Amaryah's Awakening

Chapter Thirty Two

Seethkar, First Quarter, Andromeda Galaxy.

Zogan

Zogan paused. Something wasn't right. Just then an object flew toward him, his hand whipped up to catch it. He looked down at the glowing ball in his hands, its pulsing light growing faster as he held it. He cursed and flung it away. An explosion rocked the room from the direction it had disappeared into. The group immediately took up a defensive formation. Yellow lights flicked on above them and Zogan scanned the figures surrounding them. They were severely outnumbered. A trap. It had been a trap.

His stomach churned as he saw the figure advancing before them. The Ajal elder. He stalked forward, long clawed nails tapping on the floor with each footstep. His brown chitin was lined with bone nodules on his legs while on his arms they'd grown out, looking like spears that jutted from his person. The bone growths lined up his arms and extended onto his shoulders. He wore the traditional wear of the Ajal, an armored skirt held in place by a thick belt. In its center a beast with a long-exposed tongue was carved into the large buckle.

The elder's ugly face held a grimace, Zogan supposed it was supposed to show his feeling of triumph. His face was like that of a skeleton, sunken and hard with four thick horns reaching out horizontally to frame his head. His eyes were black save for two tiny yellow pupils held in each that glowed at him, four in all. His lips so withered that they were nonexistent were raised over his fangs, some had been chipped away from his numerous battles. His cheek bones rose from his face in sharp angles. This was the first time Zogan beheld him in person, his father had told him tales of his numerous battles with this evil overlord. Dread formed a cold ball in his stomach as he realized, they'd been intercepted not just by under ranked enemies but by him, their leader, which meant that they'd been expected.

"A welcome gift."

He spread his arms before him indicating the bomb he'd thrown. Zogan stared at him blankly. He did not want to engage in any conversation with the elder, it was said he could do terrible things with that mind of his. Zogan's thoughts raced, they had to find a way out of here. The elder stalked closer, a few feet before Zogan.

"Nothing to say?" his mouth twisted to the side, "You came all this way and have nothing to say to me? What a terrible guest."

"Kneel." his voice lashed out.

Azazel, Ravanna, Aishmi -the Nvit female and Samil, another of his warriors fell to their knees. Zogan, Mara, Nezerra and Mya remained standing. The former all having strong mental shields put in place for exact moments like these, while Mya's gift protected her from the lick of power the elder had used. Zogan's hearts sank, Mya, this would draw attention to her. Fear bloomed in his chest as the elder cocked his head, eyes fixed on her now.

"You know why we are here." he said trying to draw attention away from her. "You've caused enough pain to the entire Andromeda galaxy."

The elder flicked his eyes between the two of them, eerie pupils dancing from Mya to Zogan and back.

"Yes, I know exactly why you're here, the question is do you?" the elder's gaze settled onto Zogan then. His full attention was blood curdling, but Zogan was glad that it was no longer fixed onto his mate.

The words of the elder took some time to settle in Zogan's muddled mind. What did this mean for his team? What did the elder have planned?

A low chuckle dripped from his withered lips, and Zogan inhaled sharply.

That smell.

A female stalked toward them from the group of soldiers at the elder's back, wide hips swaying with the movements. It was meant to be seductive, but Zogan wanted to vomit, he truly should've let Ravanna kill her when he had offered. Aini stepped up beside the elder and smirked. Ravanna jerked from his kneeling position trying to fight against the power that kept him there.