Chapter 4: Fight me

Furious at this vile little human man, Zain clenched his fist. Zacar and Zurian had shared much about their human women with the rest of the Zyrgin warriors. Zain had also watched many of the programs they called movies. They had taught him a lot. The way his breeder's lips trembled meant she was unhappy and would cry.

This human dared insult a Zyrgin breeder? Too cowardly to face Zain in battle, but he had the courage to insult his female? He would not tolerate this. She was the breeder to a superior Zyrgin warrior, and this insult would be avenged. By him.

"Fight me or keep quiet," he snarled at the ugly male who'd insulted his breeder and then made those odd motions on his chest with his hand. As if his puny priest or his God could save him from Zain. The guard believing in dragons did that a lot, believing his faith would protect him from the dragon.

Sir Robert stumbled back, obviously not wanting to engage in battle.

"Do not cry, female. I am a superior warrior who will protect you much better than this Aurelian slug with hair." It was the worst insult he could come up with for the woumber willing to hand Melisende over without a fight. Not that it would make a difference if the slug suddenly had the courage to fight Zain. He was a dead man waiting for the final blow no matter what happened here. Now that Melisende belonged to him, no one would take her from him and live.

She turned to Sir Robert, her magnificent eyes flashing. "You, my lord, are a coward. My family will hear of this, and you will be ruined." There was something in her voice, something that made Zain think her family cared for her as little as this woumber, Sir Robert.

Robert the Brave ignored her threat and shouted, "Seize him, knights." Zain noticed he made no effort to step forward to battle for his bride himself. Did the humans train knights to scream for priests and other knights instead of how to fight?

"Coward!" Melisende hissed.

The soldiers made signs, the same as Melisende had done, and some, clutching crude, wooden crosses, rushed to surround him. The instinct that ruled every warrior rushed over him: that need to battle, to conquer, to kill everyone but Melisende.

The soldiers screamed, "Be gone, Satan" and "God protect us." Zain forced back the need to kill them. The need for conquest and battle. While they'd worked up the courage to come at him, he'd thought about his plan to kill these primitive males. His breeder might not want to see so much blood. He could kill them another day. Now, he had to claim his breeder.

Sir Robert suddenly found his courage, and clutching his sword, he leaped over the table. It was probably meant to look heroic and warriorlike, but when he landed on the edge of the table and had to scoot off the other side, he merely manage to look pathetic.

Zain disarmed Robert of the long, ugly hair, and punched him. The human fell and Zain hit, kicked, and head-butted the soldiers who rushed him. It would've been glorious to fight again - if they were worthy warriors - but he managed to best twenty of them without even having to draw his sword.

He turned back to his breeder who watched everything with wide eyes, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

Around them, the knights moaned and tried to crawl away from him. Zain held out his hand to Melisende. "Come with me, and I will allow them to live." Maybe, just maybe he would return later and kill them for not fighting hard enough for such a superior female.

Melisende stared at him with eyes opened wide, but he noticed she surreptitiously took the Baron's eating knife, another sign that he had chosen well. She looked from him to the fallen soldiers. Most of the other people had fled when they realized the soldiers couldn't take him. She trembled, but her beautiful sky eyes flashed fire at him. She lifted her head in a proud motion that made him long to have her alone in their sleeping place. "No."

Robert the Brave sat up with a groan. "W...w...what are you?" he stammered.

"I am the warrior who is worthy of a prize like her," said Zain.

More men stormed into the hall, screaming, and some of them brandishing farm implements. Behind them, a human in a long, brown robe held a large wooden cross in trembling hands. He trembled so much, he barely managed to utter the incantation that Zain supposed was to make him stop winning this battle. Zain incapacitated the humans with the farm implements and turned back to his breeder, who looked terrified when instead he wanted her to be impressed with his skills as a warrior.

"Please don't kill them," she pleaded.

He held out his hand again, retracting his claws. "Then come with me."

She flinched and stared at his hand and then his face. He couldn't be sure, but the look on her face might mean she was horrified. Silence descended over the hall. Even the groans of the men on the ground faded until it was only the two of them locking gazes. She would soon realize that she was a very lucky human female who belonged to a superior warrior.

"Corbleu," she whispered, and then she ran. Clutching her book to her chest and screaming - a high-pitched, annoying sound - she ran toward a door leading deeper into the castle.

Zain cut her off, threw her over his shoulder, and ran.