Soren's Bondmate (16 page)

Lalyn hugged Skye. "Great timing." She turned to face Soren. "Introduce us please."

Skye smiled and leaned against Soren. "This is my warrior mate, Soren." She pointed to the three brothers. "His first warriors, Pelyn, Delyn and Kelyn."

Lalyn smiled, greeted them and turned to Berit. "As usual, Berit, you're always in the thick of any battle in your vicinity." She pulled her mate toward her. "Magnys and I thank you."

Magnys stepped forward and clasped Soren's arm in greeting, then Berit's and the brothers.

"Our village is half a kilometer from here," Magnys said.

"We need to retrieve our ship and land it nearer to your village," Soren said.

Kelyn stepped forward. "Delyn and I will get it if you wish to journey to the village with Magnys now."

Soren nodded his agreement and they separated. Skye and Lalyn took up a position between their mates and the group walked toward the village. Soren hushed the females once. They looked at him in surprise then laughed and continued chatting.

Magnys chuckled. "They trust us to keep them safe."

"They should keep their guard up," Soren said.

Magnys chuckled. "If there was a conjurer or enchantress within ten kilometers they'd have warned us."

"There may be enemy warriors between us and the village," Soren said.

"Without a female they are without weapons. If they see us they will hide or run."

"Why don't they use other weapons?" Soren asked.

"They believe using other weapons is beneath them," Berit answered.

Skye snorted. "I think they're too stupid and lazy to learn how to handle them or even make them."

"All Crimeryns are warriors," Lalyn said. "They have no females of their own and even if they did they couldn’t sustain them. They're incapable of love." She hesitated for a moment then added, "They killed my entire family including my brother and sister. I hate them."

Soren glanced back at Skye and thought, "This is how we will defeat them. They won't expect the villagers to fight back with other weapons."

She grinned. "No, they won't."

Lalyn smiled at Skye. "I'm so happy you found a worthy mate. You have to tell me how you met him."

Skye nodded then mouthed, "Later."

The group crossed a large sandy area of stunted shrubs that led to a slot canyon in a towering cliff wall. Another warrior greeted them and let them pass. After several micro-units they entered a large dark krystal shelter. Healers hurried from warrior to warrior, tending to their wounds while other females handed out food and tankards of ale.

Just about everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to face Magnys and Lalyn. Magnys stepped forward. "We have guests from Kryscent. Some of you already know Berit and his sister Skye." He pointed to Soren. "This is Skye's mate, Soren, and one of his first warriors, Pelyn. Two more, Kelyn and Delyn, will join us soon. Tonight we celebrate a victory against the enemy."

Tankards were raised and voices rang out in agreement. Magnys led them across the chamber to a free corner and they settled on thick mats. A few nano-units later they each had food and beverages in their hands.

Lalyn leaned against Magnys and asked, "What brings you here?"

Skye launched into their plan to form an alliance and included the names of the enchantresses and their warrior mates who had already joined.

While she spoke Berit rolled out the map. "We have fortresses planned to go up in each one of these locations." He pointed to the marks on the map that led in a line at the base of the mountains but paused on the one in the center of the line. "This is the headquarters for The Alliance. As we fight and move forward toward the south coast we'll leave behind a series of smaller shelters to guard the area behind us."

"Who will maintain these shelters we leave behind?" Magnys asked. "Only dark kyrstal shelters will protect the villagers from an enemy who has control of an enchantress."

Soren smiled. "Constant fighting is exhausting. These shelters will be places for warriors and their enchantresses to go to and rest away from the fighting. Each group or unit will rotate through them as needed."

Skye swallowed the ale she'd just sipped and leaned forward. "Soren has also had warriors training the villagers to fight with crossbows, spears, knives and swords."

Magnys sat up straight and Lalyn mumbled, "Now, you've done it."

Magnys pulled her to him, buzzed a kiss over her lips and turned to Soren. "I've always said they should be trained to fight but I could never get anyone to agree with me."

"All those things won't protect them from krystal," Lalyn said.

"What about the cloaks we wear?" Soren asked. "Can they be provided for the villagers?"

"No enchantress could sustain that many cloaks," Skye said.

"Then they need shields of some kind," Soren said. "Something light enough to carry that can protect them from white krystal."

"The only thing krystal can't penetrate is dark krystal," Berit said.

"It can't penetrate the armor plating of the creature on Tundra," Soren said. "Do you have a creature similar to that here on Krystali?"

Skye nodded. "Yes, but it's even bigger than the one on Tundra and harder to kill."

"Then it will take several of us to track them down and kill them." Magnys called a large warrior over and told him to arrange a hunting party. He nodded and hurried away.

"We intend to return to our village and continue training the villagers," Skye said. "Then on the Eve of the Two Moons when the moons reach their zenith in the sky Bellya and I will create a dark kyrstal fortress large enough to hold up to four hundred people. Our warriors will branch out and engage the enemy from there."

Soren flipped the map over. "This is the design we intend to use for our fortress."

Magnys leaned forward and Soren and Berit explained the design of the fortress and the purpose of every wall, chamber and watchtower.

"We have two more enchantresses and four conjurers in the surrounding area. They all have warrior mates. I'll contact them and ask them to join the Alliance. If they agree we'll move to a village that lies twenty kilometers south of this location and begin training the villagers to fight," Magnys said. "The enemy is thick in that area so it will be a good place to build our first fortress."

The men stood. "To the Alliance," Magnys said and they raised their tankards and drank.

Across the room Kelyn and Delyn entered, looked around and moved toward them.

Magnys pulled Lalyn to her feet. "I need to talk to my warriors and get their agreement. We'll talk again at sun's rising."

Lalyn hugged Skye. "Make yourselves at home. You're safe here." She glanced at her mate then back at Skye. "We'll talk in the morning while the warriors finish their business."

# # #

The next cycle Soren and Berit met with Magnys and his warriors while Skye and Lalyn sat in the sun and caught up.

Skye related the news she'd picked up from the other enchantresses over the past ten cycles. When she finished Lalyn smiled then asked the one question she'd hoped Lalyn wouldn't ask.

"How on Krystali are you going to get along with Bellya?"

"I'm not. She's already flirted with Soren even though she knows he's my mate."

"Too bad you can't encase her in dark krystal."

Skye laughed. "I'm sure someone would notice if I did that." She grimaced and shrugged. "I'm going to ignore her as much as possible. If that doesn't work I'll talk Soren into joining another group."

"You could join us," Lalyn said. "I'd love that."

"I would too," Skye said then saw Soren and her brother walk into the clearing with Magnys beside them. She and Lalyn joined them and she watched as Berit handed Magnys a copy of the map they carried then dug in his knapsack and pulled out a code book and a long distance communication device.

"Use the code to communicate your needs and the enemies' movements. Make sure you have a female operate the device."

Magnys sent him a questioning look then read a few of the codes and laughed. He handed the book to Lalyn and she read it and smiled.

"I have the perfect female for the job." Lalyn slid the book into a hidden pocket in her cloak then hugged Skye. "Be well until we meet again."

"You, too." Skye returned the hug then took Soren's hand and let him lead her out of the clearing to their ship. A few micro-units later they were on their way back to Kryscent.

"No," Soren yelled as he approached the villager. "Never turn your back on the enemy. If you do you're going to die." He demonstrated again how to strike the enemy with the spear then made the villager practice the move before he moved on.

The air was filled with the sounds of spears hitting wooden dummies and arrows flying through the air and hitting targets. On the other side of the clearing several of Berit's warriors taught hand-to-hand combat to a group of villagers.

Soren couldn't help but be impressed with the progress they'd made in the short time he and Skye had been gone. This was the second cycle they'd been back and he'd spent every spare moment he'd had working with the villagers. They would still need further training but at this point they could defend themselves long enough to get to the safety of the fortress.

They'd also made progress in clearing the area since they'd been told that the warriors intended to build a safe fortress for all of them. Even the females and older children had helped to clear the area needed for their new home. Those who weren't able to work had cared for the younger children or taken care of the animals and gardens. Only one issue of contention had come up when the villagers insisted on keeping their animals and gardens. He'd finally decided to include a space for them at the far side of the fortress.

He adjusted a villager's hold on a bow then saw Skye and a group of her friends walking across the training field.

She waved at him while she and her friends dodged spears and arrows by creating invisible barriers as they chatted and laughed together. One by one they peeled off from the group and joined their mates until Skye walked alone. Out of nowhere a spear flew toward her. She waved her hand and it bounced off a barrier and fell to the ground.

She didn’t flinch but Soren did. Every muscle and nerve in his body tensed as his heart stuttered several beats before it began pounding in his chest. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he was forced to suck in a deep breath just as she reached him, slid her arms around his waist and hugged him.

He threw his arms around her and squeezed so hard she squeaked. Realizing he was hurting her he released her then changed his mind and jerked her toward him and lifted her from the ground. When they were eye to eye he gritted out, "Make a shelter around us. Now."

"I want you too but can't this wait until later," she asked, her voice a whisper.

He gave her a little shake. "Look around you."

Skye did and saw her friends frozen in place with angry warrior mates standing over them. The villagers watched them with frightened eyes while the trainers strode around yelling and grabbing spears and other weapons and throwing them to the ground.

"You don't even realize how close you just now came to being killed, do you?" His voice rose with each word until he was yelling.

Panicking at the anger in his voice she hugged him and wrapped her legs around his waist. "I don't know why you're so upset. I saw the spear coming and I protected myself." She ran her hand over his head in a soothing manner.

His blood pounded through his veins and a hard rhythm shook his heart while his head felt as if it would explode. Her words pushed him over the edge and he knew if he didn't do something soon he would go completely berserk. "What if it had come from behind you?" He gave her a little shake. "What then?"

"I would have dealt with it."

His hands shook as he set her down, released her and walked away.

She chased after him, grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to a stop. "I'm sorry. I didn't think."

He shrugged her hand from his arm. "No, you didn't." He glared at her, his eyes burning with anger. "You're careless with your life. You're careless with
our
lives. I'm too angry to talk to you right now." With that he pulled away and stalked in the direction of the village tavern.

# # #

Skye watched him pass through the door then hurried after him. As soon as she entered she spotted him at a corner table with his back to the wall. The owner stood behind the long bar lifting a tray with a single tankard of ale on it. Soren glanced at her then motioned to the bartender to bring her a tankard of juice.

She stayed where she was until the drinks were delivered then she joined Soren.

He kicked a chair back from the table. It made a screeching sound as it slid across the rough stone floor.

Skye pushed the hood of her cloak from her head and sat down across from him. "Your anger causes me pain."

Soren took a sip of ale and set it down. "Look at me and say that again."

She looked into his eyes and saw the pain there and tears filled her eyes. "Your pain causes me pain."

He nodded and took another sip. "You're a very powerful warrior but you're not invincible." As the last word left his lips an image of a large starship appeared in his mind. A second later he stood on the bridge near a large warrior with long black hair and silvery gray eyes. He looked up, smiled then disappeared. Soren shook his head and tried to force the image to appear again.

Skye reached out to him and laid her hand over his. "Soren? Another image?"

He nodded, closed his eyes and went over the image of the warrior. He compared him to the image of the younger warrior he'd seen before and came to the conclusion that they were father and son. "I think I just had a memory of my father."

Skye moved to the chair next to him and leaned against him. "That's wonderful. Soon you'll remember everything and we'll travel to your home to find your family."

He ran his hand down her hair then rested it on her shoulder and sat her up away from him. "I'm still upset with you."