The puma’s round ears swiveled, following the sound. “Sheba not like singing.”
“It has to be the Dragons.” Fianna quickened her steps through the tall grasses. “The locals are all asleep sitting up. Only Tarkan and his Dragons would desecrate such a peaceful day with off color jokes and distasteful ditties.”
When she came into view of the cluster, Fianna hid behind tall ferns outside the fence and craned her neck to observe her former gang. Where was Tarkan?
She couldn’t see him among the Dragons lounging by the pool or sprawled on the lawn, playing games. They seemed to be recovering quickly from their wounds during the fight at the cave entrance. The whole lot of them looked rather tame and relaxed, without the help of drugs or hard drink. The women laughed, and the men smiled. A far cry from what Fianna remembered. In the slums, they used to fight all the time.
Obsessed as he was with freedom, Tarkan must be plotting his escape, but she saw no sign of him. Maybe a direct approach would draw him out. She stepped away from the concealment of the ferns, Sheba at her side, and walked up to the fence.
Among the reclined Dragons wearing black, she spotted a familiar heavy frame in red synthleather, black skull and bare, muscular arms, one in a sling. “Hey, Kong!”
The big man turned around slowly and stood up, considering her, disbelief widening his dark eyes. The other Dragons gaped and stared, surprised at seeing her free. Then Kong rose and walked toward her, favoring his bandaged leg. His gold chains sparkled in the orange sunlight.
Four curious Dragons, three men and a woman, followed him. They all had healthy color in their cheeks. Their eyes gleamed. Somehow, their pockmarked skin seemed smoother around their tattoos, as if they had a spa treatment. Fianna barely noticed their scars, and their teeth gleamed white as they smiled. Civilized life suited them.
Kong stopped short of hitting the invisible wall. “So, not only you survived the poison and the bullet, but the winged monkeys let you out? How come you still have your weapons?” He spat on the ground but the gesture lacked conviction. “You ratted us out to the locals, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Despite the invisible wall between them, Kong’s formidable presence should have unnerved Fianna, but he seemed almost innocuous today. She chuckled. “These people read minds. They were watching you all along.”
“Or maybe, you were feeding them information!” Kong stared at her weapons with a trace of lust in his eyes.
Fianna’s hand rested lightly on her crossbow rifle. “Where is your bastard of a boss? I want to talk to him.”
Kong grinned, baring gold teeth incrusted with diamonds. “You and your pussycat are too late, Monalisa.”
“What do you mean, too late?” Had something happened to him? “Where is he?”
Kong offered a slow, deliberate shrug. “The boss did what he does best. You of all people should know there is no prison that can hold him for long. He’s gone!”
“Gone?” Fianna’s blood rushed in her veins. “I can’t believe it.” Tarkan couldn’t have used her technique to get out. “How did he manage that?”
“Logic!” Kong laughed and made flying gestures with his free arm. “The only way out of this pen is to fly through the air.”
The four Dragons standing behind him nodded and giggled.
“He flew?” Fianna frowned, incredulous. “By what miracle?”
Kong chuckled. “Well, not as much flew as he was catapulted through the air.”
“Triblets!” Fianna never considered that possibility. “What do you mean?”
The four lieutenants laughed aloud.
Fianna blinked to adjust her eye software and scanned the compound for anything resembling a catapult. Some vines had been braided into a net, large enough to hold a man. She motioned toward it with her chin. “This looks like some kind of giant sling. Is that your catapult?”
“None of your business, Monalisa.” Kong nonchalantly brushed imaginary dust from his red, sleeveless coat. “You are not a Dragon anymore. We keep our trade secrets to ourselves.”
Fianna remembered that Kong once bragged about his exploits at throwing the hammer... but she didn’t have time to drag the details out of him. “So, he’s on his way to the ships? And he left you all behind?”
“Hey, it’s not so bad here... like a leisure resort.” Kong gestured toward the lush gardens, fruit trees, swimming pools, fountains, and blue domes. “Besides, the boss is coming back for us... and for the crystal. And this time, he’ll bring an entire armada to destroy the winged monkeys.”
Triblets! Now Fianna would have to race him to the ships... a slow race through the dense vegetation. “How long ago did he leave? What kind of weapons does he carry?”
Kong spat at her face.
Fianna did not flinch.
The spit hit the invisible wall and dropped at Kong’s feet. “I’m not saying another word.”
“I see.” Even if Tarkan improvised some primitive weapons, Fianna had sharp blades to carve her way through the jungle. “Which way did he go?”
Kong shrugged and made the gesture of zipping his mouth, but other Dragons looked wistfully to her left, all in the same precise direction beyond the fence. Tarkan’s landing point?
Perfect. Fianna adjusted her internal lenses and scanned in the direction of their gazes. Her sensors picked up an abandoned bed sheet, white and conspicuous through the dense vegetation. She also noticed residual human footprints in luminous blue. “Thanks for your help, Kong.”
“I don’t help traitors.” Kong shook his head in disgust as he turned and limped away, toward the games on the lawn. His lieutenants cast a dismissing glance in her direction then followed him.
“Come on, Sheba.” Fianna led the puma toward the crushed vegetation with the sheet and the blue footprints.
Shame at leaving Acielon without a word ate at her gut. But she had a duty to carry. Still, she should have talked to him, softened the blow. Too late now. She had to run after Tarkan.
She reached the spot with the sheet. Unfortunately, the reforming jungle quickly masked all traces of Tarkan’s trail. She pointed at the footprints. “Here, Sheba. Sniff those and follow the track.”
“Sheba smell Dragon stink.” The puma’s nose pointed ahead. “Sheba find.”
“Good girl.” Fianna hoped to find Tarkan quickly. Acielon intimated that the jungle became too dangerous to walk after dark.
* * *
By the time Acielon emerged from his long meditation, the red sun dipped low in the west. He found it difficult to believe his duty for the Archons had lasted the entire day. It never took that long before.
His stomach growled, and he felt weak as a baby bird. What a strange feeling. For the first time as far as he could remember, he couldn’t find the energy to deploy his wings, and even less fly.
The other Azurans awaking in the square seemed in the same predicament. Their thoughts lacked the strength to spread from mind to mind. This entire day of intense meditation in the service of the Archons had depleted their energy as well.
Acielon wondered if that was how the foreigners felt in their daily lives. Without the crystal energy that bound the Azurans, they must feel lonely, helpless, and feeble. How could anyone function without the ability to fly, or bend nature to one’s will?
Would that become his normal condition as well, if he attempted to leave the planet to explore the universe? Would it be his punishment if he disobeyed the Council one more time? Acielon shuddered at the thought. He hated feeling weak.
Only Azura’s crystal provided the high levels of energy that enabled the development of angelic abilities... and the absence of it reversed the process. Fortunately for Acielon, he was on Azura, and a good night sleep would no doubt remedy his present condition.
Acielon mustered the will to walk back to his residential dome. He needed to see Fianna and share his thoughts with her. On the way, he picked fruit from the trees in the square and ate some, then collected more for
Fianna. He missed her smile, the sound of her voice. Even during his Azuran duties, she’d popped into his mind.
Tonight, however, he may not be able to pleasure her as he did the night before, but he would certainly try. If he could not, he hoped she would understand.
Nothing moved inside as he entered the residential dome. Suspicious silence greeted him. “Fianna?”
No one in sight. Sheba might have gone to feed. He descended the few steps to the sleeping area. Empty. The reading den with the antique books, the kitchen area and the baths also lay empty.
Sudden fear twisted Acielon’s gut. What happened to Fianna? Had the Council removed her from his grasp? Unlikely. Not after they named him her guardian.
Had she escaped? How and why? He couldn’t believe she would leave him without a word. The betrayal stung. Acielon walked outside and roamed the private lawn and garden bathed in fiery sunset that reflected upon the pool. His heart beat like that of a hunted animal. No sign of Fianna or Sheba.
In his weakened state, he could not call upon his mental link with Sheba to locate them. Acielon leaned against the terrace wall and collapsed to the paved ground. He lowered his head into his hands.
He could not imagine a future without Fianna, but obviously she did not feel the same way about him. Yet, he could have sworn he saw genuine love in her liquid green eyes last night.
For the past hundred years, even though he did not always agree with the Council, Acielon had accepted his fate without complaining. He had followed the rules... mostly. Now that his mind considered other possibilities, however, he would not let this opportunity slip away. He wanted to fill his life with love and adventure... but could he stand the loss of his angelic abilities, or his immortality? To be with Fianna, he might.
In his current state, however, he could not fly, or bend the plants to make a path through the jungle to look for her. Besides, the evening shadows already covered the forest. Unable to fly, he would be easy prey for the night-crawlers. A sudden chill scurried up his spine. Was Fianna in the jungle right now? He hoped not.
If she escaped, she intended to save her brother. Given her fierce determination, she would race for the clearing, and as soon as she reached the ships, she would take off. He would never see her again.
Acielon could not let that happen. He had to catch up with her before she left the planet.
In his weak condition, however, he could not stop her. He needed to regenerate... quickly. Only direct contact with the purest crystal could do that for him. Unfortunately, the low grade crystal used to mind-shape the residential domes would not fulfill his urgent need. He required a large piece of raw, unadulterated crystal, straight from the sacred cave... like the one on display in the temple.
Did he dare use the Sacred Crystal for selfish ends? To keep the woman he loved, he had no other option. Had he become a slave to his carnal desires? The thought that Fianna might have corrupted him jarred his very core. What would the punishment be for such a crime?
He could not think of that, not now.
Painfully, he forced himself up to his feet and straightened his frame. It was dark already. The first stars and the three moons rose in the eastern sky.
Since he could not fly like a decent Azuran, Acielon hoped he would not meet any night-crawlers on his way to the temple.
* * *
Triblets. Darkness had fallen, and Fianna still hadn’t caught up with Tarkan. She switched her eyes to night vision. He moved much faster than she’d expected, and she hoped he hadn’t already reached the ships.
Her machete arm ached from hacking, so she switched the blade to her left hand... again. The forest here didn’t seem as dense. She shouldn’t be too far from the clearing where the ships had landed.
The evening birds stopped chirping. The jungle fell eerily silent. Nothing moved in the thick silence. The tortuous roots of giant trees looked like monsters in the dark. Large insects scurried out of wide hollow trunks and crunched underfoot. Something dropped from a low branch. The night breeze carried a sulfurous stench.
Fianna shivered and wiped cold sweat from her brow. “Sheba, do you still have the scent?”
The puma stilled, head pointed straight ahead. “Sheba smell Dragon stink... other stink, too.” The cat wrinkled her nose. “Sheba not like.”
A loud commotion of broken branches, low growls, and human screams made Fianna hack faster despite her fatigue. Some kind of struggle... Tarkan? Through her night vision lenses, she could see the ferns ahead swaying wildly while something very large and black thrashed about in the thick underbrush. Night-crawlers?
By the frozen hells of Laxxar! Her blood turned to ice.
“Help! Anyone, help!” The panic in the male voice chilled her further.
“Tarkan!” She could not see him through the vegetation.
She blinked to zoom her eyesight in the direction of the voice. There he was, on the ground, pinned under the giant black coils of a large reptile. A big ridged head with prominent nostrils foraged him.
The night-crawler raised its large head and sniffed in Fianna’s direction. She could now see the shape of the black beast, a giant undulating serpent, with a ridged skull, and a bloody maw showing several rows of serrated teeth.
Triblets! Fianna couldn’t let the beast eat Tarkan. She needed at least his head to collect the bounty. Besides, she wanted him to serve his sentence like a responsible human being, not provide fodder for some night-crawler.
Keeping the machete in her left hand, she grabbed her crossbow rifle with the right. Would it work against such a large animal? Where was the heart? Would the beast go into a rage if she only wounded it?
Sheba growled, low in her throat, and ran up a tree. “Sheba help.”
“Let me try this first, girl.” Fianna aimed for the monster’s throat and shot.
The bolt whistled through the air. It hit the slick hide but bounced with a slack, hollow sound. The monster hissed and narrowed its black eyes under prominent ridges. It crawled toward her, holding its head high above the ferns.
Triblets! Now, she was the prey.
Tarkan did not run as she expected. He crawled on the ground... dragging a bloody leg. Triblets!
Fianna set a new bolt into her rifle. She must find a weak spot. The belly? The eyes? The beast opened its large maw, revealing the soft palate of its bloody mouth.
The monster flipped its long tail and tripped her feet before she could shoot. Fianna fell then crouched and retrieved her crossbow rifle before standing up.
Sheba dropped from the tree upon the monster’s back, her titanium claws slicing into the black hide as the cat slid down under her own weight. Then the puma pounced upon the tail and her bone-crushing jaw severed the tip.
The monster screamed.
Fianna climbed a natural mound. “You are not used to pain, are you?”
The monster’s head dove toward Fianna and struck like a snake head, snapping its jaw to bite off her head.
Fianna ducked. The monster’s jaws shattered the branch above her head. Triblets! That was close.
“Sheba call Acielon for help?”
“No.” It would be so nice to see him one last time, but Fianna couldn’t risk it. She may not have the strength to resist his pleas. “He would ruin everything.”
“Sheba kill?”
Fianna dodged another strike and climbed to a low branch in an attempt to find a better angle. “Kill the monster if you can.”
“Sheba kill.” The puma ran up another tree then leapt toward the monster’s head, sinking her fangs into the back of the narrow neck. The night-crawler screamed and threw its head in every direction, shaking Sheba like a flag in a storm, trying to dislodge the cat from its nape... to no avail.
Fianna aimed at the wide-open mouth and squeezed the trigger. The bolt flew and planted itself in the roof of the monster’s maw. The scream turned to a whimper. Just then, Sheba severed the spine with a crunchy sound, and the night-crawler collapsed into a loose coil. The
black eyes lost their shine. Fianna’s scanner showed no blood flow, no heartbeat. The beast was dead.
Sheba released her death grip on the monster’s neck, then the cat sat on the ground and dutifully licked the blood from her pelt.
Fianna took a slow, shaky breath. Relief washed over her like a cold bath. But she could not dally. “There could be others close by. Let’s get Tarkan and go.”
The feline nodded. “Sheba drag stinky Dragon.”
“You got here just in time, Monalisa.” Tarkan chuckled but his grimace betrayed agonizing pain. “I guess I owe you my life.”
“Don’t thank me. I could just as easily kill you. All I need is your head.”
“Come, now, Monalisa. You can’t be that mean. We make a good team, you and me.”
“Save your breath. The old charm doesn’t work anymore.” Compared to Acielon, Tarkan was like the filthy night-crawler. Lusty appetites and lots of power, but no depth and no compassion.
“Come on, Monalisa.”
“Shut up, Tarkan. I’m taking you where you belong.” She turned to Sheba. “Grab him by the back of his vest and follow me.”
The puma growled her assent and circled Tarkan.
“Hey!” Tarkan twisted his back and batted his bare hands to prevent Sheba from grabbing him. “Call back your infernal cat. Don’t you dare let it touch me.”
Fianna chuckled. “I advise you to remain still. Sheba just crushed that monster’s neck. You don’t want that to happen to you by accident, do you?”
Tarkan punched the cat’s head. Sheba slapped his face with her large paw and Tarkan collapsed, unconscious.
“Sheba not like Dragon.” The puma huffed. “Sheba scratch Dragon face?”
“No, baby girl.” Fianna could see Sheba hadn’t used her claws on him, but the long scar Fianna had inflicted upon his left cheek years ago shone white in the moonlight. “Just drag him behind me. The forest is thinning.”
A flash of lightning reflected on a silver surface in the distance. “I can see the ships from here, about two klicks away.”
Angel Mine Page 11