Crashed on Alien Planet: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance (32 page)

It was unpredictable and I wasn’t quite ready for it. I was trying my best to get my eyesight back, while knowing full well that she was going to use this. I felt her pound me and I was barely able to move away from the fist that had my name written on it.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Gemini. It’s my capacity for good that is going to make it easier to defeat you. You’re so caught up in feeling nothing that you don’t have any clue that that is the one thing that is going to hurt you the most. It’s those feelings that make us who we are. It’s that fear that makes us want to fight and it’s that nervous energy that makes us want to come out on top. You fight for the Lord and I fight for the masses. Women everywhere are looking to me to become their role model. They want me to be victorious, because that will give them a reason to stand up. That is not something to be afraid…it’s something to rejoice.”

“Shana, I really don’t care what you have to say. I don’t care that you want to give these women the rights that they deserve.” I think I was seeing something that she didn’t want me to see. “You just finished telling me that women deserve equal rights. If you really believe that, then maybe deep down you know that fighting me is wrong” It was a shot in the dark, but something that I had to try.

Using that newfound knowledge, I moved quickly to her side, while bringing back a straight kick into her ribs. They were the perfect target and the most vulnerable when it came to hurting the form of a human being.

Following it up, I held the back her head, while repeatedly smacking my elbow against her face. I didn’t know how long I had been doing it, but when I finally let go of her hair, her face looked like how I felt. She was swaying on her feet, looking like some kind of drunken person looking for a handout.

“This is what you get for coming after me, Gemini. Remember this day and I hope to god that we never have to have a repeat performance.” I ran towards her, leaping into the air and bringing down a superman punch. I made contact with the bridge of her nose, landing on one knee with my face looking down at the sand. I had my eyes closed and had she had anything left, she would have turned and most likely put her hands around my throat. I wasn’t putting up any kind of fight, turning or even facing her for that matter.

I didn’t even bother looking at her and that might’ve been the wrong thing to do, but I felt like it sent a message to those that would face me next.

I heard the soft thud and I glanced back. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was on her knees. The last shot had taken her out of her boots and your entire body was swaying like a tree that was going to come down at any moment. Everybody was on their feet. All the women were hanging over the sides to get a better view.

Gemini’s hands came down into the sand and blood was now dripping onto her hands. She looked up with her eyes burning with rage and she managed to get on her feet, although I don’t think that was the most prudent course of action. The best that she could do was stay down and hope for the 5 minutes to elapse quickly. She didn’t do that, because she wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Get up…you damn fool. Don’t make me have to punish you.” Even though she didn’t remember the last few days, something was ingrained into her about the mark that was currently placed on her body. She turned her head abruptly, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking up at Lord Vadam and at that moment, I could see that her main focus was not on me anymore. “Don’t even think about it.” She ran towards the stands and I watched quite fascinated by the way that she seemed to move with the grace of a panther. She leaped over two guardsmen that were positioned underneath the parapet. Lord Vadam was standing with a look that I could only be described as fear. It looked good on him. I didn’t like feeling this way, but he had given me every reason to.

“I think that we should get you out of here, Lord.” He wasn’t budging. There was no way that he would be able to stand here in front of his people without looking like he had tucked his tail and ran away from a fight. Instead, he reached for something that was hidden from view, lifting it up and showing everybody the gleaming metal of this sword that looked like it could cut through just about anything. He looked confident, but I was betting the farm on Gemini. She looked like she was a woman possessed.

“I’m not going anywhere. She can come, but she better know what she’s doing or she’ll find out in a hurry that I’m not just going to stand here and take this insubordination.”

Gemini was only a few short feet away from her ultimate target. Her mind had been twisted by a man that only wanted her for the ultimate weapon. “You’re the one that did this to me.” She turned towards the people, showing the mark and then pointed toward Lord Vadam, as the culprit. It was widely known that there was a rumor going around that he did such a thing to those that he was displeased with. It was one thing to think that you knew it, but it was another thing entirely when you were forced to face it up close and personal.

Chapter three

They were staring each other down and Lord Vadam had his sword at the ready, but I think he even knew that he was up against a woman that wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I need you to back down, before this escalates any further, Gemini. Remember your place.” That was the last thing he should have said, because she reached out and grabbed onto that sword and pulled it from his grasp. She held it out and then without warning drove it into his side. “NOOOOOOO.” The man that was standing beside him at the time had decided that a hasty retreat was in order. He was not concerned with his Lord and was more concerned with his own safety.

Using one hand, Gemini pulled herself up and was now standing on the parapet like some kind of animal about to attack its prey. “I’m through taking your orders. I am nobody’s slave and I will not be treated like one. This ends right here and right now. Your conditioning might have worked, had you not been, so hell bent on revenge against the woman that didn’t do anything to you. Shana has only done what she thought was right and for you to think otherwise has made you begin to think that you are superior. Believe me, you are not anything of the sort. You are a weak minded man with a god complex that needs to be taken down a peg.” The blood on the blade of the sword was now calling attention to it.

All I had to do was look around at the people in the stands and they were now glued to the spectacle of someone about to kill the Lord. I could see that they were afraid that their way of life was in jeopardy. Those that felt that way began to pelt Gemini with food and any other things that they could hold in their greedy little hands.

One look from her steely eyes and they stopped this form of ridicule. “Leave this to me and stop this petty nonsense. If he is meant to die, then he will by my hand. If he’s not, then somebody will come to his rescue, but it doesn’t have to be you people

“They are only trying to protect their way of life, Gemini. You would know that, if you were thinking straight.” I had begun to realize that she had gotten her memory back. It was in her eyes and the way that she looked at me with animosity, but also with respect at the same time. I thought that she would be angry with me, but I think any anger that she felt was directed towards Lord Vadam and his rule of tyranny.

She was about to make the final blow, when two arrows came out of nowhere and pierced both of her shoulder blades at the same time. To her credit, she did not scream, but she did drop the sword with a resounding clang that could be heard by all. Two guardsmen came through the doorway leading to the parapet. They were holding those bows tight with arrows ready to take down the enemy. They were acting like good loyal foot soldiers. You couldn’t expect anything different. This was the way things were.

They got on either side of her and escorted her from the terrified and wounded Lord Vadam. He was doubled over, but he had the semblance of mind to stand to address the crowd. “Gemini is not feeling well, so with that in mind, I have no choice but award the victory to Shana.” I knew that it was killing him to say that, but he had no choice. It was obvious that Gemini was not going to fight me any longer. “I will do my best to help Gemini and I hope that everybody prays for her.” There was a moment of silence and everybody was throwing their good wishes and vibes towards a woman that had shown that she wasn’t going to bow down.

Lord Vadam barely turned and started to fall before one of the guardsmen helped him up. He was slapping his hands away. He wasn’t going to show this kind of weakness in front of his loyal followers. He managed to stand on his own 2 feet, but you could see that it was a shaky beginning and most likely was going to a very shaky end. I still don’t know how he was able to leave on his own power, but that was a testament to the man that he was trying to project others.

“Lord Vadam is being taken care of at the moment. As his second in command, I will commence the next competitors to fight.” I’d heard from Braden and Lord Vadam’s second in command was named Rodham. He always stayed behind the scenes, but today he had to take front and center, whether he liked it or not. He had flowing black hair, which he had pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing the customary black castle armor. Had Lord Vadam been wearing his armor at the time, he might not be in the position that he was right now.

Nicholas and Ansel prepared to go one on one. The battle commenced and there was no doubt in my mind that Nicholas would be the one that was standing victorious over his enemy by the end of it. The way that he fought showed no wasted motion and even though he was hurt several times with right crosses that probably would have brought down a rhino, he continued to persevere.

“I don’t know what’s keeping you standing, Nicholas. I’ve seen some amazing fighters in my day, but you take things to the next level. I’m not sure what you’re going to do next and that in itself makes you dangerous in my opinion. I have no choice. but to kill you, because I don’t think that you’re going to stay down any other way.” Ansel was bald, except for the strip in the back that he had held onto with grim death. This was his last vestige for having hair and he was not going to let anybody take it away from him. Unfortunately, Nicholas did not get that memo and he used it as leverage, pulling it back and literally ripping it from its roots. Only small bits of hair remained and I could see the look on Ansel’s face and I knew that he wasn’t going to take that lightly.

“What are you going to do about it, Ansel?” He had found something uniquely personal to Ansel and now he was using it to better formulate a plan of attack. “I just took the one thing that you hold the most dear in your life.” As proof to his prowess, Nicholas raised the ponytail into the air and swung it back and forth like a trophy. This brought forth a medley of laughter. It only infuriated Ansel, but of course that was going to make him careless and reckless. He had made the mistake of letting Nicholas goad him into doing something that was ill advised.

Ansel came forward with his hands outstretched with the express purpose of wrapping it around Nicholas’s throat. His anger blinded him and Nicholas separated his hands out, blocking both of Ansel’s hands and preventing him from getting a grip on his sinewy throat. With him wide open, Nicholas stepped forward and smacked his head repeatedly against the face and nose of Ansel. He did not stop and some of Ansel’s blood was now congealed in his hair.

He finally stepped out of the circle, dizzy from having to slam his head into Ansel’s face. Thankfully, he had used the strongest part of his head. His forehead showed the brunt force impact of what he had just done. The red welt was nothing compared to the blood that was now coming out of Ansel’s nose and face. It was obviously broken and he swung wildly, not quite knowing where he was, until finally collapsing onto the ground.

After the 5 minutes had elapsed, everybody looked around and they noticed that the winner by default was the Red castle. Myself, Braden and Nicholas stood tall, as the victors, but then Lord Vadam came back out on the parapet with the medicine man by his side. He didn’t look good, which meant he had forced himself to come out, but to what end.

“I’m calling for a writ of dissension. If there is anybody that stands against me, then do so now or forever hold your peace.” This was not how the saying went in my world. Marriages were made on vows, but it also allowed for somebody to deny them their happiness by stepping in and giving a reason why they couldn’t be married. Most often than not, it was because of a past love or possibly a dalliance the night before with a lover that just couldn’t take the answer no.

I had not heard of the writ of dissension. I could only assume that it was a very old rule that had never been used, until today.

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to pull, but it’s not going to work. As you and all of your loyal followers can see, the Red castle is the victor and there’s nothing that you can do about it. I would say that you should lick your wounds and go somewhere and stop meddling, but I don’t think that you’re going to do that. I will be one of the guardsmen and the three of us will take our rightful place, as members of the Black castle with Lord Russum, as the new Lord of the Black castle.”

“I’m afraid, Shana that you are mistaken. This rule states that there cannot be a clear-cut victory or winner after the first three stages of the competition. I have initiated the writ of dissension. This means that two of you are going to have to give your loyalties to another castle. If you cannot decide within a 24 hour period, then the decision will be made for you.” I didn’t know what quite to say. I’d no idea that that was even possible and I could tell that most of these people were a little loss for words. “I have made the decree. I will have a representative from each castle going forward.”