Alien Protector: Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance by Ashley West

really thinking about it, Stephanie found herself moving closer, frowning as she peered at it. It didn’t look like any model she’d ever seen before, and none of the writing on it appeared to be in English. Or even in the standard alphabet.
    Draco swiped a finger across the screen a few times and then appeared to find what he was looking for, turning the device to show her. “Do these markings look familiar?” he asked.
    It was a picture of what appeared to be a wall, covered in thick vines the likes of which she’d never seen before and weathered away by, well, weather. She frowned and leaned closer, just about making out a set of six runes carved into the stone. Her eyes widened as it hit her that they were almost exactly the same as the ones on the blade.
    “Where is this?” she whispered.
    “A planet called Hordura,” Draco replied. “Where I found the first Artifact.”
    “The first what?”
    “The blade you found is part of a set. That’s why you just have the blade. There’s a hilt and pommel and a sheath that go with it. Together they make up the Cillidan Artifacts, a trio of objects that my people have been trying to put together for ages. My friend has the first two already. Well, he had them, but they were stolen.”
    Stephanie finally looked away from the screen and back up at his face. She had that familiar feeling in her bones where she knew something exciting was about to happen, and she wondered how she’d gone from thinking Draco was a bit off his nut to being interested in what he had to say.
    However fantastical his story was, Stephanie found that she believed him, and she wanted to know more.
    “Tell me everything.”
    Draco nodded and sat back down on the couch. Stephanie moved to get her coffee and then perched on the armchair, watching him closely.
    “I didn’t mean to lie to you,” Draco started and then made a face. “Alright, that’s not true. I did mean to lie. I thought that I could just...win you over and get the blade and be gone before you were the wiser.” He cut off her indignant protest with one hand. “I’m sorry, but you don’t understand yet. Like I said, things have changed.”
    He took a deep breath and then began.
    “Cillidan was a king. Some say he was a Daebtheri, some say he was something else, but since there aren’t any pictures of him, no one knows. What is known is that he was one of the most powerful and wealthy kings Aldara has ever had. None of his enemies were able to defeat him, and people gave him tribute just so that he wouldn’t attack their lands.”
    “He sounds like a bully,” Steph interrupted.
    Draco shrugged. “Maybe. But his people prospered when he was in charge. The thing about it is that no one knew why he was so powerful. They assumed that it was just because he had a large army or because there was a wizard on his side or something like that. But it wasn’t the case. When Cillidan died, three items were found with his body. A hilt, a sheath, and a blade. No one had ever seen him wield a weapon, so they didn’t know where the objects had come from, but they were clearly Cillidan’s possessions, and the runes on the blade proved it even more.”
    “What do they say?”
    “Long live oh, king of kings,” Draco recited. “They were buried with Cillidan and stayed in his tomb for decades. Until one day they were dug up and they disappeared, scattered across the galaxy.”
    Stephanie waited to see if there was more, but it appeared that was the end of the story. “But what happened? Who dug them up?”
    “No one knows. This all happened about three hundred years ago, and the history tomes are very closed mouthed about it. The Artifacts became a kind of legend on my planet and on the planets surrounding it. People said that whoever could unite them would get the favor of Cillidan and bring honor to their kind. Which is why I assumed that Plintos, my friend, wanted them together so badly. He’s the king of our people, you see.