“I think we’re safe.” She sighed. “Cassia, do you have eyes on us?”
“Yeah, but the animals are circling the grove so you probably should stay put for a while.”
“Well, we can’t exactly stop here. There’s not even room to sit, let alone do anything else,” Jag complained as he tried to find a safe spot on a nearby tree to lean on.
“Where’d that woman go?” Cruz signed, peering through the trees around them. “She seems like she knows the way.”
Dani rotated in the small area before spotting the woman’s red hair through the mess of trunks and thorns. “This way.”
They continued on, following the mysterious warrior woman as the trees grew even denser and the light filtering through the leaves overhead grew dim. Finally, they stumbled into an opening in the foliage. The break in the trees was smaller than the cruiser but had enough room for them to stretch and rest without the fear of being impaled.
At the center of a clearing was a circle of stones with charred wood in the center. The egniorium bag lay next to the fire pit. Cruz walked over and scooped up the bag, placing it in the shade at the edge of the grove.
The red-haired woman was kneeling below a torn canopy of lightweight fabric. Ropes secured the fabric to trees, and the trees beneath the awning had been dethorned. Dani wrinkled her forehead as she took in the rest of the camp. The grass in the clearing was packed down and looked like it had been for some time. The areas on the trees where the thorns had been removed seemed to be healed over. Under the canopy lay a bed of leaves and grass along with a stack of firewood.
“Hey,” Dani said quietly as she approached the woman. “Thank you.”
The woman turned and smiled at Dani before handing her a length of rope tied to a tarp and pointing to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. Dani followed her instructions, securing the tarp as the woman ran around and secured the other three corners. She looked up at the darkening sky then gestured for Dani and her crew to climb beneath the tarp.
“Have you been here long?” Dani asked, signing as she spoke in hopes the woman would be able to understand her. Instead, she just received a blank stare.
“It’s sure be nice to have Cassia around right now. She knows more languages than anyone I know,” Jag said as he examined his leg. “Of course, I don’t think she would have made it through all of that without having a breakdown.”
Cruz swung his hand back and thumped Jag in the chest with a glare.
“Ow! Geez, beat up the injured guy. You know it’s true though.”
“I can hear you.” Cassia sounded annoyed over the comm.
Jag’s eyes widened. “Er, sorry, but these things were crazy.”
“It’s fine, I don’t want to be down there either. But tell me about the person that you’re with. Maybe I can help you communicate with her.”
“I’m not so sure she’s a person actually, but humanoid for sure.” Jag cocked his head to the side as he stared at the woman, who was carving the meat off of something she dug out of the fire pit.
Dani followed his gaze and started to notice subtle differences in the woman that she hadn’t seen clearly before. What she thought was armor in the heat of battle was actually the woman’s skin. Scales covered her exposed forearms and lower legs. They also framed the outside of her face along her hairline but not around her features, still allowing for movement and expression.
“I’ll amplify the comm signal so you can pick up anything she says,” Dani said as she adjusted the dials on her comm device.
“Ræmâ,” the woman said as she presented bits of deep pink flesh to Dani, Cruz, and Jag on a flat stone.
“I think that’s dinner,” Cruz signed before smiling, nodding, and taking a handful of the meat.
Dani did the same. “Thank you.”
Jag stared at the meat before looking at Dani. “You know, I think I’ll be fine.”
“Eat it.” Dani frowned at him. “You’re injured. You need to eat.”
Jag stretched out his leg with a grimace and examined it before giving the woman a half smile as he retrieved a bit of the meat. “Thanks.”
“Viniramâgi anćer da?” she asked as she knelt next to Jag’s leg and peered at the blood seeping from the wound at his knee. Without waiting for a response, she took out her large, curved knife and reached for his leg.
“Whoa!” Jag’s eyes widened and he held up his hands in front of the wound. “It’s just a bite, no reason to get crazy with that thing. Dani, do something.”
Dani knelt next to the woman and peeled back a torn section of the blood-soaked clothing. “It looks pretty bad.”
Cruz joined them. “We need to stop the bleeding.”
The woman looked between the three of them and then reached for Jag’s leg again. With a quick swipe of the knife, she sheared the tattered clothing and armored plates away from his leg, just above the knee. The bite mark was distinct, with several puncture holes where half a dozen teeth had broken through the flesh. The skin around each puncture was starting to darken, and the blood seeping out was a deeper red than Dani had ever seen with an injury.
The woman stood and stepped out of the clearing, leaving the three of them alone. Cruz took his canteen and poured some water over the wound, causing Jag to wince. He opened his first-aid kit and took out some gauze and antibacterial ointment, but before he could apply any, the woman reappeared.
In her hands she held a large thorn from one of the trees, half full of the amber-like liquid. In the other hand she clutched a handful of small, white flowers. She knelt next to Jag once more, carefully passing the hollow, liquid-filled thorn to Cruz before meticulously pulling the petals off of each of the flowers and shoving them into her mouth. As she chewed on the petals, she rubbed the flowers’ centers on Jag’s wound, leaving a dusting of yellow.
“Oh, that feels nice.” Jag smiled and relaxed his shoulders somewhat.
The red-haired woman took the thorn back from Cruz and spit the broken down petals inside. She swirled the concoction and plucked a palm-sized leaf from a nearby bush.
“She’s not gonna...” Jag started, but before he could finish, she slathered the yellow-and-white-speckled salve first on the leaf, then on Jag’s wound, eliciting a yelp from the patient. Jag cringed. “Yup, that just happened.”
Dani watched the woman, who sat back and watched Jag’s wound closely. She seemed to be aware of what she was doing—at least Dani hoped that she was.
Jag’s face slowly morphed from a look of mild discomfort to one of overwhelming pain. “Gah! That burns! Stop her, Cruz!” he hollered.
“She looks like she knows what she’s doing,” Cruz signed and sat back, watching her.
“Can I please have more of those flowers? They were nice. Took away the pain. Would love some more of that,” Jag rambled through his clenched jaw.
The blood trickling from his wounds ceased, and the woman smiled and passed the thorn back to Cruz, who pushed it into the ground so it wouldn’t topple.
“Thank you,” Dani said, relieved. Jag had lost a fair amount of blood and she was happy that the woman’s medicine had put a stop to it. “What can we call you?”
A confused look from the woman caused Dani to frown. She decided to try another approach and touched her own chest, then pointed to Jag and Cruz in turn. “Dani, Jag, Cruz.”
The woman’s eyes followed Dani’s pointing and she nodded in understanding before tapping her own chest. “Sylvine.”
“Sylvine,” Dani repeated with a smile before pointing to Jag’s wound. “Thank you.”
Sylvine peered past Dani at the wound and retrieved more of the salve from within the thorn, slathering it on again.
“No, not necess—” Jag squeezed his eyes shut, then after Sylvine was finished, he slowly opened one. “Oh, it wasn’t so bad that time.”
A loud crack of thunder overhead pulled the group’s attention to the black, billowy clouds rolling in overhead.
“Kunshe,” Sylvine
said as she pointed to the sky. She quickly covered the firepit with a wide rock and retreated to her shelter just as the rain started to fall.
Chapter 7
Large drops of water drummed on the tarp overhead as Dani stared at it. She lay on her back, nestled in the cramped space between Cruz and Jag with her hands folded on her stomach. Every few minutes, her attention shifted from the pooling water overhead to Jag. He lay silently with his eyes closed—that is, until her gaze lingered a little too long. Then he’d pop an eye open and she’d quickly look away. At times his breathing seemed labored and she worried about his injury, but he didn’t seem to be in too much pain.
The cut on her side bothered her somewhat, but not enough to bring to anyone’s attention. She didn’t want to waste any medical supplies on her minor wound when Jag’s seemed so much worse.
The water pooled in the center of the tarp until a stream formed, running from the top. Sylvine jumped up and gathered the rainwater in a large bottle and drank from it before offering it to the Dani, Cruz, and Jag.
Dani, propping herself up, welcomed the offer. The crisp water was delicious and helped Dani clear her mind. The storm had been raging for about an hour, but the lightning and thunder were starting to die down. “Cassia, can you give me an update on those beasts?”
“Wha? Oh, yeah, sure. One sec.” Cassia yawned. “I’m not seeing any lifeforms in the prairie or near the lakes. There are a lot at the base of the mountains, but it looks like you should be able to get to the cruiser just fine.”
“I think we should get going.” Dani rolled off of her back and into a crouched position below the tarp. “Jag, are you okay to walk?”
“I think so.” Jag grunted as he climbed to his feet, then immediately toppled into Dani. “Or not.”
“Easy there.” Dani laughed.
“Hey, you try getting up with a completely numb leg. Not so easy.”
Cruz stood, grabbed the egniorium, and sturdied Jag while Dani gathered the rest of their belongings.
Sylvine popped up from her nest, looking alarmed. “Ladonulkoshumnakir thaji. Ulchânma koshum kunshe.”
Dani took another look around the camp. Her eyes were drawn to the harness attached to the canopy over Sylvine’s area. It was a parachute. Maybe Sylvine wasn’t from this planet. It would make sense that she wasn’t, since Cassia had found no signs of civilization. Dani gestured to Sylvine. “Sylvine, would you like to come with us?”
Sylvine watched Dani and the others as they prepared themselves to lead, the expression on her face a mix of worry and annoyance. Then, as the group stepped out from under the tarp and made their way over to the entrance into the clearing, she finally got up and hurriedly grabbed a satchel before joining them.
Dani led the way through the twisted trunks and thorns, helping guide Jag through while Cruz helped him from behind. Sylvine brought up the rear, collecting more of the white flowers as well as thorns and strips of bark from here and there.
The rain was barely noticeable beneath the intertwined canopy of leaves, but the occasional roar of thunder and flash of lightning were still startling, even at several miles away. Despite the storm, the prairie was relatively well lit. The two moons peeked over the mountain ridge and lit up the area through a break in the clouds. Dani glanced skyward. “Are you still there, Cassia?”
“No, it’s Zadria. Cassia really needed a break so I took over.”
“Hey, Z. Good looking out. How are things looking out there? Anything I need to be aware of?”
“Doesn’t look like it. Everything must be taking shelter in the storm, because the only things lighting up the sensors between you and the cruiser are the fish in the lakes.”
“Great.” The tension in Dani’s neck eased slightly. “I can handle fish.”
“Alright, guys, let’s see if we can’t get back to the cruiser and get off this planet.” Dani stepped out and into the rain. The heavy drops quickly wetted and chilled her hair, then ran down her face. She knew that running around in a storm may not be the best idea, but she figured they might as well take advantage of the empty prairie while they could.
The group plodded along across the field, back toward the lakes and the cruiser. Dani continuously surveyed the surrounding area for any sign of the creatures. Their path was quiet, and wet. But they reached the lakes safely.
“Maybe we should go around,” Dani said softly. “I don’t know if anything’s home in that cave and I really don’t want to deal with those creatures again.”
Lightning cracked across the sky above them and shot into the earth near the grove of trees where the once sought shelter. Another bolt burst from nearly the same area, crackling and charring the ground near the lakes.
“Fænulkuzinakir thaji,” Sylvine said from behind as she went around Dani and her crew and took the lead, working her way quietly and carefully across the network of land bridges.
“I don’t know what she said, but I’m with her.” Jag limped after Sylvine. “There’s no way I’m getting hit by lighting on top of the chunk that thing took out of my leg.”
Cruz simply nodded to Dani and followed the others, leaving Dani alone on the shore.
With a sigh, Dani shot a nervous glance toward the cave once more before she followed along, bringing up the rear of the line. She didn’t like the thought of getting close to the creatures’ den again, but she didn’t like the idea of getting struck by lightning either. And it seemed that the storm was picking up again, illustrated by two more violent outbursts of lightning behind them.
Sylvine led the group on a different path than before, taking them around the den but still a shorter distance than they would have traveled had they avoided the lake network completely. Occasionally she’d stop and peer down into the water a moment before continuing. Dani wasn’t sure if she was worried about her footing, or something else. But she made a mental note to have Cassia work with the woman to learn her language so they’d be able to communicate on a better level.
Sylvine waved Cruz and Jag past her at an intersection of stone pathways and pointed to the cruiser before turning and walking toward the fallen beasts they’d slain earlier in the day. Dani stopped and watched her curiously as Cruz helped Jag to the cruiser.
Sylvine pulled a smaller pouch from the one she wore around her waist. She knelt next to one of the beasts and cut the tongue from its mouth and placed it in the bag before turning to repeat the process with the next fallen creature.
Dani was intrigued with her actions, but became distracted when the lake next to her began to release copious amounts of bubbles. She cocked her head, peering into the depths.
“Degamkirit!” Sylvine shouted as she pointed at the cruiser, clutching her bag of tongues.
Dani looked toward Cruz and Jag, thinking maybe they were in danger, but they were loading up without any apparent threat.
The bubbles started rising out of another nearby lake, and Dani watched them nervously, taking a quiet step toward the cruiser. Suddenly, she felt Sylvine’s hand upon her wrist as the woman jerked her, nearly pulling her off her feet.
A series of roars and shrieks from the cave at the center of the lakes quickly caught Dani’s attention. The creatures were awake—and they were mad.
“Shit,” Dani mumbled as she tried to keep up with Sylvine on the slippery path.
Cruz was standing at the cruiser’s hatch, raising his weapon and taking aim past the women.
Dani pulled Sylvine into a crouched position as they continued to hurry along, using her other hand for balance. Near the edge, Sylvine let go of Dani and turned, drawing her blade and dropping the bag of tongues into her pouch. Dani stumbled past her, then turned to look at the oncoming charge of beasts.
The thick-bodied, lizard-like beasts gathered at the opening of the cave, beating on their chests and on the ground. A few of the larger animals were making their way toward Dani and her crew, but they lacked the speed they’d had earlier in the day. Dani hurried and ducked into the crui
ser with Sylvine and Cruz close behind, Cruz locking the hatch. Jag was already firing up the thrusters and preparing the cruiser for takeoff.
“Are you sure you can fly this thing right now? The storm is getting worse again.” Dani watched as the lightning cracked across the sky over and over. She had tried to tune it out as she crossed the lake, but it had steadily been growing more frequent by the minute.
“We’re about to find out!” Jag shouted back over the noise of the storm.
Cruz tapped Dani on the shoulder frantically, and pointed out the windshield toward the lake. The creatures had stopped in their tracks. Their attention was no longer locked on Dani and her crew, but instead on the bubbling water around them. Dani squinted through the rain-streaked windshield as Jag continued to run through the pre-flight checks.
Suddenly, a tentacle several times the length of the cruiser shot out of the water and fell across onto one of the creatures. It quickly coiled around the beast, which fruitlessly tried to scramble away, and pulled it down into the bubbling water.
“Holy cow,” Jag shouted, “let’s get out of here!”
He grabbed the yoke of the cruiser just as another tentacle, bigger than the first, erupted from the lake closest to them and dropped over the top of the cruiser.
“Get us out of here!” Dani ordered Jag.
“I can’t get off the ground. That thing’s too heavy.” The cruiser’s engines strained and the spacecraft lurched slightly, causing the tentacle to coil around them.
Dani’s heart was in her chest. The cruiser was too large to get pulled down into one of the small pools, but she was still worried the creature would damage the ship.
Before she could think of a solution, Sylvine had thrown open the hatch and was hanging halfway out of the cruiser. With her long blade in hand and a swift downward motion, she severed the tentacle and swung the hatch shut once more.
“Dekoshum!” she shouted at Jag.
“Don’t need a translator to tell me what that means,” he quipped as the cruiser shuddered and rose off the ground. Jag gently rocked the small ship until the remaining length of tentacle slid off to the ground. From there, they quickly gained altitude and Jag flew toward the break in the clouds over the mountains. “Get strapped in. We’re going to be leaving the atmosphere.”
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 25
