Eliana and Eden nodded and stood. Ty watched Samira turn her attention to Zuri and Leia.
"If the two of you can come with me, we can go to the cave and get an idea of where it goes. That is going to be at the center of all of the planning."
"Samira," Ty started, reaching out a hand to place on her shoulder, "The warriors can plan their battles. They do not need you to do it for them."
"Don’t question your mate, Ty."
Pyra's intense voice right behind him made Ty jump slightly and he turned to face the warriors who had gathered close to them.
"We are coming with you to the cave," Samira told Pyra.
"She's smart and she's brave," Pyra said, "Be proud of her."
"You can't bring the women into battle, Pyra," Ty insisted.
"We aren't going into battle tonight," Samira said, "We are finding out where the cave leads and coming up with strategies. If I can help with that, why shouldn't I?"
Ty knew that he had no argument against her. There was nothing that he was going to be able to say that was going to stop her from doing exactly what she wanted to do. Just like she had been able to convince him that she was not too young to be his mate despite his mind telling him that she was and him trying his hardest to resist her, if she was set on being a part of the preparations for the battle with the warriors, he was not going to be able to convince her to do anything else. The thought was frustrating, but at the same time it made him even more proud to be her mate. Like Pyra had said, she was smart and she was brave. These human women were proving that the Denynso had known nothing about Earth and its inhabitants.
"We're leaving now," Pyra said, starting toward the door.
"Are you coming with me?" Samira asked.
Ty felt a surge of protectiveness and knew that there was no way he was going to be able to let her go off into some unknown area of the planet where there very well could be direct connection point between the compound and the Klimnu without him. He nodded and she returned the gesture, extending her hand to him. Ty took her hand and intertwined their fingers, immediately feeling calmer when his palm pressed against hers and he could feel her soft skin touching his.
They filed out of the meeting hall and Ty watched as Eliana, Eden, and Ciyrs took a sharp turn and headed off toward Ciyrs's shop. Those three had been working tirelessly on the ointments for weeks and he was hoping that they were going to find the right formula soon. The war was not going to wait, which meant they were running out of time.
Ty and Samira followed the warriors as they made their way across the compound, walking so quickly that she had to jog to keep up. Leia and Zuri caught up with them so that they all walked together, moving across the compound toward an area that Ty had never seen. Though he had spent his entire life in the compound, because he was not a warrior, he had not had reason to spend much time roaming around and exploring the borders. It was only the warriors who had to go on patrol who had the opportunity to really learn the entirety of the land that surrounded the compound. Now it seemed that part of that land had been breached, allowing the Klimnu access to their compound and to them. They would need to not only find that breach and learn everything that they could about it, but find a way that they could use it effectively to fight off the Klimnu and keep them from ever returning.
Chapter Three
I still wasn't sure exactly what I was doing even as I followed the warriors through the compound. Holding Ty's hand gave me strength and I squeezed it slightly the further we got away from the meeting hall so that feeling it in mind would make me feel braver as the distance between the brightly lit hall and us became greater and we got closer to the dark, unknown areas of the compound. I had only been on Uoria for two days and I had not had much opportunity to explore it during that time so I didn't know where we were headed or what we might encounter along the way. The thought was unnerving, but at the same time exciting. I knew now that I was a part of these people for the rest of my life and that I was going to do everything I could to ensure that they were safe and that we could all continue living our lives comfortably and happily in the compound.
The thought suddenly struck me and I felt my hand tighten on Ty's. He looked down at me with concern on his face. That was one of the strangest things that I had encountered during my time on the planet, but one that I was learning to love. While I was on Earth, I was not accustomed to men being considerably larger than me. Not only am I taller than most women, but I happened to spend the vast majority of my time at a university involved in a department that seemed to be dominated by men who were smaller than average. The result was me being taller than, just as tall, or only an inch or two shorter than all of the men who I encountered. This was most certainly not the case when it came to being on Uoria, and especially not being near Ty. My mate was tremendous beyond description and just standing beside him made me feel small, delicate, and protected.
I needed that feeling now as the realization hit me that choosing him meant choosing to leave Earth forever. I could not be with him and live on my own planet, which meant that I was going to have to leave everything that I knew and the people I cared about behind. It was a sudden and frightening realization, but one that I came to without hesitation. Now that I was bonded to Ty, I couldn’t imagine a single moment of my life not devoted to him. It didn't even cross my mind to be sad about leaving Earth, or even bitter at the thought that I was going to be the one who was expected to make such a complete and life-changing alteration. I would never for a second entertain the thought of asking him to leave Uoria to be with me on Earth. Though just 48 hours ago I knew nothing about this man or what it meant to bond to him, the second that I did, I understood that meant I now, and forever, belonged to this planet and these people.
I had been so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize we had left behind all of the buildings of the compound and were now walking past a lake filled with purple water. It was quiet and beautiful, but something inside me felt the tightness of apprehension in my chest when we started to walk along its edge. I had never been completely comfortable around water when I was living on Earth, and the purple of the water combined with the knowledge that I was on a totally different planet made me wonder what could possibly lurk beneath that surface. I took a step further away from the edge and Ty smiled down at me. The fact that he didn’t say anything about the water or what was living in there seemed to confirm to me that I should be nervous.
When we got the rest of the way around the lake I saw that we had approached a large bank of cliffs. I noticed Ero stiffen where he stood in front of us and heard Zuri gasp. They grabbed hands and looked at each other.
"What is it?" I asked.
Zuri turned to look at me.
"This is where Ero and I came the night that we arrived back here. We had a picnic right by the lake and then went up on top of that cliff."
She pointed to a cliff nearby.
"I don't understand."
"The cave is at the base of that cliff," Pyra said from the front of the group, "If the Klimnu are using that tunnel to connect with the compound as we suspect that they are, that means that they could have been within just a few feet of Ero and Zuri when they were up there and the two of them didn't even know it. Everything that has been said near these cliffs might have been overheard by the Klimnu, and they could be using that passage to get in and out of the compound unnoticed. We think that the Traitor has known about the tunnel for quite a while and has been using it not only to bring the Klimnu information and supplies, but also to get to them and back into the compound quickly without anyone realizing that he was gone. That's how he was able to betray us so completely and for so long."
"Who is he talking about?"
"There was a warrior named Ullie," there was a hiss from a few of the warriors and Ty turned to them sharply, his hand coming up as if to quiet them, "Refusing to say his name is just giving his memory power. Don't let the sound of that one word be what is going to weaken you when you fa
ce battle with the Klimnu. If you let it be your defeat, it will be, but if you use it to enrage and empower you, it will only make you more effective when it comes time to fight."
"Ty's right," Pyra said and Ty felt a surge of pride go through him, "We aren't going to revere Ullie. We are going to remember what he did to us and ensure it never happens again." He turned to Samira, "Ullie fashioned himself as a warrior. He came to battle with us and fought beside us. Then he made an alliance with the Klimnu and enabled them to breach our compound and discover our defense plans. He is why they were able to injure Eden, capture Leia, hold her prisoner, and nearly kill her, and try to do the same to Eliana. We found out about his betrayal while we were in battle with the Klimnu but it was not enough to prevent another battle and to completely eliminate them."
The group started walking toward the cliffs again and Samira hurried to keep step with them.
"What happned to Ullie?" she asked.
Ty glanced down at her with a stern face.
"Pyra killed him."
Samira stopped short. She had always heard about the Denynso and their reputation for being fierce and fearsome warriors. She knew that they had fought wars with other species attempting to take over their section of Uoria and protected the planet from many threats. Hearing Ty describe Ullie's death so matter-of-factly, though, was a shocking, harsh hit of reality that made her truly come to the realization that they were not just talking about a distant and abstract threat, or going to see something that could be dangerous in theory. They were marching into war.
Suddenly something strange occurred to her and she ran forward to talk to Pyra.
Chapter Four
Ty followed after Samira, he wanted to be near her to hear what she had to say to Pyra as much as he wanted to protect her. He was quickly learning that the unexpected followed her, and that he was probably never going to feel completely confident that he knew what was going to happen next. That was something that he truly loved about her.
That realization hit Ty hard. He knew that he was drawn to her and incredibly turned on by her. He had even come to terms with the fact that even though she seemed so young, she was a grown woman who was more than enough mate for him. He had not had time, however, to wrap his mind around the emotions that all of that entailed, and he certainly hadn't thought, until that very second, that he loved her. His mind reeled at the thought and he longed to grab her, spin her around in his arms, and tell her not just that he loved her, but that he wanted to spend every moment of the rest of his life loving her.
Now was not the time, though. He wanted that moment just with Samira, not with most of the warriors of the clan, Leia, and Zuri. That was something that he needed to express to her when they were alone; when he could whisper it to her as he slowly undressed her, laid her down on his bed, and made love to her over and over again. The thought buoyed him as he caught up with Samira and heard her talking animatedly to Pyra.
"Don't you get what I'm telling you? You said that Ullie was a warrior. That means that he was most likely around your size, right? At least around the size of the other warriors."
"Yes," Pyra replied.
"Well, if you can't get anywhere near the tunnel to find out what is on the other side, why do you think that Ullie could?"
They had made it to the foot of the cliff and were making their way over the rocky terrain to a section several feet off of the ground where Ty could see the wide mouth of a cave. He had heard the warriors talking about that cave before. Several had even brought some of the women there when they wanted to be alone. None had ever thought anything strange about it. Now, however, it seemed to stare down at them ominously, gaping in the reddish-brown stone of the cliff as if tempting them to come in and meet their fate.
Pyra paused and turned to look at Samira. Ty could see the look on his face changing gradually as if he was processing what Samira had said to him.
"I guess he couldn't."
"No, he couldn't. Which means that either he was using another part of the cave to interact with the Klimnu…"
"Or there was someone else helping him."
"Exactly. Now what we have to do is figure out which one of those is the case. If it is just that there is another section of the tunnel that you couldn't find that is big enough for all of you to fit in, or there is some way that that tunnel is bigger than you thought it was, that is not that big of a deal. In fact, it would just make it that much easier to get to the Klimnu. If it is that there was someone else helping Ullie, though, we are dealing with much bigger problems."
Ty's chest constricted painfully as a surge of anger and protectiveness rolled through him. He wasn't even a warrior and he had been infuriated when he found out that Ullie had betrayed all of them and was essentially funneling them into the hands of the Klimnu. Now that he had found and bonded with Samira, this anger and was even greater. She was bringing out the beast in him, and for the first time he had no interest in waiting at the compound putting together packs of supplies for the warriors and being ready to take care of them when they came back. He could leave that to the women. He wanted to be a part of the fighting.
"How do we find out?" he asked.
"We have to go into the cave," Samira told him.
She looked over at Leia and Zuri, who stepped forward toward her, nodding as if they understood exactly what Samira needed even though she hadn't said it. Ty reached toward Samira but she shook her head at him.
"The warriors and you are too big to get inside, Pyra already said that. We have to start under the assumption that the tunnel truly is as small as they thought it was when they found it and then go from there. That means that we have to go in. It's the only way."
Samira got on her toes and lifted her mouth to Ty's. He kissed her gently, wanting to draw as much of the feeling of her as possible into him so that he could feel less afraid while she was out of his sight. As their lips parted he could see that Ero and Zuri, and Leia and Gyyx were kissing as well, two more pairs of mates drawing strength and confidence from one another. The other warriors waited patiently for the expressions of their bonds to be over. Even those who were not bonded understood the importance and solemnity of the bond and would not try to interfere with a moment between mates.
Samira turned to Pyra when she stepped back from Ty.
"Show us where to go."
Pyra started climbing up the side of the cliff and the women followed. The path was steep, but they all held their own as they traversed the uneven ground and climbed over rocks and jutting sections of the wall. Ty followed close behind them, wanting to be there to catch her just in case Samira happened to lose her footing and fall down the side of the cliff. Gyyx and Ero scrambled up behind him, their eyes locked on their own mates as they went. Beneath them were the rest of the warriors, watching them with expressions on their faces that said they very much hoped none of them were going to go tumbling down the cliff.
Fortunately they all made it to the plateau in front of the mouth of the cave safely and formed a line so that they all could stare into the cave. The darkness inside was so intense Ty felt like he could reach out and touch it.
"How did you find out about the tunnel?" Samira asked.
"We were doing our patrol and we heard a sound from inside the cave so we decided we wanted to see if there was anyone in there. We thought everyone was accounted for in the compound, so we wanted to make sure that no one was hurt in there. You go just a few yards into the cave and then the ground suddenly drops off into the tunnel. I could only make it down the tunnel a couple of feet before it got so tight that I almost couldn't get myself back out."
"If I had known that I was going to be spelunking today, I probably would have chosen a little bit better of an outfit," Samira said, adjusting her shirt down over her waistband, "Alright, ladies. Are you ready?"
The other two women voiced their affirmation and stepped forward so that the three stood separate from their mates and Pyra. Ty saw Gyyx reach into the bag
he wore around his hip and pull out a torch. He handed it to Samira, reached back into his bag, and pulled out a flint. He lit the torch and stroked Leia's face one more time before stepping away.
"Go straight in, go as far as you can, and then come back," Pyra said. He reached into the bag on his own hip and pulled out his dagger, handing it to Samira by the handle, "If you find any Klimnu or anything else that scares you, don't hesitate. Kill it and run."
Samira nodded, took a breath, and started into the cave.
Chapter Five
All of the fear I had been trying to suppress as I followed the warriors to the cliffs suddenly hit me as I stood there looking into the cave. The torch in one hand, the dagger in the other, and the lingering feeling of Ty's lips against mine, however, gave me confidence as I squared my shoulders and started forward into the darkness. Zuri and Leia followed me, coming close to my sides but staying just a step behind as if allowing me to take the lead.
We walked carefully, none of us knowing what to expect as we stepped past the opening to the cave. None of us had ever been inside it before and if I didn't miss my guess none of us were familiar enough with the topography and composition of Uoria to know if the caves on this planet were anything like the ones on Earth. I had only gotten the chance to read up a little bit on the planet and all I had learned was that there were many different areas of the planet and a huge enough variety of climates and features that I could safely guess it did not maintain the same rules as Earth. While that was an exciting thought if I had the opportunity to just roam around and explore, it made venturing into the darkness of the cave even more frightening because I had no idea what I was going to encounter with each step.
I could hear my own breath as we walked through the wide first chamber of the cave. The torch splashed orange and yellow light through the chamber, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the sandy ground at our feet. The floor of the cave was studded with sharp stalagmites, the tips sparkling like ice in the light of the torch even though it wasn't cold enough in the cave for them to actually be frozen. As we walked deeper into the cave I noticed that the walls that had been far enough apart that I hadn't even been able to see them in the light of the torch were starting to close in. We took a few more steps and I saw the entrance to the tunnel that Pyra had talked about. It would have been easy to miss if we hadn't been looking specifically for it. As it was, I almost didn't notice it.
The Alien's Mystery (Uoria Mates IV Book 7) Page 39