by Megg Jensen
"I thought you were dead," they both said at the same time.
Silence permeated the hall.
"I let the dragzhi keep your body. They said you were dead, but that your dragzhi side was unstable. They said they would properly dispose of your body..." Torsten trailed off.
"The admiral and a doctor on this ship told me Phoenix exploded, and all of my friends died. It was all to isolate me from everyone I loved. The truth is they created human-dragzhi hybrids. Unfortunately, none of them has ever been able to function normally. They wanted me to teach them to control their powers. I suppose they thought I'd be more willing if I had nothing left to live for." Rell glanced at Torsten's eyes. She'd missed their warmth more than she realized. "Your father found me and told me the truth."
Rell placed her hand on Torsten's cheek, aware what that meant to both of them. When she'd first met Torsten, she was incapable of physical contact with another person. She wanted him to know she'd changed. "He was as much a captive here as I was. Don't blame him for never contacting you."
"I don't want to believe you." Leila stalked over, looming above them, her eyes flashing with anger. Then she sat on the floor. "But I can't deny what I've seen with my own eyes. That was my father in there." Tears welled up and streamed down Leila's cheeks.
Torsten reached out, taking Leila's hands in his. "I know it's confusing. We'll work on this together, but you have to swear to me you'll never try to hurt Rell again. The two of you don't have to be friends. You don't have to like each other. I just need you to promise the violence stops now."
Leila took a deep, shuddering breath. "I promise." She looked Rell in the eyes. "I'm sorry for everything I've done to you."
"And I'm sorry for everything I've done to you." Rell meant it.
"Thank you," Torsten said to both of them with a sad smile.
"What about Malia and Rutger?" Leila asked. "They're out there looking for Rell in that crazy battle."
"Battle?" Rell asked, raising her eyebrows.
"We came here in a tark ship," Torsten said.
"The tark? They're here?" Rell's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't so long ago they'd tried to kill her.
"They came to rescue you," Leila said.
Rell couldn't help but notice the annoyance in her tone.
"Me?"
"It's a long story," Torsten said. "I'll tell you soon enough. Anyway, Malia and Rutger are out there looking for you. We were supposed to meet back in the jungle, hopefully with you in tow."
"Go," Leila said. "I'll stay here with our father and make sure he comes through treatment. If they can bandage him up, I'll bring him out to the rendezvous point."
"Cordan?" Rell called out. The cyborg came through the doorway.
"Yes?"
"Can you stay with Leila and help her and Wade?" Rell asked. She'd feel better knowing Wade had an ally. Apologies notwithstanding, she still didn't trust Leila completely.
"Of course," Cordan said, bowing slightly.
"Who's he?" Leila asked as she stood, eyeing the cyborg.
"Cordan is our mutual friend," Rell said, leaving out the part about him being a cyborg. Leila could discover that on her own soon enough. "He cares about Wade just as much as the rest of us."
"Okay." Leila nodded. "You two go. Hopefully, I'll see you both again very soon."
Torsten stood, reaching a hand toward Rell. She took it, standing next to him. Rell had expected to be nervous to see him again, as she often had been in the past, but she was surprised to find she wasn't. Instead of letting go of his hand, Rell clasped it firmly in hers. "Let's go."
Torsten squeezed Rell's hand, and then they set off jogging down the hallway.
"I'll be honest, I don't know how to get off the ship," Rell said.
"It's okay. I do." Torsten smiled. He turned down the hall where he’d left his sword, grabbing it in his free hand as they ran by. "I'm glad you're alive."
"Me, too," Rell answered. "I mean, I'm glad to be alive, of course. But I'm glad you're alive, too."
"I knew what you meant." Torsten tugged, urging her to a run. "It's all going to be okay. I promise."
"I know," Rell said, and for the first time in a long time, she believed it might be.
38
Rell and Torsten skirted the battle. Rell felt sick, watching the people she'd released from captivity fight the tark and their revenants. It was a battle of hellish proportions. Humans shooting fire from their mouths and hands at corpses controlled by doll-like aliens.
But had she not let the subjects go, perhaps the tark would be onboard now, killing more people. All in an effort to find her.
Once again, there was blood on her hands. Indirectly, but she could still feel the sticky warmth on her fingertips as if she'd taken every life on the battlefield.
"What's going to happen when we meet Rutger and Malia?" Rell asked Torsten.
"I'm not sure yet. Our goal was to find you. We hadn't thought past that. Hopefully, the tark will retreat, and we can leave."
"We'll have to wait for Leila and Wade," Rell reminded him. "We can't leave without them."
"I'm surprised you're willing to wait for Leila after everything she's done to you." Torsten looked at her, his eyes wide with amazement.
Rell shrugged. "Maybe I'm more concerned with Wade than Leila. Sorry, but it's the truth."
"It's okay, I understand." Torsten came to a stop under a tree. He bent over, catching his breath.
Rell paced, eager to make their getaway. She wouldn't leave without Wade, though. She hoped Cordan would come with them, too.
"What's my father like?" Torsten asked.
"He's kind. Smart. He was willing to help me, though he knew it could bring him harm." Rell thought of how he'd reached out to her when she'd felt so lost and alone, just as Torsten had so many times. "You're a lot like him."
"I hope that's a compliment," Torsten said.
"It absolutely is."
Rell's eyes swept over Torsten. He was leaner and his hair a mess. It had only been a couple weeks since they were separated, but he had changed. She wondered if she looked different to him, too.
"Rell, I—”
"Shut up and kiss me." Rell leaped toward Torsten, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his lips.
He kissed her back, slowly at first, then eagerly. Rell melted against Torsten, filled with relief and happiness and other feelings she couldn't quite name. But they were good. Very good.
"I thought I saw two lovebirds sneaking into the jungle for a snog," Rutger said, interrupting their private moment.
Rell laid one more short kiss on Torsten's lips before turning around and holding out her arms. "Get over here."
Rutger hesitated, then grabbed Rell in a hug. "She's not going to kill me for this, right?" he asked Torsten over Rell's shoulder.
She stepped back, punching Rutger lightly on the arm. "No, I'm not."
"Hey, Rell!" Malia ran over, scooping Rell into her arms. "If you're giving out hugs, I get one, too."
They both laughed.
Rell's heart swelled with happiness. This was what life was supposed to be like. Not the distance she'd forced between herself and everyone she'd cared about. She'd come so close to death multiple times and knew what it was like to face her mortality. It was finally time to live.
"Once Leila and Wade get here, we need the tark to get us out of here," Rell said.
"Wade?" Malia asked.
"My father,” Torsten said.
"Your father? I thought he was dead," Rutger said.
"So did I, but I think we've learned not to trust that assumption anymore." Torsten wrapped an arm around Rell's shoulder.
He waited a moment before pulling her closer. Rell smiled. Torsten was still nervous about touching her. She didn't blame him. The first time he kissed her, she’d punched him. Rell snuggled in closer, letting him know it was okay.
"I still can't believe the tark brought you here to look for me," Rell said. "The last time I saw them
, they were trying to gut me."
Malia laughed nervously. "Believe it or not, they were trying to protect you so that you could help them protect the fire dragzhi. If there's one thing I've learned about the tark, it's that they're very harsh. Even when they're attempting to help, they're murderous cranks."
"I thought they were going to kill me," Rell said, wincing as she remembered the pain when they'd stabbed her full of holes.
"It appears you just can't die," Torsten said with a smile.
Rell forced a smile, too. Unable to die. The liquid dragzhi had suggested she was immortal, too. Or they just hadn't figure out what would kill her and the hybrids.
Outside the jungle, the battle continued to rage.
"I feel guilty. Like we should be helping," Malia said, her hand resting on her gun.
"I don't feel like fighting with dead people against fire-breathing people," Rutger said, frowning. "How do they do that, anyway?"
"They’re hybrids. Like me," Rell said. "The EU scientists were splicing dragzhi DNA with human DNA, but they couldn't figure out how to control them. That's why they wanted me, so I could teach them. Then they'd have a greater army."
"Wow. So why are they fighting against the tark? If they've escaped their captors, then why fight against us? Why not with us?" Torsten asked.
"I suppose they don't know any better. They've been caged their entire lives." Rell wanted to badly to guide them, but she didn't know where to start. They'd been bred for war, and that was all they knew.
A crunch on the ground nearby silenced them. All eyes watched as the leaves parted and a woman stepped through. Her clothes were in tatters, her dark eyes sad.
Rell walked toward Eve with her hands out. "It's okay. You know I won't hurt you."
Eve collapsed into Rell's open arms. "I feel so weak. I've been fighting, but I can't seem to keep going."
Rell sank to the ground, still holding Eve. She stroked the woman's hair. "You don't have stamina. You've been in a cage your whole life."
Tears spilled down Eve's cheeks. "I don't want to fight. Some of the others do."
"Because they hate the tark, or because they need to get their aggression out?" Rell asked.
"Aggression. We've been dying to escape, to do our duty to those who raised us. But, Rell, part of me doesn't want to fight. Many of the others feel conflicted, too."
"How do you know?"
Eve sat up. "We are linked telepathically. It makes us a more efficient fighting machine." She wiped tears from her eyes.
"Then tell the others they don't have to fight the tark. They only came here to rescue me, not to hurt you or anyone else," Rell said.
"I don't know if they'll stop," Eve said, sniffling.
"Try."
Eve closed her eyes and pursed her lips. After a few moments, she said, "Some of them have stopped, but others won't. They keep attacking."
"That's part of being human, having the freedom to choose. We don't always like what others do. Sometimes we can affect their choices. Sometimes we can't. If you've done your best, then let them take their path." Rell helped Eve stand. "Feeling better?"
"Yes." Eve nodded. "But what now? We can't go back to the ship. They'll just put us back in cages."
Rell turned to Torsten. "Is there room in the ship?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure," he answered.
"If we have room, we'll take you with us to our planet. It's called Phoenix," Rell said.
"Phoenix. I know that word. It is a bird rising from the ashes. Our days were filled with lessons, teaching us all about the planet Earth." Eve smiled, possibly for the first time in her life. "I think it's a fitting name for a new home."
"Then tell the others. Ask them to stand down. Those who don't can go back with Earth United once they see they are outnumbered." Rell gave Eve a little shove toward the battlefield. "I'll speak with the tark."
Eve sprang back into the fray, spraying a wall of fire, forcing both sides to step away from each other. She turned to her people and spoke, "If you want to start a new life, stop fighting and come with me. I promise you, you will never live in another cage."
"Which tark is in charge?" Rell asked, hoping that awful Gwendal wasn't there.
"Denestra." Malia pointed to a lone tark, the only one not holding the hand of a human revenant. The tark turned, its red eyes swirling. "Over here!"
Denestra floated to them. Rell couldn't stop the shudders from passing through her body. Those aliens looked too much like evil dolls. Then its eyes landed on Rell.
"You have found her. Back to the orb! We leave now!" Denestra commanded. Then it reached, grabbing Rell's wrist.
Denestra floated into the air, dragging Rell below.
"Let me go." Rell struggled against the tark's grip to no avail.
"If I let you go now, you will fall to your death. Your father will be very unhappy with me. I suggest you hang on tight in case my fingers tire. Your bones will hit the ground with such force that they will break, puncturing your lungs and heart. It won't be a swift death, but it will be quite painful." Denestra sped up, putting more distance between Rell and her friends.
"Don't leave without Torsten. Please." Rell begged.
"If they get to the ship fast enough, we will take them," Denestra said.
"And the other humans. The ones like me? Will you take them, too?"
Denestra stopped in mid-flight, hovering in the air. "There are others like you here?"
"You were fighting them! They are part-dragzhi. Exactly like me,” Rell said.
"I noticed something was different about them," Denestra said. "My experience with humans is limited. I never saw Torsten shoot fire from his mouth, but I thought perhaps he is too weak for such a feat."
"I think my father would like to meet these hybrids," Rell said, knowing the tark served her father's dragzhi.
"Very well, then! We will crush ourselves into the orb as we fly back to Phoenix. It will be an uncomfortable journey, but traveling with humans is never fun. Their excrement..." Denestra shuddered. "And two of them joined at one point, making the most disgusting noises while the others slept. Humans are nothing more than animals."
Rell couldn't help herself from asking. "How do the tark reproduce?"
"That was reproduction? Disgusting! The tark care for an egg until it is ready to hatch. Then another tark exists."
"But where does the egg come from?" Rell asked, confused.
"Humans! Idiots! All of you!" Denestra resumed its flight.
As they flew over a ridge of mountains, Rell glimpsed a huge glass orb balanced between two outcroppings. "It's beautiful," she whispered.
"No more talking, meatbag! We have work to do!" Denestra brought Rell to the ground surprisingly gently. Rell shook out her wrist and looked over her shoulder. The other tark and their revenants were flying closer. On the ground, her companions and the hybrids ran, desperate to keep up so they wouldn't be left behind.
But Rell was convinced Denestra wouldn't leave without them. Now that she knew she held some sway over the tark, she was determined to save every single person who wanted to come with them.
39
Leila ran over the rugged terrain after Cordan. The tall man carried her father in his arms, cradling him as if he were a small child. She admired Cordan's strength and fortitude. It had been a long time since she had looked at a man that way, not since Mellok's death.
But perhaps it was partly due to the thing hiding inside her, the dragzhi who whispered in her mind all day and night. It told her what to do. What to think. Who to point the gun at.
It wanted Rell dead as much as she did.
It just wasn't sure how to kill her. The gunshot might not have done the job on its own, but it would have given Leila a chance to hurt her more. Piece by piece. Limb by limb.
But then her father had appeared. The dragzhi made her shoot him before she could see who it was. If she had known...
It matters not. He was in the way. The dragzhi's voice soo
thed her anxiety.
Leila watched Cordan's muscles flex, never missing a beat. He almost seemed more than human, a man worthy of her attention.
His friendship with Rell concerned her. Though Rell said Cordan was her father's friend, Leila could see there was something between the two of them, something deeper than having a friend in common. No, Rell and Cordan had been through something that bound them together.
Jealousy burned in Leila's chest.
Rell had everything she wanted.
Torsten.
Her father.
And maybe Cordan.
Well, she couldn't have all of it forever. Leila deserved happiness, too.
We will ensure your place among the humans, the dragzhi said. I will help you. Trust in me.
And so Leila did. Finally, someone was on her side, even if it was one of the aliens who'd tried to wipe out her people on Phoenix. It had explained to her it was only trying to reach its brethren buried deep underground in the tunnels. It, too, had been painfully separated from those it loved.
Just like Leila. They were the same.
The orb shone in the sunlight ahead of them. "There!" she called out to Cordan.
He changed course, heading up the hillside toward the orb.
"Are you doing okay, Dad?" Leila asked as she pulled up next to Cordan.
"I am. The ride's little bumpy, but I think I'll be all right." Her father smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry I shot you." And she was, even if the dragzhi inside wasn't.
"It was an accident, I know. Though maybe once we're settled in the ship, you can tell me why you were trying to kill Rell."
Leila held in a sigh. If he was already friends with the stupid buried girl, it might be hard to get him to understand her side. No one else seemed to.
No one except the dragzhi inside. It felt her pain. It caressed her sadness when it became overwhelming. It helped her to fall asleep at night, singing lullabies of revenge. Leila looked up at Cordan again. Maybe he would understand. Someone had to realize she'd been through more than she could handle. Instead of flocking to Rell's side, when would someone come to hers?
I am here for you. Always.
