ERIKAI
A Shadowed Stars book one prequel short story by Steven Koutz
MATURE READERS ONLY
Two human men in ragged cloths were rushing through a dark maze of caves. Their journey had consisted of days and they had grown weary in their travels. Their only light was from handheld sphere like orbs. They had rested their backs against an oddly smooth cave passage wall and slowly slid themselves down to a seated position. They each took a drink from their long bottle canteens, pulled from their bulky satchels. They slowly looked up at the approach of a young and extremely beautiful young human lady. She had long and straight black hair. Her body was well curved and her face looked as beautiful as an angel with brown iris eyes and soft but full lips. Her beauty was even more enhanced with the lovely sounding accent of her voice. She asked if they had the item. One of the men responded, “Yes your Majesty.” She told him that she was not to be called that, as he pulled a lower arm gauntlet from his satchel and presented it to her. The young lady held in both her hands, what the people on the planet of Aklowda referred to as a war arm. She slowly looked it over and seemed to hesitantly put it on her lower right arm. It sealed itself to a tight fit. She slid a switch at the war arm base. The war arm activated with several lit buttons. She tried a few and activated a long dagger blade that snapped out over the back of her hand. She retracted it and then activated the spotlight. She then raised her arm and aimed the weapon and utility device at the opposite cave wall. With another button, the war arm fired a heavy blast of pulsating energy.
The young and beautiful woman had a porcelain like beauty yet an underlying toughness as she looked at two other human men now entering the cave passage with a gravely wounded woman. The lady rushed to her as she was gently placed on the cave floor. The woman grasped the non-war arm wielding arm of the young lady. The woman was also beautiful and had even longer black hair. She looked up at the lady pulling a tube of healing salve from the war arm and checking the woman’s life readings with the war arm scanner. The woman pleaded with the lady to let her pass. She understood that she was at her end of life. She pleaded with her last words, “My daughter your life has only begun. King Forris has been slain and your long-hidden state must end. Your brother has learned of your existence but so has Queen Ararra. Your birthright is upon you.” The woman’s double hand grip of her daughter’s arm collapsed.
One of the men said, “Your mother Andrea, the rightful queen of the Kylde Kingdom will be avenged. You will be seated in the throne that now belongs to you if it takes our dying breaths.” The young woman seemed to sigh at the remark and its overwhelming responsibility. She stated that she did not wish for her throne and her brother could have it. She only wanted to rip Queen Ararra from it. The throne had long ago been stolen by Ararra and her drugged manipulation of her father, King Forris. It had only been recently that the now, Queen Ararra had learned of her existence. The rumblings of that knowledge had also run through much of the underworld caves and stone palace carved into the canyon wall above ground. These caves that she had called home for so long were a great distance from the known cave underground realm of her younger brother she had never known. Prince Slade had been battling their mother’s siege of the throne for an exceptionally long time and he would soon find out that he was no longer alone. He too had learned of her existence and been rumored to have been looking for her for some time. She was about to reveal herself to all Aklowda.
Queen Ararra was in the middle of an intense sexual session with her firstborn son, Prince Orin. She finished riding him fast and hard. They now switched positions for him to take her from behind when the door opened from a human female attendant. She revealed that Prince Slade was reported to have located the caves where the first heir was in hiding. The news soured the moment. She told her son Orin to get dressed and then summoned for Captain Sisk.
They were all human and in top physical form. Prince Orin had curly dark blond hair and dreamy blue eyes that appeared as deep blue as an ocean. He also had a strong physique and was fawned after by many of the palace female denizens. Queen Ararra was a stunning specimen of sexual desire. Her body was firm and her breasts seemed too large to be supported by the tight and thin structure of her frame. Her dark brown eyes and long wavy black hair only enhanced her beauty. Her beauty and sexual prowess both seemed to defy aging. Her sexual appetite was one of extreme hunger. She had long ago manipulated her way to be seated as queen. With the young Queen Andrea’s mysterious disappearance, Ararra had filled the void felt in the heart of King Forris. She had used chemicals to keep him off balance and some say potions to keep him wanting her despite her many well-known sexual discretions and power schemes behind his back. King Forris was once a good and strong king but everyone knew once Ararra had become queen, who truly ruled the Kylde Kingdom.
Captain Sisk entered the queen’s chambers as his son Prince Orin had finished dressing and been in deliverance of one last passionate kiss to Queen Ararra. She was now donned in her famous thin veil gown that revealed everything under it. She dismissed their son and questioned the look of disapproval on the face of Captain Sisk with a comment of how she had hoped it was not so. Captain Sisk did fully disapprove of many of her sexual interactions with his soldiers and their son but her power had forced him to choke those concerns down. A power he had helped her greatly to attain. He was donned in the yellow and green armor of the Gomen Satys. An ancient sect of warriors devoted to the Kylde Kingdom and now the queen herself by sworn oath. Their armor was a living armor that functioned as a second skin and allowed communication through sensing with others that donned the armor. He held the Gomen Satys helmet under his left arm. It had large white eye lenses and an anvil shaped beard of fur at its chin. It also had backward curled horns that resembled a ram on Earth. His only attire different from his soldiers was the red sash and cape he wore to distinguish his rank. Queen Ararra had asked him if the body of King Forris had been properly disposed of after she had finally poisoned him. Captain Sisk admitted that he had done as she had asked. She then asked, “And Andrea? Has she been effectively removed from my Iron Reign?” He swallowed before responding that she had been aided in an escape but that her wounds would not be healed.
Queen Ararra only smiled in response. She then stated that she was concerned about rumors that her defiant son, Slade may have found his long hidden elder sister. She did not allow him to respond and ordered him to take their son and the Gomen Satys and end this all at once. She added, “I want Slade’s claim of Prince ended and his underground supporters feel their last hopes swept from them and I want the bitch child of Andrea eliminated before she becomes a real threat. No, scratch that last part. I believe she will be better suited to be a sex slave to our son and your troops. Do you agree?” Captain Sisk had no real decision to disagree and nodded in approval as he left a smiling queen behind him. Queen Ararra looked to young petite female attendant. She stated that her men were off doing her bidding and she was still craving sex. She grasped the chin of her attendant and delivered a strong and heavy in passion kiss. Her lips had started what her tongue would enhance. She ordered her attendant to disrobe and lay in her bed.
It had been a matter of days. Captain Sisk, Prince Orin and six fully armored Gomen Satys soldiers had travelled to a distant location and breached the underground. They had entered a wide cave and prepared for Prince Slade’s arrival.
Prince Slade was young and fit. He wore the same two shades of green armor as his soldiers, with an added long and black cape. They were all armed with their traditional war arms. As they passed through dark and narrow passages with their war arm spotlights as their only source of guidance, Prince Slade called up a soldier by the name of Kall. He asked what they might find ahead. Kall looked confused and a bit guilt ridden. He asked if Prince Slade would like him to scout ahead. Prince Slade responded, “I would like that very much.” As Kall went ahead of the party, Prince Slade called for all the soldiers with him to expect a trap.
These caves had been largely unexplored but Prince Slade was not a fool and knew that they were not empty. Prince Slade received Kall’s all clear report from the comm on his war arm. He ordered his soldiers to charge their war arms. They proceeded ahead into a larger more open cave. It seemed to be of no surprise that they were immediately attacked with streams of electricity and purple flames from behind many large boulders. The attack was coming from the weapons of the Gomen Satys. They were swords split with parallel blades to engage their firing actions. Prince Slade called them, stingrippers. Prince Slade and his soldiers responded with pulsating energy blasts shot furiously from their war arms. They had their assailants greatly outnumbered but the Gomen Satys was a brutal fighting force and their metal wings engaged from the backs of their armor had provided them with the ever-valuable element of air superiority. They had leapt from ledges above and soared downward while firing their streams of electricity and purple flames. Once landed on the cave floor they retracted their metal wings inward and began to swing their double-bladed weapons with unmatched rage.
Prince Slade had fought his way through with the most aggression. He met his elder brother, Prince Orin, armed with a blaster pistol. Prince Slade advanced by dodging each blaster bolt with super agility and reflexes. Prince Orin drew a stingripper from the sheath on his belt but had no time to separate the blades or fire the range capabilities. He was forced to swing his sword as a single blade and displayed his lack of battle skills. Three wild swings were all dodged by Prince Slade, who had activated his war arm snap dagger blade on the last of his brother’s most pathetic swings. The war arm dagger was thrusted deeply into Prince Orin’s throat. Prince Slade drove it deeper and then slashed it out with a sideward motion.
His brother with severe bleeding from his throat and his head barely hanging anymore from his neck, somehow remained barely conscious as he used his arms to cling to Prince Slade’s shoulders. They looked at each other one more time, eye to eye and then Prince Slade ended it with another downward stab of his war arm blade through Prince Orin’s chest.
Prince Orin’s body fell to the ground and Prince Slade turned to the angered scream from behind him. He turned to face Captain Sisk. Prince Slade asked him how he could still care after Ararra and Orin had so degraded him over the years. Captain Sisk stated that despite his feelings of disgust, Orin was still his son. Prince Slade then responded, “Despite your duty to protect the king, he was still my father.”
Kall approached Prince Slade’s side with his war arm charged and aimed at Captain Sisk. As he and Prince Slade looked around, they found the six Gomen Satys soldiers had taken down the eleven soldiers that Prince Slade had come to battle with. All he had left was Kall. He then disengaged his war arm and spoke, “I think its pointless Kall for this charade to continue.” Kall responded with a shift of body movement and now aimed his fully charged war arm at Prince Slade. He asked Captain Sisk for orders.
Suddenly Captain Sisk was gunned down heavily by at a pulsating energy blast that pierced his armor and was followed by several blaster bolts. Everyone’s attention was now on the war arm wielding woman and twenty human men and women that followed her. The Gomen Satys soldiers were defiant but could not combat the numbers. Their armor had been severely weakened by Prince Slade’s soldiers before their fall. The Gomen Satys soldiers dropped quickly.
Kall had ran away like a coward in all the chaos. He was caught by a snare line and hook shot from the woman’s war arm. She retracted it as she walked toward Prince Slade with Kall’s body ensnared and dragging behind her stride. She asked what Prince Slade intended for his traitor. He charged and fired a pulsating energy blast that decimated Kall’s head. He then turned to her and mentioned that he had more traitors. Her forces assembled behind her and the woman stated that she could train those loyal to him and together they could weed out the traitors. She followed with a statement, “It is time to turn this tide of war against our mother and put the bitch in her grave.” Prince Slade smiled and responded, “You must be my sister, Erikai. I am incredibly pleased to finally meet you.” She stated firmly to him that she did in no way seek the throne. She added, “you can have the throne and unite our people. I will lead your army to provide you that chance.” Prince Slade added that there was more to worry about than just dethroning their mother. Erikai admitted to knowing about their concealment with the shield stone on this planet to hide them from the Ubides discovering them. Prince Slade added, “We also have Derths and underground radar has picked up approaching diamond shaped starfighters of an unknown affiliation that will be in our orbit in a matter of days and we can only hope they will be our allies.” Brother and sister embraced tightly for the first time.
The End
Discover their future in Shadowed Stars book one
