“Can you tell me what your people are called?”
“We call ourselves the Arbrin.”
“How do you turn into the monster I saw?”
“He is not a monster, he’s simply another side of me. I become Matra. The saying goes that a long time ago the world I come from was populated by both the Arbrin and the Matra. We fought each other for dominance of the planet. Neither race was winning and from the way things were going both races would soon be extinct from the severity of our fighting. Then we were attacked by another race, the Sudir, who were determined to take our planet and mine it for our natural resources. It was only through our coming together that we would be able to fight them off.
We fought to no avail until it was discovered that we could physically merge together. That is when the tide began to turn. We would share forms, it made us stronger and faster. We could also swap forms to utilize whichever one of us was best for that situation. The enemy thought they found a weapon that would stop this from happening. They used it planet-wide, bombarding us with it for days. When they turned it off, thinking they had won, the unthinkable happened. The Arbrin and the Matra were truly one. We had one brain that thought like two species giving us the power not only to multitask but to examine problems from angles we never dared look at before. The enemy was defeated quickly and we took to being one race.”
“That’s amazing.” She picked a snowball up and threw it at him. Laughing, she ran towards the road.
“Paige,” he called out, grabbing for her as she went through the barrier.
“What was that?” A feeling of pure warmth hit her body, rapidly followed by intense cold.
“You just left the barrier Vick put up, and Victor and I reinforced tonight. Remember that feeling in the future. It may save you from what’s chasing you.”
“What is that?” her voice trembled as she asked the question. A shadow convulsed to life becoming a living creature in front of them.
“That is the natural predator of the Arbrin and Matra. He too was born that night. The enemy thought they would be unharmed and many stayed on the planet during the bombardment.” Cal pulled her backwards away from the threat.
The predator stood before them with four arms and a multitude of eyes.
“How is it that no one has called the National Guard out on him?” The words trembled as they left her lips in a whisper. Something about this creature tugged at her memory making her want to run screaming into the night. The past whispered in a hazy voice that if she ran it would find her.
“He cast a glamour. One that only the advanced humans can see through.” Cal answered never taking his eyes off of it.
“You came, even though I told you to come alone. Arbrin, I claim this female, she came in response to my call.”
Paige shivered and huddled closer to Cal. She turned her head to look at the porch wondering if she could make it to the house before the creature was on her and would it make a difference if she was inside.
“Sudir, you have no right to any female on this planet.”
“I don’t want them all, Arbrin, I just want your mate. She is the price I demand for peace. Turn her over and we will all depart.”
“You never keep your word, Sudir, you would not keep it this time. Though it matters not, you will never have her regardless of the bargain you make. I will continue to protect my people and you will continue to be defeated.”
“You would choose the female, an earth female at that, over your own people? Not much of a prince, are you?”
The Sudir brought his hands up and little beams of light came out slicing into Paige’s body causing her to cry out in pain. He jerked and she hit the ground.
Cal’s spine tightened and his gut churned.
“I have followed this one since she was young. She is mine and you know what I will do to her. I may consider giving her back as a present after I am finished with her.”
Cal stepped into the path of the light letting it drill into his body. He stiffened, allowing the pain to race through him. He wouldn’t lose Paige, not this way.
“Paige, get back behind the barrier. Move, Sunshine. Now!”
A screech came from the Sudir as he tried to pull Cal with the beams of light. Slowly Cal moved his hands creating a ball of white light. With a flick of his wrist he shot it at the Sudir. Beams emerged from Cal’s eyes that he pointed toward the Sudir.
With a screech the Sudir recoiled. “This isn’t over, she will be mine.”
He turned and disappeared down the road.
“You didn’t kill it.” She sounded like she just ran a marathon, her body shook while her teeth chattered. It planned to kill her and she knew it.