by Mira Maxwell
Six
OZMYX
I slowly return to consciousness weighted down with fragmented thoughts that I can’t piece together. When I finally open my eyes, I’m disoriented, unable to place my surroundings. There’s a single torch on the wall by the opening that lights the space but it doesn’t look at all familiar to me. I prop myself up on my elbow and look around, trying to remember how I got here and where I am. As soon as my eyes land on Savannah’s backpack sitting near the wall behind me, I remember the sudden attack by the Salthu and trying to reach Savannah before she fell with the tumbling rocks.
Savannah.
She’s my responsibility and somehow I have no idea where she is or if she’s even alive. Panic starts to well up in my chest as I try to pull myself off the ground. My limbs are stiff as if I’ve been lying here for quite some time, but as I get myself upright, I notice my bite wound has closed. There is no longer shooting pain coursing through my shoulders and back. I don’t know what happened to me, but I need to find Savannah and figure out where the hell we are.
I move to get to my feet but I can’t. Something is holding my leg in place. I look down to see a chain bolted into the rock, attached to my ankle. Instantly I’m on high alert, wondering what the hell is going on. I hear sounds that tell me I’m not alone down here, but I don’t know what to make of them. I pull on the chain, testing to see how firmly it’s attached to the cave wall. I use what I can of my body weight against the chain but I’m not one hundred percent and it’s clear that the intent is to keep me where I am.
“Savannah!” I yell toward the entrance of the room. I know she’s here somewhere. Her bag is here and she was with me when we fell. I’m fairly confident that this isn’t the work of the Salthu. From the reconnaissance we have done in the area, the Salthu live in caves in the sides of the mountains, not underground. They also prefer to keep their prisoners in cages.
“Savannah!” I yell again, pulling repeatedly on the chain as my frustration begins to boil over. I’ve been lucky enough to never have been held captive, up until this point, and it isn’t sitting well with me. I like being in control…I need to be in control. Not knowing where Savannah is or if she’s okay while I’m chained to the wall is the most out of control I’ve felt in a really long time.
I continue to shout my frustration, never giving up my struggle to somehow get myself free from the wall.
“It is useless to continue to fight. Your chains are secure.”
I snap my head around and glimpse the Attalan standing in the entrance way. Instantly I understand.
The wanderers.
We fell right on top of them.
The mistrust between us is palpable. It has had years to fester.
“Where is Savannah?” I ask him in Attalan. “What have you done with her?”
“Your human is safe,” he says.
“Then bring her back to me. Why have you separated us?” This Attalan is bold. He doesn’t flinch from my gaze, which is something I would not expect from the cowardly wanderers.
“She willingly went with Edek to his laboratory. She’ll return to you when they are finished.”
“Release me from this chain and I will find her myself.” I pull once on the chain, trying to force it once more from the wall. This time he doesn’t answer me. He just stands and returns my stare with a disinterested look on his face. It makes me want to give him something to think about. Perhaps how he was wise to chain me while I was unconscious, because it never would have happened when I was awake.
“I will bring you something to eat while you wait,” he finally says. And then he turns and leaves the room. Once again I’m left alone and the only thing I can think to do is pull on the chain again to try to loosen it so I can get free. And then I think about Savannah. Is he really telling me the truth? Why would she willingly go and check things out in a strange place like this? It isn’t smart for us to be separated. My irritation grows as I think of how she could have saved us both a lot of grief and stayed put until we could both get out of here.
The Attalan returns a few minutes later and sets a bowl on the floor along with a canteen of water. I want to refuse it but I’m so thirsty. I don’t know how long I’ve been out but the fact that all I want is that water tells me it has been a long time. The bowl contains soup. There’s a hearty broth with pieces of meat seasoned with some of the herbs that grow near the hot springs. The water is cold and refreshing. There are small pieces of ice that I crunch before they slide down my dry, raspy throat, quenching thirst.
When I finish, I’m feeling more like myself, but my irritation hasn’t gone away. I’m still impatient to see Savannah and get the hell out of here. At least now I’ll have the energy to find us a way out once she does return.
A lot of time passes before I hear movement outside the cave again. I’ve given up and returned to lying down while I wait. Somehow my bad mood has transformed into frustration with this entire situation. When Savannah finally comes in, all I want to do is yell at her for making me worry. And for the fact that she’s had the run of the place while I’ve been chained to the wall.
“Where have you been?” I say when she pulls the door curtain closed. She jumps and lets out a gasp of surprise. Obviously she didn’t expect me to be awake yet.
“Oh,” she says. “You scared me.” She’s smiling with her hands over her chest, holding her pounding heart in place. “I’m so glad you’re finally awake.” She crouches down next to me, reaching across my abdomen to examine my wound. I grab her hand before she can reach it.
I want to let her know how angry I am about our situation, but I’m struck with how cold her hands are. I don’t want to think about how soft her skin feels compared to mine. How touching her skin makes me want to feel other parts of her body to compare how soft and smooth she is. I push those thoughts aside as I let go of her hands and sit up.
“We need to get out of here,” I say.
She furrows her brows, looking at me with confusion. “We’ll go,” she says, “but we aren’t in any rush. You need to regain your strength.”
“They have me chained. I’m a prisoner, Savannah. We are prisoners.” I lean close to her, pulling the chain at my ankle so she can see the reality of our situation with a little more clarity. She doesn’t understand the wanderers can’t be trusted. She doesn’t understand the complexities of our city. “You need to find a way to get the key so I can get loose and then we must escape as soon as possible.”
Her eyes are wide, but she’s shaking her head. “There must be a reasonable explanation for this. Edek saved you when I couldn’t. He could have let you die, but he didn’t.”
“They are not honorable, Savannah.” She flinches from my words…or maybe it’s my tone. I struggle controlling my emotions when I’m around her.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, clearly irritated with me. I know there are things about me that she doesn’t like. I can tell by the cold way she acts towards me. A coldness that isn’t present when she interacts with the other warriors. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I shouldn’t feel anything for her, but I know now that I do.
“There has been a distrust between the warriors and the wanderers for as long as I have been alive, Savannah. Trust me when I say that they cannot be trusted.”
“You don’t understand. Edek knows things about you…about all the warriors. He knows about the genetic enhancements that you’re given and he knows how the Salthu were created. But even more importantly, he knows things about medicine on your planet that would be invaluable information to know. I want to know more, Ozmyx. If we sneak off in the middle of the night, we’re missing a valuable opportunity. There’s so much to learn from each other.”
Before I have a chance to respond, she moves to my side and rubs her hand over my skin where my wound has completely healed. “For some reason, you weren’t healing. I thought you were going to die from blood poisoning or an infection…I didn’t know. Edek crea
ted the medicine we used to treat your wound. Look at your body now…not even a scratch. Doesn’t that seem like information you’d like to know? What if it meant you could save one of your warrior brothers in the future? Why can’t you see past your hate for them?”
“I want to leave, Savannah. And I’m taking you with me. You’re my responsibility. We’re leaving whether you come willingly or not.”
She’s so close to me right now it would be easy to lean in and taste her skin with my mouth. I’m obsessing about her softness and how good she would feel underneath me. I don’t know why I’m suddenly feeling this way when it has been so long since I’ve allowed myself to even think about a woman. I’ve never wanted my devotion to the guard to be in question. But maybe it’s the way she makes my blood boil with her incessant arguing over things she shouldn’t even care about. Maybe it’s because she thinks of things so differently from me, she makes me think about things I never would have in the past. Somehow she has found her way under my skin, and for the first time in a long time I don’t know what to do about it.
“Fine,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting away from me. “I’ll look for Edek and ask him for the key to your chains.”
I breathe out a sound in frustration. I don’t know where this fire in her is coming from, but I’m not used to it. “Don’t bother. In a few more hours my strength will be back and I’ll remove the chain myself.” Either I want to win this argument or I don’t want her to leave me again. It worries me more than I’d like to admit that the reason behind my decision has more to do with not wanting her to leave. The lines between my responsibility and my feelings are starting to blur.
She moves to lie down across from me on the other side of the cave. Before she can slip through my grasp, I grab her arm. She looks right into my eyes, the surprise showing on her face. “Sleep close to me,” I say. She doesn’t move. Just continues to look in my eyes, looking for an ulterior motive. “You’ll be warmer,” I finally add as her hesitancy continues to grow. “And I don’t want to wake up to an empty room wondering what the hell has happened to you again.”
I can see the moment that she gives in. Her eyes lighten and the hardness in her features softens. Like she realizes that there’s nothing to fight about and I’m being sincere.
“Okay. I am still freezing,” she says as she spreads one of the furs next to mine. “I thought it would be warmer down in the caves, but this planet seems to be frozen to the core.”
She lies down and before she has a chance, I cover her with another fur. A few more hours, I tell myself. Once I’m back to myself I’ll free us and get us out of these caves. I’ll finish my mission and get Savannah back to her crew safely. As I lie down next to her and tuck my body behind hers, I think for the first time that completing my mission is the last thing I want to d,o because it means more cold and lonely nights. Holding Savannah in my arms calms me in a way that I haven’t felt since I chose the guard over my mate almost six years ago.
Seven
SAVANNAH
I’m disoriented when I finally wake. It’s dark but I can tell I’m moving. It’s hard to pry my eyelids open to look around me. The dreamless sleep I was in felt so good…and necessary. I was exhausted from the events of the past several hours. I want to roll over and go back to sleep but then I hear the sound of Attalan voices talking in hushed whispers around me and everything comes flooding back to me. The attack, the cave, Ozmyx and the wanderers. I try to sit up but can’t. Arms tighten around me, steadying me so I don’t fall.
“Be still, I’ve got you,” Ozmyx says in a whisper.
I frantically look around me. I quickly realize that we’re moving through the caves and we aren’t alone. There are at least three more warriors in front of us. I can tell by their size and muscular frames. Their massive size is even more intimidating in the dark and for once I’m glad they’re on my side.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Quiet,” Ozmyx says. “We don’t want anyone to hear us.”
We’re walking in a single file line through a small tunnel. There’s no light, I can only see the outline of the walls because my eyes have adjusted to the dark. There aren’t any cloth coverings that indicate the wanderers are living in this section. But I have no sense of direction down here. If I were by myself I’d be stuck down here indefinitely.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Krenar found us and he’s leading us out. Once we get out we’ll be on our way back to the fortress.”
I shouldn’t be surprised that we’re going back. Of course we have to go back. Not only do we need to get back to the fortress, but we need to get back to Earth. I just wanted to do it on my time. I wanted a chance to talk with Edek again and have him share more of his discoveries with me. He took me to his research room while we were waiting for Ozmyx to wake up. He showed me what he used to make the cream that helps them heal and regenerate. It’s made from a creature called a Drosk, something that looks very similar to a lizard on Earth. More importantly, I asked him how he knew all of these things. He told me that his father is one of the scientists involved with designing the genetic enhancements that is given to all of the warriors when they join the guard. He basically grew up in the laboratory with his father, and he knows more about these genetic enhancements than he’s probably supposed to. I have so many more questions for him but it looks like my time here has run out.
“We don’t need to sneak around like this. We were free to go once you were better.” I don’t understand this constant distrust. Especially when the wanderers helped us and gave us what we needed to heal Ozmyx’s wounds. Yes they chained him, but the warriors imprisoned one of their own first. There’s mistrust on both sides. It’s exhausting. This seems like the type of planet where there are things that could kill you at every turn. It would be nice to have allies, and I’m tired of this constant negativity.
“Not this again.” He mumbles under his breath and I’m amazed at how fast he can get my blood boiling.
“Put me down. I’m perfectly capable of walking.” I push against his chest but he doesn’t budge. He’s a wall of muscle and there’s no way I can make him do something that he doesn’t want to do.
“Fine. But keep up and be quiet.” He continues walking, leaving me quickly in the dust behind him. His long legs make huge strides, leaving my short legs on my five-foot-five frame struggling to keep up. I’m so tired of his grumpy attitude that I consider turning around and taking my chances with Edek. But I know that I need to get back to the girls, so hiding out in the caves to stay away from Ozmyx isn’t a feasible option.
I do my best to pick up the pace and stay with the group. I remember how I had a moment of weakness when Ozmyx was unconscious and let myself admire how handsome his features were when he was relaxed and sleeping. I don’t know what came over me. I could never be with someone like him.
We wind through the tunnels, traveling on a slow incline. I have no idea what time of day it is or how far we are from finding our way out. This is definitely a different way than the one we came in, but I’m pretty sure they closed that hole once we were all through. I don’t know if my eyes have just finally adjusted or if it’s starting to get lighter. As we keep moving, the temperature in the caves starts to drop again, and I can feel a draft. There are a few pockets of huge icicles hanging from the cave ceiling, adding to the chill that’s creeping back into my body.
I zip my jacket and reach into the pockets, hoping I left my gloves in there. No such luck. The only other place I would have put them is in my bag. I panic for a second thinking my bag is still sitting on the floor of the cave until I look ahead and realize that Ozmyx is carrying it on his back. At this point, I’ll tough out the cold fingers if it means I don’t have to interact with him again right now.
It doesn’t take much longer for us to reach a small opening that leads us out of the tunnels. There was no sign of anyone along this path, so I’m assuming it’s an alternate e
ntrance that isn’t used very often. The other warriors must have found this way in when they realized the hole we fell into was closed off. It’s admirable that they came back for us and didn’t just leave us to fend for ourselves. They are loyal, I’ll give them that.
I follow the warriors through the opening. We step out, the first light of a new day just breaking on the horizon.
“Savannah,” Krenar says, nodding to me in a gesture of hello as we all gather in a circle outside of the caves.
“Hi, Krenar. Thanks for coming back for us.” I smile and scan the faces of the other warriors, wondering if I know any of the other men. There are six of us total, Krenar and Ozmyx the only warriors that I recognize.
“We’re over two days in the wrong direction. We had to travel far in order to avoid the Salthu and find another entrance to get into the tunnels.” Krenar is filling Ozmyx in on our situation. He must be in charge when Mallyk and Ozmyx are unavailable. “Normally it wouldn’t be a problem but there are some dark clouds that have been following us. If we’re lucky, we’ll get back before a storm hits. If we’re unlucky we’ll have to weather the storm.”
“Then we best keep moving,” Ozmyx says, putting his hand on the back of Krenar’s neck, a gesture I’ve seen often exchanged among the warriors.
For the first time since I insisted on being set down, Ozmyx turns to me and says, “Are you okay to continue, or do you need to rest?”
They all look at me. I want to fidget with something, or drop my eyes and study my shoes. It’s intimidating to have five handsome, strapping aliens looking at you. I also don’t want to be the weak link.
“I’ll be okay,” I finally say. If I’m being honest, all this hiking around on foot is something that I’m not used to. I never worked out like I should have back home on Earth. I was always on my feet, running around at the hospital, but that’s not the same as getting a regular work out in. If I focus on the positive, I’ll try to think about all the healthy benefits that this walking will have on my hips and waist line. I could use a little toning.