As we wait for Warlord Unarmed, the third story in the Chamele Barbarian Warlords series, to release on September 17th, I’m sharing the first chapter.
You can read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6971.
Today, I’m sharing the final scene in the first chapter.
***
The ship they were flying landed. The doors opened. The scent of smoke and fuel assaulted Murad’s nostrils.
The drones flew over the site, relaying images. Panels, engine parts, seats were identifiable…barely. The size and shape were telling.
It had been a ship.
Bots navigated the terrain. There were no signs of undetonated explosives. Tolui and his rogue warriors had blown up the ship and departed.
“Inform me if you spot anything unusual.” Murad told his males as they started walking the site.
Wires snapped and slithered on the ground. He lifted a piece of panel. An unoccupied seat was hidden underneath it.
Murad recognized it, had chosen that style for their new ship. Hopes of finding his two warriors alive dwindled.
“My lord.” One of his males called to him.
All of them moved to the spot. A severed hand lay on the flattened vegetation. There was a deep silver scar on the palm.
Murad recognized it. “Renzong deserves our respect. Collect as much of his body as possible.”
“My lord.” Sartaq had lifted a piece of debris.
Hair covered what appeared to be a head. Murad’s stomach heaved as he crouched beside it.
It was tempting to relay the task of identifying the dead to another warrior. But he couldn’t do that.
The males had been his responsibility, his beings to safeguard.
He carefully unwrapped the long black strands from around the face. Gegeen stared back at him, his eyes wide and unseeing.
Grief gripped Murad, digging its sharp claws into his soul. “You defended our ship with your lifespan, warrior.” His heart ached. “I would have never asked that of you. I can replace the ship. I will never replace you.” His friend had been one of a kind, a male unlike any other. “But I’m not surprised you made that sacrifice. That was the type of warrior you were – brave, fierce, extremely stubborn.”
The males gathered around him guffawed uneasily at his weak attempt at a joke. Gegeen and Renzong would have done the same.
But now they wouldn’t laugh again.
“I’m honored to have fought with you.” Murad straightened, holding the head of his friend. “We will meet again. But not soon.”
That prompted more sorrow-edged laughter from his warriors. Humor had pushed them through the dark times, the times when they believed they were doomed, when all hope had vanished.
This was one of those moments. They had been waging war for so long, had lost so many beings, family, friends, warriors, the combat-hardened, and the innocent.
It seemed endless, and the males watching him, waiting for him to speak, were tired…as he was.
But they were close to peace and they couldn’t give up.
“The being responsible for this isn’t a new enemy.” Murad reminded his warriors. “We know who did this.”
“That bastard Tolui killed Gegeen and Renzong.” Jayaaatu, the youngest warrior on the team, spat on the debris-covered ground.
“Yes, that bastard Tolui killed them.” Murad looked at each warrior, meeting their gazes one by one, absorbing their volatile emotions, allowing them to see his. “I was the being he was targeting with this strike. He thought I was flying the ship.”
The warriors shifted slightly, tightening the protective circle around him, their leader.
“Tolui thinks I’m dead. He believes Chamele 3 no longer has a Warlord.” Murad’s voice rose. “But the enemy is wrong.”
The males nodded, their eyes sparking with fire.
“We have a Warlord and we have the best warriors and the best technology in the sector.” Murad blasted them with words. “It’s time to rid Chamele of our sole remaining enemy. We will honor the memories of Gegeen and Renzong by eradicating that threat. That will be their legacy and we will give that to them.”
The warriors cheered, lifting their swords and daggers high above their heads.
He did the same, raising his sword, a weapon given to him by his father, one of the best Warlords Chamele had ever known.
Murad would be worthy of the role he’d been given. They would kill Tolui, avenge Gegeen and Renzong. The clones would surrender. Peace would engulf the sector.
Then he would retrieve his gerel.
***
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Warlord Unarmed
Protected by the Barbarian Warrior
* * *
Murad, a technology-loving Chamele Warlord, has to track down and eliminate a rogue warrior before that male ends Murad’s reign. Permanently.
When a pieced-together wreck of a ship enters the sector without authorization, Murad assumes it is piloted by an ally of his enemy and decides to blow the battered vessel out of open space.
Then he hears the voice of its sole occupant and his orders and his priorities immediately shift. The captain of the ship is his gerel, the one female he’s genetically compatible with—the light to his darkness, his future, his everything.
He will protect her…even if it costs him his life.
Bounty hunter Gale doesn’t want or need protection. She has entered Chamele space on a rescue mission. A tall, muscular, half-naked barbarian with humor-lit eyes and gentle hands won’t distract her from that purpose, no matter what he tries.
A broken ship and an enemy focused on revenge do interfere with her plans. Gale’s goal changes from saving a friend to saving herself. The only being who can increase her chances of survival is the one Warlord she can’t resist.
Pre-order Now:
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V6LWGT3
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