Episode Fifty Robbery and… Abduction?

N adira

How can things change so quickly? One moment every inch of my body is bursting with arousal in my starflyer's, the next my heart almost stops beating in my chest.

When I turn to see who the voice belongs to, another masculine voice says, "Ah! Didn't my mate just say ‘don't move'?"

Who are they? I mouth to Thallose.

"Centaur and elf," he whispers back.

"My arrow is pointing at the female," the first male says. "No talking unless I ask you a question. No moving for any reason. Let's see what we've got here."

My eyes dart to the spot under Thallose's wing where I left the laser pistol. He nods almost imperceptibly.

Knowing it's there and being able to reach and quickly fire it are two different things, though.

"What are you looking for? Trinkets? Trading goods?" One of them says to the other. "The most valuable thing we're going to find is the female sitting on that starflyer's cock."

Me! They're going to take me? I'm not going without a fight. I spent too many years with males I didn't want to be with. That will never happen again.

"Let's see you," one of them says as two hands reach under my arms, pull me to my feet, and then release me as the male steps back. Only now am I in a position to see the pair.

Thallose was correct. There is a centaur not five feet away from me. As opposed to Thallose's two hooves, this male has four. He's all black except his ass is spotted white and his hair and tail are black. His face is human, but the expression on it is so full of menace it's hard to pay attention to anything else. His bowstring is taut, an arrow pointed at my heart.

I guess you could call the other male an elf. That's what Thallose called him. He's as tall as Azael, but has a wiry build and flowing white hair along with pointed elven ears. He was the one who pulled me to my feet, but now his bow is pointed at my mate.

Although I didn't consider Thallose my mate an hour ago and wouldn't have been too invested in his safety, I am now.

For a brief moment, I consider going with these two thieves to keep the starflyer safe. That's not going to happen.

"Take what you want," I seethe, looking first one, then the other in the eye. "Then get out of our camp."

I wasn't expecting the laughter that bursts from the centaur's mouth.

"Human's got fire. Mayhap she doesn't realize our bowstrings are pulled tight and mine is aimed at her heart."

"I suggest you drop your weapons before one of you does something stupid. If you harm either of us, I'll find you and make you pay. If I don't succeed, my other mates will enjoy hunting you down. I happen to be mated to three of the finest males in all of Down Below, and you will keep your hands off me," I say. "Take what you want, since you obviously have no morals, then leave the two of us alone."

Out of the four of us in this little clearing, I'm certain I'm the most surprised of all at the words that just blurted from my mouth. Until a few weeks ago, I had never spoken back to anyone in my life, and that was to males who were often old, frail, and unarmed. I certainly never ordered around an armed centaur while not one but two drawn arrows could slice through me in a heartbeat.

The centaur laughs again, lowers his bow, then steps closer, his hooves clopping on the soft soil. Reaching out, he grips my chin and turns me right and left as he examines me.

"Pretty human. Mated to three, huh? Is this part of the new treaty I've heard about?"

I bat his heavy hand away and raise my chin defiantly. "Mated to the head of the monks himself, Azael. And the orc chief, Dhar. They've raised an army. If you hurt me or the starflyer, they will hunt you down, find you, and kill you slowly." As an afterthought, I add, "After they cut your balls off and stuff them in your mouth to gag you." It takes effort, but I look him straight in the eye as I make that threat.

He laughs again, but it doesn't sound as wholehearted this time.

"Truth?" the elf asks Thallose.

"Yes. And many avians answer to me. They'll go to the ends of the Earth to find you two."

"Why didn't you say so?" the elf says, his blustering tone all but evaporated. "Could have spared us a tense moment there. I'm Eldar. This is my mate, Zoron. Got any food?"