24. Krogoth

Chapter 24

Krogoth

Rematch

A s I awaken from a long night's slumber, the sight of Pebbles sleeping peacefully beside me brings relief flooding in. It's a bittersweet feeling. Finally, after all this time, I have a female companion I can call my own, and she embodies everything I could wish for—beauty, intelligence, and bravery. Yet, it's only temporary, as I'm committed to returning her to Earth, as promised. I reflect on how blessed I am to have found her. But it wasn't the Gods who brought her to me; it was the great Astraxius who made it possible. A pang of sadness fills my heart as I remember my old friend, hoping he rests well with our ancestors, watching over us.

I throw on my robe and cloak as silently as possible, hoping not to disturb Pebbles' sleep. As I am about to leave the bedroom, I hear her voice, still groggy from sleep.

"Where are you going, Korgy?" she asks with a yawn.

I chuckle at her perceptiveness. "You miss nothing, do you?"

She smiles sleepily at me. "Can't have you sneaking off to visit any brothels again."

I raise an eyebrow in amusement. "Is my tiny Pebbles jealous?"

"You bet I am," she retorts playfully. "No one's stealing my hunk of a man from me."

I frown at her words. "No one's stealing anyone. Soon you'll be free like you wanted."

"But you still stole me," she counters incredulously.

I scratch my head, feeling slightly trapped. "That was different. We are bonded by the Gods… It is only a temporary taking until we return you back to Earth."

"‘Bonded by the Gods,' more like a sweet madness." She smiles, jumping out of the bed. Her naked voluptuous form causes my cock to twitch at the beautiful sight before she sadly tosses on her own modified robes. "Right, so where are we going, Big Guy?" She approaches, standing before me, absurdly small and cute.

"We are going to the training halls," I reply, taking her hand in mine as we move to leave the room.

"Good, I've been hoping for a rematch," she says, bumping me with her shoulder.

It's not long before the sound of a heated discussion reverberates through the corridor. As we get closer, it becomes apparent that it's coming from Xandor and Felixus as Xandor looms over the small Nebian who stands defiantly before him.

"What is going on here?" I demand as I look between the two of them.

"Hail, High Chieftain, and Hail, Rocks," Xander says, saluting. "Did you know that there's a Nu'warian female on board?" he says, clearly excited. "An actual living Nu'warian!"

Felixus interrupts, "This blockhead wants to further traumatize these poor women by ‘introducing himself.' The last thing these women need is this monstrous brute drooling all over them!" He waves his hand, encompassing Xandor.

"This is a Klendathian ship, short stuff. You don't forbid me to do anything!" Xandor glares down at the small Nebian. "You just want them to yourself. That's what this is about?" Xandor accuses, smirking.

"Don't be a bigger blockhead than you already are! I'll stand sentry outside these females' rooms wearing my battlesuit if I have to stop you. You horned up barbarian," Felixus says, puffing out his chest.

"Besides, didn't you see what they did to Tensin? By the void, they tore him apart." Felixus leans in, his voice dropping to a whisper, laden with urgency.

"No more than he deserved," Pebbles chimes in eagerly. "Shame we had to let the spectators and their ‘attendees' go, though."

"True, Rocks, they got off too lightly! But the thing is, I like my females with a bit of a bite. If you know what I mean," Xandor says, smiling, showing his fangs.

"No, I doubt anyone knows what you mean," Felixus interjects, shaking his head. "This is unseemly to discuss in front of a lady." He bows to Pebbles, taking her hand and kissing it. I eye him suspiciously.

"It lightens my heart to see you safe, like the others," Felixus says, looking up at Pebbles.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Felixus, and thank you for helping Krogoth rescue me," Pebbles says sweetly, returning a curt bow to Felixus.

"Stunning victory, lad, beating the Exoenhancer armored champion. I didn't think you had it in you," Felixus says, grinning at me.

"It was thanks to your shield upgrade I could block many of his attacks," I say, nodding in approval.

"Pfft, nonsense, Chieftain, you didn't need that weakling Nebian tech. It was because you moved like him. Like in a blur. How did you do it?" Xandor asks, suddenly interested.

"The thought of dying and leaving Pebbles to such a cruel fate." I nod to Pebbles. "The Rush was incredibly intense. I felt nothing like it," I say, eyes distant, reliving the battle in my mind.

"The Gods have truly cursed me by denying me a bond with an Earth female." Xandor looks down.

I pat him on the back sympathetically.

"The Earth girls can rest easier at least,"Felixus says, laughing.

"All females know their modesty is safe with you around, being too small to perform the deed," Xandor sneers back before quickly regaining his composure. "Chieftain, we recovered our sacred warvisors and other interesting items from Tensin's ship," Xandor finishes, back to his official patter.

"Good. We will return them to the honored catacombs of Nardune. Have Tensin's ship set to follow us. It might prove useful. What interesting items did he have?" I ask.

"Ten million credits, a solid sphere of pure Elerium, some Nebian weapons, a half crushed Exoenhancer suit, courtesy of yourself. And a ton of ornaments and strange items," Xandor finishes, shrugging.

I struggle to contain my excitement. "A solid sphere of pure Elerium? We could stock the entire fleet for decades!"

Xandor chuckles, "Yeah, we did all right with this haul."

Felixus clears his throat. "Lad, I must insist you return any Nebian equipment recovered."

"Those weapons are our spoils of war! Not like we took them in the first place," Xandor protests.

Felixus rubs his chin, considering his response. "You mentioned returning your warvisors as a sacred duty? Well, this is no different for us Nebians. It is our sacred duty to return our technology."

"Very well, Felixus, as a token of our friendship and the beginnings of the friendship between our peoples, I will return them into your care," I say as I offer him a quick bow.

Felixus lets out an audible sigh as he returns a deep bow. "That's a relief, lad. When I report to the Nebian high command, I will let them know of this kind gesture. I'm sure they'll send another ambassador to discuss possible truce terms."

Turning to Xandor, I instruct him, "Have a look through those other items recovered. If Tensin kept it, it's probably worth something to someone."

With a smile, I conclude, "Now if you will excuse us, we have training to do." I continue toward the training halls.

"Enjoy your ‘training'," Xandor calls after us, laughing, lingering on the word training.

"Goodbye, you two," Pebbles says sweetly, following closely beside me.

A little distance away, Pebbles turns, checking over her shoulder before saying, "Is it safe to leave them together?"

"The Nebians and my people have bad blood at the moment. But it's mostly just Xandor joking around with him." I smile at the thought that there may yet be hope for this war ending.

"If you are sure," Pebbles says, still not convinced. "What are you going to do with the rescued girls?" she asks, concern evident in her voice.

I consider her question for a moment before responding. "We are very close to Klendathor now. It is my intention to drop them off before taking you back to Earth. Would this please you?"

Pebbles nods, then takes my arm and clings to it. "It does," she affirms.

I smile, pleased my decision hasn't upset her."Good. From there, we can give them passage to anywhere they wish," I confirm.

We arrive at the training hall door as it whizzes open, revealing an empty room. During campaigns with the ship full of my clan Draxxus warriors, this place would have been a bustling hive of fighters honing their strength and skill. Pebbles runs into the room excitedly, casting her eyes around the room, taking in the unique pieces of equipment.

"Maybe I should start working out again," Pebbles says as she jogs over to one rope to test her strength. She struggles to climb up it and drops back down, panting heavily. "Phew, I'm really out of practice." She quickly picks up a belt from the ground and wraps it around herself. "What's this for?"

"That's a graviton training belt. You need to be very—" I begin, my voice laced with concern, as I jog over to her.

Suddenly, she's forced into a fully prone position with a loud thump. "… careful." I add, my caution coming too late.

"Help, Krogoth, I can't move! What the hell is this thing?" Her words come out mumbled with her head pressed into the floor. "Like elephants are sitting on every part of me." She struggles, shaking with strain, the visible sweat creeping from her pores. She somehow creates a bit of distance before rudely being forced down again.

I rush over to her, reaching under her stomach and turn the graviton training belt off. The familiar buzzing sound of the belt dies away. "Are you alright, my little flat Pebbles?" I ask, offering her a hand up.

She takes my hand as I hoist her up onto her feet easily. "I might need to visit the healing pods after this," she says, brushing the dust off her flustered face, which is now almost the same shade as mine.

"Like I was saying before you nearly squashed yourself, it's a graviton training belt." I pat her backside to help get the dust off her and maybe for other, less honorable reasons. "It multiplies the effects of gravity on the body's muscles to create resistance, without it affecting the organs." I carefully remove the belt from her and inspect it. "This dial here controls the amount of resistance. It is set at ten, which made your body ten times heavier," I explain, pointing to the dial. "If someone had set it any higher, it could have crushed you like a znat bug."

"I think you should put it on and we can have our little rematch," she says, flashing a wicked smile.

I place the belt around my torso and adjust the control dial before activating it. Immediately, I feel the increased weight on my muscle like I'm wearing an impossibly large suit of armor. It's a sharp contrast to my normal weight, but it's not something I'm unaccustomed to - I've had many training sessions climbing ropes and leaping platforms with this added weight, and it has helped build my muscular frame over time.

"I've set it to twenty," I announce, walking to the center of a wrestling circle.

Pebbles follows me to the circle, looking surprised. "Twenty! You're just showing off now," she exclaims, pointing at the belt. I flash her a grin and confirm that it's on.

"You're joking, right?" she asks, stunned.

"No," I reply, laughing at her expression.

"Jeez, what do they feed you on Klendathor? Wait, it's boracks milk, isn't it?" she chuckles, answering her own question.

"Right, ready or not, here I come!" She releases her unbelievably cute battle cry as she charges into me at the center of the ring. The force is as meager as it was before. She wraps her tiny arms around my waist, trying to trip me with her foot placed behind mine like she had done last time. I simply hold on to her so she's pulling against both of us.

She flashes that wicked smile of hers before she quickly reaches for the graviton training belt around my waist. With a quick twist of her wrist, she increases the dial on the belt. The incredible force crushes down on me, and my muscles bulge as the strain increases, causing my teeth to clench and my breathing to become labored. I can feel the blood rushing to my face, making my cheeks flush with heat.

With visible veins popping into my arms, I struggle to maintain my balance as she continues her throwing technique. The room spins around me before the impact with the ground takes my breath away, coupled with the extra force of the belt. I lie on my back, feeling the coarse sandy floor beneath me. Hands straining with all my might, reaching for the dial, I by some means turn the belt off, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, feeling the incredible crushing force being removed.

"That's more like it!" she exclaims, her voice ringing in my ears.

"You are far too sneaky for your own good," I say, my voice strained as I struggle to catch my breath.

"Not sneaky, just learning to think like a Klendathian," she retorts, offering me a hand up.

As she offers an outstretched hand, I pull her towards me. Her tiny body rushes in against mine. I meet her luscious lips with my own, massaging them eagerly, feeling the desire for Pebbles building inside me. I probe her lips with my tongue, happy to feel her opening her beautiful full lips, allowing me access to the soft wetness within. I greedily intertwine our tongues together, relishing the low moans that escape her lips. The feel of her body against mine, the sound of our entwined breaths, and the taste of her on my tongue spurs me on further.

Suddenly, the unwelcome whirring of the door opening echoes in my ears, and I turn my head, fixing a glare on the intruder. "Wait, warrior. You train here, we'll take this someplace else," I say, smiling at Pebbles. "Come on, Pebbles. Let's continue your training somewhere more private." I stand and take her hand.

"Such a task master, this one." She giggles as we pass Logarn, who looks blankly at us.

It's more important I complete Pebbles'… other training soon.