by Mary Auclair
She was floating over a seemingly bottomless pit.
“Aliena!” Kamal’s voice called from somewhere behind her. “Don’t move.”
Just like that, the confusion lifted and a thick panic invaded Aliena’s mind. She screamed, flailing her arms and legs at the same time over the void. Far away, at the bottom of the cliff, was the deep green of a dense forest, the tops of trees looking like tiny puffs of cotton.
There was a creaking sound, and all of a sudden, Aliena stopped moving. She was hanging over the precipice, held to the seat by the straps around her shoulders tied to the front on her chest. That seat hung over the precipice, only held fast by the trunk of a small, anemic tree. A tree that was precariously clinging to the rocks of the cliff. Turning her head slightly to the right, she saw her seat had been ejected from the Mellark, and that the ship was embedded in the mountain from the crash a good distance up.
I should be dead. Somehow, the thought didn’t help her calm down, and the sound of her blood rushing through her veins drowned the sound of the wind.
“Don’t move!” Kamal repeated as he climbed down the difficult incline. “For Midnight God’s sake, stay still.”
He was surprisingly agile for one so large, and as he used his talons to dig between the rocks, he finally reached the trunk that held her seat. She locked gazes with him, and it was enough to control the impulse to start struggling again.
He was there, almost close enough to reach.
“Now, I want you to reach for the buckle on your chest, okay?” Kamal spoke slowly and in a controlled voice, as one visibly used to keeping his cool in desperate situations.
“Are you crazy?” She couldn’t control her high-pitched, panicked tone, and it made her even more afraid. “You’re too far away. I’ll fall. Just go and get a rope or something.”
“That tree isn’t going to hold for long.” The same tone, full of comprehension and calm. “I will catch you. Now, do as I say, and everything is going to be all right.”
Tears stung her eyes as Aliena nodded. She wasn’t lying when she’d said she trusted no one more with her life. Still, the fear that filled each of her cells was almost enough to paralyze her. Almost. Her fingers found the buckle, but they didn’t obey when she tried to push the locking mechanism in the middle.
“I can’t. It’s stuck.”
“It’s okay. I’ll do it for you. Just be prepared to hang on to me when I tell you to.”
Kamal’s hand closed around hers. He held on to the tree with one hand as he reached for her with the other.
She tried to answer but her throat was closed shut. All she managed was a squeaky whimper, but Kamal nodded anyway. He looked down at the buckle.
“I’ll count to three, then I’ll press the release.”
Aliena nodded, tears of fear streaking down her cheeks. The wind blew up from the dizzying void like a kiss from Death, all around her face, her limbs. Soon, she would fall into its embrace, and she knew she would be screaming long before the fall broke each one of her bones, shattered her skull on the ground, spread her brains over the leaves like a broken egg.
“One… two…”
The clicking sound was her only warning as he pressed the release button. Aliena opened her mouth as her body was freed of the restraint. For a fraction of a second, she fell toward the bottom of the pit. The scream that had stayed stuck in her throat escaped.
Strong hands closed around her wrist, and she was dangling above the void. A great creaking sound ripped the air as the seat dislocated from the tree trunk.
It fell, and she watched it grow smaller and smaller until it totally disappeared into the background of green below. She was still hanging from Kamal’s hands over the precipice, looking down.
“I’ve got you.” Kamal’s voice was filled to the brim with relief. “I’ve got you.”
She turned her head to him. His eyes were large and gleaming and his breathing was fast and shallow. He had been afraid, too. Aliena reached with her other hand and grabbed Kamal’s wrist as he pulled her up, then wrapped his arm around her waist. She buried her face in his chest, allowing the feeling to wash over her.
“I’ve got you,” he repeated as his fingers dug into her flesh, trying to push her into him even deeper. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Aliena said as she pulled back to look up at him. “Nothing more than a scratch. You?”
“Nothing.” Kamal shook his head, then looked up at the Mellark. He was covered in dust and a fine cut was bleeding on his lower lip, but he was otherwise unscathed. “Hold on to my back. We have to get back to the others.”
Aliena climbed onto Kamal’s back and held on to him with her legs and arms, careful not to grip his neck too tightly as he climbed up the steep incline to the remains of the Mellark. Thanks to his talons, he made a fast job of what would have been an impossible task for anyone else, and soon, he put her down on the tilting metal floor inside the open belly of the ship.
A few lights were still blinking, but the ship was otherwise cast in a dusty, cavernous darkness filled with a dead silence.
“Stay close to me.” Kamal held her hand to underline his point. “The ship isn’t stable. It could go down at any time.”
Aliena didn’t answer but kept her pace steady behind his, each step further inside the Mellark getting darker and quieter. Finally, they arrived at a room that seemed to be kissing the mountain. On one side were the remains of a number of screens, now black and shattered, and the ground was covered with shards of glass. Aliena blinked, her eyes not fully adjusted to the darkness.
“Marmack!” Kamal called from the doorway, his voice echoing in the enclosed space. “Tailan!”
“Here!” Tailan’s voice answered as a crouched figure moved. “It’s Marmack. It’s bad. I can’t move him.”
The trembling in her voice was charged with so much fear, it was barely recognizable. Kamal moved, followed closely by Aliena. They finally reached the back of the room where Tailan knelt in front of a limp form.
As Aliena’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw him more clearly. He lay on the floor, his long, powerful body painfully still. His hand was closed around his stomach but he seemed otherwise intact. Which meant only one thing. The damage was internal.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, Marmack turned his head to them. His gaze made Aliena’s stomach turn and her eyes water anew. There was knowledge in those eyes, knowledge and resignation.
“Brother,” Marmack said. “Take my mate outside. Don’t risk your lives for me. I’m done.”
At Aliena’s side, Tailan cried softly.
“Never.” Kamal’s voice became a low growl. “You will not meet the Midnight God today.”
Without waiting, Kamal bent over and picked Marmack up. A pain-filled scream suffused the room and settled inside Aliena’s bones, cold and wet like melted snow.
The Relany male was almost as tall and heavy as he was, but Kamal lifted him in a smooth, effortless motion. Aliena stared, realizing for the first time just how powerful her Eok mate really was. She watched as he moved to the doorway, his tall, strong silhouette stark against the dim back-light.
“Come now.” Aliena turned to grab Tailan’s hand. “Can you walk?”
Tailan whimpered her answer but got to her feet nevertheless. Together, they followed Kamal through the maze of steel that was the skeleton of the Mellark. And into an unknown, hostile world.
Kamal
They were still alive. That in itself was a miracle he had no explanation for. He’d done his best, but hadn’t been able to prevent the Mellark from crashing into the mountain. Seeing Aliena’s seat tear from the floor and hurl through the smashed window pane had filled his heart with a searing fear he’d never thought he would experience. His heart had stopped beating as he’d slashed through the restraints and rushed down the dangerous slope of the mountain to find her, hanging above certain death on a half-broken tree. Aliena was only alive because the Midnight God had heard the anguish in
his heart and given him a chance to save her.
None of his plans had worked. His bloodmate was in danger and now his best friend lay half on the doorstep of death in his arms.
He wasn’t going to allow anything to happen to those he cared for anymore. Not even if he had to murder Knut’s entire forces to achieve it.
As he walked, the unconscious body of his best friend weighed more and more in his arms. Marmack had lost consciousness a while ago but his heart was still beating a strong, steady rhythm. The opening of a cave was only a few dozen feet away from him, and Aliena and Tailan followed close behind.
As he entered the cave, he found a place where the rocks were small and the ground mostly flat. Carefully, he laid his friend down, propping his head on a large rock.
“How is he?” Tailan was at his side, already running her hands over Marmack’s chest. Kamal watched her delicate features crumple when she realized her mate did not wake. “How long has he been like this?”
“Halfway here from the Mellark. It’s too hot out there for him, with an injury like that. The cold will do him good.”
Tailan nodded, but tears ran down her pale green cheeks, large and heavy. She bit her lip and kept her hands on her mate’s chest. There was nothing more Kamal could do for her.
“Knut will have found out we crash-landed the Mellark.” Kamal straightened and found Aliena standing at his side. “He’s going to send people after us. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he will.”
“That means we can’t stay here.” Aliena spoke the words he did not want to say. “We’re not far enough from the Mellark.”
“We can’t move him again.” Tailan turned her face to Aliena. There was a fierce streak in her voice, and she hung protectively over Marmack. “He needs a medical evacuation, Kamal. What we need is a transport, and medical supplies.”
Kamal stared at her. She was right. Marmack wasn’t going to last long, and he certainly couldn’t walk down the mountainside.
“This is Aveyn. It’s Knut’s personal planet.” Aliena came closer, sitting down in front of Tailan on Marmack’s other side. She had that determined look on her face Kamal was starting to recognize. “The building we saw on the short-range scanner, it has to have at least a long-range communication tower, maybe even medical supplies. A male like Knut doesn’t take chances, he has caches of stuff all over the planet.”
“Yes,” Kamal answered, surprised at how fast Aliena’s reasoning was. He hadn’t thought about that yet. “It should be enough to get word out to Prime Councilor Aav. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a long-distance shuttle and get into orbit—”
“He’s waking up,” Tailan cut them off.
Marmack’s eyes opened, then closed. After a few more seconds, they opened again. He groaned and tried to raise his upper body, but Tailan pressed her hand firmly on his chest. She bent and pressed her lips to his mouth, then ran her hands over his cheeks, crying and laughing at the same time.
“You’re going to make it,” Tailan said with renewed fervor. “Don’t worry.”
Marmack smiled faintly, then his hand reached for Tailan’s. His smile turned sad and his face suddenly paled with pain, but he kept his eyes open, and his mouth closed. As the pain subsided, he turned his gaze to Kamal.
Kamal knew what his friend was about to say before the words left his mouth. He understood. He would do the same, but what Marmack was about to ask, he couldn’t allow. Even if his friend would never forgive him.
“You take Tailan and Aliena with you.” Marmack voice wasn’t louder than a whisper, but his words had the effect of a slap. He ignored Tailan’s tortured whimper at his side, only looking at Kamal. “Don’t come back for me.”
“How could you think I’d leave you behind?” Tailan’s voice brimmed with anger but her eyes were full of tears. “Everyone leaves, or no one leaves. You told me that yourself.”
“I lied.” Marmack tried to chuckle but his face twisted with pain. His gaze went to Tailan for a moment, and sorrow spread over his features, but when he looked at Kamal again, his eyes were deadly serious. “Promise me you’ll save her, or die trying.”
“Lest my life be forfeited to the Midnight God.” Kamal spoke the sacred words of the Eok vows, words he’d thought would never cross his lips again. He’d thought he’d left his old life behind—his family, his honor as the chief’s son—but it had never truly gone away. It was still there, just under the surface. His Eok training, that honor code that ran as deep as his bones inside his body. Forgotten, but never gone. “Then I will come back for you, my brother. Or die trying.”
Marmack nodded, then braced his head back on the rock. His eyelids became heavy and soon he closed his eyes. Kamal didn’t need to check, he knew his friend had returned to unconsciousness, now that he was satisfied Kamal would take care of his mate. Tailan rested her head on Marmack’s chest and cried silently against him.
Kamal stared at her, bent and defeated over her mate’s body. Something twisted and rebelled inside his mind, like an animal scratching to get free.
Maybe it was that, Tailan crying helplessly, or maybe it was the way Aliena looked up at him, her beautiful, dark velvet eyes full of a gut-wrenching trust. He couldn’t do it. He could never leave Marmack behind.
“I’m not giving up on him.” He waited for Tailan to lift her head, then met her reddened yellow gaze. “You stay here with Aliena and Marmack. Everyone leaves, or no one leaves.”
Tailan stilled, then her face shed its fragility. Her features transformed, hardened into the familiar fierce mask he’d seen every day for the past ten years. Somehow, it made his resolve stronger. If Tailan, with all she’d lived through, could find strength in a moment like this, then he would not let her down. He wouldn’t let any of them down.
“I’ll go back to the Mellark and retrieve whatever medical supplies I can find.”
“We need weapons, too.” Tailan looked stronger by the second. “Emergency water rations and food. The cargo hold wasn’t totally destroyed, there should be some left, at least enough for a few days.”
“A few days is all we need.” Kamal nodded to her. “If we’re anywhere near what I aimed for, then that building isn’t more than a few days’ march away. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
Tailan nodded. “We’ll be fine.”
Kamal turned and walked away, toward the opening of the cave. He was nearly there when he heard the tiny, hurried steps behind him.
“You’re not coming with me, Little Bird.” He didn’t look back. He knew the stubborn look he would see on her face. “You’re not familiar enough with the Mellark, and you’re not familiar enough with the medical supplies.”
“Then I’ll just help. You might be all big and strong, but you only have two hands,” Aliena chirped at his side, unruffled by his sharp words. “I can carry supplies like the best of them. A real pro.”
“This is not a game.” Kamal stopped and turned to her this time. He didn’t bother to hide his irritation. “You will go back to the cave, where you’re safe. That’s an order.”
“An order?” Aliena scoffed, folding her arms around her small breasts. “I’d like to see you try! I’m not one of your crew, and I’m not going to shiver and hide like one.”
“You really want to get killed out there?” He took a fast step closer. She showed no sign of fear at his approach, at the sight of his fangs displayed in aggression.
“Do you?” Aliena lifted a defiant chin, and her eyes reduced to slits. “Who’s going to help us if you die? You need backup, and that’s it.”
“Who’s going to be there for your aunt, your cousins, if you die? Martin?” He knew the words would hurt, but seeing the shock and betrayal on her face made him want to take them back. He couldn’t, though. He had to keep her safe, and the safest place was the cave, with Tailan and Marmack.
“Fuck you!” Aliena shouted, her eyes filling with tears. “You think keeping me locked up is going to keep me safe? You’re lying to yourself!
What’s the point of taking me for a bloodmate if you’re going to shut me out? You’re kidding yourself if you think I’m just going to sit back like a good little girl. I’m coming with you, whether you want it or not.”
He stared at her, hard. She didn’t back down, returning his anger like a mirror.
Then her words furrowed inside his brain, past the blind rage of protectiveness that blanketed his mind where her safety was concerned. As he stared at her, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes shining with outrage, it came to him. She wanted to protect him, like Tailan wanted to protect Marmack. She would not just sit back and allow him to risk his life for her.
His throat dried and he found he couldn’t speak, even if he had known what to say. Instead, he grabbed her by the back of the neck, reaching fast, and pulled her closer. He crushed her to his chest, feeling her heart beat fast against his.
He bent and pressed his forehead to hers. The contact was like a lightning bolt, releasing emotions he didn’t know he could feel. She trusted him to keep her safe, and he trusted her, too. Slowly, with everything he felt released from inside, he kissed her. Tenderly and softly at first, then passionately.
Then he pulled back. He nodded once, then turned and walked toward the dead skeleton of the Mellark.
Silently, Aliena followed.
Chapter 17
Aliena
Daylight was fading. Night was going to come soon, and with it a darkness that would make their journey difficult, if not impossible. Well, impossible for her. Kamal could see in the dark as well as a cat, as well as predators lurking in the darkness, and he was just as fast.
Over her head, unseen animals screeched and sang in a cacophony that only the last light of the day could bring. The forest was shockingly similar to Earth’s, but the humidity and warmth made the vegetation grow with a wild frenzy. Everywhere, plants filled the space with life, between trunks so large she couldn’t reach more than half their width when spreading her arms. Sporadically, Aliena saw tiny creatures of bright colors dart to the cover of the leaves at their approach, and even a few larger animals. All fled before Kamal, recognizing the superior predator in him instinctively.