Kayla said.

My eyes went wide at her audacity and my surprise that I’d caught it.

Kayla made a habit of throwing things at me, catching me off guard, to see if she could hit me. It started when she was a baby with her food. Then, it progressed to Imani’s Beanie Babies. Now it was beer cans, guess we’d really grown up.

Yeah, mom sure woulda been proud.

It wasn’t because Kayla wanted to hurt me. I think she just loved how she never could hit me. I always dodged or caught her throws, even though they were completely unexpected. These reflexes served me well as a fighter pilot. Maybe Kayla deserved thanks for honing my spider-senses.

Kayla, watch your mouth in front of Tia, Vanessa shouted. A nine year old doesn’t need to hear that.

Nothing she hasn’t heard before. You can’t blame everything on her Aunt Kayla, Kayla winked at Tia who gave her a big smile.

What if Tia repeats the word in class?

You underestimate your daughter, Van. Kayla walked over to Tia and fist bumped her niece. Vanessa could only fume. Kayla was Tia’s favorite Aunt. Tia lit up whenever she saw her. It made sense. No one was lower in the pecking order than kids and Kayla kicked ass for a living. She was an undefeated amateur MMA fighter looking to go pro.

You still a giant nerd, Tia? Read a long chapter book, like three hundred pages, yet? Kayla said.

I’m tryin’. They go really slow around page one hundred though...

Keep at it. You’ll be a nerd, but you’ll be the best of them. I can teach you to kick ass, and you can be an ass kicking nerd.

I don’t want you teaching my daughter how to get into fights, Kayla. Vanessa said.

Not fights, it’s self-defense.

Like you self-defended yourself into suspensions in high school? Breanna said with her eyebrow raised.

Hey, they started it every time. I am a woman of peace. I don’t start problems, but I damn sure finish them. Kayla danced on her feet and shadowboxed to the delight of Tia.

Sure you are, I said.

Breanna loudly cleared her throat. Can we remember we’re gathered here for mom? We’re family.

This is why I brought the beer, Kayla said. To loosen up, get to know one another.

She handed a beer to Vanessa, who put her hand up. I’m not drinking in front of my daughter. And I would appreciate if you’d do the same.

We’re adults. We decide on our own. Breanna?

No, Kayla.

Emma?

I’m only eighteen? She shrugged.

Yeah, well, I ain’t twenty-one either, but I’m not going to tell, Kayla said.

I’ll pass. Thanks though.

No fun. Madison?

I shook my head, and slid the beer back into the six-pack. Sorry, Kayla.

Imani? You’re with me, right? A little twin bonding?

What? She snapped out of her haze. She was totally preoccupied with something else and hadn’t been listening. Booze? No. No thanks.

You okay there, Imani? Kayla looked at her.

I’m fine, really, I am.

Kayla didn’t buy it, and neither did I. If Imani wasn’t going to talk about it though, there was nothing anyone could do. Fine, if you’re going to be like that, I guess we have to face all this stone cold sober.

Woe is you, having to spend time with family without a buzz, Breanna waved us along and led the way.

These were my sisters. The matriarch, the therapist, the fighter, the pilot, the wanna be starlet and the youngest still undecided. Mom’s anniversary was our excuse to touch base with each other, even if it was temporary.

It hadn’t always been like this.

Mama had been the invincible glue holding us all together. Then she stopped being invincible.

People fought. People struggled on how to help her. How to interpret her wish that we didn’t derail our lives because of her. With her gone, we couldn’t agree how to be an actual family.

My teeth chattered. I rubbed my arms as I walked. It had suddenly grown cold. Unusual for a forecast of record heat.

The sun was blocked by clouds.

We reached the grave. The tombstone read Angela Jones, beloved wife and mother.

Debatable on the wife part, since our dad had taken off.

I knelt down in the grass and closed my eyes. A day didn’t go by that I didn’t think of mom. Her smile, her love. No matter how foolish, I wanted her back. We all had to cope and move on. Living meant everybody suffered loss and pain.

The air grew colder, and a brisk wind picked up. The skies grew dark.

Mommy, I’m cold, Tia said, tugging on Vanessa’s shorts.

Me too, sweetie, this is so odd.

All of us looked around trying to figure out the sudden change in weather.

The temperature just went lower and lower. Soon we were all dancing in place in effort to stay warm.

Goddamn, Kayla said, marching back and forth. I know weather can change in fifteen minutes around here, but this is ridiculous.

Don’t swear, Kayla, Breanna replied.

A random ice age flash hits us and you’re worried about language?

Profanity won’t warm us up.

Fuckin’ cold. Kayla raised a middle finger. See? I feel warmer now.

No hail or snow fell. At one in the afternoon the sky kept growing darker.

Mommy, I’m scared.

Tia wasn’t alone. I got off my knees and moved closer to my sisters. Something didn’t feel right. I took a whiff of the darkness. Something didn’t smell right. Graveyards aren’t supposed to smell like sulfur... with a hint of strawberries?

The fuck?

A strobe light hit us. The darkness in the distance stops being so dark and turned a bright yellow green. Green sky? Where was the sun?

I didn’t believe in the supernatural, I didn’t believe the government harbored aliens inside Area 51. My GI scholarship got me an engineering degree. If I applied logic I believed even the strangest phenomenon could be made sensible.

Green skies, outdoor strobe lights, and freezing cold in July? To quote Kayla, ‘Fuck.’

The light flashed blue. Then green. Then white.

Madison

I flailed wildly.

I breathed in water.

I panicked.

Was I drowning? I opened my eyes and found myself immersed in a nearly transparent grass green liquid.

It didn’t feel like I was drowning. Yet I should be drowning. How could I breathe totally submerged in a water like substance?

Yet I was breathing. It made absolutely no sense.

My heartbeat slowed as I realized death wasn’t imminent. It took its time slowing, because I was terrified as hell and clueless why I was in a vat of green... water.

Luckily, I was still clothed, for a given value of luck. My clothes were soaked in this substance. The upside to being dressed in wet clothes was that I was submerged and they floated with my movement. If I was outside, they would cling and I would feel chilled. It looked like I wasn’t going to be going anywhere soon. As awkward as that was to be wearing everyday clothing in a tank of water without drowning, it was worse to be wearing wet clothes not meant to be swimwear.

I reached out and touched heavy glass around me. I felt around and determined I was in a tube. Great, a human sized test tube with green formaldehyde. I patted myself down. My senses were dulled from my recent unconsciousness.

I had no memory of the interval between now and then. One moment I stood at my mother's grave, freezing, the next moment I’m in a green vial of solution. There was a huge gap missing between these two states and I had no idea what happened.

I saw a line of upright tubes next to mine. There were dozens of them.

Nearby tubes contained my sisters. Wow, Breanna would be so disappointed. This was supposed to be a warm family gathering. Here we were, together but isolated. I would have found the irony funny except I was too horrified. I remembered now. It was the anniversary of mother’s death. We hadn’t even agreed whether we were there to mourn or be of good cheer. Maybe I should have had that beer.

They were all here. Imani. Kayla. Emma. Breanna, Vanessa, and Tia too. Everyone floated unconscious in their separate tubes like specimens. I thought back for clues. There was nothing unusual until the weather suddenly changed. It had promised to be a humid July afternoon.

Was anyone else conscious? I knocked on the glass, and no one stirred. Each looked unnaturally still. It wasn’t like they were sleeping either. People inhaled and exhaled as they slept. They tossed and turned. They were held in an eerie stillness, yet they didn’t seem dead. Who would keep a corpse in a vial of fluid anyway? I suddenly remembered the jars of formaldehyde in Biology class. I wish I hadn’t thought of that.

Nothing about this was logical.

Then I noticed another row of vials. There were people in those tubes too.

Men.

Or something like men.

They were broad shouldered and ripped to shreds. Their shoulders were darker than the rest of them.

The more I studied them, the less human they looked. Their hair spiked backwards, their faces were elongated.

They were close to naked, wearing loincloths that looked made

Reviews for Dragon Soldier

[Jessy Sling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so sad the story was short. Would love to read and learn more about them.