Bladen

by Arcadia Shield

  She tried to yank her arms free from the webbing but her strength was failing, and her eyes grew heavy as she watched Bladen battle the spider. It was bleeding freely now, and two of its legs were missing. But it kept attacking, not willing to give up on its prey.

  Grace heard Bladen roar in anger and saw him lunge at the spider, but her eyes wouldn’t stay open, no matter how hard she fought.

  One more failed attempt to break free from the webbing, and Grace’s head fell forward as she blacked out.

  ***

  Bladen jumped over the flailing legs of the spider and sliced deeply into its flesh. The limbs spurted out black, sticky blood that he knew was dangerous to get close to. Fraken beasts were created to be as lethal as possible, and the stinging sensation on his arm suggested poison in the beast’s blood.

  He narrowly avoided the snapping jaw and plunged the blade towards its belly. The blow glanced off the spider's tough skin, and it rushed Bladen again, its jaws open and foul-smelling saliva dripping from its fangs.

  Bladen sidestepped the spider and sliced the blade across its torso.

  One of its injured limbs struck Bladen’s head, and acidic blood splashed across his cheek. A second later, the spider’s fang latched onto his leg.

  Not pausing to remove the blood, Bladen kicked the spider away and carried on slashing and attacking, intent on ending this beast’s life and getting Grace free from the web the spider had trapped her in.

  He risked a glance at Grace and saw she was unconscious, her head resting on her chest and her arms and legs twisted up in the tough looking spider’s webbing.

  Bladen thrust his blade at the spider, again and again, leaping away whenever its fangs got too close. And the beast was slowing, blood pouring freely from deep wounds on its stomach.

  He focused on the spider’s head, aimed his blade, and plunged it straight into its eye. The spider gave a final screech before slumping to the ground.

  Bladen dashed over to Grace, yanked out a clean blade, and cut through the webbing, releasing her arms, then her legs, and finally her head. He caught her as she slumped forward and grimaced as he smelt the acidic burning of her flesh. He needed to wash the sticky remnants of the webbing and the spider’s blood off her or she’d suffer serious burns.

  Bladen held Grace against his chest as he dashed through the darkness, back to the relative safety of the rocks. She had panicked when she’d run from him, and the Fraken had taken advantage of that by having the spider standing guard, waiting to strike.

  He laid Grace on the ground in front of him, pulled out all the supplies they had, and then stripped off Grace’s clothes.

  He briskly washed the acidic blood off his own hands and arms before filling his palms with water and rubbing them over Grace’s hot flesh, which was streaked with angry red lines where the webbing had stuck to her. She felt on fire, her fever worse than he realized.

  Bladen ran his hands over her face, pulling off any strands of the webbing. Angry red lines laced across her cheeks, and he bathed those as well before moving to her arms. He swiped his hands over her chest, down her stomach, and over her legs, filling his palms with water from their containers to ensure none of the acidic poison or webbing was left on her skin.

  He flipped Grace over onto her stomach and repeated the process on her back, making sure she was safe from any more acid burns before selecting a Healing Stick. After tending to the injuries on her back, he turned her over gently. Her skin was less fever flushed, and the damage already fading.

  Bladen began on Grace’s face, stroking across the angry red marks several times. They began to fade, and along with them fading, some of the lines of pain on Grace’s face softened and her labored breathing slowed. He finished on her face and moved down to her neck before sliding the stick over her shoulders and along her arms.

  As hard as he tried, Bladen couldn’t help but admire Grace’s figure. She had a healthy set of curves that would look even better when filled out. His hand ghosted over her chest, and he sucked in a deep breath as he saw Grace’s nipples harden.

  Bladen shook his head and removed his hand. This was wrong. Grace was injured and defenseless, and he shouldn’t take advantage of her in this way.

  He finished using the Healing Stick, gritting his teeth and ignoring the hardness between his legs. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman. The games had dominated his thoughts for too long, and he'd used his feelings of tension and frustration to maximum effect when fighting.

  Once all of Grace’s injuries were treated, Bladen scrubbed down her clothing and then dressed her. Grace’s breathing was deep and regular, and the ball of worry in Bladen’s stomach eased as he became convinced she'd recover from the spider attack.

  He stood and stretched his tense muscles, grunting in pain as his right leg protested. He yanked up the leg of his trousers and frowned.

  The bite from the spider was an unhealthy purple color, and black poison traced up his leg through his veins. Bladen pulled out a Medi-patch and stuck it over the bite. It wouldn’t remove the poison, but it would slow its progress and give him time to get out of the game with Grace. A spider bite was not going to kill him.

  He sat on the ground and lifted Grace’s head onto his lap. He stroked her damp dark hair off her forehead and removed the Medi-patch she’d stuck on her head, seeing the lump where she’d struck him was already smaller.

  Although he knew he should leave her in the game, something stopped him. Grace was damaged and dangerous to be around, and he didn’t know how she’d react to life working with Axen and the others, but he was drawn to her in a way he didn’t understand. She was a mess and didn’t believe what he told her, but he wanted to help her in any way he could. He knew how to heal injuries on the body, but not in the mind. He was still figuring out that out for himself and longed for the day when he wouldn’t have nightmares where he was killing everybody and then bathing in their blood.

  Perhaps they both needed help. He was as messed up as she was, so maybe, sticking together was the right thing to do. As Bladen watched Grace’s chest rise and fall and stroked his hand through her wet hair, he was determined to find out just how much they could help each other heal.

  Chapter 9

  Grace’s eyes blinked open, and she squinted as the harsh sunlight dazzled her.

  “It’s nice to see you awake.”

  She raised her gaze and saw Bladen looking down at her. Her head was resting on his lap, and his hands were on her shoulders. She struggled up on her elbows, but her arms shook and she slumped back down. “The spider?”

  “Is dead,” said Bladen.

  “You killed it?”

  “It was either that or us,” said Bladen.

  “My skin feels sunburned.” Grace ran her hand down her arm, which felt tender and was laced with pale red marks.

  “The spider’s saliva was filled with poison, as was its blood.”

  “And let me guess; the webbing I so stupidly ran into was, as well?”

  “Afraid so,” said Bladen.

  Grace closed her eyes for a few seconds as the memories of the previous night flooded back. “I saw you fighting the spider.”

  “Does that show you I can be trusted?” asked Bladen. “I could have let the spider eat you if I was working with the Fraken.”

  Grace grunted and finally found the energy to move her head off Bladen’s lap and rest against the rock. She recognized the place they were supposed to sleep, the place she tried to stab Bladen. She felt shame at the memory of what she'd done. “I haven’t decided.”

  “I could have left you,” said Bladen.

  Grace grunted again and peered at Bladen. “Are you okay?” His skin had a sheen of sweat on it, and the color suggested he felt queasy, a pale green tint under his skin.

  “Nothing that getting out of this game won’t cure,” said Bladen. “Here, eat this, and then we need to move.”

  Grace pushed away the ration pack Bladen offered her. “I don’
t think I can eat. Nothing goes well with spider poison.”

  “You need to keep up your strength if we’re going to get out of here,” said Bladen. “Have some water, at least.”

  “How does our escape plan work again?” Grace accepted the water and took a tentative sip.

  Bladen ignored her question. “Now, try the food.”

  Grace huffed but took the ration pack and tried a small piece. Her stomach gurgled, but the food and water stayed where it should.

  “Getting out is straightforward. We get to an active comms post. I have a code to put into the comms link, which will transmit to Axen and tell him where we are in the game and that we’re ready to get out.”

  “Let’s do that now,” said Grace. “If you’re right, and the Fraken are on to you, and you’re really trying to help me get out of here, we need to move fast.”

  “We do,” said Bladen. “They will have seen me fighting with the spider last night and freeing you from the webbing. I can claim I was defending myself, but they won’t be convinced. They’ll be looking for an excuse to come in and end this game themselves.”

  “Let’s go, then.” Grace struggled to her knees, the aftereffects of the poison making her limbs shake.

  Bladen nodded and began to stand, but grimaced and remained on the ground. “Finish your food first.”

  “I can eat as we walk,” said Grace. She looked at Bladen again more closely. There was something wrong with him; his forehead was wrinkled, his eyes had a glazed look about them, and there was a faint tremor in his hands. “You were injured in the fight?”

  “A small bite,” said Bladen. “It’s already healing.”

  “Let me see,” said Grace, as she set her food to one side.

  “It’s nothing,” said Bladen.

  “Your skin is green, you’re covered in sweat, and you can barely stand,” said Grace. “That’s something. I have medical training. I might be able to help.”

  “Have you ever treated a Vorten?”

  “No, but I’m aware of alien physiology. I studied it as part of my ongoing medic’s training. And Vortens and humans aren’t dissimilar. You might be hardier than we are and have certain self-healing abilities, but you’re still prone to infection if you don’t treat an injury quickly enough.”

  “Very well,” said Bladen. “The bite is on my right thigh.”

  “Let me look,” said Grace.

  After a second of hesitation, Bladen shrugged his trousers to his knees and removed the Medi-patch stuck over the injury.

  Grace gasped as she saw two deep puncture wounds and long black veins of poison spreading down to his knee and up under his shirt.

  She leaned forward and touched Bladen’s skin. It felt hot and swollen. “And you’ve already treated this with the Medi-patch?”

  “I’ve had one on for the whole night,” said Bladen. “It slowed the spread of the poison but didn’t remove it. I was able to watch the poison spread through my veins.”

  “It wouldn’t remove poison,” said Grace. “Medi-patches treat cuts and bruises and lessen the pain of broken bones. Poison is beyond the restorative abilities of a Medi-patch.”

  “I will apply another,” said Bladen.

  “Did you wash the wound?”

  “A little,” said Bladen.

  Grace bent over Bladen’s thigh, feeling the heat radiating from his infected skin, and pressed on either side of the bite marks. Black poison seeped out, along with some blood. “How good are you at handling pain?”

  Bladen’s eyebrows shot up. “I have a high tolerance. What do you have in mind?”

  “I need to slow the spread of the poison as much as possible. I can tie your leg in several places to restrict the blood flow.” Grace gestured to Bladen’s thigh and knee. “But you have a large dose of poison sitting just beneath the skin. I can remove it, but only by cutting it out. If it’s left in there and the poison sac ruptures, it will kill you.”

  “You want to cut off part of my leg?”

  “Just the infected pieces, nothing that will disable you. You will still be able to walk. It won’t remove the poison completely, but will slow the toxins in your system and give you a chance to fight it with your own abilities.”

  “I can manage as I am,” said Bladen.

  “For about another hour, perhaps,” said Grace. “But if the poison gets to your vital organs, that will be it for you.”

  “I’m surprised you’re bothered about that,” said Bladen. “Only last night you were trying to stick me with my own blade.”

  Grace ducked her head. “I might have... overreacted last night. I was scared and confused and didn’t know if I could trust you. I’m still not certain I can.”

  “After I slew a giant spider for you, you still don’t believe in me?” A tight smile crossed Bladen’s face. “You are a tough woman to please.”

  “I didn’t ask you to get bitten by the spider,” said Grace. “But I’m glad you helped me.”

  “And I’m going to keep helping you until we get out of here,” said Bladen.

  Grace bit her bottom lip, her gaze drifting back to Bladen’s infected leg. It didn’t look good, and no matter what she did to it, it would only slow down the inevitable. If Bladen didn’t get this wound properly treated, he’d be dead. Even a Vorten couldn’t survive such a toxic bite. Grace wasn’t certain why she cared about that.

  Bladen pulled a short blade from his weapons harness. “This will slice through my skin easily enough.”

  Grace took the blade and tested the weight of it in her hand. She pricked it against the tip of a finger and instantly drew blood. “It’s sharp enough for what I need to do.”

  “All of my weapons are sharp enough to slice through flesh,” said Bladen. “They’re not worth having, otherwise.”

  “Do you want to bite down on something?” asked Grace. “It might make the pain more bearable.”

  Bladen shook his head, tipped his head back and rested it against the rock. “Just do it quickly.”

  Grace took a deep calming breath, stilled her hand, and then sliced through Bladen’s flesh, removing a chunk infected with poison.

  Bladen growled and his fists clenched. “Continue.”

  Grace made two more cuts, each time removing small bulbs of poison beneath the skin. She’d never seen anything like it before; most venom and toxins spread rapidly through the system in the blood, but it looked as if the spider had injected sacs of poison under Bladen’s flesh so it would release slowly and maximize the pain he felt before he died.

  Bladen’s leg ran freely with blood, and Grace washed the wound, before tearing off the leg of her trouser, using the knife to slice through the material, and then binding it around the wound. She applied two Medi-patches and then set to work on tying Bladen’s leg at the top of his thigh and below the knee to slow the progress of the poison through his system.

  She kept glancing at Bladen, but his gaze was averted, and his jaw clenched as she dealt with his injury. “The worst is over. The blood loss will slow soon, and when you feel able, try standing on your leg to see how it takes your weight.”

  “I will be fine to walk.” Bladen glanced at his leg. The blood was already seeping through the makeshift bandage.

  “Drink some water.” Grace handed him a bottle.

  “We need to preserve what we have.” Bladen waved away the bottle.

  Grace's gaze narrowed as she stared at Bladen. What was she doing? She must be madder than she realized; she was saving her killer! Her grip on the bloody knife tightened. She had Bladen at a disadvantage. Now would be the ideal time to kill him.

  But as she continued to stare at his face, the lines of pain not detracting from how handsome he was, she realized she didn’t have the desire to hurt him. And, a part of her did believe what he had to say, and she clung to that, knowing it could be her only way of getting out of this game. Sitting next to Grace was a chance for something different. That’s if he didn’t die from the spider’s poison.
>
  Bladen’s warm hand closed over her fist that held the blade, almost as if he could read her thoughts. “Thank you for your help. And keep the blade. You never know when you might need to use it again. I just hope you decide you don’t need to use it on me.”

  Grace swallowed the lump in her throat and gave a small nod. “Don’t let me down. If you’re lying to me...”

  Bladen let out a long exhalation, his eyes already half-closed. “Nobody will be let down if we work together. Now, I need five minutes rest, and then we need to move.”

  ***

  Bladen was fighting again, the monstrous spider lurching at him, ripping huge chunks of flesh from his arms and legs as he fended it off. But he was unable to stop its attack, and the spider kept biting him. Not that he cared, he was trying to protect Grace, who was still trapped in the web. With each successful attack from the spider, Bladen was failing her, and he couldn’t bear that.

  Stinging sweat ran into his eyes, and the spider lunged one more time, its venomous fangs sinking into his throat.

  Bladen jerked awake with a yell, his gaze sliding from side to side as he tried to find the spider. He let out a shaky breath and wiped his hands down his sweat soaked face. It was just a nightmare, brought on by the poison that still flowed through his system.

  As he looked around, he realized his weapons harness was gone, and his leg felt almost numb. And there was no sign of Grace. Had she abandoned him, taking his weapons with her and leaving him defenseless?

  He shook his head, his thoughts slowly clearing, despite the fever that was burning through him.

  “Sounded like a nasty dream.” Grace's quiet voice sounded from over his head, and Bladen looked up to see her perched on top of the rocks.

  “You shouldn’t be up there,” said Bladen. “You’ll be easy to spot.”

  “I only climbed up here a few moments ago to get out of the way of your flailing arms and legs,” said Grace. “I didn’t want to risk being stabbed by you when you were fighting whatever monster was in your dream.”

  Bladen grunted as he spotted his weapons harness next to Grace. “I would never have struck you.”