by Luna Hunter
She smiles at me, her eyes washed over. She’s going into shock, her system shutting itself down because of the immense pain she’s in.
“You’re here,” she breathes.
“I’m here,” I say, holding her tightly. “I’m here for you.”
13
Kelly
I stare into Koryn’s honey-colored eyes.
Is this the look Bey was talking about?
I think about her words through a pain-induced haze.
“Stay with me,” my purple mate says. His eyes are filled with fear, horror and sorrow as he tries to get my attention, but despite the immense pain I’m in, all I can do is smile.
“You came,” I say, my voice soft and distant, as if I’m hearing someone else speak.
A second later everything goes dark.
When I wake up again, I’m lying on a wooden stretcher in Frostpaw’s office. Bey is by my side, her paw holding my hand as she dabs my forehead with a wet cloth. I glance down to see that – thankfully – I’m no longer naked. A rug is covering me, and it feels cozy and warm.
Koryn and Frostpaw are standing in the corner, arguing with one another.
“It’s too risky,” Frostpaw says. “We can’t.”
“You must,” Koryn growls, “and you will!”
“What if they return?” he says.
“It’s not matter of if, but of when,” Koryn snaps. “And hiding in your tunnels only means you’ll die slower.”
“She’s awake!” Bey says, drawing everyone’s attention. A moment later all three of them are crowded around me. Koryn grabs my hand instantly, our fingers locking together.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
“What do you remember?” Frostpaw says. “You must tell us what you saw!”
“Give her some time,” Bey responds. “She just went through a traumatic event!”
I try to wiggle my toes, but only one foot responds. I glance down to see the left side of the sheet covering me is empty below my thighs.
Right.
The beast got to me.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I can talk. Can I have some water, please?”
Bey hands me a glass before I even finish my sentence. I gulp it down quickly, and my memories slowly come back to me.
The beast was on top of me before I’d known what was happening. Despite its lumbering appearance, it was as quick as a fox. The thought of its many feet scampering across the floor sends chills down my spine. There’d been nowhere for me to run.
I’d called for Koryn. I never lost hope that he’d come to save me, not even when I was staring into its disgusting mouth, all dripping acid and snapping pincers, while its legs held me down.
In the end I was right. Koryn saved me, risking his life for me. He’s a hero.
“Where did it come from?” Frostpaw asks. “Were there more? Information is vital,” he says, stressing the last word.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. It was suddenly just there. It came around the corner. I don’t know how…”
“There’s got to be more,” Frostpaw says. “You’re the only survivor!”
“She doesn’t know, Frostpaw,” Koryn growls. “Leave her alone. She needs to rest.”
The only survivor?
That means others…
“I want to help,” I say, trying to sit upright. “I’ll try to remember…”
Bey pushes me down again, gently, but firmly. “Rest, sweetheart. You’ve been through too much already. I will make you a soothing chau-chau.”
I glance down at my leg. Singular. I’m surprised I’m not in agonizing, gut-wrenching pain. Despite my no doubt horrifying injury, I feel calm, and dare I say, relaxed? Is this the shock talking?
Koryn leans over me and kisses my forehead. I close my eyes and hum softly to myself. As long as he stays by my side, I know I will be alright.
“What’s going to happen now?” I ask Koryn.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says. “You need to rest.”
This whole you-need-to-rest-and-let-the-big-aliens-handle-things schtick is starting to get on my nerves. Yes, losing a leg is a minor setback at the very least, but my mind is still as sharp as a tack.
Or it would be, without all the adrenaline and toxins coursing through my veins. I sit upright again, but the room spins around me, and I see stars.
“Rest,” Koryn growls as he pushes me down firmly, his fingers wrapping around my wrists. “You’re running on pure adrenaline right now. Your body needs to rest. Okay?”
“Okay,” I sigh.
He shakes his head, a warm smile on his face. “You’re as stubborn as a Zoran.”
“You love it,” I whisper.
Bey walks back into the room, a cup of hot tea in her hands. “Here you are,” she says as she hands me the cup. She tilts my head up softly so I can sip on the warm drink.
Instantly I feel a warmth spread through my body, from the tip of my head down to my toes.
“What is this?” I ask.
“My special mix,” Bey says with a gentle smile. “It’ll help you rest.”
My body feels heavy, and my eyelids are struggling to keep open. I close my eyes and sleep takes me once more.
14
Koryn
“Just follow the rope,” I say. “It’ll take us straight to the surface.”
I can see the fear in Bey’s eyes even as she nods decisively. Even though the female is terrified, she doesn’t want to show it. For the Berans, the surface means danger. Ygg could be lurking behind every tree. They found comfort and safety in their tunnels… but not anymore. One monster has found them, and more will follow.
Getting used to life topside will be quite a challenge for them, I can imagine.
“How’s your grip?” I ask the Beran behind me. His name is Timber, and he’s the only one who volunteered, alongside Bey, to help me carry Kelly back to my ship, the Thundercat.
The medi-computer on board is the only thing that can save her life now. The Ygg’s toxins have infiltrated her bloodstream, making her weak and vulnerable. If she doesn’t receive treatment in time, her heart will stop beating.
I just hope the ship hasn’t been destroyed by those insects.
Honestly, I’m surprised her condition is as good as it is. Her body took an awful big hit, and I’ve seen men bigger than her felled by less. Her small, human body is more resilient than it looks.
She’s a fighter.
“I’m good,” Timber says behind me, his voice a low grumble.
Kelly is in a deep sleep, Bey’s special chau-chau mix made sure of that. I’m thankful. Kelly’s body will need all its energy to keep her blood flowing. She’s so bullheaded that she’d definitely overexert herself if given the chance.
I thought humans were weak and frail, but Kelly has changed my mind completely.
I glance back at her. My mate. She’s lying on the makeshift stretcher Bey quickly threw together, her eyes closed, a relaxed smile on her face. I wonder what she’s dreaming about.
Timber and I are both holding one end of the stretcher while Bey leads us out of the cave complex. The tunnels are sloping upward, into the welcoming glare of daylight.
Bey volunteered to come with me without a second thought, unlike her mate, Frostpaw. She ignored his protests, calling him out on his cowardice. I’m disappointed in the Beran. They continue to hide in their caves, rather than take the fight to the Ygg and reclaim their planet. Perhaps the generations they’ve spent in total darkness have made them weak. I sense there’s still a semblance of a strength and courage underneath all of that fur, but so far, I’ve only seen Bey exhibit those traits.
The female Beran gasps when we step into the light, clutching her paws to her chest.
“First time on the surface?”
She nods breathlessly.
“It’s… gorgeous,” she says. “The ground is so soft.”
Trees stand dozens of feet tall around us. High grass waves in the cool breeze, whi
le multicolored flowers provide a spectacular view.
Bey drops down to her feet and paws and sniffs the flower, rummaging through the shrubbery.
“So many scents! So many herbs!” she says excitedly.
Timber huffs. “What, so you can make more chau-chau?”
“Don’t give me that tone, or you’re never getting one of my cups again, Timber,” Bey smirks.
The brown bear nods his head. “Point taken.”
The forest is still silent, except for the rustling of the trees. It’s discomforting, as the planet is perfectly suited for life – even in the dark caverns there’s a multitude of fish and plants. Did the Ygg destroy all topside life?
I let Bey have her fun for a moment, before we begin the arduous task of carrying Kelly a day’s march to our vessel. Seeing her frolic puts a smile on my face, despite the gravity of our situation.
“Come,” I say. “Let us go.”
Bey gathers several flowers and puts them in her pouch. “Sorry,” she says. “We have a job to do.”
I nod. Now that we’re back on the surface, my wrist-com has reception once more. I point us in the right direction, and we continue our march. The freshness of the surface wears off after half an hour and, inadvertently, the tension creeps back up.
The silence is like a suffocating blanket, completely enveloping us. For the first time since the Ygg attack, I have a moment to think. I’ve been operating on crisis mode, putting out fires as they pop up, and now I can reflect on what happened.
On my failure.
Once again, I failed to protect the ones I love from the Ygg. First my mother, and now Kelly.
I still remember the day I lost my mother perfectly. It’s burned into my retinas. Permanently.
Cotonia VI seemed like a perfect place for my mother to live out the remainder of her days. My father had died in battle years before, like a true Zoran warrior, and she was a distinguished healer, known throughout Exon Prime for her ointments and potions. The High Command always knew someone that needed or ‘deserved’ only the best healer on the planet, and so there was many a night when she was roused from the bed by some Senator with a sore throat or some other non-emergency.
After a while, she’d had enough. I was the one who saw the ad on the holo-feed. Cotonia VI was a newly settled planet, with perfect weather, all year round. It sounded like paradise. I told her, and she moved there a few weeks later.
Found herself a quiet town, Bahaan, where she could be the local healer. No longer part of the Exon Prime political elite, and she was happier that way. She even took on a different name, to escape the fame. I could rest easy knowing she found her peace.
And that’s when the Ygg invaded. Without so much as a warning those monsters dropped from the sky and set the entire planet ablaze.
Our squad dropped in – I was still a rookie, it was our very first battle – and headed straight towards Bahaan. What we encountered was chaos. Pure chaos.
The entire town had been slaughtered. Buildings were on fire, the strong winds whipping it into an inferno that swallowed everything in its path. We were too late, there was nothing we could do.
I broke rank and charged forwards, sprinting through the flames towards my mother’s house.
There was nothing left. Her hut was completely demolished. A large, winged insect sat in the midst of the rubble. Enraged, I fired my rifle at it, and it spread its wings and flew off, robbing me of the chance to revenge my kin.
When the fire died out a day later we our squad salvaged what we could. So many bodies…
I never found my mother.
I trained all my life to be a warrior, a protector, and I couldn’t even save the woman who mattered most to me. I’d already failed as a warrior before I even began.
From that point on, my life had a single focus. To become the ultimate warrior. To defeat the Ygg, once and for all. It was the only way I could redeem myself.
I failed on both accounts.
Kelly is mine to protect, and I let her, and Zorans everywhere, down.
I don’t deserve her.
I don’t deserve to wear this uniform.
She’d be better off without me.
15
Kelly
The pleasant, spicy smell of herbal tea wakes me.
Bey. I wish I could take her with me. Her natural, tasty blends could take over the entire universe. We could start our own tea emporium. Key & Bey Teas. Put Koryn on the packaging – shirtless. Ooh, or give him his own blend! Wild grapes, to match his skin tone and demeanor. We could make a special blend for every Zoran...
… A nice, misty gray blend for Vinz… we could call it… a storm in a teacup!
“Are you okay?”
I’m grinning to myself, and this draws Bey’s attention. I open my eyes, and the bright, artificial light of the ship makes me squint. I sit up straight and Bey hands me a cup of her freshly-brewed tea.
“Thank you,” I say as I accept the drink, my eyes scanning the med-bay. I must have been out for a very long time – the cave is a day’s walk away, and that’s without lugging an unconscious person around.
“My pleasure. How do you feel?”
I take a sip of the hot tea, feeling the warmth spread through me, as I wiggle my toes.
My toes!
I can feel all ten of them!
I pull the white sheet covering me to the side, and I stare in amazement at my two legs. It’s like nothing ever happened! It feels a bit sore, like I worked out too hard, but I can move it just fine.
“How? What? Huh?”
I lose the ability to form words with more than one syllable as I run my hand across my left leg. There’s not even any scarring or any other hint that my injury was not just a feverish nightmare.
Bey is staring at me with a wide smile, baring her fangs. She claps her paws together out of joy. “It’s amazing, isn’t it! This whole ship is fantastic.”
“What happened?” I ask, my eyes as big as saucers.
“The medi-computer!” Bey says, pointing at the large, cylinder-shaped tube in the corner of the med-bay. “Koryn put you in there and tapped on the screens, and then… poof.”
“Poof?”
“Yeah, poof,” Bey says with a wide grin. “The machine started whirring, and Koryn told me to go find some herbs, and when I came back you were here, asleep.”
I am amazed. Zoran technology keeps surprising me. I knew they were advanced – I helped develop the Archer Cure – but that they had the capability to grow limbs back on? That’s news to me!
I throw my legs over the side of the table and tentatively lower myself down, tying the sheet around myself like a toga to cover my undressed body. The ship’s metal floor is cold under my naked feet. I put all my weight on my right foot, and then my left. I’m standing.
I take a few steps.
I’m walking!
Bey can’t stop laughing when she sees the dumbfounded look on my face.
“I can walk!” I say. “I can dance!”
I bend over to touch my toes. I jump up and clap my hands in the air. I do a few lunges, circling around the table I was on. I even throw in a few squats for good measure.
My legs feel great!
“Where’s Koryn?” I ask as I dance to an imagined beat.
Bey claps along to my imagined rhythm. “I don’t know,” she says.
I stop mid-dance, one leg dangling in the air. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t know,” she says. “He was gone when I came back, along with Timber.”
“Timber?”
“A Beran who helped carry you here,” she explains.
“They didn’t leave a note?”
“No.”
I put my feet back on the floor, an uncomfortable feeling taking hold of me. It could be nothing, he could have popped out for just a little while, but something is telling me it’s more than that.
“Hm.”
“He’ll be back soon,” Bey says. “Don’
t worry.”
“Where could they have gone?” I ask.
“Uhm. To forage?”
“Forage what? We have all the food and water we need right here on the ship. This doesn’t feel right.”
“Don’t worry,” Bey says, resting her paw on my shoulder. “Maybe you should rest some more.”
“I’ve been doing nothing but resting,” I snap, and Bey backs away, surprised by my outburst.
“I’m sorry,” I say when I see her hurt, chestnut eyes. She’s got eyes like a teddy bear, and I feel awful I hurt her feelings. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and I go and yell at her like that. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, it just makes me feel really… useless, to have everyone take care of me without being able to help, you know?”
Bey nods her fluffy head. “I understand,” she says. “but it’ll be fine. Where could they have gone?”
“Into the wilderness,” I say as I walk up to a porthole and stare out into the sea of trees.
Koryn.
Where have you gone?
16
Koryn
“Are you sure this is the right path?”
The Beran’s voice trembles with fear. I cut my way through the thick foliage, my axe cleaving instantly through the branches. I stocked up on weapons on the ship. When I face that Ygg Queen, I’ll be well prepared. I’m not stopping until I’ve killed that bitch.
“Losing your nerve, Beran?” I snarl.
Timber stops in his tracks. “Maybe we should go back? Before night falls. We could still make it if we turn back now.”
“I thought you wanted to avenge your people?” I say. “Good luck doing that holed up in a cave somewhere.”
I’m an asshole and I know it, but I don’t care anymore. I just walked away from the love of my life knowing it’s unlikely I’ll ever return alive. Being an asshole to Timber is the least of my concerns.
I sniff the ground, trying to pick up the Ygg scent. The Queen has got to be around somewhere. She’s never far away from her young, and I can detect her wretched smell from miles away.