Attack on 444
ALIEN KINGS POV
The three days were finally up. I did not spend a single second sleeping. I spent them on the bridge of my ship, watching the Great Drill eat through the dark space outside Planet 444.
My two chiefs were right behind me with a thousand ships. The sky was not black anymore. It was filled with the red and orange fire of my engines.
When the ten shields finally popped, it sounded like the whole universe was snapping in half. I did not wait for my soldiers to clear the way.
I flew my personal ship straight through the smoke and crashed it onto the roof of the golden palace. I stepped out of the burning wreckage with my black armor steaming and my axe in my hand.
The Crab King was waiting for me in the grand hall. He was wearing his white wedding suit. He looked clean and rich and smug. It made me want to vomit.
Who was he trying to get married to? I hope it wasn't my Aurora!!
"You are late for the party, Karn," Kraye said. He was leaning against his throne, trying to look cool, but I could see his hands shaking. "The wedding starts in an hour. You are not on the guest list."
"You're a fucker. Release my treasure."
"What treasure? Leave my planet before I summon the sun rays on you!!" Kraye boldly said, wearing a disgusting smirk on his face.
I walked toward him, my shoes making noise on the floor with every step. "I do not need a list to walk into a thief's house. I told you I would come for what you stole. I told you I would burn this world to get her back."
Kraye laughed, a mean, sharp sound that echoed off the high walls. "Stole? She came to me to escape a beast like you. I gave her a gold bath and a soft bed. I made her feel safe. She was going through a humiliation ritual in your planet and you said nothing. I gave her a crown and respect. What did you give her? Bruises and a cage? You are an animal, Karn. Look at you. You look like you have been living in a hole in the dirt."
"I have been living in hell," I growled, stepping closer. "And I brought the fire here for you. I felt you touch her. Through our bond, I felt you put your hands on her breasts and use her. Did you really think I would let a cockroach like you keep my Queen?"
Kraye straightened up and pulled his sword. The blade shined in the light. "She is not your Queen. She is my wife. I have already been inside her, Karn. I have tasted her skin while she moaned. Even if you kill me today, you will always know that I had her while you were busy playing with your little Council of fools. I was the one she cried for last night."
I felt the heat explode in my chest. I did not just want to kill him anymore. I wanted to erase his very soul, his citizens and his planet!!
"You think you won because you touched her?" I whispered, my eyes glowing like twin red suns. "I am going to tear this palace down. I am going to kill every guard you have. And then, I am going to make you watch while I take her back and make her forget you ever existed. You are a tenth-rate king with a tenth-rate planet. You were never big enough to hold a treasure like her."
"You are just a jealous dog," Kraye mocked. He walked down the steps of his throne, his sword dragging on the floor. "You have a thousand wives and you are still crying over one human girl. You are weak, Karn. Your hunger for women makes you stupid. It makes you a target."
"My hunger is what is going to eat you alive," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous rumble.
Kraye laughed again, and it was the coldest sound I had ever heard. "You think having ships makes you strong? But we all know the truth. You are the weakest man in this galaxy. You talk about me touching Aurora, but let us talk about your own daughter. Everyone knows the story, Karn. It is the best joke in the inner rim."
I felt my heart stop. My grip on my axe tightened until the metal groaned. "Shut your mouth, thief."
"Why should I?" Kraye sneered, stepping right into my face. "You were too busy being the big Alien King to watch your own house. You were so weak that you let a group of primitive humans from a backwater planet take your daughter. They did not just take her, Karn. They raped her. They used your own flesh and blood like a rag while you sat on your throne and did nothing to save her."
The air in the room turned freezing cold. The walls started to crack from the pressure of my rage. I could feel the blood screaming in my ears.
"The great Karn," Kraye mocked, his voice getting louder. "The man with a thousand wives could not even keep his own child safe from a few dirty humans with sticks. They ruined her because you are a coward. You are not here for Aurora because you love her. You are here because you are trying to fix the shame of being a father who let his child be destroyed. You look at Aurora and you see the face of the people who broke your daughter."
He leaned in, his breath smelling like wine. "I had more fun with Aurora’s tits in one night than you have had in your whole life. I am not haunted by the ghost of a daughter I was too weak to protect."
I did not roar. I did not scream. I felt something inside me snap and turn into pure, black ice. The shame he was talking about was the one thing I never told anyone. It was the hole in my soul that never closed.
"You should have just fought me, Kraye," I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from a grave. "You should have died like a King. But now? Now I am going to make sure you live long enough to watch me do things to this planet that will make what happened to my daughter look like a dream."
I moved so fast he could not even raise his sword. I grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the golden wall. The metal dented deep behind his head.
"Say her name again," I whispered, my claws digging into his skin.
Kraye choked, blood leaking from his mouth, but he still tried to smile. "She... cried... just like your daughter did."
I screamed then, a sound that shook the entire palace, and I started to break him apart with my bare hands.