Alien General's Baby (Brion Brides 7)(8)

To such a man, hearing the truth was nothing more than a new challenge.

"No, commander," Kerven confirmed his words. "The Palians have sent us a very detailed report, asking for your cooperation personally, sir. Since you have killed it once before, they believe you are most likely to triumph again."

Braen considered that blatant flattery, even if it was as true as it was hard-earned.

"They are sure?" the general asked. "The Fearless can't, ultimately, die. I killed one of its forms, but it just reincarnated."

"Yes, General," Kerven said, clearly grateful that he was taking it so well. "There has only ever been one creature, all that time. It remembers everything, knows everything about its past lives. And the Palians are more than certain it will not fall for the same techniques again. This explains why every new form has compensated for the weaknesses of the previous one."

The valor squares on his neck seemed heavier all of a sudden. Braen considered the implications with quiet resolve. He was wearing the badges of honor for something he apparently hadn't done.

It should have shamed him, but it did not.

Brion healers had fixed his body, but Braen still remembered how close he'd come to dying at the hands and jaws of the monster. The squares were deserved. An incarnation or not, he had brought the galaxy a reprieve from the Fearless all those years ago, at least for a while.

All that Braen took from the exchange was that his job simply wasn't finished yet.

"Very well," he told Kerven. "Let the union   know that I accept the task and will not stop until it's resolved. I will not rest until the Fearless is gone from the galaxy forever."

The young warrior hesitated.

"General –" he began, but Braen cut in.

"I know," he said with a tone that silenced Kerven's protests at once. "I heard, but you know Palians. They don't lie, yet when it comes to battles and war, they never see the full range of options. Just because we don't know how to kill it yet doesn't mean there is none. They of all species should know that.

“Just in case, however, you can assure them that while I search for the answer for that question, I will not let the Fearless roam around in the galaxy."

"If you kill it, General," Kerven began again, but this time he'd crossed a line.

Braen took a step closer, fire burning in his bright blue eyes. He could see how tense the young warrior grew, how Kerven's mind worked to calculate if he should defend himself or endure.

"I expect better from you," the general growled, low and dark. "We are Brions. The Galactic union   thinks we're trigger-happy, bloodthirsty maniacs. It does not mean we have neither control nor reason. Your lack of trust is insulting. I will not kill the Fearless before I know how to make it stick. I understand what imprisonment means."#p#分页标题#e#

Kerven took the scolding with silence, waiting for Braen to decide whether or not to let him live. It was no choice at all for the general, but it sometimes served to remind the warriors under his command a few simple truths.

Brion generals didn't demand loyalty or respect. They either earned it or they didn't and the lives of the latter were short. Braen had already shown that his career would be nothing but long.

Doubt was another matter entirely. Warriors might have hated their generals, plotted to challenge them, but until they dared to do so, they were still expected to follow their commander's every order without question. And they did.

He let Kerven go after a few heart-stopping moments, silently approving of the warrior's calm. Braen saw greatness ahead for the boy whose valor squares betrayed almost nothing, although his trained eyes could make out the smallest hints of fear.



That was how Braen ended up tasked with killing the one monster in the galaxy who couldn't die.

One he had already vanquished once, no less.

The fates must be feeling particularly difficult, he thought.

Braen wouldn't have been fit for a Brion general if he didn't take that as a compliment, a testament to his abilities and strength.

A week before he found the girl with fire-red hair and big green eyes who was going to change his life, Braen met with the paladin who had killed the last incarnation of the Fearless. While the universe was thrown into chaos, the Elders had been reluctant to let the generals know of what was going on with Verien and the hunt after it.

It meant that the majority of the generals had learned later of the destruction The Fearless had caused and of the loss of one of their own vessels and a troop of soldiers. It had kept Brion flagships from riddling the skies above Verien.

Later, Braen learned that this was in part due to heavy debate in the councils on who of the generals should be tasked with tracking down and dealing with the mythical beast, or if someone should be sent at all.

Also, apparently the Palians had feared that if a Brion flagship interfered and the Fearless grew as powerful as the lifestone could make it, then losing some of the prime weapons that could be used against it later would be an enormous risk. As such, the quiet, wise race had been less than forthcoming with information until their paladin resolved the situation.

Now that, however, very nearly did count as an insult to Braen. It should not have been a question at all. He slayed it once, he could do it again. In his mind, the problems with Verien would have found swifter justice had he been notified in time.

The past is not to be dwelled upon, Braen had reminded himself shortly before meeting the paladin and his bride.

The two guardians of an icy mining planet called Verien came to see him aboard the Benevolent. They were the ones who discovered the secret of the Fearless and nearly paid for that discovery with their lives, trying to protect the lifestone reservoir from the monster.

The governor of the planet, Audrey Price, was a Terran. She was a beautiful woman with silvery blonde hair and very light green eyes, willful and strong.

The commander of Palian paladins, Tieran, wouldn't have been out of place in the ranks of Brions. He was as tall as Braen, deep hazel eyes observing the general with quiet pride, as was custom for his people. Unlike the rest of the Palians with lidless eyes and long, thin bodies, their paladins were built similarly to Brions.

Another form of praise, the general thought with amusement. For a galaxy that hates and fears us so much, they mix it with admiration. As they should.

Braen had seen a few of the hidden warriors over the years, but he knew them to be a well-kept secret of the peaceful race. Considering the prowess of the paladins on the fields of war, he could understand the reasoning for this.

He had never met either of them before, but Braen could see how the two managed to overcome a Fearless. There was a power to the two of them, in their unity, that made Braen almost… what was the word? Jealous? It only worked to remind him that he had yet to hunt down his gesha.

They were sent to give their firsthand accounts concerning the monster, hoping to shed a little light on the matter.

"I saw the truth when I held the lifestone," Audrey told him. "You should be careful not to let anyone else come into contact with the stone as we've already warned the others. It created a bond between me and everything else living that the stone came into contact with, but I wouldn't pay the price willingly. I would not wish it upon anyone."

She stopped for a moment and Braen saw the way the paladin gently squeezed her hand before Audrey continued. A flash of jealousy that shot through him surprised Braen once more. Every Brion was always on the lookout for their fated mate, but he hadn't realized how badly he desired to meet his second half until he witnessed a love so strong it had overcome the Fearless.#p#分页标题#e#

Audrey went on.

"At first, the monster had the upper hand. I felt powerless for a long while. Without the protective bracelet that the Palians gave me, the enemy could see right into my mind and I wasn't able to push back. Only seconds before it died, it was weak enough so I could return the favor."

Her voice was feral and victorious as she said that, something Braen admired greatly. He knew all about fighting back against an overpowering opponent and the courage it took to resist at all.

"That one moment made everything I'd endured worth it," Audrey said with fervor. "I got to pry some secrets from it just like it had done from me before. This I know for a fact. The Fearless isn't a species as we'd thought. After it dies, it is born again, with all the memories of its previous lives. I believe it learns from them, that's why it never returns in the same form. With every defeat, it gets smarter."

Not comforting, but predictable. If it can adapt, so can we.

"Would it be possible to predict where the next incarnation is born?" he asked. "To contain the Fearless like that."

"I don't think so," Audrey admitted, a sad look in her eyes. "When the monster died, I felt its spirit leave. I'm sure it put as much distance between us and it as it could."

"Do you know where it is now?" Braen continued.

Audrey and Tieran exchanged a long look.

"Yes," she said. "Roughly. I can try and tell you where it is. You can keep in touch with me on Verien, but I can't come along. I came into contact with the lifestone and it bound me to the Fearless, in a way. I can't go near it again. The last time almost killed me. But there is a way."