by A. G. Wilde
But that was where the softness stopped.
His face was hard and his chest too.
Leaning closer, she frowned as she investigated his horns.
They were coming directly out of his forehead and went up into the air, the ends pointed. She bet if he wanted to gore anybody, he could.
What else would they be there for? Surely the evolutionary purpose of the horns was for battle.
The horns looked like they were made of thick bone and they were both ribbed.
Stretching her hand further, she began to run a finger down one of the horns when Xul’s eyes snapped open.
A growl escaped his lips and then he was grabbing her wrist. In the next second, he was rolling over and pinning her underneath him.
It took a few seconds for his green gaze to focus on her surprised face and the snarl to leave his lips.
“What are you doing, human?” He grumbled.
Athena took a few deep breaths. The movement had been so sudden, it was like it had surprised the air out of her lungs. His body was pressed against hers, her arm pinned above her head, and Athena tried not to think about the fact that her breasts were heaving against his chest.
“I wasn’t doing anything, alien.” She put emphasis on the last word and watched him frown before he grunted. She was going to call him that for as long as he decided to refer to her only as “human.”
“It is strange that you see me as the alien,” he mused.
He was close. So so close. His hot breath brushed over her face.
And for some reason she really could not describe, her wandering eyes fell from his gaze to fall on his lips.
When her eyes finally met his again, she realized he was studying her once more.
“You are interested in my horns.” It was more of a statement than a question and Athena wondered if he needed her to answer.
When he remained silent as if waiting on her to say something, she jerked her head in a nod.
Releasing her wrist, Xul planted his hands on either side of her body.
“Your species does not have horns, yet you look similar to us,” he mused.
“Well,” Athena cleared her throat, very aware that she was still beneath him and he was making no effort to roll off. “We don’t need horns for battle.”
His eyebrows rose and he seemed amused by that.
“My horns are not used for battle,” he said, his eyes searching her face.
Athena frowned. “Then what are they used for?”
“They are a symbol of my species’ virility. The longer the horns, the bigger the—”
“Okay!” Athena raised her hand to stop him. She’d heard enough. There was no need for him to go on.
If he was trying to tell her he was packed down there, then mission accomplished, for his horns were very long and erm…thick.
Amusement flooded his gaze immediately. “They are also used by the women of my species as something to hold on to when they are being pleasured.”
He must have seen the red rise in her cheeks because a deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, vibrating against her and filling their little tent with his laughter.
For a few seconds, Xul remained above her, staring down at her and she could almost see the thoughts flying behind his eyes.
His eyes fell to her lips and she saw him pause. Then, as if whatever thoughts he was having disturbed him, he promptly rolled off her, stood, and grabbed his spear.
Athena averted her gaze.
Thanks to his little lesson, every time she looked at his loincloth she was going to be wondering what was hiding behind it. And now, she had a good idea.
“We must move,” Xul said, picking up the remainder of the food he’d packed and stuffing them into his satchel.
Around them, the wind was not howling as wildly as before but dusk was starting to set in.
In the next moment, Xul removed the barrier and stepped outside, before putting it back in place.
There was still sand swirling in the wind and Athena wondered how they were going to travel with the sand beating against them.
Maybe it would have been possible with some kind of covering, but with none, she didn’t really see how it was going to work.
Glancing down at herself, she noticed that the soft-billowy wool seemed a lot smaller than it did just hours before.
Maybe it was her bad memory but it looked like it was shrinking.
Xul opened the barrier again and threw something hairy inside.
It looked suspiciously like the skin of the zehmip.
Closer inspection proved she was right.
Xul popped his head into the tent, his horns almost poking holes into the top.
“Put that over yourself. We move now,” he said, eyeing her before exiting the tent again.
Athena looked over the hairy zehmip skin again.
It was thick, the underside smooth and the overside having that woolly mammoth-type fur she’d noticed earlier.
Shrugging the thing over herself, it was just enough to cover her from her head to her thighs.
It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.
Just then, Xul moved the barrier and popped his head in again, looking her up and down.
“Let’s move,” he said.
Athena nodded and exited the tent.
The first thing that hit her was the wind.
Minute grains of sand stung her face as they beat against her skin.
Pulling the makeshift zehmip coat higher to protect her face, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to see anything with the storm still blowing around them.
“I can’t see anything!” She shouted, mildly aware that Xul was standing somewhere close by.
Through her restricted vision, she saw that he too had a zehmip coat pulled over himself to protect against the flying sand.
He was checking his compass device to figure out which direction to head in.
“I can’t see anything!” Athena repeated, pressing against the wind to get closer to Xul’s large form.
He turned to her and said something, but the wind took his words away.
Pushing something long and narrow in her hand, she realized he was handing her a piece of the zehmip stalk. She was mildly confused until she felt him tug against it.
It was a lead.
She’d have to hold on to it so she didn’t get lost.
Apparently satisfied that she was holding on to the thing, Xul began moving forward and Athena followed behind.
The sand was deep and loose, making her feet sink with every step. She couldn’t see anything in front of her, all that was there was swirling sand and darkness was setting in.
Coupled with the wind pressing against her, the only thing that felt sure and secure was the zehmip stalk she was holding on to.
The constant soft pull was a reminder that she was not alone.
An alien was on the other end and though that would have terrified her a day before, it was comforting at that moment.
Athena settled on that thought as she gripped the stalk for dear life.
Right now, it was her only connection to freedom and probably even survival.
13
The human was keeping up.
Xul pulled on the stalk every now and again to make sure she was still there.
He couldn’t see her in the swirling of the sand, neither could he hear if she called him.
Pulling the coat of the zehmip further over himself, he brought the compass closer to his face so he could check if he was heading in the right direction.
If he’d been traveling alone, it would have been much easier. He’d be making much more progress. But he couldn’t dwell on that now. The fact was that she was there, whether he liked it or not.
As the former commander used to say, missions never went to plan. It was up to the soldier to adapt and fulfill his mission.
They had only a few days to traverse Muk, reach the outpost, and make contact.
For now,
that was his mission, and it was one he was going to fulfill.
The lives of too many people depended on it for him to fail—not only the lives of the slaves on board but those of his men as well.
Pulling lightly on the zehmip stalk, he felt the slight resistance on the other end and a soft smile smoothed his lips.
They had been walking for about two hours and night was upon them but she hadn’t complained...not that he could hear her anyway.
But he assumed that if she wanted to stop she’d have stopped walking.
Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he tried to empty his mind and concentrate.
One of his men, Yce, was on board and if he could focus enough, maybe he could contact him. Yce’s powers were still something he didn’t quite understand but the soldier had the unique ability to connect minds and transfer information.
His skill had been useful on many a mission and Xul wouldn’t be surprised if Yce was going to prove useful on this mission as well.
But he couldn’t connect with him. Maybe it was the storm interfering, or maybe he was just too far away.
He doubted it was the second one though. Yce had been known to connect with people of his kind many galaxies away.
Pressing against the wind, Xul gave the zehmip stalk another light tug and froze when he felt no resistance.
One more tug and he pulled the stalk right towards him, the other end reaching him with no human attached.
Qrak, he cursed underneath his breath, moving into action immediately.
“Human!” He called, but his voice was lost in the wind. Retracing his steps, he tried to catch a glimpse of the female’s small body anywhere but he could not see her. Even with his enhanced vision, the swirling sand was making it difficult to see anything around him.
Qrak, qrak, qrak.
And then he heard it. The undeniable growl of a sand cat.
Only, sand cats never hunted alone. They always hunted in groups of no less than five.
Spear raised, Xul squinted as he tried to see through the sand, his heart beating in his chest.
If sand cats were close, he needed to find the human, and he needed to find her fast.
* * *
Athena opened her mouth to scream but it was only filled with sand.
Something was gripping her and pulling her backward, away from the stalk and away from Xul.
The pain that was shooting up her right leg possibly meant that whatever was pulling her backward had also sunk its teeth deep into her leg.
Coughing out the sand in her mouth, she squinted against the sand in the air and dug her fingers into the sand beneath her.
Fucking sand everywhere. Curse this damn planet.
There was no grip.
Fuck!
Even with her fingers dug deep into the sand, it was not stopping the thing from pulling her backward.
Kicking behind her with her one good leg, she kicked into the air. Correcting the trajectory, she aimed and kicked again.
This time, her foot connected with something big, hard, and furry.
Aiming again, she put as much power as she could into the kick and landed a second blow.
The thing growled for the first time, and a chill ran down Athena’s spine.
It sounded like a lion. Probably even bigger.
The thing twisted her, causing pain to shoot up her leg, and suddenly she was being pulled on her back.
Even with the sand swirling around them, she could feel the blood running down her right leg. She still couldn’t see a thing but she did the only thing she could do and rained down kicks into the thing’s head.
Pulling the zehmip cloak over her face to stop the sand, she shouted Xul’s name, but she was sure he was either too far away by now or he hadn’t even realized she was no longer holding the stalk.
Kicking as hard as she could again, her foot landed into something soft and she hoped it was the thing’s eye. It growled again and threw her to the side, dropping her leg in the process.
Athena scrambled backward, her heart beating in her chest.
She knew it was going to come after her again shortly and she had nothing to defend herself with.
As she scrambled backward, her back hit something hard. At first, she thought it was a rock, but the soft sand that fell from the contact told her it was something else.
It was one of those sleeping Venus trap things.
A growl somewhere beside her reached her ears and Athena scrambled on top of the dune.
The wind was starting to ease but it was still not low enough for her to see clearly or even shout loud enough to be heard.
As she scrambled on top of the dune, a slight movement underneath the sand made her heart beat in her throat.
Fuck. She was trading one predator for another but she would just have to take her chances.
Zehmips hunted for food using their flytrap mouths. If she avoided the mouth, she should be safe.
Another loud growl sounded somewhere to her left and Athena swallowed hard, pulling herself as high as she could on top of the dune.
Her injured leg was lying limply, so she only had one leg to work with, but she was going to climb to the top if it was the last thing she did.
And she prayed it wasn’t the last thing she did.
There was another growl, this time on her right and Athena dug her hands deeper into the sand and tried to pull herself up higher.
It sounded like there was more than one.
As the wind slowed a little more and Athena could see a bit better, her fear gave her a fresh burst of energy.
In the darkness, twelve glowing eyes were looking at her and they were all surrounding the dune.
A sound behind her made her look back and her eyes widened a little as she saw two of the eyes jump on top of the dune. Whatever it was, it was climbing up the dune toward her.
She was almost at the top now, but if the things could climb, what was she going to do then?
As another pounced on the dune and began climbing upwards, Athena’s mind fired off scenarios in her head.
There was only one thing she could do now.
Without thinking twice, she dug her hands deep into the sand, praying that she was nowhere near the mouth of the zehmip.
Her arm was almost completely subdued in the sand when she felt something hairy under her fingers.
Bingo!
Feeling along the hair, she pushed her arm further underneath the sand as she watched the glowing eyes move closer and closer to her.
To her right, another pair of glowing eyes jumped unto the dune and was moving toward her.
Athena gulped, her hand searching underneath the sand for the right spot. But the sand was deep and she had to trust her instincts.
One of the glowing eyes pounced and gripped on to the wool-like material she had wrapped around her waist.
It pulled it off her but the material got stuck in its mouth.
Its mild confusion bought her more time.
Lifting her leg again, she gave the beast a harsh kick that sent it flying off the dune.
From what she could see, the thing was long and big, like a skinny lion with large pointed ears like a fruit bat.
Another one jumped on the dune and Athena gritted her teeth, her hand underneath the sand desperately searching for what she was looking for.
As the wind died down a little more, she heard a shout in the distance.
Xul.
The sound of his voice gave her a little more hope but he was still far away or maybe he couldn’t see her.
She needed to find the zehmip’s mouth or she would be over in a few seconds.
As the golden eyes of one of the predators drew closer, it crouched low on its front legs and made to pounce on her.
In that second, Athena found what she was looking for.
Fingers closing around one of the thorns on the zehmip’s mouth, she yanked as hard as she could and held on.
The rumbling underneath the sand was
immediate and the predators seemed to yelp.
The sound of tree bark stretching filled the air and then she was being lifted high above the ground.
With the wind dying around her, she saw as the glowing eyes fell to the ground beneath her.
Spinning around to face the zehmip, she realized she was hanging on to the top of its head. Its mouth was open and she grabbed another one of its thorns.
In a movement too fast for her to comprehend, the zehmip dipped its head and tried to snap at one of the large cat-like creatures. It missed as the creature dashed out of the way. But that didn’t stop it from swooping again.
Athena closed her eyes for a second. She was getting dizzy. It was like being on the 200-foot drop at Six Flags.
As the zehmip swooped again, this time it caught one of the cats in its mouth and its jaws slammed shut immediately.
Beneath her, she could feel the animal’s desperate attempts to escape from its impending death as it clawed against the zehmip’s jaw. But there was nowhere for it to go. It was going to be digested. Athena tried to withhold the sudden urge to puke and concentrated on what was happening below her.
There was the shadowy figure of a man with horns attacking one of the cats, his spear held high as he pierced one of the cat’s throat. He was big and he was fast, lunging for a second of the cats as another pounced on him.
He had just lodged his spear in the one in front of her when Athena saw another crouch to pounce.
“Look out!” She screamed but the cat was already in the air. It landed on Xul and dug its teeth into his skin.
Xul roared and stretched his hand behind him, gripping the thing by the neck.
As he pulled the cat off him, he used his spear to slice another in mid-air as it lunged at him.
From her perch above the ground, Athena watched him move in awe.
He moved with such speed and intent, slicing through the animals as if they were nothing.
It was a clear display that he was trained for combat.
In a matter of seconds, the animals all lay dead around him and Xul rested his spear in the sand to look up at her.
In the dim light, she could hardly see his features and she had no idea what he was thinking.
Now that the threat was no longer there, she needed to figure out how to get down.