by Stacy Jones
When he saw Lok go flying on the ground, having been struck by the massive creature, Frrar refocused on taking it down before it could kill any more of his people.
He finally succeeded when it raised one of its six arms to slam a meaty fist down on Rork, who was the only thing holding it back from overtaking them. There was a patch of soft, leathery skin on the side of its body, hidden when its arms were down.
Breathing slowly, steadily, as his Lily had taught him, Frrar stilled and took aim. He released the arrow and watched it whistle through the air, willing it to find its mark, then roared with victory when it pierced the beast. It stumbled and swayed before it slowly tipped forward and crashed to the ground. The entire forest seemed to shake upon impact.
His tribe mates roared with him… almost making him miss the noise at his back.
He heard the barest whisper of sound from behind and whipped around, one of his knives slashing as he went, but the being knocked the blade from his hand with such force that his upper left arm went numb from the shock.
He pulled his spear free from his vine with his upper right, blindly hacking and stabbing at the leaves around him, but it yanked it out of his hand from the darkness.
They continued this way: Frrar slashing with a knife, then another, while it took them one by one, clawing his flesh, weakening him, until he was panting with exertion and pain. All he had left was his bow and half-a-hand of arrows.
The faint glimmer of the rising sun was what saved him. At the first, weak ray of light filtering through the canopy, the shadowbeast paused and hissed, giving away its position. Frrar zeroed in on it, clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree. Its skin was shifting colors to match the black and white leaves around it, but its big red eyes were squeezed almost completely shut as a thin, hazy shaft of sun hit it in the face.
Snarling, Frrar notched an arrow and aimed for one of those red eyes.
His aim was true. The creature fell dead to the ground below, its thin, bony body hitting nearly every branch on the way down, the thwack and crunch as it impacted each one intensely satisfying.
Slumping against the tree behind him, Frrar panted, his entire body throbbing in pain from the slashes and blows the shadowbeast had dealt.
But his aches and exhaustion were forgotten when he heard his Lily. The scream she made was a sound that had haunted his dreams and, for a moment, Frrar thought he was trapped in a nightmare.
It wasn’t until she cried out again that he realized with sickening dread that he was not asleep.
No …
“Not my Lily.”
Ignoring Rork when the male called up to him, Frrar shot off into the trees.
“Not my Lily, not my Lily,” was a litany on his lips as he sped ahead.
He pushed through the pain clouding his mind, past the weakness trying to slow his arms, ignored the blood dripping a trail behind him.
His only thought was to get to his Pasha, his love, his life, before he lost her.
L ily was soaked with perspiration, and each breath felt like acid in her lungs. Her legs felt numb, a crippling stitch was stabbing at her side, and her back was burning.
She couldn’t tell if the liquid dripping down her spine was sweat or blood.
The crocodile alien was playing with her, tormenting her. He’d get close enough to scrape his sharp claws over her back, tearing her skin, before disappearing back into the still shadowed foliage, letting her get slightly ahead of him, only to appear from nowhere and do it again. And again .
Her vision was getting hazy from exhaustion, and she was stumbling more and more with every desperate step. She knew she’d only been running for maybe ten minutes because the sun hadn’t risen much more, but it felt like hours.
She was losing hope that her guys would find her in time, before the monster chasing her tired of his cruel game.
A thick root seemed to rise up out of nowhere and trip her. Lily went sprawling with a hoarse cry, her already raw elbow bleeding anew as she slid across the rough ground.
Flipping over onto her back, she saw the monster step out of the foliage, his sharp fangs bared in a hungry grin.
Crawling backwards, she didn’t dare blink, keeping her eyes locked on him as he slowly came closer. He acted like he had all the time in the world, as if he wanted to draw out her terror and his pleasure at seeing it.
When she butted up against a tree trunk, she pushed herself to her feet, but she didn’t run.
Lily knew she didn’t have it in her to flee anymore. Her shaking legs were barely holding her upright even with the trunk to support her, and she was dizzy from trying to draw in enough breath.
Pulling a knife free of its sheath, she gripped it tightly and held it in front of her.
She would go down fighting.
Grams voice came to her, whispering in the back of her mind, Never give up, my little magpie, lending her the bravery she needed to stand her ground.
Lily sucked in a harsh breath, pushed off of the tree, and gathered herself to leap but, just as she took a step forward, something crashed from above, making her skid to a stop.
Frrar, bleeding from more wounds than she could count, appeared from out of nowhere. He dropped from the branches, landing between her and the alien stalking her. He had his bow held out in front of him, but his knives and spear were all missing. Lily saw he had only one arrow left in his quiver.
Fear for him replaced her fear for herself. What could he do with a bow and a single arrow against such a huge creature? Lily was terrified she would be forced to watch him die. And for no damn reason because she knew she would be killed after he fell.
Frrar spread all his arms wide, blocking her attacker’s view of her and let loose a roar, ferocious enough to vibrate the very air and send goosebumps skittering down her spine.
That was all the warning he gave before launching himself forward, his arms a blur as he fought. He moved so fast she couldn't track his movements, but she could hear his snarls and the twack of the bow striking hard against the scaled skin of the alien.
Lily was frozen, relieved he’d found her in time but shocked at seeing her level-headed Frrar display that level of violence, and scared out of her mind for his safety.
She was so focused on the fight in front of her, she didn’t hear the person creeping up behind her until arms wrapped around her middle, arms she immediately and instinctively knew did not belong to her men.
Before she could struggle free or scream for help, the arms yanked her backward hard enough to knock the air from her, dragging her into the darkness .
She dug her heels into the vegetation covering the forest floor, futilely trying to slow their progress while she clawed at the arms banding her middle so tightly she could barely draw a breath. She dropped one of her arms, panickedly groping at her vine belt for her knife, but the sheath was empty. She’d dropped her blade when it grabbed her.
Fear was like a fist around her throat, choking her, but she refused to give up, not when Frrar was right there . He needed her. He couldn’t take down the crocodile alien on his own, not when he was essentially weaponless.
She heard a howl and glimpsed Trrak jump down from a tree onto the first alien’s back, joining Frrar in attacking it, right before the bushes swallowed her and blocked her view.
Lily redoubled her efforts, thrashing around like a wild thing as she reached behind her, intending to find its eyes and claw them out until the fucker dropped her, but instead her hand was engulfed in warm wetness.
She had a split-second for realization to kick in.
Oh fuck …
Before she could snatch her hand out of what she assumed was a mouth, sharp, needle-like teeth sunk into her flesh, scraping against the delicate bones of her fingers.
She screamed, the pain exploding through her head like fireworks, and ripped her hand back. She could feel the teeth shredding her skin, doubling the already excruciating pain until she thought she would pass out from it.
No! D
on’t pass out! You’re dead unless you fight!
She squeezed her eyes shut and cradled her bleeding hand to her chest as whoever had her continued to drag her farther and farther away from her mate and safety.
She was just sucking in a breath, trying to fight through the pain to scream for help when two shadows dropped down in front of her, thudding as they landed on the forest floor.
She thought it was more aliens attacking, coming to help her captor drag her away, until the shadows simultaneously ran forward and a shaft of weak sunlight illuminated the familiar forms of Arruk and Drrak.
Lily cried out, reaching for them with her uninjured hand, tears of pain and relief filling her eyes and blurring her vision.
She was so focused on them that she was completely taken off guard when her kidnapper stopped abruptly. She didn’t have time to brace before he flung her to the side, throwing her so hard she flew through the air.
The forest around her turned into a blur before she slammed into the ground and skidded several feet until her back smacked into a tree trunk. The force sent her head whipping back with a crack and her vision went black.
When she came to, she blinked open her eyes and saw Drrak and Arruk fighting the thing that had taken her, their forms blurry from either the speed of their movements or the darkness trying to drag her back under. Sprays of blood that appeared black in the gloom arched through the air as they slashed with their knives, working as one to take the creature down.
It was huge, at least a foot taller than her mates. Hideous and horrifying, more so than even the crocodile monster, it reminded her more of a dragon or a dinosaur than anything even remotely human-like .
In a daze, feeling groggy and tired, Lily let her head slump to the ground, unable to keep it lifted any longer. The sounds of battle were muffled. Her mates’ roars and the creature’s shrieks sounded as if they were far away instead of less than ten feet from her.
Through the encroaching black dimming her vision, she saw the monster’s feet, saw the sharp black claws on either end.
It’s the raptor.
That was her last thought before blood loss and pain dragged her under. Anguished howls followed her down, the sounds heartbreaking in their pain. She wanted to soothe whatever beings had made such wrenching cries of denial and grief, but she was helpless against the nothingness swallowing her.
A rruk needed to go to his Lily and the only thing standing in his way was the creature that had thrown her, had hurt her. It would die for that.
She hadn’t gotten up, and he was frantic with worry. She was lying limply against the tree she had crashed into. She looked dead. Fear for her made him feel as if he were losing his senses, as if he were going feral.
Fury, the likes of which he had never experienced, surged through him like poison. Rushing forward, he roared, knives held tightly, determined to take the creature down, even if it cost him his life.
It leapt at him, meeting his charge, a painful, ear- piercing shriek resonating from its fanged mouth. The deadly claws on its feet were aimed for his middle, but Arruk dodged. He avoided the worst of the blow, but didn’t evade the claws entirely. Arruk felt a tearing pain in his side but didn’t stop, didn’t let it slow his steps or halt his attack.
Using his bulk, Arruk barreled into it, taking it to the ground. He screamed as he stabbed it, bellowing his fury into its hideous face. He used every ounce of his strength to cut through its thick hide, its viscous, yellow blood spraying with each plunge. It bucked mid-stab and nearly threw him off, but Drrak was there.
Drrak appeared at its head before Arruk could be flung off, pinned its clawed limbs with his knee and lower right arm and stabbed it in its hideous face with the knife clutched in his right fore hand.
It struggled and fought, managing to gouge both him and Drrak, but soon its thrashing slowed until it lay dead.
His chest heaving, Arruk jumped off the creature’s corpse and rushed to his Lily. Trrak was already at her side, whimpering as he licked at her face then stared at her, as if waiting for her to open her eyes.
Drrak was right on his heels and Arruk could hear more footsteps following behind. A quick glance back showed him Frrar and Tor running through the forest, both of their gazes glued to the slack body of their Pasha.
Falling to his knees, Arruk, slowly and with infinite care, slid all four hands beneath her limp body and carefully lifted her to his chest, cradling her small frame to him.
He cautiously gained his feet, careful not to jar her, holding her as tenderly and as closely as possible. She was terrifyingly still in his arms. She didn’t so much as twitch.
His precious mate was bleeding from seemingly every part of her body and within moments the warmth of it was slicking his chest and limbs.
Arruk's heart was racing. Flashbacks of carrying his twin’s bloody, broken body back to the tribe when they were children battered at his mind. Familiar dread, heartbreak, and desperate urgency flooded him.
He exchanged glances with his twin and harem brothers, reading the same fear and panic he felt reflected back at him in their eyes. They all knew the slow death that awaited them if the worst happened and she died. Arruk also knew they would all welcome that death. They would embrace it, for there was no life to be lived without their heart, without their Lily.
There was only person who could help his Pasha and save them all. He just needed to get her there before all hope was lost.
His harem brothers made a barrier with their bodies, blocking him and Lily from anything that may come at them. They followed him to a low branch and stood guard while he carefully jumped up to it. He held her body close with his lower arms while using his fore hands to pull them up. Even that jarring movement did not wake his Pasha.
Drrak and Trrak stayed below, Drrak’s upper left arm still hanging uselessly at his side from the poison spikes, but Tor and Frrar leapt up behind Arruk and closed back in around him.
They maintained their surrounding positions, with Drrak keeping pace from the ground, all the way back to the center of tribe territory. Frrar and Tor never moved more than an arm’s length away, keeping one of their lower hands on Lily’s motionless form.
Arruk didn’t wait for Drrak to make his way up to them when they reached the Mother Sha but headed directly for one of the largest nests situated midway up the massive tree. It had been hands of seasons since he’d been there, but he would be able to find it with his ears stuffed and his eyes closed.
He dropped to the nest as gently as possible, walked two steps forward, and lowered himself to his knees. He reluctantly stretched his lower arms out, Lily laid across them, and held his mate like an offering.
He fixed a desperate stare on the female sitting across from him whose face he knew so well, ignoring the bodies of the fallen laid out around her that she’d been preparing for their passing ritual.
“Save her, Mother,” he rasped.
Srrka hesitated for only a moment before she dropped her handful of wrapping leaves. She wordlessly set to work, gathering her herbs, salves, and poultices then directed him to lay Lily a short distance away from the bodies .
Arruk, with Tor and Frrar at his sides, hovered while Srrka worked, none of them willing to move away. His Mother didn’t try to shoo them off, her entire focus on Healing Lily as soft, incomprehensible invocations and prayers tumbled in an endless stream from her lips.
Drrak and the kit joined them just as Srrka removed the last of their mate’s coverings, arriving in time to see the wounds their Pasha had suffered. Arruk’s low, anguished moan was echoed by his harem brothers when the extent of Lily’s injuries was revealed. It seemed as if no part of her had been spared. Scrapes, bruises, slashes, and cuts decorated nearly every bit of her delicate pink skin.
He felt his heart shrink inside his chest as failure hit him. He had left her, abandoned her. She had suffered and he had not been there to protect her.
A keen built in his throat, but he grit his teeth and bit it back
, not letting it pass his lips. He wouldn’t let his pain, his sorrow, and his shame distract his Mother from her Healing.
The sun was fully risen by the time Srrka sat back on her heels and halted her chanting. Arruk stared at her, waiting impatiently for some word on whether she thought his Lily would live.
His Mother looked tired, her body bowed over as though the Healing had sapped her energy, but she raised her head and returned his stare.
“I have done all I can. It is between her and the Goddess now. But, I believe she will wake,” she murmured.
Arruk expelled a sharp breath, his relief at her words so intense it was almost painful. Rumbles of thanks sounded from his harem brothers, still low and tense with worry, but Arruk could hear his own relief and desperate hope echoed in their voices. None of them would actually relax until Lily opened her eyes, but having hope that she would wake at all was like a balm to his aching heart.
When Srrka scanned her eyes over Arruk and his harem brothers, she sighed quietly, her shoulders slumping slightly. Her features never shifted from the serene expression Arruk always remembered her having, but he could see her exhaustion, and her concern when she looked at his and Drrak’s injuries. Gesturing with an upper arm, she waved them to an empty section of her nest.
“You need Healing as well,” she announced with quiet insistence when none of them moved to go where she indicated.
Arruk looked from one side to the other, really taking in the state of his harem brothers for the first time. They were almost as bloody as Lily had been. His own hurts seemed to come alive as if summoned, once he thought about them.
Arruk put a hand on his twin’s shoulder and tipped his chin at the spot their Mother waved them to, wordlessly telling him to go first. Arruk knew he and Frrar were in nearly as bad of shape, but he was worried about Drrak’s limp arm and the poison he’d been shot with.