Chapter 1: A hundred year wait

France 1065

The unwieldy carriage harnessed to two horses, front and back, sauntered down the dirt road.

Zain hunkered down on the mountain, watching from above as the odd vehicle carried his breeder at the pace of a snail.

He came from a long line of proud warriors who distinguished themselves in conquest. When he'd volunteered to go into the experimental time portal and to go back in history, he'd thought he would fight fierce battles and make his mark on history. Instead, he'd been stuck for one hundred years in primitive hell. No warrior should have to endure the indignity of smelling medieval man.

He'd traveled back in time to the year 1065, and now, one hundred years later, he was still waiting for this assignment to show any sign of adventure, and he was ready to find his breeder.

His plan to take a breeder immediately, and enjoy many hours in the sleeping place with her, had crumpled like an Aurelian warrior faced with honorable battle. To his horror, he'd found that humans in this century were much shorter. And these short, medieval humans stank worse than a Zyrgin mud slug in heat, and he didn't want a midget for his breeder. He'd made the calculations, and having such a short human female as a breeder could only lead to centuries of discomfort. What if he crushed her during their time in the sleeping place? So, he'd decided to wait a few centuries to take one.

The plain wooden conveyance that held his breeder meandered toward the castle of Robert the Brave, the knight she thought she was going to marry. Until two months ago, Zain had thought he was doomed to wait out another lonely century before he could have his own breeder. Surely, the human race would become taller in that period.

Loneliness was the hardest battle he'd ever fought. He missed training with his fellow warriors, receiving news from the home world. Even before his first change, he'd been part of a warrior group in training. Many of the warriors he'd known since he was a pre-change small Zyrgin had also volunteered for the time-travel assignment. He looked forward to meeting up with them in the centuries to come, seeing people again that looked like him.

He'd gone through grueling wars, harsh training, and punishments when he was a young warrior. None of that had prepared him for being so alone that he talked to the computer to hear a response in his own language. Each long night, he sat outside and watched the stars and imagined being back with his fellow Zyrgin warriors, talking about battles, sparring with their swords. And he thought about his breeder. What would she look like? Would she find him very ugly? Would he have to teach her to bathe every day? Would it be so bad to have a very small breeder?

Then, two months ago, everything had changed. While on a scouting mission in the castle of Robert the Brave, Zain's fortunes had improved. While he'd spied on the humans in the castle near his headquarters in the mountains, a messenger had announced that Robert the Brave's intended bride was on her way to their wedding.

Listening to the baron, Robert the Brave, lament about having to wed a mannish wench a head taller than him, and too clever for a female, Zain had felt hope for the first time in months. When Robert went on to rant about her well-known habit of bathing every day, Zain had known he'd found his breeder. He'd thought about killing Robert the Not-So-Brave, but a daring plan had come to him. He was entitled to some adventure after all.