by Bethany Aan
“Yeah,” the girl said, then helped to steady the older woman, her arm around Ri’s waist below the broken ribs. “Where are we going to go, though?”
“I don’t know,” Ri whispered, her head pounding. The dizziness threatened to take her back down to the ground. As another gruesome crunch and squish came to them, she threw a horrified look toward the carcass of the dead girl where the indigenous animals were making a feast of the poor soul. Her throat was fighting bile again as she said, “But we can’t stay here.”
“Right,” the girl agreed, swallowing her own nausea and nodding a bit frantically.
Together, they hobbled over to where the bulk of the girls were gathered. Some were lying on the ground, still unconscious. Others were trying to wake them or sitting beside the dead, crying and begging them to get up, calling them by name. Several just sat and stared into space, pale and trembling with eyes wider than they should be.
“Who are these girls?” the blond beside her asked. Ri panted with pain and the effort of moving, but cast her empathic senses over the group. Friends, sisters but not. Familiar to each other, unified. She blinked.
“I think they were all together. They’re all friends, sort of… but more than that. More than friends, but not quite sisters,” she said, a bit bewildered. “It’s a strange relationship, but a close one. You weren’t with them?”
“I don’t know where I was!” the younger woman admitted. “I can’t seem to remember much of anything right now. But no, I don’t recognize any of them. And how do you know all that about them?”
Ri grinned a bit sheepishly and shrugged.
“I’m kinda psychic,” she revealed with the sardonic eye-roll that let the blond know she didn’t expect instant acceptance of the ability. “Always have been, but it seems to be much stronger here than back home.”
Instead of the scoffing disbelief she was used to, the woman regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded. Ri could feel her processing the information and comparing it to recent events and her own experience.
“That makes sense,” she said softly, “Considering you were able to take energy from me. You’re welcome, by the way.”
Ri got a sudden sense of familiarity as she met the younger woman’s eyes, but it was gone so quickly that she thought she imagined it. The blond’s eyebrows came together as though she felt the kinship, as well, but before either of them could say anything else, there were more growls from the underbrush to the side of the path. As fear jolted her into motion once more, she and the young woman hobbled closer to the group.
But in counterpoint to that burst of trepidation, Ri felt the thunder of something large, quite a few large things, coming toward the women from the opposite direction, along the path. She automatically threw open her senses, trying to get a sense of what was approaching, to understand what was about to happen. From the direction of the pounding noise, she got a sense of urgency, of help, of… sanctuary.
For some reason, that feeling braced her, helping her to move, to do what she knew needed to be done.
As the creatures of the forest crept closer, larger animals joined the ones she’d already seen. They were terrifying, alien. They moved forward, sniffing the air and watching the humans as though making a plan of attack. Many colors, several different forms, but all completely alien to the girls on the path.
“Oh, god, what now?” the blond breathed, fearing the rumble of the approaching unknown.
“Hurry!” Arianna urged. “Let’s get to the others. I think we should all be together.”
“Strength in numbers,” her companion agreed, and they moved as quickly as they could to the other girls. As they neared, Ri saw with a bit of relief that a tall, skinny brunette was attempting to organize the group.
“I’m Bev, by the way,” the blond murmured as they approached the group.
“Arianna,” Ri said, her brow furrowing, her relief short-lived. What was the brunette doing?
“Hurry!” the skinny girl called out, catching sight of them. “It sounds like something huge is coming! We’ve got to defend ourselves.”
“The immediate threat is right here,” Ri said, shaking her head as she and Bev joined the group. “These things are ready to eat. Whatever’s out there isn’t coming to hurt us.”
“How could you possibly know that?” the girl scoffed, sneering at Ri. “You psychic or something?”
“Yes,” Ri told her simply. “And I’m telling you, we’re in a lot more danger from these creatures than the beings coming down that path!”
The brunette turned from Ri and continued giving orders, ignoring Ri’s advice by instructing her friends to face the path, not the animals that were closing in on them all.
Grimly, Ri and Bev looked at each other and did the opposite. Bev helped steady Ri on one leg, then hurriedly searched for a few sturdy branches from the woods nearby. Ri took the limb Bev brought her and nodded her thanks.
“So whatever shows up,” the young brunette was calling out, “Don’t ask questions. Just attack! We don’t know what they want or what they’ll do. They’ll take us prisoner and make us slaves or something. Don’t let them take us alive!”
“Oh, for the love of little pink bunnies!” Ri bit out, startling Bev to snort a horrified little laugh. Arianna threw a glare at the brunette. “Take care of these animals first! The beings on that path are coming to help us! If you don’t believe me, fine. But at the very least, half of you should turn so that we can face both at once!”
Ri felt a surge of relief when several of the girls saw the wisdom in her words and turned to face the animals. She kept her eyes moving as some of the creatures darted around the girls, growling or howling, mewling and chittering. She had no idea what to do against these critters, but on a hunch, she decided to take a leap of faith. Closing her eyes, she opened her senses once more, reaching for the mind she’d barely touched moments ago.
It was there, bright and and strong and clear now that she was actually focusing on it...almost as though it had been searching for her and trying to focus on her, as well. Her eyes popped open and she nearly wept at the confidence in that approaching mind. The girls would be fine as long as they could hold off the creatures until their rescuers arrived. Strength flowed through her, hope managing what her mantra had given up on.
“All we have to do is hold these things off for a few minutes,” she cried out. “Help is literally right around the bend.”
But the brunette had other ideas. Her seething glare snapped to Ri, her teeth bared in a snarl.
“Don’t listen to her! We don’t know her. She might be with them, for all we know,” the brunette spat. “Kill anything that gets near you! We can sort the rest out later, when we’ve gotten away from here!”
“You sound like a really bad B grade movie, kiddo!” Ri shot back. “Animals first, ladies, or we’re dead.”
“Shut the fuck up, grandma,” the brunette retorted. “What do you know?”
Wow, what a bitch! The anger leveled at her was shocking in its intensity. She’d never engendered that much instant antipathy in a stranger before.
Tired of arguing, Ri simply gathered her energy and shot a blast of energy out to the minds of each girl standing around her, encouraging them to fight for their lives, but to allow help, if it came. It was the best she could do. Bev looked up at her, grinning acknowledgment of the message.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Bev said softly. Ri’s eyes locked with those of one of the larger wolf-like predators with too many legs and she felt her body go into a fighting stance, as though it knew what to do and how to do it, even injured. Odd.
“I do, too,” Arianna murmured. “Here they come!”
She could feel the ground shaking from whatever was heading down the path to them, could sense an urgency that she didn’t quite understand. As the other girls shrieked and tried to scare off the animals that were about to attack, Arianna sent a blast of mental energy toward the group coming their wa
y. A quick mental scan told her that they were sentient beings. Aside from that, though, she could tell little else about them. Vague impressions of alien landscapes and ideas. But they all had one thought in common… saving whoever had just crash-landed in their forest.
Putting everything she had into a mental cry for help that swept the entire group of aliens, Ri prayed for the strength to keep standing until they reached the girls.
Then she bellowed a mighty war cry as the animals surrounding them leapt. She unknowingly sent a panicked glimpse of the things toward the mind of the alien mind she’d touched earlier. There was only a flicker of surprise before an image came back to her of the beast being clubbed brutally in the hip. The mental impression of vulnerability brought out a grin of feral glee. It all happened in a split second. She absently sent back a thought of thanks, then took up a batter’s stance with her stick. Her body shifted easily, power radiating into the muscles needed for defense while her good leg bent in order to be able to move as she needed it. Ri didn’t realize the strange ability until much later, but at the moment, she just thanked whatever made her body do what it needed to do.
As the charging creature leapt toward the girl to her left, Arianna swung the branch as hard as she could, drawing on years of softball when she was young, and even more years of sword-fighting with the medieval re-enactment group she had enjoyed back home. She nailed the critter squarely in the hip, just where the other mind had showed her.
The animal dragged itself off, whimpering in pain, its hind leg dragging uselessly on the ground. The blood-lust in her wouldn’t allow her to feel sorry for maiming the thing. She hadn’t been aware of broadcasting her triumph, but another mental image hit her, this one showing a very thick skull but unprotected hip and shoulder joints. She nodded to herself, acknowledging the information, only vaguely aware of the pride that came along with the information. She was too focused on the fight before her.
“Their hips and shoulders!” she yelled to the girls above the din of battle, unconsciously passing along the image she had received. “Hitting their heads won’t do much. Go for the joints!”
Having a viable target helped. The girls shrieked and yelled with renewed vigor, swinging for all they were worth. Another creature quickly took the place of the one Ri had injured and she stabbed viciously into its shoulder joint with her branch. This creature slithered off sideways, unable to use its front leg. A cry from her left had her hopping in that direction, defending a girl who was trying to slam a rock against the head of her attacker where its jaws had locked on her leg. At the same time, the girl was doing what she could to cover and protect the unconscious woman beneath her. The girl couldn’t have been much older than eighteen, if that, and still fought with everything she had to help her friend.
Her maternal instinct kicking in, Ri bellowed with rage and used the branch as a golf club, swinging it in a vicious arc that sent the creature flying across the path and against a tree.
“Thank you!” the girl gasped, tears of pain coursing down her cheeks. Ri nodded and brandished the branch yet again, this time facing the path.
As she fought, her own pain was forgotten, adrenaline surging through her, pumping her full of battle rage. She wobbled a bit, taken off balance by the force of a swing. Before she could fall, though, Bev was there, at her back, shoring her up. The two used each other as leverage to give their attacks more strength. One of the creatures leapt from the right, and she was able to deflect its path, sending it into the woods just over the head of the girl she’d just saved. The girl shrieked and ducked, covering her friend’s head with her arms. There was a warmth between the two that shifted Ri’s understanding of the girls. She got the feeling these two were sisters in truth, not just in spirit. The thought made her head spin with a throbbing intensity that nearly blinded her. With a mighty effort, she shoved everything but the here and now into a dark corner so that she could fight.
Just as she had her head clear and her weapon hoisted for another swing, the group of riders came around a bend in the path. The sudden profound sense of protection, relief, and safety caused her to cry out. A blast of psychic energy hit her square in the forehead as another creature leapt at her and she struck out with her branch, beating the thing over and over again where it lay at her feet.
The power only lasted for a few minutes, though. Her strength was starting to fail, her good leg trembling horribly under the strain of her weight and all the movement since Bev had been forced to move away to protect another unconscious young woman. Nausea returned, along with the pain in her head and her chest. She had the rueful thought that she probably shouldn’t be swinging tree branches with broken ribs, but she had no other choice. These girls needed her. She didn’t know why she felt that so fiercely, but she did. She could feel their eyes as they looked to her for direction and she rose to the task, ordering several of them to stand back to back, to fight in a circle and save their energy.
But as more girls fell beneath snapping jaws or vicious claws, Ri realized that there were too many of the ugly creatures, and the riders were still too far away. Close to tears, she was afraid the alien group wouldn’t reach them in time. She prayed for strength, just one last burst to help her until the riders arrived and could take over.
And just like that, the gentle, strong presence was in her head again, lending her knowledge and power. Almost as though someone else was guiding her arms, Ri sensed the animals before she knew they were attacking, and was able to knock most of them out of the air with little movement and great efficiency. Her body moved and reacted like a warrior’s with well choreographed motions, as though she’d been trained to do so all her life. She bellowed again and took up a bent stance with the stick now in both hands, bo-staff style.
The wolf-like beings were joined by the smaller things with huge jaws and rows and rows of teeth as insects tried darting in to sting, bite, and take chunks of flesh out of the girls who were otherwise occupied. Those who were unconscious and couldn’t defend themselves were fair game unless the conscious protected them.
Arianna’s heart surged and she gave out a shout of welcome and relief, sending out a heartfelt thanks to the mind that she’d been touching. As the men reached the scene, some leapt from their mounts to engage the predators. Swords flew, swiping with amazing efficiency at the enemies. The girls who were still standing either scattered at the sight of the huge aliens or circled closer to the wounded, hoping to protect them from both the predators and the warriors who were unknowns.
The cavalry may have arrived, but Arianna was the only one who knew for certain that they meant the girls no harm, were indeed bent on saving every last soul they could. The fervent protectiveness the men felt toward these strange women was startling, but the result was that Ri knew that the battle was won. The good guys were here, in charge, and kicking ass.
Which meant that very shortly, her mind was going to release its hold on her body and she was going to be in very bad shape. She always fell apart once someone else was there to handle a crisis and she was no longer needed. This time was going to suck. Hard.
She relaxed though, sensing that he was very near, coming for her, trying to single her out of the crowd of bodies and swinging branches.
Eyes wide, heart thundering, she searched with her eyes and her mind, found him, and stilled. He was swinging his sword as though it had become an extension of his arm, his muscles bunching and shifting beneath smooth skin as he swept through the tangle of bodies, blood, and mud, fighting his way closer to her. Two men fought at his back, one in front, cutting their way through the melee and protecting him. Ri felt his frustration as he lowered his sword and looked around the clearing, eyes narrowed on every girl until he found her.
The warmth that flowed into her being was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. For a single, shining moment, their eyes locked, and she felt as though he delved straight into her very soul. She did the same thing, needing to know that she could trust him, and in that
split-second, she knew that this man would give his life for her. The emotions rocked her to the core, nearly bringing her to her knees. Tears filled her eyes, tears of wonder and something she couldn’t name… something vibrant and incredible and life-changing. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, his eyes crinkling at the edges as his whole face reflected what she was feeling.
But then the blood-thirsty brunette from before raised up behind the man, a sharp branch swinging toward his back.
“Behind you!” Ri cried out, warning the man with voice and mind. He was able, just barely, to whirl and knock away the brunette, who fell into a heap near her friends. The horror in his heart, the look of disbelief on his face, let Arianna know that he never would have intentionally hurt the young woman, if he hadn’t been defending himself. His eyes locked with hers once more and he continued fighting his way toward her through the crowd, trying to protect her, in particular. One of his men crouched over the brunette, sword in hand, to defend her even as he defended his men from her, should she wake and want to fight them again.
The five-second distraction cost Ri dearly. She cried out involuntarily as one of the wolf-like creatures careened into her broken leg. Her body lax no longer in warrior mode, she went down, the agony beyond anything she’d ever felt before. The pain was so great that she couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t catch her breath. Rolling to her side on the ground, it was all she could do to look up when the man came to stand over her. She wanted to keep fighting, to help her people, but the gray fog was coming for her. Desperate, she tried reaching for her inner power.
Center. Open. Flow. Wait. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand…
She never made it to four. Ri passed out cold, her last thoughts an apology to the women and a deep appreciation to the alien stranger, a man who now stood above her, protecting her with his body and his sword.
