by Lake, Edward
Good girl.
Afterward, we made cups with our hands and drank the pouring rain. When I was done, I made another cup for Samantha and put my hands to her lips. Isabella angled her for me, and I carefully dripped the water into her mouth.
Suddenly, the ground shook mightily, rocking us a bit. Everyone froze and looked around. The ground shook forcefully again, and many of us nearly lost our balance. Those who had sijas quickly held them up and spread out.
I guarded Isabella and Samantha and held my sija up. We stood there and waited as the ground continued to shake. From behind us, just up the muddy slope we had come down, I saw something massive coming at us through the fog.
A moment later, from all sides, more and more massive figures began to appear.
“Aim your weapons!” someone in the group said.
I threw a hand up to stop them. “No. Not yet.”
“Have you gone mad, Juozas! Those things are coming right at us.”
“Just trust me, please.”
Finally, an enormous creature came into view and got closer and closer. We backed away at a steady pace. The colossal beasts broke through the haze and fully revealed themselves. They had big, wide, orange eyes, dark, scaly skin, saggy faces, and giant ears that dipped down to their shoulders.
I estimated the creatures to be at least twenty feet in height, and I wouldn’t dare guess their weight. They stood on four thick limbs with hooves on their feet, and from behind them, I saw long tails, swinging around as they looked down at us with disapproving stares.
All at once, the beasts roared, blowing a foul mist into our faces and causing us to stagger back a few inches. As we recovered, a few soldiers stepped forward and prepared to blast the creatures.
I reached out to them in a hurry. “Wait!”
A horn sounded, and it seemed as if it was coming from the tops of the beasts. I narrowed my eyes as I looked on. On the backs of the creatures, I saw a group of mysterious beings step forward. It was hard to study them from the ground. I stepped toward the nearest beast and took a closer look. The onlookers mounted on their backs were undoubtedly males of their kind.
“Hello there,” I called out.
The group of strange beings began to growl and jump around on the beasts’ backs. They all pulled out what looked like sharp daggers and jumped down to the ground.
I carefully moved backward. “Everyone, stay close.”
We got in a tight huddle with Samantha, Isabella, and anyone who didn’t have a sija in the middle. The rest of us aimed our sijas and waited for the rowdy creatures to make a move.
I was at the front of the huddle, glaring at the frolicking group as they came closer with their daggers. Now I could see them clearly. Like us, they stood on two legs and had two arms, were very muscular and tall, but not as tall as us, and their faces had all the same features. Furthermore, their bodies were coated with thick, dark brown fur, and they had sharp teeth, claws, and small, pointed ears.
For attire, they wore only short coverings that went around their waists. They surrounded us and stopped for a moment.
One of them walked forward and got close to me. The creature had green eyes and a glare that told me he wasn’t pleased to see us here.
I lowered my sija and stepped closer. “Hello. My name is Juozas.” I extended my hand to the creature.
He looked down at my hand, then looked up at me with a wicked smile. “What is this? An act of kindness? Or a ploy of deception?” The creature’s voice was naturally gruff, yet still clear enough to understand.
I put my hand down. “Your language is quite similar to ours. I am pleased.”
“Where have you come from?”
“We come from a planet called Earth.”
The creature laughed, and his comrades were quick to join in. He put his arms out with a big smile. “So, there are other creatures beyond our world?”
I nodded. “Yes. In fact, there are many more.”
Quickly, the creature’s face changed, showing a vein of fear. He stepped even closer to me and sniffed us, shifting his head from left to right. In a hurry, he stepped back and whistled to his comrades. “These creatures are dangerous. Aim your weapons and attack.”
The group began to growl and bark at us. They lifted their spears and draggers and rushed toward us. A soldier next to me lifted his arm to shoot, but I quickly lowered his arm, and he fired a laser that hit the ground, stopping the natives and everyone in our group before they could shoot.
The native creatures backed away and growled softly. I studied them carefully and saw utter concern stamped on their faces.
“Lower your sijas, My Friends.”
“Juozas, enough! These creatures want us dead,” Bill barked.
“Please, just lower your sijas.” I lowered mine, and after a long stare down, everyone followed along—including Bill.
I exhaled as I checked the natives. “We are not here to hurt anyone.”
The one who had spoken to me before stepped forward again. “Then why have you come to our planet?”
“Because we were in danger and needed to find a new home.”
Finally, after glaring at us for a moment, he turned around and pulled out a tiny instrument. He blew on the instrument and it made a sharp whistling noise. The giant beasts they had rode in on lowered to the ground and pushed their heads into the mud.
The creature put the whistle away and headed toward the beast directly across from us. “Follow us to the top, Intruder. You must answer to the King.” He climbed onto the beast’s face and hiked to its back.
I took Isabella’s hand and followed him.
Bill tried to stop me. “Juozas, what the hell are you doing? How can you trust them?”
“We have no choice.”
“Yes we do. We have sijas. We could just blast them and be done with it.”
I stopped before stepping onto the beast’s face and looked back at him. “We did not come here to conquer an innocent species. We came here for help.” I looked away and carefully helped Isabella onto the beast. She slipped a bit as she pulled herself up with one hand, firmly holding Samantha with the other.
Shortly after, we made it to the top with some of the natives and a few from our group. I looked around and realized there were hundreds of beasts in the area. Everyone else got on another beast.
Their backs were a hard shell that had big holes in it. The creatures who rode them kneeled and put their hands in the holes. They held on tight and gave us a look that told us to copy them, or fall off.
I quickly dropped down with Isabella. We reached into the holes and held on. On the other beasts, I saw the rest of our group doing the same. A moment later, someone blew a whistle and the beasts rose from the mud. They roared loudly as they turned around and marched back onto the muddy terrain.
Isabella and I wobbled around and bumped into each other. We even knocked heads a few times. The natives laughed at us as we struggled, but I didn’t mind. In fact, it relaxed me a little to see they were having a good time.
After a lengthy trip, we stopped at an enormous hut. Someone blew a whistle again and the beasts lowered to the ground. One by one we stepped off, and Isabella and I huddled up with the others.
The natives carried on and marched into the hut. “King Azar!” one of them called out. “My King, we have discovered a band of intruders.”
Moments later, another creature came out of the hut and marched up to us. He was much bigger than the others, too, wearing a shiny, black cape, and the same ragged covering as the others.
The furry, muscular brute stopped in front of us and scanned the group with fuming eyes. “Who leads this band?”
Everyone looked at me. A landslide. I stepped up and extended my hand to King Azar. “I will represent my fellow Mamluks. My name is Juozas.”
The King got closer and glanced at my hand. “Mamluks?”
“Yes. We are part human, too. And some of us are full human.”
King Azar tu
rned to his troops. “We are Turks.” He turned back to me. “And this is Turkland.”
I immediately kneeled in the mud with my head bowed. “King Azar, we humbly ask for shelter.”
From all around, I heard the Turks laughing. But not the King. “Return to your feet, Juozas.”
I stood up and waited.
King Azar took his time as he studied me. Finally, he turned around and headed toward the hut he had come out of. “Follow me.”
Chapter 12: Juozas
Inside the hut, I saw a female Turk standing over two young Turks. She was rather sizeable, like our females, but noticeably smaller than the male Turks. She had a fur covered body like the others, but the fur on her head was longer and thicker. She wore a brown robe that appeared to be made out of the same material as the coverings the males wore.
King Azar walked to her, and together, they checked the little ones. “These are my young, Juozas.” He turned around and faced me. “And this is Queen Vera.” He moved away and gave the Queen a better look at me.
In her eyes, I saw great confusion and trepidation. “Who...or what is he?”
“He is a hybrid of Mamluk and human. His name is Juozas.”
I kneeled again, trying to release some tension in the Queen. “My Friends and I have come to Turkland in search of shelter. We were under attack and had nowhere to go.”
Queen Vera stepped forward. “Under attack?”
“Yes. We’ve rebelled against my mother. She is the Ruler of the Mamluk society.”
She stood over me for a moment, staring at me with wavering eyes, studying me closely. She turned back to King Azar and her young. “We Turks are peaceful and kind, Juozas. We live in harmony with the environment, and we look after our fellow Turks.” She lifted one of her young into her arms. “This is my daughter, Hemma.” She rubbed heads with the girl and growled softly. She looked down at her other child. “And this is my son, Theron.”
Queen Vera put Hemma down and looked back at me. “You appear to be kind as well, Juozas. I saw that device on your arm. It is a weapon, yes?”
I nodded.
“Clearly, it is more powerful than our daggers and spears. You could have used it against us, but you did not.”
“Of course not, Queen Vera. My friends and I come in peace. We seek only shelter. Nothing more.”
She gave me a warm stare, then looked back to King Azar. “A noble being—but we can’t help him. If the Ruler of his kind discovers our planet, she will come for him, and bring with her those weapons.”
King Azar nodded in response. “My Queen has spoken, Juozas. With you here, we are not safe. Therefore, you and your band of rebels must leave Turkland at once.”
I respected their decision—and I understood completely. If I were in their position, I wouldn’t want Samantha to be in danger, just as they wanted Theron and Hemma to be out of harm's way. Still, Turkland seemed like a great place for us, and finding another habitable planet would make the situation more complicated.
I bent down lower. “I beg you, Queen Vera and King Azar. Please reconsider. We have endured so much, and lost so many. We need your help.”
King Azar growled. “To your feet, Juozas.”
I stood up.
He marched to me with a defiant look in his eyes. “The Queen has spoken. Leave Turkland at once.”
I looked down and saw young Hemma and Theron staring at me from behind their mother’s legs. They were clearly terrified, and seeing that look on their faces made me sad.
Finally, I turned around. “You have my word, Queen Vera: we will leave at once.”
I left the hut and rejoined the others. More Turks had shown up. They were spread out around the hut, staring at us and whispering. Isabella came to me with a dire look in her eyes. She was completely drenched and shivering from the cold rain. I hugged her close and tried my best to warm her.
“What did they say, Juozas?” someone asked from afar.
Raising my voice, I called out to them, “Queen Vera has ordered us to leave Turkland—and so we shall.”
The Turks laughed at us again.
“Hey! You think this is funny!” Bill shouted to them, marching toward the crowd.
Robert held him back. “Just leave it alone.”
He pulled away from Robert and kept going. “Nah, this is bullshit. We come here for help and this is how they treat us? Over half of the soldiers got wiped out in space, we have no food, no place to sleep—we just got banned from the land, we’re out here getting soaked in the rain, and these furry fools are laughing their asses off.”
I turned with Isabella and went ahead. “Forget about it, Bill. It’s time to leave.”
He ignored me and kept yelling at the Turks. “Come over here you little sons of bitches. I’ll give you something to laugh about.”
The more he yelled, the louder the Turks laughed.
I stepped away from Isabella and turned around. “Enough!”
Bill stared at me with heated eyes. “Come on, Juozas. Let’s just blast these bastards.”
Trembling from the freezing rain, I shook my head. “No. We didn’t come here to fight.” I quickly scanned the others. “Follow me back to the space pods, My Friends. If we found Turkland, we can find another.”
Bill was trembling from the cold, too. He put his head down and breathed out slowly. I could see his breath in the air. “I’m freezing, man. I don’t know if I can walk that far like this.”
I checked the others. They were shaking, too. “My Friends, find a partner and hold onto them as you walk. Use their body heat to stay warm.”
Bill stumbled ahead and bumped into Saule. “Hey, you’re a big girl. Mind if I...”
She laughed and opened her arms. “Of course.”
Bill got closer and leaned his head against her stomach. Saule wrapped her arms around him and squeezed hard. I heard him murmur in her grasp and smiled at the reaction. He looked like a small child being coddled by his mother.
Once everyone found somebody to hold, I went back to Isabella and held on tight.
Together, with the group, we headed out. I glanced at the trees above us, spotting the Turks as they watched us leave. They weren’t laughing as much now, but still looking at us with teasing smiles.
We used our sijas to locate the space pods, and followed the direction the scanners gave us. For miles and miles, we staggered through the mud and fog until finally reaching the area we had landed on.
We spread out in groups of three and went to a space pod. I stepped away from Isabella and activated the scanner on my sija. I began to search the neighboring star systems of Turkland. Knowing the search would take a while, I turned to Isabella and put my free arm around her.
Her teeth were chattering, and her eyes were red. She turned and gently placed Samantha inside the space pod to keep her out of the rain. She ripped off a large piece of cloth from the bottom of her dress and covered Samantha.
With the soldier that joined us, we stepped closer to the space pod to block the wind. Still, from inside, I could hear Samantha crying.
“Isabella, My Friend, come down with me, please.”
We dropped down. I reached out to Samantha with my free hand and covered her. Isabella and the soldier followed along. Feeling how cold her skin was made my heart rumble. My eyes watered, hoping she would survive the cold.
“Just hold on, my dear child. We’ll find a warm place for you.”
Isabella leaned her head against my shoulder. She cried out in pain, and hearing it made me lean my head against hers.
“We’re going to make it, My Love.”
In the distance, I heard something loud coming toward us. A moment later the ground shook a bit. I turned my head and stared into the fog.
Like before, a giant beast emerged from the haze. On its back, I could see a few Turks. “Where is the one called Juozas?”
I stood up. “I am here.”
The Turk growled and waved me on. “Come with us. And bring your mate
, and your young. The Queen wishes to speak with you again.”
Isabella lifted Samantha into her arms, and together, we went to the Turks and mounted the beast. They took us back to the hut, and there we found King Azar waiting for us outside.
The beast lowered itself, and we carefully stepped down from its back and into the mud. Isabella and I stepped forward.
King Azar moved aside. “Please, come inside.”
We moved ahead and King Azar followed us. Once inside, he introduced Isabella to Queen Vera.
I was deeply surprised that she had asked to speak with me again, and even more surprised that she had told me to bring Isabella and Samantha. “Queen Vera, I thought you wanted us gone.”
She gave me a low growl.“That is true. However, the moment you left my hut, I felt a sense of doubt.”
Isabella glanced at me, then looked back at the Queen. “Have you reconsidered?”
She took a moment before responding. “Yes, I have.”
I gave her a bow. “Thank you, Queen Vera. We are tremendously grateful.”
Isabella hugged Samantha close and gave the Queen a heartwarming smile. “We are forever indebted to you.”
She smiled back. “We Turks are very kind. In my heart, I could not banish you.”
I was pleased, but still concerned about the other Turks. They didn’t seem as kind as Queen Vera had suggested. “What about your troops? Forgive me, but they did not share your sentiments.”
She chuckled. “I assure you, their reaction to you and your band was mere fun. They mean no harm, and in their hearts, they are truly compassionate.”
Isabella smiled. “That is most comforting to hear.”
King Azar growled loudly, bringing the mood down a bit. “We must discuss the more serious matter.”
I gave him a nod. “Yes, I agree.”
Queen Vera’s face became somber. “As I stated before, I fear your enemies will find our planet. And if they do, my people will be in grave danger.”
“It is true. My mother will find Turkland. And she will come looking for us. But if we work together, we can come up with a plan to deceive her.”
