Loved by a Bear (Legends of Black Salmon Falls Book 1)

by Lauren Lively

  "The Light Ones," Bannack said.

  "I don't know," Loralia admitted, "I only know what my grandfather told me. He said that their numbers were greatly diminished and that they had to wait for the next generation to be born before they would be able to fight again. They haven't been heard from since."

  "You don't know what their vulnerability is?"

  "No, but you need to get Lynx help now. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for Ciyrs to remove the venom. If you wait too long, Lynx will kill until he is killed."

  "Thank you," Bannack said, "I love you."

  Pyra watched him snap the compact closed and look down at him. His arm muscles were starting to burn from forcing Lynx to stay in place on the floor and he was pushing down into his chest with his knee so hard that he worried he was going to break his ribs.

  "How are we going to get him to Ciyrs?" Pyra asked, "If I let up even a little, he's going to get off this floor and that dagger is far too close to him for my comfort if Loralia is right about him being infected."

  "You're going to have to hold him while I go find Ciyrs. Where did you last see him?"

  "He went into a building down the street. I don't know where he is now."

  Bannack looped the braid of Loralia's hair that held the compact back over his neck and ran out of the room. Pyra listened to his footsteps pounding down the stairs and fade as they left the house. He could only hope that he was able to find the healer in time to save Lynx. He didn't want them to lose one of their men on the first day of a trip that he was supposed to be leading.

  The blood was rushing through his veins so hard that Bannack could hear it in his ears as he ran out of the house and back out onto the dusty street. He could hear the voices of the other men coming from the buildings and down the street, and he struggled to decipher Ciyrs's among them. He had heard the guilt and worry in Pyra's voice, but he felt like he was the one that should feel guilty. It was him that had first pointed out that the Denynso knew almost nothing about the planet that their kind had always called home, and that by never leaving their compound they had made it so that none of them knew what types of creatures might exist beyond it. It had been him that had first suggested that they should go out and explore. Pyra might feel like as the leader of the Denynso warriors, it was his fault if anything went wrong, but Bannack knew that if he didn't find Ciyrs in time, he was responsible for whatever horrors followed with Lynx.

  Bannack saw Ty coming down the street toward him and Bannack ran for him, reaching out and grabbing the other man's shoulders as soon as he was close enough.

  "Have you seen Ciyrs?" he demanded.

  "What?" Ty asked, "What's wrong?"

  "Have you seen Ciyrs?" Bannack asked again, staring intensely into the baker's eyes. "Lynx is injured and needs him now."

  Worry rolled over Ty's eyes and he shook his head.

  "I haven't seen him."

  Bannack let go of him and continued down the street. Around him he saw the other warriors streaming out of the buildings and coming onto the street from other areas of the settlement. Many of them had the vibrant green blood of the Covra streaked across their skin or soaked into their clothing. They all had confused, horrified expressions on their faces that told him that they were just as stunned by what had just happened as he was.

  "What the hell were those things?" someone asked from one side.

  "Did you see their legs grow back?" another voice asked.

  "Where did they go?"

  Bannack continued to run down the street, his heart pounding so hard that he could feel it in his throat and he felt like he was going to get sick. This isn't what he had in mind when he suggested that they go out onto Uoria and discover what was waiting outside their compound walls. When he first mentioned it, it was motivated by his painful emotional response to Jem's death and the fear that came from the fact that he died in a place that none of them even knew existed. When he went to Pyra and told him that he wanted to go with them, it wasn't truly out of a deep need to understand what was on the rest of the planet, but out of fear of his feelings for Loralia and his desire to escape from her. Through his haste and selfishness he had put the warriors in more danger than they had ever been in.

  With their other enemies, they had known what they were facing. They knew what the creatures were and how they could defeat them. Right up until they were in the mirror realm coming up against the Klimnu for the final time, they were always on their home ground, comfortable and secure in knowing where they were and the resources that they could use to fight. Now they were somewhere they had never been, surrounded by unfamiliar landscape and facing enemies that they didn't know and didn't understand. The Covra were gone for then, but they could show back up at any moment, and without even knowing what their vulnerabilities were, the Denynso had little chance of defeating them.

  Chapter Five

  Loralia looked at each of the women, gauging their reactions to the conversation she had just had with Bannack. As soon as he had begun to contact her, she had sought out the other women, feeling that if something had gone wrong on the quest with one of their mates, they deserved to know as soon as she found out. She was beginning to know and trust these women, and she didn't want to do anything that might hurt them in any way, or cause them to distrust her as the others had when they first encountered her, and that included keeping anything that she knew about the men or their quest from them for even a moment.

  Eden looked back at her with one hand over her mouth, the other cupped around the front of her belly in the protective stance that she assumed most of the time. Zuri looked dumbstruck, looking up at them from where she knelt by the side of the water just as she had been when Loralia, Eden, and Elianna rushed up to her after Loralia found the other two women nearly at the pond. Elianna was trembling, one hand gripping Leia's hand beside her as if seeking out the support of the tiny woman.

  None of them said anything for several long seconds. Loralia didn't push them and she avoided reflecting their feelings, not wanting to delve into the private moments that each of them were having. She didn't know what they were thinking or what they were feeling, but she was quickly learning that the human women were not as open to having their emotions explored as her kind was. She was trying to learn to rely not on her ability to decipher the feelings and emotions of those she encountered, but rather their words and actions when she wanted to interact with them.

  "Be honest with us, Loralia," Leia said carefully, "How much danger are they actually in?"

  Loralia wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to that question. The truth was that she had told Bannack everything that she knew about the Covra. The fearsome creatures were something that the older ones of her kind had told stories about when she was younger. Her grandfather was known for weaving elaborate tales in the tradition of Loralia's kind, meant to both frighten the young ones in the delightful way that they enjoyed, and to teach them about the history of the planet. Many of these stories had long since left Loralia's memory, but the ones about the Covra had always lingered with her. Something about creatures that were so different from them and fought in such a vicious manner had deeply bothered Loralia, and she had never forgotten what her grandfather had said about them.

  "I wish that there was more that I could tell you," she said, "but what you heard me tell Bannack is everything that I know about the Covra. I don't know what species they encountered that finally found their vulnerability, or what that vulnerability may be. All I know is that Ciyrs doesn't have a lot of time to get the venom out of Lynx before it will be too late."

  "Will he kill Pyra if he gets away from him?" Eden asked.

  Her voice was low and soft, but controlled. It was the voice of a woman fighting to maintain her composure, refusing to allow herself to give into the emotions that were threatening her so that she was as calm and even as possible to ensure she didn't miss any critical information about the mate for whom she lived and bre
athed. Loralia wanted to comfort her, but she couldn't lie to her.

  "Yes," she replied.

  Eden looked like she had been struck. She stepped back slightly, shaking her head as if she could make the situation go away by denying what Loralia had just told her.

  "Ciyrs will get to him," Elianna said confidently, "He will. And he will get the venom out and heal him. He is the best healer that has ever been, and he brought all of his ointments and supplies with him. There is nothing that they could encounter that Ciyrs would not be able to heal."

  Loralia nodded, allowing Elianna's words to comfort her. She longed for the ability to communicate with Bannack through her mind the way that the other women could communicate with their mates. Though they had not been able to connect with them that day, they knew that at some point soon they would be able to reach out with their minds and feel what their mates were feeling, know what they were thinking, and send their own thoughts to them. She only had her compact and the shared link that it created with Bannack. Though she was incredibly grateful for that, it was one of the things that made her feel separated from the other women. They had been truly welcoming to her since she had made the decision to join the compound with Bannack, but Loralia still felt like they existed in two entities; the five of them and her. Though they were getting closer and the human women were doing what they could to make her feel like a true part of the clan, there was still enough space between them that Loralia felt like she was looking into their experiences rather than truly being a part of them.

  "Is there anything we can do?" Zuri asked, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her knees.

  "All that we can do is wait to hear from them again and hope that the next time that we do it will be with good news about Lynx," Loralia said.

  Eden shook her head.

  "No. That's not enough. I can't just sit around and hope that Ciyrs gets to Lynx and gets the venom out of him before he tires Pyra out and kills him."

  "What do you want to do?" Leia asked.

  "We have to go talk to Creia. He might not know much about the rest of Uoria, but he knows more than the rest of the Denynso, and far more than us. Maybe if we tell him what the men told us and what Loralia knows, he will be able to tell us more and we can piece it all together."

  There was a moment of unspoken agreement amongst the women and they all started toward the meeting hall together, hoping that when they arrived the king would be able to tell them something that could ease their fears and help them to feel more comfortable with the men being gone for longer.

  They expected that Creia and his queen Theia would be in either their sitting room where they held formal meetings or in their living quarters when they arrived, but when the women got to the meeting hall fifteen minutes later, they found the king and queen standing on the front steps as if waiting for them.

  "Oh! Hello, ladies," Creia said happily, holding out his hands in greeting, "I just sent Zsilvia to find you."

  "Is everything alright, sir?" Zuri asked.

  "Of course!" Creia said, "I just wanted to make sure that you are ready for the arrival of the new teacher."

  Loralia glanced over at the other women and saw them all exchanging quizzical looks.

  "New teacher?" Zuri asked.

  Loralia had learned a little about the university exchange program that had brought Zuri, Elianna, Samira, and Leia to Uoria, and she had assumed that even though the women had decided to make the planet their home rather than returning to Earth at the end of what had been intended to be a few months' stay, that the program would continue. From the way that the human women were reacting, however, it didn't seem that they knew anything about this new teacher.

  "I didn't know that the university was sending any other teachers," Samira said, looking at Zuri, who shook her head as she continued to stare at Creia.

  "Neither did I. The plan was that I would be the first professor to come and then when I returned and shared my research with the rest of the university, we would plan for more teachers to come here and students from the compound to go to Earth."

  "We received communication from the university a couple of weeks ago saying that they were sending another professor to join you," Creia said. "I told you about it that day."

  His voice had lost some of the jovial happiness that it had had as they approached and Loralia felt herself fall back into her protective default of reflecting the emotions of the king so that she could prepare herself for what may be happening. The man felt frustrated, but also slightly confused, as if he wasn't entirely sure about what he was saying. He seemed to be thinking through the situation, going back through the memory that he thought he had of telling Zuri about the impending arrival of the new professor, and finally settling on disappointment.

  "I'm sorry," Zuri said, "I really don't remember."

  "Zuri, of all people I would think you understand the importance of this program to Uoria and to the Denynso. I know that your path changed when you came here and you have decided to stay with us, and of course we are all delighted that you have found your home and your mate among our people, but that means that in order for the program to continue and our hopes of cooperation with the humans of Earth to come to reality, we have to have another professor come."

  Beside Loralia, Zuri felt stung and embarrassed. Loralia looked at her and saw the blonde woman nodding, her pale cheeks suddenly aflame with color.

  "Of course," she said in a voice that sounded somewhat defeated.

  "Good. Please do what you need to do to ensure there is a cabin prepared for the shuttle arrival. With the men gone, I am having Zsilvia act as escort and guide, so if possible find a home that is close to hers."

  The king turned away and went back into the meeting hall, leaving the women looking up at Theia.

  "You will have to forgive my mate," she said soothingly, "He feels anxious with the warriors gone. He wants you to make sure everything is ready because he trusts you. He trusts you more than he does any of the Denynso women, and that is saying a lot."

  She said this with a type of conspiratorial note in her voice that made the five human women more at ease, but Loralia could still feel a sense of guarded worry coming off of Zuri.

  "I really don't remember him mentioning another professor to me," Zuri said.

  "To be honest, Zuri," Theia said, "He might not have. With all of the chaos that has been going on around here, he might have only thought that he mentioned it to you because he intended to. If it helps at all, I was there when he communicated with the university and they said that this professor is very excited to join you and be a part of the program."

  The Denynso queen smiled kindly at the women and then turned to join her mate in the meeting hall. Zuri turned to the other women, shaking her head.

  "I really don't remember anything about this new professor," she said.

  "Neither do I," Samira agreed.

  "Is that a problem?" Loralia asked, venturing to join the conversation that she had been trying to follow but didn't quite understand.

  "We found out that a human flight attendant who had been on every shuttle from Earth had been helping the Klimnu and was instrumental in them being able to take over your mirror realm. If it hadn't been for her, none of us would have gone through the things that we did at the hands of the Klimnu. The only one of us who they didn't attack is Samira, and that's only because she came here just before the final battle. If they had had the opportunity, they would have tried to get her, too. It makes it very difficult for us to trust."

  She hadn't meant to, but Loralia felt herself take a step back from the rest of the women. Eden held up a hand as if to stop her.

  "She didn't mean…" she started.

  Loralia shook her head.

  "No, it's alright. After everything that all of you have gone through, I don't expect you to trust me immediately."

  She turned to walk away from them, wanting to be back in the little house t
hat she shared with Bannack, when she heard Zuri's voice again.

  "We really are happy to have you here, Loralia. I hope you know that."

  Loralia nodded, but continued on her way back home.

  Chapter Six

  Bannack was nearly at the end of the main street of the locked settlement when the door to a building beside him opened and Ciyrs stepped out. He was so relieved that for a moment he wasn't even able to move, but when the healer started in the opposite direction, Bannack reached out and grabbed ahold of his shirt.

  "Come on," he said, starting to pull him down the street back toward the house where Pyra and Lynx were.

  "What's wrong?" Ciyrs asked.

  "Lynx has been injured. We need to get there as fast as we can. I'll explain on the way."

  Apparently understanding the urgency of the situation, Ciyrs started running beside Bannack, weaving in and out of the other warriors and the people locked in time as they made their way back down the street. Many of them shouted after them, but they didn't pause. As they ran, Bannack explained as concisely as he could what had happened to Lynx and what Loralia had told them about the venom. He was relieved that the healer had his bag still strapped across him and was already digging through its contents by the time they reached the front door to the house.

  Bannack could hear Pyra and Lynx still struggling on the floor above them and despite the ferocity of the sounds, he was relieved because it meant that the huge lead warrior had managed to maintain control over Lynx and the infected man had not broken free and killed him. As long as they could hear the grunting and thrashing, he knew that they still had time.

  They climbed the stairs two at a time, and when they entered the bedroom, Ciyrs dropped his bag to the floor. He held a strange-looking contraption in one hand.

  "Where was he injured?" he asked.

  Pyra's eyes snapped up to him as if he hadn't even noticed that the other men had come into the room.