Warlord’s Bounty, the second story in the Chamele Barbarian Warlords series, will be releasing on May 14th.
I’m sharing the first chapter.
You can read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6815
Today, I’m sharing the second scene.
***
Khan tossed the private viewscreen on the console.
“How many were on board the fighter?” He asked his Head of Communications. “And did they have mates?”
Chameles bonded for life. When one mate’s lifespan ended, the other mate died within planet rotations, their hearts unable to tolerate the separation. He’d met only one exception to that reality.
His Head of Communications swallowed hard. “The three warriors were the fighter’s full crew, my lord. Two of them were mated. One had a little girl.”
Three warriors had died, two mates would soon die, and a child would be orphaned. The tension in Khan’s form increased.
“Provide for them.” He stood. It irked him that he didn’t have to specify how to provide for the mates, for the child. Too many warriors had been lost over the solar cycles. “I will be in my private working chambers.”
He stalked toward the doors to that space, his tread silent as it always was.
Warriors stepped out of his way, bowing their heads respectfully.
Khan wasn’t a stranger to losses in battle or the trickery of enemies. The Succession Wars had been long and bloody and defined by betrayal.
His parents had been older when they had miraculously conceived three heirs in three consecutive solar cycles. Berke, his older brother, hadn’t yet reached the official ruling transition age at the time of their deaths.
Aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends, sensing opportunity, had vied for the role of Warlord, a role that rightfully belonged to Berke. Inhabitants of the sector chose sides. Either they pledged loyalty to Khan’s older brother or they were deemed to be the enemy.
He entered his working chambers. The massive viewscreen on the far wall displayed an image of the solar system, the four Chamele planets orbiting around a single sun. The other vertical surfaces were decorated with swords, battle-axes, lances, daggers, and various bladed weapons. All of them were functional.
Khan wanted to use them against Tolui.
He had wielded them against many of his relatives and friends. Being the best fighter in the system, he had faced the would-be usurpers in battle, had been forced to end the lifespans of beings he had once cared for and respected. In the heat of combat, it had been kill or be killed.
After those battles were won, the survivors were given the option to swear fealty to Berke or be executed. Khan had learned early on that there were no other options.
Incarcerating the enemy gave the other rebels beings to rally around. Freeing them meant fighting them again in a future battle.
They made their choice. He delivered the consequences, spilling the blood of many beings to earn Berke his place.
His older brother had deemed to share the responsibility of Warlord, saving the ice planet of Chamele 1 for himself, giving Chamele 3 to their younger brother Murad to rule, and granting Khan Chamele 2, the greenest, lushest planet. The hunting planet of Chamele 4 was governed by the three of them.
Only one threat to their rule remained—Tolui and his followers. Once the rogue Chamele was eliminated, there would be peace in the sector.
Peace didn’t appeal to Khan. He was a warrior, enjoyed fighting, didn’t look forward to long stretches of boring tranquility, the endless planet rotations of administration that were associated with ruling.
But boredom was preferable to the grief and anger and frustration currently swirling inside him.
And he did want to end Tolui’s lifespan. The male was a pain in his ass, had been wreaking havoc, making a mockery of his protection.
Khan opened communications with his brothers.
“Are you trying to outscowl Berke?” Murad was the first to respond, his grinning face appearing on the viewscreen. “I wager you don’t succeed.”
“I received another message from that tricky Son of a Gechii, Tolui.” Khan didn’t have the time or patience for his brother’s teasing. He sent the male their enemy’s communication.
Murad’s grin wavered. “I doubt the message is traceable. The male covers his tracks well. But I’ll see what I can do.”
Khan grunted, his irritation with the situation and with Tolui escalating. He wanted to kill the male but they had to find him first.
“You didn’t respond to him, did you?” Murad asked a question he should have already known the answer to.
“Words were a poor substitute for my fists.” Khan cracked his knuckles, wishing he could crack the enemy’s skull as easily.
“Which means you did respond.” His younger brother sighed. “I’ll ensure he doesn’t hack into your systems.”
Khan didn’t care about his systems. His warriors were being targeted, killed. That was a bigger priority for him.
Berke remotely joined them. There was a permanent frown on his stark countenance. “This isn’t our scheduled transmission.”
“Blast our scheduled transmission.” Khan’s anger flared once again. “Tolui downed one of my fighters, killing three of my warriors. Two were mated. One had a young daughter.”
Murad winced. Berke’s eyes cooled to ice.
“We have to find the slippery ass. Now.” Khan tilted his body toward them. “And we have to stop him. Permanently.”
“How do we find him?” Murad stated the problem none of them had the solution for. “We still have very little information about him. No one claims to know him or any of his followers. It is like he was manufactured out of the air.”
“That’s unee shit and you know it.” Khan’s claws pricked at his skin, his urge to fight, to kill, almost overwhelming his restraint. “He’s a Chamele.”
Witnesses had seen him at a distance. Tolui had the long black hair, golden skin, height, and the muscular build of their kind. And he dressed like them, wearing boots and an ass covering consisting of a band of leather around the waist and more strips of leather hanging to his knees.
“Someone has to know him.” Khan’s body vibrated with anger. “Not sharing that information is akin to betrayal.”
That he couldn’t identify who was betraying them infuriated him. It put everyone he cared about in danger.
Three loyal warriors had died this planet rotation, the lifespans of five beings in total had ended. His mother and father were dead.
He would not lose any more warriors, would not lose his brothers.
“Chameles have been torn apart by these wars.” Berke’s voice was flat. “It will take solar cycles to earn everyone’s trust.”
“Either beings are loyal or they’re the enemy.” Khan balled his fingers into huge fists. “There’s no other status.”
“Not every situation is either right or wrong.” His older brother shook his head. “Life isn’t that simple.”
It was for him. Khan jutted his jaw.
“Tolui wants to negotiate.” Murad put the male’s latest message on their viewscreens. “We could meet with him. We might uncover information we could use to locate him.”
“We don’t negotiate with the enemy.” They had tried that in the past, only to be ambushed, barely escaping with their lifespans. “And Tolui is the enemy. That is simple.” Khan’s gaze slid to Berke. “He killed my warriors.”
“I agree with you.” His older brother surprised him with that declaration. “Negotiating would serve no purpose. Tolui will be prepared. He won’t allow anything to slip during the meeting and it could put us all at risk.”
Silence stretched.
Khan paced around the perimeter of the chamber, unable to remain still, needing to do something, anything. His warriors were dying.
“I’ve been looking for patterns regarding the locations.” Murad, the more analytic, data-focused of the three of them, broke the quiet. “I haven’t seen any logic to it. The attacks have been evenly distributed between all three planets, throughout all regions. There’s no way to predict where he will strike next.”
Read the next installment (Available April 29th): http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6825
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Warlord’s Bounty
Wanted: One Barbarian Warrior.
The bigger the bounty, the more dangerous the target.
Khan, a Chamele Warlord, has a huge bounty on his head. His enemy wants him captured and is offering any being in the universe an outrageous number of credits to accomplish that.
Khan wants to be captured, but only if the being apprehending him is a tiny, brown-eyed female with wickedly sharp daggers and an even sharper tongue. His passion for the feisty human can’t be inhibited by restraints. He’ll allow her to subdue him…in a variety of enticing ways.
When she finally collects her credits, he’ll collect his revenge, killing his enemy and claiming his little bounty hunter forever.
Zeta doesn’t do forever. After a lifespan of chasing dangerous beings across galaxies, apprehending and trading them for credits, she doesn’t get involved emotionally…with anyone.
Khan might be fierce and sexy and the most dominant male she has ever encountered, but the barbarian is also her target, and once she sates herself with his body, she’ll betray him.
That’s her job.
* * *
Warlord’s Bounty is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
(If you already have the shorter story, please contact me.)
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes violent universe.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PN8ZKK1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PN8ZKK1
Apple/iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/warlords-bounty/id1456156354
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1113984150
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-bounty-1
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/928431
