The Shikari - Space Hunter Chronicles #1 - Sample - OUT NOW!

Chapter Four

FORESHADOWING

The planet Tau Ceti, aka Rianus

Tieren fell to his knees with fire cinching his chest. Coughs shredded his lungs and tore up his throat as he expelled the tainted smoke irritating his body. The ritual's purpose was to spark a vision. Each year, he returned to the shaman's tent in the hopes of an epiphany.

This time, he'd received his first one. The gods had finally spoken.

Collapsing onto his back, he stared at the pale-lilac sky, mesmerized by the brown-tinted clouds and relishing the sweet air cooling his singed throat.

The unusual creature in his vision was a female. Her image resurfaced, and her delicate face proclaimed her not of his world. And with her exotic features came this sense of excitement, completion, and dread, all warring with each other to take turns shuddering through his body. He was as hard as the Mountains of Bircier, and his arousal tented the loincloth he wore for the ceremony. He rubbed it in acquiescence and acknowledgment, sighing at the bolt of heated pleasure shooting to both his hearts.

"She is a danger to you more than Rianus." Pengfei released the tent flap and waddled toward Tieren sprawled on the floor. His loincloth fluttered, flashing more of the man than Tieren cared to see. "It is time you had a vision, Tsuna Tieren."

He pinched his lips at the formal address. Inside the tent, he was a man seeking answers. Outside, the full weight of his responsibilities bowed his shoulders. "A moment of freedom, Pengfei, that is all I ask for."

Pengfei furrowed his brow. "That is something you can never have unless this female chooses wisely."

Tieren scowled. "She endangers my brother, Braon, and my home, Rianus. I cannot tolerate either."

"But you must, tsuna, for she brings you peace if you embrace her strangeness."

Tieren leaped to his feet, not willing to discuss his vision.

Pengfei threw his hand skyward in a wild gesture. "She'll fall from the sky and steal your brother during his Trial of Tolend. This is a serious matter, and one we need to prevent."

Tieren grunted and whipped off his loincloth to tug on his loose breeches they called dowo. "Two lunars need to pass before Braon embarks on his Trial. I will attend to my tasks this day, but visit me within a lunar."

Pengfei's pursed lips implied his impatience.

Tieren ignored him and sauntered down the worn path toward the Pools of Condare where the remainder of his clothing waited. He could fly, but the breeze had reached the rolling purple hills of his realm, whipping his ebony plumage across his back. He raised his face to the sky, enjoying the call to freedom.

He couldn't answer, for a ship awaited him. The distance to the Isles of Eleta was too great for his wings to carry him, and many a Greeven had died in the attempt. A two-day journey by ship but necessary, and with his advisers traveling with him, none of his tasks remained unattended. Soon, he would step aside for Braon to reign.

As the shadow in a sea of white Greevens, he could never rule. Every decision he made was scrutinized. Each move he made was judged or argued over. All because his plumage was a darker hue, harkening to their ancestors and when their home had had two suns.

The female in his vision was a paler brown, that of their oceans and lakes, as if her skin reflected the morning clouds and the rock of Bircier. Her plumage had fallen down her back, swaying with the seductive movement of her hips. Regardless of her mesmerizing brown eyes, she would steal his brother.