Zoran’s Chosen: Epilogue Read online

  Zoran’s Chosen

  Epilogue

  Luna Hunter

  Copyright 2018 Luna Hunter.

  * * *

  This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters represented within are eighteen years of age or older and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is property of Luna Hunter, please do not reproduce illegally.

  Contents

  Foreword

  1. Anaya and Theros

  2. Leah and Davor

  3. Caia & Leto

  4. Takara & Rinor

  Epilogue

  Luna’s Backlist

  Foreword

  Hi there!

  The following short story is an extended epilogue of the Zoran’s Chosen series. It’s meant to be read after you’ve finished the entire series. If you haven’t read the series yet, you can find book 1, Mated to the Zoran, right here!

  Happy reading!

  Luna

  Chapter One

  Anaya and Theros

  Anaya

  “Is that Earth?” Leah says.

  “I think it is,” I answer, my eyes closed as I focus intensely on keeping our ship hidden. “Home sweet home, right?”

  The group chuckles nervously. None of us girls has ever called Earth home, even though that is where we humans are originally from. We’re a ragtag bunch — Corlis Station, Garna, New Exon, the Arcor Moon and its Trade Ports… we come from all over the place. United by one common goal.

  Bringing SINTRA down.

  The ground quakes as the men enter the observation deck. Four Zorans in battle-gear marching in creates quite the reverberation, I can tell you!

  “How are you holding up?” Theros asks as he sits down next to me, his warm hand resting on my thigh.

  “I’m good,” I say.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  A small lie. I’m pretty far from good. Barely doing okay! It’s my job to keep our ship hidden from enemy radars. I tap into my Rift-activated powers, seek out any nearby sensors, and scramble them to the best of my ability.

  It’s gotten us all the way from New Exon to Earth without being detected, but it’s putting a major, major strain on my body and soul. I’m teetering on the very edge of collapse, but stopping is simply not an option.

  This is our one shot at taking down SINTRA. I must go on — even if it kills me.

  “Any news from Corlis?” I ask.

  “Yes. Mikael, Zaid and Sanura are creating quite the distraction,” Theros chuckles. “They definitely have SINTRA’s attention.”

  “So they’re still alive?”

  My mate squeezes my thigh. I sense his hesitation, as my question goes unanswered.

  My good friends knew the risk when they accepted the mission. In fact, it was Mikael’s own idea. They’d take the Leviathan, the massive Wellington Consortium flagship that Caia and Leto stole, and raise hell on Corlis Station.

  When I was still an Info girl, working my booth, selling overpriced hotel rooms to aliens, that’s all I ever dreamed about. Shaking the system up. Creating a bit of chaos. And now it’s finally happening — and I’m not even there to see it!

  Even if the chaos draws only one percent of SINTRA’s attention, it would be worth it. That one, tiny little sliver might be the difference between success and failure.

  And failure, in our case, will mean the destruction of all Zorankind, as SINTRA subjugates the entire known universe.

  Still, my heart aches at the thought of losing my best friends…

  I push the tears that are welling up away, and focus on my task. As we’re getting closer and closer to Earth, the amount of sensors I have to block is going up exponentially.

  “Theros,” I whisper. “I don’t know how much longer I can go. I feel like butter that has been spread out far too thin.”

  He kisses my forehead. “We’re almost in range, my love. Only a few more seconds.”

  * * *

  Theros

  My mate is struggling, and it breaks my heart to see. Sweat drips down her brow as her legs tremble. She’s a fighter, and she’s giving it all she has.

  Now it is time to do my part.

  Every one of us Chosen has their part to play in this mission. We’ve scouted SINTRA’s headquarters as best we could, but of course we haven’t been able to penetrate the deepest layers yet.

  It is my job to teleport all of us to the entrance. From that point on, anything can happen. The only thing we know for sure is that retreat is not an option.

  We take down SINTRA — or we die.

  It’s as simple as that.

  “Is everyone ready?” I ask.

  My eyes pass from one couple to the next. Davor and Leah. Leto and Caia. Rinor and Takara. Each one with their own set of powers, their own pieces of the puzzle.

  In the last couple of weeks we have grown close. I would trust anyone of them with my life.

  Which is exactly what I’m doing.

  “Ready,” Davor growls.

  “Let’s do this,” Leto says.

  Rinor simply nods as he clutches his mate’s hand.

  They’ve all trusted me to lead this mission. I will not fail them.

  Leaning down, I plant a kiss on my mate’s forehead. Her face is growing red, her brow twitching. Every second now she can collapse from sheer exhaustion.

  “Hold on,” I growl.

  Here it goes.

  I summon up my strength, the power that has been bestowed upon me — teleportation. My mind is filled with thoughts of my mate, of the wonderful times we’ve shared together, the long kisses, the mornings where we just cuddle and never get out of bed, the evenings where we do exactly the same thing, and all of it fills me with energy, fueling my power.

  The room is bathed in a bright, white light as a vortex appears in the center. I have teleported before, but never this many, at this great a distance. This will ask everything of me.

  The vortex expands and expands, as my heart races like mad and adrenaline courses through my veins. Just a few inches more… nearly there… almost…

  With a thundering snap we are pulled into the vortex, all eight of us. The shuttle, which has served us so well, disappears. Now we are falling, somewhere been time and space, as I conjure the image of SINTRA’s HQ in my mind. If I don’t latch on, if I don’t capture it with enough focus, we’ll be stranded in this limbo for all eternity.

  The ground rushes up to greet us.

  All eight of us form a massive pile as we fall onto the floor, right in front of SINTRA HQ. I shield Anaya’s body with my own, as the rest scrambles to their feet.

  “Smooth landing,” Davor chuckles as he dusts himself off.

  “Sorry,” I say, as I try to stand up. Leto catches me before I fall, and gently sets me down on the ground.

  “Rest, friend,” he says. “We can take it form here.”

  “No,” I say, stubbornly. “The fight is only just beginning!”

  “You have done your part,” he says. “Stand guard. Protect Anaya. Hold off the reinforcements. You’ve prepared us well. We’ve got it from here, chief.”

  I want to stand up and fight, but my body does not cooperate. The teleportation has sapped me off my strength — and Anaya is exhausted as well. With a heavy heart I realize that if we press on, we’ll only slow the rest down.

  “Very well,” I grit through my teeth as I pull my mate close. “Give ‘em hell for me, will you?”

  “You got it, boss.” Leto says.

  I watch the six Chosen enter the HQ, and seconds later I hear the alarms ringing and the sounds of gunshots. I wrap my arms tightly around Anaya, one eye on the door, the other watching the roa
d for any incoming troops.

  If more soldiers pull up, we’ll have to stop them no matter the cost.

  It will be an honor to die alongside my mate.

  Chapter Two

  Leah and Davor

  Leah

  Davor kicks down the door, and we storm the SINTRA Headquarters. This is what we’ve been training for, what we’ve been waiting for, but the moment the bullets start flying, my heart jumps into my throat.

  It doesn’t feel right leaving Anaya and Theros behind, but we have no choice. We’ve got to push on. This is our one shot.

  Speaking of shots — I use my metal-bending powers to make the guns firing at us malfunction. As I squeeze my palm the barrels themselves fold up and explode. Davor kicks off and storms the soldiers, his wings giving him an extra boost of speed.

  He flies through the air, his wings spread wide, looking as strong and majestic as ever. I still have to squeeze my arm sometimes to remind myself that I’m not dreaming, and that his beautiful man is really my one true mate.

  It all feels surreal. I grew up on Garna, tending to the Luba hordes. The biggest battles I had to fight there was scaring off the Rinjin, who stole the food and pelted me with mudballs.

  I never had to invade a heavily guarded fortress, that’s for damn sure!

  However, it’s now or never. The thought of the starved Luba fuels my anger, and I use it to wreak as much havoc as I can. And I haven’t even begun to think about the baby…

  That’s right. I’m a few months pregnant! Davor didn’t want me to come on this mission because of that, but I said screw it. If he’s going on a suicide mission, I’m damn sure going to join him! We have barely made plans for the future, because if we don’t stop SINTRA now, there won’t even be a future.

  “Down here!” Davor screams, pointing at the stairwell. The remaining Chosen race down the stairs, and I join my mate, using my powers to lock the door tightly and break the handle off. This is it — we’ve cut ourselves off from the outside world now.

  All we can do is go deeper and deeper into this fortress…

  * * *

  Davor

  “Holy cow.”

  “You can say that again.”

  I meet up with the group downstairs. They’re all frozen in place, their eyes wide as they look at the amazing sight in front of them.

  The giant hall is filled with cages, hundreds and hundreds of them, each one inhabited by an alien animal. Genetically, mutated animals, bred for combat. I see Luba, the gentle giants now outfitted with horns so heavy it hurts their necks and fangs so large they can barely breathe properly. This is undoubtedly the handiwork of Takeshi Biotech, SINTRA’s genetic manipulation department.

  I can hear the animal’s thoughts, their cries, their pain, and it nearly overwhelms me. I stumble down to one knee, and Leah catches me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I lie.

  Besides my wings, I also have the power to communicate with animals. It is how we chased SINTRA off Garna — I could talk to the Luba, the Rinjin, the Anshi, and convince them to help us attack the humans who were desecrating their planet. That blessing is now a curse, as I can barely hear myself think.

  “These monsters,” I gasp as images of torture, of manipulation, of horror flood my mind. “We’ve got to make them pay.”

  “We’ve got to push on,” Leto says. We already hear the thunderous sound of footsteps racing down the stairs all around us. In seconds the soldiers will flood the room, and we’ll be dead meat. “Can you continue?”

  I search my feelings, and shake my head. “No,” I admit. “I can not. I can not let these animals suffer. I will… hold the enemy off. You go on without me.”

  Leah grabs my hand. “Without us.”

  “Are you sure?!” Leto says. “There’s still time.”

  “I’m sure!” I yell. “Go!”

  The two couples press on, while I grab Leah and pull her close.

  “I love you, Leah.”

  “I love you too, Davor. For now and forever.”

  I rest my forehead against her and enjoy this last moment of peace. The soldiers are busting down the door right this very second, the metal only moments away from caving.

  “Let’s do it.”

  We both raise our hands, letting our energy merge and mingle. The doors bust open and the soldiers pour into the room, and we pull off our plan just in time: Leah uses her metal manipulation powers to unlock all the cages, their locks dropping to the ground one by one, while I communicate with the animals, and give them the opportunity to take revenge for all the pain that has been done to them.

  They barely need any encouragement. With a deep, heavy war cry the enraged animals throw themselves at the hordes of soldiers. My hand finds Leah’s, our fingers interlocking.

  It’s all in the hands of the two remaining couples now.

  Chapter Three

  Caia & Leto

  Caia

  The sound of war comes from above. I hear snarling, yelping, growling, interspersed with the sound of gunfire. I freeze upon the stairs, but Leto grabs my arm.

  “We’ve got to keep going, love. We’re nearly there.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat and push on. I’m trained as a Corlis Station Security Officer, so I ought to be comfortable with running into danger, but truth be told, I’m anything but. Honestly, I’m scared shitless. All these other women are so brave, and I feel like I’m just putting up a front.

  Leto is right, though. We’ve got to keep going.

  I gather my strength, the little remaining courage that I have left, and push on. We’ve raced down so many stairs that I’ve lost count at this point. How far underground are we really?

  After what feels like a hundred steps the stairs stop, and Takara & Rinor open the heavy door there. I still can’t believe we’re traveling with the Takara King, and Rinor! They’re both legends, intergalactically famous gladiators, and they’re now my best friends. I strive to be more like her, and so I put on a brave face.

  I follow the famous couple into the room, and my confidence drops when I see their normally brave, stoic faces are now filled with abject horror.

  “What’s going ooooooh my god.”

  “They’ve done it,” Leto whispers. “The mad men. They’ve actually done it.”

  As if the last level wasn’t bad enough. There we saw countless enetically manipulated animals locked up. Now, it’s people.

  Rows and rows upon rows of pods, filled with blue fluids… and with humans, floating in them.

  “This will be us,” Leto says, “If we don’t push on.”

  I can barely dare to look at the clones, or whatever they are. It makes me sick to my very stomach. The time I spent imprisoned on the Leviathan was more than enough. “Can we go?” I ask. “I want to leave.”

  “YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.”

  * * *

  Leto

  All of the clones snap their eyes open. Hundreds and hundreds of eerily, glowing orbs staring at us, all talking with the same deep, distorted voice.

  “YOU’VE COME FURTHER THAN I HAD ANTICIPATED. NO MATTER. YOU CAN NOT DELAY WHAT IS COMING.”

  I pull my mate close. She is shivering, and I will die to protect her if I have to.

  “We know you’re behind this all, Siya,” I shout into the void. “Show yourself!”

  The countless eyes all narrow simultaneously. “MY MY, YOU’VE BEEN BUSY LITTLE BEES, HAVEN’T YOU? ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE, AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T REALIZED THAT YOUR DEATH IS IMMINENT?”

  I nod at Takara and Rinor. They’ve got to push on, and reach Siya before it’s too late. The moment she unleashes these clones, it’s all over for us. They get my hint and they sprint away.

  “You know what I realized?” I say, searching my brain for something that’ll piss of an all-powerful AI. “Your code? Yeah, it’s, uhm, sloppy.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “Yeah! And your clones — they don’t even look a like!”<
br />
  “THEY ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY.”

  “Not this one! Look at him. What’s that nose? What is this, amateur hour? How can you rule the galaxy when you can’t even rule the human genome?”

  “LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE PEST. MY POWER IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION.”

  “No, I think you’re just compensating. Are you sure you don’t just miss having a body? It’s pretty sweet, you know. I think you just need a good, hard di—“

  “ENOUGH!”

  The clones all punch through their glass cages in unison, the blue fluid pouring out into the room. A putrid stench fills the air, and I give my mate a quick kiss.

  It might be our last.

  “I think I overdid it there,” I whisper.

  “I thought it was funny,” Caia answers.

  I close my eyes and summon my spirit animal — the indomitable lion, Luan. Caia charges up as well, her hands glowing white hot with rage and power.

  Together, we will hold off this clone army.

  Or die trying.

  Chapter Four

  Takara & Rinor

  Takara

  Here we are.

  We finally made it.

  We’re in the belly of the beast.

  The tank in front of us is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Somehow, its even more horrifying than all the other things we’ve been to subjected to today. In a large tank, a mangled body floats in dirty water. Countless tentacles connect to it. Whoever this person was, she’s pretty far from being human.

  Rinor hugs me from behind and kisses my neck.

  “I’m going to slow down time as much as I can,” he whispers. “And now it’s up to you to invade her mind and shut her down. Can you do it?”