Warlord's Mercy

By Cynthia Sax

Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect and they deserve the best.

That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.

After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.

He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.

Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
* * *
Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.
Book 1: Warlord Sky
Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty
Book 3: Warlord Unarmed
Book 4: Warlord Reunited
Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy
Book 6: Warlord’s Return

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cynthia Sax
• Release date: Jun 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781987971347

Cynthia Sax

Cynthia Sax lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever. Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.

Book preview

Chapter One

I love this planet, but I have no choice. I have to leave it.

Lea uttered that truth under her breath. She talked to herself. Constantly. That tactic had allowed her to survive four solar cycles of mind-numbing solitude. The long stretches of silence had been unnerving.

She was alone this planet rotation also. Again. Always.

The sole sound she heard was the wind whistling around giant rocks. Those monuments of stone shielded her from the severity of the sun’s rays, concealed her in their shadows.

She crouched on a path only two beings knew about—herself, and Har, the garment merchant she saw briefly every fifteen planet rotations. Sweat soaked Lea’s chest covering. Sand shifted around her booted feet. She gripped garments in her hands.

I don’t want to go. Her heart was heavy with grief and regret. Chamele 4 has become a part of me.

Its rugged wild beauty called to her. Its unforgiving nature tested her. It had taken everything she had to carve out a life on the planet, to earn her survival. And during that unforgiving process, she’d fallen in love with the harsh terrain.

She now considered Chamele 4 to be her home.

The time has come to find a new home. Her words were so softly spoken she could barely hear them. I’ll die if I remain here.

Her most recent commission confirmed that sad reality. She skimmed her fingertips over the chest and ass coverings she’d fabricated for her late friend, tracing the flower designs she’d pierced into the soft brown leather.

You always liked flowers. She addressed her friend, saying the words she couldn’t relay when Flor was alive.

They’d met solar cycles ago, during the long trip to Chamele 4. Lea had happily allocated her spare time to crafting delicate cloth blooms. Those had been woven into her new friend Flor’s long blonde hair.

We were all full of hope and excitement then, weren’t we?

Even her overly serious father sported a glimmer in his eyes and lightness in his tread. Relocating to Chamele 4 had been a dream of his. He’d prepared for it for most of Lea’s lifespan.

Flor, younger than Lea by two solar cycles, had been as excited about new start. She had bubbled over with laughter, brightening the interior of the ship with her smiles.

Everyone loved you. Her friend had that way with beings. Including me.

Flor had been like the sister she’d always hoped to have…which made her failure to save the female even more soul-crushing.

When we landed, the situation changed…drastically. Lea tried to block the images yet couldn’t.

Her father died within mere moments of setting foot on the planet’s reddish-brown sands, his dream snuffed out as soon as it was realized.

Daisun and his band of brutes attacked them, slaughtering the males and enslaving the females.

He laughed when he killed my peace-loving father—a male who had never intentionally harmed another being in his entire lifespan.

The Palavian had smiled as he kicked her father’s body aside.

She shuddered.

We ran as fast as we could. She and Flor had fled the blood-soaked scene, their visions of sanctuary, companionship, a normal life, evaporating under the hot sun. You were right behind me.

She didn’t know the terrain, didn’t know where to go or where to hide. Daisun’s males were bigger, stronger, faster than they were. Their pursuers caught up to them, captured Flor.

Lea would never forget the scream her friend had emitted. The sheer terror in that sound haunted her rest cycles.

I should have stopped, should have helped you. She had replayed that moment a thousand times in her mind, dwelling on the many mistakes she’d made. If I had done that, I would have been taken too, but we would have been together.

Young, inexperienced, and so scared, her brain had shut down, she hadn’t thought to stop. She had reacted based on pure instinct, and those instincts told her to run, to escape her pursuers.

That simple feat had almost been beyond the range of her abilities. It was mere luck she found the entrance to the underground tunnels. The gap in the rocks was large enough for her to slip into, but it was too small for the male to spot, to follow her.

She had waited in the dark like the scared girl she’d been until the screaming stopped and the attackers left. When she emerged, nothing remained. The ship had been stripped to nothing. Her father’s body was missing. Her friend had been taken.

I tried to rescue you, Flor. So many times. Lea sighed. She held as little knowledge about freeing beings and covert missions as she held about fending off attackers. Daisun and his thugs guarded you and the other slaves too closely. You were never alone.

The Palavian and his horrid males restrained the females, starved them, abused them. The worst was the gags. Their slaves weren’t permitted to speak. They were mute vessels for the males’ vile use.

Every time I spotted you, you were thinner, your beautiful eyes were duller. Lea traced the petals of a flower decorating her friend’s final garments. And I couldn’t do anything to prevent that from happening to you.

The misery and the wounds etched on Flor’s once flawless face had torn at her heart. It had frustrated Lea until she had wanted to scream.

If she’d had more skills, more experience, she might have been able to free her friend. She could have stopped that deterioration.

But it was too late now.

You’re dead. She gazed down at the soft leather.

There was no ability she could obtain to undo that. Her beautiful, rare flower of a friend had been killed, squashed under the heels of Daisun’s monstrous boots.

I’m sorry, my friend. Lea tucked Flor’s death garments into a crack in the rock. Har, her selling partner, would retrieve the chest and ass coverings.

No one knew of her agreement with him—how he supplied the rock vulture skins to her and then sold the items she crafted using them, splitting the credits with her.

He’ll arrange for you to wear these. Har would bribe the brutes assigned to bury Flor. He would ensure her friend was beautifully clothed when she was lowered into the sand.

It was the final thing she could do for Flor.

I failed you in every other way. Lea kissed the palm of her right hand and pressed it against the stone. But I will see you are respected in death.

She peered into the nook. Any creature or being could discover the garments. The likelihood of that happening was low, as there were many cracks and many rock facings, but it was possible. The relay point was only utilized for rush garments, for emergencies.

Like the death of a dear friend.

You were loved, Flor. Lea wiped the wetness from her face. Never question that. She straightened. Find peace.

Unable to linger longer, she turned and ran between the rocks, moving silently and swiftly, watching and listening for any indication she was no longer alone.

You took a risk leaving that last gift for Flor, she told herself. You’re already on Daisun’s radar.

It irked the Palavian that she had escaped him. And his supply of sex slaves was dwindling.

With Flor gone, he’ll increase his efforts to capture you.

Voices murmured in the distance.

Lea wedged her form between two rocks and waited, pressing her lips together to stop herself from talking. It was doubtful anyone would hear her, and it was a trial to keep quiet, but she wasn’t taking any more chances. She couldn’t be spotted. By anyone. Daisun’s spies were everywhere.

The sounds of chatter grew louder.

…the market. The voice belonged to Stench. That was the name she’d given to one of Daisun’s cruelest lackeys. He never cleaned his garments…or any other part of him. Her nose twitched. He smelled like something long dead. I’m told that fabricator cunt Daisun is looking for sometimes appears there.

Lea stiffened. There were only five garment fabricators in the area, and none of the others were female. She must be the cunt they were hunting.

Will he let us fuck her after he’s done? Her name for that male was Holes. His garments were in a constant state of disrepair. She’s small. She’d be so tight.

She silently gagged, the thought of him touching her unsettling her stomach.

"She’s too small. Stench’s voice faded. Once Daisun is done with the cunt, there’ll be nothing left of her. You’d be fucking chunks of…"

Lea couldn’t hear more, and she was grateful for that. She waited until she was certain they weren’t returning, and then she ran in the opposite direction, toward the tunnels she called home.

It was a long trek. Sweat dripped down her spine, underneath her garments. But she didn’t slow her pace. Solar cycles of surviving on her own, without a ship or any other means of transport, had supplied her with lean muscles and extra endurance.

This land has formed me. She brushed her fingers over the boulders as she passed them.

Varying shades of color delineated centuries of soil settlement and created intricate designs on its surface, designs she used in the garments she crafted.

I’ll take these images when I go, and that way I’ll always have a part of Chamele 4 with me. When she found a new home, somewhere safe, she’d utilize those memories as inspiration.

She had a vision of that fresh start, the place she hoped would be permanent.

My next home will be situated in a settlement. I’ll find a community filled with kind, supportive beings. Her lips curled upward as she dreamed of her future. I’ll be surrounded by friends, by a makeshift family, and no one will try to hurt me or the beings I love again.

She stopped for a moment to study a long-dead creature captured in the surface of a stone. A chest covering crafted in that shape would appeal to one of her war-loving customers.

I’ll have protection and art and conversation. She resumed her trek. Stars. I miss talking with beings—beings who talk back, beings who are not myself. She laughed softly.

The silence was necessary to avoid detection, but it carved into her. Too many planet rotations had been spent without one word spoken to any sentient beings.

There’s no reason to remain here. Flor, the only other being she cared for on Chamele 4, was dead…like everyone else Lea had cherished. I love this planet, but I might love the next planet as much, and it won’t host Daisun and his brutes.

The danger was too great to stay.

Once I locate a power converter for my ship, I’ll fly away.

Lea reached the edge of the boulder field, peered out of the natural coverage, looked straight ahead, to her right, to her left.

It’s only a short distance. Dips and crests of shifting sand stretched in front of her, land waves that would limit a being’s view. Once you climb over that first dune, you’ll be safe.

But there was always a risk of being spotted.

You can do this. She took a deep breath and sprinted, leaning over, staying low to the ground. Granules of sand pelted her boots and ass coverings. The sun scorched the top of her head.

No one called out an alarm. No beings ran after her.

She reached the peak of the first dune and descended. You’re safe. She exhaled heavily. Keep going. She climbed the next dune, trudged down it, giving herself verbal encouragement as she moved.

The mounds of sand gradually flattened.

Some beings on the ship complained Chamele 4 was merely sand, sand, and more sand. They clearly hadn’t completed any research before they’d agree to relocate. I don’t know what they were talking about. There’s plenty of variety.

There was the boulder field by the market, the dunes, the flat lands, and the Khatagtai Mountains where she lived.

Her gaze lifted to them. The mountains are the prettiest. They stood like giant sentinels, guarding her home.

The hum of a ship’s engine broke the silence.

What is that? Lea stopped and scanned the sky above her. It doesn’t belong to Daisun or his brutes.

They flew pieced-together sand skimmers. Their vessels were as ill-kempt as they were.

This ship sounds…new. Thank the stars. Excitement filled her. I might be able to bargain with the pilot. I’ll offer her or him some of my best garments. She or he will agree to transport me somewhere else. I won’t need a power converter.

The drone of the engines became a roar surprisingly quickly. Lea tilted her head back as a small vessel shot across the sky.

Oh shit. Dread replaced her exhilaration. That ship is flying too fast and too low.

The artificial wind it created whipped strands of her hair against her face.

It won’t clear the nearest mountain. A tremor rolled down her spine. Unless the pilot increased the ship’s elevation quickly, it would crash into the base of that unrelenting land formation.

If the crew survived that impact, they would be facing rock vultures, ukhels, and other dangerous creatures. The occupants of the vessel might be unaccustomed to the heat and the sun, could be suffering from injuries.

And they would be targets…as she, her father, Flor, and the rest of the beings on her ship had been. Fuck. Daisun and his brutes could reach them first.

The Palavian would order the slaughter of the males, the enslavement of the females.

I can’t let that happen. Not again. She sprinted, following the ship. Her boots skimmed the sand. Her arms pumped. She had to protect the beings, warn them.

Lea had been unable to save her father and her friend, but she could save the newcomers.

Spires of rock jabbed skyward. She dashed around them. The rock towers extended upward more and more, looming over her. The ship had avoided those. Hope blossomed inside her. They might clear the—

A boom echoed across the arid landscape, and her optimism shattered, crashing as the vessel must have done. A huge plume of red dust rose before her.

Any being in the vicinity will see that cloud. She moved faster, determined to be the first being to arrive at the wreckage. If the crew remained alive, she would ensure they stayed that way.

Lea passed a porthole half buried in the ground. Its surface was fractured with cracks.

She rounded the base of a spire, jumped over a piece of twisted metal sticking out of the sand. More and more fragments of what she suspected was the ship obstructed her progress.

Her nostrils twitched. The scent of spilled fuel clung to the air.

Judging by the debris around her, she doubted she’d have anyone to save. It would take a miracle to have survived the crash, and she had stopped believing in those four solar cycles ago.

While she maintained her harsh pace, she indulged her sadness, grieving over the deaths of the unknown crew for one, two heartbeats.

Then she pushed those emotions away. She had to do that. Life on Chamele 4 was brutally hard. If she wished to stay alive, she had to focus on the dangers around her, and what she needed to do and to obtain in order to escape her current situation.

That included a working power converter. The ship might have one.

As she approached the crash site, her body responded in the most peculiar way—her nipples tightening and her pussy growing wet. She rubbed her leather-clad thighs together. It was as though…

She was aroused.

By the destruction of a ship. Her face heated. Stars. She had to venture somewhere where there was a safe community of beings. The solitude was impacting her brain.

She rounded a bend and skidded to a stop. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Her ability to speak returned.

That hadn’t been a ship she’d seen. It’s an escape pod.

The tiny vessel was jammed between a boulder and the side of the mountain.

Ohhh…the damage is bad, really bad. The entire roof had been torn open. Its side panels were gouged and dented.

There were markings on it. She gazed closer at it.

That’s the universal language. Almost every being knew it. And Dorian. That was written and spoken by a species bearing the same name. She smiled. Thank you, Father. I never believed I’d use Dorian, but you insisted I learn it, and now it might save me.

That knowledge would be useful to locate the power converter.

Get moving, Lea. She extracted daggers from the sheaths on her thighs. You have no time to dawdle. Others will arrive at the site soon.

Parts were hard to find. Every being on the planet would be seeking to strip the escape pod of anything at all usable.

And newcomers weren’t the only possible source of danger. She approached the small vessel slowly, carefully. Assume it is occupied and the being is hostile.

Severed cables snapped and writhed on the sands around her. Blue sparks lit the area. Fuel wet the sand. It was a hazardous combination.

You have to do this. She might not get another chance to retrieve a power converter. They were coveted and in high demand.

A set of bloody handprints decorated a side panel. Lea paused.

"That’s one large palm. The being’s fingers were thick, appeared human or humanoid. I’m guessing you’re a male."

The handprints relayed more than that.

You’re injured. She glanced at the ground.

There was no trail of blood, not that she could detect. She didn’t see any footprints.

And you’re missing. He had vanished into the air.

She paused for a moment, uncertain of her next actions.

"You can’t be that injured, not if you moved that quickly. He should survive for a couple more moments. I’ll extract the power converter before I search for you."

He must be hidden. It would be safer for him if he remained that way while she found the part she