Raven Tide

🟨Content Warning: Reference to self-harm is present in this chapter.

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Time stood still as we sat side by side breathing in silence.

This ship was called Storm Hound and according to its external sensors, the remnants of Silosa Outpost were well behind us.

“Is this their ship,” Chyani spoke up first.

“Smells like it.”

“What about Venom Heart and your cargo?”

We were still in shock and conversing impassively with our eyes locked facing forward.

“I don’t know,” I finally turned to her. “The stasis capsule was designed to withstand a crash from orbit. I imagine it can be salvaged safely later from the wreckage.”

Crap...Dad lost his arm to a Graven once. He knows how dangerous they are. He probably would’ve figured out a way to get back to Venom Heart but he’d never value tech or a means of transportation over the life of a person.

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Raven Tide. You’re in deep shit and you know it.

The only thing that matters is getting Chyani to safety.

“Where do we go now?”

I pulled up the star maps and the status of the ship’s crucial systems.

“This ship isn’t coded to access the jump points,” I sighed. “We’ll need to find a ship with clearance or make contact with Nexus members willing to offer transport.”

Chyani remained quiet. Her mind had to be reeling equally, if not more than mine was.

“I’m not quite sure how to go about that without fast travel...” my mandibles hovered in uncertainty.

I wanted to tell her we’d go to my homeworld, Sahei, but we both knew the Graven wasn’t done with us. Or more accurately, done with her.

Would she ever be safe?

I had to try.

There’s only one way to stop a Graven... but how do I explain the truth to Chyani?

She’s already endured soo much.

Images of Chyani bound and gagged flooded my mind. Her limbs strapped to that crate, the Bad Bloods putting their claws on her skin, her tears, and me losing control.

“It’s ok,” Chyani unbuckled her harness and laid her hand over mine. “Are we ok for the moment?”

I nodded and relaxed my fists.

“Then let’s go to the med bay, if they have one,” Chyani stood up and pulled me to my feet.

Midway down the main corridor, I spotted the communal hygiene chamber. It was empty and possibly the cleanest room on the ship.

“Even if they don’t have a med bay,” I motioned to my injuries. “This will all heal.”

Chyani’s fingertips hovered over the long gouges carved into my chest, “You-” her voice trembled and she bit her lips.

I pushed aside a stray lock of hair by her temple and waved her into the room. “Wash up, I’ll tend to my wounds and find you some better clothes. I like this outfit but I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

A little half-smile flickered on her lips, “What do you know, all those terrible early-earth sci-fi B-movies were absolutely nailing women’s space travel attire centuries before faster-than-light travel.”

I nuzzled her forehead and stroked her arm.

“The ship’s empty, right?”

“Yes,” I nodded with confidence. “I checked the sensors, but I’m going to sweep through every room personally.”

Chyani lifted on her toes and kissed me then I let her go to wash and went in search of the med bay alone.

I made a stop at the auxiliary environmental controls in the dormitory to cycle and ventilate the air to lessen the Bad Blood’s wretched smell. It was the least I could do for Chyani after how they treated her.

After how I failed to protect her...

The water was running in the hygiene chamber. I was concerned about leaving her alone but, after what happened, in all likelihood, the presence of another male yautja was the last thing she wanted.

The med bay was sparse and disorganized but they had the essentials for assembling a field kit.

I took a standard triage injection and prepared the stapler and cauterizing equipment.

We were well beyond the borders of the Nexus. There were only a scattering of remote outposts beyond the claimed territories and Silosa Outpost was the only station in this sector.

Even if this ship could jump, using the nearest jump point meant backtracking and risking another encounter with the Graven.

That wasn’t an option.

After stitching and plastering myself back together I decided to tidy at least one room on the ship for Chyani to rest and not feel like she was cornered inside a bachelor’s lair.

I chose the alpha’s quarter, it was the largest and the least cluttered. Most of the personal trophies and knick-knacks I shoveled into the neighboring rooms and anything that reeked heavily of Gar’mol got tossed in the incinerator.

“Ahh,” I put my fists on my hips. The smell was improving.

This ship wasn’t just old and running on outdated hardware, it had been overhauled and reprogrammed to stay off Nexus radar. It contained no long-range communications, or tracking devices, and employed software actively disrupting all incoming detection pings and transmission signals. The previous owners may have been royal shitheads but they were clever when it came to evading the Nexus Enforcers.

We needed a different ship.

There weren’t any yautja encampments out this way but there was an abandoned razkur mine.

In the early days of the merger, razkurs made revitalizing their space fleet a priority. They couldn’t mine their own planet due to radiation left over from the Iddril colonies and instead focused on mining stray moons and asteroids.

Even if all the transports were gone, the station remained along with all its communications equipment.

If we stop, how many days will we have before that thing catches up to us or sends another pack of lackeys to keep us stranded? Will we even have days? Or even manage a few hours?

There was only one way to protect Chyani.

Every Blooded member of Jahaa was trained on the proper method to kill a Graven.

Visions of Gar’mol and that wet tongue pumping poison into his veins plagued my thoughts.

There was no honor in slaying a Graven.

Their bodies could be destroyed but the essence would always survive. All of its corruption and power would automatically transfer into the person who fought it and made the killing blow. It was how a Slayer was created.

Then the real battle began. The power had to be quickly rejected and drained out. Or else the Slayer would become corrupted and exist as a permanent puppet of the Graven.

My mother did it, opening her neck and wrists. Then she’d wake up only to do it again, over and over in an unending nightmare she was forced to wake and relive with the next Graven encounter, never knowing if the next death was final.

My stomach soured and I had to hurl in the small sink within Gar’mol’s personal lavatory.

I turned on the faucet and sloshed my mouth and face with water.

I exhaled and raised my head but I couldn’t convince my ears to follow.

“I can do this for Chyani,” I stared at my reflection in the narrow mirror. “I have to.”

She’ll fight me on this and I can’t let her.

I tracked a rancid moldy scent down the central hallway and discovered a dank storage closet packed to the brim with mounds of gear stolen off who knows how many kills.

Most of it was soiled and rotten but I did unearth an unsettling satchel packed with human women’s clothing. I rinsed the few salvageable pieces in the tiny bathroom and aired out a pair of boots I suspected would fit Chyani.

At least I can keep one promise to her.

“Chyani,” I approached the communal hygiene chamber with an offering of freshly folded clothing then I dropped them and ran to her when the door opened I found her curled in the corner of the shower crying.

“I’m sorry,” Chyani sobbed in my arms. Green blood flecks still clung to her cheeks.

“What? You’ve done nothing wrong,” I pulled her close and picked up the soapy washcloth to wipe her face.

“It doesn’t matter,” Chyani struggled to raise her eyes to mine. “That thing’s not going to stop.”

“No,” I wiped her tears. “It won’t.”

“You should just drop me off and go home,” Chyani clung to my chest with both arms. Her still-forming right arm was now a stump extending halfway to her elbow.

“I’m not doing that,” I rubbed soap into her hair and gently combed it in with my fingers.

“More of your people will get killed.”

“My people die every day,” I continued working the grim and gore out of her hair. “We challenge death in our hunts and many don’t survive the trials to gain that honor. This is how we live and thrive.”

Chyani sniffled but looked up at me.

“And don’t forget,” I smiled. “The Nexus is at war with the Graven. They want us dead with or without you. Though, I think we’d both prefer it was with you.”

“You don’t deserve this,” Chyani cupped my burnt quills and grazed her palm over my stitched-up chest.

“Heh, that’s up for debate,” I traced my claws over the plastered gashes. “But I earned them nonetheless and I will display them proudly because I received them protecting Chyani.”

Chyani snickered and wiped her eyes, “You’re such a dumbass.”

“Nothing gets by you,” I chittered and rinsed out her hair.

She snuggled in close and laid her head on my shoulder.

“I was wrong,” I lifted her up and turned off the water. “When I said you weren’t a warrior.”

Chyani glanced up inquisitively.

“You have no skill for fighting but you are decisive and fearless.”

“I’m terrified every second of every day.”

“But it doesn’t contain you,” I stepped on the drying pad to activate a warm burst of air then carried her into the main hallway. “Perhaps you are something in between.”

I escorted her into the renovated alpha’s quarters and set her down on the bed in the center of furs pelts and anything else soft and clean I scavenged from the other rooms

“You made a nest,” Chyani giggled.

“Heh, I guess I did,” I stood scratching the back of my head while reinspecting my handiwork.

“My fingers are pruney,” Chyani sat on her knees touching her fingers and thumbs together, finally smiling and looking at me directly.

“I know a place we can go,” I crouched by the bed but was mindful not to rest my weight on it.

“Yeah?”

“There’s an abandoned mining depot on a rogue moon near here, razkur built but all the techs Nexus compatible. There might be a ship that can jump but at the very least there will be a long-range communication array.”

“What about the Graven?”

“I’d die happy if I never saw the thing ever again,” I sighed in resignation. “But we have to assume it’s shadowing our every move. I’m going to try and set up some defenses, maybe trap it, and make preparations to fight it.”

“How! You can’t!” Chyani’s heart rate shot up.

“It’s not plan A, or C, or Zed,” I put my hand on hers. “But I have to be ready in case it happens.”

Chyani gave me a solemn nod of her head.

“Oh!” My ears sprang up.” I found you some clothes. I dropped them in the hallway, one sec-”

Chyani caught my belt when I tried to stand up.

Her fingers were hooked down my front, rubbing my short quills and tugging me closer.

“Don’t leave,” she stared up at me wide-eyed and assertive.

I stepped forward and tried to ignore the pernicious tremor rising up my calf.

Her hand slid down and over my loincloth.

After what happened, I intended to give her privacy. Let her rest and reclaim her sense of autonomy. It made sense that she wouldn’t want to be anywhere near me, right?

“Take it off,” Chyani’s thumbnail tapped on my belt. Her eyes were serene and willful and before I unfastened the clamp my left foot went wild.

Chyani’s eyes darted at my rapidly tapping foot with the side of her mouth curled up, “Is that razkur thing or yautja?”

My ears dipped coyly.

“Eh,” Chyani shrugged up at me with a grin. “I like it,”

Then her cool fingers slipped under the fabric and over my engorged hard-on unfurling from my slit.

I tossed my belt and loincloth to the floor and kept my eyes on her.

Her fingertips ran up my shaft and explored the crevasses around every rigid nodule. The warmth of her palm had me leaking and swirling internally with uncertainty.

Only a moron would question her reasoning, she wouldn’t do this if she didn’t want to. And she definitely wouldn’t pull me onto the bed if she didn’t want my company.

I bent over to her and let her mouth meld into mine.

Her sweet aroma beaconed me closer and we sat there, kneeling together, kissing, and holding on to one another like we were underwater and physical contact was breath.

I folded my arm around the small of her back, sharing in the amusement of my thickness pressing between us.

She directed me to remove the rest of my armor and I was rewarded with Chyani’s smooth caramelized skin gliding against mine.

I embraced her ass, lifting her thighs up my sides and curling over her until we were flat against the bed.

My hands cherished every morsel of her body as I laid there, lost in her, stroking her supple flat belly and brushing her lips with the curved sides of my tusks. I migrated down to lick her neck and savor her scent before filling my mouth with her soft plump breast.

Chyani’s hand tugged at my long quills and I growled.

She hooked her legs over me, digging her heels in my back like a jockey driving me onward.

Fuck...the bud of her nipple along the center of my tongue made my cock feel like it was forged in hot white steel.

I squeezed her tight, racking my claw down her sides, and luxuriated in our limbs entwined between the layers and pelts and blankets.

Chyani was on top of me, under me, nibbling me, and subsequently beside me. Then in an instant, I was inside her, swathed in a vortex of snug pleasure.

Chyani was soo wet she swallowed me whole without any preamble.

I’d be lying if I said those little resistant squeaks of hers didn’t stir up something primal but it didn’t compare to how she moaned when I planted myself in root deep.

We laid on our sides with her left leg hitched over my side, devouring me as I crashed into her over and over.

There was nothing more decadent than Chyani’s pussy.

I reared up on my knees and tilted her up on her side with her leg bent over my elbow and her back bowed backward, soliciting me to increase speed and velocity.

She yelped as the angle granted me deeper access and made the barrier to her womb more vulnerable. The exhilaration induced tiny bursts of light in my peripheral vision. I plowed in harder and took my time with each intrusion.

Chyani’s eyes were half open and locked on mine.

Even a blind yautja could see that this woman was sexy but beholding her in this provocative position sparked a dark lascivious crackle at the base of my spine.

Chyani’s hand delved down to that slippery spot where bodies connected. She teased herself and me, and I caught her relishing the view of my eyes fixated on the spectacle.

Her fingernail nicked the scales between my short quills and the surge triggered by her touch almost made me lose it.

I doubled over snarling and thrummed while pinching my claws securely into the bedding.

Then I huffed and lifted her up to confront her mischief face to face.

Chyani smirked at me with her soft lips pecking at my tusks and the rest of her squirming up and down on my ravenous organ.

“I would never harm you intentionally,” I wagged my ears back and forth. “But even a yautja has his limits.”

“What about razkurs?” Chyani dismissed my warning and nipped at my upper mandibles.

“They’re even more undisciplined,” I chittered.

“And if I want both?” Chyani’s eyes burned with conviction as her wily hand snuck down my front and raked her nails into my red short quills.

I purred and thrummed involuntarily all at once.

“It wouldn’t be safe,” On my blood, it was chilling the way this human tempted me.

“But didn’t you promise to always keep me safe?”

My eyes went wide and I pressed my claws into her side, flustered and beguiled over which direction to guide her.

Chyani leaned up and whispered into my ear, “Prove it.”

I snarled and flipped her on all threes then entered her from behind, yautja style.

Her ass rocked and rippled with each incoming slam. I bent over to feel her breasts in my hand and to keep her from tipping down.

Chyani was so tight and fragile. Her whole body quivered each time the head of my cock railed through her and struck that soft inner wall hidden deep inside her.

I grabbed the meat on her haunches and pounded my hips to the tune of her little heart fluttering like a hummingbird.

She bucked into me and spread her legs wider.

“Yes!” I roared.

Chyani was crying out again and again with her head down, but her melody was pure pleasure.

Fuck, if she keeps doing that!

My little bird sloped her back and sang out a low visceral moan. I sank in and her channel squeezed me tighter.

Not yet!

My brother and I were the best of both worlds and Chyani would experience all of me.

I picked her up, stretching her body flush to mine and thrusting harder with my hand on her throat to feel the vibrations as she cried out my name.

“This is how razkurs fuck,” I leaned back, putting all of her weight on my chest. “Except females conceive with two males.”

I reached forward with my free hand and shoved in one finger. Chyani gasped and I pushed in a second.

A shockwave hit me and the air rattled from my lungs.

Fuck! I was dizzy.

My purring tripled and I had no idea what was happening.

The sound of her insides and warmth around me combined with my fingers made it feel like my brain was subliming into vapor.

I steadied myself and steered Chyani’s mouth up to mine and thrust into her harder.

Her legs were spread and wrapped over me with her fist knotted in my long quills.

I shuddered but kept going, delving my two middle fingers in further and rubbing her and me simultaneously. But I was careful not to lose sight of Chyani’s face. I needed to know her screams were derived from pleasure and not from inflicted distress.

I couldn’t breathe right and the dark room flashed into opalescent colors.

Chyani sucked on my tongue and churned her pelvis.

I’ve never experienced anything like this...I knew razkurs were more sensitive on the underside but whatever I was doing with my hand, it felt fucking amazing!

I bounced Chyani on my lap, enveloped in the cushion of her buttocks on my thighs and her juices coating my cock.

My knees buckled and my vision blurred.

Chyani patted my cheek and signaled to lower her back to all threes.

I complied and arched over her, letting my long quills hang and sway.

Chyani panted with her back against me. Her inner walls thickened and constricted.

My body was operating on pure raw reflex.

I rolled us around, letting her straddle and ride me in reverse while I pumped up into her from below.

My hand was still fixed inside her while the other helped her grind on my thickness.

Chyani leaned back not missing a beat. Her left arm was locked to hold herself up as she gyrated in quick short circles.

Then she sped up and sang out with her head flung back and her hair dancing across my chest. The walls of her slick warm channel clenched and throbbed. It was like plugging into a tectonic shift beneath a buildup of magma.

My spine kinked and a hot little tangle in the base of my sac pulsed and clotted. The pain of it muted my roar.

I grit my teeth and let myself slip over the precipice until I was falling and then floating in a river of light.

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“-ven Tide,” Chyani’s voice echoed in the distance. “Raven Tide.”

The room came into focus.

“Are you still alive?” Chyani snickered over her shoulder.

“Yes...” I mumbled completely out of breath. “Still here.”

“So am I,” Chyani giggled again. “I’m stuck and you were zonked out for almost ten minutes.”

“Wha-” I lifted my head and flicked my ears. “Oh, here. Try now.”

I lifted her hips and pulled myself loose. A lot of blue liquid spilled out but I was too spent to bother cleaning it up.

Chyani hopped loose and threw a small pelt over my waist then she cuddled up in a dry area beside me.

“Whether or not we make it to or through the mining depot,” Chyani twiddled her fingers in my long quills. “I’m happy I got to know you and be with you.”

“You will survive this, Chyani,” I stroked her cheek.

She hushed her hand over my mouth and shook her head, “We, Raven Tide. We’ll get through this together.”