The portal that separated Paladin from the human world
opened and four dragons came through. In dragon from they couldn’t speak bit no
words needed to be said at least not for Bior. He was so angry he could cut a
swath through the earth beneath them with his fiery breath. Instead he found
the best wind stream that would allow his leathery wings to soar faster towards
their intended destination, Florida and Michelle’s houseboat. Instead of
bringing Mike, one of her team back through the portal, Mursi carried him. He
and Michelle would take care of him and find out what he knew at the warehouse
they converted to a safe have.
It was the task of
Bior and Erik to follow the scent of the Shen and find Kiara and the others
before the worst could happen. If it
hasn’t already, Bior thought and felt his anger burn hotter. If Kiara was
hurt Mike would be a pile of charred bones and no one could stop him. Since
finding out that she had been taken, Bior assessed in himself that he cared for
the tiny woman with big brown eyes. They landed in the open concrete parking
lot of the abandoned row of warehouses. Michelle owned the property. Mursi dropped Mike on the ground with out any
pity and Bior forced his shit along fast even though it caused him a small
amount of pain. He wanted to be in human form so he could strangle Mike just for
a little bit. Bior stalked towards the man who scrambled back in fear, he was
sure his intent was reflected on his face.
“Bior don’t hurt him!” Michelle ordered as he lifted the
Mike up by the neck.
“Why? He cared so little to put your people in danger.” Bior
shook Mike as he dangled above the ground. “
“Put him down, Bior,” Mursi ordered. “We actually need to hear what he knows, then
maybe I’ll let you hurt him a bit.”
He dropped Mike who glared up at them. “You all are in your
safe world and we’re here dying what was I supposed to do?”
“Wait for me!” Michelle yelled. “I’ve been with you and the
others way longer than I’ve been on Paladin. Since when don’t I care? I’ve bled
and fought beside you for years.”
“Yeah well now you’ve got a dragon man, we seem so
inconsequential now,” Mike answered as he stood up.
Michelle punched him so hard he landed flat on his ass
again.
“Hey how comes she gets to hit him and I don’t?” Bior asked
angrily.
“Because he’s my jealous asshole not yours,” Michelle snarled
and then turned to Mike. “If you fucking deluded yourself into to thinking we
would be together. That’s your bag of crazy not mine. But don’t you dare say
that my…. people, Kiara my best friend don’t mean the world to me or by god I
will help Bior burn you alive.”
“Ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry but we didn’t have any other
choice,” Mike said.
“You did, the same way you found the fucking caretaker at
the portal where I told you to go in case shit went down. You could’ve gotten
there and told me,” Michelle pointed out angrily. ‘But you wanted to go rouge
and play the hero. I told you before this won’t work unless we work together! You
let some misguided sense of jealously put everyone in danger.”
“I’m sorry ok!”
Bior watched as Mike’s face twisted as he began to cry. Weakling, Bior thought
unsympathetically. He’d met other humans with more bravery in one finger than
this fool including Kiara. To lead you had the put the well being of the many
above the one and his selfishness may have caused good people their lives.
“When we get our people back those who survived, we’re done.
I can’t have you putting who’s left in danger,” Michelle said. ‘I need to know
who’s been taken and who got killed.”
“Kiara, Sammie, Joan, Tara are taken,” Mike sniffed and
wiped his face. “Conroy, Henry, Matt, Corbin, Joe are dead. I don’t know about the others, some stayed
back who didn’t think I was doing the right thing. I’m just hoping the others
did too.”
Michelle turned to Bior. “Can you and Erik go now and see if
you can trace where they took the women. If I know Kiara she found a way to
mark they way, or maybe just scent her?
She wears this pheromone perfume to attract the perfect guy or so she
thinks….”
“I know her scent,” Bior cut her off. “I’m coming back with
her and any others who survived.”
“Its been hours,’ Erik pointed out. “If any of the others or
Kiara have been used. We will have to end their suffering.”
Michelle nodded tersely. “I know but in a case like that
please bring them here, among family so we can be there with them. I don’t want
anyone to die in Shen filth.”
“Understood,” Erik said and began his shift.
“I’m bringing her back,” Bior said to Michelle firmly. ”Unsoiled.”
“I know you will, I’m moving anyone here to the secondary
safe house I told you about. We’re leaving a message for anyone else who may
show up.” Michelle said. ‘Take Kiara to the house in the Keys, I’m going to
make sure everyone is ok then we’re heading that way. If you’re not there we’re
coming to help with the search.”
Bior inclined his head towards Mike who still sat on his ass
on the concrete. ‘What about this one?”
“He goes home, I have no use for anyone who will put our
people in danger,” Michelle said. “All he had to do was wait and this would
never be an issue.”
“I have no home anymore, Michelle, this is all I have,” Mike
implored.
“if that was the case, Kiara would be here,” Michelle said
in an emotionless voice. “Don’t worry I’ll give you enough to get on your feet.
You’ll find another way to be an egotistical ass in no time.”
‘You’ll regret this,” Mike whined angrily. “All of you.”
Michelle shook her head. “I already do.”
“And there is the caring,” Mursi murmured. “Be thankful you aren’t handed over to that
one so he can use you as a toothpick.”
Bior growled and closed his eyes, letting his shift to
dragon form take over. He felt his body change and embraced it. He took to the
skies with one swoop of his wings and followed Erik into the night sky. When they
passed over Michelle’s houseboat he could see the decimation. It was half sunk
into the murky swamp and what was left was shattered like a house made of
toothpicks. Flying low he circled
looking for any stray Shen that may be in the area and then landed. His massive
legs sank into the soft swamp mud as he looked around. He took a deep breath and picked up the scent
of moss and the earthy tones of the Everglades. He could also smell the filth
of the Shen but there it was.
The subtle hint of Kiara’s perfume made he turned his head in
another direction. Something glinted in
the moonlight and he lowered his head to look. It was an earring sitting on top
of the damp earth. Bior took to the
skies again and followed the direction where he’d scented Kiara and seen the
piece of jewelry. Erik followed close
behind and in the darkness they scoured the lands below looking for any signs
of the Shen. He didn’t want to think
about what may be going on in Shen lair, he’d seen to many deaths of both men
and women. Even canalized human bodies.
When they got hungry enough they’d eat anything. They lived with few
basic needs showing they were basically animals. Feed, defecate and procreate,
but that was before they new Shen they’ve seen popping up. Using the bodies of
Paladin women, lesser Shen were now drones to be sent out. But still Kiara
could be used like cattle and he wasn’t having it.
Erik made a dragon call to draw Bior’s attention. He
followed the movement in the bushes below and honed in on it. His eyesight
tracking the almost slither like movement as Shen abominations morphed from
human to their serpentine selves. He
lifted himself higher and Erick followed, not wanting to be scene in the ink
black sky if any of their quarries looked up. Using the she shadow of the clouds
they flew deeper into the everglades. They flew above the marshlands into
another area with boggy water covered the bases of trees instead of solid
ground. There were no caves here so Bior
wondered where the Shen were going. They moved sleekly through mud and
marshland at home in the murk.
Bior knew that alligators wouldn’t dare attack. Predators
knew who was on top of the food chain and with the Shen alligators weren’t it.
But we are, Bior thought mercilessly. Finally he saw their destination, on the
banks of the glades was an old flourmill, it was so old part of the smoke stack
seemed to have crumbled into the water. Pieces of rusted fence dipped into the
water showing that the everglades had and continued to claim the land back. It
was probably the reason why the mill was abandoned. The structure of the glades
changed the landscape over the years. There was no holding it back this kind of
environment was not one man could reign in.
They let the Shen get inside and landed further away. When they shifted Erik looked at his muddy
feet in disgust.
“I have to put muddy feet in my new boots,” he murmured.
“Why did you bring the new boots to a fight?” Bior asked.
“To break them in,” Erik answered.
Bior took his clothes out of his pack and pulled on his
jeans before shoving his muddy feet in his scarred boots. “Let me know how that
works out for you.”
“How many do you suppose are in there?” Erik asked.
“Doesn’t matter we’ll kill them all and get Michelle’s
people back,” Bior said.
He unsheathed and checked his sword before putting the belt
of his scabbard of his shoulder so it crossed his chest. On the front was the
hard leather breast place that was passed down through out his family through
the ages. Old and worn it carried the scars of many battles with the Shen. Most
of them were his since there had never been an uprising like this even in the
old war.
“It seems Kiara is your main concern,” Erik said bluntly.
Checking his own weapon. “Admit it, you have fallen prey to the tiny human
woman.”
“I have not!” Bior snapped defensively. “She intrigues me
intellectually, this is all.”
Erik snorted. “Yeah that’s intellect that scents the air
anytime you are around her.”
“Shut up,” Bior growled. “Do we go in through the front door
or the back?”
“I say we go knock and invite our selves to tea,” Erik
grinned.
“Good choice,” Bior agreed. “Kill anything Shen and we save
the humans we can.”
They moved stealthily through the night and into the old
mill. Making no bones to hide their presence. He wanted them to hear them
coming and deviate their attention from any prisoners they had. It had the desired affect, they cut down Shen
easily, and they were none of the newer intelligent Shen. Bior had no doubt
they were on their way or the women were going to be transported to them. The
truck outside was probably to move them that same night, Bior wasn;t about to
give them the chance to take not one.
“Kiara!” Bior roared as he grabbed a shen by the neck and
pulled it forward. “Where are the prisoners?”
It gasped and managed to laugh and that infuriated him all
the more. Bior snapped its neck and was moving forward before the Shen body hit
the floor. They were getting braver, none giving answers until he was savagely
killing them not giving them time to answer.
He’d rip the rest of the ailing buildings apart to find them. Finally he
came to a door and in the midst of the death and black blood he picked up a
subtle sent to humans, of Kiara.
“You got this?” He yelled to Erik.
“I’m practically bored with the monotony of it,” Erik
replied and then yelled. “Give me a reason to actually enjoy fighting you
things!”
Bior shook his head and kicked in the door just as two Shen
attacked him. One he decapitated with his sword and the other, he cracked its
skull open with his fist. He was through
the door and scanning the dark room looking for signs of life. There were only
two bodies in there and one was Kiara. He checked the first girl and her pulse
was strong, then he went to Kiara’s side.
Her pulse was also strong but neither woman was conscious. He lifted her in his arms and smelled the
sweet scent round her nose. They had to
be drugged.
“Kiara,” he shook her and tapped her cheek gently intently
until she roused and moaned. “Kiara.”
Her eyes lifted heavily. “Bout time, thought I had to save
myself.
Bior chuckled as he wiped a smear of dirt from her face. “No
I’m here to save you tiny one.”
Something inside him shifted and he pressed a kiss to her
forehead and held her close. Bior rocked her gently, hoping that even as the
drug still held her in its grip it made her feel safe. The air took on the
smell of rich clover, spices and his musky scent. Bior didn’t care, he marked her as his and
would figure the rest out later. Right
now she was safe and he was mated, well at least he thought so.
