Chapter 9. Ass whooping

I lowered my visor and took my fighting stance. I wanted to get a baseline for where I was after reallocating my stats.

I knew I had some new abilities waiting to be activated, but I thought it would be best to get a baseline first; then, I would sit with Tiff and discuss new abilities and start working on how to incorporate them into battle. I knew about the jetpack ability, and I at least was going to throw it into the mix in this sparring session.

“Captain, it is imperative that you understand what is about to happen,” Kaj said as he slowly circled me while dragging the blade of his scythe through the dirt.

“Oh, sure, tell me exactly what is going to happen, Kaj,” I stood up straight and made my visor translucent so he could see me smile wryly.

“I am going to break you. That is the only way to help you reach new heights. Many times, a foundation must be destroyed to build a fortress where there was only a hovel before.” Kaj stopped circling and took up his scythe.

“Did you hear that, CJ? Ol’ Kajjy here is going to build me into a fortress!” I said, turning my head to look over my shoulder at CJ.

By now, everyone from the settlement had heard about the sparring session, and several people had come down to the corral to watch. My Dad sat in a chair watching while my brother Jonathan sat beside him. My Mom and sisters had also come down with the rest of the family. All in all, there were probably a couple of hundred people gathered to watch.

I was okay with that. These people had been through a lot recently, and I was more than happy to give them something to take their minds off of the hell they were living in.

CJ just laughed and pointed, “Heads up here.”

Before I could turn my head back toward Kaj, he had taken the shaft of his giant scythe and slammed it into my stomach, hurling my back several feet. I rolled end over end as I came to a stop against the railing of the corral right in front of my dad.

“Get up, boy,” he said calmly, “If you're gonna be dumb, you have to be tough.”

I shook my head in response. Dad was never one to mince words. He expected his boys to be able to handle themselves and would never have let himself get caught off guard due to sheer hubris like I just had.

“That angel fella seems like a good one to have on your side,” he chuckled, “Hey Timbo, come over here, and let’s see if Andy can handle himself as well as he would have us believe.”

My Dad had two brothers, Jim and Tim. They were always a source of fun growing up, but they were never one to shy away from reminding us that we were young and would make mistakes. They were also always more than willing to have a good laugh at our mistakes.

“Hey Andy, you might wanna try…I don’t know, fighting back?” Uncle Tim laughed and slapped my dad on the shoulder.

I stood up and shook some of the dark brown dirt off of my armor. It seemed that Kaj had decided to take things to another level; now it was my turn.

“Alright, Kaj, I see you now,” I said as I flexed my legs and sprinted toward him at full speed.

I was fully confident in my ability to take Kaj down; after all, he was only level 13. Sure, he seemed to be very skilled, especially for a level 13, but I was now level 35, and there was no way he should stand a chance.

As I rushed him, I watched him spread his wings as power emanated from all around him. Kaj looked up into the air and started to levitate a bit. I felt an odd pulse of energy pulsing from him as I approached. The energy, if that's what it was seemed to blast out cyclically in waves.

Just as I got within striking distance and prepared to punch his scythe shot down and nearly took my head off. When I say his scythe shot down, I don’t mean that he swung it; the scythe shot down from his hand in an arcing motion completely independent of its owner, who was just now returning to the dirt inside the corral.

Kaj smiled as he landed, his wings flared and his muscles bulging. His scythe now flew around him in circles in sort of a defensive pattern.

“You see Captain, there are still many things that you are unaware of. Your identify on the Red Moon of Alcara placed me at level 10. After our battles and the defeat of many foes I have increased to level 13, Is that correct?” Kaj asked.

I Identified him again:

Kaj Jarat –

Malakim Battle Seraph

Level – 13

“Yeah, that is what I see, what of it?” I asked as now I slowly circled the Malakim.

Kaj closed his eyes, and a golden sheen covered his entire body and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Kaj smiled and cocked his head to the side, “You may want to check again.”

I obliged, as I used identify once more on the Malakim.

Kaj Jarat –

Chief Malakim Battle Seraph

-Protector of the realms of Malaki

-Battle sage and chief instructor of the royal family.

Level 63

I stood dumbfounded for a moment. How had Kaj managed to hide his true level and why did he now have titles added to his name?

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

Kaj now held his scythe and twirled it in his hands, “You see, Captain. The system limited my level on the dungeon moon, much the same as it limited Tiff’s level. I was there as part of a training exercise along with two nephews of the emperor. When we were set upon, the emperor’s nephews were slain as they were on patrol, and I was not there to protect them. We were badly outnumbered, and the rest is as you know it. I failed in my duties; the shame alone would have never allowed me to return home. After that, I was saved by a human, and we formed the Blood Oath.”

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“But we were together for weeks on the Bloodhound; why didn’t you tell me any of this then?” I asked.

“While it is true that I swore myself to you and your cause, I didn’t necessarily swear to train and guide you. I needed to understand your motives. I needed to be sure I could trust those around you. Captain, after seeing your home and meeting those closest to you, I fully believe that your cause is righteous, and I must help guide and train you.” Kaj said as he returned to his battle stance, “I was purposefully suppressing my level until I decided the time was right.”

“So now what? You are gonna train me?” I asked, also returning to my battle stance.

“Captain, I believe you are a good man. I believe that you can be the catalyst that brings down the Council,” he stopped and looked down, shaking his head, “Unfortunately, I also believe that you do not fully understand the burden you have undertaken, and much of the time, you act like a selfish child. I have now made it my responsibility to train that child into a warrior capable of making a difference,” he said as he turned toward my dad.

“Mr. Dawes, I would ask for your blessing, as this will be a painful journey for your son. I must break him, and the process will not be enjoyable. I do, however, swear that he will come through this and will be refined by the fires of struggle.”

My Dad sat there a look of resolution on his face, “I give my blessing, whoop his ass.”

“What the fu..” I said, turning toward my dad.

I never finished the words. In a flash, Kaj was on me; everything was a blur. His fists swung in a flurry of combinations as they seemed to be empowered by the wind. After a right cross to the head, he stepped back, and using his wings as counterweights, he spun around in a flurry before his right leg landed between my neck and right shoulder. I crumpled to the ground as my vision began to tunnel. Before I passed out, I looked up to see him swipe his scythe down and rake it across my chest, cutting through my armor before it sealed itself back up.

“Scars are necessary to remind us of mistakes made in battle. Today, you receive the first; it will be up to you to decide how many more there will be, young Captain,” Kaj said as he turned and walked away from me.

I passed out to the sound of my dad and Uncle laughing as my mom and sisters all rushed to my side along with Tiff. Kaj had just soundly kicked my ass.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

Natasha waited. She had taken the Bloodhound a little over 12 light hours from Earth and was now trying to figure out how she could return and help Captain Andrew and the rest of the crew.

The three Rerek battle cruisers had appeared out of nowhere. What made matters worse is that over the last 24 hours more ships had arrived. There was a large troop transport vessel as well as some smaller support ships to protect it. In total, there were over ten vessels now orbiting Earth.

Natasha had been given a task by Captain Andrew, and she had confidently said she could complete it. That was before the unexpected visitors showed up. What were they even doing here, to begin with? She wondered. There was no reason for a contingent of Rerek ships to be sent to Earth; it just didn’t make sense.

Natasha knew the bloodhound didn’t stand a chance against that many enemy ships. Sure, the Bloodhound was fast and stealthy, especially after its upgrades; it just didn’t have the firepower to take on that many ships alone.

As Natasha contemplated and ran simulations within her matrix, the sensors of the Bloodhound picked something up. It was small and barely noticeable, but there was something out there, something close.

Natasha immediately started to prepare a jump. She wasn’t sure what was out there, but she knew that taking the Bloodhound into battle here would mean that the ship may be damaged. Natasha couldn’t allow that. She didn’t see a way to take down the Rerek contingent, but a damaged Bloodhound would make it even more difficult.

Just as she was about to jump the ship away, something happened, and a ship decloaked off her port side. A ship she had never personally seen but was familiar with due to the extensive records kept by Elvis before his transition to physical form. It was the Flaming Retribution.

“This is Princess Danae. Bloodhound, is that really you?” Princess Danae asked as she hailed the ship directly in front of her own. “Where have you been for the last three years?”

****************************************************************************************************************************************************

It had been nearly a week. Michael drove the UTV through the forest. It was slower than the highways, but it was safer. There were still drones patrolling large open areas and highways, after all.

Kinthragor had been in and out of consciousness. At first, Michael wasn’t sure how he could help the alien. There were several questions that he needed answers to, and Kinthragor was the only one who gave them.

After the first full day, Michael found a spot to camp. They had traveled around 80 miles so far and had over 900 left to go before getting back to Louisiana, back to Michael’s family.

Kinthragor regained consciousness as Michael finished building camp. It was dangerous to build a fire, but Michael needed to boil some water, and a hot meal would be nice.

Michael had picked a spot near a small river; it made sense; they needed water and food; it was a one-stop shop. Michael wore a bracelet that could be taken apart and repurposed to a long length of rope or chord. After that, he found a small piece of metal and fashioned it into a hook, dug a few small holes until he gathered a few earthworms and started fishing.

After a few hours, he had gathered a few perch that would make a good enough meal, so he walked back to the camp. He saw Kinthragor sitting with his back against the UTV. There was a small machete resting in the fire in front of him.

“Human, why have you saved me?” Kinthragor asked without even turning his head toward Michael.

Michael approached the fire and knelt to begin gutting and cleaning the fish.

“You never harmed me, Kinny. You did a lot of talking about what you were gonna do, but you and I were in the same boat back there. I guess I figured the enemy of my enemy and whatnot,” Michael said as he continued cleaning the fish.

“What does this mean?” Kinthragor asked, grunting as he felt the piece of rebar still sticking from his side.

“It’s just an old saying. We were both in the same situation. The lizards had jailed and tortured us. We aren’t allies, but we have a common enemy. I know you talk about honor and everything that the word means to you. I guess I couldn’t see the honor in leaving you there to die if I could do something about it,” Michael said.

“I don’t understand this. You should have left me, I would have surely left you,” Kinthragor said.

“Well, lucky for you, that isn’t how I operate. I intend to try and help you with your wound and then let you go do whatever you need to do. My hope is that you will see that there is no need to kill me or my family,” Michael said as he laid the fish on the ash close to the fire to cook.

“We gotta do something about that rebar sticking out of you and then try to figure out how to get food you can eat,” Michael said as he walked over and knelt beside the large alien.

“My gut biome has been genetically altered to extract nutrients from most alien ecosystems. Your Earth food will suffice,” Kinthragor said.

“I see you are ready to try and cauterize the wound. You are gonna need my help with that, but first, I need some reassurance,” Michael said as he grabbed the red-hot machete.

“What kind of reassurances?” Kinthragor asked as he wearily leaned back against the UTV.

“I could kill you right here, Kinny, but I won't do that. I need the same in return from you. Can you swear that you will let this honor-killing business go? You can find a way to get back off Earth and go home, hell just tell everyone that you couldn’t find the Dawes family or that they were all dead already. Can you do that?” Michael asked.

“It seems that I have no choice, Michael Dawes. It is either that or die slowly, and I have no desire to die here on this planet,” Kinthragor replied.

“Well, that’s good. This is gonna hurt, so don’t go all crazy and start trying to tear me to pieces,” Michael said as he reached down with one hand to put pressure around the rebar. With his other hand, Michael grabbed the bent, rusty piece of metal and jerked it out of Kinthragor’s side. Black blood oozed from the wound that Michael was pretty sure was infected.

Kinthragor howled as the hair on the back of Michael’s neck stood up. Michael quickly took the machete and pressed it against the open wound as the flesh sizzled and popped under the hot blade. A sweet, sickly smell emanated from the cooking flesh as it closed.

“All done, Kinny, try to get some rest, and I’ll have some food for you when you wake up,” Michael said.

With that Kinny passed out and dreamed about the dishonor he would face upon return to his home planet. Kinthragor the weak pathetic brother of the slain warrior Anthragor.

“