Caveman Alien’s Sword
Page 21
“No. I’m a student. Aerospace engineering. I can’t imagine there’s anything in that ship built from aluminum and carbon fiber. I mean, is it even fly-by-wire? Does it have wings? But yeah, I’ll go. Do I get a bodyguard, too? Or maybe two? Twins, maybe? Just a suggestion.”
I let the girls continue the conversation. I need to hold my new husband.
I walk over to the group of cavemen sitting around and chatting, sharpening their swords.
Juri’ex gets up, puts his new sword back in its scabbard and takes me into his arms. “I wondered when I’d see you again.”
“I know,” I reply. “Three hundred heartbeats without you? An eternity! I thought you were lost to me.”
“Three hundred eternities,” he agrees. “But now the waiting is over.”
I squeeze him as hard as I can, knowing he can take that and more. “It’s over.”
“Phoebe?” Aurora calls softly. “You’re an astronomer. What does that look like to you?”
She points straight up at the sky.
Phoebe shields her eyes from the sun. “That looks like a meteor. A big one! A real fireball!”
“There’s another one,” Sophia says and points. “And there!”
Suddenly there are at least a hundred streaks in the sky, bluish and so bright they’re visible even in the daylight.
“Meteor shower?” I ask carefully.
“There’s no radiant,” Phoebe says tightly. “These come from all directions. I’ve never heard of meteors doing that.”
Juri’ex takes my hand. “Remarkable.”
The streaks fade, but then there are new streaks, thicker and longer, like thin contrails against the orange sky.
“Those are closer,” Phoebe says. “Not meteors. The same things, creating condensation lower down where the atmosphere is thicker.”
Everyone is quiet, and I’m pretty sure we all have the same sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs.
There are metallic noises as all the cavemen in the village check that they’re wearing their swords.
“How many were there?” Delyah asks urgently. “Phoebe, an estimate?”
Phoebe strokes a hair out of her face. “Five hundred to a thousand.”
“Yeah,” Aurora confirms. “Could be a thousand. Just.”
“Is that maybe the bulk of the dragons arriving?” Sophia asks lightly, but her voice trembles. “Hundreds of them?”
The tense silence is answer good enough.
I squeeze Juri’ex’s large, callused hand with both of mine. “I’m sorry, my love. It looks like our honeymoon might be a short one.”
© Calista Skye 2019
To be continued in part 10, which is Mia’s story. Sign up to my newsletter to be informed when the next part of this series is available!
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Fire Planet Warrior's Captive: Part One of the Fire Planet Warriors series