Core of Confliction Read online

  “Impregnating her is one thing, I am speaking of why she is this way,” he snapped.

  Ganna came into the chamber and went directly to check Chardon’s forehead.

  “She had a fever for a few weeks and did wake up on one or two occasions. I think it is because her body has not yet fully regained itself as female. It is quite possible Chardon did not shift often to female form to keep it acclimated.”

  “No, she wouldn’t. All for the sake of your race, and HER.”

  They all knew who he meant. He went around to the other side of the bed and sat next to Chardon’s sleeping body. He brushed strands of hair from her face and stared down at her. Everyone in the room watched, feeling awkward, an audience to his show of affection for Chardon.

  “I need to tell you something," Halfar began. "It is more like a proposal.”

  That Ganna and everyone else's attention. Even Modas came into the room from out of the hallway with a bang of the door swinging open. Last time Halfar made a proposal it meant doom for their race. Another one was not a welcome invitation. He saw the looks on their faces and held up a hand.

  “Shall I explain my dilemma?” They all froze. “My armada has been sent, without my approval, to Earth.”

  “How can it be without your approval?” Kelin was not buying it any more than Ganna was.

  “I have not yet explained.” Halfar casted a glare at him. “May I continue?”

  “My apologies,” Kelin muttered noticing everyone staring at him, irritated.

  “Conquering Earth was not my intention. One of my Generals, Kur, had found the planet and thought it was a great race to enslave. He initiated the conquest so I came to investigate and assist.”

  “Thinking nothing of destroying yet another world.” Ganna piped in to their dismay.

  “For the love of Lassa!” Mara balled her hands into a fist.

  Halfar continued. “That is true, I thought nothing of it but I also saw it as a way to flee from my advisors and the battles. I also had your vessels which my other General, Rass, helped keep hidden from prying eyes. If anyone knew what I had done, extracting all of you, my reign as ruler would be put in question and I needed to stay in control of my world. It is now clear that Kur has relayed this information to the royal advisors.”

  Jaron and Talas glanced at each other and Talas was the one to speak.

  “You don’t want to conquer Earth? Then why not tell them to withdraw?”

  “Kur has engaged in a campaign to overthrow me and claim my armada for himself. He knows in his gut I would choose Rass over him.”

  “Pre-emptive strike.” Talas deduced.

  “Correct. I want to lose this battle, get rid of Kur and return my armada to its home base.”

  “So, what is your proposal?”

  Halfar stood from his seat by the bed and turned to face them. “I need you to attack my forces on all fronts before my armada deploys. Take out as many of Kur’s enforcers as you can. Stopping his advance is key.”

  “You want us to murder your own kind so you can run away?” Ganna spat.

  “No.” Halfar sighed in exasperation. “Kur’s enforcers are replicated organisms unsanctioned by our people. I did not know about it until after the fact and by then, he had over a thousand created. Those abominations must be destroyed!” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want to stay here with Chardon and resume our interplanetary meetings. We have to try and correct the damage done by Sestis.”

  Ganna glanced over at Jaron who a puzzled expression regarding the logistics of the whole battle plan but not making any headway. She saw Talas obviously thinking in the same context and he went over to tap Jaron. His expression told her he had a plan.

  “There is one stark problem.” Kelin interjected. “You sent a planet destroyer to our world and we have this,” he spread his arms towards outside, “to try and live on. Have you seen the sun?”

  “I never wanted that to happen. It was childish of me and it cost you greatly. I have no way of atoning for that. I can make this planet thrive for you, though.”

  “How?” Kelin opened his arms wide.

  “When there is a way to destroy, there is a way to create. There is a ‘bomb’ for that as well.”

  “And what? You’re going to use one of those for this planet?”

  “In a way, yes.”

  “Uh-uh, I don’t trust you.” Kelin pointed a finger at him.

  “You say you want to get off of Earth and stay here. You do realize that would leave Earth in shambles? Your forces have not been kind,” Talas continued where Kelin left off.

  “If there is one thing I learned about humans is that they are resilient. Nothing keeps them down for long. They can rebuild.” Halfar sat back down on the bed. “If it were not for Sestis…”

  Modas’ head snapped towards the others in the room and he made a quick decision. “I think you all should leave for a while.” They turned to stare at him confused. “Chardon needs quiet.”

  “What about him?” An insulted Kelin barked.

  “He is not disturbing her. We can discuss the rest of this matter later.” He motioned for them all to exit and Ganna felt suspicious. What are you up to manbeast? She asked in silence as she was the last to be forcibly pushed out the chamber.

  Halfar raised his eyebrows at Modas when it was just the two of them and a sleeping Chardon.

  “I have my reasons,” Modas said.

  “I was going to finish my explanation.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you not also want to know why I did it?”

  “I already know.”

  “Then why?”

  “They do not need to know any more about Sestis and her actions.” Modas recalled the memorial that had turned into a disaster. The people were so distraught and angry it nearly became a mob. “She was like poison that no one knew was already in their veins.”

  “Keeping it from them won’t change much.”

  “I disagree.” Modas went to the door and as he closed it shut, “When you are ready to leave, I will be outside to escort you.”

  “I was not escorted in.”

  “No, but you should have been.”

  With that Modas closed the door and continued to stand guard in the hallway.

  Chardon stirred when Halfar climbed into the bed with her, leaning over to stroke her hair. Her eyes fluttered open and there was a brief moment of recognition before he shook his head and coaxed her back to sleep. He laid a hand on the swell of her belly feeling the life inside move around.

  Their two races had never procreated together and he wondered, no worried, about the outcome. The thought of their offspring clawing its way out her, killing her in the process, made the color drain out of him. He had to come back and have a long talk with Ganna.

  The sun was setting and he knew it was time to go. Kissing Chardon on the forehead, he got up and went to meet Modas outside to be escorted back to the gate. He found it curious no one had asked how he opened the gate from the outside.

  On a hill not far from the commune, Talas and Jaron sat on a boulder together. They felt odd being in such close proximity alone since the two were not friendly towards each other just yet. A sort of truce had been formed to get things done.

  Talas walked a few inches from the boulder and poised himself on the edge of the hill, one leg bent at the knee from resting on a large stone near the edge. In reddish brown hide leather, his long sword hanging off one side, and his dirty blonde hair getting swirled around by the breeze he looked like the warrior he was. It did nothing for Jaron.

  “Is it just me, or is your mate hiding more secrets for our leader?” He started.

  “He is surely hiding something. The fact that he knew all of this makes me angry.”

  “What do you think about Halfar’s proposal?”

  “There is no way we can trust him!”

  “Ahh,” Talas used a finger to move away some fly away hair, “but we can.” He turned to her. “He
loves Chardon more than anything in this universe and has for a long time. He kept all of us because if our world were dead, Chardon would at least have some of his race with him. I think, getting him off Earth would benefit us.”

  Jaron thought it over for a bit and nodded her head. “The planning is the problem. How do we drive Kur off that rock without a scratch on our troops?”

  “We will not come out of this one unscathed, my dear Jaron.”

  “I am not your dear!”

  Talas let out a little laugh. “So touchy. I have no interest in you, trust me.” He saw the offended look on her face. “Not everyone finds you so beautiful. The same as Ganna detests me.”

  Returning to his gaze across the fields, he sighed and let the breeze wash over him. He crossed his arms and leaned forward, head tilted towards the sky.

  “Stop that!” She snapped and Talas peeked at her with one eye. “Why does everything you do have to be damn erotic?”

  “I’m just standing here, dearie, on a hill.” Jaron’s eyes narrowed at him. “Fine.” Talas went back to the boulder and sat down next to her. “Not unscathed, but no casualties. I can guarantee that.”

  “Why is Kelin being so forceful these days?” Jaron changed the subject. It had been bothering her since they regained their cores how the two lover’s dynamic had changed. “He always followed you.”

  “Not on Earth, he didn’t.” Talas cocked his head to one side. “I wonder. He’s not a strategist like I am but on Earth, he was more knowledgeable.” His forehead creased. “Of course, I was some sort of imbecile on that planet.” It infuriated him just thinking about it. Jaron found it quite hilarious and started laughing heartily. “That’s not very nice of you, dear.”

  “Sorry.” Jaron wiped her eyes. “I just remember all of us wanting to smack you around for the sheer joy of it. We knew it would be wrong to bully you but, you made it so easy and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty.”

  “How hateful.”

  “Without your core, you really were just an empty headed shell of a being.” Jaron slapped her knee and laughed again her head thrown back.

  Restraining Chardon ended up being more of a hardship than Ganna, or the workers, had anticipated as they forgot how strong she was. Her hair had gotten long again and snagged on the bed covers every time Ganna was able to get her back down only to have her push back up more furious than before.

  “Let go of me!”

  “Chardon, you need to listen to me and calm down!”

  “I need to find him!”

  “You need to let me examine your unborn child and make sure it does not mean your demise as it enters this world.”

  Chardon stopped fighting for a moment staring at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Our two races have never mated before and if you haven’t forgotten, Halfar’s true form comes with claws.”

  “So do manbeasts!”

  “Not like this!”

  Chardon thought about it again and confirmed in her mind Ganna was correct. She could feel her unborn child moving around and the tiny claws, not yet sharp enough to rip open flesh, graze across the inside of womb. Breathing deep and letting it out slowly, she let her arms slip from Ganna’s grip.

  “I still need to see him.”

  “I am already here.” Halfar stepped out of the shadows near the door with Modas in tow. “You really should stay in bed resting. Ganna and I have some details to go over.”

  “I…” Halfar leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips making her shiver. “You’re coming back?”

  “Of course.” He turned to Ganna. “Let’s proceed.”

  Ganna brought over the examination tablet and held it above Chardon’s belly to get a good view of the fetus. Once the image was recorded along with vital signs for both mother and child, she left the room, with Halfar in tow, to the medical research chamber.

  Halfar was silent the entire time and Ganna felt she may have misjudged the tyrant. It nagged her about why their planet had been destroyed on a whim and she had an awful suspicion that Sestis, yet again, was the cause.

  She silently scrutinized the image in her research lab then made a suggestion.

  “We can extract him when it is time.”

  “How?” Halfar tensed at the sound of it.

  “Cut her open.” The medical workers gasped in horror and Halfar rose from his seat. “Or,” she reeled back; not liking what was about to occur, “we can carefully insert a membrane around the fetus to prevent him from clawing his way out of her.”

  “Will you sedate her?”

  “Do you think she would let me?” Ganna swirled around in her seat facing Halfar.

  “No.” He resumed his seat and tapped his lower lip. “I do have a way to ease her down.”

  An eyebrow shot up on Ganna’s brow. “Please, explain.”

  “I had an elixir made that forces the biological system to slow down. Only a tiny bit is needed.”

  “You’ve used this elixir before then? On Chardon?”

  “How did you think she was able to get back here without collapsing?”

  “She did collapse! She barely made it to her chamber!”

  “Don’t be so dramatic! I knew the timeline, and made sure there was enough in her to get her home. I am not a monster!”

  “And that is what troubles me.” It was Halfar’s turn to seem confused. “Since you are not a monster, it makes me wonder why you sent that planet bomb.”

  “That was not my most glorious moment and I will regret it always.” He hung his head defeated.

  “Enough of that.” Ganna waved her hand. “We have a new species to bring into our new world.”

  **~**

  Und could see from his vantage point on the other end of the wall it was going to be bad. Trinon was angry and determined to prove everyone wrong by climbing the wall today when no one was watching. They didn’t mind Und and his sister, Una, because they had a somewhat responsible nature. Trinon was another matter. The fighting had begun earlier that day.

  “You are to stay put!” Mota had ordered Trinon as he left for a council meeting.

  “Why can’t I go practice with the others?”

  “You want to know why?” Mota leaned down to face him. “You are not good enough or ready to climb on your own.” He straightened. “That’s why. Now go sit in the sandbox and play with the little ones or something.” Mota then strolled off, leaving a fuming Trinon to stand alone in the fields.

  Und watched Trinon go to the sandbox while he went to the wall to practice. The look on his brother’s face was nothing nice. So, it was no surprise that later in the day, Und saw him come up to the wall on the far end and stare up at it with mad fury. He attacked the wall with such speed even Und stopped climbing in a state of awe. It turned to dread as he saw how far up Trinon was. A fall would be catastrophic.

  The climb was going well and Trinon had a big grin on his face despite the sweat running down his back from the exertion. His claws clinked upward and he was three quarters of the way up when one of his claws did not find a grip. He reached with the other hand and the claws also missed causing him to slide downward.

  His body gained momentum. He was going to fall if he didn’t do something fast. In a panic he tried desperately to find a grip as he continued down. Some of his claws on both hands snapped off as he went further down, the pain causing him to scream. Blood streaked down the wall and Und descended as fast as he could to try and reach him. It was no use, Trinon would have to try and land no matter how bad it would be. He turned his body and ended up sideways, his torn up hands caused his form to be unbalanced.

  Mota and Modas heard the screaming first and reacted before anyone else. As they neared the wall, Und was just touching down on the ground and headed towards Trinon still in free fall but he would not make it.

  Mota took off at full speed with his father behind him and barely missed Trinon as he hit the bottom. By getting somewhat under him, he softened the fall but that
was the least of their concerns. Trinon lay in his arms bloody and shaking from shock. The damage to his claws was alarming. Mota kept him close to his body to minimize the tremors and turned to their father.

  The horror on Modas’ face was nothing compared to the screams of Jaron as she rushed forward to them. All the blood everywhere is what caused her to scream, surely fearing her little one was dead. He stopped her midway and didn’t let go as she fought to be released. Und stood wide eyed with grief.

  “Get Ganna.” Modas commanded Mota.

  “I am here!” Ganna ran up out of breath. She too must have heard the screams. “Hurry, give him to me!” Mota did not move. He was also in shock. Ganna knelt down to reason with him. “You have to give him to me! I need to treat him now!”

  She laid a hand on his shoulder and felt the tension ease a bit. She motioned the medical workers who had followed her to hold him while she took Trinon out of his arms. They ran back to the medical chamber.

  Jaron slid to the ground crying uncontrollably. Modas still held one of her hands in an iron grip without realizing it. His vision blurred and he swayed. This had never happened before. Mota slowly stood up staring at his empty hands. Everyone was still until Modas let out a growl of such rage that the field workers nearby fled in fear of him going into a rampage. Und blinked for the first time since getting to the scene.

  “I’m sorry.” Mota whispered to no one but it was for Trinon. His hands trembled.

  “It’s not your fault, you know.” Und said softly. “He just has a bad temper.” Tears filled his eyes.

  “Yes, it is.” Mota lifted his head to sky and saw the streaks of blood going down the face of the wall. A small cry caught in his throat and he couldn’t stop tears from sliding down his face. Jakar came up behind him and rested his giant hands on his shoulders. After a moment, he went to pick Und up from where he stood frozen.

  Pulling herself together, Jaron stood up and headed for the medical chamber. She stopped midway and turned to see if Modas was coming. A few seconds passed before he also came with her. They walked in silence as they made their way through the fields and down the slope that led to Ganna’s operating room.