by Raven Dark
As soon as he had his clothes in place, Raul whipped around and pointed a metal device at the ramp. I didn’t have to see his face to know he was seething with fury.
With a low whine, the ramp retracted slowly under the hatchway, and as soon as it disappeared, the door slammed down.
My brows shot up. Until now I’d never seen the outside of the ship, other than its underbelly. The flat disk, a saucer at least a hundred feet around, bore the scorch and scar marks of battle, black streaks tearing across the dull, grey hull. Looking at it from the outside, I had to wonder how we hadn’t ended up dropping like a dead fish in the middle of space.
The device Raul was using beeped a few times behind me, and the ship slowly became a blur before it disappeared, revealing the body of water it had been standing in front of.
Watching the ship disappear held all my attention, especially with the gorgeous water in view, a rich, deep gold. I was so focused on the sight, I only half-noticed Raul had said something. I turned to see him starting down the slope, his huge back stiff.
“Kahn, nayna.” Z’pheer tugged on my leash, indicating he’d probably told me to come. His smile held a playful air, but it looked subdued and did nothing to diminish the resignation in his silver eyes.
I took one last frightened look around at their half-beaten world and followed him, sticking close at his side.
Hating that I hurt because they hurt. Hating that I couldn’t ask them anything. Without being able to ask, I had no idea what to expect now that we were here, and since I couldn’t understand them, there was no adequate way for them to explain.
A low and quiet fear seeded itself in my mind, its dark tendrils snaking out until they poisoned every thought.
I followed my warrior captors across the sun-drenched sand, looking everywhere at once for a hundred unknown dangers, my senses attuned to every sight, sound, and smell around me.
The faint smell of saltwater and fish filled my nose, momentarily bringing a painful twinge of homesickness. I’d always loved the water, even though I’d only been to the beach for brief periods on my father’s tours.
Z’pheer kept a casual grip on my elbow, but there was a tension in him that was hard to ignore. He seemed on the verge of tightening that grip at any moment.
My boots kicked up the soft sand, the heat seeping through the leather until my feet were almost too warm. When Z’pheer had put those on my feet, I’d wondered why the hell he was bothering with boots when, until the poncho, the only other clothing I wore left my legs bare and hardly covered my ass. Wearing boots with that red “dress” had amounted to wearing socks with sandals. But now I understood why he’d done it. Under two suns, if I hadn’t been wearing boots, the sand would have burned the skin to blistering.
Raul remained in the lead, Tarku trotting along at his side, his paws seeming unaffected by the hot sand. That thick fur had to have made him hotter than hell, but he didn’t seem to notice the heat at all. His wide, pink tongue lulled lazily out of his mouth.
We stopped at one of the bigger buildings, and the men glanced around us, exchanging a few words. I wondered if they saw what I saw; the place looked deserted. I didn’t see any sign of life, and except for the surf behind us, an eerie silence surrounded the place.
As soon as Raul made his way toward the wide entrance of the building, Malek put his hand out to stop Raul in his tracks. He drew the sword from his back, and it buzzed to life. Malek glanced around. Looking for bad guys?
Raul lifted his eyes skyward in obvious exasperation and started to growl something at him.
“Amet som, Cael Raul. Z’pheer.” Malek waved at the older warrior to follow him.
Z’pheer nodded and unclipped my leash from his bracelet, handing it to Raul.
Raul sighed, but took the leash without clipping it to his own bracelet. He stared out at the jungle, rubbing his forehead, not even seeming to realize I was there. I couldn’t see the devastated cities that lay beyond the jungle from here, but I knew his mind was on them. On what had become of his world.
Trying to ignore a stab of empathy for him, I watched his two men disappear into the building, talking animatedly as they went. A few minutes later, they emerged, and I stared.
What were those?
At the two men’s sides, attached to the ends of long, thick leashes, three creatures picked their way across the sand, Malek leading one, Z’pheer leading the other two. Each animal stood as tall as a large Clydsdale, covered in short shiny fur, except they had six legs, three on each side. Their legs were bent at the knee joints, but in the opposite direction to a normal knee. Their faces had a more snout-like look than any horse. All three were saddled and fitted with reins.
Z’pheer took in my surprise and grinned. “Hepta,” he said, patting the side of one creature.
The way he said the word made it clear he was following what was becoming a routine, giving me the name of the creatures. I’d have repeated it if I hadn’t been gagged.
I thought I heard Raul growl at him, giving him a dark look, which Z’pheer ignored, brushing my bangs from my eyes.
Malek patted one of the creatures and said something to Raul that ended in the same phrase he’d said earlier, Cael Raul. Raul grumbled at him, slapped the end of my leash into Z’pheer’s palm, and swung up onto his own hepta’s back.
Whatever the word Cael meant, I didn’t need to understand Raul’s reply to know he didn’t appreciate Malek using it.
Z’pheer lifted me with startling ease onto the third beast, and then climbed up behind me. His strong arm slipped around me, his wide palm big and warm, enveloping my hip. Hot breath fanned my ear, he inhaled deep, and a low, appreciative hum escaped him, filled with approval.
Smelling me again. It annoyed me a little to realize I wanted—no, needed—him to like my scent. His own exotic, spicy scent made my head feel light.
With clucking noises from the men not unlike one would make with a horse, the hepta started forward at a slow trot, and we were off.
Once again, Raul took the lead as we headed into the thick jungle. I looked around for Tarku. It took a full minute before I saw him, trotting alongside Raul’s hepta. With his leash removed, he easily kept up with the much larger creature, his tongue wagging as he went.
For what must have been a half hour or more, we picked our way down a narrow path through the thick jungle. Trees with huge, green leaves in shapes and shades I’d never seen before towered all around us. I noticed the leaves were thicker, a protection against the heat of two suns, I guessed. Birds filled the jungle with strange, exotic calls, and now and again, insects chirped and buzzed. In the shelter of the trees, the sun didn’t seem quite so baking hot. The pleasant scents of a hundred things I couldn’t identify stimulated my senses, almost overwhelming in their newness.
And offering up constant reminders of how far I was from Earth.
Nothing around me allowed me to ignore my circumstances, and everything conspired to bring my mind back to one simple fact.
However more compassionate Z’pheer was than his companions, I was still a captive to these men, headed deeper into a world I didn’t know squat about, light years from home and with no way to escape.
Were the situation any different, everything in me would have been screaming to find the first avenue of escape and get as far from these barbarians as possible before they decided to finally take whatever they wanted from me. Except I couldn’t do that. Not when I didn’t know what I’d be dealing with if I was alone. Those burning ruins I’d seen before made it clear, this world wasn’t a safe place to be.
At least for now, like it or not, the safest place for me to be was with these men. I just had to hope I’d find my chance to get away before they decided to do me harm.
While the animals carried us deeper into the jungle, the men talked quietly amongst themselves, their incomprehensible language further driving home their alien-ness. I tried to figure out what they were saying from their tones and expressions—or w
hat I could see of them inside those deep hoods. They gave away little except a quiet alertness that governed their every move. All three of them were watching for any hint of the danger that had left at least parts of their world a wasteland.
Without stopping or getting off their mounts, the men passed around the canteen Z’pheer had brought. Z’pheer took off the muzzle covering my mouth. I sighed with relief. If I never saw that thing again, I’d be thrilled.
The warrior took a long pull on the canteen, then held it up to my lips.
My throat was parched, but some instinct to distrust my captors set in and I hesitated. He shook the canteen lightly, encouraging.
“Lem, nayna. Lem.”
I assumed lem was water or drink. I sighed and let him pour some of the cool liquid into my mouth. I swallowed, and it soothed my dry throat.
He gave me some more, then took a swig, closed the canteen, and tossed it to Malek in front of us.
Opening one of his backpacks, Z’pheer broke out packets of some kind of dried fruit and tossed one each to the other two men. He opened his own packet and shared it with me, his long fingers gently pushing each of the dark, fleshy chunks into my mouth. The fruit tasted like sweet apricots and brought my taste buds to life.
When the packets were empty, the men dismounted beside the path and relieved themselves. Jesus, I hadn’t even noticed I had to go until now.
Z’pheer lifted me down into his arms and set me on my feet.
I started off toward another path, but Z’pheer took my shoulder and shook his head.
“What? I have to go, Z’pheer.”
He nodded and pointed to the ground between us. The other two men stood by their mounts, Malek watching with interest, Raul looking impatient. When I shook my head at Z’pheer, letting him know I didn’t understand, he pointed at the ground again.
“Zazik.”
My eyes went huge. “You want me to go right here?”
“Daz.” He nodded.
“Uh uh. No fucking way. I’m not taking a piss in front of—”
He tightened his hand on my shoulder, pushing down on it.
Indicating for me to squat right in front of the three of them and do my business like some savage.
Behind me, Raul spoke up, asking something in an impatient tone.
Z’pheer sighed, rolling his eyes. He said a series of words while shaking his head and patting my back.
Raul shook his head at the sky and Malek snickered.
I thought I caught the gist. Malek and Raul didn’t understand why I wouldn’t pee in front of them, and Z’pheer was trying to explain it to them. I noted the way he’d patted my back with a laugh as if to say, silly female.
“Zazik, nayna,” Z’pheer said again.
I dropped my shoulders. “Well, can you at least give me a little privacy?”
Z’pheer shook his head, but led me over to a nearby tree, barely out of sight of the others. Tarku joined us and lifted his leg on another part of the tree, as if to show me how it was done.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Not you, too.”
I started to pull my clothes up to my waist but stopped when I saw Z’pheer watching me with amusement.
“At least turn around, Z’pheer.”
Remaining where he was, he crossed his arms, his silver eyes dancing.
My cheeks flamed. “Ugh. Yeah, of course. Free show, right, spaceman?”
He grinned broadly.
There was nothing for it but for me to do the deed.
By the time we were mounted up and ready to go, I was sure this had become the single most humiliating day of my life.
As soon as Z’pheer was mounted behind me, he replaced my muzzle and gave me a pat on the hip.
Getting some food and drink into me and emptying my bladder had lifted my spirits a little, but it didn’t last. Soon, the easy talk of the men in a language beyond my understanding began to seep in again, making me feel painfully left out and ratcheting up my fear. The thickness of the jungle kept us at a slow morose plod that seemed to fit my increasingly sour mood. Once in a while, the hepta made soft, high warbling sounds. I thought those warbles sounded a little mournful.
The men seemed at home here, but to me, the jungle seemed to close in, too thick, too new, too unearthly.
Without warning, Malek moved quickly ahead of Raul on the path and raised his hand for everyone stop. His eyes scanned the jungle with a hunter’s gaze, alert and watchful.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“Malek—” Raul started, sounding annoyed, pulling at his reins to bring Malek’s hepta back in line with him.
Malek kept his palm up, putting his finger to his lips.
Raul seemed to pick up on the same thing he had, backing his mount up and making a clucking sound at Tarku, his gaze flicking over the path.
My skin prickled with the awareness of eyes pressing into my back, making my spine stiffen. Z’pheer’s hand tightened on my waist. The hepta pranced, restless, their warbles tripping over each other. Tarku’s fur was standing up, those many sharp teeth of his bared. The animals knew the same thing we did.
We were being watched.
A loud electronic hum reached my ears just as the hepta took a step backward. My heart sped up.
A single shot of what looked like blue fire streaked through the air, narrowly missing my cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it punch a hole through a tree on the path to my left. I glanced sideways. Smoke rose from a burn mark where the blast had hit.
As soon as the blast struck, Z’pheer’s hepta reared up on its hind legs with a high-pitched wail that chilled my blood. I felt myself fall backward before slamming into Z’pheer, both of us hitting the ground.
“Rosht.” That swearword again from Z’pheer. Breaking my fall, he rolled me swiftly onto my stomach and threw himself over me, his huge frame crushing me into the jungle floor.
“Rith,” I heard Malek hiss angrily from somewhere near us. His laser sword buzzed as it was activated.
The entire world exploded into chaos. Heavy footfalls that didn’t sound like those of my captors hammered the ground, streaks of that blue laser fire filling the air and leaving behind scorch-marks and smoke wherever they struck. Raul and Malek were both off their mounts—I saw their feet moving as they spun around and danced the steps of battle, men wielding weapons against a foe I couldn’t see from where I lay.
Tarku snarled. Hepta reared and leaped and screamed.
Z’pheer pulled me to my feet, hastily unclipped my leash, and pushed me behind him. That staff of his was in his hand, whirling in a blur of steel.
Something slammed into him from the side, forcing him to the ground so that he had to let go of me. A blur of movement filled the corner of my eye before the heavy weight of a body crashed into me like a superhuman linebacker. I went flying and slammed into the ground.
When my vision cleared, I looked up.
And let out a blood-curdling scream, or as close as I could get to one with that fucking muzzle.
There was a man standing over me, but I could hardly call it a man. I had time to see two legs, two arms, a mouth, and eyes, but that’s where the similarity to a human form ended. The…creature’s skin gleamed a horrible whitish grey. Two oval eyes the color of rotted squash gazed at me from under an exaggeratedly wide brow. I didn’t see a nose, and it had only a slit for a mouth, no lips. Its arms were too long, leading to wiry hands that had three fingers each. One hand held a long, thin staff with a tip that glowed bright blue.
I tried to roll away, but the creature grabbed my hair, those thin fingers somehow maintaining a grip like steel. Its mouth made a horrible sound, a cross between a growl and clicking, like something out of a nightmare.
Its head flew off.
I almost screamed again as the alien’s body fell forward beside me. Raul stood over it, his huge axe in a two-handed grip, the wicked steel blade covered in thick iridescent green blood. Raul’s golden eyes burned with fu
ry.
Holy fucking shit. I had to get a grip on my sanity before I lost it completely.
Chest heaving, I wondered where Z’pheer was until Raul pulled me to my feet. Z’pheer was behind him, fighting four of those things, kept so busy he didn’t have time to come after me. Malek was a few inches away, slashing two of them in half with a single stroke of his sword.
Raul hauled me against him, seizing my nape in a grip that almost hurt. Protectiveness for Tarku stabbed at me; I wanted to ask where he was, except I couldn’t talk with that stupid muzzle.
One of those creatures ran at Raul, shooting at him. It ripped Raul’s hood down, but instead of taking another shot, it dropped into a predatory stance.
A hiss came out of its strange mouth, what sounded like the word Cael. Its eyes burned with recognition. I thought I saw it smile.
Raul swung his axe at the creature’s head, but the ugly fucker danced backward, aiming the glowing end of its staff at him with a screaming sort of cry that oozed victory and sounded like it was meant to call the cavalry.
Raul swung again, and the creature pushed him backward with its staff and aimed again.
Tarku leaped between them. He jumped on the creature, knocking it flat with his huge, mastiff-sized frame. The creature’s weapon flew across the ground. Tarku snarled, his head dove, and I heard a sickening crunch. Green blood sprayed, and the creature gave a dying, growled clicking.
I barely had time to process what I’d seen before the thump of footsteps had me turning to see what danger headed for us. Raul pushed me out of the way and tossed his huge axe as if it weighed nothing, end over end, at one of those grey-white creatures. The blade struck it in the head, cleaving the skull in two before the creature came within five feet. Another one came at us from the left, and Raul’s whip was suddenly in his fist. It lanced out, catching the creature in the head before Raul yanked it to the ground.
As soon as it fell, the fighting and the chaos stopped as quickly as it had started. With one grip on my arm now, Raul looked around at his men, both of whom were surrounded by more of those creatures, all of them lying dead.
Malek had a cut on his arm, and Z’pheer had a scratch on his face, but otherwise, both looked okay. There was a small, shallow burn mark on Raul’s arm.
