Apparition (3 page)

She was nude; her
Tonan
captor had taken her clothing.
Ripped them from her.
Making her vulnerable.
She was forbidden to lift her arms
and cover herself or punishment was swift and painful. Her captor wanted her to
understand her fate. Zoe did. She tried to block out the moaning gasps and
pleas of the women in each room they passed. Zoe knew the women were human and
the men with them were
Castian
warriors being
rewarded for giving away some type of information to their
Tonan
captors.
Tonan
captors supervised the sex. The
Castian
prisoners were not allowed to mate with their
female prize, nor could they impregnate them.

In one cell a woman was screaming and the
Tonan
beside her chuckled evilly. “That
Castian
is in must. It makes his organ grow huge. Sometimes we allow him to bite his
victim to give her relief from his agonizing size, sometimes not. Her cries are
amusing. Yours will be, too.”

Zoe felt sick. The endless corridor seemed to stretch
and change. The air was pungent. The floor beneath her feet was softer than her
cell had been, as were the high walls. She was cold, and being led to a cell
not her own. The cell door opened. This cell was darker than hers. Zoe had
learned the warriors needed sunlight to generate their strange body armor.
Without the sun, they were weak. The
Castian
warrior
in the cell was collared. The collar was made to mask emotion, a pulse sent
through it relayed the message to the shield all was well and it was to stay
down, making the
Castian
warriors vulnerable to an
attack and imprisonment, even death.

She felt her hair gripped painfully and her head was
yanked back exposing her throat. The
Castian
before
her inhaled her like she was some choice steak. His collar glowed bright
yellow, like the planet’s huge yellow suns. No doubt an irony since he couldn’t
see the suns. The prisoner looked furious. He was a large man, nude like her.
His fists were clenched, as were his teeth. He was glaring hatefully at her
captor.

“Look what I brought you, Loy. Isn’t she beautiful?”
The
Tonan
gripped her hair tighter. He slid his other
taloned
hand between her legs forcing her to part
them lest she be cut. He stopped just short of her mound. The
Castian’s
jaw twitched, but Zoe had heard him inhale her
scent. The
Tonan
pushed Zoe to her knees onto the
hard-as-stone cell ground and she winced. “Just tell me the shield code for
Dargon
and she’s yours for an hour. You can do anything to
her. Break her slender bones. Blind her. Kill her if you wish. I sense your
anger. Take it out on her. Screw her, beat her. Or wouldn’t you rather feel
those sweet moist lips roam over your cock?”

The
Castian
looked down at
her. Zoe was terrified. She was less than a captive. She was a captive’s
captive.
Nothing.
Her teeth clamped together. The man
before her was a blond gray-eyed giant. Powerful muscles flexed. He was even
bigger than her
Tonan
captor. His chiseled jaw
twitched looking for
all the
world like a Greek God.

He was pus!

Zoe gritted her teeth. If his massive cock came near
her mouth, she’d bite him. She hated him. She had listened as the cells around
her had filled with the sounds of forced sex. Zoe wouldn’t be one of them. She
wished he was dead. The bastard was less than the bile building in her mouth.
The blond
Castian
looked at Zoe with as much loathing
as she looked at him.

“You get nothing.” The
Castian
spat his words as though he had tasted something vile.

The
Tonan
pushed Zoe’s face
into the
Castian’s
cock. He flickered to life. Before
she could bite him he thrust his hips forward and sent Zoe sprawling backward.
She hit the floor, cracking her elbow against the solid ground. She groaned in
agony and rubbed at her arm.

“Aw, now look what you’ve done.” The
Tonan’s
voice took on a simpering quality. “You hurt the
little female when she only wants to please you.”

“She doesn’t want me.” The
Castian
sneered and looked like he was ready to spit on her. The thought infuriated
Zoe, this wasn’t her doing. “I smell her repugnance, she stinks of it. Her hate
leaves a foul taste in my mouth.”

The
Tonan
yanked Zoe to her
knees again and shook her. “Beg him to fuck you,” he commanded.

“Go to hell, you ugly, filthy bastard,” Zoe ground
out. “No wonder you need to force a woman, you’re all depraved.”

The
Tonan
snapped his tail
like a whip and it struck over her back. Zoe cried out. Three times he struck
her. She remained silent after the first strike, gritting her teeth and
clenching her jaw against the pain.
Tonans
were
cruel, evil inhumane creatures; they enjoyed listening to a woman cry. She
wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Why don’t we show him what he’s missing?” The
Tonan
reabsorbed his armor into his skin. He was nude, smiling.
She hated his smile; it’s what a rattlesnake would look like if it had rows of
teeth to go with its two fangs. Zoe was infuriated; he actually thought she
would let him touch her. She snapped.

By God
somebody’s going to get bit
.

Suddenly her teeth settled over the
Tonans
thigh and she bit into him for all she was worth.
With satisfaction she tasted blood and still she bit harder wanting to rip out
a chunk of his evil flesh. The
Tonan
howled in
outrage. She felt smug. Zoe was backhanded into oblivion, but she went into
darkness with her mind laughing at the stupid prick, thinking too bad it hadn’t
been his cock.

Zoe woke with a start. She glanced around her
surroundings. It was dusk. Caveat was grazing a few feet from the herd. Zoe
rose and went to him, waking the filly who had her head in Zoe’s lap. When the
filly stirred and rose to her feet, the mare blew softly from her nose. The
filly went to nurse. The ground was spongy beneath Zoe’s bare feet. It had been
hard to get used to at first, but now she loved the feel of the earth on this
planet. When she reached Caveat she sank her fingers into his warm fur. She
laid her face against his neck and sobbed.

Caveat had saved her from hell. He was her hero. The
stallion settled his face and neck over her shoulder and they stood pressed
against one another, with Zoe’s arms clutched tight to his mane. He whickered
softly to show he understood she felt sad and relieved as well. The head mare,
Aether
, Zoe had named her, because the stunning palomino
looked like a piece of Heaven, moved closer with the filly trailing behind.

The mare took turns nuzzling both Caveat and Zoe. At
first
Aether
had problems with Zoe, until Zoe helped
the intelligent horse realize a female human could be enticed to scratch itchy
spots and reach high fruits on trees.
Aether
had
started looking at her as though she were a foal.
Defenseless,
no threat to her position as head mare.
Tiny and weak
and in need of protection.
And Zoe was loyal.
To all
of the horses.
She tended cuts or abrasions, pulled irritants from
sensitive hooves. She was able to pull annoying burs and thorns. Zoe loved all
of them. She had known Caveat first. They were inseparable on Earth. Zoe
chuckled as Winsome, the filly, tickled her waist with her lips. The filly was
playfully attacked by the colt when,
Tenebrae
, who
was as dark as his sire, snuck up on them.

The herd was the only family Zoe had left. Caveat had
gathered the mares together when the humans began disappearing. It was no
mystery they had been captured by the
Tonans
. Everything
animal was left to fend for itself. All of the human females were picked off as
the human men were killed. The
Tonans
had come in the
dark, in the daylight, dusk, dawn. It didn’t matter to them. They were
indestructible, huge, without compassion. Human men had tried to reason with
them, tried to fight, plead. There was no negotiation, no mercy. The human men
were killed, slaughtered like cows, the women enslaved. The battle was
laughable.
Tonans
were encased in gray, impenetrable
armor. Nothing could stop them. The
Tonans
had
laughed at any attempt.
Tonans
hadn’t needed bombs or
weapons, their armor was enough. Their tails held and choked while their razor
sharp talons shredded human males and older females.

The packs of children left to wander alone and
helpless were left for last. Female girls were rounded up. Using merciful
trickery, the
Tonans
gave them better care. They were
being groomed as
Tonan
mates for later years. The
human males weren’t as lucky—forced into a life of slavery. Every so often,
Castians
attacked and children went missing from the
Tonans
’ stock pile. Zoe wondered at their fate, she thought
the
Castians
as cruel as the
Tonans
.

Zoe thought about the armored man-thing who had saved
her and Caveat. He had killed the
Tonan
. It was astounding.
She thought nothing could. But he had. He was different from the
Tonans
and
Castians
. His armor
was almost white. His talon finger had a claw. Zoe knew he was still out there,
watching. She couldn’t see him; it was a feeling she couldn’t shake. Caveat
knew it too, which only reinforced her suspicion. It’s why the stallion refused
to sleep. He thought Zoe was in danger. Zoe clicked her tongue and Caveat bent
a knee. She climbed onto his back. She was still exhausted.

She knew as long as she was with Caveat she was safe.
The huge armored thing didn’t seem intent to harm her beloved stallion. Caveat
was eight years old. Zoe was fifteen when she watched him being born. Caveat’s
dam was pure white, stunning; her name was Heaven’s Angel. The brood mare had
been her father’s favorite—his pride and joy. Sometimes Zoe felt her father
loved the horse more than her. Heaven’s Angel had been sixteen.
A perfect producer of champion bloodlines.
Her father had
been hoping for a pretty little white filly.
If not this
time, then perhaps the next time.
When Caveat had been born his dam had
died, pushing him out with her last breath. Zoe’s father was devastated. He had
hated Caveat not only for killing his prized mother but for not being the white
filly he wanted.

Zoe had stepped up immediately and begged for charge
of Caveat. Her father said if he survived she could have him. The colt had
tenacity. From the beginning, he was a real firecracker and those around him
had best beware. Zoe had slept in the barn with Caveat the first year of his
life. She bottle fed him and took care of him. An only child, Zoe had hated
being homeschooled until Caveat had come along. Her mother had been lenient
with Zoe’s hours as long as she got her schoolwork and chores done; the little stallion
had followed her everywhere. Zoe spent every second she could with Caveat. He
had thought of her as his mother. They had grown into the best of friends.
There was nothing Zoe loved more, especially since her parents had been killed
on
Ulsy
. Her father, a male, had stood no chance. Her
mother was too old for the
Tonans
’ liking.

Caveat blew out a gentle huff. He relaxed beneath her.
Zoe cleared her mind of thoughts. She needed rest. The mares circled them.
Caveat’s back was so warm and soothing. Zoe felt him calm under her as she too
relaxed. They’d had a busy day. Before long, her arms slipped from his back to
dangle at his sides. His head lowered. Zoe felt a furry body rub against her
foot and knew it was the colt. He loved her feet, especially her toes. Zoe knew
Caveat was proud of his foals. She had witnessed the birth of each one. She had
spent a year in the herd. Up until the day she was taken.

The lone
Tonan
warrior had
captured her as she swam, clothed in rags, in a pond three days prior. She had
been out of Caveat’s sight, but not far. It had been a year and she had gotten
careless. She should have known better. The
Tonan
had
scooped her from the water, slung her over a broad shoulder and took off. Zoe
had screamed in terror. Caveat had returned the scream. Her proud stallion had
followed the
Tonan
until the creature left him behind
rearing and stomping. Zoe knew Caveat couldn’t leave the others unguarded. She
was doomed and alone.

The
Castian
prisoner, Loy,
had somehow gotten loose after Zoe had blacked out. She had woken bruised and
feeling confused, battered and exhausted. The
Castian
wore a skin tight suit of black armor. His cheek glowed with a green tattoo.
She knew it was Loy when he spoke to her. She had heard his voice, but her ears
were still ringing from the blow the
Tonan
had given
her and she had no idea what he had said. It was dark outside and the
Castian
had stumbled then recovered. She almost slipped to
the ground. Zoe had struggled and screamed at him to release her.
To get his filthy sex-starved talons off of her.