“So you went right back to the way people fought in our ancient history on Earth?”
“Exactly true.”
“A laser would be great against these creatures,” he admitted, “but the ones we battle against often have a force field protection.”
“Whom do you battle against?” Amber frowned.
Wrexel used the monitor again to project the eight planets in the solar system she would soon remember. She watched eight planets of equal size revolving around a Sun.
“This is the Federated Eight, joined in defense against the rest of the universe.” He clicked a button and the visual expanded outward, showing distant galaxies and planets scattered for millions of miles.
“We have recorded 104 other beings that live on different planets; none are as habitable as our eight, so we constantly have to defend ourselves against attacks.”
He hit another button, and it sped through depictions of creatures and aliens that made her skin crawl. They were not wild; they were strangely clothed and held weapons she had never seen before. They also defied her imagination and every science fiction film she could suddenly remember viewing.
He stopped and clicked the hologram off. “This will all come back to you eventually, Amber; no need to think about this all now.”
He pulled the strange blanket from his bag and indicated she lay down. “Maybe you should try to sleep for a couple of hours and then we continue?”
She nodded and crawled to the blanket, lying down on her side, her arm curled under her head.
He sat down beside her and ran a gentle hand over her drawn cheeks. “Rest, Amber, you are safe with me.”
She wasn’t sure of much with her scattered recollections, but she knew this was true.
Amber found herself drifting off to sleep.
4
Night Creatures
Her dreams were feverish, wild, and confusing.
She screamed at Wrexel in anger and fear in a large and lavish room, surreally decorated. His eyes were glazed over as he stood glaring at her, not hearing her cries, almost staring through her. She reached out to shake him, to rouse him from his stupor but as her hands clutched his shoulders, he slowly faded away. The woman with the long dark hair in a white hospital gown took his place, and she clasped Amber to her breast with tears of her own. She told her to be brave, she was important, and Amber begged her for forgiveness but then she too fizzled out beneath her fingers and Amber fell down upon the floor in dismay. As she groveled in agony, a hand reached for hers, and she recognized Staede. He linked his fingers with hers as the ground turned into a large bed. He told her he loved her and they began to kiss, his lips gentle and tender upon her own. She cried as he kissed her, for there was pain in their embrace, but then the tryst became urgent and desire began to thrum through her as she sought to get closer and closer. Her eyes flared open, and she saw it was no longer Staede but Wrexel. The fingers that had been gently intertwined with Staede’s now clung to his as he slid into her body, making her cry out with pleasure.
“You don’t love me,” she moaned, despising her body’s reaction, and she tried to pull away but the Panther tattoo leapt from his chest, coming alive. It stared at her with red demonic eyes and demanded she hand over the keys.
Amber awoke with a frown to find Wrexel crouching next to her; it was dusk and light slowly faded. A thick mist floated around them again.
“It’s time to get moving,” he told her and she nodded, setting the dream aside because she realized, as she woke, it wasn’t a mere dream.
With the exception of the panthers, it was a recollection.
* * *
They ran through the dense, musty forest at a punishing pace. Amber pushed herself to the point of exhaustion, dodging the trees and trying not to slip on the moss underfoot.
She ducked artfully when the bat birds passed by and ignored the weird sounds that took to the air made by animals she could not see. Those she did spot along the journey were small, insignificant creatures that scuttled away from the running couple.
Animals so unusual she knew she would never forget them.
She wished they were the only creatures in the forest and that it didn’t include what Wrexel referred to as “night dwellers’. The ones that slept silently now, waiting for night to fall. She urged herself to run and ignored the impending horror of the night that lay ahead, but as the shadows deepened, her anguish rose up as steadily as the moons that lit their way. Small slivers of light filtered through the trees and the mist seemed to grow thicker, covering their feet and making her stumble. Wrexel did not take a break or fall; his eyes glowed in the dark and his hand always firmly held hers. When they stopped for their next water break, she moved closer to him when louder, ghastlier animal sounds filled the air.
The darkness seemed to fold around them, suffocating her with the knowledge that danger lay somewhere inside the veil of night.
Her mind reeled with every step, fear mingling with the urge to understand her fragmented memories and bizarre dreams until she was mentally and physically distraught.
When Wrexel stopped suddenly, she collided into his back and he held her steady as she caught her breath.
Darkness had now fully descended, and the foliage seemed to thicken in density too, making the slivers of light from the moons unreliably smaller. A large flock of the bat birds flew by much faster than they had earlier, their caws shattering the monotonous buzz of night.
Some that trailed at the back flew erratically and slammed into the trees, falling to the mossy ground. She gawked at Wrexel in alarm and cringed when his face contorted and his eyes glowed even more ominously than she remembered.
“Intruder 50 meters, a lone male.”
Wrexel continued to move forward, eager to meet his foe with her trailing in terror behind him. Amber squinted into the dark, hoping that the creature would emerge slowly. Her palms became slick with fear, especially when Wrexel pointed at her shoe and then pointed at his lips.
No screaming, remember your sketh. Was he crazy?
He dropped her hand when the being was three meters away according to the ever-alert Shehin.
She had many plans to be brave and silent but a hysterical scream tore from her lips when the ghoulish, pale-bodied creature came into view. Amber began to scramble backward from the being in frantic horror as he crept closer, swinging long, thin arms that ended in large, grotesque hands. His pale flesh glowed in the dim light and as he stood to his full height she saw that he was taller than Wrexel.
His mouth split open, revealing large, protruding fangs as he bleated in excitement. Black eyes with no pupils moved over the couple with interest. Long, gangly legs made him appear unbalanced and his gait somewhat clumsy as he moved slowly forward, his sex dangling free between his thin legs. He extended one hand toward them with black nails that tapered from his gnarled fingers. Then, suddenly, his excited bleats stopped and he lowered his shoulders, hunching down to pounce, his breath bursting from his parted lips with hisses as saliva trailed down his narrow jaw.
Grey flesh rippled and pulsated as he crouched even lower, hands slowly settling into the mud as he balanced himself. He made three loud clicking sounds and then launched forward with a momentum unlike the slow movements he had exhibited before.
He would have landed on Wrexel if his sketh hadn’t thrust forward, lengthening and plunging through the ghoul’s stomach. It gave an ear-shattering wail and fell to the floor writhing in pain until Wrexel slit its throat and shoved his heel down on the creature’s mouth, silencing the ragged gagging and hissing.
* * *
Amber grasped a nearby tree and stared over at his slimy, grey body that still twitched as his nerve endings slowly died. Black blood trickle down from the gash in his mid-section and his crushed skull. This creature made the lizards look like clumsy little puppy dogs. If more than one attacked, she was not sure how Wrexel would fight them off. Pins and needles rippled through her, numbing her from reacting. Sud
denly, there wasn’t enough air to sustain her.
“Amber, we have to keep moving.” He tugged her from the tree.
“No, please, let’s go back to the ship and fix your communication device,” she begged as tears coursed down her cheeks. She went down to her knees, too exhausted and terrorized to continue.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
His offer shocked her; it made her clutch his hand and curl into his arms for a second before he set her back from him.
“You’re stronger than you realize, Amber, and somewhere inside you are the memories of how to fight.”
“I can’t fight those things,” she said immediately.
“You know how, Amber; you just need to remember. You have been taught. I hate to admit it, but my brother spent some of his time actually training you,” he said gruffly.
Staede.
There it was again. The surge of guilt she felt every time he mentioned his brother’s name.
“Intruders, 26, male, 500 meters.”
“Intruders, 34, male, 600 meters.”
“Intruders...”
Amber’s wail of horror cut out the third announcement.
“Oh my God, Wrexel, oh my God.” She clutched his arms in terror, hysteria surfacing instantly. She screamed but he clasped her lips closed with two fingers.
“Hush,” he ordered.
* * *
Wrexel seemed more interested in the tree behind her than the small army that headed their way. He was unfazed and determined as his head whipped around.
“I’m going to put you high up,” he decided. “They are slow climbers and if I cannot get to you in time, you can stop them with your sketh. Aim for their necks, show no mercy; they will feast on you while you are alive, and I mean feast; they favor their entrails warm.”
Amber sank to the ground but Wrexel wrenched her up before her knees made contact. “Amber, there is no time for this… put your arms around me and hold on.”
She saw his intense concentration morph with alien changes. His nails unsheathed and his handsome features were quickly replaced by the hardened, ruthless, and unforgiving ones she had witnessed before, contorting demonically until he became almost unrecognizable to her.
Whatever alien he had crossbred with dominated now. These changes, observed from a distance before, were terrifying up close. He drew her to him and strung her arms about his neck, wrapping her legs around his midriff. He climbed the tree with a speed and agility that shocked her. She clung to him like a monkey as he tied their blanket to the thin bough. He made a crude hammock, yanked at it twice, and thrust her roughly inside.
He grasped her chin and forced her to look at him; within his alien eyes, she saw his concern for her. His features softened, almost relaxing to their former beauty as he spoke.
“Keep on the lookout always; keep your knife in waiting. Kill or be killed, Amber.” He held her face tighter when she looked as if she would faint and shook it.
“Do you understand?” He forced her to hold his gaze, his fingers digging into her skin until she cried, “Yes.”
Wrexel smiled at her and then shocked her by tugging her forward. His mouth briefly devoured hers and then he left her side by opening his hands and dropping several meters to the ground below.
God help her but he looked excited.
He landed with the silent grace of a large feline and drew his sketh with a primal cry.
The creatures did not make him wait long. They emerged from the darkness seconds later in a pale horde, climbing over each other in eagerness. They launched themselves at Wrexel and fell at his feet as he tore their throats open with his bared claws whilst removing the heads of others with his sword.
Amber watched in fear and awe.
He fought by using every one of his limbs and was acrobatic in his ability. She could not tear her eyes away from him, not even when they climbed on top of him with their fangs protruding as they tried to bite. Each time when she was certain he was overpowered, he surprised her by rendering them lifeless with a few strokes of his sketh. Security began to settle upon her as their numbers dwindled, but it rose to the fore when two left the pack and focused their snake eyes on her instead.
They took to the tree slowly but surely, climbing with sloth-like determination. As they drew close to her, Amber knew she faced certain death. Another pack poured out of the woods and joined in the attack on Wrexel. There was no way he would fight them off him in time to save her. The bleating and hissing of the climbing creatures came closer and closer.
They will feast on you while you are alive.
Kill or be killed.
Wrexel used these words earlier, but his brother often shouted them at her.
Staede.
Teasing, lecherous Staede and his smiling green eyes.
He taught her how to defend herself, but also how to attack.
“Kill or be killed” was his motto.
He had made it hers.
* * *
The flashback lasted a few seconds, but it revealed so much to her. On Throm most of her spare time consisted of fighting practice with Staede.
When her training was complete, he ordered “bots,” as he called them – robotically engineered but lifelike creatures for real-life preparation. He would surprise her with a new one each week and she relished the instructions on how she could defeat them.
She would practice against them. While they were programmed to stop before actually killing her, they did not give her an easy time. Staede would not let her rest until she had defeated the enemy and Amber would not leave without a fair share of bruises and often a bleeding lip.
Kill or be killed.
Her mind began to work frantically, regaining her senses and abilities to survive and fight. The blanket confined her and she would fail if she remained hanging in it like a useless doll. She geared herself, took a deep breath, and swung free, lashing out at the first ghoul as she clung to the branch with one surprisingly strong arm. She slit his throat and he fell backward, taking the second creature with him.
Amber climbed down the tree and defeated two more with her forward-surging knife before she placed her back against Wrexel.
Staede taught her this preferred fighting stance.
She remembered how he often reached around and grasped her buttocks, resulting in a laughing play fight between them.
Another fragmented memory fitted into place.
Amber gritted her teeth and steeled herself for a battle she knew instinctively she could handle.
She fought at Wrexel’s side until they stood alone. Her breath left her in short, hard gasps and her lungs burnt with exertion, but her hand was steady and her gaze unafraid as she surveyed the bodies that surrounded them.
“Status.” Wrexel shattered the silence.
“Zero intruders,” Shehin replied from the ground nearby. Wrexel turned around and stared at Amber in awe. His sketh shortened until it was a short dagger again, which he replaced at his hip, his eyes never leaving hers. The demon features relaxed, and he slowly returned to the Wrexel she preferred. Surely, he knew she had the ability to fight. She remembered how he informed her more than once that she was stronger than she realized. Did he just say that to console her?
* * *
He moved closer to her then and reached out to tuck an errant strand of her dark hair that partly covered her cheek. “Staede told me… I sometimes watched, but I thought these creatures would be too strong. I cannot believe you had the strength and stamina to do what you just did. I’m so proud of you, Amber.”
The hand that lingered against her cheekbone wasn’t steady. “If you had been hurt…”
He sucked in his breath. “I didn’t need your help.”
He closed his eyes and when he opened them, the emotion within his gaze floored her.
“If I had lost you...” He broke off, and she wasn’t sure if she liked the look in his gaze anymore; it was a little crazed.
He kissed her forehead, h
eld her close, and she rested against his chest, feeling protected and cherished.
“I remembered all my training with Staede,” she whispered. This seemed to sober Wrexel out of his concern for her as he slowly moved from the embrace.
“I’ll admit I am surprised by the level of expertise he achieved with his dual agenda.” His hands dropped from her. “What else did you remember?”
Amber did not know how to tell him she remembered a little more than just the lessons. Memories of her in an urgent tryst with the brother Wrexel had full right to be jealous of had returned as well.
She was more than just friends with Staede.
A wave of sorrow and disappointment washed over her. Wrexel did not miss her glance of remorse.
His voice was tinged with regret. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Amber struggled to admit her memories. She felt miserable and lecherous.
“Tell me.” He did not look as if he relished her answer.
“They’re vague.” She was unable to meet his gaze and her stomach knotted with new anxieties. She would be lying if she said Staede wasn’t an attractive addition to her memory banks. There was a playful quality to him that the dark and brooding Wrexel did not possess.
Every recollection she had retrieved had been one of pleasure.
She could vividly remember more than once angrily tearing his wandering hands from her curves, but a few memories of his mouth on hers did not end with outrage and she realized she now had erotic flashbacks of both brothers.
Amber’s cheeks burnt with shame. She was a horrible person.
It had to be an illicit affair with Staede, for Wrexel said they were lovers.
But there was no timeline. Perhaps the memories were old.
She consoled herself with this idea.
Perhaps Staede was a former lover and Wrexel was jealous or… maybe she was with Staede now and the affair was with Wrexel?
AMNESIA Page 5