by Ann Raina
“Good horsey,” he whispered. He could not feel his left side from the shoulder down to his hipbone. The pain had reached some deeper region where it was harder to control. “Just go on. I’ll cling to you.”
“In an hour we should start looking for a campsite,” Rayenne said beside him.
He had forgotten she was there and jerked back, causing the anguish to explode. He pressed his eyes shut, whimpering. Then, slowly but uncontrollably, he slipped off the mare’s back. Tessla stood at once as if expecting him to get back on. She even turned her head in his direction and blew out air before searching the ground for fodder.
The image in his head came so suddenly he screamed and pressed his fists against his temples the moment he hit the ground. His back took the impact, squeezing his lungs. He could not breathe for a few heartbeats. Warm hands bent back his head and lifted him gently to ease the pressure. He gulped in air and wished he had not. There was no doubt—he had never experienced such pain. His scream was high and out of control. Gasping, he wished for his consciousness to leave and not return until he felt better. Much better.
“Breathe slowly, Saji, or you’ll lose it.”
“I…can’t!” The image was there again. He saw himself on the ground, his arms and legs outstretched. But there was more. The long legs of a purple Horlyn and a head that caused many people nightmares. The compound eyes were large like black melons. “Horlyn,” he rasped.
“Where?” Ray looked around.
Saji swallowed and kept his eyes closed. The next vision contained more Horlyns and himself, running around, smiling, and obviously healed.
It made him feel good and he wanted to cling to that feeling.
“You can’t see them. They stay in the dark. But I know they’re here. They have to be close.”
“Shit. Can you get up?”
“No.” His innards cramped and forced Sajitar to turn on the side. He held tight to Rayenne’s hand, not caring if he hurt her. He shivered. “They’re coming.”
“To kill us?”
“I…I don’t know.” Another picture assaulted his mind. He took a deep breath. “I know…”
“Yes?”
“One’s staying. The others leave.”
Rayenne shook her head. “Damn you, Saji, don’t speak in riddles.”
Sajitar wet his lips and turned back slowly. The pain subsided to a level he could tolerate. He looked at Rayenne’s beautiful face, but it was like looking at her through mist. The alien image was still there, demanding his attention. He saw himself once more on a small, grassy clearing.
“She’s going to help me.”
“What? Are you out of your mind? That beast will do nothing but cut our heads and have them for breakfast. Don’t be fooled! Come on, please! Get up!”
“The image she shows me—”
“She?”
“She shows me…oops, that you’ll have to bind me naked to the ground. On the clearing nearby.”
Her eyebrows jumped.
“Are you sure she wants to help you or fuck you?”
“She’s afraid of my weapons.”
“Which are in your pants, front center? Or did I miss something?”
“She doesn’t know better.” He stared at her intently, then struggled to get up. She pulled his right arm around her shoulder and led him to the place where a tree had collapsed years ago and made way for younger green to spread. Sajitar slumped on the ground, boneless. “Please, I can’t ride another mile while that pain kills me. Help undress and bind me or she’ll go away!”
Rayenne looked around. The forest looked back gloomily. She shook her head and turned to Sajitar again.
“You trust her? Are you sure? You truly are out of your mind.”
Saji started opening his jacket with trembling hands. His words came in short rasps.
“We don’t have the tools to get the bullet out. You said that. She brings them with her.”
Rayenne took off his shoes and continued by opening his pants. “She could kill us both. And I’m still convinced the beast will have us for dinner.”
“If she wanted, she would have done so already, wouldn’t she? Or any other beast that watched us.”
“I had the camp protected every night!”
“They were close and they were not fooled by some technical gizmo. Careful, that hurts!”
“Sorry.” Rayenne pulled down the pants slowly and helped Sajitar get out of jacket, shirt and underwear. “Did I mention that you have a gorgeous body?”
Surprise took his breath away. He stared at her open-mouthed and returned her smile amid the strain.
“I imagined that the first day you undressed me with your eyes.”
He outstretched his arms to both sides.
“I knew I’d stand no chance against you.”
“Glad it’s not freezing tonight.”
She cast aside his clothes and looked down at the brand, flinching. Her fingers gently stroked the mark and the round purple scars right of it. “What’s this? Where does it come from?”
“Don’t ask. Please,” he added, pained. “Not tonight.”
She looked around for the Horlyn, then up the sky. Aside from last birds searching for night quarters and swarming insects, the air was clear.
“Did your image tell you what I’d use for binding you?”
He swallowed and licked his lips. Lying flat on the ground did not improve his condition. The bullet throbbed like a fist hammering at him from the inside to get out. His vision blurred. He realized he had little time left.
“Yes. There’re some rootless plants hanging from the branches over to your left. Take a bunch and…” He moaned, clenching his teeth. “Please, Ray, hurry.”
* * * *
“I’ll hurry.” She got up, not without checking the dense vegetation. Her imagination showed her a large Horlyn groping for her, pulling her down to search for a vein to suck on. She shook her head. There was no need to enlarge her fear. She was already shaken to the bones.
The long, thin plants hung down like weeds, easy to collect. The strings were about three feet long, covered with short hairs that were soft like wool. She pulled four large stones near Sajitar’s hands and legs and wound the strings around his wrists and ankles and, at last, around the stones. She was sweating and shivering at the same time while Sajitar drifted in and out of consciousness. The thought of losing him crossed her mind over and again. She would not only be alone in the woods, but she would also lose the man she had come to like. The voice of reason still told her it was wrong to feel anything for a criminal. The other voice said, Go to hell.
Rayenne bound the last knot and sat back on her heels.
“Saji? I’m done. Do you know what she’s going to do? And what shall I do?”
“Go to some place safe.” He looked at her, pain clear in his eyes. His breath came in short rasps. “Don’t…don’t interfere.”
“Hey, and if she’s cutting you up just to get a snack of your liver I shall just watch?”
“I said—”
“I know what you said, you stubborn freak. That doesn’t mean that I like it.”
“I know.”
Rayenne flinched. “Hey, I want you to stay alive, you got that? There’s no one like you to bring me through these frickin’ woods.”
“Glad to be of service. Now, go, please. And don’t threaten her, okay?”
“Okay.” She kissed his cheek and, with a heavy heart, got up to walk over to one of the largest trees she had seen so far. Or maybe it just appeared to be taller and wider because she felt so small and vulnerable. The B-horses stayed together as if they, too, feared being alone. She waved her arms to shoo them away, then, with one of the saddlebags across her shoulder, climbed up the tree closest to the clearing to hide behind large leaves. With a fieldglass she looked where Sajitar awaited his savior.
She feared the Horlyn would be a killer, but that thought she kept to herself.
The Horlyn was so much taller and broader than expected. R
ayenne bit her knuckles to not shriek with surprise and fear. In her eyes, this insectoid was nothing but a monster, a creature larger than an average village house. Its triangular head was crowned by three large compound eyes that reflected the light a hundred times. From the tip of the triangle came two pairs of antennae, and the slit beneath turned out to be the mouth.
Another Horlyn, even bigger than the first, moved slowly across the clearing. It gave the impression of a soldier on patrol. Its antennae turned in every direction as he walked around the clearing, into the wood and back again to finally halt right beside the tree Rayenne had chosen as hideout.
She put a hand to her mouth to quench a scream when the Horlyn in the clearing lowered its massive oblong body on its four sets of legs to get a better look at Sajitar. The antennae bent to touch his face, neck and chest and slowly worked down his body. Sajitar trembled and followed the movement with bated breath. His obvious fear was so raw that Rayenne was about to jump up and shoo away the Horlyn, no matter the consequences. It took all she had to sit and watch.
Rayenne found out she could still pray the old prayers her grandfather had taught her. There has to be hope that this beast will not kill him. There is always hope that what we wish will come true.
The Horlyn stiffened and looked in her direction. Its head moved up and down then sideways. The second one lowered its massive body like a dog lying down to sleep. Only its head stayed up.
Sajitar turned his head in her direction, a painful inch at a time. She did not want to interpret his glance. He closed his eyes again and somehow she was glad to not see his pain anymore.
Far behind her, the B-horses rustled between the young sprigs. She turned, but could not see them, and prayed that the Horlyn was not out for a B-horse meal.
Out of the beast’s left front leg, a thin needle appeared. It split from the main leg like a part of a pocketknife to examine Sajitar’s abs, ignoring the man’s whimper that turned to screaming when the needle poked the skin. Unruffled, the needle moved along the side and found the entrance hole the bullet had left days ago. Again, Sajitar could not hold back the scream, and, staying a few feet away, Rayenne found it hard to hold ground. Her hands clenched tight to a branch before her. Everything she knew about Horlyns was connected with fear, pain, disappearing people and death. How could I be so stupid to leave Sajitar to this killer? The Horlyn made Sajitar believe it would be his savior, but that beast could just prepare him for dinner, cut him in slices and take him away piece by piece.
Rayenne choked so hard she feared she’d throw up.
The needle traced back to the center of Sajitar’s stomach and pierced the skin. Sajitar bent his back and the Horlyn placed two of his limbs on his chest and legs. That stopped the movement at once. Balanced on his hind pairs of legs, the Horlyn pushed the needle deeper into Sajitar’s body.
Rayenne feared he would die, if not from the incision, then from the shock of being under surgery without anesthesia. Now she understood why the beast had wanted him tied up. He would have gotten up and run away. She wanted to close her ears to his screams and wished that she had gagged him. Now the pain was hers and she had to listen.
The needle stopped and the mighty head of the Horlyn lowered to almost touch the skin. Though there were no visible nostrils, it appeared to sniff the blood oozing out of the wound. Slowly, the needle turned. Sajitar let out one last scream before he fell unconscious.
Rayenne was grateful for small mercies. Banned like the observer of an accident, she watched through her fieldglass and saw the needle reappear. A small object stuck to the tip, golden and dripping with blood. The Horlyn swung the needle to the right side and the object fell beside Sajitar’s body. The beast cleaned its needle meticulously with two tips of his legs while it scrutinized the man’s face, tweeting and whizzing like a mother with her sleeping child. Or a cook whistling a tune while thinking about the herbs to go with the roast.
Rayenne’s stomach ached, but she held her ground. To throw up what little food she had had during the day would certainly give away her position. When she felt better and could look again, the Horlyn still stood beside Sajitar. Its antennae touched him at his neck and chest. It tweeted quietly, as if to ask if he was all right. When Sajitar did not reply, the first Horlyn turned its mighty abdomen and disappeared into the wood.
Rayenne looked down, but the second Horlyn still held its position. She could not leave the tree—she cursed wordlessly. To busy herself, she searched the sky for a Flying Cordell, but could not find one. Even the last birds had settled somewhere and the night sky was velvety black.
She pointed the fieldglass back at Sajitar.
His head had lolled to the side and she feared he was wounded more severely than she had anticipated. The hole above his navel was big enough for a finger to fit in and oozed blood with every heartbeat. She swallowed. What else is damaged?
She desperately longed to go and pull Sajitar from the clearing and nurse him back to health. Instead, she had to stay out of sight. Briefly she wondered why the second Horlyn had not chased the B-horses, but before she could follow that thought, the first Horlyn reappeared.
Repelled but at the same time fascinated, she watched the Horlyn apply a handful of a sticky white substance to the wound, then smear it adroitly until it covered Sajitar’s chest and stomach. From somewhere on its body the Horlyn fetched a thin item that looked like a thick straw and put it between Sajitar’s lips. Rayenne wanted to shout that you could not feed anything to someone unconscious, but Sajitar stirred. His chest moved with one heavy intake of breath. He coughed and Rayenne wondered what the Horlyn had done. Her heart palpitating, she waited for Sajitar to open his eyes, and when he did he tried to turn his head in her direction. The Horlyn prevented the movement and put the item back between his lips, softly whistling. It attached a dark red piece of root to the open end and squeezed. Sajitar whimpered, but swallowed the juice, shutting his eyes once more. He lay motionless while the Horlyn examined him once more.
The Horlyn dropped the straw and carefully cut the ropes. While the second Horlyn appeared from the shadows under the tree, the first one slipped two legs under Sajitar to lift his limp body and carry him away.
Rayenne bit her lips to not scream that the beast should leave Sajitar to her. She watched with tears in her eyes as the Horlyn marched across the clearing to disappear in the wood.
The second one stood up and slowly followed.
Rayenne was down from the branch in a few seconds, threw the saddlebags on the ground and rushed through the wood, hoping to find a detour to follow the Horlyns without being caught. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
Suddenly the second insectoid blocked her way. She had not even seen it come! Flitting in different shades of purple, the Horlyn spread its legs wide, watching the woman in front of him noiselessly.
“I just want to be with him,” Rayenne explained. When she sat one foot before the other, the Horlyn lifted its first pair of legs. Up close, the Horlyn was tall as a house and strong as any giant she had ever imagined. It could crush her with those long, hard legs effortlessly. Its size alone intimidated her until she stumbled back and sat on her butt, close to tears. “I won’t do any harm! Just tell me where you’re taking him!”
The Horlyn stood, and when she retreated, lowered his legs again. Yet it eyed her and waited until the first one had reached a safe distance. Then, upon an unheard command, it turned and followed the other deeper into the wood. Its thumping steps ebbed through the forest’s ground. A moment later it had disappeared.
Rayenne slumped on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks. She did not know how to find and save him and that, she knew, was the most miserable twist in this wild journey.
Chapter Seven
With closed eyes Rayenne sat in the semi-darkness and tried to cope with the situation. She was alone, her partner hurt and gone, maybe to be healed, maybe to end up in a cooking pot with Horlyns sitting around licking their legs and claws anticipat
ing some exquisite fodder. Maybe all the stories were true and the Horlyns had found out that men made them stronger and bigger—just like men killed Larolydis to ground their bones and use the potion to enhance their strength in both physical and psychological ways.
She clambered to her feet, undecided what to do. She remembered the Horlyn had dropped the bullet, so she stepped out from the shadows to search the clearing. The spot was easy to find, marked with four stones that still held the rest of the rope. She knelt to search the grass-covered ground carefully with her hands. She realized that there was little blood and wondered how the Horlyn had done that. Again, the miserable thought of the eating habits of Horlyns came unbidden to her mind. They like their prey fresh and with a lot of blood. Stop it, Ray, or you’ll lose it!
Her hand came on something slimy and cold. She shied away, but her fingers were already covered with the substance. It was the stuff the Horlyn had used to cover Sajitar’s wound. Unable to get rid of it at once, she searched on until her fingers touched the bullet. She held it before her eyes. Though covered with dried blood she knew it was the same kind she had found in her jacket, a transmitter to whoever listened and wanted to find Sajitar. She rolled it her hand, pondering. Two small animals, no larger than the Dikis they had seen earlier, entered the clearing, nibbling on the fresh grass and leaves sprouting from a young bush.
Rayenne pursed her lips. The substance was like glue. She wrapped the bullet in it and waited as still as she could for the next animal to get close enough.
It was a long wait. She felt terribly exposed, not knowing if predators roamed the area when daylight was gone. Finally, more hearing than seeing the animal, she threw herself forward and patted the bullet to the animal’s black fur. It stuck, the animal grunted and when it turned to bite, Ray had already pulled her hand back.
The animal fled the clearing and Rayenne smeared the rest of the glue in the grass. Quickly, she ran back to the cover of the wood. With the help of her small light, she found the tree and the saddlebags again. To her surprise the B-horses were close by. She pitched her tent, too weary to care for more than a gulp of water. While she unpacked her sleeping bag she heard the low sound of a Flying Cordell. Attracted against her will, she crawled back toward the clearing and checked the sky with her fieldglass. It was a small version, a drone that could fly for ten standard hours. It hovered above tree height, flew circles and moved on westward.
