‘The Brakys were the ones to take my brother,’ Sloane said, before Rhyn could reprimand her and drag her back to the castellum. She knew the only way she was getting through that rift was if Rhyn let her, so she played the only card she had left—the truth. ‘They know my people are in the World of the Woods, and I have to warn them. I have to convince them to leave.’
The look in Rhyn’s eyes grew even darker. ‘What do you mean they took your brother?’ he asked.
‘One of the creatures that attacked me last night had a piece of Ash’s uniform. He as good as told me the Brakys had him…’ Her words came out in a rush, and she struggled to maintain a cool head as she tried to persuade him to let her go. ‘Rhyn, I need to get to my crew. They can’t defend themselves against the Brakys. And if the Brakys got to them their army would only grow stronger, and I know you don’t want that either. The only hope for everyone is if my people leave Aeris. Surely you can see that it’s the right thing to do?’
Rhyn was silent, his eyes calculating as he watched Sloane. ‘You would tell the humans to leave the World of the Woods?’
‘Yes,’ she replied.
‘And what if they won’t listen to you?’
‘Then I’ll have to convince them. I need to try at least, otherwise every single one of them will be turned into a Braky. We can’t let that happen.’
He fell silent again, his lips tight as he considered her words. ‘How do I know you’re not lying to me?’
‘You don’t,’ she said. ‘But I know how vile the Brakys are, and I can’t allow them to spread their evil. You have to trust me. For the good of your people and mine.’ Her eyes begged him to believe her, and she could see him weighing up the truth in her story by the focused expression on his face.
‘My sister could be there,’ she continued. ‘I may have already lost my brother to the Brakys; don’t let me lose my sister too. I would rather you put that blade through me now than witness her suffer like that.’
She allowed her gaze to drop from his, and she stared deeply into the snow at their feet. She didn’t know what else she could say to convince him. She could make a million promises and it wouldn’t make a difference. He didn’t care about her sister, and he especially didn’t care about the other humans. He did care about his people though, more than anything, and he had to be worried by the thought of the Brakys adding to their army.
Snow crunched beneath Rhyn’s shoes as he came to stand before her. She stared at his boots, desperately trying to think of something else she could say to persuade him. His hand lightly touched her chin, lifting it so her eyes looked into his. Sloane saw so much sadness and weariness in his eyes that she’d never noticed before. The look he gave her was filled with agony, and it hit her like a punch to the gut.
‘You can go,’ he said, so softly she almost didn’t catch it.
She struggled to draw a breath. ‘You’re letting me go?’ she asked, repeating his words with disbelief. She slowly reached up and grasped his hand that still held onto her chin. ‘You won’t regret this.’
He carefully dropped his hand from her face, allowing it to fall to his side. ‘I’m afraid I already do.’ He nodded at the rift behind her. ‘I’ll take you back.’
Rhyn set off towards the rift, without waiting for her response. She stared after him, too shocked to move at first. He was truly letting her return to her people. She almost collapsed to her knees with relief. She was finally going to see Rowe again.
Rhyn moved through the rift and the light from the two suns shone brightly down upon him as he stepped into the grassy meadow. A light breeze ruffled his clothes and there was a sense of alertness to the way he stood. He glanced over his shoulder at Sloane and waved for her to follow.
Sloane wasn’t sure what to expect when walking through the rift, so she approached the strange glowing orbs carefully. She was surprised by the sensation as she took a hesitant step into it. In the brief second when she stepped between one world and the next, it felt like every particle in her body was rushing forwards. The hairs on her body stood on end, and she felt a blast of cold, static energy whoosh across her skin. There was a pulling sensation deep in her gut, and she felt like she was being hurled forwards at a dizzying speed.
She stumbled as she finished stepping into the World of the Woods, and Rhyn caught her arm. The sun was warm against her skin, and the breeze played lightly with her hair. She righted herself, feeling silly for having lost her footing. As she stood tall, Sloane found herself looking directly into Rhyn’s eyes.
She didn’t know what to make of the way he looked at her. There was pain in his eyes and a sense of longing to them. He slowly reached out and touched one of the strands of hair by her face. It was still dusted with snowflakes, but they were melting quickly in the sunshine.
He glanced down at her lips, but then abruptly removed his hand and stepped away. There was a moment of confusion in his eyes. It only lasted a split second though and was replaced by the usual intensity with which he watched her.
‘We go this way,’ he said, turning swiftly.
Sloane stared after him as she attempted to understand the way he’d been looking at her. With one look he made her feel weak and strong all at once. She swallowed and moved to follow him.
She pushed her thoughts of Rhyn aside as they set off into the woods. Anticipation flooded through her, and the longing in her chest to see Rowe again pounded intensely.
Rhyn was silent as they walked and his mood only seemed to deteriorate the further they went. She kept sneaking glances at him and his scowl was growing deeper with every step they took.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked him, when she couldn’t stand their tense silence anymore.
‘You were right,’ he responded. ‘You need to warn the humans and you are the best chance we have of convincing them to leave. Their numbers are only growing, and the sooner they leave the safer we all shall be.’
She frowned at his comment. He must have had men watching their camp if he knew that others had arrived. She wondered if that meant Rowe was on the planet already.
‘You’re not worried about letting me go?’ she asked.
‘I am,’ he replied. ‘But not for the reasons you might think.’
‘Which are…’
‘Not your concern,’ he replied.
They fell silent again and continued through the woods, their soft footsteps scrunching on the dirt the only sound that could be heard. Rhyn’s bearing became increasingly tense as they drew closer to the camp. She wondered if he was worried about whether she’d follow through on her word. Did he trust that she could convince her people to leave Aeris? She wasn’t sure if she could, but she knew that she had to try.
Rhyn paused by one of the trees and Sloane hesitated before stopping right beside him.
‘Your people are in the next clearing,’ he said, nodding in the direction they’d been headed. She followed his gaze before turning back to him.
‘So, this is goodbye,’ she said. Her words were softer than she’d intended. She actually sounded like the idea caused her some level of pain. She drew her shoulders back and hardened her eyes, hoping Rhyn hadn’t noticed.
All he did was nod though, refusing to meet her gaze.
‘Here,’ he said, offering out the sword he’d taken from her earlier. ‘You should keep this.’
‘No,’ Sloane protested. ‘I can’t take your sword.’
‘You’ve earned it,’ he said, finally looking up to lock eyes with her.
Surprise lighted her features as her eyes settled on the blade. It took her a moment to take it from him and sheath it at her side. There was a lump in her throat as her hand rested on the pommel, and she was barely able to choke out her thanks. She couldn’t understand her reaction to his small gesture. She didn’t know why she suddenly found saying goodbye so hard.
‘Don’t make me regret this,’ he said. ‘And please try to make your people see sense.’ As he stared at her, his intense expression softened. He
reached out one hand as if to touch her face. ‘I’m going to—’
Sloane heard movement in the trees behind her and turned, her hand lingering over the blade at her hip.
She saw the glint of a gun before she saw the person wielding it.
‘Sloane?’ Dean called, coming out from behind the trees. His eyes were wide with shock, and he was quick to holster the gun at his side. There was a mixture of relief and uncertainty in the way he looked at her, and he was cautious as he approached.
She glanced back to where Rhyn had been standing. She didn’t want him to be captured. She could only imagine what her people would do to him if he were. He was gone though, and there wasn’t so much as a hint that he’d ever been there in the first place. Her heart almost skipped a beat as she took in the empty space where he’d stood half a moment ago. He was really gone.
‘Where have you been?’ Dean asked, jolting Sloane back to reality.
She didn’t have time to process the rush of feelings she felt at Rhyn’s departure. Instead, she resumed her front of indifference and turned back to Dean.
‘Miss me?’ she asked, her voice cocky and filled with a confidence she certainly didn’t feel.
He shook his head in disbelief. ‘Where have you been?’ he repeated. ‘We looked everywhere for you.’
She shrugged, unable to come up with an answer. She should be telling him of her capture, but her tongue held still. She couldn’t bring herself to admit the truth. She didn’t want to put the Unfaih people at risk. They’d done nothing to harm the humans who had landed on Aeris and only took her as a precaution to keep their people safe. They weren’t a threat, but she knew her people would see them as such.
The decision seemed to settle on her shoulders as her thoughts flickered quickly through her options. She would not tell her people about the Unfaih, but she needed to warn them about the Brakys as quickly as possible.
Dean came close to her. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah,’ she responded. ‘I’m fine.’
‘You’ve been gone for weeks. How did you survive?’
‘I’m not completely useless,’ she muttered.
‘And your clothes. Where did you get them?’
She glanced down at the clothes she wore, which were most definitely not the jumpsuit she’d arrived on Aeris in. She wanted to curse at her stupidity. This was something she should have considered before returning. She would have been better off rocking up in the buff than in clothes that clearly hadn’t been scavenged.
‘And what the hell kind of blade is that?’
She ignored Dean’s questions and looked over his shoulder towards the camp she knew lay just beyond the trees. ‘Are the others here?’ she asked. ‘I need to talk with Murphy.’
Dean’s brow furrowed, like he wasn’t too happy she was taking no notice of his questions. ‘It’s probably better if I take you to the Captain,’ he said, nodding for her to follow him.
She swore. Her father was the last person she wanted to see. ‘What’s he doing here already?’ she asked.
‘I’m sure he will explain,’ he responded. ‘Come on, I’ll take you to him.’
She didn’t follow Dean immediately, as he moved to lead her away. Instead, Sloane turned and stared back into the woods behind her, her eyes searching them for any sign of movement. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and her breath hitching as she waited for him to appear. She wanted to see his ice blue eyes, to hear his voice say her name. She would even tolerate his arrogant smirk just to see him one last time.
She waited one minute. She waited two. The trees were empty and silent though, and Rhyn was truly gone.
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and took a moment to accept it. She was never going to see him again and the thought left her feeling empty.
She took a deep breath in and opened her eyes. The emotions she felt surprised her, they flickered across her features and her green irises flared with unexpected pain. But, she took another breath in and the sorrow slipped away, and all that was left was the cold mask she wore so well.
She turned towards the camp, her hand grasped around the sword at her side. Silently, she trailed after Dean and a feeling of helplessness settled over her as her mind began to calculate the mission that lay before her.
She somehow needed to tell the Captain about the Brakys, which would prove difficult without also telling him of the Unfaih. She didn’t want to put the Unfaih at risk, but the Captain would need all the facts if she were going to convince him to agree to abandon an entire planet. A planet their people needed.
She wanted to shake her head at the difficult task ahead. She hadn’t truly appreciated how hard it would be to convince her people when she’d set out to warn them. All she’d been thinking about was getting back to Aeris at the time. How could she convince them though if they’d never encountered one of the Brakys? She doubted words alone could portray how evil and unstoppable they truly were. She was going to need to give the speech of her life and even then her warning may be ignored. She’d always been much better at persuasion with a sword than with words.
She caught up to Dean as he reached the edge of a clearing and Sloane stopped, her eyes growing wide as she took it in. Rows and rows of tree stumps surrounded a huge glade where a camp had been erected. Tall wooden structures had already been built and scores of people were working on erecting new ones. On the far side of the camp she could make out six huge transport ships settled on the grass beyond. Those ships could hold hundreds of people each, which only meant bad news.
Sloane tried to calm her breathing. She tried to keep her thoughts composed. But the camp before her was hardly the makeshift tent she’d left behind. This place was too established and people were already getting settled. She recognised some of the symbols on the transport ships and they weren’t just from the Explorer—people had already arrived from Earth, and there would probably be more coming.
The task before her wasn’t just difficult—it was near impossible. There was no way the Captain would listen to her now. She clutched the grip of her sword tightly, knowing she had already come too late.
TO BE CONTINUED:
BOOK 2 IS COMING IN 2017
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ALEXANDRA MOODY is an Australian author. She studied Law and Commerce in her hometown, Adelaide, before going on to spend several years living abroad in Canada and the UK. She is a serious dog-lover, double-black-diamond snowboarder and has a love/hate relationship with the gym. She can often be found on Twitter and Facebook, or you can visit her website at alexandramoody.com for further details on upcoming projects.
In Ice We Burn (The Liftsal Guardians Book 1) Page 27
