by Mikayla Lane
“Thank you, Grai…,” Gracus said, thinking the words did not do justice to how he felt right now. He could never repay Grai for all he had done for him and was continuing to do.
“You are welcome, my friend. Talk to your mate, get to know her. She’s a wonderful woman and you are both very lucky to have found one another. Try to enjoy the first days, you can never do them over again,” Grai said with a smile as he jumped over a small boulder in pursuit of Gibly.
Grai listened closely, ensuring that Niklosi and Scaden were still keeping pace behind him. He suspected that Gibly and his cats had set such a grueling pace to get even with him for offending them and though he’d felt bad about it before, he really felt bad about it now.
It wasn’t that any of them were out of shape, they trained religiously in order to maintain active status on the warrior duty and mission rosters. It was the thinner air due to the elevation and the rough terrain that was taking a toll on their bodies and tiring them quickly.
That and the fact that Gibly had not stopped since they had split from Amun and Decano. Six hours ago. He had to admit, he needed a break and slowed to a stop, calling out to Gibly as he did. “I need a break and we need to talk!”
Scaden and Niklosi collapsed on the ground, still wearing their packs as Grai pulled his off his shoulders and slung them to the ground. He grabbed two canteens and handed them to Scaden and Niklosi as he pulled out another for himself before sitting with them.
He watched Gibly come walking towards them with his head held high and his tail swaying back and forth hypnotically. Grai couldn’t help but smile at the cat. He’d proven his point very, very thoroughly, Grai thought.
“I think it’s safe to say you have incredible stamina, Gibly. Even under these conditions,” Grai said as he spread his arms around him.
Gibly smiled and bowed his head slightly. “We are used to surviving and hunting in the mountains of Valendra and because we are a well-traveled species, we have adapted to running in different climates. For days at a time, if need be,” Gibly said, surprising everyone.
Scaden put down the canteen and stared at the cat. “Are you serious? Your people can run for days? In this terrain?” Scaden asked, looking around at the slippery, rough and craggy terrain around them.
They had long passed the beautiful forested area and had been running through a much less densely treed area that was steep and more rock than earth. They could see the valley they had come from, spread out behind and beneath them.
Gibly nodded his head regally at Scaden and smiled when Niklosi whistled low. “That’s pretty damn impressive, Gibly. Personally, I need a damn break for a minute, you and this terrain are killing me,” Niklosi said honestly as he pulled his packs off his back and grabbed another canteen of water and four food bars.
If Grai hadn’t seen the Relian tracks for himself, he would have thought that Gibly was taking them the long way. “It’s obvious they are looking for something up here. There is no other reason for the erratic path they are taking. It appears they are heading towards the cave,” Grai admitted to the men.
Scaden and Niklosi nodded, having deduced the same thing after Grai told them of the cave the day before. After he told Gracus. It was Scaden who said, “It doesn’t appear that they are very sure where it is or they wouldn’t have taken this… ridiculous route.”
Grai shook his head. “No. I don’t think they have a clue. Which could work in our favor…,” he said as his mind already began to formulate a plan.
Niklosi and Scaden exchanged wary looks as Gibly nodded his head slightly, as if he were listening in on Grai’s thoughts and approved of what he was hearing. Knowing very little about the cat’s abilities, it was actually a possibility.
Grai stood abruptly and turned to scan the mountain that they ran, only until they would have been forced to climb. It was then that the Relians had decided to stay on the lower part of the mountain. The part easier to travel. That’s what they had been running for the last two hours. It was a half effort attempt at finding the cave, but one that would work, Grai thought.
They had traveled tens of miles out of their way in order to follow the Relian trail. If they had gone the path that Rebecca was taking they would have been at the cave hours ago. Which means the Relians had no clue where it was and that was a major plus. Although, if they kept going the way that they were, the Relians would come across the cave and Grai didn’t want that to happen.
As Grai was scanning the mountain and formulating a plan to divert them away from the cave, he saw the craft de-cloak in the distance. “We have company!” he shouted as he pointed at the craft.
Scaden, Niklosi and Gibly all saw the telltale flash of a de-cloaking craft and Niklosi cursed. “I’m betting that wasn’t sent by our people,” he said needlessly.
Grai shook his head. “No, it’s not ours. They know we are here,” he said.
Scaden turned to look back where Gracus and Rebecca were and said, “At least we’re between them and Gracus. Maybe we should call in our own backup.”
Grai turned to look at the two men, before turning back to where the craft had re-cloaked and left. “No. The most men that ship could carry is ten. Whoever is out here either doesn’t know it’s me or doesn’t want my brother to know if he fails to kill me. Which means that whoever is leading them is very stupid. If we bring more teams, they will panic and do the same and this will get out of control very quickly.”
Scaden and Niklosi could see where he was going with this and nodded. “If we bring more, they will turn this area into a war zone. If we don’t, we have the advantage of knowing they’ve brought help and can plan accordingly,” Scaden said.
Niklosi added, “And we know exactly where they are now.”
Grai grinned and nodded his head as Gibly said, “Griff and Dorch are close and will be able to tell us how many have dropped.”
Grai chuckled. “Your people are invaluable, Gibly. Remind me again if I ever forget it.”
Gibly grinned proudly. “I most certainly will.”
Everyone chuckled at the cat and Grai warned, “Tell them to remain hidden and to not engage them unless they have to. I don’t want them to get trapped or injured.”
Gibly nodded, his black eyes glittering in the light of the rising moon. “Of course.”
Grai sighed and contacted Gracus, Amun and Decano to let them know of the new arrivals before he turned to Scaden and Niklosi.
“I have a plan. I’ll tell you about it as we run,” Grai said as pulled his packs back on.
*****
Gracus listened to Grai tell him about the new Relians that were now in the forest with them and he cursed out loud before he realized that Rebecca was staring at him with wide, startled eyes.
“Good job asshole,” Clatz said, with a chuckle in his mind.
Gracus cleared his throat and tried to think of what to say. “I’m sorry… that was uncalled for. My mind is just a little… preoccupied,” Gracus said with a blush.
When Rebecca just nodded at him, Gracus scanned the area for danger and moved to sit beside Rebecca. When Rebecca moved a little farther away, Gracus sighed.
“I was hoping you could show me the journal you brought. I understand if you don’t want to…,” he said as he got ready to get up.
He was surprised when Rebecca put a hand on his arm to stop him. He looked into her beautiful eyes and sat back down with a thump. Gracus watched as she reached over and pulled out a plastic covered book and took it out of its protective casing.
She held the leather covered journal tenderly in her lap before she sighed and opened it. “I never even noticed the symbols until around two years ago. They drove me crazy until I figured it out,” Rebecca said, hoping that seeing the proof in the journal would assure Gracus that she really wasn’t crazy.
Gracus scooted himself closer to her, not just to better protect her if they were attacked, but because he wanted to feel the touch of her body next to his. He hated that he had to
stop himself from taking her hand or putting his arm around her, but he knew he’d already done enough damage by ignoring her since they’d set up camp.
Knowing he needed to fix the damage his silence had caused, Gracus was determined to make it up to her. “What made you notice them two years ago?” he asked, as he looked over at the book she’d opened in her lap.
Rebecca looked up at him, searching his eyes for a hint that he wasn’t really interested. He’d been so quiet since they had set up camp that she was seriously beginning to doubt his curiosity in going with her.
Seeing only actual interest in his eyes as he looked over at the pages, Rebecca answered, “I don’t really know. I’d read them before, many times, I just never really noticed that the symbols were there.” She looked up at him and added, “I know that sounds crazy.”
Gracus chuckled. “No, that’s not as crazy as you think. It’s pretty common to look at something for so long, you forget it’s there. I can’t tell you how many times that I have done that as well. Show me one of the symbols?” Gracus asked, skimming the empty sides of the pages that were opened in the journal.
Rebecca looked down at the book in her hands and said, “Right along the margins.”
Gracus looked back at the margin area of the pages and saw nothing. Assuming he must not understand what she meant by the margin, he tried again. “Point out one that you think is the most telling.”
He was beginning to wonder if maybe she’d turned to the wrong page and didn’t realize it. The only thing he could see on the open pages was a very neat, masculine handwriting in the English language.
Rebecca looked up at Gracus for a second before she ran her hand down the margin on the left page and pointed to the one symbol she had seen before. “This one. It’s on a rock not far from here. I’ve passed it before, but had no idea at the time that it was part of the code to the cave.”
Gracus tried to stifle his gasp of surprise as symbols began lighting up in small flashes of blue as she ran her finger along the left side of the page. Whoa, he thought, that was really… strange.
The symbols had disappeared after a few seconds, leaving only the one that Rebecca held her finger on, still visible on the page. How was that possible? He wondered as he studied the symbol until she took her finger off and moved to the other page.
“This one, I think I saw before as well. Along the same path as the other one,” Rebecca said, as she pointed out the symbol on the page.
Gracus nodded absently and stared at the glowing blue symbol until she again removed her finger and it disappeared. He was not only curious about how the symbols were there and yet weren’t there, but also about how she could bring them to life. However, at the moment he couldn’t think of how to even ask her about it. According to Grai, Rebecca had no idea that she was a hybrid.
“Ah, you’re being a pussy! Someone’s got to tell her! What you’re going to leave it to Grai?” Clatz asked, obviously more irritated than normal at him.
Ignoring Clatz, Gracus decided to try something and turned to Rebecca, taking her hands in his own. “Do you see the symbols on the page now?” he asked as she stared up at him curiously.
She looked down at the open pages in her lap and nodded her head. “Of course. Why?”
Gracus ignored her question. “And you only noticed the symbols in the journal about two years ago?”
Rebecca looked at him strangely and nodded. “Yes. Why?”
Gracus knew that it couldn’t be a coincidence that she had begun seeing the symbols around the time that the Adaria had arrived and found Cari. But, he still wasn’t sure what it meant. Either way, he knew that Clatz was right and he needed to begin broaching the subject of her hybrid status with her.
He smiled at her and rubbed her hands. “The margins of the pages are blank. Until you touch them, then the symbols light up on the page and I can see them. When you remove your finger, they disappear again,” Gracus said.
He sighed and rushed to continue when Rebecca looked at him strangely and slowing pulled her hands from his. “I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. I know a few other women that have gifts a lot like yours, but they are more familiar with their talents. Have you ever shown anyone else the symbols?” Gracus asked, hoping she would answer him and not try to run. He couldn’t let her out of his sight with the Relians loose somewhere in the forest.
“What do you mean you can’t see them?” Rebecca asked, wondering if he was still affected by the drugs or potentially insane.
“I swear to you, the margins of the pages are blank. I can’t see the symbols until you touch them. Have you shown them to anyone else?” he asked again, pretty sure that she hadn’t by the look on her face.
Rebecca looked down at the pages and could clearly see the six symbols, three on each page. They were pretty big and very obvious and she couldn’t believe that he didn’t see them. He was either jerking her chain or he was insane. She didn’t realize that she’d spoken aloud until Gracus responded.
“If they were that obvious, why hadn’t you noticed them until two years ago?” Gracus asked, feeling her disbelief and confusion in her energy.
Rebecca looked at him in stunned silence. Why hadn’t she noticed them before, she wondered. They were too obvious to miss. So how had she overlooked them for all these years? She shook her head, more confused than ever.
“How could I have missed them?” she wondered aloud, more to herself than to Gracus.
Gracus smiled softly at her and gently rubbed her hand. “You most likely weren’t meant to,” he said, trying to help her through this as gently as he could.
“That’s crazy. Seriously, how could they get on the pages if there aren’t there? You’re just teasing me. You have a strange idea of campfire stories, usually they’re scary,” Rebecca said, chuckling nervously as she looked down at the pages in her lap.
“Really? What exactly is a campfire story?” Gracus asked curiously, wondering if that was his answer to explaining things to her. Without really explaining them.
Rebecca chuckled, sure that he was still teasing her. But when he just stared at her curiously, her laughter died. Was he serious? she wondered. Fine, she’d play along.
“It’s a story that you tell other campers in order to frighten them. Just for fun though. Most stories are so old and played out that they lost the fear factor a long time ago,” Rebecca said with a grin. She’d spent years hearing just about every story there was to tell and she’d been in the forest her whole life, there wasn’t much that could scare her anymore.
Gracus couldn’t believe his luck. He had one hell of a story to tell. “I bet I have one that you have never heard before. Let me tell it to you,” Gracus said, hoping to convince her to listen to his story.
Rebecca looked at him nervously. A part of her knew that there was something about his story that she didn’t want to hear. Something that would frighten her. But, that inner voice in her head was screaming at her to listen to him and she found herself nodding her head.
*****
Jalorn greeted the new clones, keeping clear of the two dark ones. He hated those bastards, who were barely controlled animals and was fine with someone else dealing with them.
“We have two separate groups out there. One is a single Valendran with a suspected hybrid female, most likely his mate. Five more dropped not far from the other two. One of them was Grai T’Alq,” Jalorn said, to the surprise of the newcomers.
Caden looked around the small group. “Where the hell are the rest of us?”
Jalorn forced a smile. “We’re it.”
Blint squealed in fear and Jalorn slapped him to the ground. “Shut up!”
Jalorn turned to the others while the dark ones swayed back and forth dangerously, waiting for the order to kill. “They don’t know we’re here and we outnumber them! Which gives us an advantage, for those of you too stupid to figure that out!” Jalorn said, looking at Blint who was still whimpering on the ground.
Ca
den, the oldest and earliest of the clones present, folded his arms across his chest and stared at Jalorn. “Where is the hybrid, where did Grai drop and what is your plan?”
Jalorn looked at the oldest, therefore the highest ranking person there and wondered why the hell Shinopai had sent him. Although, Caden didn’t seem interested in taking over command, Jalorn was still suspicious over his presence. It was unlike one of the older clones to bother with a simple planet mission.
When Caden quirked a brow at him, Jalorn snapped out of his thoughts and handed Caden his binoculars and pointed out where the hybrid and Valendran had made camp, before showing him where Grai and the others had dropped.
Caden turned to Jalorn, nodded his head and asked. “What was your original mission here?”
Jalorn looked at Caden suspiciously, knowing the older clone was up to something, but he didn’t know what. At least not yet anyway.
“Dagog sent us here to find a mythical cave that he found vague references to in Kalai’s journal files,” Jalorn admitted, knowing he had to tell the senior commander the truth. There would have been hell to pay if he didn’t.
Caden nodded his head. “That makes sense. He’s been trying to pull as much information as he can from the debris recovered from the mothership. Have you found the cave yet?”
Jalorn shook his head. “We’ve been all over this place and the only thing we’ve seen has been trees and rock.”
Caden nodded and looked around. “Yes, this place is much larger than I expected it to be. There must be a reason why Grai came here though and we need to find out what it is. We need to take the female alive and at least one Valendran to find out why. Dagog will want to know,” Caden said, phrasing it as a suggestion.
Jalorn wasn’t stupid, he knew that Caden wasn’t merely suggesting anything, but he would gladly accept the aid of the more experienced and older commander.
“I agree. One of them may actually know where this cave is. Make sure that those,” Jalorn said as he gestured to the two dark ones. “Things don’t kill the female. I’m sure between the rest of us we can keep one of the others alive.”
