by A. G. Wilde
He must live.
He had to.
Pulling on the little strength that she had, she limped back to the entrance of the cave and picked as many of the healing flowers as she could. The sand cat she’d killed was still at the entrance and she kicked the body as she passed.
She knew now why Xul had told her to be quiet. It was a sand cat den.
This was where he’d risked coming all those times she needed the flowers for her wounds.
Her heart lurched again with gratitude.
Grabbing the rope he’d left behind, she limped over to the gator-guard and pulled the spear from its chest. It made a disgusting wet sound as it exited and her stomach responded by trying to exert its contents. Which consisted of nothing.
She had nothing in there because they hadn’t had time to eat.
Looking around them, she eyed a piece of the ship that had blown off. It was probably big enough to put Xul on but she was sure she wouldn’t be able to pull the weight of them both.
Glancing up at the sky, Athena set her mouth into a tight line.
She needed to move and she needed to move fast. Night was coming soon and they had no shelter.
Setting her mouth in a tight line, she ignored her body’s protests and limped over to Xul, collapsing at his side when she got there.
She needed to survive this.
It was the only way for them to make it out alive. But first, she needed to move him.
Wrapping the rope across his shoulders, she attached the other ends around her own shoulders, tying it tightly.
She knew moving injured people was a bad thing but letting him stay put meant certain death.
As she tried to walk forward, the strain on her shoulders was too much and Xul hardly moved.
Glancing behind her, she gritted her teeth. She’d just have to try harder.
Falling on her knees, she dug her hands into the sand as she pulled her body forward, crying out with the exertion.
It was almost too much, but he moved a little.
That was all she needed to know.
She was going to do it.
She didn’t have a choice.
As she crawled forward, Athena forgot the pain and focused ahead.
It was painful and it was slow but she was going to do it.
She wasn’t going to give up.
It didn’t matter that tears were running down her cheeks or that her bones felt like they were going to break.
She was going to make it back to where they’d camped and she was going to make sure that he was okay.
She was going to make it.
* * *
Night was almost upon them when Athena collapsed. She’d almost made it. Just a few more paces to go.
She could see the area where they’d been camping before. It wasn’t far ahead.
Glancing behind her, she gulped hard as she looked at Xul.
He hadn’t regained consciousness and she didn’t have the heart to check if he was still breathing.
She refused to let those thoughts get in her head.
He wasn’t going to die. Not on her watch.
Digging her hands into the sand, she pulled herself forward, inching closer and closer to their abandoned camp, and when she finally reached it, she collapsed and pulled in a ragged breath.
But there was only a little light left in the sky; she didn’t have time to take a breather. Unfastening the ropes from around her shoulders, she winced at the pain it caused. Her skin had been rubbed off by the friction and she hadn’t even realized.
As she searched underneath the soft sand for the zehmip head, she finally caught one of the thorns and pulled it upward.
It took her a few minutes to set up the tent again. Pushing the thorns as deep in the sand as she could.
Underneath, the zehmip skin that had been there before was still intact. Gripping the rope, she pulled Xul’s body into the tent and secured the barriers, breathing hard as she collapsed to take a breath.
He was still not moving and Athena found herself trembling as she leaned over him.
“Xul,” she breathed, her body shaking as she breathed in deeply.
Pulling out the flowers she’d stashed in her bosom, she began crushing the petals together in her palm.
She could hardly see, but she wasn’t going to dare search for the light. His satchel must be somewhere under the sand anyway and she wasn’t about to go outside the tent looking for it.
Her plan was to remain low and keep quiet till morning.
Hopefully, the predators around would be more attracted to the bodies of the gator-guards still at the scene and Xul would be safe for the night.
As the flowers turned into a pulp, Athena plastered as much as she could over his wounds.
There was a deep hole in his stomach where some sort of laser had shot him and he was bleeding from his head, his back, his legs....fuck.
She tried to get the flower sap into as much of the wounds as she could but it wasn’t enough.
For a second, she contemplated making the trek back to the sand cats’ den but decided against it almost immediately.
That would be stupid.
She would only be putting them both in danger.
She would just have to keep put.
Even in the darkness, she could feel the sand that had embedded itself in Xul’s wounds and she knew that wasn’t good.
She was going to have to find a way to clean his wounds or he was at risk of infection or worse.
She needed water.
And soon.
Shuddering as she lay beside him, she rested her head on his chest.
The soft thump of his heart underneath his skin was a reminder that he was still alive.
He was still fighting.
And so would she.
* * *
The hours passed by slowly.
Every now and again, Xul would make a sound but he still had not regained full consciousness.
Athena did the only thing she could think of doing. She held him.
It was the only thing she could do.
She couldn’t leave to go search for more flowers till morning and she had no water to clean his wounds.
The night was long and lonely.
Finally, as the twin suns rose slowly in the sky, Athena lifted her pounding head.
The air was cold and she moved the barrier to peek outside.
She could see footprints in the sand of things that had passed by them in the night. The entire time, she had lain with her eyes open, gripping Xul’s spear, but none of the animals had tried to enter.
Maybe they thought the zehmip was still alive and they were being digested inside.
Whatever the reason, she was just glad they hadn’t been attacked.
As she pushed out her head beyond the barrier, a fat raindrop fell smack into her face. Mildly startled, a slow laugh shook through her frame.
For once, something was going their way.
Pulling the zehmip skin from underneath Xul, she tied the ends together to create a sort of bag.
Taking his spear, she exited the tent and drove it deep into the sand. With the rope, she attached the bag to the spear and tied the other side to the tent.
The raindrops began falling as suddenly as they had begun the first time and Athena ducked back into the tent, leaving the barrier open so she could see what was happening.
Xul groaned again and she ran a hand over his cheek.
“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “I am here with you.”
It didn’t take long for the makeshift bag to be filled with water and Athena made to exit the tent to gather it.
But, looking down at herself, she decided to strip her clothes off.
It was going to get cold later. She’d need dry clothes.
The cold bit into her skin immediately, and Athena took in a deep breath.
As she pulled the bag inside the tent, she held it in one hand and began washing the sand from his wou
nds.
It was a slow process but she could already see that it was working.
The only problem was that she was removing the flower sap in the process as well.
One problem at a time, Athena.
You can do this.
* * *
His wounds were clean but the rain was still falling hard. With the sand no longer covering him, she realized that he was hurt more than she had first realized.
If she didn’t do something soon, he was going to die.
Brushing the thought from her mind, she pulled his head into her lap and cradled it there.
Looking down at him now, she wondered what she’d been afraid of before.
He was just a man. Not some scary alien who was out to get her.
Tracing a finger along his face, she bent her head to rest her forehead against his.
“...thena...”
It was a croak and Athena lifted her head so sharply that it caused pain to shoot down her spine.
“Xul?”
His eyelids were fluttering low as if he was trying to wake up and a rush of joy spread through her.
“Ath...”
He was calling her name.
As tears sprung into her eyes, she held him closer. “Yes, yes, I’m here. Don’t talk. I’m here.”
The tears were running down her cheeks onto his forehead but she didn’t care.
He was trying to raise his hand and she realized the compass-like device was wrapped around it.
“Take...” His green eyes finally opened enough for him to look at her and she could see the life slowly leaving them. They weren’t that intense green that she was used to.
“Take...Go...outpost,” he said.
The horror of what he was asking her to do hit her like a brick.
“No.” Athena swallowed hard and glanced out of the tent. The rain was easing up now. It was her window to go and fetch more flowers. “Don’t you dare suggest that.”
She wasn’t going to do that. She wouldn’t leave him.
He was all she had is this godforsaken wilderness but it wasn’t even because of that. There was something else that was pushing her to work so hard to keep him alive. Something that was budding within her that she didn’t want to analyze.
Resting his head back against the sand, Athena limped out of the tent and grabbed his spear.
Fixing back the barrier in place, she headed down to fetch the flowers.
19
The trek to the flowers seemed twice as long as before but Athena pushed forward, her body protesting with every step.
She was able to gather twice as many flowers as before though before heading back to the camp. When she’d reached the cave, she’d expected the gator-guards’ bodies to still be lying around but from what it looked like, they’d been torn to pieces by beasts in the night.
The scene made her shiver.
As she pulled herself over the hill and caught sight of the camp where she’d left Xul, her blood ran cold.
Close by were two of those invisible snake-dragon things, only their dark scales were showing now so she could see them. They weren’t attacking though but because of their huge size, she could see them clearly from so far away.
What were they doing so close?
Gripping the spear, she crept forward slowly and something else caught her attention.
There were little beings, maybe six or so of them, all circling the tent.
They were dressed in little robes that were the color of the sand and they had little round bald heads.
They were brown too, almost the color of the sand but of various degrees of brown.
As she approached, one of them saw her and began muttering wildly to the others in its language.
Spear poised, she approached warily and all the little men whipped out what looked like little spears of their own.
Great.
One of them said something to her and Athena frowned.
Tapping her ears, she said, “I cannot understand you.”
Maybe the damn translator thing wasn’t working.
The little alien repeated whatever it had said and pointed at the spear in her hand.
Oh, it wanted her to surrender while they had their spears pointed at her?
Hell. No.
From the way they looked, she assumed they were the residents of Muk. And, apparently, they didn’t take kindly to strangers around these parts.
One of them poked the side of Invisible Dragon Numero Uno and the thing roared down at her.
Ok then.
Message received.
As she let the spear fall from her hand slowly, she realized she hadn’t noticed the small seats that dotted the dragon beast.
They rode that thing?
Second message received.
Don’t mess with bitches who could tame bitches who’d almost fucked you up.
As the spear fell, the little aliens seemed satisfied and the one who’d poked the dragon beast patted the animal, which promptly settled its head in the sand.
They were speaking to her again, their spears now lowered and were pointing to her bloodied clothes.
One of them pulled open the barrier way too easily and stepped inside.
“No!” Athena moved after the thing but the others raised their spears at her again.
Glancing at the dragon beast, she swallowed hard.
This was not good. This was not good at all.
More mumbling ensued.
Their language sounded like a series of clicks and whistles and the one inside must be telling them about Xul because, for a second, they all ran to the entrance and forgot all about her.
Glancing back at the spear, she wondered if she should grab it but the dragon thing had its eyes on her. She wasn’t sure if it would act on its own accord but she wasn’t sure it was worth it to take the chance either.
One of the little men approached her, reaching only to her knee, and poked her with the butt of its spear.
Athena winced.
It had chosen to poke exactly where the wound was on her leg.
The thing’s little beady eyes widened slightly and the innocent response made her wonder if it was a child.
Its size certainly suggested it was.
It grabbed her hand and spotted the flowers then it started speaking to the others again.
From inside the tent, she heard the others reply to it.
Then the thing tried to pull the flowers from her hand, but she held on to them.
It was the only thing she knew would help Xul. She wasn’t about to just give it up. But the little beady eyes focused on hers and the little alien pressed the sharp part of its spear against her chest.
“Fine,” Athena said through gritted teeth.
God-fucking-damn this planet.
The little alien grabbed the flowers, threw them in its mouth, and began chewing.
“I need those!” Athena screamed at it, her hands balled into fists.
Glancing back at the spear, she wondered if she could take them.
Probably she could but not with two dragon beasts close by.
As the thing chewed, it rushed toward the tent and Athena followed behind.
When she entered, her eyes widened to the sight that greeted her.
They were all spitting saliva in their little hands and rubbing it into Xul’s wounds.
“No!” Athena screamed but one of them raised its spear toward her.
Ignoring it, she stepped forward, ready to pull them one after the other off of his body when another raised its spear at her.
In a split second, the little alien vaulted itself on her body and held the spear at her throat.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck.
She wasn’t about to let them just prep him for their meal.
What the hell was wrong with this planet?
But as the anger boiled in her veins, she noticed the one who had taken the flowers from her was now spitting the chewed up flowers in
to its hand and massaging the soft mixture into Xul’s wounds.
Wait...they weren’t trying to hurt him. They were trying to help him.
The little alien looked up at her when it was done and said something to her.
“I can’t understand you...do you want more?” She looked around at them, her gaze bouncing off each of their faces.
They all looked alike. It was strange as hell. The only thing that made them look slightly different was the fact that they were different shades of brown.
Raising her hands in the air, her gaze locked with the one that had jumped on her chest. Dark beady eyes blinked at her but it seemed as if it understood that she was saying she wouldn’t resist for it hopped back to the floor.
Reaching into her bosom, Athena pulled out a large wad of flowers. She didn’t have pockets and it had been the best way to carry as much as she could.
What sounded like a murmur of approval echoed through the group and they all took some and began chewing on the petals. Soon, they were daubing the mixture of their saliva and the fluid from the petals into Xul’s wounds.
Turning him on his back, they did the same thing to the wounds there.
Athena swallowed hard as she saw the deep gashes across his back. Even his light-brown hair was dyed a deep red by his own blood.
When the little men finished, one of them said something to her and Athena shook her head. She couldn’t understand a word they were saying and she assumed they couldn’t understand her either.
It turned to mumble something to its friends and the others seemed to nod in agreement.
“Ok, you just agreed on something. What did you agree on?”
The little beings ignored her as they stood around Xul’s body, three on each side.
Before she could protest, the beings heaved and lifted him above their heads.
“Wait, no!” Athena was brushed out of the way. “Where are you taking him?”
As the dragon beast saw them approach, it seemed to flatten itself on the sand as they climbed on top of it, still carrying Xul above their heads.
Dashing over to Xul’s spear, Athena grabbed it and turned on them but the dragon beast roared at her, causing her to jump back.
Shit.
This couldn’t be happening.