by Sam Ryder
Her leather loin-bikini hugged the spare inches that it covered.
Her hair was red, a stark contrast to her pale white skin and emerald green eyes.
“You’re staring,” Beat said, and I forced myself to look away. The last thing I wanted was for the human newb to think I was some creeper. Which I wasn’t.
I wasn’t.
“Pull up a rock,” Beat said. “The leafrat is still hot.”
“Why is this happening?” the human woman said, her accent a lilting twang reminiscent of a southern upbringing. “I was…happy…on Earth. And this body, it feels like a stranger’s.”
My not looking was feeling less normal than my staring. I tried a more…neutral…approach, finding her face as she sat by the fire, her gaze darting nervously to first Floot, then Guz.
Inspiration struck. “If you were truly happy on Earth, I will ask Eve to take you back once you recover,” I said. What was I saying? We needed every Warrior we could get and I was going to start turning them away? Hell, I didn’t even know if the effects of the ooze could be reversed. Would she even want me to if I could? Beat was looking at me like I’d grown an extra head. What the fuck? she mouthed. I shrugged. Why not give new recruits more of a choice? Before this latest batch we sent them to be killed in the Circle anyway. And if we only took those who wanted to be here, we’d have a stronger core, right? Less attrition to the tribes.
“I want to go home,” she said, and then immediately burst into tears.
Shit. I was not helping. I sat there awkwardly, uncertain how to respond. The others looked equally uncomfortable, but none more so than Beat, who hissed, “Do something!” and then got the hell out of there. Thanks for the support! I wanted to shout after her.
Guz turned his back on the human newb, almost pretending she didn’t exist. I was quickly learning that his kind—Askandians—didn’t have a lot of emotional intelligence. Floot looked up from her leafrat, which she’d started nibbling, and began to set it down and rise, but I stopped her with a hand. “Leave us,” I said. “Please.”
She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then nodded and left. Guz got the hint and followed shortly after. I stood and made my way around the firepit. The human woman had tucked her head into her hands. She wasn’t making any sound, but her shoulders shook as she wept. Nice pick, Eve, I thought. This woman doesn’t belong here. Beat had been a natural Warrior from the beginning, but this woman seemed tender-hearted and gentle. At least she did from where I was standing, hovering over her like a weirdo, trying to figure out what to say or do.
I remembered the promise I’d made myself after I was named Protector. Be honest. That was all I had. The truth. And I knew what to do.
“I’m going to hug you,” I said. “Please don’t scream.” She froze, peeking out from between her fingers like a scared mouse. Then, barely perceptible, she nodded.
I crouched down beside her and wrapped my arms around her. At first she was as stiff as a wooden plank, but then she seemed to fold into my arms, her body once more wracked by sobs. “Shhh,” I said. “It’s going to be okay.”
It wasn’t a lie, exactly, but it was also far from the truth. But it was the form of the truth she absolutely needed to hear in that moment. I held her for a long time, a complete stranger and yet one of mine. My Warrior. I remembered how protective Kloop had been of me when I first arrived and I think I finally understood why.
Millania arrived, placing a hand on my shoulder. I arose, allowing her to take my place. She held the newcomer, whose name I didn’t even know, while I ascended the hill once more to check on Eve.
FOUR
WANNA FUCK?
To my utter surprise, Eve was awake when I arrived back in the gully. All three of the goddesses were absent, perhaps hiding somewhere and replenishing our supply of ooze.
Our Finder was still in the bath, her arms draped along the sides, her mouth open in satisfaction as she stared up at the sky.
“Eve?” I said. “You all right?”
“Never better,” she said. “It’s been a while since I almost died. Puts things in perspective.”
She’d been here a long time—and yet I’d never thought to ask how many near death experiences she’d had. A dozen? A hundred? A thousand?
“What happened?”
“Primo happened.”
“Lions and giants,” I muttered. Primo was the planet where the massive blue lions and real live giants came from. I guessed they mostly lived in harmony there, despite their differences. “They know about us? How?”
“I was sloppy, I guess,” she said. “They might not know about Tor, exactly, but they know about me. They were ready. I was lucky to escape with my life. Anyway, not sure if I’ll be able to Find there again. It’s a big loss.”
I closed my eyes. Right when we were taking steps in what felt like the right direction, we lost the source of some of our best Warriors. I had an idea, but before I could voice it, Eve cut me off. “Wanna fuck?” she asked, a sly smile playing across her lips.
Holy balls. From the moment I’d met the seductive, badass woman I’d wanted her. I couldn’t help it—she was alluring as hell and a master of the art of the tease. But that’s all she’d ever been—a tease, using her sex appeal to pull my strings like a master marionette. And I’d fallen for it each and every time.
But she’d never been so direct, and this time I knew she was no longer teasing.
As if to demonstrate, she rose from the ooze, dripping slime down her form-fitting black dress, which had been repaired along with the gouge in her stomach. She pushed off the edge of the tub and hopped over the side, spraying liquid. Her dress clung to her body like a second skin, draped around her hips just enough to cover her. Her long slender neck descended into the swell of her breasts, her cleavage moist and shimmering with ooze.
She stepped toward me with the grace of a dancer, stopping so close I could feel the energy of her body even without us touching. She craned her head to look up at me. “Level 3 suits you,” she said.
“Why now?” I asked. I mentally berated myself for questioning anything in this moment, but I was like that curious little monkey from children’s literature. I liked to know things. And cracking the code of this enigmatic woman was something I’d wanted to do for a while now.
“Like I said: perspective. I almost died. I probably should’ve died. I didn’t. So why should I refuse myself something I want? Plus, I like guys that are big.” She reached down and touched me through my loincloth.
Gods, how I wanted her too. Even having been with the Three all at once, there was something about Eve that stole my breath. And yet I had four newbs down in camp, confused and leaderless every second I was here being selfish. Doing what I wanted to do. Maybe one day, one time, would be right for this, but it wasn’t this day, this time. This wasn’t about Eve or me.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” I said. “Another time?”
Her eyes narrowed for a split second before returning to that playful sparkle. “Playing hard to get now?” she purred, stroking my erection. Oh gods… She released me, rising on her tiptoes so her lips could brush against my neck. She kissed me, nipping at my skin, and my wall of resistance almost shattered. Thankfully, she pulled away and said, “I’m going to talk to the Three. I expect you to whip the newbs into shape. No pressure. If your plan fails, we’ll all be dead.”
With that, she walked away, a trail of ooze dripping behind her.
~~~
Back in camp, everyone was asleep. I peeked into each hut just to be sure. Lace was snuggled up against Jak, both of them as naked as newborns. I turned away quickly. Right beside the fire, Millania was spooning the new redhead, their soft exhalations blending together. Guz and Floot each had their own huts and seemed peaceful enough.
Beat also had her own hut at the moment, though we usually slept near each other.
I wasn’t tired in the least. Part of the problem was Little Sam’s dissatisfaction with the choic
e I’d made in turning down Eve’s proposition. He was still hard as a rock. Surely I could’ve given in to temptation, especially since all the newbs were sleeping anyway. More than ever before, I had an excuse to burn off steam. Right?
Maybe. But I also knew this was a critical time for us. New Protector. New blood. The attack on Eve. We needed to get things right, and it was up to me to choose the direction.
First things first. I wanted to take a better look at the boomerang I’d obtained while in Annakor. I’d hidden it in the corner of the hut Beat and I usually slept in.
It was gone. The fuck? I wondered if one of the other Warriors had “borrowed” it without asking, but immediately discarded the thought. It didn’t make sense. But something else did, because of things I’d heard from Vrill, about how the Three confiscated the majority of the artifacts brought back by Seekers over the years, hording them.
Fuming, I went back outside.
I sat down and found a sharp rock. Then I began to draw a To-Do list in the dirt, as much to take my mind off Eve as to plan for the future.
1. Survive
I chuckled at my own bad joke, wishing Beat were here to participate. She would’ve laughed too, and added her own thoughts to the list, something like “Kill monsters and shit”.
I crossed it out and started over, trying to be serious. I thought about our priorities. Yes, survival was the number one priority, or at least number two after protecting the Three. But how could we accomplish that, practically speaking? What were the most critical problems we currently faced?
1. Repair the ward shields
That felt right, but I didn’t even know if it was possible. If Eve hadn’t been so…distracting, I might have asked her if she knew. If not, I’d have to try one of the goddesses. Minertha didn’t mind talking to me, and even Persepheus had been nicer ever since I’d been named Protector. If there was a way to repair or at least fortify the wards, it could buy us much needed time.
2. Rescue Vrill
Damn. My own selfish mind was reasserting itself. I crossed it out. In fact, I crossed out the number one next to the first item on my list. I changed it to number two. Because there was something more important than the wards right now:
1. Train the newbs
2. Repair the ward shields
I was on a roll now.
3. Increase the number of Warriors
4. Request artifacts from the Three (including MY boomerang!)
I didn’t know if the Three were open to sharing with us, but it couldn’t hurt to ask. Vrill had told me about the many artifacts that Level 4 Seekers had brought back over the years, few of which had been shared with the Warriors. The weapons we currently had were not magical artifacts, just basic weapons. The exception being Lace’s bow and her explosive arrows. When she was done with Jak, I’d talk to her about how and why the Three had allowed her to have such a powerful weapon while hoarding all the others. Previously she’d said she didn’t know, but I wondered if she’d been completely honest.
Which reminded me of something else: the tribes.
Vrill was a rare ex-Warrior loner, surviving on her own in the Tor wastelands. According to her, however, there were numerous other tribes of ex-Warriors, those recruits who had decided they no longer wanted to work for the Three and had created their own mini-armies. I’d never seen any of them, but had heard them fighting monsters in the Black on multiple occasions. I added a number five to my list:
5. Connect with the tribes
I wasn’t sure how that would go. Given their rocky history with the Three, they’d likely tell me to go for a long hike during the Black, but hey, what could it hurt? There was something to be said for strength in numbers.
6. Find Vrill
I put it on my list because I had to. For myself. I needed it. Beat and I had failed Vrill when she’d done nothing but support us, even when she didn’t have to.
Still, the five items before number six felt like they would take years to accomplish, which meant six was a pipedream.
“I’m sorry, Vrill,” I said.
FIVE
NEWB WHISPERER
“Want me to train them?” Lace asked, lifting one edge of her lip to reveal a single fang.
“Yeah, because you’re so good at it,” Beat said, making no attempt to hide her sarcasm.
We were watching the newbs as they inspected our small cache of weapons. Jak was manhandling a large two-handed, double-edged sword, whipping it around and hacking at invisible foes. Guz was licking the edge of a small throwing knife, his pink tongue flicking between his tufts of white fur. Floot was carrying a spiked club, testing its weight. The three, to my delight, seemed to be warming up to their new life here.
Of course, that might all change after they faced their first Black.
“I trained you and our fearless Protector, didn’t I?” Lace growled. “And you’re still alive.”
“Not because of you. Because we have bachelor’s degrees in Badassery,” Beat fired back.
Their bickering faded into the background as I watched Millania with the redhead. I’d learned her name was Belle. Yep, that’s right. She was a real Southern Belle. Har har. The curvaceous woman accepted a weapon offered by Millania—a short sword that gleamed in the silver light. Belle looked uncomfortable with the weapon, almost dropping it as she held the sword like it might be a snake. I’d consider it a win if she didn’t impale her own foot before the day was done.
“She’s like the Newb Whisperer,” Beat said. Having finished her argument with Lace—the cat had stalked off to go talk to Jak—Beat was now watching Millania and Belle. Millania was speaking in a soft voice to the human woman, showing her various grips on the weapon and how to slash and thrust.
“I should be helping,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, because you’re our mighty Protector,” Beat said, rolling her eyes. “Look, Sam, you’re not supposed to do everything. If this is going to work, you’ve got to trust us to do some things too.”
“Like have Lace train the newbs?” I joked.
“She was training Jak all day from the sounds of it,” she said.
It was true. Each time the pair had awoken, the sounds of passion had arisen from their hut. Seriously, how much rejuvenation did one guy need? A lot, apparently.
“I just…what do I say to them? Hey everyone, guess what? Your old lives are over. Deal with it. From now on you fight monsters every night until one of them eats out your eyeballs or rips off your arms. Good talk.”
“Yes. Say that. Exactly that. Dumbass.” And this was why I liked Beat so much. She didn’t give a crap who I was or what Level I was at. She’d give it to me straight. “You’re not Kloop, so you don’t have to be inspirational. And you’re not Lace, so you don’t have to be cold and cruel. You’re Protector Ryder and you’ve faced one of the Morgoss, looked the demon bastard in the eyes—all six of them—and lived to tell about it.”
Though all of that was technically true, she made it sound more impressive than it really was. In truth, I’d gotten lucky in a lot of ways. I’d lost one of my team during the expedition, and without Beat I’d never have escaped at all. Still…I was the Protector now—there wasn’t room for self-doubt, not when these Warriors’ lives were at stake.
I clapped my large hands together loudly. They were dirty and a bit of dust flew up, almost making me sneeze. To my surprise, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at me. “Uh, hey,” I said. Bravo champ! Greater words have never been spoken! I swallowed and remembered what Beat had said, which basically boiled down to be yourself. “Four of you are new to this. I get it. I’ve been there. Not long ago. Only a few weeks. But I’ve learned in a short time that our fearless Finder, Eve, doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to who to choose. She selects those who have the most Warrior potential. That is you—all of you.”
“I’ve never even been in a fight,” Belle said. She looked ready to cry again. OK, maybe not her. Eve really screwed the pooch on that one.
>
Luckily, I had a snappy comeback for her concern. “Then how do you know whether you can fight or not?” I asked.
She didn’t have an answer to that, but it quieted her for the moment. “I was like Belle,” I said. Well, not exactly like Belle. She was a thousand degrees of hotness while I’d been sub-thermal. “Before I was brought here, I’d never been in a fight, unless you counted the video games I played. When I arrived, I was scared too.”
“Who’s scared?” Jak said.
Belle slowly raised her hand.
“Regardless,” I said, “we are going to help you. That’s what Warriors do. We support each other. A wise Protector who came before me said that.”
“What happened to the old Protector?” Belle asked.
Why couldn’t the woman just keep her mouth shut in the middle of my inspirational speech? I sighed. I couldn’t really blame her. I didn’t want to sugarcoat their new life—not when all that sugar would be blasted off the second they set foot in the Black. “He was killed by monsters.”
Belle whimpered and Millania whispered something to her.
“But that’s not what’s going to happen to you—not unless they get through me first.” I meant every word. I don’t even know why. I’d just met these four, and already I was willing to give my life for them? It was true. Something about being a leader and having a flock to protect…it changed a person.
Right on cue, Beat stepped forward. “And me.”
Millania echoed the sentiment, but more quietly. “And me.”
My eyes found Lace, who was standing close to Jak. She released an exasperated sigh. “Fine, fine, whatever, they’ve got to get through me too. Happy?”
I laughed. Yes, I was happy. Inspirational Warrior-bonding speech—check. Next up: the plan. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
~~~
The choice of which newb to bring into the first Black was an easy one. Jak was ready. Almost eager, his weapon of choice—the massive double-edged sword—never leaving his hand once he got a grip on it. Each newb got to take a shot at the slithers, but unlike Lace had been during my own encounter with the deadly serpents, we were ready to step in and assist if needed. Jak had needed no assistance, hacking his foe into sashimi before the snake could release a single hiss.
