Warlord’s Mercy, the fifth standalone story in the Chamele Barbarian Warlords series, is releasing on June 16th.
You can read the first scene from the first chapter here:
This week I’m sharing the third scene of that first chapter.
***
Lea reached the edge of the boulder field, peered out of the natural coverage, looked straight ahead, to her right, to her left.
“It’s only a short distance.” Dips and crests of shifting sand stretched in front of her, land waves that would limit a being’s view. “Once you climb over that first dune, you’ll be safe.”
But there was always a risk of being spotted.
“You can do this.” She took a deep breath and sprinted, leaning over, staying low to the ground. Granules of sand pelted her boots and ass coverings. The sun scorched the top of her head.
No one called out an alarm. No beings ran after her.
She reached the peak of the first dune and descended. “You’re safe.” She exhaled heavily. “Keep going.” She climbed the next dune, trudged down it, giving herself verbal encouragement as she moved.
The mounds of sand gradually flattened.
“Some beings on the ship complained Chamele 4 was merely sand, sand, and more sand.” They clearly hadn’t completed any research before they’d agree to relocate. “I don’t know what they were talking about. There’s plenty of variety.”
There was the boulder field by the market, the dunes, the flat lands, and the Khatagtai Mountains where she lived.
Her gaze lifted to them. “The mountains are the prettiest.” They stood like giant sentinels, guarding her home.
The hum of a ship’s engine broke the silence.
“What is that?” Lea stopped and scanned the sky above her. “It doesn’t belong to Daisun or his brutes.”
They flew pieced-together sand skimmers. Their vessels were as ill-kempt as they were.
“This ship sounds…new. Thank the stars.” Excitement filled her. “I might be able to bargain with the pilot. I’ll offer her or him some of my best garments. She or he will agree to transport me somewhere else. I won’t need a power converter.”
The drone of the engines became a roar surprisingly quickly. Lea tilted her head back as a small vessel shot across the sky.
“Oh shit.” Dread replaced her exhilaration. “That ship is flying too fast and too low.”
The artificial wind it created whipped strands of her hair against her face.
“It won’t clear the nearest mountain.” A tremor rolled down her spine. Unless the pilot increased the ship’s elevation quickly, it would crash into the base of that unrelenting land formation.
If the crew survived that impact, they would be facing rock vultures, ukhels, and other dangerous creatures. The occupants of the vessel might be unaccustomed to the heat and the sun, could be suffering from injuries.
And they would be targets…as she, her father, Flor, and the rest of the beings on her ship had been. “Fuck. Daisun and his brutes could reach them first.”
The Palavian would order the slaughter of the males, the enslavement of the females.
“I can’t let that happen. Not again.” She sprinted, following the ship. Her boots skimmed the sand. Her arms pumped. She had to protect the beings, warn them.
Lea had been unable to save her father and her friend, but she could save the newcomers.
Spires of rock jabbed skyward. She dashed around them. The rock towers extended upward more and more, looming over her. The ship had avoided those. Hope blossomed inside her. They might clear the—
A boom echoed across the arid landscape, and her optimism shattered, crashing as the vessel must have done. A huge plume of red dust rose before her.
“Any being in the vicinity will see that cloud.” She moved faster, determined to be the first being to arrive at the wreckage. If the crew remained alive, she would ensure they stayed that way.
Lea passed a porthole half buried in the ground. Its surface was fractured with cracks.
She rounded the base of a spire, jumped over a piece of twisted metal sticking out of the sand. More and more fragments of what she suspected was the ship obstructed her progress.
Her nostrils twitched. The scent of spilled fuel clung to the air.
Judging by the debris around her, she doubted she’d have anyone to save. It would take a miracle to have survived the crash, and she had stopped believing in those four solar cycles ago.
While she maintained her harsh pace, she indulged her sadness, grieving over the deaths of the unknown crew for one, two heartbeats.
Then she pushed those emotions away. She had to do that. Life on Chamele 4 was brutally hard. If she wished to stay alive, she had to focus on the dangers around her, and what she needed to do and to obtain in order to escape her current situation.
That included a working power converter. The ship might have one.
As she approached the crash site, her body responded in the most peculiar way—her nipples tightening and her pussy growing wet. She rubbed her leather-clad thighs together. It was as though…
She was aroused.
By the destruction of a ship. Her face heated. Stars. She had to venture somewhere where there was a safe community of beings. The solitude was impacting her brain.
She rounded a bend and skidded to a stop. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Her ability to speak returned. That hadn’t been a ship she’d seen. “It’s an escape pod.”
***
Read the next scene (available June 8th) here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=7122
***
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Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.
That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.
After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.
He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.
Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
* * *
Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.
Book 1: Warlord Sky
Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty
Book 3: Warlord Unarmed
Book 4: Warlord Reunited
Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy
Book 6: Warlord’s Return
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlords-mercy-cynthia-sax/1116524052
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-mercy-1
SmashWords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1020349