“No!” I snapped in English. “These are not the same as your chest plates.”
I tucked my knees back up, shielding my breasts from him again, and hugged my legs to my chest tightly.
“I’m not like you guys. I’m not going to shift into a rock here, no matter how hard you rub. If that’s what you’re wondering,” I muttered. Embarrassment heated my blood, and even though I still shivered violently, I almost forgot about the cold at this point.
I inhaled deeply, struggling to collect my thoughts, scattered by his uninvited fondling. I felt annoyed at myself too for getting so flustered and . . . turned on.
Was his touch completely unprovoked, though? Hadn’t I explored his chest just moments ago? And he hadn’t made a fuss. He did nothing to me that I hadn’t done to him first. I could be annoyed with myself all I wanted, but I had no reason to be angry with him.
Yet his obvious interest made me feel self-conscious about my appearance, something I hadn’t experienced for some time now. Suddenly, I became aware of my bruised skin, protruding bones and uneven hair. I caught myself shifting the longer strands of my hair over my ears, in a subconscious attempt to hide the shaved areas there.
Ridiculous, I thought, jerking my hands away. He must have seen it all already, while taking care of me.
I dropped my gaze, staring at the sole of his foot on the bed between us. It also appeared hard, covered by a mosaic of small armor plates. This explained why he didn’t need shoes. I wished he would put some clothes on, though. Especially, since his straining cock was still pointing straight at me, tugging my attention to it. Do these people ever wear clothes?
Even Tarzan wore a loincloth.
Thankfully, he appeared unaware of what his body was doing and finally regained his ability to speak.
“Who are you? Where are you from?”
I sorted through the new words and their meaning in my head, figuring out whether I could form a proper reply to his questions as I openly studied his face.
Except for his long eyelashes, he was completely hairless. A raised bony ridge ran along the middle of his head, like a short mohawk, tapering at the forehead to a barely visible, narrow line, which completely disappeared halfway down his nose. A pair of much smaller ridges replaced his eyebrows.
The rest of him was humanoid enough, but the differences were sufficient for him to look strange to me, alien.
I inhaled deeply. Alien or not, I had to build some understanding between us.
“Me from . . .” I waved my arm up, indicating in an arch the space above us. “Zoya from . . .” I stopped and exhaled in frustration. Even if I had all the words on this planet, what could I say?
‘I’m from a prison ship that fell from space. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. I have no idea if the name of my planet, Earth, means anything at all to you.’
He stared at me expectantly, obviously waiting for me to continue. Maybe I could still explain some things about myself, but I needed more words from him.
If he wanted me to talk, he needed to speak first. I poked his chest with my finger.
“Where are you from?”
“Me?” Surprise filled his face, then he nodded and I took a mental note of the gesture even though the meaning of it was not entirely clear yet.
“Sorry, it’s been a long while since I talked to somebody new. I still can’t believe that you speak the language of our Creator, our language.” He blinked and straightened his back. “My name is Vlunn. I live here, in Corfoha, The Stone City.”
There was a whole city here?
Slowly, concentrating on foreign sounds, I constructed my own introduction. “My name is Zoya. I . . . new in the city.”
“Yes, you are.” He smiled broadly, exposing a row of perfectly white teeth. His canines were slightly longer and appeared sharper than a human’s, which gave his smile a somewhat predatory look. “You’re our first outside visitor in a thousand years. It’s amazing to have you here, Zoya.”
The tone of his voice was warm and welcoming, and I offered a tentative smile in return.
“You look very much like Ilena, our Creator. Only you are much smaller,” Vlunn continued. “Did she create you too? Are you a valo? Ilena has been dead for over a millennium. Where have you been all this time?”
A millennium? Creator? Valo? The meaning of his questions escaped me. I had no idea how to answer.
Thankfully, apparently sensing my confusion, Vlunn didn’t insist on an immediate response.
“Qlraensuekx should be home soon,” he announced. “I can’t wait to tell him you can speak our language! He’ll be so excited. When he found you out there, he thought you might be an animal at first.”
“Who, he?”
“Qlraensuekx. He’s my brother and my partner.”
Kla . . . ra . . . I couldn’t catch all the rolling sounds of this name and couldn’t repeat it even in my mind, let alone out loud. This must be the name of the red-eyed rock man from the valley.
The meanings of brother and partner came to me with dissonance. Most words, especially the simpler ones, like I, talk, and where, had a singular meaning and sounded clear in my mind. More complex words that could have more than one meaning or that meant something slightly different than in any of the human languages I knew, sounded a little distorted in my brain. Brother must mean something else to Vlunn than it did to me, and partner had a variation in meaning that I couldn’t catch.
“We have been so worried about you. I’m glad to see you awake.”
He prodded the skin on my arm, checking for something.
“You’re much better hydrated now. Sorry, we didn’t know you needed to consume water orally in order to stay hydrated. Stone Valos absorb moisture from the air through their skin. Except for a few animals, I haven’t seen anyone drink as you do. Can you eat solid foods? We weren’t sure if you could. Your teeth don’t seem sharp enough to eat meat. I’ve been making broth for you.”
“I can eat solid foods.”
The smile on my face grew wider. I was touched by everything Vlunn and his brother-partner had done for me.
However, despite his obvious concern for my wellbeing, he didn’t seem to understand that my uncontrollable shivering and teeth chattering meant I was cold. At this point, even a proper fire would make a difference.
Desperate to warm up, I racked my brain on ways to ask Vlunn for a bigger fire or a blanket.
“Are you hungry? Would you like some water?”
“Water,” I said, and he was up as the word left my mouth.
He moved to the other side of the fire pit and returned holding a delicate crystal cup. I reached for it, but he ignored my hand. Instead, he sat next to me then scooped me up with one arm and put me in his lap.
Shocked at the close contact, I made a move to get off immediately then stopped when I realized how warm he was, like the brick wall of a fireplace. Instead of getting up, I leaned into him, pressing as much of my shivering body to his as I could manage, and let him wrap his big arm around my shoulders. I even made an effort to ignore the nudging of his erection at my hip, especially, since it seemed to be slowly going down.
He held the cup of lukewarm water to my lips.
“I can.” I smiled and took it from his hand, glad to be able to do at least some things on my own again.
When I finished, Vlunn took the cup from me and put it on the floor.
“I was going to go outside to wait for Qlraensuekx. Would you come with me?”
Judging by what I remembered from my time spent with them, their behaviour towards me was kind and caring. Still, thinking back to the hulking rock structure from the valley and the fire in those crimson eyes brought a feeling of apprehension about meeting the rock man again.
I couldn’t bring myself to get off Vlunn’s warm lap at the moment, though, even if my life depended on it. I’d go with him anywhere, as long as he continued to hold me, nice and toasty.
“I would,” I agreed.
C
hapter 7
The entrance opened to a flat, rock platform that served as a front terrace. A steep path to the right ran down the mountain and into the rocky valley below. Far on the horizon I could see the dark line of the forest where I had wandered alone for hours.
I shuddered, remembering the pain and hopelessness and pressed closer to Vlunn’s chest, savoring the unfamiliar feeling of contentment it brought. He sat leaning with his back to the wall by the entrance to the tunnel, and I was sitting in his lap curled up against his wide chest.
The sun was setting behind the mountain at our backs. I could hear the noise that small bird-like animals made flying through the air above us. The meaning of their shrieks and chirps passed through my brain without lingering for long. ‘Hide! Food! Mine!’
Vlunn grew quiet. His hand stroked my upper arm absentmindedly, and he seemed to be lost in thought.
I didn’t mind his silence. The effort of our conversation exhausted me, and I welcomed the break for now. Soon, I would have to find ways to learn more from them and to explain more about myself.
I was incredibly grateful for their taking care of me all this time, but I needed to figure out what exactly this place was and decide what I should do next.
From what I’d seen so far, they didn’t seem to have the technology to get me back to Earth or even to send out a distress signal. However, Vlunn mentioned a city, which meant some form of civilization. I needed to know more.
The sudden noise of rocks rolling down the mountain startled me out of my thoughts. Vlunn stirred too, gently moving me off his lap and onto the ground next to him. He got to his feet as another figure emerged into the receding light of sunset.
The newcomer climbed down the side of the mountain then jumped onto the terrace. Over his shoulder, he carried a dead animal the size of a lion, with extremely fluffy, white and black fur.
“Qlraensuekx.” Vlunn rushed to his side. They seized each other’s forearms and pressed their foreheads together.
It wasn’t an intimate embrace. However, their excitement at seeing each other and the eagerness of their hug felt to me like a sign of deep connection.
I recognized the sharp sting in my heart as envy. I’d never known the feeling of someone waiting for me like this. I longed for the same level of caring and passion and hoped for it every single day I’d spent with Jeremy. I’d thought I loved him, but I had to admit now that any true emotions in our relationship had come solely from me. He’d mocked my feelings or simply ignored them, and I chose to remain blind to any warning signs, lying to myself that one day he would grow to love me too.
A scarlet gaze flashed my way, bringing me back to the present.
“She’s awake!” The newcomer exclaimed and slipped past Vlunn to me.
“Zoya, this is Qlraensuekx,” Vlunn called to me from behind his back.
The newcomer stopped in his tracks.
“You know her name?” He turned back to Vlunn, who grinned smugly at him.
The rock man—I still couldn’t pronounce his name, even in my head—closed the distance between us. I made a move to get up, but then it occurred to me that I could most efficiently cover my nudity if I remained seated with my knees pulled up to my chest.
As much as I had grown accustomed to being naked on the Concord, here with them, I was acutely aware of my nudity. Maybe it was because my emotions and sense of self had been returning as I recovered. Or maybe it was because the aliens had been treating me like a human being and not like a genderless subject for experiments.
“Nice to meet you, K... Qlrun... Qrraeen...”
Man! That’s a hard string of sounds to say in one breath.
With the lifeless animal still on his shoulder, he squatted in front of me. I averted my eyes from his crotch, which happened to be right in my line of sight, wishing we could all just get dressed already.
His intense red gaze searched mine.
“Nice to meet you, Zo-ya.” He stretched the sounds of my name, savoring every syllable with visible pleasure. “Where did you come from? Were you created for us?”
His focused attention paralyzed me, rendering me speechless. Unable to reply, I sat like a rabbit in front of a snake.
Suddenly, the shape of the rock man melted and expanded in front of my eyes. The edges shimmered until the form of the stone golem from the valley emerged in front of me. He rolled his huge shoulders back, dropping the dead animal to the ground behind him.
“Can you take the heartstone, Zoya?” The voice of the golem was even deeper than his usual voice, the rumble in it more pronounced. He propped himself with his massive fists and leaned forward. “Take it.”
I had no idea what he wanted from me. Terrified that he would get mad at my cluelessness—I’d seen what one of those fists was capable of doing—I glanced at Vlunn for help. Miraculously, he understood my panicked expression.
“You’re scaring her, Qlraensuekx.” His voice rang with concern.
“We need to know,” the golem rumbled back, without taking his glowing eyes off me. “Can you take it out?” He pushed forward again, and I then noticed a large, dull crystal embedded in the middle of his chest.
It was slightly smaller than a golf ball and unassuming. The warm light of the setting sun reflected off the many smooth facets without penetrating inside the colorless stone.
I reached up and touched it with the tips of my fingers. Cold and hard like glass, it was firmly embedded. He’d told me to take it out. I gripped it tightly and gave it my best effort to remove it, attempting to twist it out. My fingernails scraped at the smooth surface, but the crystal remained unyielding.
Maybe if I had some tools, I could drill it out?
I didn’t get a chance to try anything else, though. After my first failed attempt to get the crystal out, the rock man dropped his head, seemingly disheartened. Vlunn placed his hand on the massive boulder of the golem’s shoulder.
“She wasn’t meant for us.”
“Would you try?” A faint note of undying hope rang in the rock man’s deep, rumbling voice.
Vlunn shook his head. “We share a bond. If it didn’t work for you, it won’t work for me either.”
“True.” The golem melted back into the rock man, who appeared just as crestfallen. The dull crystal dissolved into his chest, completely out of view in this form.
I felt keenly that I’d disappointed them and remained quiet.
“Go, take your kill to the cold cave.” Vlunn patted Rock’s shoulder. “We’ll talk more at dinner.”
Chapter 8
Thankfully by the time we’d returned to the cave, both men seemed to have recovered from the disappointment I had inadvertently caused them, or at least they made an effort not to show it.
They were so much alike. Both were tall, bald, and brawny, virtually a carbon copy of each other. The only noticeable difference was the color of their eyes. Still, the more I watched them, the more I was able to tell them apart. There were subtle dissimilarities, mostly in their gestures and facial expressions.
Rock—the most suitable moniker I could think of, even as I decided to avoid addressing him by any name for the time being—talked less, and when he did, he used shorter sentences, brief and to the point. His questions were direct, and he wasn’t one to let a topic go easily, demanding answers instead.
Once back inside, he disappeared into the dark end of the tunnel, carrying the dead animal over his shoulder. I assumed he followed Vlunn’s request to take his kill to the cold cave.
“After you eat, I want to know how you ended up alone in the valley,” Rock demanded upon his return. He carried a gorgeous crystal platter carved with delicate designs. Thick slabs of meat were piled high on it.
“You said you can eat solid foods, right?” Vlunn cut up one piece in narrow strips and proffered a small plate with the meat to me.
“Right,” I repeated mechanically, staring at the meat as I took the plate from him. My stomach lurched. A pungent, coppery smell emanate
d from the plate. It appeared I was expected to eat the meat as is—raw.
All three of us sat around the fire that Vlunn had built up again. It was much warmer in here now, and I felt a little crowded, flanked by their large bodies. There was plenty of room around the fire for all of us to sit comfortably. However, they seemed to prefer being close to me.
I nudged the bloody strips of smelly meat with the delicate glass utensil that Vlunn handed to me, and wondered if they would be terribly offended if I roasted the meat over the fire somehow. I was hungry, plain and simple. But I was really worried that I would throw up as soon as I brought the meat anywhere near my mouth.
If it were at least cooked . . . My inherent, incapacitating shyness was the only thing that stopped me from asking.
Sitting on either side of me, Vlunn and Rock happily tore into the large slabs of meat with their sharp teeth.
I felt Rock’s gaze on my face.
“You’re not eating,” Rock stated after watching me for a while. “Are the pieces still too large?”
“Not large,” I replied, realizing that I still didn’t know their word for no.
My normal response would be to assure him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the meat and then lie that I was not hungry—this way making sure no one was offended—but I stopped myself.
Something happened to me in the valley. Something started to change, and I could no longer be the shy, timid girl I always was, afraid to speak my mind, lest I upset anyone. I did not miraculously get my life back to continue living it like a silent shadow, the way I did before my arrest. For once, I longed to make myself heard. I was hungry, dammit, and I wanted my dinner cooked.
Resolute, I lifted a strip of meat with my utensil and held it over the flame, demonstrating my intentions.
“Can I?” I hoped they had a better way for me to do this. The fire was way too hot for my hand from this distance.
“You want to roast it?” Vlunn tilted his head with interest.
“Yes.”
“I’ll do it.” He leaped to his feet.
Enduring (Valos of Sonhadra Book 8) Page 4
