Citun's Storm

Chapter 1

Citun couldn’t breathe. The waves crashed overhead, water swirling, pounding, invading his tortured lungs. He had to suck in air or he would die, but to inhale would be death. His mind warred with his body, need over reason. For a single second, he broke the surface, barely, only his eyes, blinking in rapid succession, watched as the tumultuous sky met the angry waters. The whitecaps of the waves crashed over him spiraling him down, down to smash against the sandy floor before he was able to relieve his tortured lungs. Pools of watery dust wafted, swirling, turning before his eyes as the side of his face cracked against the hard surface below.

Spinning, shoving his hands against the hard yet yielding floor, he glanced up, his deadly world surreal. There was no light, the red glow of his gaze burned brighter searching for a glimpse of the surface, straining for hope in a mere glint. The ocean was so deep, the surface so far away. Citun had never been in the bowels of the waters. Surreal thunder clapped to rock his fragile world, rumbling within his chest. How could he hear the noise so deep? If his men were to find him, they would need to hear him call. The pounding grew within his ears and his grim revelation was—they never would hear him, and he was going to die alone. Only his warriors would mourn him when he wanted so much more in his life. How cruel was fate to introduce human adult females, and female children he could hold. Now he would never have the chance, never revel in the intimacy.

How long have I been down here?

Long white hair billowed around him in a frenzy; his natural instinct was to create a smoke screen, but no matter, the water could see him and the substance wasn’t intimidated. Nothing but emptiness swam before his tired red, dimming gaze. Lungs about to burst, Citun gave in and took a breath, what could a small pant hurt when he ached so terribly already. His lips parted. A tiny taste for air. Pain exploded inside. Choking on putrid water, Citun lurched up toward the tiny bead of light his gaze settled onto. A flicker, nothing more, but it was a shred of hope. Swim harder, his insides screamed, but he couldn’t. The waves were too strong.

I’m dying.

Fighting was useless. He never remembered how he came to be surrounded in death. A Zargonnii warrior could hold his breath for hours. Had it been that long? His arms were dead weight, languishing to roll with the tugging current as he slowly drifted back to the bottom of the ocean where his ass settled and he slumped. The planet had seemed so innocuous. Not a cloud had darkened the blue sky. Beautiful golden vines hung from massive pale grey trees gently swaying in a charming come-hither motion. Many of his warriors had smiles playing on their lips, running their fingers through the mellifluous strands causing harp-like tones. Green ponds sparkled; diamond-sized lively colors danced over sheer surfaces. Small breezes whipped up to stir and send flickering silver leaves shimmering in the sun. Rounded and flat rocks lay in an array of sizes and colors dotted tiny shorelines.

Tiny spikes of ebony grass, only inches in height, were silk when he bent to run his hand over the tips. A few creatures studied Citun and his landing party of six other warriors. Black, foot-long, slippery creatures hung from curly limbed trees. Reptilian anomalies with a spike flowing down their head, nose tip to shoulder blade. Webbed, six-toed, six-footed creatures that slithered in an engaging fashion from tree limb to ground to tree. A perpetual grin on their faces, appealing, as though welcoming the visitors.

Never before had Citun or his people ventured this far into the unknown of the universe, but thought the trip worth the danger of the mysterious. There should have been humans on the planet. A lost colony planted by Tonans. The evil rampage of the Tonan rebel warriors was coming to a close. Defectors waited, hoping to join Cobra as many had. Rumors before Citun left his planet rampaged. The planet they searched was given in exchange for asylum by the renegade rogues scattered into the universe.

The Zargonnii wanted no Tonans on their planet, but Cobra, Castian leader and cousin to the Tonan was willing to allow Tonans on his planet if the warriors were mated. The mating must be done fairly; no mating could be forced, or all would scent the deception. The race was on to find the last planets harboring refugees. Zargonniis were allies to the Castians, but the warriors wanted human females, the spoils of war. There were a number of heat sources detected on the planet, but they needed to figure out which were human. Citun would never have a female if he was dead.

The few moments of fighting the parts of his mind telling him he was drowning filtered for the briefest of seconds within his thoughts. His brain’s rambling thoughts gave him a last burst of energy. Citun surged up and surprisingly broke the surface. His gaze settled on a distant figure as he sucked in a huge gasp of air, coughing as water slapped him in the face. He saw it then, as he focused, and remembered. Tall gangly, thin and almost transparent, the evil alien his mortal enemy. The Gorgano had come across Citun, alone. The images of death and drowning filled his thoughts overpowering the warrior. He was unable to refuse the urge to enter the water. The Zargonnii fought with brute strength, mind-battling was beyond their capability.

Citun was going under again. The Gorgano would kill him. The all-powerful warrior was helpless. A movement caught his eye and hope surged for a second and he battled anew. There was a human female hiding, watching him. But only him. Citun hoped the little female discovered the Gorgano first. Otherwise, she would have no chance, and Citun was out of time. Slowly he began to sink, every limb went limp; the Gorgano was done playing with him. The ocean turned into a coffin of a thick inky substance. This time, Citun had no will to resurface. His body shut down.

* * * *

The strange alien was struggling in the quiet pond. Storm could feel the tug of the frown arching her eyebrows in confusion while she crouched hidden, her knees buried in the sand with her weight. She was surrounded in foliage. The water wasn’t over his head, from the looks of him, it, the being was at least seven feet tall. Storm didn’t understand his actions. Sodden, gasping, choking. Black claws ripped the water; if the substance were concrete it would be dust. Red eyes blazed causing patches of water to sizzle and bubble, though briefly. Sodden white hair billowed eerily even when submerged, droplets of water sprayed in all directions. The poor beast was thrashing as though it was at death’s door, but only a few feet from the bank, mere strokes from the beach.

Why doesn’t he just climb out?

The being went under as his body flayed helplessly. A Mad Hatter dance to the naked eye. Storm knew ever since she entered into this universe, venturing from Earth in a crazy shuttle ride, nothing was as it seemed. She wondered if whatever he was, its kind was, hated water. If he didn’t come up soon, he would drown, that scenario was as plain as day. So had been the panic on his face. The water was crystal clear. She could see the massive creature twisting and turning—dying. It was apparent it took a breath then realized the grave mistake as it jerked.

Come up, come up, Storm whispered aloud.

It stopped moving. The odd red light bathing the wet sand beneath it was dulling, until fading altogether. The beast lay on the pond floor; its battle was over, the water victorious. Strands of its hair hallowed him becoming white seaweed. Storm struggled with her thoughts. There was no danger in getting a closer look she surmised. Storm began to creep from the foliage, her moccasins making no sound on the cream colored sand, until she noted the gangly creature ahead in the clearing. With a bird’s eye view of the drowning alien, evil watched. A Gorgano. Storm knew what this loathsome being was. It was why she hesitated to help the dying alien in the pond. This creature, the Gorgano, and Tonans were deadly, as were a few other aliens she avoided. The flailing, water-logged, creature could be worse than the ugly menace to her left. Then again, if they were enemies…

Storm saw the Gorgano shift its hand. Realization filled her. The creature in the pond wasn’t smart enough to save itself. The Gorgano was toying with it. The Gorgano loved to mind torture. The alien glorified in the suffering of others. Filled with rage at the Gorgano and pity for the hapless creature, Storm concentrated on the Gorgano. The being spun, she sensed its surprise and fear, but it was too late. Storm annihilated its mind with her own. Vivid images of Earth’s destruction boiled and melted the Gorgano’s eyes into literal puddles, oozing down its gaunt cheeks. The ugly alien fell but before it hit the ground, it disappeared.

Glancing up toward the sky, Storm saw a large black object moving off. Heart pounding, her gaze spun left then right, anticipating an attack. Where there was one nasty prick alien, there was sure to be another. Evil never traveled alone. She breathed a sigh of relief when nothing occurred. For a second, she stared into the quiet pond. The alien might be dead already, drowned. If it wasn’t, it might drown her. Help, stay, help, stay. Never one to sit on the sidelines and watch something in distress, Storm jumped into the water.

With a few short strokes, she reached where the alien went down, took a breath and dove under. Getting her arms under the huge alien wasn’t hard. Bracing her feet, it took some effort to take them both to the surface. She gritted her teeth as her legs kicked. The alien was tall enough for its feet to reach the bottom of the pond while keeping its head above water, if he were conscious, but Storm wasn’t tall enough. He was dead weight; it was good he was buoyant. She grabbed a handful of white hair and lifted the beast’s head above the water, and it was a beast. White fur covered its chest. Long white hair billowed.

Holy heck, Fido, you weigh a ton. She gasped as she tried to drag him to shore.

Under she went with her effort and came up gasping. The alien slipped under the water. Storm yanked him back to the surface. She couldn’t keep both their heads above water while moving. Storm started swimming. Her hand tangled in the mass of floating white hair, she dragged her way forward until her feet hit bottom.

Good Lord, she said and groaned.

Her mouth clamped shut when she sucked in water. Storm turned and pulled under the creature’s arms, its head fell back to lie awkwardly across her bent elbow, eyes closed. Growling, groaning, gasping, Storm was to her waist in the pond. The creature’s ass hit bottom. She tugged and pulled making no headway.

Bloody hell, you weigh a ton and a half, she grouched, then rolled her eyes when she realized her foot was stepping on its long hair, trapping them. Sorry. She shifted her weight to avoid the wayward strands. Closer, now to her calves, Storm fell back, landing with a splash, the alien half in her lap. Two frickin’ tons, for the love of God.

She struggled out from under it, clutching her arms around his chest from behind the best she could. The creature wore no shirt. She grabbed two handfuls of fur and yanked. The fur came out in her fingers as she fell back, and she stared at the clumps for a second before shaking her hands out and grabbed at him as he began to float away.

Sorry.

She grabbed his fur again, yank, freed more fur, muttered sorry, yank, yank, more fur, muttered sorry. He’s going to be bald, poor creature. Finally she had his upper torso out of the water and on shore. Storm dropped to her knees and lay back for a second and groaned. Bending at the elbows Storm sat up and cocked her head at the creature.

It lay there not moving. The beast was furry as hell in some places, no fur in others. It appeared somewhat humanoid. A whole lot not. It also seemed a whole lot dead. Storm struggled to right herself, exhausted didn’t begin to describe how she felt. The creature had a kind of normal face, strong features, one long eyebrow running across its forehead down the sides of its face to its shoulders. It didn’t appear to be breathing. She couldn’t let it lay there and try nothing after going out of her way to pull it from the pond. Storm scrunched her nose determining her next course of action. She pinched its nose and placed her other hand under his neck, tilting its jaw.

Ew, ew, she muttered before her mouth closed over the being’s.

The rise and fall of his chest was noticeable. She could see the outline of an immense cock under black pants tapering to oblong colossal black boots when she tilted her head to the side to see the expansion and drop of his torso. She leaned down to blow into his mouth again, then sat back to stare at him.

Poor thing, you must be so cold, Storm said.

The being’s lips were blue. She cupped his face trying to warm him and blew onto his lips, her warm breath wafted back to her. She blew into his mouth again making sure there was a tight seal. Every ounce of her breath expelled into him. Turning she looked to see if his chest was rising as she gasped in air. It took a lot to expand his chest and for a moment she was lightheaded. Her body was hunched over him, she wasn’t certain how to do chest compressions but felt it might be time to try, if she could locate the end of his breastbone. When she looked back to blow into his mouth again, she shrieked when two piercing red eyes gazed up at her. His body lurched and he coughed up water.

Storm jumped back and crawled, crab style, then cried out when the creature rolled to its side, spit more water, and grabbed her ankle dragging her toward it. It growled at her and Storm sucked in her breath when she noted the very large jagged teeth. If it was hungry, she’d be ripped to shreds. The beast rose to a sitting position as it drew her closer.

Let go. Bad boy. Bad, Storm shouted, swatting at him.

Trying to pry his fingers free was useless. He