by Ella Maven
I waded in further, feeling freer than I ever had in my life. No one keeping me in a cage or hitting me. My hair hung in matted chunks around my shoulders. I hadn’t been able to keep it clean, and it stunk. With a small gasp, I remembered the warrior’s knife. After grabbing it from our supply pile, I began to hack at my hair. Skags watched with interest from his shaded spot on the bank as hunks of hair began to float away from me downstream. I sawed and sliced until all that was left of my hair was a short length all around my head—not as short as the bronze warrior’s but as close as I could get.
I tilted my face toward the sun. A weight had just been lifted off my shoulders, and I wasn’t sure much could bring down my mood now.
Slowly, I turned around to check on the warrior and froze in place when bright blue eyes stared right back at me.
Cravus
My feet were wet. I could feel liquid gently lapping at my bare toes, and qua was rushing somewhere, although it sounded far away and muffled. Why did it sound like I was underwater?
My head pounded something fierce, and my back ached. I tried to move my limbs, but they were stiff and protested my order. As I became more alert, my concern grew for my safety, and I forced my eyes open only to immediately slam them shut. The sun was bright, and direct. I could feel it baking my scales. I sought to blank, but I was in pain and too weak. Yerk, when had I eaten last?
I groaned and lifted a hand to my head to access my comm but when I reached for my earlobe, it wasn’t there. It wasn’t there. I patted the side of my head only to feel a mass of ruined scales and only a small part of my ear remaining. I groaned and opened my eyes again to small slits, letting them adjust to the sun before I opened them further. I was in a forest, on the bank of a stream. How did I get here? Then I remembered the ambush. The cudgels in the sky picking off the caged creatures. An army of Gattrix. The small creature I’d given food to had escaped its broken cage, and when a cudgel tried to pick it off, I’d killed it then… well, that was the last thing I remembered. I hoped the small creature had managed to get free or die a quick death.
I struggled to sit up on my elbows, confused how I got here, then went still at the sight before me. I wasn’t alone. Standing in the stream, back to me, stood a human. I’d recognize that flesh anywhere, so unlike any species I’d ever seen in my life. And then the human turned and looked at me with green eyes. I remembered that color—it had belonged to that small creature in the cage, the one with long hair and blunt teeth… “Yerk me,” I whispered. How had I not recognized that creature as human? And most importantly… female?
She was nude in the stream, her hair now hacked off, with small round breasts and beaded pink nipples. Curly dark hair sprouted from between her legs, and I caught a whiff of her scent—the same one I had smelled when she’d been in the cage, but then it had been hidden under stench. Now she smelled fresh, clean, and oh so good.
Then she opened her mouth and let out a vicious screech that felt like a dagger to my brain. She rushed over to the bank, my knife in her hand, and I was terrified she was going to plunge it into me, but instead she dropped it with a clatter on a pile of rocks and went to her knees at my side. Her small hands reached for me, touching my forehead, and prodding at the wreck of my ear.
Yerk, when she was this close my heart drummed in my chest, and my fingers itched to pick at the remaining strands of her hair. It was dark, but now that it was clean, I could see brighter stands in a dark red.
And she was… nude. Not a stitch of clothing on her, when before she’d been completely covered in rags. I sucked in a breath as my gaze dropped to her breasts. When she shifted closer, they moved, and my mouth watered.
“Okay?” she asked in a quiet, raspy voice.
I understood her since my translator implant—luckily installed on my intact ear—was updated with her language, thanks to Bosa’s mate. But she had no implant—nothing but the bare skin behind each of her small ears. I nodded, and her shoulders relaxed.
Why wasn’t she scared of me? I glanced to my right to see my boots sitting by me, placed neatly side by side. My supplies were laid out in an orderly pile.
I lifted my gaze again to meet hers, and even though I knew she couldn’t understand me, I still asked. “Did you bring me here?”
She only blinked at me, then whipped her head behind her to bark out a word I didn’t recognize. “Skags! Come meet.”
A small turret trotted over, and I vaguely recalled that it had been in the cage next to her. Had they both escaped the ambush? And then… saved me? I’d been shot from behind—I could still feel the heat of the burn—and that had been the last thing I remembered. I placed my hand on my body, finding that most of my cuts had been cleaned and were on their way to healing.
A furry ball hopped in my lap, and I jerked, remembering the turret. “This Skags,” the female said, patting his head. “My friend.”
Her words seemed limited, and I wondered what happened that she spoke like that. She was a tiny thing, smaller than Bosa’s Karina. How had she gone from snapping at me with her teeth like a feral animal to this—a peaceful scene on the bank of a stream with a pet?
“You saved me,” she murmured. “So, I saved you. Probably can’t understand me, but—”
I reached for her, and she flinched, but her eyes met mine. I saw the fear then—a quick flash—before I gentled my grip on her wrist and tried for a smile. “I can understand.” I nodded too.
Her head tilted, and she studied me for a moment. “Can you understand me?”
I showed her the implant behind my ear and nodded. Her eyes went wide for a moment. “But I can’t…”
I shook my head, and she seemed to deflate a moment, before nodding to herself. “Okay.”
I had to get her a translator implant, but that was probably the least of our worries right now. I had to figure out where we were and how to reach home to let them know I wasn’t dead. But up first—food. It was clear she’d been rationing our few supplies, and I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious. In fact, I was surprised I was still alive and not rotting out there on the ground, bleeding out from the laser fire or picked to death by scavengers. I had my eyes and fingers—it was nearly a miracle. Or actually, it was all this little human.
“Cravus,” I said, touching my chest. Then I pointed at her. You?”
“Name?” she inquired, and I was happy she seemed to be intuitive to my meaning. I nodded, eager to hear her name, but she only shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
I shot her a questioning look, and her lower lip trembled a moment before she looked downstream. “I only remember waking up in a cage. Being hit. Starved.” She swallowed.
Where had the council found her? Who had been her former captors? I wished I could ask her these questions. I hoped she wasn’t referring to the transport crew, because they were supposed to be her rescuers.
She went on. “I don’t remember… anything. What I am. Where I came from.”
I stared at her, barely able to believe what she was saying. Was my implant translating it wrong? But then she met my eyes with her round dark ones and repeated, “I don’t remember.”
“Human,” I said pointing at her. I spoke the word again, slowly. “Hyooo-munnn.”
“My name?”
I shook my head and pointed at myself. “Kaluma.” Then at her. “Human.”
“Human,” she whispered, and then her pupils flickered, a slight dilation, and she inhaled a quick breath. “That sounds… familiar.” She stared at her thin, short fingers as she said it again. “Human.”
I gave her some time, as I couldn’t imagine how yerking scary this was for her. But I had to admire her. Despite having no memory, she’d survived, saved me, and had a turret as a pet.
“They… my captors… called me Mouse.” Her shoulders jerked. “You can call me that too. For now.”
She began to talk in halting words, describing what happened back at the caravan. There’d been an attack and her cage was broken.
How I’d saved her, and then when I was hit, I’d fallen on her, my body a shield. After fending off scavengers, she’d dragged me to the safety of the forest, then used a sling to pull me to fresh water.
I stared at her in amazement as she told her story. She easily could have left me. I wouldn’t have blamed her. She’d only known hurt and pain, but for me she’d shown kindness.
I felt weak, and knew I needed to get on my feet quickly. Now that I was awake, I’d take care of the female and her pet. There was no question—I didn’t care what the council had planned for her. I’d bring her home with me—she’d find a friend in Karina, and a safe place where she could either regain her memories or make new ones. She didn’t belong on this planet, poked and prodded at by the council as they figured out what to do with her.
I slowly rolled onto my side with a groan. Dizziness blurred my vision for a moment, and I shook my head to clear it. The female was right there at my side, her smalls hands gripping me like she could prevent me from falling.
“I got it,” I rumbled at her, but she only blinked at me and stayed there. When I managed to rise to my feet, with her still holding onto me, I glanced down to find her staring up at me with a shaky smile. “Good,” she rasped. “Standing.”
Yerk, I’d never seen a naked human female. I’d never looked twice at Bosa’s mate. I liked her, but that was mostly because of what she did for Bosa, my friend. This female… everything about her made my chest tight and my heart pound. Her scent invaded my nostrils, a spicy warmth that was both new and familiar. The bruises on her thin skin made my blood hot, and the gash on her ribs had to be painful.
She piled some food in my open palm—a few nuts and berries as well as the last piece of jerky. I needed to eat—it’d been so long since I had a full meal. After a sip of water, I pointed to the food and gathered my belt and dagger. I showed it to her, saying. “I’m going to go get us more food.” Then I pointed at the food and mimicked chewing. She bit her lip, studying me for a moment before saying. “More food?”
I nodded, and her lips twitched into a small, pretty smile. Of the few human women I’d seen in my life, I’d never found them attractive or even interesting. But this one… what was it about her? My matz shimmered, and I rubbed at the white markings on my chest. Her gaze dipped to them, and her small fingers brushed along one near my spiks on my shoulders. “Shiny,” she whispered with a little wrinkled nose.
I had to get out of here. I didn’t want to cover her up if she was enjoying her nude, clean, skin, but eventually we’d have to travel to populated areas, and a naked human would draw all kinds of attention.
I tugged a square out of my back pocket—she must have missed it when she searched through my supplies—and tore open a corner with my fang. The packaging dissolved, and the contents swelled as soon as it touched the air. It expanded until it was about the size of a blanket for me—for the human female it would make a nice cloak. I settled it on her shoulders, and she gripped it tightly. She seemed to like it, as she wiggled her fingers and said with a happy voice. “Soft.”
“I’ll be back after I get us some food,” I said.
Even though she didn’t know what I was saying, she nodded and sat down on the rock next to Skags, who had fallen asleep on his back, paws in the air and tongue hanging out of his mouth.
With my weapon strapped to my back and my knife in my hand, I set out through the forest. We needed meat, and I wanted to search the area of the caravan attack. I could still smell the smoldering remains of laser fire drifting in the air. Then after that, I’d have to convince the female we had to leave. We couldn’t stay here forever, the three of us. I had a home. A purpose. And I refused to let her stay on this planet on her own, not with her erased memories.
Also? I needed a name for her. I refused to call her the same name her captors did.
Three
Mouse
“Smell it,” he said, holding the fungus flat on his palm.
I leaned down and sniffed deeply, closing my eyes as I sorted through my memories. “Coffee.”
He cocked his head as he popped one of them in his mouth and chewed. “What’s that?”
“A drink. It’s black and bitter.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Sounds like medicine.”
“It’s not,” I laughed. “Well, it sort of is. It’s medicine I used to take every morning to wake me up.”
“How did that work?”
“It had a natural stimulant in it. I was hooked on it.”
He frowned. “That’s not good. Don’t rely on a substance like that.”
That only made me laugh harder. “But the smell is divine. I used to have people order the coffee scent from me when they didn’t even drink coffee.”
“What was your best-selling smell?” he asked.
“An original concoction. I called it Star-Crossed, and it was a spicy vanilla with some secret ingredients.”
“What were the secret ingredients?”
“I can’t tell you.”
With a playful growl, he plucked me off my seat and plopped me in his lap. His lips touched mine and I smelled it again—Star-Crossed.
I woke up with a jerk, the scent lingering in my nose, and my head spinning with weird visions I couldn’t place. Me blowing out a tiny flame flickering near a window while picking off small dots of a waxy material from my hands and a wooden table. Outside the window had been a large tree with tri-shaped leaves. Tall yellow flowers that stretched to the sky. Was that… was that my home?
But that scent. That scent had been there. And also here. That scent was his—Cravus’s. But that didn’t make sense. I wished I could understand him. He knew what I was—human—and maybe he knew where I was from, and how I got here. Could I go home? Would I even remember it if I was there?
In addition to the scent, I felt achy between my legs, and my breasts were heavy. Beneath the fabric I’d once again wrapped around my chest, my nipples were peaked and hard. What was this feeling, and why did I get it whenever I thought of him—the bronze warrior? Cravus.
In my dream, he’d kissed me. I’d known who I was. What I’d done in my previous life. And I’d been happy. The hollow feeling I’d had in my chest since waking up in a cage suddenly felt a little fuller.
Underneath the blanket he’d given me, I’d dressed again in my chest wrap and short pants. I stared down at them, trying to remember anything else I’d worn on my body. In my dream, I’d been… in a very long shirt that was cinched at the waist. Low cut on my breasts. I’d felt pretty. Alive. And like I wanted more of Cravus’s kisses. What would he think if he knew I was having these dreams about him?
Even now, I wondered if he thought I was a burden and what he thought the future would entail. Maybe I should let him off the hook and tell him I’d leave once he got back. He’d only been hired to protect me during the caravan, and now here he was, stuck with me just because he’d clobbered something that had tried to snatch me.
I hit my head a few times with the heel of my palm, trying to jog something loose in there. I didn’t know where I was, so how would I survive on my own with Skags? Anxiety began to set in, and my mind whirled with fleeting images which I couldn’t decipher. Were they from the past, the present, the future?
By the time I heard footsteps crashing through the trees nearby, I was losing it a bit, terrified of what was to come, and unsure how to protect myself or who to trust. When Cravus burst into the clearing lining the stream holding a bloodied thing over his shoulder, I screamed so loud I nearly toppled into the water.
He dropped his dead prey with a thud and rushed toward me, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be approached. All I could see were the thick hands which had hurt me. Slapped me. Locked me in a cage. “No!” I shouted at him, scuttling away while Skags squawked with fright. “No, no, no. Please. Don’t touch. Just…”
He spoke words, but I didn’t understand them. They were kind and placating, but not much was penetrating the fog of my fear. Wh
y couldn’t I get a handle on myself? My brain was fracturing into pieces as I whirled around, looking for an escape route—
Hands grabbed me, and I screamed again, and again, but the hands didn’t let up. I was pressed to a firm, warm chest, held there with a soft, yet unyielding grip. I couldn’t get away. My pieces had no way to fracture more. I could only remain in that position, breathing hard, heart pounding, as the broken bits of me slowly knitted back together.
My lungs seemed to let out an exhaustive breath and then calmed. I became aware of my surroundings again. The gentle babbling of the stream. The quiet rustling of the leaves in the breeze. Skags sniffing at my legs. And a big bronze warrior cradling me in his arms like I was precious. He spoke, and while I couldn’t understand the words, I was lulled by the rumbling deep tone and the vibration of his chest. My hands came up and I gripped his biceps. “So-sorry,” I gasped.
His hands flexed, an acknowledgement of my apology. But he didn’t let go or act irritated at my freak out. He stayed calm. In control.
I’d been so confident in my ability to leave, but now I realized how very much not equipped I was to handle all this strangeness on my own. I felt like a helpless newborn.
“I was going to leave,” I explained, speaking softly into his chest. “So, I didn’t burden you.”
His hands tightened a moment before he held me out at arm’s length and speared me with an intense gaze. He shook his head vehemently and uttered out one word fiercely which I took to mean, no. There was no point arguing, because he immediately turned and began to tend to the dead animal.
I stood there, shivering for a moment, warring with myself on whether I should push the issue or let it go. And part of me felt like I was a little too trusting of him, but everything about him called to me. He showed up in my dreams, kissing me and taking care of me. Would my mind really be that wrong about someone? Could I even trust myself?