by Presley Hall
Clearing my throat, I step away from the broken-off edge of the ship and press close to the wall as I move to slip past Jaro. “I’d better get back to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
He moves to one side, clearing a path for me. Even so, his body is so broad that it feels like there’s barely any space between us, and I can practically feel the heat radiating from his skin as I pass by him. It takes all my self-control to walk at a steady pace as I head back into the depths of the ship toward the sleeping quarters. My legs itch with the urge to break into a full-on sprint.
What just happened back there?
On the surface, it was a pretty benign conversation. We talked about the weather and about how we each want to protect our people. But it’s all the things that weren’t said that have my heart beating faster.
Most of the women seem to have faith in the Voxerans, trusting them to honor their promises and keep us safe, and the Voxerans appear to trust us in return.
But at least one of the alien warriors is as wary of us as I am of him.
4
Jaro
The rain hasn’t abated by the time dawn comes.
After my encounter with Sadie in the corridor, I kept watch for a few more hours, torn between hoping she would return to the opening in the ship and hoping she wouldn’t. But I didn’t see her again, and after a while, I slipped back through the darkened hallways of the vessel and found a cot between Axen and Kaide in what I’ve begun to think of as the men’s barracks.
Droth doesn’t know that I patrol the ship in between my assigned watch duties. I’m not sure he would like it if he did know. I’m aware he thinks my concerns about the women are unwarranted, but I’d rather risk his wrath if he finds out than leave my people unprotected. Perhaps several days of hard travel with the women will convince me of their trustworthiness, but until then, I’ll keep my guard up.
Despite my lack of sleep, I’m one of the first to gather at the base of the ship where we’ve all been instructed to meet before we head out. I shift the heavily laden pack higher on my shoulders and rest my hand on the hilt of the sword strapped around my waist as I watch the Terran women clamber down from the ship. They each grip the slick cable carefully as they make their way to the ground.
My gaze zeroes in on one particular figure as she grabs on to the cable and begins to climb down. Sadie’s body is soft and lithe, and the pack she’s wearing looks entirely too big for her small frame. I picked one of the larger ones on purpose, but it appears she did too. Everyone will carry a pack, which is part of why the return trip to our settlement will take longer than the journey here.
As I watch her descend the rope-like cable, I can’t help but recall our encounter last night. What was she doing hanging over the edge of the ship like that? When I asked her why she was trying to leave the vessel, the answer she gave wasn’t the first one that sprang into her head. Whatever the true answer was, she hid it from me.
It makes me wonder how much of herself she keeps hidden—not just from me, but from everyone she meets.
Curiosity fills me, a burning need to know more, but I shove it away and shake my head. I can still remember the way her eyes flashed with something like a challenge as she told me that she would protect her people, echoing my own words back to me.
There’s fire in her, clearly.
But although I have to give her my grudging respect, her words only make me more determined than ever to keep a close watch on her. To make sure that her vow to protect her people doesn’t lead her to attack mine. Although we’ve done nothing to provoke her fear, I know she sees us as a threat.
When her feet touch the ground near the base of the ship, she releases the cable and steps away, glancing around.
I quickly avert my gaze, catching sight of Kaide and stepping toward him. He grins when he sees me. The rain is falling at a slow and steady rate, and he slicks back his damp hair as I approach.
“Nice day for a trek through the woods, isn’t it?” he asks, humor lacing his words.
“Akhi.” I huff a laugh as I curse. “At least no one will complain of getting too hot.”
Kaide laughs too, and then his gaze shifts to something behind me. I turn around in time to see Droth raise his hands, calling the gathered group to attention. Charlotte stands by his side, a large pack strapped to her shoulders too.
“I’m glad to see that you’re all ready,” our prince says solemnly. “Despite the weather, I’ve decided it’s best to set out as planned. The rain may work in our favor by hiding our scent from predators and keeping any other raiding parties at bay. But we will still need to be alert to any possible dangers. Stick close together and stay on your guard.”
I see several of the women nodding as they listen. Most of them have already seen how dangerous this planet can be, and they’ve heard stories as well. When I flick a glance in Sadie’s direction, I see that she’s standing stoically, her hands gripping the straps of her pack so hard that her knuckles have drained of color.
What is she thinking about? Is she remembering the attack by that raider Churbac and his men? Or something else?
Before I have time to consider the question any further, Droth nods and gestures for us to follow him. My fellow Voxerans spread themselves out among the women as we fall into line behind our leader, and I find myself walking several paces behind Sadie, near the rear of the group.
Droth wasn’t wrong. There are advantages to starting our journey in the rain, but there are disadvantages too. It would be easier for an attack party to sneak up on us with the sound and smell of the rain as cover, and I scan the trees around us as we make our way slowly through the thick undergrowth.
The first half of the day passes without incident. The ground is slick beneath our feet, and a few of the women stumble once or twice on the uneven surface, but that’s the extent of the danger we encounter.
But by midday, the weather begins to grow worse. The gentle drops of rain fall harder and faster, stinging my skin as wind whips through the trees. I can barely make out the front of our group through the haze of mist and rain, but I see Droth stop and confer briefly with Axen, their heads bent together. After a moment, they resume walking again, and Droth turns sharply, altering our path.
He must be trying to lead us away from the heart of the storm.
None of us are very familiar with this part of Nuthora, as it’s much farther out than our usual hunting parties venture. And we’re nowhere near Pascia, the squalid city where we trade goods like those we stripped from the ship.
But perhaps Axen knows a bit more about how to read weather patterns than I do, because as we make our way along the new course, we leave the worst of the storm behind.
What little conversation and banter there was when we started out this morning has died away by now. Everyone is cold and wet, and we slog forward in silence, stopping only briefly to eat and rest our legs under the protection of several massive trees.
As we continue onward, I notice that the howling of the wind has lessened, and the droplets of rain no longer hit my skin with such stinging force. A glance over my shoulder reveals roiling dark clouds in the sky behind us, and I remind myself to thank Axen later. I wouldn’t have enjoyed an entire day’s journey through that.
After a while, the rain stops entirely. Our new route has taken us out of the way of the storm, but I know we’ve diverged from the path we took to reach the ship initially. We’re no longer retracing our steps to return to our village, but charting a new course. And the downside of that tactic becomes apparent when we’re stopped by a broad river that cuts across our path in the latter part of the day.
“Slanch.” Kaide steps up beside me as we all come to a stop at the edge of the river. The water is moving fast, frothing where it parts around large rocks that rest near the riverbank. “I wasn’t looking for more ways to get wet today.”
A smile tugs at my lips but never fully forms. I’m too busy craning my neck to look up and down the length of the
river as it stretches into the distance in both directions.
I squint a bit, and my heart leaps with excitement as I point upriver. “There! Look.”
Kaide turns his head to follow my gaze, his brows pulling together. “Look at what?”
“That tree.” I point again, tracing the line of the large tree with my finger to show him what I’m talking about. “See how it’s leaning like that? It’s about to go over. And it’s right on the riverbank. If we can bring it down, it will give us a bridge across the water.”
My friend considers my words for a moment, then grins. “You may be right. It’s worth trying anyway. Who knows what’s in that water?”
Quiet pride fills me as I step forward and explain my idea to Droth. These men have never made me feel as if I don’t belong with them or that I’m not one of them, but I’m well aware that the path that led me here was much different than theirs. I’m not a prince or a warrior of Vox like the others, but I am a Voxeran.
And I’m capable of helping my people.
With Droth’s approval, several of the other men and I head toward the tree I spotted. It’s leaning heavily to one side, its trunk severed near the base and its upper half propped up only by the branches of a nearby tree.
“We need to push it sideways,” I say, keeping a careful distance as I examine it from several angles. “Without those branches propping it up, it will fall across the river.”
“On your lead.” Bohrir nods at me, and I direct the other men into position before calling out for everyone to push.
My muscles strain with the effort, and I hear Kaide grunt beside me. I’m conscious of all the Terran women watching from where we left them by the riverside, and I suddenly want very much for this plan to succeed.
My feet dig into the soft soil, and I brace my shoulder against the tree’s thick trunk, baring my teeth as I shove with all my might. And finally, with a loud cracking sound, the branches of the tree supporting this one give way. The trunk shakes, and I give one more massive push before shouting for the other men to fall back. We all stand clear as the tall tree crashes down, its trunk straddling the river.
Whoops and cheers behind me draw my attention, and I see several of the Terran women clapping their hands together. It seems to be a gesture of excitement, since all of them are grinning broadly, but my gaze skims over them, searching for the one face I always seem to seek out.
Sadie is standing off to one side of the group, gazing at the felled tree that rests over the raging torrent of water. A small smile curves her lips, and I find myself smiling too, that sense of pride rising inside me again.
The river won’t stand between us and our destination.
Droth steps forward, clapping me on the shoulder when he reaches me. “Well done, Jaro.”
He’s the first to cross over the makeshift bridge, despite Axen’s muttered protestations. It doesn’t surprise me. Droth isn’t the kind of leader to let someone else put themselves in danger first. He leads from the front, not from behind.
I tense as he walks carefully across, and I can sense the rest of the men doing the same, all ready to leap into action if need be. But the tree trunk is steady and sturdy, and he makes it to the other side with ease.
Charlotte goes next, holding her arms out for balance as Droth gazes at her with a mixture of worry and pride in his eyes. Once she’s on the other side, more people follow after her quickly. I hang back as Voxerans and Terrans all cross over the bridge, and when there are only a few left on this side of the bank, I realize that Sadie still hasn’t crossed. She’s eyeing the water warily, her hands wrapped around the straps of her pack again.
Something squeezes inside my chest. I don’t like the look of distress on her face.
“Here.” I step toward her, holding my hand out. “I’ll take your pack. It will make it easier to balance.”
“I—” She looks at me with something like shock in her face, as if she’s surprised by the offer. Then she shakes her head. “No, that’s okay. None of the other women had someone else carry their pack. I can do it.”
You are not any of the other women, I want to tell her. You don’t have to prove yourself.
But I know my words would be useless. I’ve already seen the fire that burns inside her, and I’m well-acquainted with the need to prove oneself capable. So I step back, lowering my hand. “All right. If you’re sure.”
“I am.” She nods, her face a bit pale. She catches my gaze, biting her lower lip. “But… thank you.”
I wish that instead of offering me thanks, she would accept my help. But I let her step past me as she makes her way onto the log that bridges the river. Her hands shake a little as she grips her pack, and her lips are pressed into a thin line as she looks down in concentration, placing each footstep carefully.
My gaze is riveted to her. I don’t think I could look away even if a rabid umbaba came tearing through the forest at this moment. And it’s because I’m watching her so carefully that I see the danger before anyone else does.
As she takes her next step, a piece of the tree’s bark crumbles away beneath her foot. She slips, and for a single moment that seems to drag into an eternity, her arms flail wildly for balance.
But it’s too late. She pitches sideways into the rushing water, her heavy pack dragging her beneath the surface.
I’m moving before my mind gives my body the conscious command, shedding my own pack in a smooth motion as I race toward the water’s edge. Without a single thought, without a moment’s hesitation, I dive into the river after her.
5
Sadie
Water, dark and cold, surrounds me.
For an agonizing moment, I don’t know which way is up. I can’t orient myself in the crushing churn of the water, and panic floods my body as my lungs burn. My heart beats like a drum in my chest, and my eyes sting as I struggle to shove off the heavy pack. It feels like someone is clinging to my back, trying to drag me deeper under, and I kick hard as I wriggle my arms out of the straps.
The instant the pack is off my back, I feel like I can move again. When I kick, I actually get somewhere, and a moment later, my head breaks through the surface of the water.
I sputter and gasp, sucking air into my lungs and coughing as droplets of water come with it.
The fast-moving current drags me under again for a second, and I kick harder, my muscles already burning from the exertion as my head pops out of the water again.
Shore. I need to get to shore.
It’s the only thought I have, and I cast about wildly for some sign of land on either side of me. I’ve never been the strongest swimmer, but I’ll fucking dog paddle if I have to.
The water has already dragged me far away from the place where I fell in, but I spot trees and rocks rushing past me to my left. That must be the bank I’m closest to, my best chance of getting out. Fighting against the churning water, I try to turn in that direction, but before I can, something wraps around my leg.
I scream, then choke as more water rushes into my mouth. My hands claw at the water, and I kick as hard as I can—but this isn’t like the pack that dragged me down earlier.
Whatever is pulling on me now is alive.
Adrenaline spikes in my blood as whatever is wrapped around my ankle slides higher up my leg, tightening its grip as it squeezes my calf. It feels slippery and strong, almost like a… tentacle?
Fuck. Oh, fuck.
I lash out with my free leg, trying to kick whatever it is that’s holding me, but before I can make solid contact, the thing gives a sharp yank. My head is pulled beneath the surface of the river as water surges up my nose.
I struggle to break the surface again, but I only manage to stick my head out of the water long enough to suck in a desperate breath of air before I’m pulled down once more.
Beneath the surface, whatever’s got hold of me shakes me from side to side, dragging my body through the water like a rag doll. My lungs are on fire, and when I break the surface again, I
choke and gasp. The water dripping down my face makes my eyes sting and turns my vision blurry, but a flash of movement draws my attention.
Another figure is cutting through the river, swimming in the same direction as the current and moving directly toward me.
For a terrifying second, I think it’s another monster that’s come to join the first—or maybe to fight over me, ripping me to shreds as they battle over their meal.
But then I blink, and I realize I’m wrong.
It’s not a monster at all.
It’s Jaro.
“Jar—!”
My cry is cut off as I’m dragged beneath the surging water again. But I know he sees me. He was heading right toward me. Did he fall in too?
I don’t have time to think about that, or to wonder what the hell he’s doing here. A second tentacle slides up to wrap around my arm, and I clamp my lips together to keep from screaming as air bubbles burst from my nose.
Another sharp tug drags me deeper downward. The tentacles tighten their hold—and then, to my shock, they loosen.
I don’t waste a second, kicking out of their grasp and swimming for the surface again. When I break through, I tread water, glancing desperately around.
Jaro. Where is Jaro?
He’s nowhere in sight, and my chest tightens as I scan the surface of the river. I’m just about to dive back into their terrifyingly dark depths when a massive creature surges out of the water, emitting a screeching noise that chills my bones.
It looks like a fucking kraken, even though those aren’t supposed to exist, and there’s no way the people who created that myth have ever visited this planet. But that’s the closest comparison my shell-shocked brain can come up with. I don’t know how many tentacles it has, but they flail wildly, sending water spraying in all directions as it screams again. I don’t know where its eyes are, but its mouth is easy to spot. It has mandibles like an insect, jagged and sharp, and they open and close as the creature emits an ear-piercing shriek.