by C. R Corbin
"You don't wonder what it would be like to live out amongst the stars?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"I don't know...never really thought that far ahead you know? One day at a time and all of that." she remarked.
"Not much of a dreamer are you?" I asked her. To watch the flame flicker across her face while her brown hair slides against her shoulders was one of the most magical things that I could have ever seen.
"I have dreams! I'm not some unambitious loser Dez!" she exclaimed in a teasing voice while playfully whipping my shoulder with her hands.
"Yeah like getting out of here." quipped Josh as he munched on his share of the fish.
"Well after all of this is over...I don't know. I'll probably move off of Orsova after my degree and go somewhere else. I think I want to go one of the frontier colonies, heard there's excitement brewing there." Amanda remarked.
"Oh and end up like one of the people at Arasin?" asked Kelly, laughing before Amanda shook her head.
"That was one time! Now it's getting rebuilt!" she remarked.
Slowly I began to piece together a plan to stop Kol and Mephisal. In fact a few times I wandered back over the river myself during the night time and stared into the night, listening in for any trace of them. I crept further and further along the tree line once all my injuries were healed and I heard them chattering in the night.
"Any sign of him?" Kol asked.
"Nope. Not ever since the blood trail ended. His scent seems like it leads to the river which as you know...dead end. We can't search for him by air either seeing as how this place is too damn thick....Why did he do that? Do you know? You were closer to him than I was." said Mephisal as the two of them sat there on the branches. I was clinging to a nearby tree, listening in intently with mud over my body to mask my scent, creeping slowly amongst the smooth branches and trying not to make a sound.
"Nope...He got this look in his eye though unlike anything i've ever seen... Not sure what he saw in that colony of humans but he sure as shit went down easily. You know I always thought it would be you to go soft on us!" laughed Kol and Mephisal growled.
"And why would that be?" asked Mephisal.
"Cause you would always want to take your sweet time attacking the damn place! Why not just go in guns a blazing? What were you? Scared?" asked Kol and Mephisal snarled.
"It's called planning imbecile." Mephisal said.
"Well we didn't need to plan when we took on the Neborans but you still wanted to wait. The whole fucking camp was just a bunch of senior citizens, all we had to do was jump down, kick ass, and take all the money that they had in that caravan." said Kol.
"Unlike you I have patience. What you have is bloodlust, what I got...is art." Mephisal said.
"Uh huh art. And what kind of art are we going to practice on the humans? We counted how many? Three of them along with Dezdrin? That means that we're going to have to contend with three of those weaklings in addition to Dezdrin who might not even be properly healed. We can do whatever we like. Once we cross that river and find them it's going to be open season." said Kol.
"Oh you know how I hate runaways. Maybe i'm going to aim for the stomach this time instead of the throat. Cut them up real nice." said Mephisal
We didn't have much time.
Each night I would mask the trail of our scent using water and since we were well hidden they didn't know our exact location. The closer they got to the river the more distorted their senses got which would mess up our trail. Once they got across it would be more of the same and each day we were moving further and further downstream to avoid them so if they crossed near our initial point then they wouldn't be able to find us immediately, it would take a couple more days at least. They were currently about a days out from the spot where we had crossed, carefully tracking our scent and tracing it but I could tell that they were losing focus on it. I managed to find them in the middle of the night by moving quickly through the canopy since I didn't have to track anything, I got a hold of their scent and found them sitting in the branches below.
We had to drag them into a fight downstream.
We could set up a series of traps along the tree line near the river embankment, there they couldn't see us through the mist and they couldn't smell us due to it as well. We could use chemical bombs to further distort their senses and disorient them long enough for me to catch them. That would work, it would have to work.
"Alright...I guess I got my plan." I muttered under my breath and crept away, making my way back to camp in the night and thinking about her and what they had said.
I would not let any harm come to her and in the coming days...I think I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the prospect that any harm might befall Josh and Kelly as well.
What was happening to me exactly? I couldn't understand it at all. Just in the last week she has managed to uncover this side of me that I thought had been lost forever. This sense of guilt...of actual emotion and warmth that lurked somewhere underneath all of those shadowed memories. This light that was now peeking out and driving me to change but one thing dimmed it.
This lie that I was continuing to present to her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Amanda
"That's our plan?" asked Josh and Dez nodded, he was currently hanging upside down from the tree and glancing at us, smiling at me while he stayed in place there.
"That's it." said Dez.
"So basically we keep moving until you think we're ready...alright so what do you need me to do?" asked Kelly.
"I need you to prepare some kind of concoction, preferably an explosive, maybe even a compound that when vaporized will be incredibly debilitating to a Jorathian." said Dez and Kelly glanced around, gazing at her element scanner and nodding. She also had a small synthesizer on her that could be used to mix two compounds together to create something that would be effective as a weapon out on the field
"And me? What do you want me to do?" asked Josh.
"You're in charge of traps, I need you to make me something, maybe a tripwire that when triggered will cause a log to slam into their faces. Understand?" asked Dez.
"That's all? I thought you would want a weapon." Josh joked and Dez kept his gaze steady and unchanging.
"A weapon too?" Josh asked.
"Yeah....likely something mechanical." said Dez and Josh nodded.
"I guess I can manage." said Josh.
"Now....I guess we should begin walking for the day. Trust me this will be over in about two weeks, it will all end then." said Dez with a certainty in his voice that was never present in quite the same amount as it was now.
So over the next few days we wandered downstream in order to keep our tracks clean. Behind us Dez drizzled water to distort our tracks and we often went in a zigzag pattern to dissuade discovery and for the most part it worked. Over the next few days we worked on everything that he said we would. Kelly assembled her little potions in these smooth makeshift grenade containers that were made by Josh using the wood of nearby trees to carve out these tiny orbs of wood and fill them with the compounds, they were bound shut by the nanomachines and some dried vine was attached to them that would be lit up. The first couple of them were duds but finally we found a proper explosive after a few days of trying it.
"Great!" hollered Kelly as the pellet let out a tiny pop in front of us. The sound was loud but not loud enough to be heard at an incredible distance, I looked over at him and nodded.
"Yeah. I think this is our one." I said with a grin and Dez smiled.
And other days Josh and him would bicker.
"GRR!" groaned Dez as he pulled on the rope to pull the log back into the canopy. The rope was made from some of the vines that were bound together. The forest had all that we need to create our makeshift weaponry, everything from deadly compounds to traps. After the log was finally lifted far enough according to Josh's intuition the two of them gathered near the tripwire where they initiated their test.
"Alright go!" said Jos
h and Dez tossed a rock at the wire before this large log came falling down from the woods. The mist was nearly impossible to see through so the wire would be invisible should we be close to the river.
At the end of it all they shoot one another a grin and gave each other the thumbs up.
And during all of that, Josh had managed to build something of a weapon for me.
"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked Dez.
"You've already done more than enough but should I need help in battle you're going to be the one I call on. This shouldn't take too much to fire and it's silent which is the most important thing." he said as he lifted the crossbow and handed it to me. It was light and had a bolt constructed from wood in the middle of it. It was fully crafted using the various tools that Josh had on him. I lift it up and gazed at the tree in the distance where Dez had left a notch using his knife.
"Now..." he said and caressed me from behind, his strong abdomen was rubbing my back, his pecs were pressing against my shoulder blades and I gasped as I feel his strong arms envelope me. His hands closed around the back of my hands and I sighed as I held the bow up to fire.
"Have you ever seen a crossbow before?" I asked him.
"Believe it or not yes. We have a similar weapon back home. I suppose growing up bipedal in the jungle gives you the initiative to make such things." said Dez and I smiled.
"Alright so....just hold on and fire..." I said.
"Hold it up and hold your breath. Breathing will make your shot unsteady, make sure it's aligned and...fire." he said and I pulled the trigger as soon as I felt I was ready. The bolt lodged itself into a tree but far off target. It wasn't even the same tree that I was aiming at.
"Damn." I grunted and he pats me on the back.
"No one gets it on their first try. Just keep practicing." he said.
"But we only have a week. I don-" I began but he shakes his head.
"Trust me, practice and you'll be perfect." he reassures me and I stumble onto my knees.
"So this is where I am again huh? Everyone else got their task done on the first try but here I am, stuck with a bow that I can't even aim properly." I remarked and stared at the weapon in my hands.
"The first thing you've done is heal me. As far as i'm concerned you've proven your worth to this group way before they did. This is just the second task, just a little task that can help out. It doesn't have any bearing on your worth, that's already been proven." he said while stroking my shoulder, his face was dangerously close to mine and I was smiling at him.
"Thanks....I have a question though." I said and he nodded.
"What is it?" he asked me.
"Why are you always with me instead of them?" I asked and he keeps his gaze on me, his eyes widening slightly as I posed the question to him.
Over the last couple of weeks I find myself admiring him more and more. His presence was one of the only lights in this world at this point and I was much more comfortable with him than with the others which was saying quite a lot. He had taught me so much, to be more confident, to be more assured in my capabilities, all of it.
And now it was my time to ask him why.
He could have taken anyone else under his wing but ever since I met him I felt this incredible bond forming between the two of us, a bond that I couldn't quite explain but I knew it existed and that I know existed in him as well. Each time that the glanced over was more intense than the last, a gaze filled with a passion and a hint of regret. A hint of some sort of fresh sadness that was recently broken into the world that was his mind.
"Why I....." he began and sighed.
"Why? Is there something special about me? I just want to know why each time when you glance at me it's different than the way you look at the others. Why is there such...light? Why are you always standing next to me when we walk and always talking to me? What made you pull that move with me on the river and comfort me the first night?" I asked him and he bites his lip.
"Because you're my mate." he said immediately after I finished speaking and I paused.
What?
I remembered what he had said about the entire mating process and how there was only one per life but I thought that it was something that only occurred between Jorathians and not...humans and Jorathians. This was highly unusual wasn't it? This wasn't normal and yet here he was standing in front of me, telling me that I basically meant the world to him. I keep my gaze on him and paused while staring, my body was shaking and I can't help but smile.
Perhaps that was the time that I realized it as well.
Each time I looked at him I felt this overwhelming light consume me, every inch of my being was consumed by this radiant fire that sprung a bit higher when I looked at him. It leaked out into my very nature as well, when I walked with him I couldn't help but smile and feel comfortable. I was worthy in his eyes, I was better than the rest and...he was that to me as well. No longer did I feel like I was that useless girl that would amount to nothing, now I was truly comfortable in my own skin thanks to all of those nights of chatter between the two of us.
I see it now and...well I like...the feeling.
It was so strange...I was actually in love with a Jorathian.
"I've known since I first saw you but I didn't want to say anything to complicate our mission. I just....I don't know. It's not something I can control so i'm sorry if you don't' understand or don't want to accept, I'll understand if you don't but...that's why. It is in my blood to protect you, to safeguard you for as long as we both breathe." he remarked and I frowned.
"Was that why you helped us?" I asked him and he shakes his head.
"Only in the beginning. Overtime I have come to care for your friends in the same way that you care for them. I want you all to be free of this madness. Initially I just saw it as an opportunity to get healed and to fight back against those that would dare to attack me and then when I saw you it developed even further but after these last few days....I know now that I need to protect you. I need to protect the things that I care about." he said and my eyes flickered in the gentle setting sun. They would be making our supper in the distance but we still had time, we had about a couple hours to do whatever we wished and...
"That's why...I just want to tell you that. I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way with this confession, but I want to thank you regardless. You've changed me for the better in ways that you can never imagine. A side of me that I thought had been long gone is now...back and I understand it now...this light that is in me is more than just mating because I...love you." he remarked.
We stand there in the midst of all of this light fog, in the middle of the woods with the camp far in the distance with only a tiny flicker of flame visible that would take some serious concentration to see. I knew that this was the perfect time to make my move with all of the confidence that had been granted to me.
"You've shown me things too...Which is why I can finally do this." I said and grabbed the back of his neck. I leaned in and pressed my lips against his as he moaned into me and rested his hand on my cheek. His webbed fingers dashed against my cheek and I rubbed the bare scales on his back. The armor that he has tied to his back falls onto the ground and I leaned into him.
He controls me with those strong arms of his and presses my back against the tree. I moaned as I feel his grip linger on my chest, his fingers pressing into my breasts as I stripped my shirt off and tossed it aside. My ample curves are revealed and I tried to hide them by covering up but he shake his head and pulls my hands away.
"I love this." he remarked and I smiled.
"Thank you." I said with a flushed face, finally there was a man that fully accepted my curvy body.
I feel his lips dashing over me as I groaned into his mouth. His pants drop to the floor as well after I forcefully drag them off and his claws retract as he pressed his hands against my mounds. His fingers dance around my nipples with great dexterity and I whisper as I feel him contouring the shape of my mounds over and over again. I groaned and sh
ut my eyes, biting my lip as he continued to dance his lips over my body. He kisses downward and places his mouth on my neck. I feel his teeth gently teasing my flesh as he continued, my back was arched against the wood and I was moaning loudly.
"Oh take me, take me. I've wanted this for so long." I said while dancing my fingers over his body, his powerful abdomen and his pecs all tensed up as the gold sheen of his skin was reflected onto me. I danced my hands across the scar on his stomach and felt him quiver as he pinches my nipples and pulled, I nearly cried out from the pleasure.
"You consume me." I moaned.
"My mate, my mate." he repeats, each time is more joyful than the last.
He continued to kiss my neck until settling his mouth on my breasts. I feel his lips purse around my mounds as his teeth gently tease my nipples, he gently bites down and pulled as I groaned for him. My moaning gets louder and louder as his tongue danced over my nipples time and time again. I feel my body quivering and my back arching as his tongue slides back and forth over those nubs of flesh. From what I understood Jorathian tongues were a bit rougher in order to process the fruits and the meats that they ate back home. This gave his mouth much more texture than any human mouth and increased my pleasure immensely as I feel his textured lips and tongue dance over my nipples.
"Don't stop, don't stop." I moaned.
"Yes you love me, you love me." he said and I nodded.
"I love you." I repeated.
There was an incredible slickness gathering on my folds and I could barely contain myself. Each motion that he did caused me to jerk and thrust my hips into him. I was moaning more and more, my cries were barely under control by the time he was kissing my folds. His kisses formed a trail down for my lips to my crotch and he had finally arrived, I was so slick for him, I wanted that tongue inside of me more than anything else in the world.
"Grant it to me, slip it inside of me." I moaned and he smiled.