Mikko: Stolen Warriors Series Read online

  Pain lurked in his eyes, but there were no open cuts on him.

  “Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked. “I was so scared for you out there—”

  “I’m fine,” his hand pushed my hair off my face. “Thanks to our new friends.”

  I glanced over my shoulder to find the small creatures still staring at me straddling Mikko’s waist. I slowly swung my leg over to sit curled up at his side. My limbs were still wobbly. “What happened?”

  Mikko explained the smoke had been ricin, a type of gas that causes temporary blackouts. The two creatures—called hilbobs—then dragged us to safety. Their names were York and Crife, and they each shot me a smile and wave with their digger paws. They reminded me a little of hobbits, and I could barely believe they’d been able to pull Mikko’s bulk.

  “Thank you for saving us,” I addressed them.

  That got bigger, genuine smiles. “You are welcome, pale one,” said the one named York. “They would have done some bad things to you.”

  “Nasty stuff,” Crife added.

  “Most are in the Pit for a reason.” York nodded emphatically.

  Yeah, I didn’t need the reminder. I swallowed and winced at my sore, dry throat. “Any qua?” I whispered as I peered up at Mikko.

  He immediately snatched a jug off the ground at his side. “Drink all you need. It will help the ricin effects wear off faster.”

  There was a flurry of activity as food was placed in front of me—food that wasn’t the jelly-like prison rations. There was some sort of fruit, and a baked good that had a sourdough taste. I made a sandwich out of the bread and a thick meaty paste. It tasted delicious, probably because I hadn’t had much of anything since I left Earth.

  “Diddjoo eat dis?” I asked Mikko around a mouthful of food.

  He shook his head. “I have the rations—”

  I took advantage of his mouth being open and shoved the sandwich inside. He froze for a moment before peeling back his lips and biting down. After chewing and swallowing, I watched as his tongue lapped up every bit of paste that was left on his lips. “Good, right?”

  “Very good,” he said with a smile.

  I ripped my makeshift sandwich in half and dropped it into his limp palm.

  He tried to refuse it, but I wouldn’t give in.

  I couldn’t imagine how many calories his body required and I was almost full anyway, and I didn’t want to stuff myself and get sick. “Thank you so much for the food.” I pressed my palms together and gave them a little bow of my head. “That was very kind of you.”

  “You like it?” Crife asked.

  “Very much.”

  Crife beamed. “The turik is my creation. It’s made of a tuber protein mixed with a little vipkis milk.”

  “Where the fleck are you gettin vipkis milk?” Mikko demanded.

  Suddenly a flap of wings echoed down the hallway covered with a scrap of fabric. As the person sitting closest to the tunnel, I let out a little shriek and scrambled over Mikko’s lap to his other side. I glanced around for a weapon seconds before a winged creature swooped into the cave and landed neatly. Flapping its wings one last time, it stirred up dust before casually folding its wings down its back.

  This wasn’t a bird. It had feathers on its wings, but it was… More like a flying monkey? Kind of. It had four legs and two arms, and its furry body was about the size of a large cat. It had a long neck and a smushed face with a nose that twitched constantly like a hamster. It stared at me, then at Mikko, before letting out a screech of alarm.

  “No!” York cried out just as the creature took flight, talons out, and flew at Mikko’s head.

  But Mikko wasn’t some cowering victim. He snatched the creature right out of the air by its neck and brought their faces together. He snarled at it, fangs glistening in the flicking lantern light.

  “No!” York was on his knees now in front of us, hands together in a plea. “Don’t hurt her, she’s our hilphen. She was only trying to defend us.”

  “What’s a hilphen?” I asked.

  “Our pet. She also visits the surface of the Vixlicin and brings us food. We wouldn’t be able to live here without her. All the food you just ate was brought here because of her!”

  Mikko had stopped snarling. The hilphen had gone limp in his grip, probably from fright. It still breathed, and its legs trembled.

  “Mikko,” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Put her down.”

  “Will she attempt to attack me again?” He didn’t take his eyes off her.

  “No,” York shook his head. “Please, hand her to me. She understands me.”

  With one last glaring look at the hilphen, Mikko handed her over.

  York cradled her in his arms while she panted.

  “You scared her,” I admonished Mikko.

  “She was going to claw my eyes out,” he growled.

  He had a point, so I didn’t argue.

  York was whispering to her, and I caught a few words as he explained who we were.

  Crife patted her furry head and scratched her pointy ears. “This is Meri. She is protective of us.”

  “I understand,” Mikko said. “I acted on instinct to protect myself and Rian.”

  “That makes sense. Thank you for not hurting her.”

  Mikko frowned. “I don’t like hurting anything. It’s not fun for me.” His defensive tone struck me, as I wasn’t used to Mikko being vulnerable. His jaw was tight. “It’s not my fault everything seems to be out to hurt me first.”

  “You are safe here,” Crife said.

  “Can I… pet her?” I asked.

  York placed her on the ground on her four legs. She sidled over to me, her movements jerky like a chimp’s. Her round blue eyes took me in from top to toe. “Hello,” I said, holding my hand out like I would to a dog.

  “She can understand you, but cannot speak,” York explained.

  “Okay,” I addressed her. “Well, I’m Rian. Nice to meet you. On Earth, we often greet each other by shaking hands.” I gently squeezed one of her front paws between my thumb and fingers. “Nice to meet you, Meri.”

  The little hilphen let out a squeak, and I dropped her paw, thinking I’d hurt her. She immediately scuttled forward and picked up my hand in both her paws. She began to shake my hand vigorously with a series of excited screeches and flaps of her wings.

  “She likes shaking hands,” Crife laughed.

  “She’s so cute.” With my other hand, I patted her head, finding her fur coarse. She tilted her head, and I obliged by scratching her ears.

  Next, she moved to Mikko and took one of his massive hands in her paws. Looking up at him from under her lashes with big eyes, she slowly shook his hand. I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing too loud as she gave him a slightly pitiful look as if in apology.

  He scratched under her chin with a small smile. “I’m sorry for grabbing you, little one.”

  She batted her eyes at him, and I wondered if now that she knew he was safe, she had a slight crush on him.

  “Come get your dinner,” York said to Meri.

  After one more look at Mikko, she shuffled over to York who handed her a bowl of crunchy leafy greens. She happily munched while squatting on her four legs. Her tail, a bushy thing like a squirrel’s, flicked lazily back and forth in the air.

  I dozed off for a little after that, feeling safe for the first time in forever with York and Crife cleaning up the cave and Mikko’s strong presence at my side. His arm settled around my shoulders, snugging me up against his chest. I felt protected. Cared for. And for a moment, I could pretend like we were just visiting friends, not stuck in an underground prison on a strange desert planet.

  When I opened my eyes after a short rest, Mikko and I both ate another small meal. Well, mine was small. I was right Mikko needed a lot to sustain his big body. I could tell he wasn’t full, but he stopped eating to preserve the hilbobs’s food.

  “What did you do to get thrown in the Pit?” I asked York.

&n
bsp; The hilbob squinted at me and then turned to his friend. “What did we do again?”

  Crife didn’t glance up from where he was folding some furs. “They caught us stealing food from the guards in the mines.”

  York nodded at me with a smile. “That’s it.”

  “And the sentence for stealing food was getting tossed in the Pit?”

  “Well we killed the guard first, before stealing his food,” York stated this as if I should have known.

  I blinked. “Oh.”

  “When we arrived, we saved Meri from where she was chained in a prisoner’s cell, dug out tunnels, and have been here ever since.”

  “And your planet?”

  He sighed. “Hilbobs are scattered all over the galaxy, as the Plikens stripped our planet. One day, maybe we can find a home together again.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. The amount of destruction the Plikens and Uldani had caused seemed unending.

  He smiled. “It is what it is.” He gestured at my hair. “Would you like to wash up?”

  What I really needed was to pee, and I hoped this washroom also had some sort of toilet. I nodded eagerly, and York pointed to Meri. “She will show. It’s not far, just through there.” He gestured to the fabric covered tunnel.

  I stood and Mikko rose at my side, he had to bend awkwardly so he didn’t bang his head on the low cave ceiling. “I will go with her.”

  “She will be safe with Meri,” York said.

  Mikko didn’t flinch as he gazed steadily at York. “I will go with her.”

  Crife smacked York on the head. “Of course, you want to go with her. That’s no problem. Meri will show you both the way.”

  The hilphen trotted in front of us and nudged aside the fabric to the tunnel before glancing back over its furry shoulder to make sure we were following. I felt a moment of hesitation. This was okay, right? We were safe? Then Mikko’s heat warmed my back, and his strong hand settled on my shoulder. Immediately the worries vanished. In such a short time, he’d come to symbolize safety to me.

  I’d spent most of my life trusting no one but myself. I’d been let down by everyone—my family, my friends, and the programs put in place that were supposed to help disadvantaged people like me. I wasn’t always proud of what I’d done to survive, but I didn’t regret it.

  But now… I no longer felt on my own. Mikko had proven time and time again he could be trusted. He’d fought for me. He’d nearly died for me. And even now, he remained steady at my back like a solid shadow. I owed everything to him, and I couldn’t believe on this shitty planet, I’d managed to meet someone like him.

  The tunnel was dark, but a dim light up ahead guided us. I could just make out Meri’s bouncing form in front of us as she made constant high-pitched noises in encouragement.

  Eventually, the light grew larger, until we stepped out of the narrow tunnel into a small circular room. The center was carved out into a basin, about the size of an above-ground pool. Running the length of a ceiling was a large pipe.

  Meri flapped her wings to settle on the top of the pipe. With her little paws, she flipped a lever on the pipe and a small hatch opened. Qua burst from a hole in the pipe to fill the basin with warm liquid, like a big hot tub.

  I gasped as I took in the steam filling the space. A bath? I was going to get a bath? This was too good to be true.

  Seven

  Rian

  I didn’t care if Mikko saw me naked for several reasons. One, I’d been strip searched before and that had a way of desensitizing you to nudity. Two, I was filthy, and three, well, almost getting captured by an entire prison of murderous aliens had a way of putting things in perspective.

  First, Mikko showed me to a makeshift toilet, which I used with relief. Then, with my back to Mikko, I stripped out of my filthy clothes. I wished I could throw them away, but I had no spares. Once I got clean, I’d try to scrub them as best as I could. Meri remained on her perch cleaning herself and steadfastly ignoring me.

  When I turned around, Mikko hadn’t moved. He hadn’t turned his back. He hadn’t looked away. He stood watching me intently.

  I stared back at him as I stood on the edge of the basin completely nude. He’d probably never seen a naked human, so I couldn’t really blame him for ogling. He was simply curious. And maybe his species didn’t have the same kind of modesty as most humans.

  He swallowed, and his eyes seemed to glow even brighter as his gaze slid down my body and back up. “I have maintained honor since we met, but this is the first time I have willfully disregarded it.” His tone was low and quivered slightly.

  I tapped my fingers against my leg. “How so?”

  “I should have turned away when you took off your clothes. But I didn’t. I’m…” he shook his head, eyelids flickering. His jaw worked a few times, like he struggled to find the right words. “I’m in awe of your beauty, warrior Rian. I have never seen anything like you, and I know I never will again, as long as I live.”

  My knees went weak. What did he see? I had frizzy hair, freckles, and my boobs were uneven in size. I carried extra weight on the outside of my thighs that wouldn’t go away, and I was a little bow-legged. I wasn’t necessarily self-conscious of those things—they were just facts about my body I lived with. But under Mikko’s gaze I felt… perfect. Like all my little parts added together to a sum that caused Mikko’s eyes to fire purple sparks.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, unable to say much more. He didn’t reach for me, and despite my vulnerable state, I didn’t feel unsafe. Mikko wouldn’t hurt me. I knew that now. I trusted that.

  I took a step into the qua and let out a little squeak at how warm it was. I slid down into the basin, submerging myself up to my neck. I moaned as the hot qua soothed my sore and aching muscles. A few cuts and scrapes burned, but it was a good kind of burn. A healing kind.

  I dunked my head under the qua for a brief second to wet my hair. When I wiped the qua from my eyes, I found Mikko still hadn’t moved. “Come in,” I said. “It feels great.”

  I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it wasn’t for him to toe off his boots and drop his pants without warning. At least I’d turned my back, but Mikko had no concept of modesty, clearly.

  He stepped out of his pants and rose to standing, absolutely nude.

  Absolutely perfect.

  With pants on, Mikko was a vision—a muscled chest and chiseled abs. But naked… Oh good Lord. There was no point in hiding where I was looking, because his hard cock was impossible to ignore. Long and thick, it hung down between his thighs like a third leg. The head was a blue mushroom, with a bar pierced through the tip, and his balls swung low and full. I hadn’t spent a lot of time wondering what his anatomy was like down there, but to see that he was mostly a well-endowed human male was both exciting and intimidating.

  That meant… well that meant we were sexually compatible. And the way he was look at me was nothing short of pure lust.

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered as I imagined his pierced cock anywhere near my vagina.

  He slid into the qua and didn’t remain at a safe distance, but instead waded right in front of me. His gaze lowered to the tops of my breasts which bobbed at the surface of the qua.

  His fingers reached out, but he quickly withdrew his hand before he touched my skin. His nostrils flared. “I like these.”

  “Most males do.” The was the first thing out of my mouth because I had no filter.

  His eyes narrowed and he cocked his head. “What males?”

  “Human males.”

  “Ah, but no human males would appreciate them as much as a Drixonian.”

  I smiled. “Is that so?”

  He bent his knees, so our faces were level. I liked his smirk, as it’d replaced that wrinkle of worry and pain between his eyes. “No one appreciates the female body like a Drixonian.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, and how many female bodies have you appreciated, playboy?”

  “None,” he answered quickly.

&n
bsp; I waited for his smirk or a sign of his sarcasm, instead he maintained an expression so serious and desolate my stomach twisted, and my heart thudded in my chest. Suddenly in a flap of wings, Meri picked up our clothes and sped off down the hallway with them.

  “Hey!” I called after her in alarm.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I heard York mention he wanted to clean them.”

  “Oh,” I muttered. “Well, that was nice.” I shook my head. “Back to what we were talking about. What do you mean by none?”

  “I told you all our females were killed.” He spoke monotone and matter of fact, as if he were trying to mask the pain.

  “I know, but I figured you’re… Wait, how old are you?”

  “One hundred and fifty cycles.”

  “Cycles as in…?”

  “Our rotations around our sun.”

  My mouth dropped open. That was years. Of course, their years might be shorter or longer than Earth years, but a whole rotation around a sun was still a hell of a long time. And he’d never… he’d never admired a female? “I don’t understand…”

  “I was taken from my home. My body was altered by our enemies and then I was sold here like property. Shortly after, I was sentenced to the Pit. I’ve only been free for a few cycles. In all that time, I have not seen many females, and certainly none like you.”

  My heart cracked open. “Your body was altered? What do you mean?” I swam closer to him and placed my hand on his chest where I could feel his heartbeat beneath my palm. His muscles bunched at my touch before relaxing slowly.

  “My machets.” He raised his forearms out of the qua to show off his forearm blades.

  “Yes?”

  “I already told you that Drixonians cannot eject and regenerate their machets. Normally they retract their machets to lay flat under their scales and only raise them for battle.”

  “So, you can eject yours, but you can’t retract them.”

  “Correct. Because the Uldani experimented on me to turn me into a super warrior for them. Except they failed because the ejection causes me much pain. I was a failed experiment, so they sold me here to rot.”