by Abella Ward
Suddenly, metal-like straps emerged from the side of the bed and pinned Tara’s arms and legs down.
“What are you . . . ?” Rydel broke off as the guard took him from behind by surprise. “Let me go!” Rydel roared through clenched teeth. Then, it hit him.
“Sir, you are under arrest for hindering the Chief’s plan to find the cure,” the guard said.
“W - what’s happening?” Tara cried, panicked as she met Rydel’s gaze. For the first time, she saw fear flit across his icy eyes.
“Dr. Jaydel! What’s going on?” Rydel yelled, struggling to get out of the guard’s hold. His fear was now replaced by rage.
“I’m sorry, Rydel . . . ” he heard Jaydel say, his back still to him. He saw the fear in Tara’s big eyes as she struggled to get free. Tara looked up at the doctor.
“It’s the Chief’s orders. He wants me to make the extraction as soon as possible.” He was looking at her with a strange look . . . as if he pitied her. As if she were some special specimen to be studied – one he was about to lose. She winced and pulled on the restraints. They were made from some kind of metal, and they didn’t budge.
“NO! NOOOOOOO!!!” Rydel bellowed. His heart ripped apart, seeing her like that. Tears stung his eyes and he blinked them away. He shouldn’t have brought her here. It was a mistake.
And to Tara’s horror, the guard stabbed something at Rydel’s neck, injecting some fluid. He stiffened for a few seconds, and then his head fell on his shoulders, his body collapsing to the floor, unconscious. “No! Rydel!” she screamed. She glanced toward the doctor. “P - please . . . don’t hurt him!” she pleaded, tears streaming through her eyes. He remained quiet as death as he injected the sedative into her neck.
Another Klai guard came through the doors and both of them picked Rydel up and took him away. Tara’s breathing slowed as the voices around her muddled and a strange white haze spread in the room, dragging her into darkness as she passed out.
***
The voices in his head were too loud. He stumbled through the dark, trying to look for the light, but he was being restrained. The noise hurt his head. He wished somebody would make it stop.
A bout of coughing jolted him awake. It was dark. The room had only a small sliver of light coming in from the shaft in the ceiling. Something metallic and salty filled his mouth. He coughed again, spitting out his own dark blue blood. He inhaled sharply, and the stench that assailed his nose made him gag once more. And then the pain set in. His body screamed from the wounds inflicted on him in torture. Burning pain seared the side of his neck. Blood slowly dripped from the deep gash on the side of his chest.
Ignoring the throbbing headache, he tried moving. He found his hands were bound in shackles, chained to the wall. He pulled on the restraints and winced. Searing pain shot up his arms. His breathing became shallow as he tried not to lose consciousness. He shivered from the cold.
Tara’s face flashed across his mind, her beautiful eyes full of fear. Pain shot through his chest. This time, it was deeper. More painful . . .
No, no, no! He screamed internally as sobs shook him. He let the tears flow. He had to get to her now or else they would kill her. The vision he had back on the ship flitted through his mind and he groaned. No! He had to stop this madness. He pulled on the restraints again and pain shot up his arms. His wrists were bleeding.
He had to be in an underground torture cell at the Grim Fort. It was where they imprisoned criminals. How long he had been in there, he couldn’t know. The last thing he remembered was that Hyrak’s guard had been using his dagger to inflict torture on his body, making precise cuts. He would punch him in the face in between while wearing a spiked gauntlet. Then he had branded him. Rydel had soon passed out, unable to bear the pain.
Rydel gritted his teeth as the memory of branding came tearing back through his mind. The mark on his neck still burned terribly. The branding was done with an ancient wand that could only be wielded by a mage. And Hyrak’s chief guard had marked him with the wand. Once branded, it could not be undone. The wand’s magic was an ancient dark art, rarely practiced now. And only a few mages had the knowledge.
Rydel cursed under his breath. He was dying. He closed his eyes and wished he had never brought her here. She had trusted him, and he had become the death of her. He had brought her to a different kind of hell. Guilt gnawed at his heart. He had failed her. If she died, he would never forgive himself. He couldn’t survive without her. He must stay alive for her. He couldn’t leave her alone. She needed him!
The last sliver of light coming in through the narrow shaft in the ceiling dimmed. Soon, darkness fell, and along with it came despair. He knew there was no way to end this curse. Even if he somehow made it out of there, he would eventually die.
Nobody came at night. The poison from the branding slowly seeped into his blood. It would be a slow death. And all he could think of was Tara. Her name was on his lips like a constant prayer . . . Tara, Tara, Tara.
Chapter 11
Jaydel stood before Hyrak as his mind raced. He was at the Chief’s house. He felt elated that he would finally be able to save his race, thanks to Rydel. He was the one who brought the woman. She was a miracle – her blood almost magical. He had used a very small amount of her blood to create the antidote for the virus. And the first subject he tested it on had recovered quickly. Thirty-six hours back, he gave an injection of the cure to one of the men. He was stage four, and this morning he was much better.
“How many of these do we have?” Hyrak asked as he picked up the small vial, turning the liquid inside it.
“I am making more. It will be enough to cure all of us and still more to keep in reserve,” Jayden said with pride. “I brought this one for you, sir. It’s a one-time shot.”
“What about the woman?” Hyrak said, not impressed.
“Oh, she’s fine. In fact, I wanted to tell you that we don’t need to do the procedure anymore. I was thinking of sending her home . . . ”
“She’s not going anywhere,” Hyrak barked, making the doctor flinch.
“But sir . . . She is Rydel’s mate. We can’t . . . ” Jaydel frowned.
“You keep your mouth shut, Doctor,” Hyrak said in a cold tone. “Take out all her blood. Suck her dry and store it for future use. I want to see it while it’s done.”
“But Rydel . . . ”
“Rydel will die . . . I had him branded. A punishment for disobeying my orders,” he whispered and then laughed.
Jaydel winced as a chill ran down his spine to the tip of his tail, making it twitch. No . . . Rydel branded? This was insane. He looked at his leader closely and saw that Hyrak was ill. His eyes were bloodshot and he could no longer focus on one thing. He kept staring into the distance.
“Do you hear the doctor?” Hyrak suddenly said, a wild look in his eyes as he grabbed Jaydel by the shoulders and stared at him. “They are coming for us . . . ” he whispered eerily.
Jaydel shrugged out of his hold. “Who?” he asked, playing along. This sudden change in behavior was a sure sign that the Chief had entered stage four. The virus was messing with his head. He was seeing and hearing things that were not there. And stage five was the complete invasion of the mind, leading the person to commit suicide.
“The black-winged monsters. Their legion is coming to take us over. We must prepare for war . . . ” He went on and on. “Or we will become one of them . . . ”
“Sir, you need to calm down. Where is Rydel?” Jaydel made him sit on the chair, his mind racing. If Rydel had been branded, then there was only one place for him. The Grim Fort.
“Rydel will die . . . ” He kept laughing like a madman.
Jaydel clenched his teeth and, taking the vial, he filled the syringe with the antidote. And then, without losing another minute, he injected it into Hyrak’s neck.
Hyrak collapsed and fell unconscious. He would be out cold for a few hours before he woke up. When he did, he would be himself once more.
Jaydel
walked out, passing the guard at the door. He got into his car and headed toward the underground prison.
***
Rydel woke up, feeling numb. He was cold, so cold. He tried moving his legs but pain seared him like knives and he couldn’t. His mouth felt dry, and the side of his neck burned. The sliver of light coming in through the shaft told him it was daytime. The place was more like an underground cave where holes had been dug up and the prisoners chained inside, as if inside a well. There was no way of escaping. Since the plague hit the planet, most of the prisoners had died, leaving the place deserted. The eerie silence made him shudder.
He thought about Tara and a headache stabbed in his head again.
He didn’t hear the footsteps coming. A flash of harsh light lit up the small cell he was in. He looked up and the light blinded him momentarily. He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Rydel? Rydel?” someone called out to him. The voice sounded familiar. “Rydel, can you hear me?”
Rydel nodded, blinking as his voice choked. He groaned in pain.
“Okay, I’m coming down to get you,” the voice said.
He heard the shuffling of feet and metal grinding against the walls. Rydel blinked again and saw the man now standing in front of him. He carried a flashlight. It was Jaydel, the doctor.
“You . . . ” Rydel managed to whisper.
“No need to panic. I’m here to help,” Jaydel assured him as he flashed the light all over Rydel, checking his wounds with the scanning device. He saw the mark on his neck. Blue-black veins stretched outward over his skin indicating that the poison was spreading. It was very slow, but lethal and painful.
“You have been bleeding . . . Lost quite an amount . . . But we can fix that . . . And that gash looks nasty, but it can be treated. Here, drink this,” Jaydel said, unscrewing a flask. Rydel gulped down the water.
“Easy now,” the doctor said. “You have been in here for two days without water or food. And you have been bleeding.” Jaydel then gave him two shots in the arm. “This is for the pain and healing. And this will rebuild the tissue.” He gave him another shot in his neck. “These drugs will only help with the wounds inflicted. I’m doing my best to heal you, but you have been branded. Magic is at work here, and no drug will work against the spread of the toxin. I’m sorry . . . ”
“That son of a bitch,” Rydel cursed loudly, teeth clenched. “Why are you helping me?”
“I’ll tell you in a while,” Jaydel said. Rydel saw the compassion in his eyes. “Now we need to wait exactly 15 minutes for the drugs to work,” he said as he swiped the scanner over his shackles, unlocking them.
“Thank you . . . ” Rydel gasped as he collapsed to the floor. “How is Tara? Is she okay?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“She is fine. She freaks out and keeps asking about you, so I have had to sedate her . . . Don’t worry. She is on a low dose. Her human body reacts more strongly to our medication,” Jaydel said as Rydel glared at him.
Jaydel looked at him. The man was madly in love with that human. Rydel sighed with relief – as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest.
“Listen to me, Rydel. I have news for you,” Jaydel said in a serious tone.
“Good or bad?” Rydel asked.
“Both. Now, the good news is that I have the antidote ready. Tara’s blood is all I needed, and voila! It is working and there is no need for an extraction,” he said.
Rydel gazed at him. “That’s great news doctor.”
“But the Chief wants both of you dead. Yet, he has entered stage four and I am guessing that is marring his judgment.”
“I bet it’s not just the virus that’s talking here,” Rydel said dryly.
“Listen to me, Rydel. You and Tara can’t stay here. I have given Hyrak a shot of the antidote. He will be all good in a few hours, but you need to take your mate and get out of the city.”
“Jaydel, do me a favor. Just get me out of this hellhole,” Rydel said. He was starting to feel better. His head was cleared, the numbness gone. The pain was fading a bit, but he still felt weak.
“I will in another few minutes,” Jaydel said, his eye on the time on his comm device.
“Why should I trust you?” Rydel eyed him skeptically.
“Hyrak is wrong. I don’t get why he can’t see that you and your mate saved our race. I’m a healer, and I know what it means to save a life. I’ll help you escape . . . Consider this a thank you gift for what you have done for us. I am sorry I can’t do more.”
“Stop apologizing, Doc,” Rydel said, irritated. “Do you have a plan?” he asked him, still grateful for his kindness.
He shook his head. “You tell me. You only have a few hours before Hyrak wakes up and finds out what’s happening.”
“Okay, here’s the thing. The suns will set any time now. We get Tara out, and we sneak back to our ship. I want to get off this planet as soon as I can,” Rydel said.
“There will be guards everywhere. But you can go in disguised as a doctor. You can wear that breathing mask so no one will recognize you. Plus, if you are with me, the guards won’t get suspicious. And,” Jaydel said as he made one last scan over Rydel’s body, “you seem to have recovered a little.”
“Thank you, Jaydel. I owe you one. But how will we get Tara past the guards?” Rydel mused as they climbed out of the hole.
“There’s one gate at the back of the facility where only one guard is on duty. He goes out for a drink around that hour. We will have five minutes, you can go out that door. I’ll be waiting in the car outside.”
“Sounds good . . . What about you, Jaydel? Hyrak is ruthless. He might punish you,” Rydel said, seeing now that Jaydel was risking his life for them.
“Only if he finds out, which he won’t. And if he does, I’ll deal with him,” Jaydel was confident.
“Okay. Let’s go get her,” Rydel said, his mouth set in a firm line as his mind raced. He couldn’t wait to get to Tara.
Chapter 12
She could hear them talking. She felt so tired, only wanting to sleep some more. Her eyelids felt heavy. She felt something cold on her arm as warm fluid entered her blood.
“Tara. Tara . . . ” A familiar voice reached for her. A voice she had become accustomed to hearing. A voice she had fallen in love with.
She forced her eyes open and saw him, his face shadowed under the hood of a cloak. Rydel? She must be dreaming again . . . They took him away . . . He wasn’t real . . . She closed her eyes as the memory of him flashed through her mind.
“Tara, wake up,” Rydel said.
Jaydel had given her a shot to wake her up. She would have to walk if Rydel wanted to get her out of there unnoticed.
“Rydel? Is that really you?” Tara whispered, incredulous, her eyes snapping open. Rydel helped her sit up. He was wearing the Doctor’s overalls. “I thought I lost you . . . ” Tears streamed from her eyes.
“Yes, Tara. I am here. And we are getting out of here,” he said as he helped her off the bed. She staggered as vertigo took over, clinging to his arm. She took a deep breath and waited a few seconds before her head cleared a bit.
“Here you go,” she heard the doctor say as he handed her the cloak. Tara jumped into Rydel’s arms, trembling.
“It’s okay. He’s with us,” Rydel said gently, holding her close. “Do you think you can walk?” he asked, cupping her chin and gazing deep into her eyes. She nodded. He looked battered, and there was a fierce longing in those blue depths. As if she was the only reason he was alive.
“We must hurry, Rydel. You take her, go straight down the hall, and turn left. You leave through the door to your right. I’ll meet you outside in exactly eight minutes,” the doctor said.
Rydel helped Tara as she donned her cloak. She didn’t even notice that she was barefoot as she walked beside Rydel, clinging to his arm. Luckily, the corridor was empty when they reached the door. It was open, and they made their way outside. It was dark in the narrow street outside. It looked deserted. Tara
blinked and glanced at Rydel. He looked around and checked to see that no one was around.
Then, turning, he slid one arm around her waist and the other under her knees, picking her up. He then broke into a sprint as he carried her toward the end of the street. There, around the corner, was a dark shape. It was the vehicle they used as transport, Tara recalled.
The doors to the car hissed open and Rydel got in, settling her on his lap. As the doors closed, Jaydel raced along the road, heading toward the field where Rydel’s ship waited.
***
Rydel checked the controls one last time as he set course for Andromeda 13. They were outside Scyok’s atmosphere and were headed into deep space. Tara watched him as he worked the controls. The ship went into warp drive and headed toward its destination.
He came to her then and she looked up at him. His breath hitched. She was all he had ever wanted, and he couldn’t believe he had almost lost her. He pulled her into his arms, burying his nose in her hair. Her soft voice, her scent . . . He could not live without her.
Tara wrapped her arms around his back, melting into his embrace.
After a while, he pulled back and gazed deep into her eyes. His face looked pale and dark hollows had formed under his eyes. He tilted his head and locked his lips with hers, claiming her mouth. Fervent and demanding, his mouth moved over hers. She let his tongue inside and he ravaged her, grazing hers with a fierce passion that took her breath away. Dark blood, the color of blue ink, trickled down his nose and over his lips.
She pulled back. “You’re bleeding . . . ” she said softly, her eyes huge as he reached up to wipe the blood off with his fingers. “The doctor, he . . . Um, he said you could never go back home . . . ever,” she said as he gazed at her.
“I can’t . . . Scyok was never my home anyway,” he said quietly, staring at the blood on his hands.
“I wish I could help . . . ”
“You have done enough,” he said firmly. He sat down on the command seat and pulled her down on his lap. He told her everything. He told her that her blood was the cure and that they didn’t need to make an extraction.