by A. G. Wilde
“My translator says a piper on your planet is one who plays music,” he said.
“Yes, but I’m not a piper. I’m just Piper.”
He seemed confused.
“It’s just a name. Not related to the profession,” she tried to explain.
When he still seemed confused, she sighed. “Nevermind.”
“I will call you only Piper, if you like it better,” he finally said.
Smiling, she rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Where are we going?” She finally asked.
“I smell water,” he said.
“You smell water?” Her eyebrows rose.
“The smell is strong,” he said simply.
Piper sniffed the air. All she could smell was…nothing.
“I don’t smell anything.”
“Your human nose isn’t developed enough to smell it,” he deadpanned.
She didn’t have the energy to argue. She supposed he was right. He seemed to be bred for hunting. Hunting even water. She certainly wasn’t.
She was bred for drinking cheap wine and pretending society didn’t exist.
Damn. She missed those days.
Around them, she noticed the landscape was slowly changing.
Instead of fine grains of sand as far as the eye could see, the terrain was getting rockier.
Apart from that change, it seemed the planet was a deserted, lonely place…never mind that it was literally a desert.
There didn’t seem to be any life-forms anywhere. Either that or they all lived under the sand.
But with the lack of vegetation, she didn’t see how anything could survive on the surface.
That was worrisome.
How were they going to survive if nothing else could?
How were the others going to?
Chapter Twenty
As the rocks got larger, probably as large as her palm, Crex slowed down to jogging pace.
Raising her head over his shoulder, Piper squinted ahead. Her head was still pounding, but the pain was noticeably reducing.
Maybe she hadn’t hit her head as hard as she’d thought.
The ground seemed to slope down and, suddenly, she could hear it.
The sound was undeniable. One of the best sounds in the world.
The sound of waves crashing against a shore.
“Water,” she whispered. He’d been right. How he’d smelled the water from so far away she didn’t know. It was more alien magic she didn’t understand.
As he slowed down to a walk, she felt him relax as he stopped on top of the rise and looked down.
Down there, and as far as she could see, there was water. Beautiful, beautiful water.
Soft waves lapped against the shoreline, creating foam against the rocks embedded in the sand.
Crex was walking toward the water slowly, as if entranced by it and she understood why.
After traveling in pure desert for so long, seeing water so close was like coming upon a mine full of diamonds or gold.
But it wasn’t only that. She felt it too.
A pull towards the water. An attraction she had never felt before.
She and water weren’t friends.
They knew each other, but she was by far no 'aquamaniac’.
This feeling was new.
It must be the desert environment.
Crex was looking around the shore as he approached the beach, then he spun suddenly and headed to his left.
Up ahead, she realized what he was heading towards.
It looked like a small cave but as they drew closer, she realized it was a huge rock that was thrown against the rise of sand. It was carved so that there was enough space to hold maybe three or four people, with just one entrance.
“We camp there,” Crex pointed at the rock as he approached it.
Piper didn’t respond. It wasn’t like she was going to protest. It was obviously the best option, judging from the fact that there was literally nothing else for them to use as shelter.
She’d be an idiot to argue when they had no options.
Plus, she trusted Crex. Without a doubt.
It surprised even her, that feeling.
She was sure he knew what he was doing and she trusted him with her life.
It was funny how quickly she’d come to that point.
As Crex approached the rock, he paused and crouched, his eyes narrowing.
“What’s wrong?” Piper whispered, feeling him tense.
Raising his hand to signal her silence, Crex tilted his head slightly.
Even on his back, she could feel his muscles tense and charge.
Whenever he reacted like this, she couldn’t help but feel his predatory vibes.
If he were an earth animal, she’d have stayed far away from him.
Then, why on earth was she clinging on to him now? And so comfortably? Why wasn’t she keeping her distance? Why weren’t her instincts telling her to stay away?
As suddenly as he had tensed, his muscles relaxed and he walked into the cave.
It seemed he had thought something was hiding inside, or maybe he was just cautious. Either way, it seemed there was no threat.
Resting the sack against the rocky floor, he began taking items from it.
There wasn’t much.
It had what looked like a blade or a long knife and some other things she couldn’t identify.
Basic survival items, she assumed.
Then he began releasing the rope that was holding her to him.
As soon as the rope fell and he crouched so she could slide from his shoulders, he spun and held her to him.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes.” She nodded. Why wouldn’t she be able to? She hadn’t been hurt that bad.
“You hit your head pretty badly,” he said.
“Well, apparently not because it just feels like a dull pain now,” she smiled, looking around the cave.
When she looked back at him, he was studying her and she wondered if it was worry that she saw behind those unreadable eyes.
“Do you feel…different?”
“What do you mean?”
He remained silent, studying her for a few more seconds before adjusting his gaze outside the cave.
“We need bedding. You cannot sleep on these rocks.” He touched her arm and the spot immediately felt warm. “Your body is far too soft. You will get bruised,” he said, his eyes moving down her body.
Trying not to squirm, Piper cleared her throat.
“I’m fine with whatever you’re having. If you can sleep on rocks, so can I.” She turned around in the small space. “I’m not as soft as you think.”
She heard him grunt before grabbing the blade from the floor.
“You stay here,” he said, handing her the blade. “I saw sleeping zehmips not far away. I shall awaken them and bring their hides for bedding.”
He eyed the blade and then her.
“I get it. Use it if I need to but stay in the cave.” Piper locked eyes with his, noticing the small smile that graced his lips.
Nodding, he grunted and then he was out of the cave in a second.
So she was just supposed to sit there and wait till he returned?
Sitting on her haunches, her gaze fell to the shirt she was wearing.
“Oh shit,” she breathed. The entire front of the garment was soaked in blood.
Just how much blood had she lost?
Raising her hand to her head, she touched the wound.
Either Crex had overdone it with the gauze or the wound was as large as the area he’d wrapped.
It too was soaked with blood but she felt little pain from the pressure of her fingers.
She’d need to get the shirt clean if she was to continue wearing it.
Sighing, she stared outside the cave.
It was so sunny out there. With the sound of the waves, she could close her eyes and almost imagine she was on a beach in Florida.
That was something that wasn’t e
ver going to happen again.
She wasn’t ever going to see Earth again.
She wasn’t ever going to see a lot of things again.
And people. Cities of humans. That was all gone.
She wondered what they were doing now?
Did life just continue?
Did they realize she and the others were missing?
Were the police looking for her and…Callie?
Callie.
Sighing, she tried to think of other things. The lapping of the waves caught her ear again and Piper stood and took a few steps to the mouth of the cave.
It looked so serene and peaceful out there.
Taking a few steps outside the cave, she looked around.
The place was deserted. Crex was nowhere to be seen and there wasn’t a sound apart from the waves.
As far as she could tell; she was alone.
Again, the lapping of the waves caught her ear.
And it was stronger this time, as if it was calling to her. She wanted to touch it.
Wanted to feel it against her skin.
Walking to the water’s edge, she stood just far enough away for the waves to just about tickle her toes.
It felt good.
Too good.
And somehow, her fear of the water wasn’t there.
That fear she’d always had of being submerged was nowhere to be found.
It was strange.
She had never been friends with water. Sure, she drank it. Sure, she used it to clean herself. But she’d always stayed away from large bodies of it, only admiring its beauty from afar.
Today, something was different.
Taking a tentative step forward, she felt the water lap against her skin.
Pressing the blade into the sand, she bent to roll up the pants’ legs. She would only go in a little further.
She wasn’t a swimmer, so that was all she could do anyway.
She had just about rolled the pants up when she took the blade from where she’d stuck it and waded a little further into the water.
Raising her eyes to the sky, she smiled.
For the first time in a long while, she let the little joy she was feeling erupt into a giggle.
The water felt good.
It felt like home.
Even back at home, on Earth, water had never felt this good.
Who would have thought that being on an alien planet and having had such a harrowing encounter with other species was what she’d needed to get over her fear of water?
As the suns warmed her face, Piper squinted at the sky.
There was something else in it.
As she stared, a rising fear swelled within her as she realized what it was.
It was a spaceship.
And something told her it wasn’t help.
It had to be the Tasqals. She was sure the others wouldn’t have been able to send a message for help so soon.
It had to be the Tasqals scouting for survivors.
Fuck.
Glancing back at the cave, her fear rose.
She was too far away from it.
If she tried to run toward it, they would surely see her.
She didn’t know where Crex was, but she was sure he wouldn’t give their location away.
But she?
Fuck!
She couldn’t be the reason they were caught again.
Doing the only thing she could think of doing, Piper waded deeper and stooped, going underwater as she held her breath, closed her eyes and prayed.
She could probably hold her breath for one or two minutes, she figured, but she was going to hold it for as long as she could.
It was her best chance at remaining hidden.
She was sure they were too far away to have spotted her, so she was probably safe.
She only needed to hold her breath.
She could do that.
She had to.
She didn’t have a choice.
Chapter Twenty-One
It felt like ages. Counting down the seconds, Piper was sure her lungs were going to burst.
What would happen if they got caught again?
Would the Tasqals enslave them?
Would they kill them on sight?
It would probably be the latter and even though her lungs now felt as if they were on fire, she sure as hell would prefer dying this way than by the hands of the Tasqals.
It felt like an inferno was brewing in her lungs, even under the cool water. But she could bear it for a little more.
Just a little more.
As Piper rose from the water, inhaling a huge amount of air to cool the fire in her chest, she scanned the cloudless sky.
She could see the ship in the distance now.
From the trajectory, it looked as if it had flown directly over the shore.
Damn, that was a close one.
Gripping the handle of the blade, she pulled herself upright and began wading back toward the cave.
Better get herself into the cave before any other ships passed by. She mightn’t be so lucky a second time.
As she began wading forward, she kept an eye on the ship disappearing toward the sunsets.
Then, it happened so fast, she barely had time to process it.
She was being pulled back into the water at incredible speed.
Something was grasping her leg.
Something strong.
A scream lodged in her throat as she tried to claw her way back to shore, struggling against whatever had her leg in its grasp.
But it was too strong.
It was pulling her under, further away from the shore, and with every breath, she was taking water in.
It was a horrible feeling that brought back a harrowing memory.
It was as clear as day. Her foster father pressing her head under the water and holding it there while she was taking a bath. She’d been fifteen at the time, but the near-death experience had made her scared of water ever since.
This sensation was the same.
Feeling hopeless.
Feeling death coming closer and closer.
It was Callie who had saved her back then by smashing a vase over the man’s head. At sixteen, Callie had already been way braver than she would ever be.
But Callie wasn’t here right now.
Callie was gone.
She wasn’t ever coming back.
If she was going to survive, she would have to rescue herself this time.
She still had the blade in her hand. Gripping it, she doubled over and grabbed whatever was holding on to her leg.
Touching the thing made fear seep into her even more.
It was thick, slimy muscle. It felt like a tentacle. Belonging to a massive octopus or squid maybe?
Well, fuck the bastard, he was about to be made into sushi.
Holding on to the tentacle, she slid the blade into it.
The blade went straight through, slicing the tentacle clean.
Shit, she hadn’t realized it was that sharp. Serves the bitch octopus or whatever right.
Her lungs were burning again and she realized she was way deeper than she would have liked. There was no ground underneath her feet, and no matter how she tried to swim, it only seemed as if she was sinking.
Then she saw it. It came in front of her this time.
And no, it wasn’t a fucking octopus. Oh hell, she wished it was. Man, she wished it was. At this point, she’d take the Kraken or, hell, Cthulhu, because the thing in front of her, even though the water was murky, was the kind of shit from nightmares.
Several beady red eyes blinked at her as a tentacle came her way. The thing looked like a giant blob of blinking red eyes and tentacles.
Only managing to clumsily move out of its reach, Piper tried hard to swim toward shore. She needed land.
C’mon, survival instincts. If there was a time to learn how to swim because of adrenaline and circumstance, this was it.
But the monster came for her again, this time,
grabbing her in its, thankfully, toothless mouth.
No. She wasn’t going to die like this.
Not after everything.
She was the one to beat frickin’ twenty-five percent. She could beat this!
Pointing the blade upward, she held on to the handle as she drove the blade as deep as she could.
The thing reared out of the water, opening its mouth to emit a loud hiss.
Hanging on to the blade, Piper took in a mouthful of air just before the thing crashed back into the water, bobbing to the surface immediately.
She only had a second to take another breath before strong arms were pulling her away from the thing.
Crex.
Sputtering water and air, she knew it was him without even being able to see clearly.
He was lifting her in his arms and bringing her back to shore.
Well, he was swimming back to shore, cutting through the water as if he was born in it.
A glance behind him and her eyes widened even more as she saw more of the creature floating on the surface.
Its skin looked diseased. No. Dead. Its skin looked dead. It was gray and stringy like a zombie’s.
She’d been fighting a zombie fish?
Fuck.
Something else caught her eyes too.
Crex.
His back.
Those dark fins were out again.
With most of his body submerged under the water, he looked like a shark.
Very much like a shark.
He was standing soon and rushing toward the cave, where he lay her down on something soft.
And when she finally looked up at him, the obvious worry in his eyes made her feel speechless.
He began checking over her immediately, running his eyes and fingers over her arms and legs, looking for injuries.
Then he raised her leg, the one the zombie fish had gripped on to, and his face became murderous as he cursed underneath his breath.
A gasp caught in her throat as she moved her gaze from him to her leg.
There, still wrapped around her leg, was a zombified tentacle.
Her stomach lurched, but there was nothing in there to throw up.
Grabbing another smaller blade from somewhere, Crex slowly removed the tentacle piece by piece.
“What the hell was that thing?” She asked, watching him as he worked.
“A native of the lake,” he said. “You shouldn’t have gone in there.”
She knew that, but she didn’t like him berating her nonetheless.