by Elin Wyn
I nodded. “Show us the way.”
We stood, watching as the children turned in the general direction from which they’d come.
“It’s this way!”
I followed, my feet sinking into the densely carpeted ground.
We’d only gone a few steps when I heard the rustling. I stopped mid-stride, gazing around in question.
“Wait, did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Axtin asked, coming to a stop along with the kids.
“I think there’s something out here.”
“It’s probably a rabbit.”
I shook my head, feeling chills that I couldn’t explain break over my skin. “No, no I don’t think so.”
Axtin laughed, walking back over to me. “Sweetie, there’s nothing out here. No monsters, okay?”
He looked at me patiently, offering his hand.
Of course, there was nothing out here. This was a safe place.
I opened my mouth to apologize when I heard it again, closer this time. Very close.
“Axtin…”
But it was too late.
She tore into the clearing. Her crystalline legs churned up the untouched earth as she charged toward us.
My mouth fell open in shock, and my feet seemed to glue themselves to the ground.
A Xathi sub-queen. And she was going to kill us all.
“Run, kids!” Axtin screamed, turning toward her.
A hammer had somehow materialized in his hands. The shape of it was achingly familiar, though I’d never seen it before.
I turned to the children and watched as they disappeared into the trees. I could hear their screams as they ran, their sheer terror making my heart skip a beat.
“Run, Leena!” Axtin shouted.
But I couldn’t. My legs were cemented to the earth, and my voice was lost in the horror of the creature before us. I was paralyzed.
The Xathi queen turned to me, and her eyes seemed to bore into my mind. I wanted to run, to fight, to do anything… but all I could do was watch as she ran toward me.
“I said run, Leena!”
She was so close now. It was almost over.
I knew it, deep in my core. This was how it ended.
The thought brought a strange sense of déjà vu—a memory, buried deep.
I’d never know where it came from, though. There was no time to figure it out. She was almost upon me.
“Leena!”
Axtin came into view, hurling himself before me just as she arrived. His body shook with rage, that odd hammer still clenched in his fists.
“No!” he yelled, swinging his weapon with every ounce of his might.
I watched it as if in slow motion, a small flicker of hope sparking to life in my chest. Axtin could save me. He could save all of us.
His weapon descended in a perfect arc. The air around it seemed to ripple with the sheer force of his swing.
It landed with a small clink. It wasn’t the sound of a hammer striking flesh, or crystal, or whatever that thing was made out of. It was like an ice cube dropped into a cup, so quiet as to barely be heard.
The beast roared, her fury loud enough to shake the earth.
“Axtin!” I screamed, finally finding my voice.
As always, it was far too late.
The monster reached down with her insectile arms, plucking the hammer from Axtin’s hands as if she were taking a toy from a small child. She tossed it aside, her mouth twisting into a sick imitation of a smile.
I knew what was coming.
I tried to look away, but my eyes refused to close, and my head refused to turn.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound was lost as the sub-queen roared once more.
Then, with grotesque ease, she reached for Axtin. In a single, fluid motion, she had him in her grasp. His feet lifted from the ground, his legs kicking futilely as her claws began their ghastly work.
Blood rained down on the luminous plants, on the vines, and on me. Hot and slick, it poured down around us, drenching the forest floor.
Axtin didn’t scream. He didn’t even make a sound as she tore into him, spilling his life and blood in a seemingly endless stream.
I opened my mouth again, willing myself to scream, to move… to do absolutely anything.
This time, it worked.
I woke to the sound of my own horrified scream, jolting upright as the noise tore its way through me.
My head spun, my body swayed. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as my lungs struggled for air. All I could see was Axtin, his limp body clutched in the hands of the sub-queen.
I shook my head, trying to erase the image as I gazed around the room.
“Leena?”
I turned towards the sound, finding Mariella at my side.
“What? Where?”
“Leena, are you alright?” she asked, reaching for my hand.
I turned away, searching the room.
My eyes fell on him in the next moment, laying perfectly still in the bed beside mine.
Axtin.
My heart raced faster as I stared across his unconscious form. Bandages lined his body, his chest rising in small, uneven spurts.
The dream came rushing back to me—the horror. I could practically feel his blood and could hear my children’s screams.
“Leena,” Mariella repeated, squeezing my hand. “Talk to me.”
I could hardly breath.
“I need to get out of here,” I said, throwing one more look at Axtin. “Get me out of here.”
“Leena, you need to stay and rest…” she began, but I didn’t let her finish.
I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to hear anything.
Axtin was hurt. The thought of him dying to save me made me feel ill and made my head swim all over again.
“No,” I said, pulling the blankets quickly aside, “I have to go.” I jumped from the bed, swaying only slightly before I steadied myself.
“You’re confused,” Mariella started, but I didn’t stick around to hear more.
I reached for the door, almost running in my need to escape. I couldn’t handle it—not any of it. So many people had died, and so many others were hurt.
I needed to get away from it. I didn’t want to think about it or feel it.
I rushed into the hall, flying down the corridor in an outright panic. I just couldn’t do it—not anymore.
The lab doors appeared, looking at me like a shining beacon. I threw myself at them, stumbling into the lab with a sigh.
This was where I belonged.
I would never leave again.
26
Axtin
My dreams were confused blurs, snippets of stories that I was far too exhausted to follow.
The Xathi were there, making guest appearances in my thoughts like the overgrown pests they were. I was used to seeing them in my head—they’d obsessed me for years.
I paid them little mind.
Leena was there, too.
Flashes of her face, her smile—those dreams I paid attention to.
I clung to them like the last life raft in a bad storm.
I woke slowly, not sure if the glimpses of the med bay were real or just another part of the illusion. The bright lights and the crisp white walls appeared for the shortest second, and then it would be back to blackness.
After about the tenth time it happened, I started to understand what was really going on. From there on, I fought for consciousness, slowly drawing the brief moments out, longer and longer.
Conversations drifted past me as I struggled my way back to the surface, little pieces of the talk going on around me. Tu’ver was there, I was sure of it, and Mariella, too.
But not the voice I craved.
“Leena,” I croaked.
I couldn’t remember a time my throat had ever felt so raw. It was like I’d spent the last few days vacationing on a desert island with nothing but salt water to drink.
“Axtin,” Tu’ver said.
“Welcome back.”
“Leena,” I repeated, not caring about anything else.
“Mariella, he’s awake,” he called out to the female.
I groaned, clearly not going to get any information from the two of them. I tried to sit up, determined to find her myself.
The moment I tried, though, I was pulled back to the bed. It was only then that I noticed the pain in my wrists. I looked down, seeing the ties that looped around my ankles and arms.
“What the—”
“Relax, friend,” Tu’ver offered, leaning over me. “You were grievously wounded. Don’t go trying to leave just yet.”
“Srell, Tu’ver, what is this? Let me out of these things!”
My heart beat faster, my fists clenched in their bonds. After everything I’ve been through, these idiots tied me to a bed in med bay? Had they absolutely lost their minds?
“Axtin…”
“I said, let me out, Tu’ver! Where is she?”
I could feel my anger rising with each passing second, fury starting to burn deep in my core. I needed to see Leena, to know that she was alright.
“Tu’ver,” Mariella said, walking over to him.
She pressed her hand to his chest, leaning in to speak quietly. “I need to talk to Axtin. Can you give us a minute?”
He looked hesitant, glancing from me to her and back again.
Really, what did he have to be so protective about?
I was quite clearly tied to the recking bed. Not that I was any kind of threat when I wasn’t. Not to Leena’s sister anyway, no matter how angry I was.
“Very well,” he finally said, “I’ll just be outside.”
Mariella stood silently, waiting for him to go. The moment the door closed behind him, she turned to me.
“Can you let me out of these things?” I asked, shaking my wrists for emphasis.
She shook her head. “Sorry, doctor’s orders.”
I had to remind myself that it would do no good to absolutely lose it on Leena’s sister. I groaned, biting my lip to control myself.
“If you’re going to leave me tied to the bed, can you at least give me some water?”
She flushed slightly, apparently feeling guilty that she hadn’t thought of it herself. She headed over to a tray, grabbing a pitcher and cup.
After downing an entire glass, I felt a little better.
“Where is she?” I asked, this time in a voice I could actually recognize as my own. “Is she well?”
I remembered seeing her collapse, but after that, my mind was a blank. I didn’t think she had been too badly injured, or I hadn’t anyway. But this silent treatment was starting to make me nervous.
If something had happened to her…
“She’s fine, Axtin.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, letting my head fall back onto the pillow.
“Can you let me out so I can go see her now? Where is she?”
She shifted her feet, looking suddenly very uncomfortable.
“What I mean is, she’s fine physically.” She crossed to the chair near my bed, sitting with a sigh of her own. “Mentally, well, that’s another story.”
I lifted my head again. The concern that had only so recently left flooded my chest once more.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She locked herself in the lab the day she woke up, and she hasn’t been out since. She refuses to come out.”
My thoughts spun, and my heart started to race. “Have you tried to talk to her?”
“Of course I have. But she won’t listen to me, or anyone else for that matter.”
“Oh srell,” I said, feeling guilt pour through me in waves. “This is all my fault.”
Her brow furrowed. “How could this possibly be your fault?”
“I didn’t get to her fast enough! She was trapped there with those blasted monsters! I know what she saw there, what they did to those people.” I sank against the pillows. “I’ve seen it. I should have been there sooner. I never should have left her to begin with!”
She ran a hand through her hair, taking her time to think before answering.
“Axtin, listen to me. This is not your fault. You only left because you had to. What other choice did you have? Leena understands that, trust me. She doesn’t blame you.”
“If that were true, she’d be here, not hiding in the lab. She blames me, and she’s right to. I dishonored us both.”
“Oh, enough,” she snapped, scooting her chair closer with an awful screech. “What’s happening right now, that’s not about you. It’s about Leena. She’s overwhelmed. She’s hiding. Believe me, as someone who has known her my entire life, this is what she does.”
I rolled my eyes, a habit I probably picked up from Leena.
“Axtin, Leena is scared right now, okay? And I know you think you understand, but you don’t.”
“Well then, enlighten me!” I half yelled.
She stared me down evenly, not flinching at my outburst. For the first time, I truly saw the family resemblance. When Mariella looked at me like that, it was Leena I saw.
“Leena isn’t hiding in that damn lab from the Xathi,” she said, her tone hard. “She’s in there hiding from her feelings. Being emotionally vulnerable terrifies her. It always does.”
She paused in thought for a moment. When she continued, her voice had softened.
“Look, you were hurt really bad, Axtin. That’s why you’re tied up. It’s not to punish you or piss you off. It’s so that you don’t jump out of bed first thing and ruin all the doctors’ hard work.”
“But—”
“No, just listen. Leena freaked out when she saw how badly you had been injured. That’s why she hid. She isn’t mad at you. She’s completely terrified of loving you.”
That last part had my attention.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Now she smiled, a ghost of one, sure, but a smile nonetheless.
“Positive. She wouldn’t be in the state she’s in right now if she didn’t really care about you,” she replied.
“I really care about her, too, Mariella. I would do anything for her, will do anything for her.”
She nodded, seeming to relax at my words.
“Okay, good. Because right now, she needs you to get well. You don’t need to jump up and play hero, you need to rest,” she told me.
“But—”
“Nope. No buts. You’re in here for a reason. Just relax for a bit, okay?”
I didn’t like it, not one little bit.
I glanced back down at my bonds, suppressing a growl. It didn’t appear that I had much choice in the matter.
“Fine, but you’ll talk to Leena for me. Tell her I’m awake,” I said.
“I will.”
I nodded in response, letting my head fall back to the pillow.
“Okay, then. Just tell her I’m well. Tell her I really want to see her,” I added.
“I’ll tell her.”
There was nothing else I could do. I pulled again at my ties, confirming the idea. Yeah, I was pretty well strapped down.
Mariella left the med bay and this time I didn’t bother to suppress my growl. It’s not like anyone was around to hear it.
I didn’t care about resting or getting well.
I just needed to see Leena.
27
Leena
My eyes ached.
My eyelids scratched every time I tried to blink.
I couldn’t break focus. I couldn’t think about how my eyes hurt, or how my chest started to hurt when I forgot to breathe.
The only thing that mattered was the data and numbers on the monitors. Those little symbols were everything.
I had surrounded myself with six monitors. Three projected the perfected formula for the scent bombs, as well as the results of more detailed simulations I’d been able to come up with over the past few hours.
Or was it days?
The other three contained my research.
While the data compiled from my first set of queries, my mind started to drift.
No.
Frantically, I pulled up the rest of my data and cross-referenced it with the medical records of everyone I could get my digital fingers on, both human and alien.
Maybe I shouldn’t be looking through those files, but nothing but the research mattered now.
Nothing.
Not a thing of value in anyone’s records. Just another dead end.
I slumped back in my chair, pulling at my hair. Something, something I was missing.
For a flickering second, I thought of strong green arms to hold me, but I shoved the memory aside.
Never again.
What else to try, what else?
My stomach gurgled. I might have been hungry, but I didn’t have time to eat. I had work to do—far, far too much work.
Just as soon as I could remember what the next simulation should be.
The door to my lab opened and shut. I pretended I didn’t hear anything.
Whoever it was, couldn’t they see I was working? Hopefully, they would have the common sense to leave me alone. Didn’t they know how important my work was?
“Leena,” came a soft voice. Melodic. Mariella.
I didn’t want to talk to her.
Last time she came in, she tried to get me to leave. She wanted me to go to sleep.
Didn’t she understand that I couldn’t do that? Every moment I wasn’t working, memories flooded my brain and suffocated me. Even seeing the Xathi simulation on my monitor made me feel like I had a mouthful of blood.
I avoided looking at the simulation itself. I focused on the results. The results were all that mattered.
Something good had to come out of all that horror.
“Leena!” Mariella said in a harsher voice.
I knew that voice. She rarely used it, but when she did, she meant business.
“I’m busy, Mari,” I said dismissively.
I heard her footsteps. Assuming she was leaving, as any intelligent person would have, I paid her no mind.
Suddenly, all of my monitors went black. The overhead lab lights flickered on. They were so bright, I had to squint just to see anything.
“Mariella, what the fuck?” I screeched, whirling around.