Rescued by the Alien Warrior by Hope Hart (motivational books for students .txt) 📕

The Braxian by his side shifts in obvious disapproval but keeps his mouth shut as he runs his eyes over each of us.

I glance at Hewex, and he pulls the cone-shaped device out of the canvas bag he’s carrying. Vivian takes it, and Arix watches her as she steps forward, displaying it to him. It reminds me of one of those plastic cones we put around our pets’ necks on Earth when we’ve had them fixed. Only, it’s made out of some kind of metal, and it has a long crack up one side.

“This is a piece of one of our thrusters,” Vivian says. “As you can see, it needs to be fixed.”

Arix nods. “There are many metalsmiths who can help you with this. If it can’t be fixed, they may be able to replace it.”

“There’s something else.” Vivian’s tone is hesitant, and Arix’s eyes narrow as he gazes at her. I glance at Sarissa, but her attention is completely focused on Arix as if waiting for him to make some kind of move.

“Yes?”

“The Dokhalls took a control chip that we likely need to run our ship. None of us have piloted a spaceship before, so we’re relying on an artificially intelligent system to do the heavy lifting for us. Without that chip, we may not get off the ground.”

Arix nods, his expression thoughtful. “I can’t promise you will be able to find a replacement for this chip, but perhaps…”

He gets to his feet, and I almost gasp. God, he’s huge.

“If you would like to come with me, I will show you the most likely place to find such a thing.”

The Braxian next to him growls something under this breath, and Arix grins.

“My commander is unhappy at this idea,” he murmurs. The commander gives Arix a look, and his grin widens.

Sarissa narrows her eyes at the commander, obviously deciding he’s also a threat.

I glance at Tagiz, who’s currently stone-faced, but he’s letting us choose whether we’ll follow Arix.

Vivian turns to Sarissa, who shrugs, and then tilts her head as she looks at me.

I consider it. I don’t trust this Braxian. I’m sure he has his own motives for helping us, and whatever those motives are, I’m committed to figuring them out. But he hasn’t threatened us or hurt us so far. And if he can help…

I nod, and Vivian turns back to Arix, who looks amused at our silent discussion.

“Please, show us.”

He strides down the steps leading to his throne and offers his arm to Vivian. The commander chooses to stay behind, but he gives each of us a burning look, which Sarissa returns.

Tagiz, Hewex, and Jozet are all tense, but we follow the king out of the throne room, where a group of guards instantly surrounds us.

Tagiz snarls at one of the guards as he gets too close to me, and Arix glances over his shoulder. His expression is mild, but the guard instantly bows his head, backing up to give us space.

We all walk back into the huge entrance hall, only this time, Arix leads us behind the staircase to another corridor. We traipse along behind him, and I can tell by the expression on Tagiz’s face that he doesn’t like this one bit.

“If anything happens, I want you to run back to the boat,” he murmurs into my ear as we walk along gleaming silver tiles. “Don’t hesitate. Just get back to Yalex.”

I slide him a look. “You think I’d leave you here? That’s cute.”

His jaw tightens at that, and he opens his mouth—likely to make another ridiculous suggestion—but one of Arix’s guards opens the black door in front of us, and I’m suddenly blinking into the sunlight.

We must be behind the castle, and we file down black stone steps onto the grass. In front of us is a small, private dock where I count twelve tiny boats. They look almost like the gondolas I’ve seen in pictures of Venice, except they seem slightly wider.

The warriors aren’t exactly pleased by this, which isn’t surprising, since most Braxians can’t swim.

Vivian glances back at me for reassurance as we step back onto the dock, and I nod. Arix is playing his own game, and I’m not sure what that game is. But that doesn’t mean we can’t win our own game. If he can help us get off this planet, we’d be idiots not to take his help.

We’re all silent as more guards step forward, readying the gondolas. “What are these called?” I ask a guard, and he grunts.

“Hydros,” he says.

The guard holds out his hand to help me into the hydro, but Tagiz is suddenly there, shooting him an unfriendly look. I’m grateful for Tagiz’s hand as I maneuver my dress, hoping I don’t face-plant as I climb rather ungracefully into the tiny boat. Tagiz sits beside me, and I watch as Hewex and Sarissa get settled as well. Arix is helping Vivian into their own hydro, and he shakes his head as Jozet attempts to board with them.

Vivian sends Jozet a reassuring look. He doesn’t seem happy but moves toward our hydro instead.

For whatever reason, Arix wants Vivian to himself. It’s obvious he’s attracted to her, but I didn’t expect to see Vivian’s reaction to him. She’s as unsure as I’ve ever seen her, a blush creeping up her cheeks as Arix leans over and murmurs something to her.

His guards pile into their own hydros.

“Where do you think he’s taking us?” I ask, and Tagiz shrugs. His eyes are continually scanning everything around us as the guards begin to direct the hydros down the river.

Other than the gentle splash of water, it’s quiet. Peaceful. The sun is warm on my face, and I lean against Tagiz for a moment. He glances down at me and wraps his arm around me again.

The river flows through this town, and my head turns continually as I attempt to take everything in. On one side of the river, small, thatched houses sit next to each other on