Read Online Alien Shores (A Fenris Novel, Book 2) by Vaughn Heppner - Free Book Online

civilization, nothing more. At all costs, he had to remain free of the aliens.
    “We need native clothing,” Cyrus said.
    Skar gave him a level stare.
    “The Kresh came after us from High Station 3,” Cyrus said. “I don’t know what that means exactly, but it shows they’re taking us seriously. You and I stick out like sore thumbs out here. We have to blend in better if we’re going to hide from the Kresh.”
    “I doubt the natives will give us their clothing.”
    “Yeah, I know,” Cyrus said. He’d been an enforcer for the Latin Kings. He’d used a gun before, and knives, and he’d made penniless people hurt for failing to make the vig, the interest on loan-sharked credits. “Let’s get this over with,” he said.
    He got up and they started walking. It made his left side throb, and he soon found himself panting, with sweat staining his clothes. Despite his injury, he didn’t believe he was that out of shape. Then it came to him.
    “This place must have a thin atmosphere,” Cyrus wheezed.
    Skar glanced at him. The soldier seemed the same as ever, a block of hardened muscle who could endure anything.
    For a moment, Cyrus hated the shorter man. You’d better be glad for what you have and exploit it to the max . With that resolved, he concentrated on the landscape and the approaching natives.
    The mountains towered to the left. A field of ten-foot spindly grasses waved far to his right. The approaching warriors kicked up dust, having come from a vast open expanse. They ran in a line, thickly muscled men standing taller than either Skar or him. Their reddish-brown skin looked tough, like cracked leather. They had dark eyes, slashes for mouths, and hooked noses. Each warrior wore leather garments and complex conical helmets of fur and bits of bone and black rock. Uniformly clad, each clan member carried a leather shield, what looked like a stone-shod spear, and a heavy flint dagger strapped against his chest.
    Wait a minute. The last one looked different. Instead of a man, she was a woman. And instead of blocky muscles, she was lithe, with long legs, and she wore a knit cap. She also happened to be well endowed, a regular barbarian princess.
    The others seemed similar to what he’d viewed in the reader these past three weeks. Were they Tash-Toi, or were they from another tribe? How likely was it he had landed in the right spot?
    “Do they speak our language?” Skar asked.
    “We’re going to find out soon enough,” Cyrus said.
    The lead warrior halted, pointing his spear at them. The other warriors and the woman, the barbarian princess, halted beside the first man. Each native glared with open defiance, possibly hatred. They were roughly a hundred yards away.
    “What do you want in our land, demons?” the first warrior, the largest of the group, shouted. He had a booming voice. “Be gone from us. Return to your valley of evil.”
    “They speak our language,” Skar said.
    Cyrus found it difficult to raise his left arm, but he managed to cup his hands around his mouth. “We’re not demons,” he shouted. “We’re men just like you.”
    The biggest warrior glanced at his fellows. Warily, he approached closer. After he had taken five steps, the others reluctantly followed. The leader halted fifty yards away.
    “You have the guise of men,” the leader shouted. “But we saw you float down from the sky. Only demons possess such magic.”
    “You’re wrong,” Cyrus shouted. “We’re men and we floated down from space. Surely, your legends tell of a time when people flew in the void.”
    The big warrior stubbornly shook his head. “You cannot deceive us, demons. We are the Berserkers, the fiercest warriors on the plains. Other clans run from us and hide. We do not accept your deception. Go! I, Stone Fist, demand it.”
    “Have you heard of Klane?” Cyrus shouted.
    “Is that the name of your chief demon?” Stone Fist shouted. “Do you attempt to conjure a spell with his name? Know, demon, that