Drega: An Alien Warrior Romance

(Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Book 3)

Hattie Jacks
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 DREGA

AN ALIEN WARRIOR ROMANCE

FATED MATES OF THE SARKARNII

HATTIE JACKS
Copyright © 2023 by Hattie Jacks
All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written
permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Editing: Polaris Editing
Cover: Reva Cover designs
Created with Vellum
 CONTENTS
JOIN ME!
Ruby
Drega
Ruby
Drega
Ruby
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Ruby
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Ruby
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Ruby
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Ruby
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Ruby
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Epilogue
Ruby
JOIN ME!
Acknowledgments
Also by Hattie Jacks
Just who is this Hattie Jacks anyway?
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 RUBY

oday is the day. I either make it through or I end up back in their clutches. And I’d rather die than be a captive again.
T I surface slowly as I make sure there’s no one around, releasing my held breath as quietly as I can. So far, the aliens
who abducted me haven’t worked out the heated pools which dot this strange underground place are linked.
Not that the enormous filthy ones with four eyes, snouts like pigs, and zero personal hygiene have ever used any of these
pools in their lives.
But they are my favorite because, boy, do they squeal when you hit them with a bolt from one of their ray guns.
I slither out of the pool. I’m dressed for battle in the tightest suit known to the universe. It’s a mixture of white and silver,
making me look oven ready, but given when I arrived here, I was naked, I’m not complaining.
Plus, it keeps me dry as I move around using the flooded tunnels. I wring out my long red hair and toss it over my shoulder
before I unclip the alien weapon from my side.
Yes, it’s a ray gun. Well, sort of. With a military father, I grew up around firearms from an early age. Dad did everything he
could to give me a healthy respect of things which go bang. It was just my lack of the right chromosomes which meant I could
never be what he wanted me to be.
My dad was many things, but enlightened wasn’t one of them.
Still, things could be worse.
Oh wait, they are.
I’ve been abducted by aliens, transported to a distant planet, and they were going to do experiments on me.
So far, so X-Files.
With their customary grunting and enough noise to wake the dead, a couple of the particularly ugly aliens lurch around the
corner at the end of the passageway I’m standing in.
This is too perfect.
My aliens picked the wrong human to abduct. Something they found out as soon as I was conscious. And I haven’t let them
forget it.
Both of them come to a comedy halt as soon as they see me. I already have the gun in my hand and take out the one to the
left before he can reach for his weapon, the blast sending him scudding backwards on his arse until he hits the wall at the far
end.
The other looks at his friend, then back at me.
“I’m a bit busy today,” I trill. “If we can get this over with quickly, I’ll be most grateful.”
As far as I’m concerned, there is a space ship out there with my name on it. I mean, not literally, there isn’t a space ship
called Ruby Armitage. But I’ve been in this place for several weeks, and as far as I can tell, it’s some sort of planet. And a
planet with rogue humans (aka me) on it has to have space ships.
I am getting out of here, even if it doesn’t mean I’m getting back to Earth. I am not a captive, and I didn’t spend my last
thirty years on a small rock circling a hot ball of gas to give up the moment I discover there is life outside our galaxy.
And it’s as ugly as sin.
The alien hesitates too long. I fire at his leg, and he goes down with a squeal of pain. Nothing compares to what they were
doing to me when I woke up, but each time I hit one, each time they cry out, it goes some way to assuage the utter, complete
terror I felt.
Almost.
I stride down the corridor. The sound of the guns discharging usually brings more of the aliens and occasionally one of the
big purple slug like ones. The ones actually in charge. Or at least they appear to have more than the one brain cell the others
share. The one I shot lies on the ground, glaring up at me as I kick away his gun.
Alien baiting is quite fun, especially with the four-eyed ones. Their attitude makes it fun. All bravado until I shoot them in
the bottom…when they’re running away.
“Let me see.” I look over him. “Do you have what I want?”
He grunts at me, and I have no option but to lean in closer and press my weapon into his stomach.
“Don’t move.” I grab for the bag slung around his waist in the hope it contains something useful, like the explosives I got
last time.
Those did cause some problems and a hell of a lot of running around from the four-eyed aliens.
“And you, little human, shouldn’t move either,” a harsh voice snarls at me, the syllables of the words disjointed but
recognizable.
Something hard is pressed into the back of my head. The wrong end of a weapon. I hold up one hand, the one holding my
gun, but keep tight hold of the bag I’ve stolen from the alien.
If they wanted me dead, I would be. There has to be a reason they want me alive, and I’m most definitely going to exploit
the weakness.
Turning my head slowly, I see the creature who has the weapon at the base of my skull is one of the purple slugs. While the
four-eyed aliens don’t have much in the way of reactions, the slugs are an unknown quantity.
But then, I was always one to take a gamble. I’ve probably tried every extreme sport going. Anything to make me feel alive.
To make my dad proud.
I slam my foot into the thigh of the four-eyed alien who shrieks again, spin around, knock the weapon from the alien slug’s
tiny hand, and leap over the prone bodies, pressing myself against passageway’s wall.
I’m in luck. Like so many other places, this part of the wall gives at my touch, and a hidden door opens, allowing me to slip
inside, just as the slug alien recovers his gun and points it at me.
I give him a little wave as the door shuts with a solid click, his squashed face turning a shade of blue, eyes glittering with
anger. I lean back against the damp wall in the darkness, close my eyes, and let out a long, shuddering breath.
That was close.
A low groan has my eyes flying open again. This place is not a usual passage. The sound echoes around me, and there’s a
dim light somewhere up ahead.
I can’t go back. I can only go forward. Story of my brand new alien abduction life.
 DREGA

ou will tell us what we need to know, Sarkarnii,” the Belek scientist grinds at me for what has to be the thousandth time.
“Y He has a vial of paraxio in his hand, and as much as I do not want to be drugged again, he knows I’m not saying a
word.
“Your mother loved Sarkarnii cock?” I suggest with a wry smile as I look up at the purple quivering lump, his tiny eyes
sunk into his flesh. “She couldn’t get enough of it. She rode me like the beast I am.”
The Xicop guard stood to my left slams his baton into the side of my head. My body swings from my arms, stretched high
up. I’d lash my shifted tail, but it too is bound by a chain to the wall behind me.
My tail is the only thing I can shift. The collar around my neck suppresses any other means of changing into my Sarkarnii
form.
So, when the Xicop pounds into me, I feel the click in my jaw. But the pain makes me snarl more at him, smoke curling
from my nostrils as a precursor to my flame.
The one thing the collar cannot control.
“Muzzle him!” the Belek squeaks.
Before I can fill my lungs with accelerant, partly because I have several broken ribs, the Xicop has the advantage and
slams the metal muzzle over my face. My breath rasps through the mesh, but any fire I do make will only burn me and not the
nevving enemy.
I growl loudly in frustration, the sound echoing around the room, the cell I’ve been stuck in ever since my brother Draxx
along with our fellow warriors made an attempt to rescue more humans. The fragile creatures are the key to getting out of the
Kirakos prison maze we’re all incarcerated in. More so, they are the only species which can unlock the starmap embedded into
the prison.
The map my brother, Draco, our leader, believes will show us where any remaining Sarkarnii are in the universe, after
most of our species was wiped out in a grab for our planet.
I want revenge. Finding Sarkarnii is secondary.
The Belek leans into me. “If you don’t tell us what we need, then you are useless and expendable,” he hisses.
I recoil from his proximity. The mere closeness of his flesh next to mine is almost worse than any pain they might inflict.
The hatred of touch, the one the Belek put there when they worked on me in the Factory over the last twenty evs since my
capture. Now they cage me, torture me, inflict their closeness on me. Unable to shift, the change to my physiology means touch
is agony.
When I can shift…I don’t even want to think about what happens then.
I grit my teeth and concentrate on the burning pain in my ribs, rather than the horror creeping through me at the possibility of
his hands on me.
“Just kill me and be done, Belek.” My voice buzzes through the mesh “If you don’t, I can guarantee I will find you and I
will kill you.”
“Looks like you need a dose, Sarkarnii. Maybe it’ll make you sweeter, more ready to tell me everything, absolutely
everything.” He croons at me, tiny hand cupping my chin as he brings the vial up to my face.
My entire body revolts, my accelerant stuttering in my chest, the remnants of my last meagre meal rising inside me. I want
to claw, flame, bite, do anything to get away from his hand.
“Last chance, Drega,” the Belek says, his voice smooth.
“Never,” I growl, but it ends in a whimper I cannot control as the drug is poured over the mesh covering my mouth and
nose.
 Paraxio.
Some Sarkarnii say they like it, entering a world of pleasure where they can lose themselves.
Not me. My different physiology means my reaction is one of a nightmare, a living death, pain and paralysis.
The nevving Belek scientist in front of me knows this as he watches my reaction.
“Perhaps if you told us what we need to know, I could give you something which will give you the pleasure you crave,” he
says, his form bulging and shrinking, his voice far away.
“Nev you,” I grind out. “Don’t…tell…nev you.” My body gives up, the drug taking my consciousness, slipping me into
darkness where the horrors live.
“It’s up to you, Sarkarnii. Tell us or die.”
“Die,” I snarl as his ugly face morphs into something much, much worse.
At least they’ll leave me alone, until this wears off and I am conscious. Then it will start all over again, until I can figure
out a way to escape or my brothers come for me. Only it’s been so long, I’m not sure they’re coming.
A scream rends the air as the drug hits and all the things crawl out of the walls at me.
 RUBY

he light gets a little brighter as I move out of the alcove I’ve found myself in and into a much larger circular room. It’s
T dank, the walls running with moisture and the floor covered with…I’m not going to inspect too closely given the smell.
Building up a security business meant I started at the bottom as a nightclub bouncer. At five foot five, it was hard
enough getting a job to start off with. But I was so damn sure I could prove myself, I was able to convince one local hard man
to take me on.
Mostly because I flipped him onto his back and shoved my foot in his throat. No one dared take me on after that.
But being a bouncer meant I saw some sights and smelt some smells.
I know when not to look too closely.
The light is brighter in the center of the room, but the place seems deserted. Only this is an alien planet and in the short time
I’ve been here, I don’t take anything for granted. Especially after I heard the noise earlier.
It sounded like a wounded animal.
I might like to pretend I’m tough, but I’ve always been a sucker for a cute kitten or a puppy, and I can’t abide animal cruelty
in any form. Or cruelty to humans abducted by aliens. It’s the reason I’m doing my level best to fuck things up here before I
escape.
There are other humans here. I met them, briefly. But I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find them. I won’t leave a fallen
comrade behind, so I figure I need to get hold of one of the slug aliens and make it tell me where the others are. Once I have the
information, my escape plan will be complete.
There’s a scuffle on the far side of the room, along with the sound of chains clinking together. My skin prickles with
concern.
There’s something in here and it’s chained. Either for its own good or mine. I grip my weapon a little tighter before
stepping farther into the room. As I get into the light, I can see a glitter of bright neon blue, which slithers into the gloom.
The air fills with a strangely familiar scent, of bonfires and autumn, reminding me of time spent kicking through leaves in
the Derbyshire countryside. Of all the weird things I’ve experienced so far, this is most definitely up there in the top five.
I take a step forward and my eyes adjust to the lighting.
Chains loop down from high above and are attached to the most enormous creature, kneeling outside the ring of light. His
scaled skin glows blue. Lights, maybe bioluminescence, flow between them. He has to be well over seven feet tall, if he stood,
and he is built like an outhouse. Huge, broad chest, massive muscular arms, hands by his side, bound by the chains. Behind him
is a long, scaled, spiked tail.
At his front is…
Unable to help myself, I gasp and take a step back. This creature is male, and he is enormous all over. And I mean
everywhere. Including between his legs…
“Good grief!” The phrase escapes my mouth.
He lifts his head slowly, as if it is a great weight. Naked everywhere else, a silver metal collar encircles his neck, but it’s
his eyes which have me pinned. They’re on fire. Pupils slit like a cat or a snake, the irises burn into me. His jaw is slack,
revealing a mouth filled with fangs. Smoke curls out of his nostrils like he’s just taken a drag.
“Little human.” His voice is somewhere between his last cigarette and the worst sin I’ve ever known.
Why has breathing suddenly gotten hard? I take a step to one side, my gun clutched tightly, unable to take my eyes off the
thing bobbing against his impressive abs.
He blinks, hard. Once, twice and his entire body sways in the chains. The fire in his eyes goes out. He drools.
I’m frozen to the spot. On the one hand, I don’t like seeing such an impressive specimen in chains. On the other, something
of his size could rip me apart, eat me up, and not break a sweat.
And why does the thought of being eaten by him make me heat up from the inside?
“What are you doing here?” I ask as he sways against his chains.
“Waiting for morsels like you to come calling,” he replies.
I could be wrong, because all the aliens I’ve met have strange ways of speaking, but there might be a slur to his words.
“Helpful.” I roll my eyes. “I mean, are you with the slug aliens or not?”
He throws back his head and releases a peal of harsh laughter. “The Belek want to kill me. The feeling is mutual.”
His head drops back down, hitting his chest as a long strand of saliva drips to the floor. I narrow my eyes. He is an alien.
Not like the others, not like anything I’ve encountered yet. He is humanoid and yet also, with his scales, fangs, tail and the
other thing which has now disappeared, he is as alien as the others.
Either I was hallucinating or…well, it’s gone anyway, and I want answers.
“Are you wasted?” I stride up to him with a boldness born out of the fact I have the gun and he has the chains. I grab hold of
his chin and lift his head up.
The eyes spark, but the fire remains MIA. He grins at me, and it’s the smile of someone caught with his hand on the liquor
bottle.
It reminds me of the many nights spent with my team of the biggest, baddest, burliest ex-soldiers I recruited. I didn’t take
any shit regardless of their sobriety or lack of it.
“So what if I am, little human?” There is a definitive slur to his words now I’m used to his voice. “Best way to be.”
He does the blinking thing again. Some of the flame returns to his gaze.
A clawed hand clamps around my wrist, the one holding the gun.
His reactions are fast, even in his current condition.
But mine are faster. The knife is under his chin instead of my hand. His eyes flicker as the point presses against his scales.
“But do you prefer to be alive?” I ask. “Because if you do, I suggest you release me immediately.”
He stares at me. Then his chest rumbles with a low, dirty chuckle.
“As you wish, little jewel.”
The clawed hand drops away, chains jingling.
“Now, how about you let me go?” he suggests, his eyes the clearest they’ve been.
I retreat until I’m sure he can’t reach me.
“And why would I do that? What’s to say unleashing a mostly wasted creature like you wouldn’t cause me trouble?”
The laugh rasps through the air.
“I’m absolutely sure you’re more trouble than I could ever be,” he replies. “But I can get you out of here, to safety.”
My eyes follow the looping chains which bind him to the walls and ceiling of this place. I put a hand on my hip.
“And exactly how are you going to do that?”
 DREGA

have to be dreaming, or this has to be part of my paraxio induced nightmare. There can’t be a human female here, not in this
I part of the Kirakos.
And my body cannot be reacting to her.
I don’t rut. Not for a human, not for any female. Rutting is for fools and lost causes like my brothers. Females envenomate
you and toss you aside when they’re finished.
The fact my cock left my pouch…it means nothing. Nothing. She might instead be a figment of my imagination. Even if she
smells like the ground after rain and my favorite spice. Paraxio does strange things to me.
The Belek must have removed my muzzle after I went under the influence, making her scent all the more intoxicating.
The female stands, one hand on her hip, her beautiful clear blue eyes fixed on me as I swing back and forth in my chains.
Nev it! I’ve forgotten what I said to her, but she’s clearly awaiting an answer. Deep down inside me, I feel my fire rising. If
I can concentrate it for long enough on the chains, I might be able to get free.
Only my chest is tight with the drug and with the inability to shift. I snort out a stream of smoke in annoyance and
frustration.
“So, you can get me to safety?” she asks, fingering the pulsar pistol in her hand with a familiarity I wouldn’t have expected
from a human female.
“I can,” I reply, although perhaps not with the confidence I could have used.
“And what is safety?”
It’s a good question from a hallucination.
“My brothers and comrades control part of this prison. I can take you, and you will be safe there.”
“From whom?”
Nev the paraxio! I’ve had so many terrible nightmares and yet this has to be the most frustrating one yet. A fragrant female
with a whole load of questions.
“From the Belek and the Xicop.”
“The slug aliens and the four-eyed ones? I think I can deal with them fine on my own. How do I know you’re not the
threat?” she asks, looking at my chains.
“You don’t,” I growl, my mouth suddenly full of fangs and the drug in my system making it hard not to react like a feral
beast.
She sighs, and the sound sings through my body. “Story of my life.”
Just as I think she might step closer to me again, the light clicks on in the room, and the cell door releases outward with a
hiss. Her eyes flare, and she backs away swiftly to the other side of the room.
“Wait!” I call out. “At least leave me a weapon, your knife.”
Those incredible eyes are huge as one hand scrabbles against the wall, the rest of her sliding along it. She shakes her head.
Behind her, I see the wall move. This female is a key within the Kirakos like all the others I’ve met. She has the ability to
move within the maze.
I wonder how long she has been here. My head is light with the paraxio and with the reaction of my body. But if she is a
hallucination, then she can go where she pleases anyway.
I hear the sound of the guards stomping down the passage to my cell. They’re certain enough of themselves, and my bonds,
that they always release the door before entering.
I swing my head back to the female and wish I hadn’t as fire sparks in my head and nausea hits me. She is gone. I want to
howl to the stars. I shake at my chains with a snarl.
 “Be quiet,” a voice next to me says. “Take this.”
The dagger is pressed into my hand, and I get the full force of her scent. It sends me reeling back as I grasp at the warm
metal, concealing it against my hand and wrist. She is worse than paraxio!
But she is real. The sharp implement in my hand means she has to be real.
Doesn’t she?
“Boss wants this one transported to the chamber,” one of the guards grunts next to me, my nostrils filling with the stink of
Xicop instead of the sweet female.
I attempt to look around him, to see if she has escaped, but my head is gripped by the second guard.
“Effin Sarkarnii scum.” He spits in my face.
His fellow guard releases some of the chain holding me.
“Xicop,” I slur.
“Shut the eff up.” He goes to slam a baton in my face.
It doesn’t reach me. Instead, he reels back with the dagger through his flesh. It makes a soggy sound as I withdraw it and
take the advantage, reaching for the chains and tugging them until they run free, pooling on the ground behind me.
I tug at my collar, but the thing shrieks a warning. Without my little key, I’m not going to be able to shift. The guards
scramble for their weapons, but even soaked to my eyeballs in paraxio, I’m quicker than them, using the chains to my
advantage, flinging them out and catching each guard with the thick links, knocking them off their feet.
I pull at the chains, they’ve been loosened so I can be transported and the things rattle clear of their mountings, pooling on
the floor beside me.
The female is nowhere to be seen. She must have used the hidden door to make her escape, and as much as I want to follow
her, given that a female this deep in the Kirakos has to be important, I need to get free and get rid of the collar first.
Then I can find her. Because she’s useful to me and for no other reason.
I slam a foot into the side of each guard’s head, and chains trailing, I make a break for it down the passageway from my
cell. At the end, it opens into a large space with a number of corridors leading away.
It’s sort of familiar. Maybe I saw it when I was first brought here? In a flash, it comes to me.
This is the Factory. The one blank space on the control room map. This is where the Belek perform all their experiments.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, and it’s the one thing I haven’t risked telling Draco yet, the Kirakos is not just a
prison.
It’s where the galaxy performs its dirty work.
It’s where monsters are made.
Monsters like me.
A sharp clacking brings me back to the present. A Rak, all pincers and attitude, sidles into the space from one of the
passageways.
“Sarkarnii,” it grinds through its mouth parts. “Return to your cell or face the consequences.”
At last, an opponent worthy of my energy.
 RUBY

s soon as the hidden door clicks behind me, I wonder if what I saw was real. All the scales, the muscles, the handsome
A face, and dashing neon lights flickering underneath his skin.
Everything I’ve seen so far in this place has been, frankly, hideous. It has had zero redeeming features, until now.
Except he was in chains. The tips of his fingers sprouted claws which put a velociraptor into the shade and the tail…
He had a tail, an actual tail.
Just how dangerous is he?
I can’t hear anything, as usual through the portal I’ve just used. For a second, I hesitate. Maybe I should go back.
Maybe he could be an ally?
But then a creature in chains could also be a vicious monster, even worse than the others.
I drop my head back against the rough surface behind me. This is why what I’m doing is most likely insane. I know nothing
about this place. I’m a human who, while not denying the existence of life outside of Earth, never expected to come face to face
with it.
Or end up in a fight with creatures which could haunt anyone’s nightmares.
The passageway I’ve found myself in is low ceilinged, and I have to crawl for a while, using the small glow light I
liberated on one of my many forays into the areas where the guards hang out.
I try not to think about the alien I left behind.
So, my military career might have stopped before it started, but it didn’t mean I completely abandoned the dream. I might
only be a ‘scrap of a thing’ as my ex-marine Sargent, Gerald, used to call me, with bright auburn hair and a complexion some
might call ‘porcelain’ and others might call ‘milk’, but I was taught by the best, and probably the dirtiest, fighter in England.
My father.
I’m not saying it was easy to be taken seriously when I tried to get into the security business, but I was determined.
Determined to prove I was right to a ghost who always looked over my shoulder.
He still isn’t happy. But I carved out my niche in extraction and personal protection.
And I know you never leave a man…or a woman…or a big blue alien behind.
“Fuck!” I swear under my breath as the passage forks and I contemplate which route to take.
I need to go back for him. There’s no knowing if he simply managed to stab himself with the dagger and is bleeding out. I
drop my head between my shoulder blades and groan under my breath before I turn awkwardly in the small space and
commence my crawl back.
This is insanity. I should go and lay low for a while, regroup and re-strategize. I’ve been free for what I think is a few
weeks. I’ve been mapping, liberating, planning all this time. I should not be jeopardizing what I have gained…
I should not be crawling into the unknown. Not for anyone. If there’s ever a place where you look out for yourself, it’s on an
alien planet where you are either food, bait, or…I don’t want to think about the other options.
Some things are the same the universe over.
Yet I still crawl on. Right back to where I started. I finger my gun. This has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve done.
Save for getting abducted. So much for being British. I thought it might at least give me some immunity from alien
kidnapping, but a lonely road in Derbyshire is like any other lonely road anywhere else in the world, apparently. Also, being
pumped up after a weekend of training in terrible conditions doesn’t mean they can’t just suck you into their spaceship, and
after that, you remember nothing.
Until you finally come to your senses, by which time it’s too late and all you can do is cause as much havoc as possible.
I put my hand on the wall in front of me, and it cracks. I take a deep breath and shove it open.
 Gun in hand, I’m out in one swift movement, ready for anything.
Chains swing from somewhere high above, their chinking melodious and grim.
But the chamber is empty.
“Hello?” I whisper, and it echoes rudely, spinning out and filling the space.
There is no reply.
I lift my glow light and, ready for anything, I check the darker corners.
It’s then I spot the prone bodies of the guards. I don’t need to inspect any further. The big blue guy is gone, and he’s left
destruction in his wake.
Way to not implicate me…
I back away as quick as I can. He’s not here, but other than my gut feeling he’s not all bad, I’m not going to risk being
caught by a creature of casual death.
I’ve had enough of death to last me a lifetime. It’s time to return to my hiding place and re-evaluate what happens next.
And the feeling of disappointment lurking in my stomach can go to hell. No matter how pretty he is, he is dangerous, and
more danger is the last thing I need.
I’m trouble enough, without help.
 DREGA

hate Raks. Foul things and the one creature the Belek bring out when they believe they’ve exhausted all other possibilities.
I Because their species has no emotion other than destruction and they remain ancestor bound to vest it on whatever they
are set upon.
I might not be able to shift. I can’t even see straight, but this Rak will not best me.
We circle each other slowly, its pincers snipping in the air in an attempt to intimidate. Shame I’m up to my eyeballs in
paraxio. The initial horror has stripped me to the bone, and all that remains is a dulling of my senses, as if I’ve dunked myself
into a vat of ale-wine.
Not dull enough I can’t take this creature on. I could take it with one arm tied behind my back.
I roar at it, filling my accelerant sacs as I avoid his pincers. Releasing a huge sheet of flame in the Rak’s direction, I see it
skitter backwards to avoid the heat.
But one good flaming is not enough. More heat will weaken it. Then I can finish the job.
One less Rak in the Kirakos is a good thing.
“Come on!” I roar as it stays out of reach. “You wanted this fight, so fight!”
“All in good time, Sarkarnii.” It clacks as it wields its built-in weapons. “The Belek have plans for you still, more’s the
pity, because it’s about time you were put down.”
Under any other circumstances, I would be in control, but with veins full of a drug which does things to my mind, control is
long gone. I’m in the air, twirling towards him, ready to do what needs to be done, when a pincer comes out of nowhere,
slamming me to one side, and I’m seeing stars I should not be seeing.
“Stupid creature.” The voice slices through my consciousness.
I’m moving, but I’m not sure how. My head is filled with a pounding, rasping noise.
“Give it more paraxio.”
I pry open an eye. I’m on the ground, being dragged along by my tail, I think. The collar is repeatedly shocking me, and my
ability to vocalize has gone. Somehow, I still have hold of the dagger, and with some difficultly, I palm it. I can’t see the other
speaker, but from the guttural nature of the speech, it has to be a Belek scientist.
I try to twist, but with my tail in the Rak’s pincer, I’m unbalanced. Somewhere to my right, there’s a flash of light and a
sharp pain in the back of my neck as a hypospray is applied.
“Nev you!” I snarl, increasing my attempt to get free.
Only it’s as if everything is slowing down, disappearing into a long, dark corridor. I should be descending into madness.
Instead, there she is.
The human female, her hair shining, curling around her like a flame. Eyes as bright as my hyrons, the ones which dance
beneath my skin, are focussed entirely on me. I feel my hips twitch.
“I cannot dance for you, little jewel. I have not claimed you.” I push the words out past an uncooperative tongue.
She lifts up her pulsar weapon, pointing it at me, and licks her lips. The action causes my cock to emerge from its pouch,
pulled by an invisible force to her.
Nev it to the ancestors! She is intoxicating, far more than the drug in my system. Her scent, her presence, everything. I try to
get to her, but the more I move, the farther away she is until she is no more.
And all is dark. Soft, delicious darkness which curls around me like warm smoke.
It seems like forever since I was able to enjoy anything, but this is delicious. It’s almost as if the female is already in my
arms and I am buried deep inside her.
Then the cold hits me like a punch in the gut. I fire upright, gasping, grasping at shadows.
 I lost control. I never lose control.
It matters little what the Belek have done to me. It can be managed. I can avoid touch. I can stop anyone from getting close
because I am Drega.
And I am in control.
I will not miss being touched.
Chains sway as I get to my feet.
“Not this again!” I throw my head back and groan, the room spinning. I am surrounded by bodies. The female was simply
smoke, but what I have done here was not.
This time, I’m getting out of the Factory for good and woe betide anything which gets in my way.
 RUBY

can usually power nap anywhere, at any time. I needed to conserve my energy after my unexpected find. Only this nap did
I nothing for me at all.
There were dreams. Dreams which involved a big blue scaled alien, a certain part of his anatomy which, it appears, I
simply cannot unsee, and what he wanted to do to me…
Needless to say, I woke up a sweaty mess.
But I made my plans. My bag is packed. I will be getting out of this place today, no matter what. I know there is one final
area I haven’t explored. It has to be the way out.
It has to be.
I sneak down one of the main corridors, weapon in hand and cursing inwardly at not having my dagger.
Why I gave the scaly guy my only other weapon is a complete mystery. He has plenty of built-in weapons (and I’m not
including the blunt instrument between his legs in this description), so he should, by all rights, have been able to get out of
those chains without any difficulty.
Although, given he was as high as a kite on something unknown, I thought his ability to escape might have been curtailed.
Seemingly it wasn’t. Which means there’s a big blue creature also haunting these halls, and I’d like my dagger back without
adding any additional holes to my hide.
Or maybe I want to meet him again?
I stomp down the passageway using an alien glow stick to light my way. I have a gnawing feeling in my stomach which I
don’t like.
That alien is dangerous.
If he’s in chains, he’s trouble.
He isn’t your ally. None of them are.
If my dad taught me anything, it was to be self-reliant, and not in the way he thought he did. When you spend your entire
childhood trying to please someone who was rarely there, only to have him reject you when you tell him your dreams…you
have to rely on the one person you can trust.
He didn’t want me to join him or join up. It isn’t for girls. We rowed, and I stormed out.
Then he went overseas, and I did my thing.
And we never spoke again.
I’ve mourned the loss of him. Of course I have. But it doesn’t matter now. Reconciliation is no longer possible, and he may
never even know I’ve gone.
The passage forks. I stop my stomping. I have to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing. Now is not the time to be
wallowing in the past or thinking about big blue scaled aliens who are sculpted like Greek statues and smell like autumn spice.
To contemplate going back for him is a suicide mission. I’ve done what I can, and given the way he seemed to think me
incapable of surviving, the sour feeling in my belly turns into the acid of annoyance. These aliens have repeatedly
underestimated me. I pull the bag off my shoulder and check inside, one of my bad habits.
The fork to my left rings out with a low, dark growl.
“Let’s not go that way.” I hurry down the right fork until I hit a dead end. The growl follows me, and I find I’m pressing my
hand on every part of the rough-hewn wall. The strange ability I have to move through this place, to find hidden doors which
the other aliens cannot, has suddenly deserted me.
Right when I needed it most, given the proximity of the heavy footsteps coming my way.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I swear to myself as I attempt to be methodical, even as the hairs on the back of my neck prick, even as
there is a deep, bone-chilling snarl behind me in the dark.
Finally, underneath my index finger, something clicks, and I push with all my might, rolling out in my haste to get away from
whatever it is that wants a piece of me.
A roar fills the air around me, and I’m curling up in a ball around my weapon, giving myself valuable time to deal with the
oncoming shit storm. I feel a strong wind whisk over me, the sound of flesh on bone, and a high-pitched whimper. Then silence.
The silence has me on my feet. My glow stick is two steps away, but the smell which reaches my nostrils is familiar. I spin
on the spot, gun at the ready.
“Couldn’t keep away, little female?”
His voice rasps out of the dark, warming my stomach like mulled wine and irritating the hell out of me.
“You!” I snarl.
In the darkness, his scales glow with neon blue lights, and a tail lashes behind him.
“Me.” He steps out into the light, the dagger I gave him dripping with black goo.
The chains dangle from his wrists and, oddly, tail.
“Your escape plan didn’t work then?” I say with a twitch of my lip.
To my utter delight, he scowls. It suits him, what with his high cheekbones, carved from blue stone, and slim, elegant,
pointed ears which are filled with piercings. His eyes have some fire, the pupils long slits in the center.
“There was a Rak, and I’m still under the influence of that nevving drug,” he grumbles, dagger dropping to his side. “I
defeated it.” His brow furrows as if he’s not entirely sure of what he’s saying. “I think I defeated it. But with you here, we can
still get out.” He takes a step towards me, and I take a step away, confused.
“What makes you think I want to help you escape, especially if you can’t manage it yourself with all those…muscles.” I
keep my gaze very firmly on his face and not those sculptural abs or the area beneath them.
He hitches a lip to reveal a sharp fang, takes another step, and we begin a slow movement around each other in the passage,
him stalking like a predator, hips swinging and fanged smile widening, me wondering at what point I should simply shoot him.
Until the chains attached to him tangle under his feet, causing him to stop short, a gorgeous crease appearing across his
brow as his flame-filled eyes alight on me, then at the chains. He pulls at one, which drags his opposite arm back. He does the
same with the other arm.
“Really?” I query as he goes to do the same again. “Any chance you could focus?”
“I am focused,” he replies, moving his arms back and forth.
I shake my head, step in, and snatch the dagger away from him.
“How about now?”
“Give it back, female,” he snarls at me. “If that’s what you are.”
He narrows his eyes, and it would appear focussing is the least of his worries. The fact he’s standing has to say something
about his physiology, given how completely wasted he is.
Again.
“I think you forget it was mine in the first place, alien,” I retort. “The name is Ruby, and I would appreciate it if you
addressed me as Ruby and not female.”
Those incredible eyes clear for a second. His full lips twitch.
“Alien?” he says. “How many humans have you seen around here? I think you’re the alien, little jewel.”
“I’ll have you know there are at least two other humans here, and I’ve only seen one of you.” I shove the dagger around to
the back of my suit. “Which definitely makes you the alien.” I fold my arms. “And are we actually arguing about this, given you
can hardly string a sentence together?”
He growls at me, an honest to goodness growl. “You think I want to be like this?”
“Obviously not.”
“So, help me.”
I contemplate him. At least this time he’s not drooling. I could probably do with some muscle for what I’m considering.
Plus, he is an alien, so maybe he both knows where the ships are and is able to pilot one.
This big blue monster could actually be useful.
“Okay, but don’t forget I’m the one with the weapons, and I am perfectly willing to use them on any alien, including you.”
 DREGA

y body shakes with the effort of keeping it under control and, frankly, upright. The only saving grace is, while I can’t
M see straight, like the little female says, I’m not in the grip of some horrible nightmare.
Probably.
Unless being at the mercy of a human female who smells like all my favorite foods, along with her own special scent,
causing my cock to push at my pouch, desperate to emerge, is a nightmare.
A female called Ruby. The one with all the weapons and all the control. Something she won’t have for long, not when I
have her on her back and I’m buried inside her.
I shake my head violently to rid it of such thoughts.
I do not rut. I am not in rut.
This female is trouble.
Only, I’m pretty sure I ripped a Rak to shreds in order to get to her. All my desires to escape the torture of the Belek, and it
is this female who caused me to break out.
“Something wrong?” she asks, her gorgeous eyes bright. “Don’t you want my help?”
I use what tiny amount of effort I have left to bring my body into line, pulling myself up to my full height and towering over
her.
“I am Drega, high healer of the Sarkarnii Bask, leader of the Scaled Battalion and lord of the Sky Sea, and I am at your
service, little jewel.”
Her gaze rises over me until her head is tipped up and I can see all of her sweet face. Jewels of eyes set into a face no full-
blooded Sarkarnii male could resist, with her deep red lips, parted slightly, lips any male should want to kiss to oblivion. Her
long hair is the color of my flame as it tumbles down over her shoulders and back. As I remembered it.
I remembered her.
She is real.
“Well, now we have that out of the way, Lord Drega”—her lips lift at the corners—“shall we put your highness’ escape
plan into play before the other aliens come back?”
She stands back from me, her brilliant eyes tracing the chains.
“I’ve tried to get free,” I grumble
She hums.
“Stay here, where I can see you.” She swipes up the light-stick from the floor and takes two steps into the darkness.
“Wait!” I call out.
“What?” She pauses, casting me an annoyed glance.
“The yeykok back there is dead. I don’t want you to be alarmed.”
“Yea-cok?” She mangles the pronunciation.
“The creature chasing you.”
“You killed it?”
“It was chasing you.” I shrug. “It would have eaten a snack like you.”
For a second, her eyes widen, then they darken as her lips bunch up.
“Don’t do it again. Not unless I ask you. I fight my own battles.” Her eyes blaze, and I find myself smiling at this little
creature who is so full of fire. “And stop smirking,” she adds before turning with a huff.
I follow the glow of the light stick. It hesitates once she reaches the body, but then it’s unlikely she can see everything with
her human eyes. In my limited experience with humans, their eyesight is poor compared to a Sarkarnii.
 Except the fact she’s managed to survive here, alone, at all is something of a surprise. But then, nothing should come as a
surprise in the Kirakos, not anymore.
Not after what was done to me.
She drags the chains back to me and works at the links nearest my left wrist with the dagger. It would help if I weren’t
seeing three of everything, and I’m unable to work out what she is doing. My entire body tenses in case she touches me or cuts
off my hand with the dagger.
Or touches me.
So, when the heavy chains drop free of one wrist, I make an audible grunt of appreciation. The one on my other arm is
released as swiftly.
“You did it,” I say.
“Yeah, don’t get all enthusiastic about being free or anything. You can thank me later,” Ruby says as she grabs one of my
arms.
I immediately start to recoil, and she glares at me.
“I need to see if I can open the cuffs.”
“I don’t like being touched,” I say, swinging away from her in an instant.
This time, it’s not for the agony or the fear of what happens when my skin touches another. It’s because I’m not entirely sure
I can control myself if she does touch me. Not with the rut threatening.
Because I don’t rut. I never rut. If she touches me and it hurts, it will all be over. I will never be a whole Sarkarnii. I will
be unable to take a mate. I will be useless.
The agony I wanted to avoid cramps in my stomach. I want to curl into a ball. Instead I straighten up in the hope my
physical presence might make this bold female think twice about her behaviour.
“Then this is going to be difficult. I’m not giving you a weapon again, not until I can trust you.” She takes a step back from
me, pulls out her pulsar pistol, and aims it. “Which means you need to be able to defend yourself, so hold out your arms.”
My body obeys her.
“What are you doing?” The words are hardly out of my mouth before she lets rip with two shots, leans to one side, and
fires a third. “Are you mad?”
“No.” She stalks past me. “And you’re freer than you were, without needing to be touched. Again, you can thank me later.”
She shot off the cuffs. They tumble to the ground, along with the one on my tail. This has to be a dream…a nightmare.
Ruby fills my senses completely.
Except the passageway is empty and she’s nowhere to be seen.
“Ruby!”
I’m at the end of the passage where it splits in a single bound, my head swimming with the effort, but if I don’t move, I can’t
metabolize the paraxio, and as long as I’m compromised like this, escape from the Factory will be significantly harder.
But not impossible.
And I need my little human spark of delight. If she can make her way around the Factory unhindered, she is most definitely a
key, and she may even be the key to the star map itself, the one we’ve been looking for.
“Ruby!” Shouting makes my temples pound, but a faint noise has me turning left, where the passage opens into a larger high
ceilinged area. I have to find the female.
“Took your time,” she says, joining me out of nowhere, my entire being involuntarily flinching.
“It would help if you told me what your intentions are.”
She raises her eyebrows. “I fully intend blowing this place to hell, finding the other humans, stealing a space ship, and
getting the hell away from here.” She pauses and glares at me. “Does that help?”
“I meant shooting out my bonds without warning me” I return her gaze. “But yes, that does help, and I can tell you your plan
will fail. No one leaves the Kirakos.”
“Is that right?” A huge smile creeps over her face, and my heart lights up with a flame so hot it feels like my chest is
burning from the inside out. “Guess the Kirakos hasn’t met me yet.”
 RUBY

h, the look on Drega’s face is an absolute picture. Mr. High and Almighty who introduced himself like he was some sort
O of royalty. Maybe he is, but to me, he’s the muscle I need.
He shuts his mouth with a snap as I look up at him in defiance.
This alien is BIG. I was right when I thought he had to be over seven feet tall—he might be closer to eight. And he is
covered in muscles. Every part of him, including his arms and thighs.
Oh boy, those thighs! Thick as tree trunks. Yummy.
Wait…I’m staring at his crotch.
“Like what you see, female?” he rumbles in his smokey, rasping voice.
“I was wondering if you ever wore pants,” I stumble out.
“My name is not Draxx.” He huffs out a stream of smoke, and I take a step back. “I usually wear clothing unless I need to
shift.”
“Shift?” I query. This is officially the longest conversation I’ve had with an alien, and because he doesn’t seem to want to
hurt me or eat me, I’m intrigued by Drega.
“I can change into another form,” he says, tail lashing. “A larger one than this.”
“Go on then,” I say. “I’d like to see,” I add.
Drega fixes me with his piercing eyes, and it seems whatever drug he claims had a grip on him, he is coming out of it,
because the gaze raking over me is sharp and knowing.
Drega is not only muscle. He’s something else entirely.
“I can’t…” His hand moves up to the metal band around his neck. “Not at the moment.”
“Oh.” I try not to sound disappointed, but given the only alien stuff I’ve seen so far has been fucking ugly as sin, I’d quite
like to see some alien action involving Drega who is far easier on the eye. “Maybe later.”
He nods curtly. “Maybe.”
Weird.
I let it slide.
“If my plan is so bad, what’s yours?”
“I know where the other humans are, and I have allies outside of the Factory. If we can get out of here, we can meet up with
them. Their aim is the same as yours, to get out of the Kirakos.”
“You know where the other humans are?” I have my hand on my gun, and I put some space between us. “Why?”
Drega inclines his head on one side and, damn him, he looks incredibly handsome as the light catches the scales on his
cheeks, highlighting those sculptural cheekbones. His eyes burn with a cool flame.
“Because I helped save them from the Belek, that’s why,” he says, as if it’s the only possible answer he could have given.
“The sooner you realize I am not your enemy, Ruby, the better for us both.”
A low, guttural growl fills the space we’re standing in. Drega jumps, sways, and has to grab at the wall to steady himself
with a snarl.
I try not to think about how the way he said my name sent a pulse through my entire body. Or how it sent a memory flash of
the erection which is burned into my brain flickering to the forefront of my mind.
“I guess we’re probably going to need to work it out later, Drega,” I reply. “In the meantime, let’s just assume I’m going to
shoot you if you cross me, okay?” I waggle my weapon at him.
He snorts out some more smoke, which is something I probably should also ask about, but given a cohort of four-eyed
aliens, the ones he called Xicops, is marching into the open space in front of us, I’ve run out of time.
 We both have.
“This way.” I go to touch him and think better of it.
Drega stands firm, snarling at the Xicops.
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re terrified, big guy, but we need to go. We’re outnumbered, and I’m the one with the weapon,
remember?” I stamp my foot to get his attention.
Although, the Xicops aren’t actually advancing on us. Instead, they’ve gone into a huddle. Unusual, but I’m not going to lose
the advantage because Drega wants to go full predator.
He drops to his knees. “Take off my collar.” He leans into me.
“What?” I go to move away, but he grabs my upper arms, and I’m pinned.
“Take off my collar. I need to change into my other form.”
“You want me to touch you?”
“Do it.” He closes his eyes.
“Why me?”
Drega opens his eyes, and I could drown in them. The flecks of neon are mesmerizing, beautiful. His slit pupils are like
dark windows into his very being.
“Because you are a key, and I know you can.”
I open my mouth to protest, but there’s nothing I can say. Drega has known me for no time at all, but he seems to believe in
me.
Does this make him more of a fool or a being I can trust? I’m not used to trusting anyone.
I lost any trust I had the day my father rejected me. The day he told me I wasn’t to follow him. The day my heart broke into
pieces.
The only trust I have is one built on a solid foundation of friendship and camaraderie. It made me a great security operative,
but at such a cost.
Too great a cost, maybe.
I take in a deep breath. Over Drega’s shoulder, I see the Xicops break formation and spread out, slowly, all their many eyes
on us.
“Okay.” I put my hands on his collar. “What do I do?”
“I don’t know. You should feel a catch,” he says, teeth clenched. “Probably the same way you find the ways through the
Kirakos.”
My hands are trembling, partly with adrenalin and partly with proximity to Drega. He smells incredible, like fragrant
burning wood, a hint of spice, a hint of fresh winter air. It’s terribly distracting. I hold my breath and run my fingertips lightly
over the warm metal which almost seems embedded in his skin.
It’s then I realize Drega is also holding his breath. His eyes closed again, his entire body is still. Heat flows from him, neon
flickering under the smooth scales which cover his body. I touch something which depresses with a click.
The collar falls away.
“Get back.” Drega stares directly into my eyes. “And stay back.”
He stands. And then a bolt from one of the Xicop weapons pings over our heads. Before my eyes, Drega expands, scales
shimmering as he grows larger and larger, sprouting wings, horns until he fills my field of vision. Just when I think things can’t
get any weirder, with a roar, the thing produces a great sheet of flame. I stumble back from the sight, trip over something, and I
go down, hard.
My head bounces off the ground and everything goes dark.
 DREGA

xpanding into my shifted form is significantly harder given the paraxio circulating in my veins. Especially as I want to
E change into my Sarkarnii form and not one of the others who have recently touched me.
I should not be able to shift into anything other than Sarkarnii, and yet I can. Forms I don’t recognize. As a healer, I
should understand what has been done to me, but without testing myself, all I can fathom is I’ve been somehow changed at the
molecular level, and I do not know why.
Finally, with a roar, my Sarkarnii breaks through. I fill my accelerant sacs and let rip with a flame I hope incinerates
everything in the area.
Except…
Ruby!
With a struggle, I turn in the now small space. I told her to get back, but what if she didn’t believe me?
What if I’ve hurt her?
Nev the paraxio clouding my mind!
“Will you ever learn, Sarkarnii?” The usual Belek scientist is joined by a Belek I recognize, his garb is that of a much
higher ranking.
Warden Gondnok.
Ruby is clutched to the filthy chest of a guard, a pulsar weapon pressed into her temple. Her body is limp and her eyes are
closed. Bright red blood runs from her head, dripping onto her silver and white clothing.
I snarl, feeling my accelerant sacs filling, only I cannot flame again or I risk her life.
“Do you like the little human, Drega?” the warden asks. “Do you rut for her?”
“I. Don’t. Rut,” I snarl past huge fangs. “Hurt her and you will die, Gondnok, if it’s the last thing I do.”
He glances at Ruby and then back at me.
“Then it looks like you’ll have to surrender because to hurt us is to hurt her.” His tiny eyes glitter with danger as both he
and the scientist move in front of Ruby.
If I thought the scientist was nasty, then this warden is worse, and I’ve seen my fair share of both. The Belek are not
warriors, but they are not to be underestimated.
“Give her to me,” I say, “and I’ll give you what you want.”
I will never give up my fellow Sarkarnii, but I have to buy some time. Time to think, to get Ruby somewhere safe.
The warden slowly raises his head, his purple segments wobbling as he contemplates my Sarkarnii form. “I’m not sure I
want your information anymore.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you to rut for this female.”

WHAT THE NEV have I done? I stare at Ruby lying on the floor in front of me. She’s breathing at least. I might have met a
few humans, but their physiology is a mystery. So, I don’t know how badly injured she is, and my not-rut means I’m virtually
feral being this close to her.
I want to touch, but I cannot touch. I want her to be mine and she cannot be mine.
The churn of emotions in my head is sickening. I don’t rut. I am an descendant of the High Bask, and I offered our bodies as
a means to an end.
I am also a healer and I know how the rut changes a Sarkarnii. How our bodies change, the way the mating gland pumps the
mix into our blood, bulking up our muscle mass and improving our shift so we can battle any other male who might want our
female. Making us ready to breed, making our cocks hook, our barbs to grow, our cum to be irresistible to a female. To help us
withstand the females venomous bite.
A growl rises, and I shove it back down. I am a dishonorable warrior. I do not deserve a female, this female, the one I
don’t rut for.
This is not her choice. It was not mine to make either. All I wanted was to buy us some more time. I drop my head back
against the wall and blow out a long stream of smoke, attempting to find some sort of inner peace.
There is none to be found.
Once I was a good warrior, a great healer, a leader. Once I ran and shifted with my brothers, and we had the time of our
lives. Once we lost our planet, we made plans, we looked for revenge. We took solace in each other, in our carved out
existence, mostly of piracy but some to cover ourselves in glory, on our ship, the Golden Orion.
A ship I could have introduced Ruby to, as part of her grand plan.
How like me to rut for a female with a plan. Except, yes, you guessed it. I don’t rut.
Instead, heat rises within me, my cock pushing insistently at my pouch. I finger the collar at my neck. The chain running
from my arm to hers tinkles against the rough floor of yet another cell at the warden’s disposal.
Ruby stirs.
Everything within me wants to be close to her, but I can’t quite bring myself. Not when I’ve sold us both out to the Belek.
Not until she knows what’s going on and can make her own decision.
She pushes her hair, a sheet of flame, back from her face with a groan, peering at her surroundings with narrowed eyes and
a pained expression until they alight on me.
“What happened? You got big and the lights went out.” Her hand moves to her waist and comes up empty, given the guards
took her weapons. She stares at the cuff and chain for a second. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“I shifted into my Sarkarnii form, but unfortunately the Belek got to you before I could stop them.” I hold up my arm with
the chain. “It was this or they would kill you.”
“They don’t want to kill me, you idiot!” Ruby says, her teeth gritted. “If they wanted to kill me, they’d have done it long
ago, before I was a nuisance…while I was being a nuisance!” She flings out the arm with the chain. “Now I’m back to square
fucking one. Thank you, Drega.”
“You underestimate what the Belek will do to get what they want,” I growl at her.
“And you underestimate how much I value my freedom,” she retorts, turning her back on me.
Nev it to the ancestors! This is going to be a difficult conversation.
 RUBY

y head throbs, and although I’m mad at Drega, I’m more mad at myself for not being aware of my surroundings.
M I’ve been in this place long enough to be sure of what is behind me at all times. Especially after I fell through a few
walls. I touch my temple and my hand comes away red. My stomach revolts at the sight of blood.
“Ruby?” Drega is on his hands and knees, moving towards me. “Are you feeling well?”
I give him a good glare. “I was better before you got us both caught.” I rattle the chain at him.
It’s not a fair assessment and it doesn’t make me feel any better.
“Running around this part of the Kirakos is not any way to escape,” Drega says, shifting into a sitting position with his back
up against the wall next to me, the chain which binds us together looping into a pile on the floor between us. “Some parts are
easier to navigate than others, but the Factory is virtually impermeable.”
“Great. Any chance you could have told me that earlier?”
“Probably should have,” Drega replies. “But the drug…”
“It must be pretty powerful to work on you.” I look him over. “Especially when you did that thing where you got bigger.”
“My shift,” Drega says. His head is tipped back against the wall, but his eyes don’t leave me. “I told you I change…”
“You didn’t just change…you became something else. Another thing you didn’t warn me about.”
“There wasn’t time, and in my experience with humans, you have to see it to believe it,” Drega says, dismissively.
“What can I say?” I fire out. “I’m not used to small things which can become big things.”
Not strictly true.
My face heats the minute the words come out of my mouth. Drega says nothing. My cheeks flame.
“This was the best I could do,” he says after a long silence.
“Being locked in a cell and chained together.” I sigh. “Hate to think what the alternative was.” I hold up a hand. “And don’t
say death.”
Drega clears his throat and stares up into the dim light above us. “It’s not quite so simple. The Belek want me to rut for
you.”
The chain tinkles as I draw my hand up to my chest. “Rut?” I squeak.
“Sarkarnii rut for their females. I told them I do not rut, but it’s not strictly true.” Drega swivels his head and pins me with
his flaming gaze. “I have no control over who I rut for.”
“Then they can’t make you…rut.” My guts tumble over themselves as I attempt to work out where this conversation is
going.
“No, but the warden—he recognized the signs.” Drega drops his head back and lets out a long stream of smoke from his
non-existent cigarette.
A flash of memory spears through me. Drega growing wings, fangs, horns. Drega becoming a dragon.
“Signs like you becoming a dragon.”
“No.” Drega is suddenly in my face, so close to me I can’t even breath. “Signs like I would kill to protect you.”
“You don’t like me touching you. Why the hell would you want to kill to protect me?” I snort, lifting my hand and putting it
on his chest.
His scaled skin is silky smooth, hot to the touch, and the neons flicker under my palm. Drega looks down at my hand, but I
can already feel him tensing up. I take my hand away.
“See?”
He dips his head between his shoulder blades. His tail lashes.
“I rut for you, Ruby, whether I like it or not, whether I want to deny it or not. I rut for you, and you will be mine.”
 RUBY

f I was in any way unsure of what a rut is, all of my confusion disappears when I see the bulge Drega is sporting, and my
I entire body floods with fire.
I can’t possibly forget what I saw when I first encountered him. That sort of monster is a tale to frighten any young
maiden. Which I am not.
I’ve had my fair share of men, but what Drega has in the meat and two veg department…wherever he keeps it when it’s not
present…is unearthly in the extreme. I’m not even sure if it would fit. Presumably, Sarkarnii women are bigger than humans.
They would have to be in order to wrestle these behemoths into submission.
Although the way Drega is looking at me right now, I feel like I could blow on him and he would roll over. There’s a
mixture of pain, pleading, and desperation on his handsome face.
I mean I could, if I had to. I’ve definitely done worse.
“Thing is, Drega”—I shuffle back a little, putting some distance between us—“I’m not in…rut. I don’t have to do anything,
and I certainly do not belong to you, regardless of this…” I lift my hand and give the chain a shake. “But I do want to get out of
here, and I have been unconscious, so how about you tell me everything and we come up with a plan.”
It is entirely possible Drega is drooling again. His entire body heaves, scales undulating and tail lashing. The collar around
his neck whines.
“What the fuck?”
He throws his head back, sitting on his haunches, and runs his hand through his hair.
“The collar stops me from shifting. If I try, or if I can’t help myself, it will shock me. The noise is a warning.”
My stomach fills with ice.
“It shocks you?”
“They used to attempt to drug us too, but unless they use paraxio, it doesn’t work,” Drega says, as if being put in some sort
of slave collar is completely normal.
“Let me take it off.” I’m on my feet straight away, but this time, it’s Drega’s turn to shrink from me.
“No.”
“No?”
“No. You’re right, we have to come up with a plan to get out of here, but it’s most likely they’re watching us now. If you
take the collar off, they’ll only separate us.” Drega rubs at the back of his neck, claws scratching at his skin. “Besides,” he
mutters, “I’m not sure I could control myself.”
I let that comment slide.
“So, a plan. Any ideas?”
“I need to pleasure you, little jewel. I need you to scream my name and flood this place with your delightful scent,” Drega
growls.
My core pulses at the chocolate sin of his voice. I meant it when I said I’d had worse. Drega is a Greek god compared to
my last one night stand. All seven feet plus of blue-scaled glory and tail. I absolutely could. If I had to. For science.
“Which is lovely, dear,” I say with a wry smile. “You’re just going to have to get past the no touching thing.”
“I never said anything about not being able to touch you.”
Oh. Fuck.
 DREGA

ev it to the ancestors! Ruby’s scent deepens into something akin to a rich spicy dish I have to eat immediately. Being
N naked isn’t an issue for Sarkarnii normally, but my cock is already pushing its way out of my pouch, and there’s no way
of hiding my rut if it emerges fully.
My skin is itching like crazy too. I haven’t shed for a while. However, I am aware the rut can bring on an early shed in
some Sarkarnii males.
Because, of course, adding in a shed while your body goes into overdrive with a rut is mere insult to injury. Probably one I
deserve, only…
Am I in rut for Ruby?
She glares at me. I think her eyes are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
“Frankly, this plan seems one-sided,” she says.
“The warden wants me to rut for you. It’s entirely possible they have found out the link between humans and Sarkarnii and
want to exploit it.”
“What link? Are you the reason I’m here?” she says, voice filled with suspicion.
“The species who built the Kirakos embedded human DNA into the programming. But they also built in a fail safe for if any
other species was to come calling. The human compatibility with Sarkarnii.”
Ruby folds her arms and glares at me. “Well, how convenient for you.”
“Believe me, this is not convenient at all.” I shuffle uncomfortably. “And anyway, other than knowing human DNA is the
key to unlocking the star map my brother wants, I don’t have any evidence of such a fail safe or link between humans and
Sarkarnii,” I lie.
She doesn’t look convinced, and I immediately hate myself for not telling the truth.
“So this rut?” She gives a pointed look at my crotch where I know my cock is already pushing to exit my pouch, nev the
thing. “What does it entail?”
“For me, it’s avoiding being envenomated by you. For you, it is only pleasure.” I hear myself saying the words before my
head can get back in the game.
“Envenomated?” Ruby queries. “And why would I do that?” She grins at me, and her little blunt teeth look like any such
bite would hurt.
A lot.
“If you are not pleased with my rut,” I say, carefully. “But I have been schooled by the best. I know how to pleasure a
female,” I say with a confidence I absolutely do not have.
“By the sounds of things, I need to be the judge of that.” Ruby grins wider.
Nev it to the ancestors! Her smile makes the tip of my cock emerge.
Her eyes flare. A delicious waft of her arousal hits me, and it’s all I can do to stop my cock slipping farther out and truly
showing her what a rut means.
“Let’s work on the basis I’m prepared to do what is necessary to save my skin, and that means I’m prepared to entertain
this rut thing. What’s next?” she says, her voice a little higher pitched than before.
I’m absolutely unable to stop what happens next, with her scent in my nostrils, the melodious quality of her voice, and the
rutting mix flowing freely through my veins. I have her caged under me.
Ruby squeaks as I capture her hands, winding the chain around her wrists. But she doesn’t attempt to get away.
Which is a shame, because my feral Sarkarnii would love it if she ran.
“Is this how you’re dealing with the lack of touch?” she asks, the words a little strangled, but her eyes defiant.
 “I know you wouldn’t touch me,” I rasp.
“And you thought I might like to be tied up?”
“Can’t risk you envenomating me, can I? Not if we want to escape.”
“And how exactly does this aid in our escape?” Ruby’s chest is heaving, and I want to see what she looks like under the
tight-fitting suit she is wearing.
There’s enough of her scent escaping already. If she was naked, I’d undoubtedly lose my mind.
I want to lose my mind.
No. I don’t.
I swallow hard.
“If the warden believes I rut for you, and we will mate, I have a plan. All you need to do is play along.”
Ruby wriggles underneath me, her thigh grazing over my pouch, and I hiss at her touch.
“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that, Drega.”
I have my eyes screwed shut. This time, I didn’t want to recoil. Not from her. Not from Ruby, the fragrant female who has
sent me into rut, sent me into a shed, sent me completely and utterly insane the second she utters my name.
This really cannot be happening. Not to me. Not to Drega, the healer warrior who was feared across the galaxy. The
Sarkarnii who can control himself.
When you know how to break things, you are the most deadly of creatures. When you know how to break things from the
inside, you are the most dangerous of opponents.
I used my knowledge to my best advantage.
But I don’t rut.
Only it appears I rut for Ruby, the female who is only going to cause me trouble. The female beneath me who I want to
touch more than anything.
The female I want to touch me. The female I want to be sheathed within.
I pull in a shuddering breath as she gazes up at me, eyes bright like stars.
“Whatever you need to do, do it,” she whispers. “As long as it gets us out of here.”
 RUBY

his is bonkers. Absolutely bonkers. My body is reacting to this huge male who has leapt on me, tied my hands up, and has
T me completely at his mercy.
Oh, the things he could do to me!
Except he hesitates. Maybe it’s because I haven’t said yes, maybe it’s because his aversion to touch means he is simply
unable to do what he thinks he should do.
Fool the others. Fool the warden who, for some perverted reason, wants to see us together. I’m not a performing seal, and,
while I did many things in my work, including being the honey trap, I’ve never had sex in order to get what I want before.
The thought should turn my stomach.
If it wasn’t for the fact Drega is, frankly, sex in scales. He smells like newly baked bread, a sweet wood fire, a deep, dark
spice. I want to run my hands though his hair, muss it up. I want to trip my fingers over his piercings.
Piercings which I have noticed are not confined to his ears. I think that might make things worse. I’ve always been attracted
to bad boys. And Drega has to be the baddest of the bad. He can change his form, he can produce fire, he can make me feel like
the only thing in the entire universe.
I’m not sure this is pretend as he dips towards me, face getting inexorably closer to mine, fire burning in his eyes.
Something huge pressing into my thigh.
He still hovers above me, his bulk, his neon lights, his scent all invading my senses in a way which sends my head into a
spin. His eyes are mesmerizing, and as his lips brush over mine, I’m lost in a way I don’t think I’ve ever been before.
He tastes like chipotle sauce and pleasure, his tongue sweeping my mouth in a dominant and utterly delicious movement.
I could give him everything.
Wait a second.
There’s another tongue!
“Drega!”
I don’t have time for anything else as the door to the cell slams open, and Drega rounds on the intruder with a snarl which
could wake the dead.
“Rutting? Excellent.” One of the purple slugs, presumably the warden, slides into view. “And against her will. Even
better,” he adds as I pull the chain from around my wrists and look daggers at him.
“The female is my mate.” Drega is hunched over, almost like he is in pain. “She is mine.”
The collar whines a warning.
“Sarkarnii…” The warden uses a tone as if talking to a child.
I grit my teeth, wanting to tell him to fuck the hell off and leave Drega alone.
I’m sure some of this is pretend and some is not. Either way, if Drega is in pain, it can’t be good.
“I need to shift. I need to rut her in my Sarkarnii form,” he says through his sharp teeth, one eye screwed up as he attempts
to focus on the warden. “This place is too small.”
The warden claps his tiny hands together and barks out something which could be laughter.
“Anything to see a Sarkarnii rut for a female.” He glances over his shoulder at the four guards who have followed him in.
All four of them have weapons drawn. Drega drools a little, but I’m nearly ninety percent sure this time it’s for effect. “I’ve
always wanted to see a rut,” he says leaning closer to Drega, although not nearly close enough. “The controlled conditions we
normally use for procreating couples have failed so far.”
I’ve always heard the expression ‘blood running cold’, but I’ve never experienced it in my life, even after I was abducted
by aliens. But here and now, my entire body takes a turn for the frozen.
 Looks like I did good when I escaped. But by not getting out sooner, by not finding the other humans, what has been their
fate at the hands of these foul creatures?
I lunge at the Belek, hands outstretched, but before I get to him, the chain on my arm, the one connected to Drega, comes up
short, and I’m jerked back to him.
“Let go of me,” I snarl as he has me fast in his grip.
“My female,” he growls.
His eyes are alight with his fire, except there’s a glassiness there I’ve not seen before, and I’m not entirely sure he is faking
any of this. Especially as he trails a claw down the side of my face.
I writhe in his grip.
“Oh yes!” the warden exclaims. “This is a mating I want to witness.” He turns to the waiting guards. “Prepare the Factory
floor. Fetch the Rak.” Turning back to Drega, he does something which is a leer in any body language, alien slug or otherwise.
“Can’t turn you loose, not yet, regardless if your attention is…elsewhere.”
“What the fucking hell is a Rak?” I hiss at Drega.
His eyes return to normal for a second. “Not something you take lightly. I need you to play along for a little longer, Ruby.”
“What do you…” But before I can say anything else, Drega swings me around behind him, facing the warden and the
remaining guards with a blood curdling snarl.
All three take several steps back.
“Stay away from my female,” he says, voice somehow strangled. “And if the Rak gets close to her, I can’t be responsible
for what happens.”
“Now, now,” the warden syrups ingratiatingly. “You see how feral these Sarkarnii can be. I can’t wait to study this whole
process properly.”
“I am going to kill you,” I whisper-growl at Drega.
For a second, his mask drops, and he grins wildly at me before it slams back up and the grin becomes a snarl at the others.
And my heart flip flops in my chest in the same manner, fluttering like a bird attempting to be free. My breath comes up
short, and my stomach drops into my boots.
What in the hell is going on?
But any concern at the weirdness affecting my body is long gone when the other thing clicks into the room. Mostly crab,
partly lobster, and partly tentacles, it burbles through its mouthparts at the warden.
“Oh, the Sarkarnii will go quietly, especially if he wants to ensure his mate remains intact for the mating.” The warden
chuckles happily. “Come on.” He beckons at Drega as if tempting a reluctant cat.
With further snarls, and with me still pushed behind him, Drega follows the Rak out of our cell. Bound to him, I have no
alternative but to follow, keeping my eyes on the guards and the warden, until I trip over a long blue tail and ricochet off one of
the guards.
Drega’s roar of disapproval is immense and, I have to say, impressive. It causes the Rak to get right up in his face, and
neither of them back down until the warden orders the pair of them to keep moving.
No one touches me again.
 DREGA

e are ushered through a doorway into a vast open area.

W “Collar,” I snarl at Warden Gondnok.
He motions to one of the guards.
“Do not forget your female is at our mercy as well as at yours,” the warden says. “The Factory is impregnable, and it goes
both ways. Neither of you will escape, and if we find her first…” He leaves the threat hanging in the air.
I glare at him, raising my lips to show my fangs. The Xicop guard motions me to turn my back so I’m facing Ruby and
places his key on the collar. The thing chimes and falls away. I step to one side as it hits the floor, tucking her behind me again,
my gaze not leaving Gondnok.
“And the bonds.”
The warden swings his head between me and Ruby, gimlet eyes glittering nastily.
“You can remove them yourself,” he says, attempting to keep his voice calm, but I can see he has no desire to stay here with
an uncollared, fully functional Sarkarnii in rut, regardless of his posturing.
I huff out a large amount of smoke and they retreat rapidly.
“Seriously, Drega?” Ruby says as we’re finally left alone.
“What?” I turn to her, shifting out my arm so the cuff pings open as my body expands and the metal gives way as my scales
harden.
If Ruby is impressed in any way, she doesn’t show it.
“You have to take me in your Sarkarnii form? What’s that all about?”
“You’ve seen my Sarkarnii form.” I hitch up my lip. “When Sarkarnii rut for their female, they have to take their original
form.”
“You have to…mate me, I mean, a female…as a dragon?” Ruby’s voice cracks.
“Sarkarnii are, as you put it in your human terminology, dragons. Why wouldn’t we rut in our natural form?” I reply
innocently. “It helps avoid envenomation as a male and our females enjoy it.”
Ruby’s face has turned scarlet. She opens and closes her mouth, but her scent is unmistakable.
She may be protesting, but the idea of being taken by a Sarkarnii does not repel her. My female wants it and the need to
tease her grows within my chest.
“In fact, the only way a rut can take place properly is if the mating happens while the male is in Sarkarnii form and the
female is not,” I add for good measure.
“I…we don’t need to do that right now, do we?” Ruby asks. “This is all a ruse, a pretense to allow you to execute your
plan of escape, isn’t it?”
I scratch at the back of my neck again, feeling the scales shift under my claws. I’d rather not shed now, but it seems like it’s
going to happen regardless of my desires.
Like almost every other part of my life.
Ruby stares up at me, the highlights in her flaming hair making it look like her head is consumed by fire. I close the gap
between us, unable to stop myself. I take a lock between my claws.
It is warm and soft.
“By the ancestors, the look on your face is something I wouldn’t have missed for all the ability to shift in the universe,” I
rasp.
My hand touches her cheek.
It is warm and soft.
 She gazes up at me.
“You complete bastard,” Ruby whispers.
I don’t know what a bastard is, the word doesn’t translate, but the way her eyes burn, I suspect it’s as close to being called
a nevver as humans get.
“Yours.”
“What?”
“Your bas-tard.”
The need, the desire, to taste her is overwhelming. Those sweet lips, that gorgeous mouth which opened to me last time as
if we were meant to be.
Her hand is on my chest, the feeling of warmth flowing through me. I don’t want to pull away. If anything, I want her to be
closer, to touch me everywhere. I want her in my arms, always.
I lean in and take possession of her mouth again. Ruby melts into me, and the softness of her against my skin sends shivers
down my spine and through my tail. The nevving thing curls itself around her leg as if it wants to draw her into us.
She tastes like the best promise ever made.
“Drega,” Ruby whispers when I let her go.
“What?”
Now there’s something hard against my chest, something foreign.
“You have two tongues!” Her eyelids are half closed.
“And you do not.” I lick over my lips, making sure I have every last taste of her.
“But I have the gun,” she says, voice hoarse.
I look down between us and see she has a primed pulsar in her hand. It’s pressed against my abdomen. My gaze whips back
to her face.
“How?”
“Does it matter?” She raises her eyebrows at me. “Now, about the plan you had…”
Nev it! My cock is aching to be free of my pouch. I have the taste of this gorgeous morsel in my mouth, and I am in rut.
Ruby has a pulsar weapon.
Looks like we’re doing this, regardless of how badly nevved up I am.
 RUBY

can’t think straight.

I That kiss.
I didn’t mean to let Drega kiss me again. Especially after he teased me, or at least I think he teased me about the rut.
And to discover he has a forked tongue has, quite simply, set me on fire in a way his flames could never do.
The places he could put that tongue! No wonder he said all along he was all about pleasure. I thought it was stupid bravado
because he didn’t like being touched, but I’m not so sure. I’m not sure about Drega or what he is at all.
Which is why my preservation instinct kicked in and I pushed him away.
Because pushing away is the best idea. Then you can’t be hurt. Your heart can’t be broken because their disappointment
scrapes your flesh down to the bone. And they cut themselves out of your lives.
If I’m on my own, I have no one to worry about except myself.
Which is why he has a gun in his gut.
His very nice, muscly gut which I’d very much like to lick…
Concentrate!
“The plan, Drega?” I say, not moving away from him, because us being close is apparently part of the mostly unexplained
plan.
Whatever else is going on, it’s becoming rapidly clear I cannot leave this place without Drega’s help. I’ve already spent the
last few weeks being a nuisance as I worked my way around, and there is no way out.
Not unless it’s on the back of a dragon.
Or under one.
“Now I’m free to shift, I need you to find a way out of here,” Drega says, his eyes darting around while he keeps his hands
on either side of my head, cupping it so very gently.
“Why do I have to do that? Can’t you smash through the walls or something, while you’re a dragon?” I ask.
“You heard Warden Godnok. The Factory is impregnable, and it’s like that for a reason. The things they do in here, the
things they keep in here, cannot be allowed out. Not only because of the destruction they might cause, but if the galaxy knew
what really happened in the Kirakos, they’d shut off the funds to the Belek.”
I’m not sure how Drega manages it, but yet again, a shiver runs through my body. What I’ve seen and experienced is
obviously the tip of the iceberg. I have so much more to learn about this new world.
For the first time, I feel out of my depth. I have to rely on Drega.
“What do I do?”
“You’re a key. You can find the door, the exit, any way out of here,” Drega says, a thumb stroking over my cheek. “You can
find it if you want to find it, like you found all the others.” His eyes spin with flame, the slit pupils mere lines within them. “I
know you can.”
“And what…?” Before I can finish my sentence, he moves back from me. I miss his warmth, his scent, his proximity.
But I don’t miss the expansion of his body, the way it morphs, grows, and rises up over me. He is becoming something else,
something huge. Finally as he opens his massive jaws, an equally huge clawed foot swipes me with a force which is both
impressive and gentle, to put me behind him as he lets rip with a sheet of flame I can feel singeing me at this distance.
I take his point and run like hell across the enormous hangar-like space, heading for the opposite wall, until something
stops me.
Why the wall? Why not the floor? After all, I’ve been using the hot water linked pools as both entrances and exits from
various parts of this place. They seem to be everywhere. A low, guttural, and annoying buzzing fills the air, pulsing in such a
way I can feel it in my chest. It’s presumably some sort of alarm and probably due to the fact there is a dragon flaming like
there is no tomorrow behind me.
I drop onto my front, spin around on the slippery surface, spreading out my arms and waiting for the weird but familiar
feeling I didn’t quite link to the way blank walls always seem to give at my touch.
I am a key.
Not entirely sure what that means, but until we get away from the Belek and the others, I’m not going to find out. So,
locating a door is absolutely top priority.
A bolt from a weapon zings over my head. A roar, part metal, part pain, all earsplitting follows it. I keep one hand moving
over the floor as I spin to see what’s going on.
There’s a group of around twenty guards attempting to get past Drega. He unfurls a huge pair of blue wings, almost exactly
like I’d expect a dragon to have, and beats them. Several of the guards run in the opposite direction, but a few stay, lifting much
larger versions of the weapon I have in my hand into position.
I have no idea how well an enormous dragon is going to cope if hit by one of the laser like bolts, so I redouble my efforts to
find a way out, sliding my way over the floor in a zig-zag pattern and hoping whatever it is that made me find them in the past
strikes like lightning.
“Fuck’s sake!” I swear out loud as my ears fill not only with the dragon roars Drega is producing (still impressive), but
also the ka-boom of the larger weapons, coupled with a sizzling which has me looking back.
Dragon Drega staggers a little, smoke coming out of his shoulder. I know I need to keep looking for a way out, but I can’t
have him being hurt. I let loose with a couple of bolts myself, taking out at least one group of guards, but more are pouring into
the space.
Beneath me, something shifts. I look down and see a long, straight crack running away from under me.
“DREGA!” I bellow, hoping I can be heard over both the noise he’s making and the now constant stream of weapons fire.
The floor tilts, and the slippery surface, previously helpful, has become somewhat of a nuisance as I slither down the
rapidly inclining ground towards a very dark hole.
I yell out Drega’s name again, hands scrabbling for purchase where there is none. The yawning emptiness is ready to
swallow me whole. I can’t possibly leave, even involuntarily, without Drega. This was his plan and so far, I don’t think it’s
working.
A strong arm grips at my shoulder, stopping any further descent.
“Hello, little jewel.” I look up into Drega’s handsome face, his wings furling up behind him as the rest of his body resolves
back into his biped form. “Can I help at all?”
I might be fighting for my life, but a part of me has melted.
I think it was my knickers.
 DREGA

lift Ruby up into my arms and shield her form from the incoming fire as it pings off my older scales.
I “Are we leaving or dancing?” she says into my ear.
My hips flip at her.
“I want to dance for you,” I reply. “But only once we’re out of here. Are you ready?”
Ruby fires off a couple of bolts over my shoulder and from the sound of them, she has hit her marks.
“I was born ready, Drega,” she says.
I jump, and her scream echoes in my ears. The opening in the floor tilts, and then darkness envelops us as it slams shut. A
pulsar bolt pings through at the last seccari, sending a shower of sparks as it disintegrates harmlessly into the walls of the tube
we are presently hurtling down.
Ruby clings to me, her head buried in my shoulder and her hair covering my face with its fragrant, soft strands. Admittedly
it makes seeing a little difficult, but I don’t care. I curl my body around her, protecting her fragile form as we fall and fall in the
dark.
A light appears up ahead, and I hold Ruby to me as we fly towards it. The tube we’re sliding down is too small and tight
for me to shift other than to extend my claws in the hope I can get some purchase to slow us down. The metal squeals, but the
descent slows, not by much, but enough.
We roll out of the tube still at some speed, and grit grinds against my scales, a huge cloud of dust surrounding us as
momentum carries me on my back some distance from our exit, until my head slams up against something solid, and for the first
time in a long time, I see the stars again.
“Drega! Drega?” Someone is calling my name, and something is shaking my shoulder.
“What is it?” I sit up, and the entire universe tips on its axis.
My stomach wants to revolt, as if I’d eaten anything in the last few days.
“Don’t move. Drink this.” Something cold presses at my lips, and I smell the clean, fresh scent of water.
Grasping for the vessel, I drink it down.
“Slowly,” Ruby warns me.
I open an eye. She’s kneeling next to me, concern etched on her face. Part of her clothing is torn at her shoulder, and her
hair has a strange quality to it.
“What happened?”
“I have no idea, given my face was smooshed into your pec the entire time. You hit your head, that’s all I know.” She
glances around our current location. “Now we’re here, wherever here is.”
I follow her gaze. We’re in a roughhewn cavern, an echoing high ceiling above and a sandy fine gravel underneath us. Light
filters from somewhere high above.
“And the exit?”
“Closed behind us. Obviously, I’m not going to open it in case they follow.”
“Any other way out?”
Ruby turns away from me and points to the other side of the chamber.
“There’s a passageway, but I can’t feel any breeze, so it might be a dead end. I found a pool with water in it, cold, and it
doesn’t lead anywhere. Otherwise, if you want me to find a way out, there’s a lot of ground to cover.” She wraps her arms
around herself and doesn’t meet my gaze. “I didn’t want to go anywhere until you were…conscious,” she adds.
“The plan worked,” I suggest.
“It was a shit plan,” she replies, her voice dull.
 “If you are suggesting my plan was in any way not well thought out, then why are we free?” I say with a yawn.
“Yeah, freedom is relative, Drega. I was more free when we were in the Factory.” She sighs and glances over her shoulder
at me.
She seems to move quickly beside me, in a blur of limbs. A hand pinches my eye open.
“Do Sarkarnii get concussion?” she asks.
“We’re practically indestructible. I should know, I’m a healer,” I say and wonder why my tongue feels too big for my
mouth.
“Practically indestructible doesn’t mean you don’t get concussion when you bang your head.” She pulls me down onto her
lap.
It’s nice.
“You can’t sleep.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t know, I saw it in a movie once.”
“What’s a movie?” I’m irritated because I want to sleep but intrigued by the strange word.
“It’s human entertainment. People pretend to be other people, it’s filmed, and then other people watch it.”
“Do humans pretend to be other humans all the time?” I can feel my forehead creasing, and pain spears over my scalp.
Ruby runs her hands absently through my hair and the touch feels…good.
“Not all the time. Most humans are who they are.”
“Like you?”
“I’m nothing like you think I am.” She snorts.
“Brave, beautiful, resourceful, knows one end of a pulsar weapon from the other?”
Ruby opens her mouth and closes it again, her fingers still brushing my hair. I feel a contented sigh rising in my chest.
I’ve never been content. What the nev is going on?
“I wanted to be a solider, but my father didn’t want me going into the military,” Ruby says. “But he’d spent my entire life
teaching me to be a solider. I guess because he wanted a boy. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t be what he wanted me to
be.”
“Parents are like that.” I put my arm across my chest and stare up into Ruby’s pretty face. “I’m the youngest. I wanted to be
a warrior like my brothers, but they had other plans. Instead I became a healer.”
“‘High healer of the Sarkarnii Bask, leader of the Scaled Battalion, and Lord of the Sky Sea.’” Ruby smiles down at me.
“Not all of that sounds like healing.”
“The Scaled Battalion was our healer corps, always behind the front lines when the battle was on. I had some prowess in
flight while in my Sarkarnii form, and as such I was granted the honor of being Lord of the Sky Sea, so I could train others. But
it meant nothing.”
“And now you’re in a prison. How the mighty have fallen,” she teases me as I teased her, eyes sparkling with mirth.
“What can I say? Sometimes there is a jewel worth going to prison for.”
 RUBY

rega has confessed to being an alien dragon bad boy. One who steals and gets himself put in prison. Prisons filled with
D horrors I don’t want to think about.
Just my luck.
I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with those who prefer to tread on the wrong side of the law. Some of my best employees
had dubious pasts. But I wouldn’t ever get emotionally involved with them. Even from beyond the grave, I have my father
looming on my shoulder, making decisions on who is right for me.
Only I’m not on Earth anymore. I’m here, with Drega, the massive, blue, scaled, and ripped dragon man who saved me…
and then dumped us both in the cave of inescapable boringness.
Or was that me? After everything we’ve been through, I’m tired and hungry. Plus I have an injured Drega to look after.
Maybe injured? His eyes have lost the feverish brightness from earlier when he was slurring his words. Perhaps Sarkarnii
heal quickly? Instead, I have an intense gaze on me. I withdraw my hands from his hair, which I was stroking subconsciously,
mindful of his aversion to being touched.
“Don’t…” he says, some of the cockiness leaving his expression from his proud admission of his misbehavior.
“Don’t?”
“I liked what you were doing.”
“This?” I sweep my hand over his forehead and wind it back through his hair. It’s softer than I would have imagined, given
the rest of him is covered in glittering scales. I brush over his ear, and he closes his eyes.
“How long have you had these?” I ask, fingering his piercings.
They glint with light in the same way his scales do. They’re some sort of metal and stone, but nothing I recognize. They
tinkle against each other in a low chime.
“Since I joined the scaled battalion,” he replies dreamily. “Not all Sarkarnii have them, but for me, it was a mark of a
warrior, a way of doing honor to my ancestors.”
I let them sit on my hand, stroking the shell of his ear as I marvel at the way the light shifts and changes within the stones.
Unbidden, thoughts of the other piercings on his body enter into my head. Drega groans under his breath. I let go as if I’ve been
burnt, and a huge hand grabs my wrist.
In one fluid movement, Drega is on top of me.
“Do you know what you do to me, little jewel?” he murmurs, dropping his head to nuzzle at the side of my neck. “Do you
know what you make me want to do to you?”
Drega has both my arms pinned by the wrists over my head. My suit is ripped in so many places by our fall and far too
swift exit. My body hasn’t forgotten the way he captured my hand so easily earlier, or how much the smile on his handsome
face sent it into overdrive.
He’s a mass of contradictions. Doesn’t want to be touched and yet will touch me, doesn’t want to be touched and then he
asks for more. He’s a dragon, he’s a man. He’s a warrior searing the place with his flame, and he’s a healer.
And he has two tongues, both of which have promised me pleasure.
“I don’t know.” My voice is dry, whereas the rest of me is not. “What do you want to do?”
Smoke curls from Drega’s nostrils, and somewhere deep in his chest is a low guttural groan.
“I need to eat you, sweet morsel. I need to consume every drop of your nectar until you beg me for more.”
“And what if I don’t beg?”
“You will always beg, Ruby. And I will always oblige,” Drega rasps as his mouth hits mine
His kiss consumes me, the forked tongue spiriting away any actual thoughts I might have about whether this is a good idea. I
feel a claw hook in the opening of my suit, sliding down, pulling the entire garment with it until I am as naked as he is.
His tail thrashes as he gazes down at me with a look of absolute hunger.
“Let me consume you, Ruby. Let me give you pleasure.”
I am on fire, every inch of me, in proximity to Drega and his glowing scales. He inhales deeply before dropping his head to
nuzzle at the skin over my collarbone, tongues lapping as he descends until he reaches a breast.
Where he stops.
My treacherous hips flip up at him.
His head rises and he gazes into my eyes.
“Pleasure me, Drega.” My voice is the barest of rasps before I add, “Please.”
 RUBY

rega holds my wrists above my head, his swirling eyes fixed on my lips, swollen from his kiss. A kiss which seems to
D have delved into my very soul and made me offer myself up to him.
Beg, like he wanted me to.
His breath is hot on my skin as he dips down over my body, his tongue lapping over every inch, descending lower and
lower until his huge hands stretch over my hips and he groans out loud.
“Your scent, sweet jewel,” he murmurs before that tongue slides over my pussy, eliciting a noise I’m not sure I’ve ever
made before.
My hands flail everywhere as he pins me to the floor and consumes me. The forks of his tongue are everywhere, until he
finds my clit, and my entire world explodes into a thousand pieces. Pleasure doesn’t even cover what he is doing. This is
ecstasy, pure ecstasy, and he doesn’t stop.
I’m not sure he’s ever going to stop. I think I’m going to die by orgasm.
What a way to go.
“Drega!” His name is a scream on my lips, over and over, until the cave stops spinning and he lifts up his head, chin
covered in my glistening moisture.
“You taste like the stars, Ruby,” he says, chest rumbling with the words. “I could eat you forever.”
The forked tongue makes another bravura appearance as he licks his chin clean.
I swallow, hard. I didn’t mean to get this close or this personal with my handsome dragon alien. I certainly didn’t expect
him come to grips with human anatomy so intimately, so soon. My breath is ragged, my knees shaking, and I absolutely do not
know what to do next.
Drega gazes at me like I’m the only creature in the universe, and I’m mesmerized. He is gorgeous, the light glinting off his
cheekbones, catching the iridescent blue of his scales as beads of neon flicker over his lips. Two tips of his tongue appear for a
second, and my entire body pulses.
It knows what it wants, even if I’m not sure I do.
He cocks his head on one side, still with the wreckage of me caged under him. Drega growls.
The noise goes straight to my core. I want to run.
And I want him to chase me.
Wait, what?
Then I hear it, the echo.
“Nev it,” Drega rasps. “I thought we’d have longer.”
“What do you mean?” I suddenly feel very exposed. “Have they found us? Already? I thought we’d have longer too, given
how far we fell.”
Drega dips his head and sighs deeply, his breath hot on my stomach, which, in turn causes my insides to flutter again.
The echo comes, and it is louder now. It sounds like someone calling out his name.
This time, his growl is immense, filling the chamber, bouncing around like it has taken on a life of its own. He huffs out a
long stream of smoke before turning his head back to me.
“My brothers are here. We are in the Sarkarnii quadrant,” he says, dropping his head to mine, ready for another kiss.
“And how long were you going to keep that to yourself?” I grab at my suit, pulling it back up and firmly closing the catch.
Not that it’s actually going to stay together for much longer. I glare at Drega as I scuttle back from him.
His nostrils flare, and an element of confusion races over his features.
Yeah, you were just eating me out, and now I’m mad. Figure that one out, alien bad boy.
 “Was it important?”
“To know we’re safe, yes! To know any second there would be…”
My jaw falls open as, through the passageway, five more enormous scaled beings appear. Each one is covered in scales,
each one is built like a brick outhouse. All of them, bar one, wear pants and boots.
Drega stands, blocking my view, and snarls loudly. “That’s close enough.”
“Drega!” The biggest one, covered in green scales, calls out—the one without pants.
He steps forward, but the dark gold one, covered in muscles like ropes, puts his arm out and manages, with some
considerable effort, to stop the jolly green dragon in his tracks.
“Brother?” he queries as Drega continues to snarl loudly. “The control room alerted us to your presence back in our
quadrant. We believed you’d been marked for termination.”
“I am very much alive, Draco.” Drega’s voice is strangled.
His hands have sprouted an enormous set of claws, and the tail lashes from side to side. Scales ripple, and I think the only
thing stopping Drega from becoming Dragon Drega is the fact the chamber is suddenly much smaller with five other bodies
(plus little me).
And I guess they can all turn into dragons too.
The dark gold one, Draco, takes a step towards Drega. I believe this is my moment, so I pop out from behind my blue
behemoth and give them all a little wave.
“Hi.”
Each and every one of them takes an immediate step back.
“You’re in rut, brother?” Draco says with a lip curl which is somewhere between amusement and shock.
Drega shoves me behind him, tail curling around my legs and up to my waist. I shove at it in order to get free.
“I don’t…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not dead, the wardens are attempting to find a way of
regaining control of this quadrant, and we need to make plans to get off the Kirakos,” he says, his eyes darting around the
others.
“And I also want to get off the Kirakos.” I push past Drega, and the peal of snarls is impressive.
“You have a mate, Drega!” Big Green says with a daft smile on his face.
“Ruby is mine, Draxx.” Drega’s words are barely audible given how much of his mouth is now filled with fangs.
“Nev it, Draxx.” Draco gives him yet another shove backwards. “Our brother is in rut. Of course he has a mate.”
“Yeah, okay.” I push past Drega’s tail. “When you’re all quite finished, there are some humans who are being kept captive
by the wardens, and I’d quite like to free them.” I sweep down, retrieving my gun from the crack in the wall where I stowed it
while getting Drega water. “Now.”
Draco gazes knowingly over my head at Drega. I can see the family resemblance in the cheekbones and eyes. Draxx’s face
splits into a grin filled with white teeth.
“You’ve got yourself a feisty female there, brother.” Draxx laughs.
“My name is Ruby,” I say through gritted teeth, patience deserting me. “And I have a mission. Whether you like it or not,
I’m getting the other humans, and I’m getting the hell away from here.”
“She has a pulsar weapon,” a bright scarlet Sarkarnii with long flowing silver hair says with a snarl, taking a pace towards
me. “Did you know?”
He doesn’t get any further. There is a flash of bright blue scales and the red one has gone. Instead there is a cloud of dust
kicked up from the floor and nothing short of mayhem erupts.
 DREGA

have Daeos pinned under me. I don’t remember the last time I fought with any Sarkarnii, but the fact he dared to approach
I Ruby has everything in my head colored red.
A hand grabs my shoulder, and I let go of Daeos to wrench myself free of everyone, my entire body revolting at the touch
of them, their colors flowing through me, their shift agonisingly close to the surface. I should not have indulged my rut and got
involved in a fight with my fellow Sarkarnii.
Especially Daeos, the feral Sarkarnii adopted by our family and trained by Draxx. I say trained, where Daeos is concerned
it’s more like contained.
Underneath me, Daeos snarls like the mad thing he is. I fling out a wing and everyone, bar Draxx, leaps clear.
“Stay back.” I issue the warning again.
“I like you like this,” Draxx says, prodding at a gash in his arm. “Makes you much more fun.”
“Still not wearing pants, brother,” I say, avoiding Draxx’s gaze while I glare at the others, especially Daeos, for daring to
challenge me.
“Looks like you’ve taken to such a state as well,” Draco says.
“The Belek have been experimenting on me,” I snarl. “I need to get my…Ruby to my quarters. I need to run some tests…on
myself.”
There are a few snorts of laughter, mostly from Draxx and Draco, as the air fills with smoke. My skin crawls in the
confined space.
I want Ruby.
There is no Ruby. I can’t scent her, especially over the stink of all these Sarkarnii males.
“Come, brother.” Draco claps a hand down on my arm, and I virtually levitate without wings to get away from him.
He narrows his eyes at me. Draco is not used to anyone disobeying him or refusing his hospitality, including his brothers.
“I’ve survived on a diet of paraxio and torture since the wardens got hold of me, Draco,” I say, “and I need to shed.” I grit
my teeth in case he decides to attempt any further contact.
There’s a general chorus of marginally sympathetic grunts. All Sarkarnii hate the shed. Draco nods, as he should. He is the
worst when his shed is upon him. A ball of anger and itches, woe betide anyone who gets on his bad side at shedding time.
“Maybe your mate will loosen your control over yourself,” Draco says after a short silence. “All Sarkarnii need to be at
one with both their natures.”
“I’m perfectly happy with my nature as it is,” I retort. “It’s kept you alive on many occasions. Spaceworms for instance?” I
raise my eyebrows at him.
Draxx snorts. He still finds the spaceworms amusing, despite what happened.
“We did come for you, Drega,” Draxx says, quietly. “But try as we might, we could not get to you in the Factory.”
“Even if you are a contrary nevver, your return is welcome,” Draco adds, casting a glance over the other Sarkarnii, who
are all sporting injuries from attempting to get between me and Daeos.
“Nev you all to the ancestors.” I raise my eyes to the ceiling. “I should insist you all are treated. And yet I have other things
to attend to.”
“I knew it!” Draxx is on his feet, his wound already healing because he’s partially shifted, a tail lashing and a pair of wings
threatening. Draxx has always had an ability to heal beyond any other Sarkarnii I know. “The little human is your mate.”
“I’m not in rut,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Of course not.” Draco gives me an indulgent smile, and I want to kill my brother.
I want to kill all of them for daring to feast their eyes on my Ruby, let alone breathe the same air as her.
 Ruby!
“Where is she?” I say, desperately, noting the distinct absence of any females.
My mate is missing. Sarkarnii part before me as I race towards the passageway they used to gain entrance to the chamber,
heart in my throat, pounding out a tune I’ve never heard before.
My skin crawls with the need to shed—that part wasn’t a lie, even if everything else was. I need an aquium, hot water to
loosen my scales. I need to shed and mate, not necessarily in that order. Both at the same time would be preferable. My scales
are so tight they pinch and ache as I move.
But the need to shed is nowhere near as painful as being without Ruby. I can still taste her. My hands still remember the
arch of her body under my touch. And the way she looked at me when she felt betrayed.
Which means I need to find her, immediately. I need to pleasure her again and again until she understands.
Every atom of my being is on fire. I want to shift, but I cannot in this enclosed space. The fact she ran from me is sending
the rutting mix into my veins in such a way I am unable to deny, no matter how much I want to, that this human is mine.
She is my mate. And the last thing I need is a mate, after everything the Belek did to me.
I am not all Sarkarnii anymore, and any true mate will only ever want Sarkarnii. When I look at my brothers, successfully
mated, despite everything, I know it.
And yet my body and my rut force me on.
Perhaps not force.
Because Ruby ran from me, and I love the chase.
 RUBY

aving spent most of my time in tunnels, passageways, and water since I was abducted, the sight which greets me at the
H entrance to the passageway is not what I was expecting at all.
This place is huge, with a vast sky above, blue-gray with a light filtering from somewhere. I notice the sky because of
the enormous structures which jut up into it. Their sides are flat. Not dwellings…maybe walls? I’m not sure.
I edge out, back to the rough surface of another towering slab-like structure. My head spins. I’ve spent too long in the dark.
This is surely what being on another planet, at the mercy of aliens or not, is all about.
This is what I was brought here for. And this is going to be my way out of everything. Not an annoyingly handsome bad
dragon who thought he could conceal the truth from me.
“Ruby?” A voice, human, familiar, welcome has me turning on the spot.
Approaching me at a run are the two humans I vaguely remember from when I first woke up. A dark-haired girl and a
blonde one. Jade and Opal.
I’m not sure they’re going to stop, given how fast they are running towards me. Opal reaches me first and slams into my
body, sending me staggering back. Jade arrives, but she’s less huggy, which I appreciate.
“Don’t suffocate her,” she says dryly.
“Hi, Opal.”
“We thought you were dead,” Opal sobs.
“We didn’t.” Jade rolls her eyes. “But we did worry the worst had happened to you, the worst being you were still with the
Belek.”
“She was.” Drega’s voice, dripping with sin and cigarettes, wraps around me like his arms. “We escaped.”
Opal gapes, her gaze rising up until she reaches his face. I feel suddenly and stupidly jealous.
“I escaped,” I say. “You followed.”
Drega snorts what has to be an entire lungful of smoke. “If you say so, little jewel.” He laughs.
Jade’s eyebrows practically disappear into her hairline. Opal grins like she’s slightly mad and mouths little jewel at Jade.
Because she didn’t hear it the first time.
“I do say so. Now if you don’t mind, I have old friends to get re-acquainted with.” I hook my arm through Opal’s because
she looks like a princess who does that sort of thing.
To my surprise, Jade moves to my other side.
“But…” Drega says, some of the cockiness in his stance shriveling.
“I’m sure you have stuff to do too,” I trill as I begin walking.
Away from him. Away from all the stupid emotions he’s churned up in me in the last few hours.
Why do I even do this to myself? I’m on a one-woman mission, dragons not included.
“Why don’t you show me everything?” I say to a clearly over excited Opal, who squeals under her breath.
I cast a glance over my shoulder at Drega. He lifts his head, looking stupidly handsome, his hands curled into fists.
Now you know what it’s like, buddy.
I turn my attention back to Opal who’s babbling something about other humans, mates, Sarkarnii, and dancing.
Only I feel the burn of Drega’s gaze on my neck until we’ve crossed from one set of structures to the other.
“This is the Kirakos,” Jade says, as if she’s undertaking a safety presentation on a plane. “The prison maze.”
“Oh.”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Opal gushes. “At least, that’s what we’ve been told, since the Sarkarnii took over their
quadrant. They don’t have to participate in some sort of death race to gain their freedom anymore.”
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
1640 Vsus et a longo tempore iura parit;
Immoque nature si nos de iure loquamur,
Hoc in presbiteris splendet vbique magis:408
Et si sub forma tali sint iura creanda,
Legis quod vires longior vsus habet,
Tunc puto presbiteros ex vsu condere leges,
Oscula dum crebro dant in amore suo.
E c c l e s i e gremium notat ordo presbiterorum,
Quo debent animas rite fouere bonas;
Quomodo set proprias qui non curant, alienas
1650 Curabunt? non est hoc racionis opus.
Nescio quid meriti poterunt tales michi ferre,
Qui sibi nil proprie commoditatis habent:
Nam peccatores scitur quod non deus audit,
Est inhonesta deo laus set ab ore mali:
Indeuota deo qui verba precancia confert,
Iudicii proprii dampna futura petit.
Qui dampnum causat, hic dampna dedisse videtur,
Ledit qui patitur que reuocare potest:
Infligit mortem languenti, qui valet illam
1660 Nec vult auferre, set sinit esse malum:
Presul qui laicos, cum non sint ordine digni,
Ordinat ad sacra, scandala plura mouet.
Tales si quis emit lucro, frustrabitur inde,
Aut si perdet in hiis scit magis ipse deus.
Hoc scio, quod panem qui fregerit esurienti,
Cuius debilitas est sine fraude patens,
Qui nudos operit, infirmos visitat, illi
Debentur merita pro bonitate sua:
Set qui sunt fortes, vanaque sub ordinis vmbra
1670 Conspirant requiem quam sibi mundus habet,
Errat eos presul sacrans, et quosque locando
Tales de merito perdere dona puto.

Hic tractat causam, quare accidit quod laici,

quasi iuris amici, luxurie presbiterorum
 consuetudinem abhorrentes, eam multociens
castigantes grauiter affligunt.

Hoc dicit clerus, quod, quamuis crimine plenus

Capm. xxii.
Sit, non est laici ponere crimen ei;
Alter et alterius cleri peccata fauore
Excusat, quod in hiis stat sine lege reus.
Non accusari vult a laicis, tamen illos
Accusat, que sibi libera frena petit.
Libera sunt ideo peccata placencia clero,
1680 Sit nisi quod laici iura ferantur ibi.
Presbiter insipiens populum facit insipientem,
Et mala multa parit qui bona pauca sapit:
Clerus lege carens populum dat lege carentem,
Sic parat et causam presbiter ipse suam:
Nam quia lege caret laicus, sine lege
manentem
Ignorat clerum, quem videt esse reum.
Si foret et sapiens clerus, sapiencia plebis
Staret, vt in lege perstet vterque simul;
Set quia iam fatui patet insipiencia cleri,
1690 Despicitur vita desipientis ita.
Pluribus exemplis natura iuuat racionem,
Doccius vnde suum iudiciale regat.
Hinc est quod latitans bubo lucis iubar odit,
Escam vestigat nocte, veretur aues:
In quam forte greges auium si lumina figant,409
Conclamando volant et laniando secant.
Presbiteros notat iste reos, qui corpore fedi
Que sunt luxurie feda latenter agunt;
Hos laici quasi lucis aues restringere querunt,
1700 Zelo succensi legis, amore dei.
Preuaricatus enim Iudas non amplius inde
Seruorum Cristi dignus honore fuit.
Dum iuga luxurie supportat presbiter, ipsum
Si pungant laici, computet i n d e s i b i.
Iusto iudicio lex vult, quod iuris abusor
 Amittat vicio quod sibi iura dabant.
Ecclesie fratres in Cristo nos sumus omnes,
Semper et alterius indiget alter ope:
Lex tamen hoc dicit, frater quod si tuus erret,
1710 Corripe, sic et eum fac reuenire deo:
Si te non audit, dic ecclesie, set et illam
Si non audire vult, nec adheret ei,
Amplius ille tibi velut Ethnicus est reputandus,
Quo sibi de culpa parcere nullus habet.
Presbiter ergo suis assistens cotidianis
Peccatis nullo debet honore frui:
Non erit exemptus, nam qui neque iura veretur,
Non est iusticie quod quis honoret eum:
Qui contra legem vetitis presumpserit vti,
1720 Debet concessis lege carere bonis.
Omne quod occultum latet, vlteriore patebit
Fine, nec excusat ordo vel ille status.
Dic, sibi quid valuit tunc excusacio ficta,
Dum foliis fici se male texit Adam?
Quid valet aut, culpam carnis si presbiter vmbra
Contegat ipse sui fultus honore status?

Hic scribit contra hoc quod aliqui presbiteri

dicunt, qualiter ipsi in carnis luxuriam
committendo non grauius hominibus laicis
deum offendunt.

Dicunt presbiteri, non te peccant magis ipsi,

Capm xxiii.
Dum carnis vicio fit sua victa caro:
Sicut sunt alii fragili de carne creati,
1730 Dicit quod membra sic habet ipse sua.
‘Sum velut alter homo,’ dicit ‘cur tunc mulieres,
Sicut habent alii, non retinebo michi?’
Argumenta sui sic criminis ipse refingit,
Liber et est vicio, dicit, vt alter homo.
Hec tamen, vt credo, fingit contraria vero,
 Nam magis est sanctus omnibus ille status.
Ex improuiso sumi reliqus valet ordo,
Quo minor est culpa, si cadat inde rea;
Assumi subito set presbiteri sacer ordo
1740 Non valet, immo suas spectat habere vices.
Nam per quinque gradus scandit prius, estque
probatus,
Quolibet vnde suum preuidet ipse statum:
Omnis et inde gradus a presule sanctificatus
Est et non alio, sanccior vt sit eo.
Per caput atque manus est crismate presbiter
vnctus,
Vt sit ob hoc aliis dignus in orbe magis;
Accipiensque iugum votum vouet ammodo
castum,410
Quo faciat munda mundior acta sua:
Et quia preuisa sic vota facit, puto culpa,
1750 Dum facit econtra, fert grauiora mala:
Qui daret exemplum virtutis et est viciosus,
Errat plus ducto ductor in ore meo.
Hiis circumspectis michi sic per singula causis,
Estimo presbiteros te magis esse reos.
Se licet excuset fingens sibi verba sacerdos,
Nulla sue mentis interiora iuuat;
Inmemor immo sacri quem ceperat ordinis, vltro
Scandala sic facti querit in orbe sui.
Non puto presbitero sutorem quod status vnit,
1760 Culpa nec in simili lance coequat eos:411
Presbiter et laicus non sunt Bercarius vnum,
Nec scelus in simili condicione grauat.
Castum se vouit sibi cum fuit vncta corona,
Stringitur et voto quisq u e fidelis homo.
Non foret hic tanti mercede locatus honoris,
Sit nisi quod maius inde subiret onus:
Nam nequit hoc facere rex est qui maior in orbe,
Quod minor in Cristo presbiter ipse potest:
Sic, quia de iure reliquis prefertur honore,
 1770 Ledit eum grauius crimine iuris onus.
Heu! quod iniqua manus mulierum feda pudendis
Debet in altari tangere sacra dei!
Qui corpus domini tractabit, et est meretrici
Turpiter attractus, Cristus abhorret opus.
Qui fierent Cristi serui, sunt dumque ministri
Demonis, heu! nostram quis reparabit opem?

Hic describit qualiter omnia et singula que

sacerdocii concernunt officium magne virtutis
misteria designant: et primo dicet de vestibus
sacerdotalibus ex vtraque lege competenter
dispositis.

O bene si penset que sunt sibi iura sacerdos,

Capm. xxiiii.
Quid sit honor, quid onus, quid vel honoris opus,
Singula qui iuste sibi ponderat, instat et eque,
1780 Res est mira nimis, si male gestet onus.
Omne quod ille status sibi vendicat esse beatum
Cernitur, vt sancti sint magis inde viri.
Non est tam modicum quod misse spectat ad
vsum,
Lege sacerdotum quin decet esse sacrum.
Ornatus varii, quibus vtitur ipse sacerdos,
Virtutis varie mistica signa gerunt.
Poderis est vestis, aliter que dicitur alba,
Presbiteri corpus que tegit vsque pedes:
Vt foris est albus, fieret sic albior intus
1790 Presbiter, vt mores gestet in orbe bonos.
Cinctus ephot Samuel domini studet esse minister,
Cui paruam tunicam texuit Anna parens:
In tunica tenui fidei doctrina notatur,
Qua tenues animos gracia mater alit:
Ex lino factum per ephot signatur honestas
Carnis, quam mundam presbiter ipse geret.
Balteus est eciam, tunicam qui stringit honeste,
 Ne femur in luxu facta pudenda sciat:
Fert humerale decens, vt nostras presbiter egras
1800 Confortans animas ad meliora ferat:
Et ligat in summo sapiens capitale sacerdos,
Vt capitis sensus non sinat ire vagos.
Infula vestit eum circumdata, que nitet auro,
Quod virtute sua cuncta metalla regit;
Splendet et in simili forma virtute sacerdos,
Si bene conseruet ordinis ipse statum:
Aurum veste gerit sanctus, cum splendet in illo
Pre reliquis rutilans clara sophia dei.
Ne tunice leuiter possit ruptura minari,
1810 Nobilis in giro texilis ora micat:
Se nec et ipse bonus disrumpat in orbe sacerdos,
Ne pateat rima criminis vlla sui.
Hac se mundicia precinctus presbiter ornat,
Vt totus mundus munera munda sacret.
Aron et electis vestes texuntur, vt horum412
Quisque sacerdotis possit honore frui:
Sic modo presbiteri, seu summi siue minores,
Efficiunt Cristi corpus idemque sacrant.
Nam nos cum vinum panemque sacramus in ara,
1820 Hoc verus sanguis vna fit atque caro:
Qui Cristi carnem matris confecit in aluo,
Corpus in altari conficit ille sacrum.
Quadra fit altaris species, vt quatuor orbis
Partibus ecclesie sit solidata fides.
Vestibus ornatus qui sic et moribus extat
Dignus, non aliter, presbiterandus erit.
Quos tante vestes, quos gloria tanta perornat,
Sint magis vt sancti causa requirit eos:
Dedecus ecclesie presul qui talia prestat
1830 Presbiteris laicis, iure negante, parit.
Quos sinus ecclesie recipit, noscat sinus aptos
Esse deo, reliquos euomat ipsa foris.
 Hic loquitur qualiter sacrificia de veteri lege
altari debita fuerunt in figura ad exemplum nunc
noue legis presbiterorum: dicit vlterius qualiter
ex vtraque lege sacrificantes altari debent esse
sine macula.

Capm. xxv.Lex vetus instituit animalia, de quibus olim

Immolat altari plebs holocausta deo;
Semper et ex omni mactato sic animali
Debita presbitero porcio certa fuit.
Hoc tamen ad Cristi legem latitante figura
Presbiteris nostris mistica iura notat.
Illa sacerdoti que spectat pars holocausti,
1840 Curatis nostris est memoranda satis:
Heeque sacerdotis sunt partes, pectus et armus
Diuisus dexter, lege iubente sacra.
Pectus doctrine locus est, nam quisque sacerdos
Debet subiectos recta docere suos:
Forcior est armus dexter, signatque quod eius
Actus sit fortis, nulla sinistra gerens:
Armus diuisus docet vt viuendo sacerdos
Excedat populum, nil populare gerens.
Non est tam modicum quid in ordine
presbiterorum,
1850 Grande ministerii quin sibi pondus habet;
Nam lex iuncta vetus cum lege noua manifestant
Vndique presbiteros quod decet esse sacros.
Petrus in Aurora que scribam scripsit, et ille
Testis in hac causa verus et auctor erit.
Lex vetus ista iubet, noua que confirmat, vt
omnis
Sacrificans aris inmaculatus erit;
Absque sui macula sit corporis actus et eius,
Displicet vnde deo, feda nec vlla gerat:
Non habeat maculam, nec sit mixtura reatus,
1860 Ne purum maculet accio praua bonum.
Que tamen hee macule dicuntur in ordine dicam,
 Presbiter vt lector sit magis inde memor.
Dicitur hic cecus, qui mundi puluere plenus413
Ad lumen vite carpere nescit iter:
Est lippus, cuius mens ingenio micat intus,
Set carnale tamen eius opacat opus:
Albugo cecat oculos, et denotat illum
Qui tumet, ascribens candida facta sibi:
Est paruo naso qui nec discernere parua
1870 Sufficit, et quod agit perficit absque sale:
Est nimio naso, qui non intelligit illud
Quod legit, et doctum se tamen ipse facit:
Est torto naso, qui dulce fatetur amarum,
Et sanctos actus iudicat esse malos:
Est claudus, qui nouit iter, set currere tardus
Heret in hoc mundo, carne ligante pedem:
Fractus pes et fracta manus reputatur in illo,
Qui claudo peior tardat ad omne bonum:
Hic est gibbosus, quem mundi sarcina curuat,
1880 Lumina nec cordis summa videre sinit:
Corporis in scabie succensa libido notatur,
Que corrupta suo crimine plura facit.
Predictis viciis si quis se senciat egrum,
Lex iubet vt panem non sacret ille deo.
Oza manus tendens accessit vt erigat archam,
Set nimis audacem mors fuit vlta manum:
Hinc ideo dicunt meruisse necem, quia nocte
Transacta cohitu coniugis vsus erat.
Declaratur in hoc, quod qui pollutus ad aram
1890 Accedat, mortis vulnere dignus erit:414
Experimenta docent, quod ab hoc detergere
sordes
Feda manus nescit, dum tenet illa lutum.
Presbiter est dictus prebens aliis iter, et si
Erret, tunc errant ducere quosque putat.
Dans sacra siue docens, notat ista loquela,
sacerdos
Si malus est, alii sunt magis inde mali.
 Non sine stat cura quicumque professus in huius
Ordinis est opere, si bene seruet opus:
Ergo prius videas qui scandere vis, et in illum
1900 Si scandas, facias que iubet ordo tuus:
Non solum faciem, mores set confer et artes,
Proficias curis ex quibus ipse tuis.

Hic loquitur quod etas sufficiens, priusquam

gradum sacerdocii sibi assumat, in homine
requiritur: loquitur eciam de suorum rasura
pilorum, et dicit quod talia in signum mundicie
et sanctitatis specialiter presbiteris conueniunt:
dicit vlterius quod presbiteri a bonis non debent
esse operibus ociosi.415

Quam prius assumat, matura requiritur etas,

Capm. xxvi.
Presbiter officium, plenus vt ipse regat:
Nam flos etatis temptanti congruit hosti;
Carnis et etatis feruet vterque calor:
Iam quos vexat ad huc tenere lasciuia carnis416
Improba, pastores non decet esse gregis.
Vt regnare deo possint, sibi rasa corona
1910 Restat, et vt facta nobiliora gerant.
Radices non extirpat rasura pilorum,
Set rasi crescunt multiplicando magis:
Sic licet expellas omnes de pectore motus,
Non tamen hec penitus cuncta fugare potes:
Non ita rasus eris, quin semper habet caro
pugnam;417
Intus habes cum quo prelia semper agas.
Si quando mundum fugias, a puluere mundi
Perfecte purus non potes esse tamen:
Nam, licet eniteas summis virtutibus, omnes
1920 Ex animo culpas non resecare vales.
Fit tamen ex minimis hec quam retines tibi culpa,
Ne tua mens tumeat, dum bona multa geris:418
 Ex tali culpa tibi soluitur ergo tributum,
Vt tua mens paueat labe remorsa breui.
Sepe cadit iustus, fragilis quia vir manet omnis,
Ne nimis exaltet gloria vana virum:
Qui leuiter cecidit, vt surgat forcius, ille
Casum felicem suscipit ante deum.
Lux estis mundi, set non penitus sine fumo,
1930 Nam sine peccato viuere nullus habet:
Sepe boni fructus post temptamenta sequntur,
Mercedemque suam prelia carnis habent.
Vtile nempe foret seuas extinguere flammas,
Et sanum vicii pectus habere tuum:
Ne videant oculi per quod temptentur, et aures
Obtura, vicii ne sonus intret ibi.
Tucius est aptumque magis discedere pace,
Ponere quam bellum, vincere quale nequis:
Integer est melior nitidus gladiator in armis,
1940 Quam cum tela suo sanguine tincta madent:
Inque dei missis nitidus sine labe sacerdos
Victor in hoc placidum fert sibi lucra deum.
Quale sit hoc quod amas celeri circumspice
mente,
Et tua lesuro subtrahe colla iugo:
Debet homo sapiens nascentes pellere morbos,
Inueniet tardam ne sibi lentus opem:
Opprime, dum noua sunt, subiti mala semina
morbi,
Et tuus incipiens ire resistat equs;
Nam mora dat vires, teneras mora conficit vuas,
1950 Et validas segetes quod fuit herba facit.
Si Venus agreditur, tibi sit magis aspera vita,
Flamma recens modica sepe retardat aqua.
Vt corpus redimas, ferrum pacieris et ignem,
Quantum fert anime plus medicina tue.
Ocia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus,
Extincteque iacent et sine luce faces.
Vt non delinquas, debes imponere culpe
 Frena, vagos gressus, ocia queque fugans.
Presbiteros opere de re sibi que sit honesta,
1960 Aut se de precibus sollicitare decet:
Fecit enim sportas, vt frangeret ocia, Paulus,
Namque vagans aliquo noluit esse modo.
Ex requie cerpit pestis seuissima luxus,419
Armiger et fame prodigus hostis honor:
Ex requie sequitur infortunata voluptas,
Pauperies anime, criminis omne nephas.
Luxuriant animi varia sub ymagine moti,
Saltem virtutis dum caro nescit opus:
Vtile nempe dabit deus omne viris operosis,
1970 Debet mercedis pondera ferre labor.
Sollicitudo decet animam discreta, labores
Dum subit, vt vicia carne domare queat:
Sollicitudo iuuat corpus, perquirat vt illa
Victum, quo licitis viuat in orbe modis:
Ocia dumque caro petit et torpet labor exul,
In scelus ex solito more paratur iter.
Demon femineos et molles diligit actus,
Quando viri virtus omne virile negat;
Ocia quippe nocent in talibus absque labore,
1980 Quorum Cristicolis non valet esse salus.
Culpa quidem longe facit esse deo, prope virtus;
Displicet ista deo, placat et illa deum.

Hic loquitur de presbiterorum dignitate

spirituali, et qualiter hii, si bene agant sua
officia, plus aliis proficiunt: sinautem, de suis
malis exemplis delinquendi magis ministrant
occasiones.

Capm. xxvii. Presbiteri fit magnus honor maiorque potestas,

Si procul a viciis sit pius atque bonus.
Hii sacramenti manibus misteria summi
Tractant, quo verbo fit caro iuncta deo:
 Hiique scelus lauacro baptismi tollere sancto
Possunt, quo primus corruit ipse parens:
Hii quoque lege noua celebrant sponsalia nostra,
1990 Et si iura petunt cassaque nulla ferunt:
Hii quoque confessis veniam prestant residiuis,420
Errantique viro dant remeare deo:
Hii quoque celestem nobis dant sumere panem,
Post et in extremis vnccio spectat eis:
Hii quoque defunctis debent conferre sepultis,
Inque sua missa reddere vota pia.
Hii sunt sal terre, quo nos condimur in orbe,
Absque sapore suo vix salietur homo.
In sale, quod misit in aquas, Heliseus easdem421
2000 Sanat, nec remanet gustus amarus eis:
In sale signatur prudens discrecio iusti,
Vt discretus homo condiat inde suos.
Hii sunt lux mundi, quapropter si tenebrosi
Sint, tunc nos ceci stamus in orbe vagi.
Dans offendiculum ceco quo leditur vllum
Vt deus instituit, hic maledictus erit:
Ceco preponit obstacula, qui maledicta
Peccandi prebet per sua facta viam.
Hii sunt scala Iacob tangens celestia summa,422
2010 Plena satis gradibus, vnde patebit iter:
Hii sunt mons sanctus, per quos conscendere
debet
Virtutum culmen quisque fidelis homo:
Hii sunt consilium nostrum, via recta superne,
Legis doctores, et noua nostra salus:
Hii claudunt celum populo, reserant et apertum,
Possunt hiique boni subdere cuncta sibi.
‘Crescite,’ dicitur hiis, ‘et multum reddite fructum’;
Pertinet ad mores ista loquela bonos:
Dicitur hiis, ‘Terram replete’; nota tibi dictum:
2020 Plenus in ecclesia fructibus esto bonis.
Ante deum vacuus nemo veniet, quia nullus
Expers virtutis debet adesse deo.
 Sic placare deo iustosque reosque sacerdos
Debet, et ad celos fundere thura precum:
Oret ne iustus a iusticia cadat, oret
Vt prauus surgat et mala prima fleat.
O quam res vilis, dum presbiter est vt asellus,
Moribus indoctus, et sine lege rudis!
In numero sunt presbiteri celi quasi stelle,
2030 Vix tamen ex mille si duo luce micant:
Scripta legunt nec scripta sciunt, tonsi tamen ipsi
A vulgo distant, quod satis esse putant.
Sunt tales; et sunt alii quos ardua virtus
Ornat in ecclesia, qui bona multa ferunt.
Emittit coruum Noe, non redit ille; columbam
Emittit, reditum missa columba facit:
Sic et in ecclesia sunt corui suntque columbe,
Sunt cum felle mali, sunt sine felle boni.
Cras primam cantant, cum se conuertere tardant,
2040 Set tollit tales sepe suprema dies:
Tales sunt pigri, quos mundi vincula nectunt,
Nec promissa dei regna sitire volunt.
Ordinis ipse sui qui seruat iura sacerdos,
Rebus et exemplis dogmata sancta docens,
Non honor est tantus, quo non sit in ordine dignus,
Laus sibi nec populi sufficit, immo dei:
In clero fateor, quos approbat ardua virtus,
Illorum merito gracia maior erit.

Postquam dixit de errore illorum qui inter

seculares sacerdocii ministerium sibi
assumpserunt, intendit dicere secundum
tempus nunc de errore scolarium, qui ecclesie
plantule dicuntur.

Capm. Nomine sub cleri cognouimus esse scolares,

xxviii.Ecclesie plantas quos vocat ipse deus.
2050 Orti diuini bonus extat planta scolaris,
 Ecclesie fructus que facit esse bonos.
Qui studet in morum causis et non viciorum,
Qui sibi nec mundum computat, immo deum,
Clericus ipse dei super hoc reputatur, et eius
Principium fine clauditur inde bono.
Summi doctoris virtutum regula iusta
Discipulos dociles de racione fouet:
Qui studiis herent, cor ad alta leuant et in altis
2060 Figunt, hii vera sunt holocausta deo.
Nunc tamen inter eos puto multos esse vocatos,
Electos paucos condicione probos:
Moribus hii dudum studii virtute vacabant,
Nunc viciis studia dant vigilare sua.
Vix pro materia si nunc studet vnus habenda,
Solum set forme sufficit vmbra sue.
Clericus ire scolas animo paciente solebat,
Gloria nunc mundi statque magistra sibi,
Discurrensque vagus potator et accidiosus,
2070 Deditus et veneri, circuit hic et ibi.
Ex planta sterili non fiet fertilis arbor,
Nec faciet fructus arbor iniqua bonos:
Sepe senecta tenet, tenuit quodcumque iuuentus;
Si malus est iuuenis, vix bonus ipse vetus.
Est bona que radix bonitatis germina profert,
De radice mala germinat omne malum.
Quisque suos igitur pueros castiget, vt illa
Virgula non licite mentis agenda fugat:
Qui virtutis habet iuuenis cum flore magistrum,
2080 Discat et ipse pie que probitatis erunt,
Proficiet talis; set quem doctor viciosus
Instruit, hic raro fructificabit homo.

Hic querit causam que scolarium animos ad

ordinem presbiteratus suscipiendum inducit:
tres enim causas precipue allegat; tractat eciam
de quarta causa, que raro ad presens contingit.
 Sunt aliqui, studio modo qui perstant animoso,
Capm. xxix.
Nescio que causa sit tamen inde rea.
Quicquid agant homines, intencio iudicat omnes;
Corde quod interius est capit ipse deus:
Istis prepositis, verum michi pande, scolaris,
Dic que sit studii condita causa tui:
Muniri primo cum te facis ordine sacro,
2090 Cum te principiis presbiterare venis,
O que mente tua fuerit tunc mocio summa,
Hoc vel pro mundi sit vel amore dei?
Aut tu certa tue michi dic primordia cause,
Aut tibi que sapio dicere vera volo.
‘Sunt plures cause, per quas communis in
orbe423
Est sacer hic ordo carus vt ecce modo:
In prima causa fugio mundana flagella
Legis communis, que dat amara viris:
Vlterius video quod non sudore laboro,
2100 Ocia que quero sic et habere queo:
Te r c i a causa meum dat vestitum quoque victum;
Sicque meo placito persto quietus ego.
Ex hiis causata mea stat deuocio tota,
Qua poterit cerni rasa corona michi:
Hec est causa scole, ciuilia iura studere
Que facit, et logicam me docet arte suam.
Ipsa scoleque gradus michi dat conscendere
summos,
Sic et in ecclesiam scandere quero bonam:
Nam si fama viget, puto quod prebenda vigebit,
2110 Sicque vacare libris est labor ipse leuis.
Sic sacer ordo michi placet, et sic litera cleri
Confert, dum studio pinguia lucra gero.
Nunc causas dixi, constat quibus ordo scolari,
Sic propter mundum me reor esse reum;
Nam michi nil melius, dum sufficit ipsa facultas,
Estimo, quam mundi gaudia ferre michi.’
Est set adhuc causa melior tamen omnibus, illa
 Qua scola discipulum gaudet habere bonum.
Hec solet antiquis, non nostris stare diebus,
2120 Que de virtute concipit acta scole.
Nuper erant mundi qui contempsere beati
Pompas, et summum concupiere bonum;
Et quia scire scolas acuit mentes fore sanctas,
Scripture studiis se tribuere piis.
Non hos ambicio, non hos amor vrget habendi,
Set studio mores conuenienter eunt:
Hii contemplantes celum terrena negabant,
Causa voluptatis nulla remouit eos:
Hii neque serviciis optabant regis inesse,
2130 Nec foris in plebe nomen habere Rabi:
Hos neque precellens superabat comptus inanis
Nec vini luxus, nec mulieris amor:
Moribus experti dederant exempla futuris,
Que sibi discipulus debet habere scolis.
Nunc tamen in v i c i u m v i r t u s
c o n u e r t i t u r , e t que
Nuper erant mores turpia plura gerunt:
Que modo scripta dei dicunt se discere laudi,
In laudem mundi vertit auarus honor.
O res mira nimis! legit et studet ipse scolaris
2140 Mores, dum vicia sunt magis acta sua:
Sic quia stat cecus morum sine lumine clerus,
Erramus laici nos sine luce vagi.

FOOTNOTES:
340 Heading Hic incipit exquo L Incipit prologus libri tercii om. L
341 9 set et S (et in later hand)
342 13 vulgus] populus (ras.) C
343 16 Vt sit D Sit sic L
344 46 conciliumque H
345 58 malo C
346 69 poteruntque C
347 90 Quodque prius D Quod prius L
348 In place of Incipit &c., L has here the four lines ‘Ad mundum
mitto,’ with picture below: see p. 19.
349 4* exempla D humus] mundus DL
350 18* eum] ei D enim L
351 22* ille CD ipse HGEL
352 27* poterint D
353 1** regentes H₂
354 4** mundit T
355 24** ipse] ille H₂
356 58 periat HCGL
357 81 Marcenarius G mercennarius E
358 86 Glebas D
359 141 ipseque D
360 176 ouis CEHGDLH₂ onus ST
361 193 possint D
362 Heading Hic loquitur quomodo de legibus positiuis quasi
cotidie noua instituuntur nobis peccata, quibus tamen
priusquam fiant prelati propter lucrum dispensant, et ea fieri
libere propter aurum permittunt LTH₂ (Hic quomodo
diligentibus positiuis ... prius fiant &c. L liberi LT)
363 229 numquam L vnquam D
364 258 iugum] suum C
365 273 Dum S Cum CEHDL
366 300 gerarchiam SHT Ierarchiam CL ierarchiam ED
367 Heading 2 dicitur tamen nunc D dicitur tamen L
368 351 vinximus SDL vincimus CEHG
369 375 ff. marginal note om. ELTH₂L₂
370 375 margin hic om. S
371 margin in guerris S guerris CHGD
372 380 margin spoliantes S om. CHGD
373 379 neque C
374 401 reperare S reparare CED
375 454 cotinuatque H
376 462 saruat H
377 Heading deuincant EL deuincat SCHD
378 516 Solennes CEL Solemnes D
379 536 Hec DL
380 546 sit CE
381 561 No paragraph S
382 Cap. ix Heading 2 nec decet CEDL
383 579 sceptrum C
384 595 tetram CEH terram SGDL
385 617 No paragr. CE
386 633 sunt vmbra velud (velut) fugitiua CEG sunt fugitiua velut
vmbra L
387 641 piper vrtice om. D (blank)
388 685 Ne C
389 Heading 2 incontrarium S
390 840 lucri] dei EHT
391 934 ruet CH
392 989 sit] sic S
393 1124 Et CEGDL Est SHTH₂
394 1149 subectos S
395 1214 ad hec CEHGDTH₂ ad hoc L et hec S
396 1265 fallit S
397 1374 timuisse EHL
398 1376 vngat vt D vngat et SCEHGL
399 1454 plus sibi sensus hebes est SGDL fit sibi sensus hebes
CEHTH₂
400 1498 Nec CE
401 1518 circueuntis C
402 1533 Est et S Est sed (set) CEHGL Est set et D
403 1541 Durior CEHGDLT Durius S
404 1552 modicicum S
405 Heading 1 Qostquam S
406 2 iam om. S
407 1617 solennia CEDL
408 1642 Hoc S Hec CEHGDL
409 1695 si CEHGDLTH₂ sua S
410 1747 vouet CEHGT vouit SDLH₂
411 1760 nec in simili conditione grauat (om. ll. 1761 f.) C
412 1815 Aaron CED
413 1863 puluere CEH vulnere SGDL
414 1890 Accedat SL Accedit CEHGD
415 Heading 5 f. a bonis non debent operibus esse CE a bonis
operibus non debent esse L a bonis operibus non esse D
416 1907 ad huc SGT adhuc CEHDL
417 1915 pugnam CEHL pungnam SGT pinguam D
418 1922 Nec C timeat EDL
419 1963 serpit CE
420 1991 residiuis SET recidiuis CHDL
421 1999 Helizeus C Helyseus EL
422 2009 No paragr. S
423 2095 No paragr. S
 Exquo tractauit de errore cleri, ad quem
precipue nostrarum spectat regimen animarum,
iam intendit tractare de errore virorum
Religiosorum: et primo dicet de Monachis, et
aliis bonorum temporalium possessionem
optinentibus; ordinis vero illorum sanctitatem
commendans, illos precipue qui contraria
faciunt opera redarguit.

Incipit liber Quartus.

Capm. i. Sunt et Claustrales diuerse condicionis,

De quibus vt sapio scribere pauca volo.
Actus vt ipse probat, quosdam possessio signat,
Quosdam pauperies, set similata nimis.
Est bona religio de se, set religionem
Qui fallunt, tales dicimus esse malos:
Qui bene sub claustro viuunt fore credo beatos,
Quos mundanus amor nescit habere reos;
Quique manus aratro mittunt nec respicientes
10 Retro, viros sanctos ordo notabit eos.
Est deus in monachis, sunt et commercia celi
Hiis, sine qui mundo claustra subire volunt.
Cum quis amare duo pariter contraria sumit,
Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor:424
Sic qui presumunt facies laruare sub vmbra
Ordinis, et mundi crimina subtus agunt,
Talibus ipse mea fero scripta, nec alter ab ipsis
Leditur, immo suum quisque reportet onus.
Est nichil ex sensu proprio quod scribo, set ora
20 Que michi vox populi contulit, illa loquar.
Sunt etenim monachi, possessio quos titulauit,
Quidam, quos nullis moribus ordo ligat;
Nam possessores aliqui sic ocia querunt
Ordinis, vt nequeunt vlla nociua pati: