The First She ✓ (Ezron Book 1)

TWELVE

Footsteps fell, stomping on her heart with every beat. The sound was horridly nerve-wracking because she knew what it was bringing– Discovery.

It circled her like a hungry wolf, ready to feast on what little liberty she had left.

If this alien recognized her, she would lose her status as a scientist and become a lab rat.

I will fight, she swore.

If there is one thing that humans of all religions, nationalities, races, and gender shared, it was passion. They warred, sinned, loved, and atoned with teeth and claw.

I will show these aliens what terrans are made of.

Vrox's eyes peeked into the cave and found her trying to dissolve into the wall. Her nails scratched at the ground, looking for a weapon, but her eyes remained his. She refused to look away from what was coming.

Vrox wasn't familiar with the darkness in Kira's expression. There was an ocean of fear there, bubbling wrinkles onto her usually smooth face. He had never felt anything like it or seen one of his brothers display it with so much potency. Fear for him was grey– able to show itself but never consume him.

The boy before him seemed to be blinded by it. Was it possible to feel so strongly, or was Vrox just broken?

As he stood there and watched, he realized that he had never quite pondered on these questions. To him and his brothers, all there was to life was hunting, eating, and laughing over a campfire. There wasn't much interest in philosophy.

Was there more? Were he and his brothers lacking?

He felt wrong all of a sudden. Although his body was bountiful with height and strength, he was unable to feel emotions as powerfully as Kira. Even the love he felt for his brothers seemed dull in comparison to the scorching of her fear.

He took a step forward and noticed that his body felt lighter. The shriveling little boy in the corner had drained him.

"Kira," he called out lowly. "My brother is outside. He will not touch you," he tried to assure.

No words were returned.

He looked over his shoulder and called out, "Draekon."

Draekon. Is that the other alien's name, or is it a command? Kira wondered.

The awful sound of footsteps continued, each step sounding like a nail being hammered into her coffin.

A small pebble in her hand bit her skin. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was all she could find.

I'm not going down without a fight. I'll struggle in the name of humans. I'm not going to–

This alien's eyes were green, and his hair long. His face was covered behind a beard. He stood beside Vrox, naked and powerful, finally getting a look at her.

"Mothers, Vrox," Draekon blurted. "It is a..."

"I told you that he is a boy," Vrox replied.

"No," Draekon exhaled shakily. "This is impossible. He looks no older than ten snowfalls old. I thought the youngest boys alive are fifteen."

Vrox shared his brother's confusion. The scaling happened around age twelve. It was when boy's bodies began the process of puberty– growing taller, thicker. A few late bloomers were currently undergoing the scaling. After this year, they will be considered men.

It was a sad time. Soon, the laughter and innocence of a child will go extinct. All men would age, and then die one after another until all that remained on the planet were their bones, plants, and wild animals.

"The elders may have gotten it wrong. I will have to figure out how to ask Kira how old he is," Vrox replied.

"Do you think it is possible for..." Draekon stopped.

"For what?"

"For there to be any mothers left? Perhaps there are even younger boys out there."

A laugh boomed out of Vrox. "Maybe you are the one that ate joy berries," he teased with a shake of his head. "If there were any mothers left, they would have been found by now. It has been fifteen snowfalls."

Vrox squinted, trying to remember his mother. Nothing came to his mind other than long, dark hair. He had been too young when The Vanishing happened– only five snowfalls old. It didn't help that he and Draekon lost their memories.

The Vanishing made a mess of society. Men were so overtaken with sorrow that they neglected their sons. Vrox's father had been no different. One day, his five-year-old self got so hungry that he went outside with Draekon and ate the first thing he came across. His body survived the poison, but his memories were crippled.

"It is so irritating being unable to remember her," Draekon shared.

Vrox wasn't too saddened. He couldn't miss someone he couldn't remember. His mother's voice, face, body, and the love he had for her were a blank he could never fill.

"She had long dark hair," Vrox told him, glaring at Draekon's braid. "That is likely where you get that from. Mothers, cut the thing off. It looks like a tail."

Draekon laughed the judgment off.

Kira watched. Her heart ticked with heavy beats waiting for her nightmare to become a reality. The men conversed as if she wasn't even in the cave, but her alert remained high and mighty. She refused to let her guard down.

The other alien's laugh was similar to Vrox's– powerful and thick. His face was similar too. She scrutinized it, looking for any sign of recognition or lust.

More words were exchanged, a few looks passed her way, but no one attempted to come closer.

Does this man not recognize me either? Am I still safe?

"Kira," Vrox called out.

She refused to reply, afraid that the lack of baritone in her voice would give away her secret.

Vrox pointed to the other man and said, "Draekon."

Draekon is his name.

Draekon raised his forearms and stacked them on top of each other. "Mothers, Kira," he greeted.

The only word she understood was her name. Even if she understood it all, she wouldn't have cared to reply.

Draekon moved his eyes back to Vrox. "He is frightened. I will leave, but we need to find who hurt him."

Their family didn't make a hobby out of killing other men, but sometimes blood had to be spilled. Vrox agreed that whoever dismembered Kira needed to have their cock cut off and be left to bleed out.

"Will you go to the others?" Vrox asked.

"Yes. I will see you there."

Vrox nodded, glancing at Kira one more time. "It will take me about a day to get back. I need to collect the plants and feed the child. Keep your eyes on the sky on your way back. I saw a squar flying in this area recently."

"I am sure that you wet your thighs with piss," Draekon laughed.

Vrox joined in on his laughter and rubbed his elbow at the reminder of the time that a squar picked him off the ground and dropped him.

He watched Draekon depart and then turned to face the boy that was likely the youngest of their kind; a treasure that needed to be protected.