I only get a glimpse of it before Hadone steps above me, blocking my view.
The towering Aurelian growls and presses his bulk down on top of me. The seven-feet-tall alien must weigh three times as much as the average human, and I know if he let his full weight down on me, I’d be crushed beneath his muscular mass.
Despite my inexperience, I’m already so fucking wet by the time Hadone slides the tip of his huge cock against my eager opening; and shuddering, teasing pleasure washes over me as he presses against my tightness.
Oh, Gods! Oh, Gods - please fuck me!
The words come into my mind, then I repeat them out loud, unable to feel shame or nervousness amid my overwhelming desire to be claimed.
Above me, Hadone’s eyes wide, a bright and vibrant green. His veins bulge all over his body, swollen with arousal just as his immense cock is.
Finally, Hadone growls, his body tensing, and I know he’s poised to slam every inch of that huge, hard dick inside of me…
…and that’s when a deeper rumble starts.
Hadone freezes up, tensing for a completely different reason.
The small structure we’re sheltered inside shudders, as if it’s about to cave in on top of us. My mind instantly clears. Until then, I’d been in an animal state of heat – ready to be mounted, mated, and seeded…
Now, suddenly, my rational brain is taking over.
What’s that sound? And, oh Gods, was I really about to let an Aurelian take my virginity?
Hadone jumps to his feet and grabs the hilt of his war hammer in a single, violent movement. Darok was waiting for his turn to claim me, but now he rushes out of the structure instead, activating his Orb-Sword as he leaps out to protect us from the source of the mysterious sounds and vibration.
I recognize the noise. It’s the sound I’d been waiting for so eagerly back in Barl – the noise of Capital defense heli-ships, roaring overhead.
I never thought I could ever get out of the city without heli-ships like these to rescue me, but somehow we’re all still alive and safe; even without the troops of the Capital to protect us
My body feels so empty as I pull up my pants. I need the warriors so badly it hurts.
I shake my head, trying to clear the fog of my intense sexual arousal. I do want to see the heli-ships – but before I leave our shelter, I lean over and give Forn a light kiss on his forehead.
He mumbles something in his sleep, eyes flickering from the sound of the heli-ships overhead - but as soon as I gently stroke his hair, Forn closes his eyes again and falls back into a restorative slumber.
I pull myself from the shelter. Outside, the four orphans are awake and they’re emerging from their own shelter. Runner looks at me with open suspicion, judging me for sleeping in the same makeshift hut as the Aurelians. He might be young, but I have an idea that he suspects what was going to happen – and that he hates me even more for it.
Runner was such a sweet boy just days ago. Now I see his father in him more than ever before – mirroring that vile man with each suspicious glance at me, and each hateful glare at the Aurelians. I get a strange wave of fear that he’s going to do something to Forn while the leader of the triad is helpless, but I push it out of my mind.
Runner might hate Aurelians, but surely he wouldn’t hurt them.
“They’re going to rescue everyone!” Tod cries out, his voice full of hope. I smile, hoping desperately that Edgar managed to survive long enough to be rescued. If anyone could outlast a Scorp attack, it’s that stubborn old man.
I step out from beneath the shelter of the trees, and furrow my brow. There are only a dozen heli-ships roaring overhead. The Capital should have sent hundreds to fight off the teeming Scorp infestation.
How can they possibly defeat all those Scorp warriors with so few soldiers? Are they merely a rescue team?
Fear grips me as I struggle to comprehend. I look back, expecting to see a second wave of heli-ships in close pursuit. Then Stacy screams, and I whip my head towards her.
“Go back into the tent!” I yell, pushing the kids away from the ghastly sight.
Hadone and Darok join me in somber silence as we watch the heli-ships unleash napalm on my city of Barl. Grief twists my heart as I remember Edgar telling me with such hope that reinforcements would arrive.
Instead, the Capital are scorching the Earth – obliterating the Scorp threat, even at the cost of the survivors still sheltered there.
As we watch, the city turns into a pyroclasm. The cheap materials of the shanty towns and old wooden buildings are like tinder – and as the heli-ships pour military-grade incendiary across onto the city it sparks and roars like an oven.
The stone walls surrounding Barl parallel that metaphor. They must be keeping the heat inside – turning the temperature up even higher. My heart grieves for those who’d made it this long against the Scorp horde, only to be roasted alive in this inferno.
I feel like I can feel the screams of survivors – the poor wretches who’d thought they had escaped the worst of the Scorp attack, before being betrayed utterly by the Capital forces.
The Capital didn’t even try to fight off the Scorp. They just burned down everything.
I look back to the small tent where the four orphans are peeking out. They quickly duck their heads when they see me watching. I’ve dealt with the trauma of knowing my parents died in a Scorp attack my entire life. I know that the four children will have to deal with a similar trauma – the sight of their home city burning, while they remain safe, for the rest of their lives. Survivor’s guilt. I wish I could have spared
