“And he is just limping along,” Marie said.
Her heart squeezed almost painfully. He was crippled inside. She could feel it now. Black. Twisted. Unbearable. She rubbed her chest to ease the ache, as though his pain was hers.
Alastor glanced over his shoulder at her, a frown marring the smooth slope of his forehead. “Are you well, Marie?”
She blinked up at him, the ache leaving her chest. “I… I’m fine.”
His gaze bored into her, reading her. Assessing with military precision. “Seriat’s village is another hour’s walk. Do you think you can make it?”
She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. For Seriat’s child. For the sake of an entire planet, yes, she could. “Of course, I can. Please, lead the way.”
His gaze slid to Seriat. The poor woman looked ready to drop. Marie was sure it was only the thought of saving her daughter keeping her upright. “I, too, can walk. Anything to save my daughter. You must know how that feels.”
The muscle jumped at his temple and a shadow flickered behind his eyes. “We’ll rest. Hydrate yourselves, then we will continue.”
Alastor made sure they took a break and drank before returning to their trek. They walked silently, Marie caught up in her thoughts—mainly about Alastor, and what Seriat had said about him.
“Black Feather?” She mentally reached out to him, keeping her intuitive mind open in case he came to her. Nothing.
It should not be this way on a planet with such connective energy. The more time passed, the more she was sure something simply wasn’t right. “Seriat, can I ask you something about this planet?”
Seriat inclined her head, her yellow hair falling over her face in a gesture Marie took as an affirmative. “Of course.”
“The energy here. It’s so different.” How could she describe the feeling of energy, when she wasn’t sure if Seriat knew that everything was made of energy?
“Our land and the people on it are symbiotic. We look after the land and it, in turn, looks after us,” Seriat said.
The same could be said of ancient cultures on Earth. The American Indians and Australian Aboriginals were two cultures she could think of that understood the ancient energy of the earth. They did everything in their power to keep the integrity of the land without shaping it into something else. Apart from the pyramids, Marie hadn’t seen any other structures. “I can see that. But what I mean is that… I feel… more.”
That was so weak a description, but she couldn’t begin to describe it. It was hard enough trying to tell people how she connected into the spirit realm, especially when everyone could actually do it for themselves. It was simply a matter of understanding what to look for.
“Is it not the same where you come from?” Seriat frowned.
“Earth. Where I come from is Earth. And no. No, it isn’t the same.”
“How do your people understand the natural energy of your planet?’ Seriat asked.
That was a loaded question. Most people didn’t believe in climate change, let alone tapping into the energy that gave everything on the planet life. “They would come to talk to people who can feel it.”
Although, anyone could tap into the energy if they concentrated and tried hard enough.
“People like you?”
“Yes. People like me.” People like her were also slammed for it. Accused of being charlatans. Hoaxing people out of their money. Of preying on people vulnerable in their grief.
“We have people here who can feel the energy stronger than others as well. We all know that it surrounds us and connects us. It is a way of life for us,” Seriat said.
“You understand, Seriat. You truly understand.”
Any other time, being here would be a true gift. There was no telling what Marie might be able to do if she was here under any other circumstances than this. How much more she could open herself up to. Her mouth practically salivated with the temptation to sit in the sand and start meditating. But if wasn’t safe to do that here. In fact, it would be dangerous with the Reptiles.
“Seriat, how did the Reptiles mind-enslave everyone? How did it happen?”
“It happened in a blink of an eye. One moment I was looking after Johan and watching Deseree eat her breakfast, and then there was a great boom across the sky. It was so loud it shook everything in our house, including the walls. I snatched my children and hunkered down in a doorway. I heard Tellox yelling for us, and then…”
Marie held Seriat’s shaking hand. “It’s too hard. You don’t have to tell me.”
“I will. If there’s something you need to know that will help, then I’ll tell you.” Seriat collected herself and drew in a deep breath. “A black cloud came down into my mind. At first, I thought I was becoming unconscious. The darkness came into my vision, then it all went black. It was as though I was caught in a sticky web that I couldn’t fight my way out of. Then the next thing I knew, it was freezing cold and there was black mist all around me. I fought and fought, but I couldn’t get free. I was in a prison where there were no doors or windows, up or down. I called for my family. I called for anyone, but there was nothing… until you came.”
Seriat’s eyes gleamed and tears ran down her face. Marie hugged her, the woman’s slight frame trembling in her arms. “Oh, Seriat. That’s horrible.”
She opened her mind, trying to sense the thin cord that bound mother and daughter. A fine silver thread wound from Seriat’s aura to the child disappeared over the dunes. It was extremely faint. Almost lifeless. They didn’t have much time before Deseree ceased to exist in this plane.
Then a flicker of pink edged Marie’s vision—translucent at first, but then gaining in brightness—thin tendrils of pink that connected her to Alastor. She blinked, thinking—hoping—she was seeing things. She was tired. Open to hallucinations in the never-ending sea of sand, but no, they were still there.
Pink connective cords meant only one thing. She flinched, horror rearing through her. This was the wrong time. The wrong place. The wrong man.
But was he? A little niggling voice started up in the back of her mind. She sorted through her messy emotions, but they slipped through her fingers before she could analyse anything. Yet, if the pink cord was to be believed… She swallowed. Hard.
This was a deep connection. A soul connection. She’d never had this with anyone other than Black Feather, of course, but he was different. Her spiritual guide. Not a man, in the physical with the power to cause her to act on her urges instead of keeping herself in check. Who would truly understand what she did. Who she was. And yet, they were connected. “Damn you, Black Feather. No wonder you’re keeping away. This is a train wreck waiting to happen,” she muttered under her breath.
She’d barely registered that they’d walked up a sand dune when a dark figure jumped in front of Alastor. She barely saw him reach for his gun, when a muted flash of light blinded her. His pulse-gun had gone off with barely a sound and a mere flicker of light.
The body of the Reptile fell away before Alastor spun around and pinned her with dark, wild eyes. “Reptiles. Get back to the shuttle. Get to safety. There are too many and they’ve seen me. I’ll hold them off while you run. Go. Now!”
Chapter Thirteen
Alastor disappeared over the top of the dune, leaving Marie panting in short, sharp breaths, fighting to understand what had just happened. A hand on her wrist brought her to her knees in the sand.
Seriat stared at her with wide, terrified eyes. “They’re here.’ Her voice was thin and as shaky as Marie’s nerves.
The sounds of flesh hitting flesh sounded over the top of the dune. “Alastor!”
Marie scrambled to the top of the dune, heart pounding, mind spiralling. She peeked over the rise. Alastor fought three massive Reptiles. They came at him with weapons she didn’t recognise, snarling, and drool flying from gaping maws filled with serrated teeth. Her insides went cold. She froze, caught in the trap of her mind.
Reptiles had snatched at her while s
he walked to her car. Blackness. Then the chaos of waking. Flashes of light and Reptiles guts split open, rank, dark blood spilling over the ground.
A Reptile lashed out, its claws raking over Alastor’s arm, leaving torn skin and blood-soaked material. Alastor didn’t even flinch. He struck out with a roundhouse kick and knocked the Reptile sideways. The creature barely staggered and quickly regained his balance. Alastor fought hard, but there were three Reptiles against one. He didn’t stand a chance. He battled them to save Marie. He was throwing his life away for her!
People stood around them, unmoving. Alive, but dead on the inside. Together they might stand a chance, but they were trapped in the prison of their minds. She gulped in a sob, helplessness washing through her.
Seriat grabbed Marie’s arm, her hand shaking. “This is my village. My people.” Her hand tightened on Marie’s arm, her fingernails digging into her skin. “You have to do for them what you did for me. Set them free.”
“Wh… what?” All she could focus on was Alastor, the hissing, and the sounds of flesh striking flesh.
“They will help. Set them free, Marie. Quickly!”
“I…” There wasn’t enough time. There were so many of them. It had taken a minute to free Seriat, but how long would she need to rescue all the people down there.
“If you don’t do this now, he is dead,” Seriat hissed.
Her gut kicked, cold, hard, and heavy. He was dead if she didn’t try. He might stand a chance if she did. “God, oh God, oh God.”
Her entire body shook, and she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the hot sand. She could do this. She had to do this.
She forced her mind from the gut-throbbing sound, the heat of the sun, and the desperation in her head. She threw herself into the darkness of her mind harder and faster than she’d ever done in her life.
Silver threads surrounded her, but they were dull, moving sluggishly as though they hadn’t the energy to do much more. The life threads! She grabbed one of the threads and yanked it as hard as she could.
A wall of biting, black fog appeared from nowhere right in from of her. The cord disappeared into its depths. She wrenched the cord and screamed, “Can you hear me?”
“Yes! Who’s there? I can’t get out.”
“Reach for me.” She thrust her hand into the fog, ignoring the lash of frigid ice that stabbed her skin. She touched clothing with her fingertips, closed her fist around it and ignored the sound of surprise.
“I’m going to pull you out. Come with me!”
She braced her feet and tugged with all her might. The body moved, but whoever it was, struggled to push through. Without a second thought, she reached in with both hands, gripped material and pulled for all she was worth.
A man fell free of the fog and they both tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Her skin burned with ice. She tried her best to ignore the feeling of a million tiny shards ripping into her.
“Who are you?” the man blinked, slightly dazed.
“No time for me to explain much. You’ve been mind-enslaved by the Reptiles. We’re here to save you, but my friend is fighting them. We need your help.”
Marie hoped her garbled words made some sort of sense, but the way the man’s mouth firmed and eyes hardened, she knew she’d made her mark. “I know what happened. I’ll help.”
She shoved the silver thread into his hands. “This will help you get back to your body.
The man held out his hand, but she hesitated. “It won’t be nice… going back to your body.” She swallowed hard. “They have abused you. Be prepared.”
To Marie’s relief, the firmed his shoulders and once. “It’s better than being stuck here. Wherever here is.”
“The place between places, but nowhere you’ll ever have to be again,” Marie handed him the cord. “Now, when you return, you’ll have to be ready to fight. My friend—you have to help him as best you can.”
“You’ve saved me. I’ll do anything I can.” He looked determined. That was good. Hopefully his determination would be greater than his frail body. Hope was all she had at the moment.
“Then close your eyes and concentrate. Feel your limbs. The heaviness of your body. Feel it and let it take you away.”
The man faded before her eyes. She didn’t have time to even offer a hope that he’d be okay. She had to believe he could deal with the shock of it. She’d see him after the battle. When she was sure Alastor was safe.
Marie lunged for another silver cord, yanked it until another wall of black fog appeared before her. She clenched her teeth, gasping through the agony of the fog to find the person trapped inside. A middle-aged man fell from the thick, murky clouds, confused.
As fast as she could, Marie explained what had happened to him and what he needed to do. Shocked, he managed to nod his head and Marie helped him fade back to his body.
Her heart stuttered, knowing he might not have any family to return to, but there was no time to waste. She yanked another cord, cried out through the agony of her skin flaying and pulled free a young woman. Shaking now, Marie haltingly told her what to do and she faded almost immediately.
She wrenched cord after cord, spoke to person after person, until there was nothing but darkness under her feet. All of the silver cords were gone. She sank to her knees, her body throbbing in agony. Her hands, wrists and arms were a red mess of scorched skin, burned with the intense cold.
She had no way to tell how long she’d been here, freeing people. It might have been one minute or an hour. She had to get back. Back to Alastor.
A wall of darkness descended around her. She gasped, staggered, but she was caught in an iron grip. A feeling of wrongness seeped into her. Her stomach tightened and lurched. She fought the sticky darkness, stumbling against it, but it encroached closer and tighter until she couldn’t move another inch and it kept pressing in on her, crushing her, suffocating her.
She cried out, the sound of her voice dull, thin, and fading. Her bones creaked as the fog descended and crushed and compacted around her. “Alastor! Black Feather!”
Spots danced in her dimming vision. She gasped for breath, but she couldn’t fill her lungs.
She wasn’t afraid of death, but now thoughts of Alastor washed like water through her mind. Alastor kissing her. Holding her. His pain-filled eyes. A fierce exterior that housed a fiery passion kept in tight control. The pink tendrils connecting them. A soul bond, precious beyond belief.
She would miss out on that. She would leave him. He wasn’t human. She didn’t even know if she might meet him in the next life. The next time she cried out it was because of anguish of a different sort.
A rough hand on her shoulder. An iron-grip. She was heaved backwards, immersed in frigid shards of ice where she could barely think. A warm chest pressed her against it. Strong arms around her, fingers through her hair and a voice speaking to her.
It was all she could do but tremble and wait for the prickling agony of the fog to wear away before she could think. “Black Feather? Black Feather!”
Firm arms closed about her, comforting, the hug from a grandfather. She clung to him, crying, slobbering. She could barely believe she actually held her friend, guide and master. She touched his shoulders, arms, chest, “How… why… you’re here!”
“I’m here, little bird.” He smiled at her, his brown eyes holding all the warmth and love she’d always seen there.
Finally she beamed up at him, clasping his shoulders. He was solid. Real. “You’re here for me.”
“I’m always here for you. That was my promise to you before you were born.”
“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” she said.
There was only one reason he could be solid and she could finally hug him. She thought she’d be happier to have finally passed. Be finally allowed to go home, but there was a lingering sadness she couldn’t let go. Still, she folded her body against him, drawing his silent strength and security.
Firm hands pressed her reluc
tantly away. She stared up into the liquid black depths of Black Feather’s eyes. “As have I, my daughter.” He cupped her cheek with his large, calloused palm. A smile played across his face. The same face now in flesh and blood, and not just as an impression in her mind. “But we cannot stay here.”
She drew in a deep breath. She wouldn’t miss life so much as the possibility she’d only just touched. “Shall we go?”
“We are still in the in-between, but, my daughter, you have to return,” Black Feather said.
Her fingers tensed around his arms. “But… I… I’ve already passed the veil.”
Black Feather’s warm gaze travelled over her face. “This is not your time, Marie. We are still in the in-between, but it is dangerous here. I am so sorry I have been missing, but the entity that seeks to breach dimensions is growing stronger. We’ve been trying to stop it, but it is strong.” Black Feather’s expression turned serious. “It if breaches the physical worlds, it will mean the destruction of everything.”
The darkness pulsed around them. Darkness that sucked out the light as a blast of frigid air struck them like a solid slap. The feeling of wrongness throbbed around them. Her fingers curled around Black Feather’s biceps. “Black Feather?”
Black Feather’s gaze sharpened. “You have to go, little bird. Now.”
She clutched his arms. “Please, I… Don’t leave me.”
Black Feather’s gaze softened. “I have to. It is not safe here for you and if the entity gets any stronger, you won’t be safe anywhere. We are fighting it in this dimension. I need you to keep fighting it in yours.”
A sickly feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, growing and lurching and thrashing. “Black Feather…”
Before she could ask him anything more, she was propelled backwards and thumped into her body. Sunlight blinded her as she dragged dry air into her lungs. She didn’t know where she was, what had happened. The word spun and kept on spinning. “Black Feather!”
Hands shook her shoulders, rattling her whole body, “Marie. Marie!”
Alastor: Sci-Fi Alien Romance (A Hexonian Alien Romance Book 3) Page 8
