Jo’s Journey

Chapter 1-2

Manota jerked awake, breathing heavily as the last of the dream released him from its brutal grip. He sat up in the middle of his bed, drawing in deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Running his hands through his short, sweat-dampened hair, he cursed when he noticed that they were shaking as he dropped them in his lap.

“That damn female is going to be the death of me,” he muttered under his breath.

He threw the tangled, black silk covers to the side and slid out of the huge bed, walking over to the balcony doors of his room. Motioning for them to open, Manota stepped out into the chilly early morning air. The stars still glittered in the sky. The second moon was low on the horizon, telling him that dawn would soon be upon them. The first moon had already set on the far side of the planet.

Manota leaned forward, bracing his hands on the smooth stone wall of the balcony. His eyes moved over the large center garden separating the four Royal Houses of Kassis. There was no evidence of the battle that had raged through the Houses and gardens less than a week before, at least none visible to the eye. The battle raging inside him was a totally different story.

Ever since he laid eyes on the human female who had helped rescue his brothers from certain death, he had been fighting a war within his own body and mind. His body demanded he claim what was his while his mind fought with just trying to understand the blasted female who was twisting him into knots. The feelings of uncertainty and overwhelming desire were strange to him. He was used to taking what he wanted – and he wanted the human female with an intensity that was about to drive him crazy. He had never failed in battle, never been denied, but this female continued to turn away from him with a stubbornness that defied anything he had ever met before.

He let his eyes sweep over the gardens once more before he turned to prepare for the morning. He tensed as he sensed something was out of the normal. His eyes scanned again, narrowing as he picked up a slight movement in the still darkness. He muttered a curse, wondering if by some chance the royal forces had missed one of the traitors that had attacked his family during the dinner a week ago. Surely there was no way anyone could have remained undetected for so long? Unless, …

“I’ll kill the bastard,” Manota silently swore as he returned to his room and grabbed the sheath containing the sharp blade he kept next to the bed. “Javonna must not have been the only traitor Tai Tek had hidden among the Houses.”

Dark rage fired in his gut as he returned to the balcony. The figure was moving stealthily closer to the East House. Manota ruled the Second of Kassis with an iron fist. His personal guards had been officers under him during the war with the Tearnats. It was not until the Alliance had been formed and Gril Tal Mod had taken over as leader of the Tearnats that the war ended. The huge Tearnat’s son, Trolis, along with other traitors to Kassis, had still fought to divide the Alliance and bring an end to the peace. Tai Tek, a traitorous former Kassisan council member, had struck an agreement with the Tearnat rebel in exchange for the assassination of the members of the royal house.

Trolis had captured the shuttle returning his older brother Torak, his younger brother, Jazin, ten of their warriors, and Krail Taurus, the Chancellor of the Alliance, to his brother’s warship. The Tearnat rebel leader had killed the Chancellor before imprisoning his brothers and the other men with the intention of killing them.

What no one had anticipated was the unexpected help that arrived in the form of three beautiful female warriors from another world. Those females were able to subsequently paralyze the Tearnat warship until he and Gril Tal Mod arrived with re-enforcements. There had been a fierce but short fight due to the fact that most of the warriors were trapped on the different levels of the warship.

Manota later learned the Tearnat warship had made an unexpected stop on an unknown planet called Earth where several of the warriors had taken a shuttle down to explore the possibility of additional resources for their fight. They had returned with two prisoners and one stowaway that turned out to be much more dangerous than they realized.

Manota’s mind drifted to the three unusual, but beautiful warriors. Jo Strauss, her younger sister, Star, and their friend, River Knight – the Prophesized Warriors who would unite the Houses of Kassis and defeat those trying to destroy it, according to his father. Manota moved through the shadows as he thought of the women he would give his life to protect. He moved around the corner of the balcony, keeping the dark figure in his peripheral vision. He didn’t want to take a chance of the bastard escaping.

He slowed as he neared the end of the balcony. His eyes swept up and down, trying to gauge where the figure planned to enter. His eyes narrowed on the vines covering the sides of the East House. They were thick enough to climb.

He slid the blade into the sheath he had slung over his shoulder. Moving the strap of the sheath until it crossed his bare chest, he jumped up onto the edge of the railing and gripped a handful of the vines in his hand. The figure had started climbing one of the pillars. They could only reach the roof of the East House from it. They would need to either climb down the vines or go through the access door on the roof.

The roof entrance was heavily secured, but Manota wasn’t about to take a chance. He cursed the fact that they had depended on the security system he had in place that marked unknown visitors. If the person was already authorized, then they would not show up as a threat.

Manota quickly made his way to the roof, rolling over the edge and onto one knee. His eyes scanned the pillars. He watched as the figure bent and attached a hook to the thin lines holding the pillars in place. A moment later, the figure swung off the pillar, gliding to the next one. Manota watched as the figure moved closer until he was at the last one. He stooped down and ran to the entrance leading down into the lower levels. He stood up once he was back in the shadows and waited.

* * * *

He didn’t have long to wait. He watched through narrowed eyes as the figure reached out and grabbed the edge of the wall surrounding the roof. The intruder was dressed from head to toe in black. The figure jumped off the small wall before bending over and unlatching the sliding handgrip he had used on the wire.

Pulling a bag from his back, Manota’s eyes followed as the intruder slipped the device into his bag before standing and pulling a short rod similar to what the guards carried from his waist. Gripping the rod in one hand and the bag in the other, the figure sprinted toward the entrance where Manota was waiting. A dark smile curled Manota’s lips as he stepped out of the shadows, slowly drawing his sword from the sheath as the figure skidded to a startled stop.

“Now, it is time to die,” Manota said coldly. “But not before you tell me who sent you!” he growled as he swung his sword.