Alien Warrior's Mate (Brion Brides 1)(5)

The thought sent a shiver like she’d never known before down her spine. She nodded. It was important to render the chieftain unable to move. Only then could they hope to pin him down, and even then it was better not to move too close.#p#分页标题#e#

Death or life, she thought as they edged closer. It was the Brion way.

The chieftain saw them coming and turned to them with terrible calm. Deliya forced her hands not to shake, although the insane, cold, merciless eyes did what all of Antaris hadn’t been able to and froze the blood in her veins. She knew they gave away their intent with their eyes flickering between the chieftain’s legs and his face, looking for signs of when it might strike. It didn’t seem bothered, which was all the more terrifying.

Luckily for them, others had picked up on their intention too. With courage Deliya had to admire, the warriors behind it jumped closer to cut at its back, making it round on them so fast she nearly missed her window of opportunity. Ignoring the screams, she rushed forward and stabbed her spear into the chieftain’s leg with all the might she could muster. Beside her, Darien did the same. They’d been aiming at the same leg, which was probably for the best, because it hardly seemed to hurt. A backhand blow sent them both flying, and the chieftain gave its first, thunderous roar. It turned to see who had hurt it, and its eyes found Deliya.

Minutes ago, when she’d thought the champion was going to kill her, Deliya had been almost fine with dying. It would have been an honest death, a good one. At that moment, seeing the deranged look in the chieftain’s eyes, she nearly screamed. The beast took one long limping step towards her, and she knew that this time she was dead and Darien too and they’d never get to be warm together.

Her eyes didn’t leave the chieftain once, which was why seeing him lit up much more clearly all of a sudden was so painful.

The Triumphant was the most feared vessel to travel the galaxy, and that was mostly due to the fact that as feared as its name was, it still came second to the name of its commander.

Diego Grothan almost flew over her, landing between his warriors and the chieftain. He was shining so brightly as to illuminate both himself and the huge beast so clearly as if it was midday. He didn’t stumble nor slip on the ice. In his hand was a spear taller than he, its blade running red.

He stood before the chieftain, who looked stunned to have another mirror its stance and its calm, all well within its reach. Deliya thought if that had ever happened to the chieftain, and whether this was how warriors who were too proud died.

The commander waited, his spear loosely held in his arm, seemingly relaxed. Deliya knew better than that, but it was still baffling how someone might drop their guard before the Antanari monster. She hadn’t let the horrendous creature out of her sight once and she’d been on the edge ever since first setting her eyes on it.

After moments on stunned silence, the commander finally moved, but only to shake his spear clean of blood. He aimed it very precisely, spraying the red right before the chieftain’s feet, one of which was still pierced by two spears. Deliya doubted seeing the blood of its fallen companions held any significant emotional value to the chieftain, but it was still a very clear challenge, and that meant much more. It roared. Every living Antanari backed away, some straight into Brion spears, but Diego Grothan didn’t move, didn’t even tense up.

The only way to know he was even now paying attention was the fact his valor squares were still brightly lit, although not pulsating. He was simply completely focused on the chieftain.

The beast sprung forward. Even with the spears through its legs, it moved incredibly fast. In a heartbeat, the commander was two steps away from where the chieftain aimed to punch him dead. Deliya saw the surprise – for the second time – in the cold black eyes. Perhaps at last, even a hint of fear. Then it went mad.

When it dashed out, it no longer stopped. Blow after blow landed on snow and rocks and ice, crushing everything it touched. It was pulverizing everything it saw and yet it failed to land a blow on the commander who was never where the punch landed. She could hear the beast’s breathing grow ragged and desperate. It realized it was working for nothing while its opponent didn’t even break a sweat. The smart thing to do would have been to stop, but it could no longer do that. Nearly all of its companions were dead, the last ones picked off by the outer circle. So it went for the one thing it’d seen to have gotten the commander to react.

It turned and bounced straight for Deliya.

In the midst of watching the commander elude the chieftain’s attacks so brilliantly, Deliya had completely forgotten that she, in fact, was also close enough to be in the fight. She’d managed to forget she was physically present. Training kicked in, she was on her feet and ready to jump away in seconds, but that wouldn’t have been enough.#p#分页标题#e#

It turned out the chieftain was right, but the commander had already considered the possibility as always. As soon as he saw the chieftain going for his warriors, he moved. Going for Deliya left the chieftain’s back exposed. For the second time that day, she saw a spear protruding from an Antanari’s chest. This time, she couldn’t tell who was more surprised, she or the chieftain.

She’d thought before that no man could throw a spear through the Antanari’s thick skin. That did not turn out to be true. Like the champion, the chieftain slumped, the spear neatly piercing his heart. Behind it, Diego Grothan approached with a calm totally unfitting the fact he’d just killed their most dangerous enemy and taken a huge step towards claiming Antaris.

The only thing he seemed intent on was retrieving his spear, which demanded strength even from him. Eventually, he had to place both feet on the fallen beast’s back and pull with all his might. The gathered warriors said nothing, watching the battle end.

Deliya and Darien stepped up to gather their own spears as well. By luck, they hadn’t broken under the creature’s huge mass. They yanked the spears out, exchanging a look again, not knowing if they should say something to the commander before he walked away.

All the reports had said the chieftain was heartless, but it still caught Deliya off guard when one of its huge hands pulled her against the ground and the sword-like teeth opened to take a bite of her. Three blades flashed in the blinking, angry lights: Deliya’s and Darien’s burrowed unhelpfully into its hand while the commander’s stabbed straight through the chieftain’s throat.

Darien freed her from the death grip as the commander pulled his spear free once more.

“It seems he really didn’t want to die,” the commander said.

Then he looked around, taking a deep breath.

“Retrieve him. Return to the Triumphant.”

As Deliya made her way back to the waiting transport ships, her heart kept beating as if she were still in the heart of the battle. She’d realized she really didn’t want to die either. She saw Darien watching her out of the corner of her eye in the same way he’d watched her all day – strong and sure by her side, never abandoning her.

No, she didn’t want to die at all. She wanted to be warm.





CHAPTER FIVE

Darien



If Darien had thought Deliya might have found it funny, he’d have said the Antanari chieftain was the greatest cock-blocker in his life. But he didn’t, so he remained quiet, simply watching her as the shuttle took them back to the battle ship.

Before, when he’d kissed her on the field, he’d been absolutely certain she would warm up to him enough to take the edge off the battle together. He’d felt like the stage was set and the lust in Deliya’s eyes way too clear to be confused for anything else. It was a good battle, worthy enemies, her blood was clearly up. And then the chieftain happened.

In battle, there were two very different kinds of emotional high. The first was the good one. Fighting an opponent worth fighting, testing your own strength against them, reveling on the edge of your own mortality. That was the Brion way. That was what the battle had been until the chieftain – there had been many opportunities for them both to die, but they were good and did not.

The second was, well, the bad one. In that case, the emotional high came from truly coming face to face with something so terrible it rattled your entire being. Darien couldn’t deny the chieftain had been something like that. He hadn’t been able to think of a way to kill it before the commander arrived. He’d been prepared to die, of course, but that wasn’t the same as actually seeing a way out of a battle.

Not just for himself but for everyone. If the chieftain had had the sense to climb out of its hiding sooner, if it had calculated to break the Brion line where it was weakest, no one could have stood in his way. They would have had to follow it, and that would have cost them a great many lives.

He knew Deliya understood all that as well. Her eyes spoke volumes to him. It wasn’t fear, it was a bump, a nudge to the Brion collective ego, perfectly necessary in all truth. It was good to be reminded sometimes there were others in the galaxy who could match their might. This day, they’d won. Or rather, the commander had won. They were still the Brions, still the strongest. But it had been close.