by Zara Starr
“I have found a female and she was bitten by a dificia beetle in the midst of the fray. She held me and challenged me in my own camp. I was forced to control her. My mother and Dey have her now and I want to see if she understands Ella’s tongue. She speaks in words that sound similar, but I can’t be sure. Will you help?” I asked.
Karr
I perked a brow at Arh’s question. Hearing him say all this was astounding to me, and yet, I recognized that it was highly possible.
I owed it to Ella to allow her to meet the female in question because we had all looked for ways to get her back home before she finally gave into our culture and accepted our triad.
I pursed my lips as I relayed the information given.
“I will bring Ella, but do not speak to her. Do not look at her. Do not get anywhere near her. Do you understand?” I asked.
Arh groaned. “Do I truly terrify her that badly? I would never harm a female, Karr. You know my mother would have skinned off my bulb if ever I did so,” Arh said. “I may stand virile as I am, but I will not cause any pain for your mate. I assure you of it.”
“Good, then abiding by those few things should be easy enough. Wait here,” I muttered.
I walked into the home cave and met face-to-face with Ella whose eyes were already filled with terror as she fanned her hand out across her bulging belly. I approached her and pressed my lips to her forehead—my way of showing her that it was okay, that I would always protect her.
She closed her eyes and I lifted the stick we used for communicating—exchanging a few words with her that I knew she understood well. Ella tilted her head as she watched me drawing and perked a brow as she tried to comprehend the information.
It was obvious that it wasn’t registering, which meant my best option was just to take her down to see Veruka—someone she had seen numerable times since discovering her pregnancy, and someone I knew she needed to see again for yet another checking over.
Since she was the first to expect a hybrid of our two species, we could not be too careful. Providing her with the best tonics and foods according to her own diet had become of utmost importance.
This made it much easier, and a believable enough reason to convince her to go to Veruka’s.
Mikaela
I waited impatiently for someone to come back inside so I could try to at least get my dog a bowl of water. My eyes widened as a scarred purple man walked into the room, carrying a bowl of steaming soup, or so it appeared anyway.
I was happy when I discovered that it contained the great-smelling roasted meat the man had been cooking when The Brute first brought me to the cave.
I pulled a few pieces of the meat out and hand-fed them to Tremor, which seemed to suffice for food. But he wouldn’t have any of the broth so I drank it all, shoving the bowl to my face as the man watched closely.
He pulled a cup from his satchel and a fluid skin from his hip and I realized he was offering me water.
I smiled and took the cup when he finished filling it. I held it out to Tremor first. I had to make sure that my dog was fed and watered, even if I couldn’t get him out to the potty—which I knew he had done in the corner of the cave, number one thankfully!
I watched as the scarred purple man perked a brow—clearly confused by what I was doing. I smiled as Tremor polished off the water and held it back out to him, nodding to encourage him to fill it so I too could have something to drink.
He pursed his lips and squirted a bit more of the fluid skin into the cup and I held it tightly as The Brute walked in with yet another purple male, Veruka, and Dey. Behind the unknown male stood a petite and thin woman who I was positive spoke English.
I blinked! Could that be possible?
She had a bulging stomach that screamed pregnancy, but it couldn’t have been more than maybe the first trimester and a half from all appearances. Then again, she was shockingly small for her size!
The woman tilted her head as her eyes met with mine and she blinked—in just the same way I had.
“Wait…” she said, stepping past the unknown and tall purple male that had stood in front of her. “Are you? How did you get here?” she asked me.
“Um, I could ask you the same thing.” Tremor began growling slightly, and I could tell he hadn’t liked the woman’s tone.
“What the hell? How did you get a dog here with you?” she asked, confusion riddling her face.
“He kind of got transported here right alongside me,” I said.
“You got transported?” The woman frowned. “Wait a minute, was there one of those weird storms? Where are you from?” she asked me.
“Okay.” I tried to focus on the onslaught of questions she had just asked me and sighed. “First, I’m from the East Coast, and yes, there were several storms that day.”
I started to remember the day better. “It was actually pouring rain when I took my dog here, Tremor, out to take a piss. We were fine, but then he got spooked and his leash slid from my grip. The next thing I knew I grabbed it and there was this crazy white flash. I guess it must have been lightning, but in any case, I woke up here and…”
I trailed my words as I watched the purple people staring at the woman and me as we conversed. “Why are they all staring at us so weirdly?” I asked her.
“Because you are basically a goddess here, believe it or not,” she muttered with a chuckle. “All women are revered in their tribe.”
“Oh, is that why they’re all acting like this over me?” I asked.
“Yeah, basically.” She rolled her eyes. “Ella,” she said as she reached out to offer her hand. I shook it briefly and nodded.
“Mikaela. So, how long have you been here?” I asked, glancing down at her stomach and realizing it must have been long enough to get knocked up. Unless an already pregnant woman somehow got transported here also—wherever the hell here was.
“Um, a few months. I mean, I’ve learned a little bit of the language.”
“Oh, so you can help me get them to stop harassing my dog then?” I asked in a hopeful tone.
“I mean, I don’t speak much of the Eilahasan language, but I can do my best,” Ella said.
She turned toward the purple man that had been standing in front of her and began making weird motions and saying a few weird words here and there.
I watched as the purple man turned toward The Brute—that is the first jerk I had encountered who seemed entirely different from the rest of his tribe.
Dey, Veruka, The Brute, and Ella’s purple man all seemed to quickly agree upon something, but I wasn’t quite sure what that something was.
“Well?” I asked.
“Karr.” Ella motioned to her purple man and nodded. “He is one of my mates. He has just explained to them that the creature is your companion—that it keeps you safe and is your family. I don’t think anyone will try eating him, at least, but you may have to work on the barking issue,” Ella explained.
“Is that it? Okay, so how long do you think we need to stay here?” I asked her curiously.
“What do you mean?” Ella asked.
“I mean, like aren’t you missing your family and life back home?” I asked.
“I’ve realized that home is where the heart is,” she said with a smile, glancing at the man who had come with her—Karr. ”I didn’t have much left back in Los Angeles anyway.”
I blinked. “What? Are you suggesting that you want to stay here? Which, I mean—where the hell are we anyway? You said Eilahasan language—what the hell is that?” I asked her.
“It’s their language. Obviously, you can tell you’re not on Earth, can’t you?” she asked.
“Well, yeah. This place looks like something out of some sci-fi movie!” I exclaimed.
“Exactly, well… you’re lucky it took me forever to learn the name of this planet, but it’s Eilahas,” Ella said.
“Eilahas? Is that what they call it? What’s it called in the Milky Way?” I asked.
“I’m not so sure
we’re in the Milky Way Galaxy, honestly. The Constellations look entirely different out here than they did on Earth,” Ella reflected.
“Seriously? Have you tried to figure out a way to get back to Earth?” I asked her. The more she spoke the less inclined I was to believe she wanted to leave. It almost seemed like she was a part of the tribe—like she belonged there.
“Well, yes… I did at first. I was resistant. It’s a different life for me, but I get everything I need and I live in paradise with three beautiful men who dote on me. I mean, why would I want to leave that?” She smiled again, like it was all normal.
“When I realized that getting home wasn’t going to be that easy, I opted for becoming a part of the tribe by holding a triad ceremony,” she explained.
“A triad ceremony? Three men? What the heck?” I asked, perking my brow in disbelief.
“Yes, because females are so scarce here they allow one woman to choose three men to suit her triad—to be her threesome lovers so that there is equal accessibility to having a mate,” Ella explained.
I blinked in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing—it just didn’t make any damn sense to me.
“So, let me get this straight—you’re here and staying because you’ve got three purple lovers who answer your every beck and call? You’re crazy! How could you give up on life on our planet to live in a place where you get crap like this?”
I lifted my arm to show her the ridiculously huge bug bite I’d gotten and the packing job that Veruka had been forced to do on it to keep my arm from practically rotting off at the shoulder.
“Yes, and that is why you should stick to the footpaths, the meadows, and the cave systems. They’re safest for us,” Ella explained.
I scoffed and shook my head. I couldn’t believe this woman—she was either nuts or the sex she was getting must have been the universe’s best.
Who would give up life on Earth for this primitive standard? Complete with musty smelling caves as houses! I just couldn’t buy it.
“Wow, really? No way—that’s just crazy. I’m going to find a way to get out of here. If you want to help, then I’ll do my best to get you back to Earth too, but if not—well I’m doing it with or without you.”
“Alright, suit yourself,” Ella muttered, as she turned back to the others and they all began to walk away.
I wondered what they were all saying, but sighed as I reflected on everything that had just happened and what it meant for the future of my life.
Six
Arh
I pursed my lips as Karr approached me once we were all standing outside of my mother’s cave.
“Ella said she seems adamant that she does not wish to stay here. She also declared that her companion should be left alone. I am not sure that she likes Ella, but Ella was able to convey a few things of importance. I think this female will need a lot of time and space to heal before you can push her any further though,” Karr said.
“Aye, but why is she so defensive over the yelping creature? I do not understand it,” I admitted, surprised and slightly aggravated by it.
“It seems it is like her family—that is how Ella has presented it. Like a child to her, if you understand that?” Karr asked.
“I cannot say that I do, but I will respect her wishes. I’ve already caused her enough duress,” I admitted.
I wanted to make up for it, that was why I had gone to fetch Ella after all. I wanted to do whatever was necessary to make Mikaela happy and comfortable. I felt at odds within myself because I had never been put in this situation before.
Females did not venture into dangerous places in our culture. It was our duty and our honor to protect them.
I had failed by willfully bringing harm to Mikaela—something I knew the other males would use in their favor to try to oust me from the selections she would make, should she choose to partake in our customs.
“Then I think there is nothing further for Ella and me to discuss here. I shall take my leave,” Karr announced as he turned to walk away.
Ella’s eyes flickered across me as she turned to leave with her mate and I wondered if she and Mikaela hadn’t found one another agreeable. It was a trait that Karr and I shared as well.
I turned to walk back toward my mother who stood nearest Mikaela and tilted my head.
“What do you think?” I asked. “Is she like Karr’s mate? Is she an herbivore?”
My mother chuckled and shook her head.
“No,” Veruka began. “She is nothing like Ella. In fact, they are entirely different both physically and by their appetites. Mikaela has devoured every bowl of stag stew that Scar has presented her, and with vigor. She has shown a certain disgust for topas, however.”
“She does not like cheese?” I asked, confounded by the revelation.
“No, it seems to make her queasy and violently so, I might add. She had the same reaction to the elixir Dey gave her and I had to force her to consume it to completion,” Veruka said.
“She does seem to really enjoy the stag meat, Arh. I haven’t tried any smoked monlas with her yet, but I believe she will find it equally pleasing to the palate. She also feeds the animal by hand and it does not bite her,” Dey explained.
“Why would she do that?” I asked.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. It made no sense to me why she would show such undeniable affection to the strange yapping creature I wanted to asphyxiate with my bare hands.
“As Karr told you, she holds the creature as family in her heart. I should think no other explanation is needed. Clearly, every living creature requires food and water. You know this, Arh,” Veruka said.
“Mother, be that as it may, I find these foreign females hard to understand. Why are they so obviously different?”
“Why are you so obviously different from myself, or Scar, or Dey? Why must all females appear in one fashion in order to be understood?” my mother asked me.
I perked a brow, understanding that her meaning was far deeper than her words. Something she relished doing to me ever since I was born, and would no sooner allow me to forget before I died.
“I am going to hunt,” I said. “And see if I can find ways to uncover the place where Mikaela first came to Eilahas.”
My mother nodded and folded her arms over her chest.
“Aye, the first sensible response I have heard from you yet, my son.”
I scoffed as I shook my head, but I dared not speak a word ill against her. As much as I hated it, she was mentoring me so I could receive the very thing I desired most—Mikaela as my mate.
Mikaela
I sat in the dark cave, having lost count of the days by now. It had been a few hours since the woman I’d spoken with earlier had paid a visit. The very visibly pregnant woman who seemed to think that staying here, on Eilahas, was a fantastic idea.
I shook my head in disbelief. It was unimaginable to me that anyone would want to continue staying in a place where you could hardly see and the smells all around you were seeping into your lungs no matter what you did.
I couldn’t imagine being pregnant in such a situation. It seemed nonsensical to me. Didn’t pregnant women get nauseous easily?
I suppose I didn’t have enough personal experience with pregnancy to actually speak on the matter, but every Old Wives’ Tale I had ever heard had pointed at the fact that smells did cause women to spew.
The multiple scents that lingered around me were about to do just that. I needed fresh air, and stat! I stood up and pulled on Tremor’s leash,
“Come on, boy. Let’s go for a walk,” I said.
Nobody had come to check on me in at least half an hour and I hoped that meant I could at least go out into the yard space that made up the front of the cave’s entrance. I had now been staying in this cave for days, and I really needed to get out.
I peeked my head out of the mouth of the cave. I did not notice anything so opting to continue, I brought Trem out of the cave and onto the grass.
; “There ya go—now, potty,” I said, lifting my head toward the sky as the sun beat down on my face.
I couldn’t believe how nice it felt to finally get some Vitamin D into my skin after spending forever in that dark hole they called home.
Sure, the hospitality had been kind enough, considering I was on death’s door when I’d first come through the cave. But I was really starting to feel like a prisoner in this place, and that brought me back to thinking about pregnant Ella.
Had she just developed some sort of Stockholm Syndrome or something?
Considering the situation it seemed probable that she would. Why else would she be so adamant against helping me find a way off this godforsaken planet?
I stood waiting for my dog to finish using the bathroom thinking to myself.
Snap!
I whirled around to see The Brute standing behind me, just at the edge of the tree line, and I braced myself for being dragged back to the cave as I sighed in annoyance.
He stepped forward and began laying down various cuts of meat—most of which had already been cooked, though some had been smoked, and pointed toward my mouth. I quirked a brow curiously. Was he trying to give me all the meat as a gift? And if so, why?
I pursed my lips and knelt down, glancing over the succulent pieces of meat and wondering what each type actually was. I noticed darker meat that appeared similar to steak and lifted a piece to bite into.
It was delicious! Like the best T-bone steak in the finest New York restaurant ought to taste, and then some.
I was delighted by the food and immediately began trying out the other pieces only to find that they were just as good as the first. I looked up at The Brute and he nodded as he pointed to himself.
“Arh,” he said.
I perked a brow and tilted my head. “Arr?” I asked.
Why was he trying to talk to me like a pirate? I almost felt like I should say matey, just for effect. He shook his head and pointed in toward himself again.
