Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) (11 page)

“Did the supply terminal have the part?” The bartender topped off his glass.

“No, got to order it. Says it’s going to take a few days to come in.” He took a big swallow of the fiery liquid. He had to grit his teeth as the burn travelled down to the pit of his stomach.

“Another?”

He nodded, “Hit me.” He waited for the bartender to pour the liquid before he attempted to broaden the conversation. “This is my first time to Qetera. Where can I find a place to hang out and maybe meet a nice woman?”

“The bars are pretty much all you’re going to find here. Qetera is more family oriented.” The bartender dried a glass he was holding.

“Got’cha. Know any females who might want to go out on at date or have dinner? It’s going to kill me just sitting around waiting for that damned part,” he needed to make it sound good enough for the bartender to disclose some information.

“You can take a tour of the city. Commander Etor encourages new people to s
ee the city and maybe relocate here.”

“He must be a good king then,” he said.

“Oh Commander Etor isn’t a king per say. He is the main ruler of Qetera but its split into three cities that are run by him and his two brothers. Really nice family. Qetera has flourished under their rule.”

“New family ruling?” he asked.

“Oh no! No! They’ve been ruling for a longtime now. The pervious Commander was their father and he stepped down to turn over the rule to them because he was sick for a while. Worked out for the best though. Things are running smoother than ever. Of course, Nallume is in the middle of a big clean up because a recent storm hit it. Commander Etor just returned too from an extra-long mission." The bartender chatted away as he cleaned up behind his work station.

Zol’tsa’s interest shot up a notch at that news. He smiled inwardly and prayed the old man would keep spilling out his guts. “Why was he gone so long then?” He crossed his fingers.

“Those damned Lephusans are stirring up trouble again from what I heard. It never ends in a good way when those bastards start up. The last time they started their crap we lost several of our best men. I’m sure you had to have heard of the last war?” The old man looked at him suspiciously.

“I heard about it but stayed away. I didn’t want to get involved. My ship isn’t equipped with guns. I just transport medical supplies around to different galaxies.”
Damn, the old man was getting suspicious with him.

“Oh, one of those, are you? My son went into that field of work. Made a nice sum of money. Can’t say I blame you. It’s better than being stuck in the same old place day after day. I bet you’ve seen a lot of different worlds.” The man had a dreamy look in his eyes as he asked about the worlds he travelled to.

He waved his hand over the top of his glass to indicate he didn’t want any more to drink. “Oh sure! Let’s see I’ve been to Qetera, of course, umm… Toeloomus, Vorus, Napra, umm… Jacarro, Ratania, Asmion….”

“I been to Napra. Beautiful place with beautiful women!” The old man winked at him then laughed.

He joined the old man then dropped the bomb he hoped would gain him the information he needed. “Oh and Earth. Only been there once but…”

“Earth! No kidding! Earth!
What’s it like there? I haven’t met anyone before now who has been there, but I did get a glimpse of the Earth females the Commander rescued.”

BINGO! He could hardly contain himself. Sticking with the old bartender paid out finally! “Not too bad of a place. A lot of their citizens are reloca
ting though. Not sure why. The women I did see were above average in looks. I wouldn’t mind getting it on with one or two of them.”

The old man roared with laughter. His wrinkled face scrunched up and turned beat red as he laughed. “You’re a man after my own heart! If you ever go back give me a call and I might take a ride with you.”

“Sure thing, Buddy.” He faked looking at his time piece. “Damn it’s gotten late.” He tossed some bills on the bar in front of the man. “Thanks for the drinks. I might drop by tomorrow. You be here?”

“I’m always here,” the bartender said with a parting wave.

He left the bar and headed back to his ship. There wasn’t any time to waste in getting back to Lephus to deliver his news. The excitement he felt with the thought of getting one of the Earth females almost had him running to the landing pad. He would have to get clearance once again in order to leave the planet but he already had his story in place.

“Requesting immediate departure clearance,” he spoke to the tower.

“Leaving so soon? I thought you needed a part for your ship,” the voice on the other end was the same voice he had spoken to when he first asked for landing clearance.

“I got an emergency call. My father has taken ill and is not expected to survive much longer.”

“Dang man. Sorry to hear it. You want us to ship that part to you?”

“No, I’ll come back for it in a few days.”

“Sure thing. You’re clear for departure.”

The radio went silent. He flicked the switch that turned the radio off. “Back in a few days my ass!” He laughed at his own joke then lifted his ship up off the surface of Qetera. He was going to push his ship to the limits to get back to Lephus. Ruehar better keep his promise.

Chapter 12

“Any word from Vulmar?” Kharis asked Etor.

Etor was strapping on a new harness he had made for Rhaegos. It would allow him to take Maggie for rides on the big dragon. Now that she could hear Rhaegos because of their bonding, she had been begging him to take her up in the air.

“I spoke with him last night and he hasn’t found out anything yet. He says the officials are keeping their mouths closed about the missing transport. Apparently, no one there even knows what happened. Vulmar is searching for the supposed captain who went into hiding.”

Kharis tossed pebbles into the narrow stream that ran through the open field behind the house. “I want to get my hands on whoever is responsible.”

Etor watched his brother. He suspected his middle brother was going through the Rage because of Kelly. More than once he had witnessed the pair at each other’s throat. Both of them were trying so hard to deny their feelings. He knew though they wouldn’t be able to resist much longer. Kharis couldn’t even tolerate Kelly talking to another male much less see one touch her. Kelly had even gone as far as demand Kharis stay totally away from her at all times.

“Hopefully, he will have some news soon. Right now we have to worry about Ruehar.”

A sound behind them had them turning to see Maggie and Kelly heading their way. Kharis stiffened at the sight of Kelly and he had to laugh. Kelly obviously had noticed Kharis or she wouldn’t still be walking their way. Maggie waved at them as the females walked to them, but the smile on Kelly’s face faded when she saw Kharis standing near the stream.

“Hello, my love. Ready to go for that ride?” He pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her soft lips.

Aww give me a break you two,
Rhaegos puffed out a large spray of smoke.

Maggie giggled when she heard Rhaegos. “I still can’t believe that I can hear him too!” She reached out to rub her hand over the light purple scales on Rhaegos’ belly.

“What?” Kelly shouted. “You can hear him?” Kelly looked from Maggie to Rhaegos in amazement.

“Sure can and it’s great! Kind of weird hearing someone talk in your head but cool at the same time.”

“You really are going to ride him, aren’t you?” Kelly asked. She was afraid of the huge creature and preferred to stay several feet away from him when he was near. “I am so glad there is only one of them around.”

“Oh, there’s more than one around,” Kharis stated.

Kelly turned to face him. “What do you mean? If there are more where are they?”

“Mine i
s back in my city and Vulmar’s is with him on a mission.” Kharis smiled smugly at her. He knew she was scared of the dragon, so he thought he would let her know he had one too.

“You have a dragon too?” Her eyes and mouth widened in surprise.

“Of course. There are many more on Qetera matter of fact. Would you like to go for a ride and see them?” Kharis knew what the answer would be, but he thought he would give it a try.

“Hell NO! I am not about to get on one of those things! I prefer to keep my feet on the ground.”

“Chicken,” Kharis said. He had heard Maggie call her that a couple of times but wasn’t quite sure what a chicken was.

He got the rise out of her he wanted. She stormed over to him and jabbed him in the chest with her tiny finger. He looked down at
the beautiful creature and had to force himself from wrapping his arms around her.

“I am not a chicken! Got it?”

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. Her fury deepened as he laughed at her. Behind her Etor and Maggie chimed in with their laughter. It only served to piss her off even more.

“I’m got out of here. Y’all think it’s so funny but I don’t!” Kelly left them in a hurry.

“Oh man, I’m afraid we hurt her feelings by laughing at her,” Maggie said.

Kharis didn’t take his eyes off the retreating female who stirred his blood. “But, what is she so scared of? It’s just a dragon.”

“First, Earth doesn’t have dragons, at least not real ones. Second, when we were younger we used to climb trees a lot. We loved to climb the big oak tree in her backyard. One summer we were trying to build a treehouse in the tree when the branch Kelly was standing broke, sending her plummeting to the ground.” Maggie thought back to the incident that put her friend in the hospital for the rest of that summer.

Kharis paled at her words like he was reliving the experience with Kelly. “What happened?”

“When she hit the ground she broke both of her legs. One of her bones was completely broken in half and protruding out of skin. She was in the hospital all summer and had never gotten over the fear of high places after that.”

“By the Gods! My poor mate!” Kharis whispered as he looked back to Kelly. “I should have never teased her like that. I need to apologize!” He left them without another word and ran after Kelly.

“Did he just say what I think he said,” Maggie asked.

Etor picked her up by the waist and placed her into the harness then swung his large frame up behind her. “I believe so, little one.
Ready Rhaegos!”

The dragon shot up into the air. Maggie held on for dear life and screamed until he leveled out. They could both hear the sneaky dragon laughing as they flew
through the cool evening air.

It was amazing how Rhaegos could glide through the air with a simple wave of his wings. Seeing his outstretched wing up close, she could tell
how intricate and delicate the thin skin was. Rows upon rows of tiny, thin bones lined the span of each wing and one very sharp claw was at the end. As Rhaegos moved she could feel the movement of his mighty muscles working beneath her legs as she squeezed them to the harness.

Go to the mountains, Rhaegos
,
Etor directed him.

My pleasure
, came the reply.

Maggie took in everything around her. It was a glorious evening with the two suns of Qetera still high in the sky but slowly sinking as night approached. Lavender clouds surrounded them as they flew through a cloud bank as they neared the mountains. It was amazing to see Qetera like this! The colors of everything were vibrant, bright and she saw animals she never thought could exist.

Etor kept his arms wrapped around her slim body as she leaned back some into him. He could smell her hair and the scent of their recent love making still lingered on her skin. The bond between them was strong and growing stronger by the day. The only thing that would be able to break that bond now was death.

The past few days had been pure heaven for him. After the night of making love to his mate, he could
n’t bear to leave her. They stayed hidden away in their private rooms for three days making love until they were both exhausted. He had taken her so many times he had lost count, not that he was counting anyway. He never imagined he could feel the way he did about this little Earth female. The gods and goddesses sent her to him for a purpose and to keep her safe and he planned on doing just that.

She still hadn’t confided
in him her story of why she truly left Earth and it irritated him. He wasn’t going to force her to say what it was, but when he would ask her about it she would clam up and change the subject. One day soon he planned on getting her to tell him what happened.

“Oh. My. God.”

The sound of her surprised voice dragged him out of his daze. Her head was turned to the side of the mountain Rhaegos had just flown over. There grazing lazily was a large herd of dragons. It was the same herd that had presented his father and mother with the eggs that were to be their children’s dragons.

“There’s so many of them!”

Fly closer, Rhaegos.

Rhaegos took a small dive then evened out again. He flew close to a particularly large dragon whose scales were a mixture of gold and red tones. Running around on the valley floor was a small herd of four baby dragons, all frolicking in the river. As they flew over
, several of the larger dragons raised their heads to sniff the air.

“They are scenting us. Rhaegos is from this herd. The big one over there,” Etor pointed in the direction
of a large dragon who was a deep royal purple with a bright white head, “is Rhaegos’ father. His mother is the smaller pink one standing next to him.”

Rhaegos took that moment to fly low and hover in front of the pair as they looked on.
He bowed his head to the two dragons staring at him and the riders on his back. When they recognized who it was the pair returned the bow then let out a deafening roar.

Maggie put her hands over her ears to block out the offensive noise. It lasted for several seconds before it stopped but her ears still rang after she uncovered them. She could barely make out the sound of Etor laughing as Rhaegos took off again.

They rode through the air until they reached a large empty area next to a small stream with green sparkling water. Rhaegos gently landed on the soft ground then lowered his body enough to allow Etor to jump off then reach for Maggie.

“Where are we,” she asked.

He took her hand and led her over to the stream.

“This was my favorite spot to come
to when I was a boy. My brothers and I spent countless hours here playing with our dragons.” He sat on the ground and pulled her onto his lap.

“But, why is the water
green? Shouldn’t it be blue like the stream in the garden?”

“This is the land of the dragons. It’s a whole different world within the confines of the mountains. The dragons were here long before we ever came to Qetera. The very first dragon, Livjatan the Life Giver, settled here after his world was destroyed. They thrived here and grew to great numbers. The first of my people came here in search of a safe place to bring their families who were exiled from their home. The dragons were very leery of them at first but soon realized that my people meant them no harm and could live alongside the dragons in peace. Over the years as my people grew to great numbers, Livjatan made a pack with the ruler. Livjatan promised from that point on, in order to keep their world peaceful, he would give a dragon’s egg to a select few males who bore the mark of the dragon.”

“And you have this mark?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s on my lower left shoulder blade. It’s where every mark of the dragon is found.
Only those with the mark of the dragon could rule over Qetera. The pack was sealed and it has been the same way ever since. Usually only the first born son to the current ruler would bear the mark. For whatever reason, the gods and goddesses saw fit to give the mark to me and my two brothers. That’s why my brothers each rule over a city, but I am the ultimate or supreme ruler of Qetera because I am the first born son.” He nibbled her neck for a moment.

“But that doesn’t tell me why the water is green
” she twisted her body until she could grasp his face in both of her faces to bring his attention back to the story.

“Ok, I’ll finish with the story then I have something else I plan on doing to you,” he wiggled his eyebrows at her causing her to laugh. “This area in the valley is the most fertile land on all Qetera. Without this land the dragons would not thrive. The green water comes from high up in the mountains where we believe the gods and goddesses reside. This is the only
water source on Qetera that is green, but it travels for many, many miles within the valley before it joins with the great sea on the other side of those mountains over there.” He pointed in the direction he wanted her to look. “Kharis’ city, Ashme, lies on the other side of those mountains. While Vumar’s city, Nallume, is closer to the sea.”

“What are the names of their dragons?”

“Beroan, is Vulmar’s and Serelath is Kharis’.” His hand moved upwards to caress the underside of her breast. “I am hoping that all of our sons will bear the mark of the dragon also,” he whispered in her ear.

She leaned her neck to the side to allow him more room to nibble the sensitive spot behind her ear. “That feels nice.”

“Come, I want to show you something.”

They stood up and he took her by the hand again. He headed to the grove of trees near a bend in the stream where there was a small waterfall. He heard her suck in her breath when
she caught sight of its beauty as they neared it.

“Wow! This is incredible.” Her head turned in every direction to take in the scene surrounding her. Trees of brown and orange stretched high up into the lavender clouds above the falls. The green water of the stream cascaded over the sharp drop of the shelf above to land in a large, round pool below. Small ripple
s fanned out to the water’s edges to gently sway the purple reeds that protruded out of the water with large red flowers crowning their tops. The rays of Qetera’s largest sun found their way through the clouds to shine down on the sparkling water to make it look almost transparent. A well-worn trail ran alongside the stream as it meandered its way downstream.

Etor led her along the trail then up alongside the waterfall. It was too loud to try to talk, so they walked in silence as he led her to a spot that allowed them to go behind the falls. It was cool and damp behind the cascading water but a bit quieter.

Without waiting, Etor spun her around until she was firmly in his arms. He kissed her hungrily as he lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. The back of the waterfall’s hidden room had a flat, smooth wall that he pressed her against as he tasted her like he never had before. He felt her rubbing herself along his hard cock that was straining to be released from the confining clothes he wore. He growled into her mouth when he felt her hand cover his cock through his pants. Gods, if she didn’t stop touching him, he would cum in his pants like a school boy.