Collapsed World [MxM, Non-Con, Mpreg]

Part 3 [Iris]

While Altair had been a peaceful world before the invasion, it's complete and total domination did not come as easily as the Corvines had anticipated. Just because they were of a peaceful race, did not mean that they were physically or mentally weak. At a glance it seemed obvious that Avaens were going to lose their home world, probably sooner rather than later, but all the slaves and deaths did not account for the whole story. There were still many rebels, especially members of the millitary that were still out there. They hid themselves well, and protected as many as possible, making the rebellion grow a little bit every day.

There were other factors that the Corvines could not of accounted for, especially when it came to mating with the Avaens. They couldn't have known what to expect when mixing the two species. For the most part, the offspring of the two races were nothing for the Corvines to be concerned about, as they could be raised and taught in any fashion. However there were genetic markers that could make things complicated for them. For starters, Avaens had extremely strong bonds with their children, and this was not any different when the other parent came from another planet. No matter how much brainwashing the offspring underwent, there was nothing that could make them harm another creature that shared their same bloodline.

Another thing about the halflings was their ability to communicate telepathically with other halflings and their full blooded Avaen relatives. They also had a very strong connection with their birth parent, so strong that if the parent was killed before the child became an adult, the child would usually end up dying as well. It was all of those little details that lead some of the halflings to join the resistance, another complication in the Corvines plan. So while from afar it looked like the Avaen would quickly die out, there was still hidden hope underneath all of the torment.

Iris didn't know much about any of that though. He hadn't been lucky enough to run into any members of the resistance in his years of running and hiding. Instead he had dedicated his life to helping any orphaned Avaens that he came across. It was his tender heart and desire to save others that lost him his freedom in the end. The small house in the woods where he'd been hiding with other Avaens that he'd gathered together, had been discovered, and there was only one thing that Iris could think to do so that the others could get away. He made the others hide in a secret shelter that they had built for just such emergencies, but Iris knew that the Corvine scouts wouldn't stop searching the area unless they found the one that was staying there. Knowing that, Iris allowed himself to be found, tears filled his eyes and he prayed for the safety of his friends as he was dragged away.

They beat and walked him until he was too tired to even stand up on his own, and just when he thought that he was surely going to die of exhaustion, the troupe arrived at the slave house. Iris held his head up to look around the town. It obviously wasn't one of the Avaen structures, the lines of the buildings were too hard, and everything was built for its usefulness, not for beauty the way that Avaens built things. On arrival, each Avaen was tossed into a separate cage made of steal.

The cage that Iris was in was on the very end of a very long line of cages. He looked down the line, seeing his own kind, most of them with their wings cut off and he stiffed a painful cry, tears pouring down his cheeks from the sight of seeing his kin suffering and near death. Feeling terrified and lost Iris sat in one of the corners of the cage and wrapped his wings completely around himself in an attempt to hide his crying face. He tried his best to think of Julius, and how he would most likely tell him that he shouldn't try.

To my enemies, tears are better than blood.

He thought of Julius, allowing himself to hear the others voice inside his head. Sometimes it was comforting to think about him, to draw strength from many of his older brother's words of wisdom, but most of the time it just reminded Iris of how much he missed his old life and his family. Iris was lost in his own thoughts when he heard the husky voice of the slave trader, "You there. show your face!" Without warning a whipped cracked against the cage, hitting Iris perfectly in a spot on his back that he'd failed to cover. Iris whimpered painfully and slowly lowered his wings as commanded, tucking them back into place on his back. Whoever it was that had come to look at him, Iris didn't look up, instead concentrating diligently on one spot on the floor, wishing with all of his might that he could become invisible.

"Now... this one right here will go for a pretty penny... still got his wings in tact, and from what we can tell he's never been in captivity before now." There were several interested buyers standing around Iris cage, and he felt more naked and small than he'd ever felt in his whole life.