Kyven drew in a breath and sat down at the table.
“Mhavrych was with Mama and Athan when I found them,” he said.
Emerie looked at him strangely.
“Mhavrych?” she asked. “The man who helped us when we were in the quarry?”
Kyven nodded.
“Yes.”
He accepted the cup of coffee that Emerie held out to him and took a long sip before trying to explain the entire situation to her. He told her what had happened in the room with Creia and Rey, and then about his encounter with Mhavrych in Ellora’s house. When he finished, Emerie was still standing beside the stove, stirring the food almost absently as she thought through what he had said to her.
“What do you think that he meant by he had his own reasons for being on Penthos? What could he be doing there that would also bring him here?”
“I don’t know,” Kyven said. “I wish that Maxim was here and that I could talk to him about all of this. He would understand.”
“Would he?” Emerie asked. “Why do you think that Maxim would automatically know something that you didn’t?”
“Maxim is older than me. When our father died, he was all that was left for me to look up to other than Athan. It was easier for me to transfer my trust and reliance over to Maxim rather than Athan, because he already reminded me so much of Papa. Well, they both did, but in different ways. Athan reminded me of him as a soldier and brought back memories of when he left. He was a reminder that Papa was gone and that he wasn’t going to come back. Maxim reminded me of the times that we used to spend together as a family. He was a reminder of Papa’s strength and how much I adored him. Even now that we are adults, I look at Maxim and I see the replacement for my father. I always assume that he knows things that I don’t and that he can do things that I would never be able to do.”
“That’s not true, Kyven,” Emerie said. “Yes, Maxim is an extraordinary leader and has proven himself to be invaluable to everything that’s been happening, but I think that you are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t forget that I saw you every day that you were trapped in that meeting hall. I saw everything that you went through and the strength that you showed. Maxim wasn’t there. He didn’t go through that. He had his own struggles, yes, but that shouldn’t discount what you went through. You were able to overcome that and move forward. Not everyone could do that. How many of those men who were there with you refused to stay with the rest of the group? How many refuse to fight alongside Pyra even though he apologized for what he did and has proven that he is devoted to all of Uoria, and not just the Denynso?”
“I just wish that I could do more. I hate that I am here and not there with him facing whatever it is that he is facing.”
“There’s so much that you can do here, Kyven. Soon enough we’ll be back there. For now, concentrate on what you can do to make sure that everyone here is as prepared as possible for when we arrive. That is the most important thing that you can do.”
“What Mhavrych said is still bothering me,” he said. “Why would he mention my father? How does he know him? He looks far too young to have had any kind of relationship with Papa before he died. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Emerie shook her head at him. She rested the spoon to the top of the pot and came to kneel down in front of him.
“Kyven,” she said. “Don’t you remember? Your father isn’t dead.”
The words sounded like they were coming both through her voice and through his memories, reminding him of the moment when he saw Ryan’s face appear in the ship and heard that Aegeus had not died in that final battle the way that they all assumed he had. It had been such an incredible revelation, something that he never could have imagined, and it was still difficult for him to truly accept. Hearing it, though, seemed to reinforce him, strengthening him as he felt the boost of his father’s presence and the hope that he would soon see him again, but also with the fire in his belly that came from knowing all of the pain that his family had gone through since he was a child was falsified, crafted by Ryan while his father suffered.
“I need to find Mhavrych,” he said.
“Why?” Emerie asked.
“My father knows and trusts him. I’m going to have to do the same if I’m going to have the best chances of helping bring all of this to a resolution.”
“Do you really think that there is a resolution waiting on Penthos?” Emerie asked.
“What do you mean?” Kyven asked.
“This all seems so big, so much more than just Nyx 23 and the Order. Do you really think that this war will end it?”
“I don’t know,” Kyven admitted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I do know is that I have to try. All of us have to try. We lost so much and there is so much more that we could lose. I can’t let that happen.”
Kyven stood and walked over to Emerie, opening his arms to her. She stepped into them and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of her head so that he could envelope her in him as much as possible.
“I love you,” he said. “I would go through all of this again if I knew that it would bring me back to you. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do, nothing that I wouldn’t try, if it meant protecting you and ensuring that we will be together.”
He felt her arms tighten around his waist and she nuzzled her face into his chest.
“I love you, too,” she said. “I never believed that I would be able to find someone to love again. When we crashed, I thought that any joy that I might have ever had in my life was gone. I was going to live the rest of my life alone and just live out my days in the settlement, waiting for them to be over. Then I found you.” She leaned back so that she could look up at him. “I believe that there is a part of my heart that was always waiting for you and no matter what I had to go through to get here, I will be forever grateful that the suffering that I endured brought me to your arms. Whatever else we have to face, we are going to face it together, and I know that we will have a beautiful life together when this is all through.”
Their mouths met and Kyven let his eyes close, giving himself over to the kiss so that he could pretend, if only for those few moments, that it was already finished and they were living the beautiful life that existed in Emerie’s mind.
Chapter Thirteen
Maxim found Pyra standing at the entrance to the compound two nights later and approached him carefully. The massive Denynso warrior stared out past the throw of the flames from the torches positioned along the inside of the stone wall into the darkness of the desert beyond. They hadn’t heard the drums since the battle and around them the energy of the compound was beginning to lose its frenetic intensity as everyone began to settle, quieting as they gathered and conserved their energy for whatever was coming next.
“Pyra?”
Pyra looked over at Maxim.
“Yes, Maxim? Is something wrong?”
“No,” Maxim said quickly, wanting to diffuse the anxiety and temper that were still strong inside Pyra. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?” Pyra asked. “For what?”
“For what you did for my father. He told me about everything that you did to help him on Earth. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it all. You ensured that I got my father back.”
“You’re welcome, Maxim. I’m happy that we were able to bring him here to you.”
Though he was accepting Maxim’s thanks and genuinely did seem glad about the near-miraculous reunion that he had in part facilitated, Pyra’s face was drawn and there was concern in his voice.
“What is it, Pyra?” he asked. “Did you hear the drums?”
“No,” Pyra said. “It’s been silent since the battle.”
“Is it something else?”
Pyra looked out over the sand again.
“I’m worried about the people that we left behind in the ship
. I think that we need to go back for them.”
Maxim felt confused. He shook his head slightly.
“I thought that your crew transferred the other injured and the pregnant women onto the bigger ship because they would be safer there. Don’t they have everything that they need to sustain them, at least for a while if not until we are able to head back to Uoria?”
“We originally brought them to the main ship because we thought that it would be safer for them to remain there rather than trying to transfer them across the planet, especially since we didn’t know where to find you. They have enough supplies to keep them going, but I don’t feel confident that they are safe any longer.”
“Why?” Maxim asked.
“Now that we’ve had a battle with the hybrids and I’ve seen what they are capable of and their ruthlessness, I feel like making that decision put them in serious danger. Leaving them in the ship out in the desert without any of the warriors or anyone to watch over them and help them if there is an ambush makes them far too vulnerable. Nearly all of those who are still there are already severely injured or pregnant. They aren’t able to take care of themselves or protect themselves as we would be. Though there are still some weapons aboard, they are far from prepared to fight. What would happen if the hybrids decided to try to invade the ship? They would have no way of keeping them out unless the pilot has activated the defense shields. Even then, there’s a chance that the hybrid army has access to weapons that could completely destroy the ship and everyone on it. We need to go back for them and bring them here to the compound where they will be safer. The injured have had enough opportunity to undergo more treatments so they should be stronger and better able to handle the journey. Once we get them here, Ciyrs, Elianna, and Eden can administer healings. They’ll be able to keep an eye on the pregnant women as well. There are some of them who should be delivering fairly soon.”
Maxim nodded.
“I think you’re right,” he said. “They will be safer if they are here with people who can help them. What if they refuse to come or are too afraid?”
“We’re just going to have to convince them,” Pyra said. “They have already gone through far more difficult and dangerous situations than this. If they can survive what Ryan put them through, then they can face crossing the desert. They will need as many of us with them as possible.”
“I’ll go with you,” Maxim agreed. “I’m sure that my father will as well.”
Pyra shook his head.
“No, Maxim,” he said. “Aegeus needs to stay here.”
“Why?” Pyra asked. “He got through the battle unscathed. I am more wounded than he is. He is whole and strong again. He’ll be able to help protect them.”
“Aegeus escaped from Ryan,” Pyra said. “After so many years, he was able to get out of Ryan’s control and has fought against the hybrids. The Valdicians are going to want to bring him back to Earth and present him to Ryan for whatever punishment he wants to administer. Aegeus is at far more risk than any of the rest of us, even the hybrids. They are dispensable. He knows that he can easily replace them. Not Aegeus. Even Ryan can’t replace Aegeus.”
“Because he doesn’t have other Mikana?” Maxim asked. “He doesn’t have all of the Klimnu DNA that he wants for his experiments and needs to recapture him so that he can transform him again?”
“No,” Pyra said. “Because he’s who he is. There is much about your father that you don’t know, Maxim. Ryan will do anything it takes to get his hands on him again.”
“How are we going to transfer them all?” Maxim asked. “Even without my father with us, we’re going to be targeted by the army. They’ve been quiet since the battle, but they aren’t going to stay that way. They are planning something. Crossing the desert will make all of us vulnerable and exposed, and we need to be as prepared as we can to get there and get back here to the compound.”
“You’re right,” Pyra said.
“About what?” Maxim asked.
“The hybrids. They’ve been quiet. They haven’t attacked in two days. They haven’t even warned with their drums. The battle affected them a lot more than they thought that it was going to. It wasn’t just us, though.”
“The Meldor,” Maxim said. “They fell apart when they saw the Meldor.”
“We should go talk to Severine. She knows more about that animal than any of us, and might be able to tell us why all of the hybrids reacted the way that they did.”
“We may be able to utilize the Meldor in some way during the transfer. It could help.”
Pyra nodded.
“We’ll talk to her in the morning,” he agreed. “Go get some sleep. Your guard shift is in a few hours.”
****
Severine looked out at the two men in surprise. They stood outside the door of the barn, looking at her hopefully, asking if they could come inside to talk to her about the Meldor. She didn’t know how to respond. Neither man had responded well to the animal when they saw it during the battle and in the times that they saw it in the compound since. Part of her worried that they were trying to gain access to it so that they could hurt it in some way, and she felt her defenses sparking as she searched their faces.
“Can we come in?” Maxim asked again.
Severine nodded and stepped back to allow the two men to come into the barn with her. They both paused when they realized that the Meldor was not in a stall, but roaming free within the building. It’s tremendous size seemed amplified by the constraints of the building, but it was peaceful and calm. In just the short time since she and Rilex had rescued the animal from its underground prison it had become accustomed to her and she could feel that they were forming a bond.
“What is it that I can do for the two of you?” Severine asked, keeping her body positioned purposely between the men and the Meldor.
Maxim and Pyra exchanged glances and then Maxim stepped slightly toward her.
“We need your help,” he said.
Severine was somewhat startled by the admission. It felt like a major step that these two men were coming to her asking for help and she felt empowered knowing that there was something that they felt she had to offer to the war. At the same time, she wished that Rilex was there with her. She still wasn’t accustomed to spending time with people without him and she felt unsure of herself as she faced Maxim and Pyra. She straightened her spine, trying to reassure herself that she could handle this one her own. As much as she was committed to sharing her life with Rilex, that didn’t mean that they would be together at every moment. There would be more and more times like this when she was on her own with others and she would need to be able to manage it comfortably.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“It is more what…that…can do,” Pyra said, gesturing behind her.
“The Meldor?” Severine said, part question, part insistence that he refer to the animal as what it was.
“Yes,” Maxim said. He looked at the animal and then back at Severine. “Do you know if it’s…” his voice trailed off.
“It’s male,” Severine said.
Maxim nodded.
“We think that he could be extremely helpful for us, but we don’t understand him the way that you do.”
“What do you want from him?” Severine asked suspiciously.
“We want to go back to the ship and bring the injured and the women back here to the compound so that they can be safer,” Pyra said. “We think that the Meldor could be helpful in that transition.”
“We all saw how the hybrids reacted to him when you rode him into battle,” Maxim said. “It was obvious that they were afraid of it. That could be instrumental in getting us across the desert to the ship and then back with the rest.”
“The Others,” Severine said, using the word that she had adopted for herself. “They are the Others. All of us who don’t fit into one of your species or who were used in the experiments are.”
The men nodded and she could see the respect in their e
yes.
“Do you think that he could help?” Pyra asked.
“I think that having him with you could be helpful in keeping the hybrid army at bay, at least more than they would be if you just tried to go on your own.”
“I think that we should go tonight,” Pyra said. “If we go when they might be sleeping, they will be tired. Those who were in the battle might still be recovering from that.”
Severine shook her head.
“No,” she said. “That won’t matter. We should wait and go tomorrow morning.”
“Why?” Maxim asked.
“The hybrids don’t care about being tired. They have been trained to the point that they will literally fight until they die from exhaustion. No level of tiredness or recovery from a battle will keep them from fighting if that is what they are called to do. Being tired doesn’t have any meaning to them. Their fear of the Meldor, though, does.”
“I don’t understand,” Pyra said.
“I’ve never seen any of the hybrids react to anything the way that they did to this animal when they saw it.” She walked up to the side of the Meldor and gently patted his side. She had been working on his coat with a brush and many of the mats were gone, revealing just how thick and beautiful the fur really was. “In my training, the Meldor was something to be wary of, but not something to fear. They’ve been taught something about this animal that is terrifying them and causing them to break ranks and leave a battle, which is never something that they would do.”
“But why do you think that we should go during the day? Wouldn’t we be more concealed if we went at night?”
“You might be more concealed,” Severine said, “but so will the hybrid army. The Meldor will be most effective during the day. The hybrids have been taught that he will only come out in the dark, that he can’t tolerate the light. When I removed his collar, though, I ensured that he was able to go out in the light without any consequences. They hybrids now know that we have the Meldor and that it is out of the tunnels. They will expect it to be used. But they will expect that it will only come out at night. If they see you out with him during the day it will have a tremendous impact on them.”
The Alien's Back! (Uoria Mates V Book 1) Page 11
