Heart of the Agraak

by S. J. Sanders

  A sob wracked her body and she felt his hands caress her back.

  “You left her here...!” she whispered angrily through her tears.

  She wanted to be angry at him for leaving her sister in the lab to be killed by some savage Agraak. She wanted to hate him for it, for not taking her away from this horrible place once he knew exactly what went on behind its walls. But she couldn’t. She knew he couldn’t have freed her alone. They would have killed him, and she would have died anyway, probably sooner.

  She was angry at this place. She hated it. She hated everyone who had anything to do with it and facilitated its presence on Agraadax and continuing abuse of the women who had been locked within.

  “You will never know the depth of my regret that has plagued me since I received that comm,” he murmured. “To know now that she was also your sister, that makes it all the worse. She was so brave. It was an honor to have met her, even for that short time.”

  She sniffed, tears stinging her eyes she leaned into his embrace.

  “They threw her out into the swamp like garbage,” she choked out.

  He whispered soothingly to her, never once relaxing his embrace. He held her amid that horrible cell block with the stench of death all around them, images of her sister’s vibrancy living on only in her memories.

  She dashed a hand against her eyes and heaved a watery sigh. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. One way or another, we’re going to bring these assholes down.”

  He felt his arms tighten and heard his growled agreement rumble through her bones. There was going to be hell to pay.

  Chapter 15

  Kaede was glad to leave the facility behind them. Frahnkee had been silent since they’d left, and it bothered him. It was like she’d retreated within herself the moment they left Vereik. He knew she needed time to heal, but that didn’t make it any easier to witness. She’d lost her sister once, and he understood that she was coming to terms with losing her all over again. He remembered the pain he felt when his father had died. It was like a piece of himself didn’t go on past his death. His father had been the only one who ever showed Kaede unconditional love and affection.

  He could barely imagine what Frahnkee felt losing her twin. Twins were rare on Agraadax, but those who survived into adulthood reported the closeness and unique bond between them. Twin Agraak males sometimes went as far as to willingly share a mate, wishing to keep their twin close in their family unit. Although sometimes jealousies erupted, their relationship was unlike anything else on Agraadax. The death of a twin was tragic for the surviving twin.

  No matter the species, Kaede had no doubt that the female trailing behind him was experiencing such profound loss. He found himself in the uncomfortable position of not knowing how to help. He was accustomed to being a problem-solver among his people. Acquiring what was needed, fighting injustices on their behalf as he was able, even if it meant all he could do was help smuggle individuals offplanet.

  Though he never admitted it to a single soul, not even to Priest Crix who’d been his long-time confidant, he’d been the one to provide the fraudulent merchant codes to the guard who’d escaped the planet with a human breeder. He hadn’t known at the time that she’d been escaping with a human, only that she and her family needed sanctuary away from Agraadax as a witness to horrible conditions at the facility. That was all the reason he needed to assist her, with hope that somehow word would get out to the Council.

  Now he felt entirely helpless to do anything when it was the one being whom he wished to do everything for. It could be the ormar, but it was true, nonetheless. Despite his resistance, Frahnkee had won his admiration, if no little vexation since their acquaintance. He hadn’t enjoyed the thought of being stuck alone in the swamps for an indeterminable time period with a human female, but Frahnkee had proved to be a lot more than what he’d ever expected. He’d known it in the fields, and now he saw even more clearly since they left the facility behind them.

  She was strong. She was also argumentative, stubborn, and took it upon herself to do things that were foolish, not the least of which was thinking that she’d be able to rely on her disguise long term, but she possessed a great heart. She was not unlike the warriors and heroines of old in that way.

  He glanced back at her like a besotted idiot, ensuring himself that she was okay and still behind him. The heat of the day was high and the blood vilks had retreated to the deeper waters, but soon he’d have to coat her in his saliva once the temperatures cooled. At least he didn’t have to worry about her overheating as she did that morning. Her armor was still safely packed in his bag and she wore a female’s uniform that she’d found abandoned in one of the guards lockers before they left.

  Though it had little armor except for the plating over the chest and belly to keep her internal organs protected, she looked more comfortable wearing it. The anidupar of the old style was modified for sterile females who were born into the ranik that permitted them to be a guard or warrior.

  Dyed a verdant shade of brilliant green with a scarlet trim, it clung to her curves, the ends flapping against her thighs with the sway of her rolling gait. Like the simple dupar of the common folk, it was no longer than the knee to allow one to traverse the shallow waters that made up the swamps. Already her knee-high boots were wet and muddy. He tried to keep them from treading through the water as much as possible. As they moved into the swamp from the outer zone, the trees would be dense enough that they’d be able to walk fairly dry on the root systems. Not that she uttered a word of complaint.

  While he approved of her resilience, he worried over her state of mind. The swamp wasn’t a safe place for one to be distracted. He was comforted only by the fact that she had one hand on her pistol, letting him know that she was, on some level, alert for danger, despite the far-off look in her eyes.

  It was of no matter. He was on his guard. He would protect her.

  Their progress through the swamp as the day passed was marked only by the change of plant life around them. The wet, hot air never changed, but the grays of the outer swamp blended in and faded away, yielding to the vibrant hues of the ancestral swamps. Everywhere around them was a riot of color and life as insects and small pollinators fluttered through the air. The sight always brought Kaede a sense of peace and he hoped that it brought some comfort to Frahnkee as well.

  It didn’t seem to affect her, though she did stop at one point and blink in wonder as dozens of fire-strikes glowed ethereally as they floated past her in their flock to a tree just a short distance away where they warbled their haunting song. About half the size of his thumb, the bioluminescent winged amphibians spent half of their time in the water and the other half flying up into the trees that bordered their territory. They’d been his favorite creature in the swamps as a youth, and he was delighted that it was able to bring Frahnkee out of herself even if only for a short time.

  She seemed to notice little else, but there would be plenty of time for Kaede to acquaint her with the swamp. Every now and then, she seemed to become more aware and present. Her eyes would cut straight to him, as if reassuring herself that he was still there. Somehow through all of this he’d gained her trust so that she felt safe enough to lean on him while she grieved.

  When the day began to cool, he stopped and set his pack down and turned toward Frahnkee. She stumbled just before colliding with him and blinked at him as she focused on his presence looming in front of her. One hand rubbed at her eyes and she looked around them with a puzzled look.

  “We’ve stopped?” she asked with a rasp to her voice from not speaking much of the day.

  “Just for a moment. The air is cooling. The blood vilks will be out soon and we need to coat your skin.”

  A small, sad smile that nearly broke his heart twisted on her lips and she nodded.

  “Ah, yes, your magic tongue. All right. I’m ready.”

  Pulling her arms out from her sides, she stood patiently as he ran his tongue over her exposed skin. There was
more to cover this time and he took a certain pleasure in it, even without the ormar hounding him to mate. He knew it was a temporary reprieve, but at least they should get a few days of relief from it before it made further demands for the bonding process.

  Being as perfunctory as possible, he drew back as soon as he was finished, taking care not to linger as he wished at her thighs or cleavage. He touched a gentle hand to her cheek and watched as her gray eyes softened to the shade of morning mist before turning away to pick up his pack again.

  They walked for a few more hours until Kaede stopped them for the night at the base of a large tree. He was surprised to see that this had an old platform that peeked out, half-hidden, from among its branches.

  Within minutes, he climbed the side of the tree until he was level with the anchored reeds. It wasn’t often that platforms survived very long. Someone, perhaps a group of murol, had erected it within the last couple of cycles. It was their good fortune to come across it. It would save him the time of building another. After testing it, and finding it secure, he dropped back down the tree to retrieve Frahnkee.

  She stood exactly where he left her, but instead of listlessly looking off to the side, lost in her own thoughts, she looked up at the tree and smiled at him when he arrived at her side.

  “Either you work really fast, or someone left us a present.”

  He huffed out a laugh and pulled her into his arms.

  “Murol, hunters, often leave their platforms to reuse until Agraadax reclaims them. We are quite fortunate to find one in reusable condition. Now hold on tight.”

  “Yes, sir,” she murmured, her arms wrapping around his neck. Her warm breath teased his skin as he climbed.

  “Do hunters often come far into the swamp?”

  He grunted in affirmation as he pulled himself onto another branch.

  “They are one of few who do. They spend more time in the swamps than they do in the city. Sometimes they spend so much time out here hunting for game that they are unable to live comfortably within the dome-city. They always leave again with their families, teaching their offspring to hunt as soon as they are old enough to handle a barbed snare. I spent much of my youth with a family who were friends of my father when he was alive.”

  “That must have been an amazing childhood,” she said quietly as she stepped onto the platform.

  He smiled and settled across from her and pulled out a pair of blankets to keep them warm from the cooler night air of the inner swamp.

  “I was raised on the old stories of our people, or always looking for the tribes. Some of the murol would say that they’ve seen signs of the ancestral tribes that still live in the swamps, but no one knows for certain where they are or if they still remain this close in Aminae. That didn’t stop all the young ones from searching.”

  Frahnkee snorted a soft laugh as he handed her a ration bar. They still had plenty of supplies but in a few more days he would need to hunt during the midday so that they would have more food to eat. He wasn’t yet far enough from the city for his comfort and he still held out hope that he would find the tribe.

  “When Alisha and I were young, we used to go hunting with my uncles. Oh, we weren’t really into the hunting itself, but we loved just being outside around the campfire with our cousins listening to the stories they’d tell. My uncles were an inventive lot. I remember the first year we were finally considered old enough to go. My father’s oldest brother, Richard, gave us each cups of deer’s blood and said that it was tradition to drink it on the first hunt.”

  Kaede stared at her in disgust. The idea of drinking the blood of a living thing made his skin crawl. Frahnkee burst out laughing.

  “You should see your face. It wasn’t really deer’s blood. It turned out to be tomato juice. But until that first sip it was a pretty awful moment. I wouldn’t do it. Said it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever heard. But Alisha was more daring, she looked my uncle straight in the eye and tipped her cup back.” She plucked a leaf off the platform to examine it briefly before letting it drop off the side. “I guess that’s why she was the one who went with the Budo and not me. She said it was an adventure.”

  “It hurts you to discuss your twin,” he observed.

  She shook her head and smiled at him.

  “No, actually, it’s nice. It keeps her close to me. For a long time, I had to hide so much of myself from my crewmates that I could never really feel comfortable with sharing anything meaningful about my past with any of them.”

  Kaede eased closer to her, hoping that it might give her some comfort.

  “Do you miss Earth?”

  She looked at him, a flash of surprise flickering briefly in her eyes. Then her lips tugged in a reluctant smile.

  “At first I did,” she admitted. “I was terribly homesick and everything about living in space just felt wrong. I missed the feel of dirt beneath my feet and the smells of the living things around my home. My mother had a lemon tree that grew outside the kitchen window, and when it bloomed the most wonderful smells came through the house. And every year there was plenty of lemon meringue pie.” At his confused look, she added, “It’s a tart treat made from lemons and stiffened egg yolks among other things. It is very good.”

  He leaned back against the tree and nodded.

  “It sounds similar to an Agraak delicacy from the ziffi fruit. It is both tart and sweet. My father’s mother made it when I was very small before she passed into the next world. I sometimes buy some at the market to commemorate her memory, but they are never as good.”

  “Nothing is ever as good as what our family’s make with love,” Frahnkee agreed.

  “You do not feel this homesickness anymore?”

  “Sometimes certain smells may make me remember my home and the people I love, but it no longer makes me sad. If anything, it makes me feel comfortable and brings good memories. I used to think of nothing but returning to Earth with Alisha, but I don’t know if I can bear to be there without her. Even if she had lived, what would her life have been like? It was something I’d been thinking more about lately. Guess I’ll never know.”

  She fell silent and then shook her head as she met his gaze.

  “How about you? Do you think you would miss Agraadax?”

  Kaede leaned back and plucked a night oshul flower. As big as his hand, it was as white as the moons that could be barely seen except at just the right time above in the night sky above the forest. He dragged the soft petals of the flower across his nose, inhaling the rich perfume of the night-blooming flower before leaning forward and tucking it behind Frahnkee’s ear. One of her hands raised to cup the delicate blossom and he watched her inhale, a look of pleasure crossing her face.

  “Sometimes I think about what it would be like to leave, to be free of all the terrible things that poison our society. It would be nice to live at least a time without such burdens, to be free to explore a life without it.” He sighed and shook his head. “It is not something that will ever be. I have responsibilities to the people here. I had the luxury of being born into a noble house, with far more freedom and privileges than those of most raniks.”

  He gestured to the forest around them.

  “In any case, I don’t know if I’d ever want to leave this place. Maybe to visit other worlds would be nice, but never forever. The swamps of Aminae are the place of my spirit.”

  “I get that,” she said in a whisper. “It is good to find the place where you most belong. I think I’m still searching for mine. I guess for the time being it will have to be here,” she said with a low laugh.

  His hand reached out and took hers, their fingers twining together.

  “I will find a good place to keep you safe. We may not have the comforts of the dome-city, but I will do everything in my power to provide what I can for you.”

  Her lips parted and a small flush stole up her cheeks before she slowly drew her hand away.

  “Thank you, Kaede. That really means a lot to me.” She glanced aro
und the pallet as if uncertain. “We should sleep, I think. I am sure we will have plenty of traveling to do in the morning.”

  “Yes,” he agreed as he blew out a frustrated breath. “You are right. Blessed night, Frahnkee.”

  She was right to keep some semblance of distance between them. The first bonds of the ormar made him naturally want to cleave toward her, but their future was uncertain, and he had been truthful when he spoke of his responsibilities. He needed to keep finding the tribe in the forefront of his priorities. He would keep her safe and well provided for, but he couldn’t forget that he was out there to fulfill another task, not to take a mate.

  Her voice was a whisper from the other side of the pallet, but he heard it clearly all the same.

  “Good night, Kaede.”

  Then lower, barely audible.

  “Strange how I wish that things were different.”

  His heart clenched in silent agreement, but he said nothing nor let on that he’d heard her private words spoken beneath her sigh. The ormar worked in strange ways.

  Chapter 16

  For days, they hiked deeper into the swamps. Kaede kept her away from the deeper water where the major rivers bisected the land, where the most dangerous predators dwelled. Sometimes they had no choice but to skirt closer than he liked to one so that he could find a good crossing place to continue further on.

  The days passed uneventfully, though there were times where he thought he heard unfamiliar vocalizations like an echo of a name being called in the far distance but dismissed it. It could be his paranoid imaginings, or a hunter searching for a lost companion. There was even a good chance it was a wild animal. There were certain species that evolved to mimic the sounds of other creatures in order to draw in their prey. Agraaks were not anymore safe from them than any other species.

  Anything was possible in the swamp.

  On the third day, Frahnkee seemed more like herself than she had in some time. She was alert at all times, and often broke long silences to ask him questions about various wildlife and plants around them. She was also interested in the river.