by Mel Teshco
The shields magically parted as she approached, and she froze for a couple of seconds, her thought processes trying to take it all in.
“Don’t look so bloody surprised,” Sala whispered angrily, obviously insulted by her good fortune in snaring a prince.
Katy put a hand on Eden’s forearm. “Is everything okay?”
She nodded. “Yes.” No! She forced a smile. “Of course.”
Sala marched to her other side and squeezed her arm. “I think its best we go into the interior rooms…Princess…where the surrounding shields will better protect us.”
Eden’s mind spun. Was she really going ahead with this? Was she really going to defy these people? Defy her intended? Sala couldn’t be trusted, even with her motivation to keep her lovers away from their intended Earth women.
She had no choice but to go ahead with Sala’s plan. It wasn’t just about her sister anymore, it was about keeping Genesis. She couldn’t lose him. He was her everything, her world, no matter where they lived in the universe.
“This way everyone,” Eden instructed hoarsely, all too aware how blindly they followed their supposed princess.
They trusted her. They’d all despise her if they ever learned the truth.
Once everyone was in the bathing room, Sala took her arm once again and led her back toward the hanging shield that was their exit, tossing loudly over her shoulder, “Princess, I need to speak to you.”
Eden hesitated. Once she stepped through the shield, the women and children would be stuck inside. She glanced at Sala’s maniacal face and realized that was exactly what the other woman intended. But at least inside the women and children would be safe. She wasn’t letting them or Genesis down.
She had to do this, or live forever in regret for what might have been.
Chapter Six
Eden stepped through the shield and didn’t look back.
When Sala threw her an approving grin, she resisted the impulse to turn right back around and leave the other woman to her own devices. Instead, she broke into a run with Sala the moment they exited the donya.
At the handful of cercannes ahead, Sala motioned toward one and said, “You’ll have to ride with me.”
Eden nodded and climbed behind Sala on the much smaller cercanne that was obviously modified for an Earth woman’s smaller frame. She’d yet to learn how to ride one and she wasn’t about to try it out right then.
She looked back at camp. Her belly somersaulted with anxiety and guilt.
Too late to back down now, even if I wanted to.
She turned away. Stretching her legs out, she placed her feet into the stirrups, trying not to think about how awkward the position felt in comparison to the highly sensual experience when riding pillion with Genesis.
Sala didn’t seem to notice, she rode the cercanne as if she was an out-of-control novice, flat out and fearless. Eden’s heart was in her throat much of the ride, but it turned into exhilaration as much as fear. For a little while at least, it seemed all her troubles were left behind.
The tie in her hair abruptly gave way in the wind and her hair streamed out behind her. She looked over her shoulder, past her whipping red tresses at nothing but red sand and more red sand.
Despite the intense heat, a sudden shiver slid up and down her spine. She was in the middle of a desert on a world she didn’t know, with a half-crazy woman she didn’t trust.
A wild laugh burst free. Practical, diligent, unassuming Eden had just slipped over the edge. No. She’d teetered on that brink the moment she’d opened her mouth and said she was Aline, then crossed it completely once Genesis had taken her into his arms and made her a woman.
As the mountain loomed ahead, determination grew within, blooming as though a beautiful weed in a scraggly, dry garden. Yes, she might just be doing the wrong thing, but it was for all the right reasons. She was finally taking control of her destiny—good or bad—and following her heart.
Sala leaned forward, her manic laughter ripped away into the wind as the cercanne thundered along the flat ground, toward the gentle creatures that would carry them up the mountain.
An eternity later that was undoubtedly little more than a handful of minutes, Sala pulled the bike up close to the herd of bolishtas. “Here we are.” She glanced pointedly at Eden’s feet, then into the empty distance behind them. “We’d best hurry.”
Shit. She hadn’t thought about anything practical like her next to useless feet.
Eden was only glad she’d taken note of the commands Genesis had used on the bolishta they’d rode. Indicating Sala ride closer to the one beast she half knew and trusted, she commanded, “Karsh.”
The bolishta immediately kneeled beside them, its ears flicking back and forward as though listening for further commands. It was remarkably easy then for Eden to clamber ungracefully from the cercanne and onto the bolishta’s back, her feet staying clear of the scorching- hot ground.
Sala shook her head, a glimmer of a smile breaking through her bitterness. “Not just a pretty face.”
“Unct,” Eden ordered. And as the beast climbed to its feet she shouted, “Merdee,” looking toward the mountain so the bolishta knew where she wanted to go.
Sala wheeled the cercanne back around from where she’d come. “Good luck!” she called out.
Eden looked behind her, causing her mount to swing that way too. “You’re not coming with me?” she asked hoarsely, a sick knowing filling her belly that she’d been well and truly duped.
“I’ll take my chances at camp,” Sala yelled back, her grin totally distorted with glee. “No one will ever think you’ve come this way…especially when I tell them you were taken by the caltronian we both, ah, saw earlier.”
Eden couldn’t do anything more than stare at the woman who gave her a half wave and rode fast back to camp. No wonder the bitch had ridden here like a mad woman chased by demons, she hoped to return to camp before the men did!
She wasn’t sure how long she stayed, staring as the bike became a distant speck with a trail of red dust disintegrating behind it, but for long moments she sat on the bolishta staring into nothing but redness.
Her mount grunted, dragging her back to reality. Seemed even the most gentle-natured creatures could become impatient. “Okay,” she said aloud, “Let’s go.”
Looking toward where she wanted to head, she commanded again, “Merdee,”
She had two choices here. One, try to find her way back to camp and hope like hell she didn’t completely lose her way, which was more than likely. Or two, head up the mountain and disable the transmitter before the men gave up searching for her—by which time she’d possibly be dead anyway from dehydration.
She shivered, thinking back to Genesis’ earlier words.
Occasionally a rogue male will be chased into the desert by his competition in the mating cycle, which is bad news for the rogue if it isn’t able to return with a few days at most. Its only source of pure, drinkable water is what little there is that runs off the cliff face up high.
Better to face a caltronian head-on than die doing nothing except wondering.
As the bolishta walked toward the base of the mountain in its long, swinging gait, Eden’s eyes skimmed over the extensive garden. Her mount was trained to sit, if she could get it to walk beside some of the plants Genesis had told her about, she just might have half a chance of survival.
Minutes later, with handfuls of plants stuffed down the front of her dress and a jellied stalk hanging from her mouth as she sucked at its almost impalpable moisture, she directed the bolishta toward the gently sloping base. She looked up. It wouldn’t be gently sloping for long.
Genesis had said the journey would take something like five Earth hours. And though the three suns would make it beyond unpleasant, she was suddenly glad she wouldn’t be faced with nighttime darkness. At least she’d have a chance at seeing the bearlike predators that would attack and kill her if given half a chance.
If I don’t suck on too many of th
ese damn plants.
But with the sun beating mercilessly on her head, she knew sucking the moisture from the jellied plants was imperative to staying hydrated, as long as she didn’t overthink its bitter taste.
She only hoped the bolishta was more like a camel than a horse and didn’t need to be hydrated in any hurry.
The ground had long since steepened and became claylike and rock hard. Her mount’s hooves rang out sharply, but its pace didn’t waiver, if anything their speed had picked up, the bolishta’s power all too apparent as its legs pushed up the mountain in a seemingly effortless stride.
Long grasses, shrubs with mulberry-type berries and an occasional tree dotted the incline. She looked over her shoulder. The desert below was breathtaking, the bolishta herd she’d left behind already little more than specks.
There was no sign of a search party, no sign of Genesis. She blew out a breath, uncertain if she was alarmed or relieved. Not that she expected anyone to come looking.
Sala could be relied upon to give a convincing performance. If the woman had been born three or four decades earlier, Eden had no doubt she’d have been a phenomenal actress, perhaps a star on Broadway.
When her mount began to turn in the direction Eden peered, she quickly faced the other way, toward the upward sweep of the mountain and the seemingly never-ending and insurmountable climb.
Even the girth of the mountain appeared endless. Little wonder the caltronians had so much room to roam.
The land abruptly went vertical. She looked up, her throat tight. She couldn’t go around. This whole section of the mountain appeared to be a wall of steep rock. Her mount abruptly leaped. She yelped, before her teeth clamped back onto the fleshy plant she’d dislodged. She squeezed her eyes shut, hugging the bolishta’s neck, her legs clinging tight.
To topple off now meant an agonizing, certain death—if the fall didn’t kill her first.
The bolishtas hooves no longer rang out, instead the rasping clack of its many talons hooking into the rock and then releasing in a weird suctioning sound, filled her ears.
The undoubtedly life-saving plant hung precariously from between her lips. She closed her mouth and sucked a big mouthful of its liquid, swallowed and then spat the remaining pulp out.
She only prayed her vision wouldn’t fade into blackness any time soon.
It was the least of her concerns right then. The bolishta grunted exertion, its whole body trembling. Eden’s eyelids flicked open, heart freezing in her chest as she looked up at the rock wall that stretched seemingly forever. No, not forever. She could see the lip high overhead.
But they’d never make it. Her mount was already laboring, its seemingly insurmountable strength tested to its very limits. She wasn’t even sure how much longer she could hold on. Her arms and legs, which were locked around the bolishta, were going numb. Weak.
She clenched her teeth, grappling her amazing mount and urging it on. She didn’t want to die now, not like this.
Genesis mightn’t know it yet, but in the brief time she’d known him her feelings for him ran deep…extraordinarily deep.
She’d seriously robbed her sister of an incredible and worthy partner. She let out a half-sob. None of that mattered anymore. She’d come too far now to simply give in. She’d die, literally, before allowing Sala to win.
She couldn’t leave behind Genesis without a fight.
The bolishta lurched upward with a heavy groan and suddenly they were on more level ground.
Thank you, God.
Arms and legs still shaking from the strength needed to hang on, she kissed the bolishta’s neck, smiling at its immediately quivering lip before she took a deep breath of the faint, sweet-honey aroma that seemed to be a part of the air. Knee-high, fire-red grass grew profusely. Trees were all around them, tall and uniformly graceful with their red-tinged bark and reddish-pink leaves that appeared as fragile as tissue paper.
Her eyes widened, taking in many of the tree trunks with their deeply scored barks.
Caltronians. It had to be. She was in their territory now.
Her mount’s ears abruptly flattened, its head up and nostrils flaring as it scented the air.
Fear skittered up and down Eden’s spine—just as the most ferocious snarl echoed as if gunshot around the woods, followed by another. “Karsh,” she whispered urgently to her mount even as two crimson-furred caltronians rolled down the slope ahead, locked into combat with their coats bristling and huge jaws snapping.
The bolishta sank to its knees without a sound, but its sides heaved and its body trembled. Eden didn’t have the capacity to calm her mount, right then she had eyes only for the two giant predators ahead.
Fucking hell.
When Genesis had spoken of the breeding cycle she hadn’t expected this. But Sala obviously had. A bitter smile pulled at her lips. She’d played right into the other woman’s hands.
The monsters—for that was what they were in her mind—were after blood. Clearly these two were males fighting over a female. One of them shook free and clubbed the other along its broad head with elongated claws as long as sabers. Flesh splattered through the air along with blood before the injured caltronian lumbered to its feet, shaking its head and clearly disorientated.
When the victor opened its jaws with huge, razor sharp teeth, the other roared with bleak rage before swinging away and retreating with surprising speed. The winner gave chase, its fierce snarls and the other’s pained growls echoing for some time, but growing more distant by the minute.
Eden leaned forward and hugged the terrified bolishta, before checking out their makeshift hideout with a frown. The grasses only barely covered them, they had to leave while they still could.
“Unct.” Her mount rose to its feet. “Merdee.”
As the bolishta walked obediently ahead, she rubbed between its ears, so very grateful to the animal. “I’m going to have to give you a name,” she murmured aloud, smiling again at its quavering lips, despite the fear still causing her heart to beat as though a drum in her chest. “But are you a girl or a boy?”
They passed by a tree with its deep score marks. Red sap oozed from the trunk and the plant lover in her couldn’t help but wonder for a moment what beneficial properties the sap had, if any.
The bolishta continued upward with its long swinging gait, apparently rested and, now that the caltronian threat had passed, apparently eager to get the climb over with.
“I think I’ll call you Simon.” She stared thoughtfully at the animal’s ears that swung back and forth, always listening. “Simone if you’re a girl.”
The following few hours were thankfully uneventful and quiet going. Eden kept alert to any sight or sound of more caltronians as did Simon, going by his flickering ears and constantly moving eyeballs.
Used to the call of birds and chirping of crickets and frogs on Earth, the mountain without its chorus of wildlife seemed deathly quiet. Too quiet.
She suppressed unease as Simon broke into a clearing, where another rock wall ahead gurgled with the sound of running water. She ran a tongue over her dry lips, approaching the area with caution even as excitement filled her.
What a lucky find!
Perhaps she’d live through this ordeal after all.
She focused on the area where most of the water seemed to be drizzling down the rock wall, ensuring Simon headed that direction. What was the command for stop? The word evaded her. “Karsh.”
Simon stopped and knelt within the vicinity of the cool, flowing water. Leaning over to better cup the water in her hands, she tipped it back into her mouth and allowed the sweet-tasting liquid to trickle down her throat and ease her thirst, soothing her dry throat. She only wished she had a canteen or something to fill.
Simon plucked some of the healthy grass around the base of the rocks with his teeth and chewed contentedly. Eden frowned. “Aren’t you going to have a drink? You must be hell thirsty by now?”
As he pulled more grass into his mouth and continue
d to chew, his lower lip doing the trembling pleasure thing, she realized the bolishtas consumed enough of the grasses to give them all the hydration they needed. And the grass beneath a natural waterfall would be juicy indeed!
She grinned, relief making her giddy. “Let’s stay for a minute.”
But as everything around her abruptly faded and became bright again, before permanently fading into a world of dark gray, she realized the giddiness wasn’t from relief at all.
Shit.
The plant she’d sucked all the moisture from had hit her with a vengeance.
She inhaled a horror-filled breath. She couldn’t stay here, not for long! This would undoubtedly be one of the caltronian’s drinking spots. Possibly their only drinking spot!
She closed her eyes and rubbed a hand over them, gently massaging. Eyelids opening, she saw nothing more than vague shadows.
“Bloody hell.”
Why hadn’t she asked more questions about the plant?—a plant she didn’t even have a name for. How long did its effects last? Would her vision clear gradually or suddenly?
She leaned over, confident Simon wouldn’t move now unless commanded as she cupped more water in her hands. She lifted her face and trickled what she could into her eyes. It might help a little, but the damage being done was all on the inside.
She’d have to wait it out. And pray none of the caltronian monsters would wander into her vicinity. Right then she was as helpless as a blindfolded bird without its wings.
With the heat of the day unabating and no cooling darkness to give indication of time, she had no idea how long she waited, completely blind, while Simon blithely continued to chew. He clearly had no conception of her fear while enjoying the juicy grass and the long rest.
“At least I know you’ll be okay,” she said with a quaver in her voice.
Simon abruptly stiffened, but Eden knew right away it wasn’t from her voice or what she’d said. A distant, coarse coughing sound similar to a seal’s bark broke the stillness and grew ever louder.
Oh, hell.
A caltronian.
