A Dangerous Journey

Aekzhea

Aekzhean Federation Territory

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Aredhiel, a 26 year old woman, was excited!

She'd been widowed two years earlier, and was finally moving on with her life, starting over. She was traveling with friends who, like Aredhiel, were moving to Porzhu from Aekzhea.

She was running late. She finally arrived, carrying three large cloth tote bags and her purse as she boarded the shuttle taking them to Porzhu, their new home planet.

”Glad you made it! Packing light, I see!“, a pilot said to her cheerfully. He helped her with her bags.

She looked around. There were two empty seats. He escorted her to the seats.

”We're going to have so much fun on Porzhu.“, a lady said.

”A new life, new experiences. I can't wait!“, another lady replied.

Two minutes later, the pilot started the shuttle's engines. Ten minutes later, they were out of Aekzhea's atmosphere and in the blackness of space. Five hours later they met up with a freighter.

The freighter would take them to the edge of Aekzhea's solar system. Twenty-two hours and 2 star portals later, the travelers would then fly two more hours to their final destination, Porzhu.

Ninety minutes after leaving the freighter, a blue planet came into view. They'd passed a few other planets since entering the solar system, but this planet was a vibrant, beautiful blue.

"This is Porzhu, your new home planet!", the pilot said as the passengers cheered.

"It's absolutely beautiful!", Aredhiel said to her friend sitting next to her. Her friend agreed. They saw three moons as they flew closer to the planet.

They finally arrived. It was time to leave space and start the descent into the planet's atmosphere.

As they flew closer to the area they were traveling to, the pilot didn't decrease their speed.

Below them they saw what looked like cities and towns as well as lakes, rivers, mountains, canyons and, at one point, an ocean.

"We're about 10 minutes out.", the pilot said as they flew over another ocean. Suddenly the shuttle started shaking.

”WE'RE GOING DOWN! HOLD ON!“, the pilot shouted.

The shuttle lost altitude fast. Once on the ground, it bounced several times, flipping several times as well, then skidded 1/2 mile through woods before crashing into the side of a cave.

Everything went black as Aredhiel slipped into unconsciousness.

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Sauria

Ulzuix Empire Territory

Saurian Quadrant

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When she woke up, she was in pain. She was injured, suffering a twisted ankle and wrist, plus bumps, cuts, and bruises.

Looking around, Aredhiel checked on the others. They were all dead. Her eyes filled with tears.

She was on a strange planet, her friends were dead, and she had no idea where she was or where to go for help.

She decided to travel along the nearby river and keep going until she came upon a town or place she could stay. She collected what food, snacks, drinks, and flashlights the others had, plus her own bags and purse.

It was extremely hot out, since it was the Hot Season in that part of the planet. She stayed by the crash site until dusk, then started traveling.

Aredhiel walked for days, traveling only at night when it was cooler out, staying along the river the entire time. She slept outside most days, under trees whenever possible for shade, bathing every evening in the river before starting her journey again.

At one point it rained heavily for four days straight. Aredhiel slept in a cave those days, taking a break from her travels.

When the rain finally ended, she started her evening journey once again.

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Azhem was more than ready for Leave! After arriving on Sauria, the seat of the Saurian Empire, along with several fellow crewmembers, he rented a pod and flew to the motel he had rented for the week.

After checking in and dropping off his luggage, he decided to go for a flight in the pod before having dinner.

His flight was quite relaxing. His Empire's seat was a fairly beautiful world, and he loved exploring it whenever he had Lesve there.

There were lovely meadows, forests, rivers, streams and hills, with very little civilization other than a dozen major cities, small towns, an occasional cabin, and some villages populated by indigenous races and, unfortunately, mutants in a few places.

Towards dinnertime he stopped at a small town. After doing some sightseeing and shopping at the town's open-air market, he went inside a restaurant for some roast beef, seasoned potatoes, and ale. Azhem enjoyed a large slice of banana cake as well. Banana cake was his absolute favorite cake, just barely edging out cherry cake.

After dinner, he flew to his motel. He watched some videos before heading to bed.

The next morning he showered and dressed, then went out for breakfast. He went to a local museum and spent hours there. For dinner he had cheese meat rounds and spicy meat soup. His beverage was a hearty Summer ale, one of his favorites.

Azhem slept in the next day, waking up around 10. He decided to fly around the planet and visit a forested area he had spotted on his flight the first day. He planned on going fishing in a river he saw near the area.

He was divorced, had been for ten years, and was a relative loner. He'd dated a few times over the years, mostly for periodic stress-relief, but none of the relationships were ever serious.

Azhem enjoyed his scenic flight in the mountains and surrounding valleys on his way to the forested area.

He always enjoyed flying like this while on Leave. As much as he loved living in and flying in space, he thoroughly enjoyed flying around planets, seeing different landscapes and learning about his Empire's planets.

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One morning, two weeks after leaving the crash site, she came across a farmhouse with a barn behind it. She went to the front and back doors to see if she could come in for something to eat and drink and a place to rest.

Both doors were locked. The house seemed unoccupied, but lived-in.

Not wanting to break into someone's house, she took shelter in the barn.

Other than a few chickens and a goat, the barn was unoccupied as well. Aredhel assumed the rest of the animals had been taken to market.

She was tired and sore after walking along the river all night, especially since her ankle was sprained.

She went into the back corner stall on the left, ate some energy bars and cookies, drank a bottle of water, then lay down on the straw and went to sleep with her head on her purse.

Later that afternoon, Aredhiel woke up. She ate some cookies and an energy bar, then decided to start walking again, despite the heat, since it looked like a thunderstorm would be coming through soon.

Two hours later, four mutant-looking creatures attacked her. She screamed as they came closer to her with their knives drawn.

Terror was in her eyes. She was trapped, cornered. She knew it and so did they.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard. The mutants stopped, then started moving closer to her again. Again, another loud roar was heard, followed by the sound of branches breaking. Azhem ran over to her.

”Back away from her! She's not yours!“, he yelled at them.

”YOU back away! We saw her first!“, a mutant said.

”She's mine! I claim her! Back away from her...NOW!“, he replied.

”GO FIND YOUR OWN PREY! WE SAW HER FIRST!“, another mutant yelled.

”YOU DARE TO DEFY ME?“, he raged. They lunged at Azhem.

He then viciously slashed and killed them all. Aredhiel screamed as he did so.

”Do you want to live?“, he asked her.

”Yes.“, she said nervously.

”Come with me and do exactly as I say! We must get out of here before others arrive!

“Despite what they probably led you to believe, I do not wish to harm you. THEY, on the other hand...”, he replied, grabbing her purse and tote bags. He threw her over his shoulder, then swiftly left the area.

He ran with her over his shoulder for a good half mile before stopping by a river. His transport pod was parked nearby.

She took a good look at him after he gently set her down and put her purse and tote bags in the pod.

He was tall, 6'5", with short brown hair. He had scales like snakeskin all over him, tattoo-like markings that looked like flames in the shape of dragon wings on his chest, plus markings that looked liked winged dragons on his upper arms. The only parts of his face without scales were his chin, lips, and nasal area.

He was shirtless and wore black pants and black boots that came up to his knees. A bear of a man, he had a six-pack and looked quite menacing. His physique could take your breath away.

He smiled ever-so-slightly at her and looked at her, studying her closely, intrigued by her.

“Forgive my manners. I am Azhem. I'm an Ulzuix. You're on Sauria, seat of our Empire. You are safe with me. Please, step into my pod. We need to get out of here. I smell more of them headed our way.”

They boarded the pod. Azhem then strapped her in, strapped himself in, and took off towards the town twenty-five miles away, where he'd rented a motel room for Leave.

“It's very nice to meet you, Azhem. I'm Aredhiel. I'm from Aekzhea. Thank you for saving my life.”

“Aekzhea? What are you doing all the way over here in our territory?”, he asked.

”I was traveling with friends. We were moving to Porzhu. We must've gotten lost, because where we crashed obviously is nowhere near where we were supposed to be traveling to.“, Aredhiel said.

“Where are the others?”, he asked.

“They died in the crash a couple weeks ago. I ended up with a twisted ankle and wrist, plus bumps, bruises and cuts. I've been traveling ever since.

“It's been hot, so I've been traveling at night by foot, bathing in the river every night before starting to walk.

”It looked like it would storm, so I started walking earlier today to get as far as I could before the storm hit. Am...am I your prisoner?”, Aredhiel asked.

Azhem smiled ever-so-slightly at her.

“No, you're not my prisoner.

”We aren't at war with your kind, nor are we at war with the Aekzhean Federation. We're not allies, true, but we're not enemies either.

“I had no idea your kind still existed. We thought your race was extinct or, at the very least, the stuff of legend. Obviously, and very happily, you're not.”, Azhem replied, taking a good look at her.

She was beautiful, as were all the members of her kind. She was buxom, had sharp angular features along with light bone structure.

Her face was shaped like a diamond, narrow at the eyeline and jawline. Aredhiel had high dramatic cheekbones.

Her eyes were large, almond-shaped, and had an angled appearance that followed the lines of her eyebrows.

Aredhiel had long reddish-brown hair that came halfway between her shoulders and waist, and pointy ears. She wore dainty earrings that dangled, along with three other small earrings in her earlobes.

In Terran mythology, Aredhiel would have been called an elf.

They had a nice meal in a restaurant, her first really decent meal, other than when she caught fish, since the crash. She ordered a beef, and he ordered a beef and sausage, along with potato wedges, deep fried cheese, and carbonated drinks for them.

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