by C. R Corbin
"I know you're angry about dad's death, about mom's death even. I know that you blame me on some level and that you-"
"I don't blame you Heather..." Sophie sobs.
Heather's eyes widened in reaction to what her sister had told her. Her hands quiver and for a moment she could hardly believe it.
Her sister wasn't....mad?
"I should have known, I should have understood that what you guys were saying was right. It was just an accident that killed dad, it wasn't anyone's fault....But I'm just so lost now. I built my life around what? Serving the same people that...killed my parents." Sophia stated.
The anguish in her voice was apparent.
It was something that Heather had always taken issue with when speaking with her sister, the fact that she was so determined to just play by the book, to abandon almost all that she had been taught. It angered Heather...but she could finally see why Sophie had chosen that path. Her mother had died as a result of rebelling so what was the virtue in doing so? What did it earn besides a quick death? It was the main reason why Heather had rejected that entire philosophy to rebel and live separately from the rest of the world, to defy what seemed insurmountable, the will of a god and all of his minions. There was something that told her that it had all been wrong, she had been wrong to turn her back on the ideal of rebellion despite all of the compelling reasons to do so. The stability that she had fought so hard for...it was gone now. And she had nothing to base herself on now, nothing to pursue.
Heather pulls her in for a hug, running her hands along Sophie's back as her sister continues to sob. The two women stayed there for a while until Sophia had enough time to calm down, Heather decided to speak once again. It was time for her to be there for the woman that had taken care of her for most of her adolescence and into adulthood.
"I'm going to be here for you. We're going to change and we're going to avenge them. Okay?" asked Heather as she rubbed the back of her sister's head.
Sophie nodded and the two patted one another on the back. Heather took in the moment, the moment that she understood that not all had been lost. She still had this part of her family and she would be damned before she gave it up, she would do anything to hold onto this and she was.
"I love you Heather." Sophia.
"And I love you Sophie." Heather replied.
Nakiel watches from his perch on the rocks, they couldn't see him but he had been there for quite a while. Spying didn't take that much time and he was back to witness the reconciliation, something that brought him a great deal of joy. The pride that he felt for his mate swelled within his heart and as he stepped down to remind them of the journey, the two sisters looked at him with a great deal of renewed vigor.
They would try once again.
The trio head into the mountains once again. This time the melancholic atmosphere that existed the day before had completely vanished. Nakiel spoke openly with Heather and Heather even had a few conversations with her sister that didn't descend into arguments as they usually did. The two were still stilted in their conversation but the tension was absent now, it didn't linger in the air after every word spoken as it had before.
And all seemed to be right again. "Wow..." Heather states as she looks over the little clearing.
The falls here were grand, she wondered why no machines had nested here or even created a base, it quickly became evident that the terrain was much too rough to traverse, the machines held little interest in this region due to its rugged nature. Humans weren't really made to survive here either considering there was very little in the way of arable land or resources. But as always they found a way to make do with what they had.
Heather stretched her hand out to feel the waters, it was clear that they were approaching one of the hideouts from all of the markers on the walls. To the average person they may have looked like complete and utter nonsense but from what her mother had taught her she could understand it and decipher most of it. It spoke of a base that was near, they just had to find it. The falls themselves stretched out of these holes in the mountain and led to a nearby clearing where a small lake was nested. The mountain enclosed the entire area, so much so that the lake almost liked as if it had been created by a crater from some sort of asteroid. The rocks here were smooth to the touch and the air was incredibly clean, much cleaner than the dust-filled streets of her hometown. This was actually a place that she could picture herself enjoying and living in, not simply subsisting as she usually did.
"I can't believe it." Sophia mutters as the rays peer through the water to rest on her face. She lifts a hand up to flick her fingers along the falls and she lets a little smile appear on her lips.
For Nakiel this was nothing particularly special but he would appreciate the joy that his mate felt. His home world had plenty of falls so he could only imagine how she would react once they escaped from this world.
But then he hears it and draws his bow, just In time to aim at someone attempting to sneak up on him from the side.
A human, not a bandit from the looks of him however, a rebel fighter. The boy looked scared out of his mind when he saw that this giant blue warrior had drawn his bow back and was ready to shoot him in the head. Nakiel wanted to chuckle at the boy's expense but he thought that it would be inappropriate considering the scenario that they were in. He could smell other humans here, they were all around and surrounding the small party that had come here. One man appeared out of the shadows of the caverns and glanced at the trio. He had short brown hair and was horribly scarred on one side of his face. "I see that you have found us, now the question is....why and how?" "Those are two questions..." Heather quipped.
"Heather, tell him." Sophia said as she rolled her eyes, it was clear that there was a small amount of amusement in her eyes however.
Heather signals towards her pack, the commander nods and she pulls out the small journal that had belonged to her mother before handing it to a nearby soldier who carries it over to the commander. The commander gazes at the script in front of him and his eyes widen before they begin to settle and a small smile graces his face.
"Delilah...changing my life even now. Men stand down! These are our allies....and my nieces."
That threw the two girls for a whirlwind.
"Nieces?" Sophia asks in a small voice.
"Come, I will explain." The man states before shooting a look at Nakiel.
"And umm....you are?"
"Nakiel of Verota, one of the last living members of the royal family and a trained warrior assigned to protect her, my mate." Nakiel states while pointing at Heather whose face turns a shade of red that would have put tomatoes to shame.
The commander pretended he understood what he was just told and nodded before signalling to the trio to follow him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The place was grander than he was expecting, but then again from the intel that he had received Nakiel was expecting a ragtag group of soldiers living in caverns with little to no equipment or tech.
The rebels existed in more of a capacity than he had once thought...they just weren't winning this war necessarily.
It was explained to him by the commander as they were led in that the rebels had been at war with the sun god for quite some time and that they were losing. It seemed as if they were betting it all on one thing, the secret Oracle that Heather had spoken about. Their parties had been hard at work to find it but so had the machines, unsurprisingly. The humans had not had a decisive victory against the machines for quite some time, it was always either pyrrhic or a defeat. They needed something, they needed hope, and badly.
"So that is why we are investing all of our efforts into finding the Oracle. I am glad that you chose my contact, my dear nieces, this is the largest and most well-equipped base that we have." The commander who had been revealed as Damien, stated. Uncle Damien had been a distant memory for both of the girls, Heather, in particular, had never really heard of him considering the fact that she was
the younger of the two. He was their mother's brother and was the leader of a nearby faction of rebels. Heather supposes that now she understood where her mother's rebellion came from, her side of the family. It was a heritage that she was happy to continue.
They are led through the base to stare at the weaponry and the technology the rebels had on their side. It seemed that the inactivity of the rebels was both due to their lack of success in battle as well as their own efforts to find this "oracle". It would make sense that they would have ceased battling in favour of this new goal. If they found it then that meant that they could crash the satellite and likely cause the downfall of the empire here. It was just too good a chance to ignore and so they pursued it aggressively.
`"That is why with your help Verotan, I am confident that we shall find it." Said Damien.
Nakiel didn't quite understand, "Why would you say that?"
"Because you're just the man for the job." Damien responded as they ended their little walk in the central command room.
Damien slides his hand across the counter and reveals the hologram map of the surrounding area and, as time passes and more information is processed, the entire planet itself. The globe was revealed and he pressed his finger into one point of it. It wasn't that far from here in fact, it was rather close but the only way to reach it would be to trek through one of the most heavily guarded sections of desert there was, and after, entering an expansive cavern system that would eventually lead to it.
"As soon as you find it you must bring it back here." Damien stated.
"I'm assuming you've sent your men already." Stated Nakiel and Damien nodded.
"I have."
"And the result?"
Damien sighs and brings up another hologram that detailed the reports of what had happened to his men. They all seemed to have either been killed by the machines or something worse in those depths. Nakiel was far and away the best warrior that the rebellion had ever seen and Damien fully intended to exploit that. If Nakiel was able to eliminate an entire squadron of manhunters as he had said and as the girls had supported...there was a fair chance that he would be able to do this.
"Wait so....he's going alone. This is ridiculous." States Heather as she shakes her head in opposition to his plan.
Nakiel looks at her and shakes his head, "It's too dangerous, you can't come along, no one can." "But....if you go alone then..." Heather states, her hands shaking in fear of what may happen to her beloved. He maintains a strong façade but is unable to hide his sympathy for her. Of course, he would rather remain here with her and keep her safe but this was a quest that he had to do on his own. It made no sense for him to take her along. She barely had any combat experience and would surely get herself into danger should he let her come. This was the only way, the only way that they would get the happy ending that he was hoping for and he was going to try his best to get that ending for her.
He shuts his eyes and nods in agreement with Damien whose eyes twinkle with a hope that he hasn't felt for quite some time. The rebellion was desperate and it needed a hero, hell they had even tried sending a machine but that practice fell through quickly when the thing malfunctioned and made the wrong call in those tunnels, resulting in it being in the stomach of a rather large sandworm, oracle not included. They were betting it all on this one man and hoping that he could get it done, but it would be some time before the operation would be ready.
"In the meantime I recommend that you rest while I prepare my troops to give you the distraction that you'll need to get through that area unscathed. I will let you know when the mission shall begin ahead of time but for now...rest, you three deserve it." Damien stated. Heather turns with a sick feeling brewing in her stomach, never before has she felt this way but the prospect of Nakiel undertaking such a dangerous mission wasn't palpable at all to her. She would rather die than to see him suffer. It had only been a couple of days since she had met him but this...this feeling was overtaking her that she was entirely unfamiliar with. It was even greater than love, as if this invisible force was binding the two of them together. And she didn't know what to do, she felt so helpless regarding this quest that he was to undertake. "Come." Nakiel says as a soldier leads them away to their quarters while Heather follows rather despondently. They ended up sharing a room, yet Heather avoided speaking to him for the time being, she didn't want to confront the necessity of this mission yet, she just wanted to enjoy her time with him.
It was at the bath that night in their room that they spoke, a rather large room that was built into the rocks and used the water from the falls. It was as close to luxury as she had ever been considering that her old home had a small shower instead of this. But as she walked in and looked at him, she knew that the truth wouldn't hide for long and she took a deep breath.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It was as if time had frozen and he got a chance to really enjoy things for once. These moments were rare in life and he wasn't about to let this one pass. She was just entering his life for crying out loud.
And she was beautiful, no doubt about it.
Her body sways wonderfully as she approaches him, her hands slide along her side before swinging upwards to caress his cheeks. He holds her and they enter the baths, he hugs her back and holds her there while his hands slide up and down her body. His fingers creep along her sides and she whimpers as she feels his touch, it was almost like fire to her.
The passion between the two was unmistakable.
"Are you sure that this is what you want to do?" she asks him, after a long period of silence.
They were situated in the baths now, the waters rushing along their flesh as they hold one another in place. She turns around to look at him and presses a kiss against his lips, he groans rather tenderly as his hands slid along her back and she shivers. He pulls away only for a moment to respond to her question.
He knew that this would be a point of contention, he just didn't know that it would happen this early.
In the short time that they had been together Nakiel understood that his mate wasn't someone that would back down easily, she wasn't someone to back away from a challenge which this was to her in some sense. He could feel the love that radiated from her concern but it...it irritated him nonetheless. She couldn't see that this needed to be done, that he needed to see this through in order to free her and keep his end of the deal. She just couldn't take away parts of the deal when it was necessary.
But this mission...it was certainly the most dangerous of any that he had encountered before.
He was unsure if he should have accepted it so readily considering all the risks and concerns that were around it. The fact that the humans had tried many times before and had failed illustrated just how treacherous it was. He wondered if the machines knew about the importance of that place but that was something he dismissed. If they knew then they would have sent somebody in there already. The humans that were sent could be interpreted as having been sent as a result of a mission to spy on or sabotage the power plant that was near the oracle's location.
It certainly wasn't unusual.
But the worry laid in the darkness of the cave itself, in the biases that lingered there. He was afraid of nothing, he never had been, but now that he had this wondrous woman in his life, something began to linger.
He was afraid of leaving her alone, of abandoning her to this cold, cold universe to fend for herself. That was something that he would not allow.
But it was something that he would have to confront if he hoped to confront...whatever this was, whatever was staring back at him.
"I don't want you to leave...but I know I have to accept it." She admitted whilst rushing her face against his chest, the unmistakable feeling of her tears befalls his chest and he holds her in place, his fingers rushing along her back as he does so.
"I understand Heather...but I must go."
"Then take me with you." She offers.
He shakes his head, "It's too danger
ous. I can't keep you safe and retrieve this device at the same time, you know that and I know that." he states and she shakes her head even more violently.
it was clear to him that she was growing more and more discontent with the situation. Perhaps not with him but with the circumstances themselves.
And he didn't know what to say to her, he didn't know what to say to that.
"I demand it, or else...or else I won't be your mate!" she nearly shouts.
And now she was just acting childish.
He grabs her and pins her chest against the rim of the tub before smacking her buttocks once with his hand. The flesh quickly flushes a shade of bright pink and her eyes shut before she turns back to him and repeats it.
"I mean it!"
And that earned her another smack.
"Are you really going to throw a tantrum like this? Do you think I like leaving you? I don't! I want to stay but there is no way that I can and you have to accept that. I will be gone a few days at most!"
"You promised that you would take me there...to that world of yours....what happens if you don't come back?"
"I promise that it will not happen."
"But I-"
Nakiel was tired of these games, he wanted her now, he wanted to both punish her and pleasure her at the same time, the sight of her nude form was driving him mad already.
He smacks her again but this time he whips his hands across her cheeks at just the right angle so that his fingertips would rub her womanhood. She blushes and shakes her head as she feels the overwhelming heat consume her. She was shivering now, her entire body quivering as her walls clenched up instinctively before he lowered himself so that he could stick his tongue inside of her. And she was in heaven once again.
She felt his hands continue to grip her buttocks and smack them over and over again. The heat that was falling from her and into the tub was increasing, she was practically soaking now and he could taste it, he could feel it and he wanted to take up every bit of her, he wanted to feel every bit of it.
