It was a surprise to no one when he rose through the ranks in the only way the Brions knew. No one was appointed an officer. It would have been unthinkable to simply place someone who was supposed to lead them to possible death in charge of the warriors. No, the Brions earned their positions by blood. All ships housed huge looming arenas where they held their meetings, and where they accepted the challenges.
Diego had gone through them faster than anyone else alive. Amazing tales of his duel with the former general were being told when Urenya was on her way to join her once-friend and now-commander.
“It was over quick,” one of Diego’s warriors escorting her said. “He respected the old general a lot.”
That was it. Diego had had nothing personal against the previous general. He had simply been better and stronger. The place was his by right. Such a life the Brions led. Urenya felt oddly out of place, though she knew many ways to kill someone as well.
She felt like a different person. Or rather, a person returned to herself. Like she’d been in a bad dream and was, after such a long time, awake again. The memories of the bright and sunny day were bitter in her mind, her disappointment in her younger foolish self almost palpable, but such was her past. She could only be redeemed by looking forward. One more task ahead.
The newest general greeted her in person. Urenya couldn’t suppress a small shiver. She’d left behind a young athletically built man bound to be a great warrior. She reported now to a general.
Urenya had been prepared to greet him as Diego, but found the word no longer made sense for her to utter.
“Commander,” she said.
The towering general who had once been a boy she played with nodded, but there was a twinkle in his eyes signaling he was still there.
“It’s Diego to you,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Urenya nodded, honestly happy herself. There was no other place she’d rather be assigned to. The galaxy was huge, and she wanted to see it.
She waited until they were alone to take her final step in growing up.
When she quietly said, “Tell me about him,” the commander didn’t need to ask who she meant. He talked, and Urenya listened and cried. Then they found the images she’d refused to look at, and Diego’s steady hand was pure steel she could clutch when she tried to convince her mind the unrecognizable form was the same bright face that had waved her goodbye. It had only taken her four years to do that.
Then, for the first time in a while, she turned her eyes to the future.
CHAPTER TWO
Narath
A spear truly wasn’t his weapon, Narath concluded taking a painful blow to his left leg, which made his blood flow for the first time in a while.
It wasn’t that he was unskilled, far from it. Diego Grothan wouldn’t have called him to his ship if he didn’t think he was worthy, even if their friendship was long. Narath knew that for certain. It was one of the reasons he respected his commander so much.
No, it was that his agility was somewhat lacking. The commander had often said that the spear became a truly terrifying weapon in his hands. Depending on his mood, it either meant Narath could put such power behind its blows that it came on par with the great general himself, or that it was terrifying to look at.
His commander had offered he could switch to another weapon, more suited for him, but Narath had always refused. For one, the irony was that he liked the Brion battle spear, a true masterclass in weaponry in itself. And for another reason, he just didn’t want to differ. They were all Brions, they were one. Others could try to leave their mark by trying out non-standard weapons, but Narath had simply resolved to train harder.
He had succeeded. The spear that wasn’t naturally suited to him came alive with rigorous practice. No one else aboard the gigantic Triumphant with its thousands of warriors trained as hard as he did. And while it could still be the case that quite a few warriors were faster than him, none of them could put it to use. None of them got even close to him. The spear twirled with horrible might in his hands, keeping them all at its length. It didn’t take many blows from him to send them all sinking back.
Well, all of them besides the commander, but that was different. No one truly expected to beat Diego Grothan, just to hold out long enough not to be embarrassed. Many were dying to see him duel other generals to find out for a fact if he truly was the mightiest of them as was said. So far, the commander had mostly refused. In private, he’d trusted to Narath that it wasn’t because he was afraid he’d lose. He didn’t want to humiliate the other generals before their warriors. They’d shared quite a laugh at that.#p#分页标题#e#
Other than the glancing blow, Narath was quite pleased. He’d lasted a full minute against the general. They were having a tournament within the ranks, all officers and everyone else who wished to test their skills. The two of them were the last two standing, after a brutal day of fighting for Narath and a mere workout for Diego. The valor squares in his neck were pulsing excitement and challenge. He wanted the commander to take him seriously as an opponent, even if he knew he’d eventually lose. In contrast, Diego’s crystalline squares going from the neckline to the ear – on both sides – shone brightly, showing his mind was on battle, but they didn’t let any particular emotion show. Narath knew how much concentration it took because when the valor squares were implanted they were connected to the warrior’s nervous system and reflected their entire being in a battle.
Whatever the commander was feeling, he’d still lasted a good while. Just as the smile of pride showed on Narath’s face, a predatory smirk tugged at the commander’s lips. He was flat on his back with the commander’s spear at his throat before the thought he’d been simply toyed with finished forming in his mind.
“Next time finish it as soon as you can,” he growled in irritation.
He didn’t need flattery, not even from the general. He wanted to know his worth.
“I did,” the commander said, offering his hand. “You were doing fine until you realized you were doing fine.”
“You could have finished it sooner,” Narath argued.
In everyday life, he was of course much more respectful to his commander, old friend or not, but warriors stood equal for a moment after a duel, allowing them to speak their mind.
“If I’d fought for my life in battle, perhaps,” the commander allowed. “Now go get your leg checked out. There will be real fighting soon, and I need you in top form.”
Content he wasn’t being teased, Narath nodded and made his way to the med bay.
The woman there seemed familiar to him somehow, but it wasn’t after she looked up and a smile – the most beautiful he had ever seen – lit up her face that he recognized her.
“What did you do to your leg this time?” she asked, softly. “I’m not a warrior myself, but aren’t you supposed to protect them?”
While he sat and let her get to work stopping the blood loss and regrowing the broken skin with machines he understood nothing about, he shrugged.
“I fought the Commander,” he said, as if it explained everything.
It sort of did. Urenya nodded, chuckling quietly.
“Oh. Well, I suppose that’s fair. They tell me Diego is quite good.”
“Quite good…” he began, but she sent him a teasing smile from under impossibly long lashes and, halfway lost to those bottomless light blues, he caught up to the joke.
“Yes,” he grumbled. “He doesn’t exactly stumble on his spear, no.”
While she and the machines worked, Narath found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her. It had been a while, many years since he’d last seen her, back on Briolina in Diego’s arena. She’d looked so small and sad then, completely lost. Diego had strictly forbidden him to say anything to her other than the basest conversation. None of them knew how she would handle the tragedy that had befallen her. She’d been on the ship for months now, actually, though he had only known they had a new healer. Narath simply hadn’t had the opportunity to find out sooner, given that he didn’t get wounded often.
She had been a girl when they met before, with her quiet fury he felt even from a distance.
Now Urenya was a woman. Her smile was the most gorgeous he’d ever laid his eyes upon. She was just so petite, made to be embraced and held in someone’s arms. Preferably his. The fury he’d sensed years ago seemed replaced with quiet determination, but he could make it all come rushing back if he just blurted out what went on in his mind. Her long light brown hair was tied into a ponytail away from her face, giving her a more severe look than the kind, warm face truly deserved. She was short, like all healers tended to be, but compared to him it seemed even more obvious. All that he noticed in a glimpse, the full curves of her breasts, and the slender waist, and then her round ass the robes only barely concealed…
He had to try to maintain his control over his treacherous body as Urenya knelt down to get better access. Honestly, he had never experienced an instant attraction that fast, it was positively uncanny. If she caught on to how aroused he had suddenly become that would be… weird. He closed his eyes, willing himself to think of something else other than how soft her lips looked.#p#分页标题#e#