by R. R. Banks
"My boss, Ryan, was not a nice person. He wanted what he wanted and he was going to get it, or make everybody's life miserable. I wouldn't date him, so he decided to send me on what he thought was a death mission."
"What?" Elianna sounded horrified.
"Yeah. A bit of an overreaction if you ask me, but that's what he decided to do. He knew that the Denynso had very strict rules about human visitors, particularly scientists, and he sent me here with the specific instructions to go against those rules."
"What did he want you to do?"
"He wanted me to bring back a sample of Denynso warrior blood so that he could analyze it and find out what makes them so powerful. Of course, that is the most serious rule that the Denynso have. To Ryan, either I would be successful and he would be able to get to the source of the Denynso power and possibly create his own race of superior warriors through genetic engineering on Earth, or I would get caught and they would kill me. Either way, he would get something that he wanted; success and fame, or revenge."
"Where is he now?" Elianna asked.
Eden glanced over at her. She honestly hadn't thought about him in the months that she had spent on Uoria. It was as if he didn't exist anymore.
"You know, I have no idea. It's possible that the research lab thinks that I'm dead and they've brought him up on endangerment and espionage charges."
The thought delighted Eden on a level that she didn't necessarily want to admit to anyone, and it made her feel a little less awful about herself when Elianna laughed.
"That would serve him right," she said.
Eden laughed.
"It would. I'm sure that he would absolutely love a few decades in one of the prison tech camps."
The thought of Ryan chained to one of the expansive computers in the technology prison camps, forced to work from morning until night working systems so basic they would drive him mad, was enough to assuage all of the anger she had for him, and she found herself smiling as they walked on toward the pond at the far end of the compound.
Her smile faded, however, when she saw Loralia running toward them, her long braid bouncing on her back as she rushed down the dirt road, her compact held tightly in her hand. Suddenly Eden remembered why they were walking toward the water and all of the fear and heartache came rushing back.
Chapter Four
Pyra held Lynx down on the floor, pushing his arms down against the wood with nearly all of his strength. Even though the younger warrior was smaller, the ferocity that was suddenly pouring out of him was making it more difficult than Pyra would have imagined for him to control his thrashing. As soon as he had mentioned the blood dripping from Lynx's back, the other warrior had seemed to snap, suddenly becoming aggressive and violent toward him and Bannack. He was hissing in a way that was almost like the Covra, and no matter how loudly Pyra shouted his name, he stared back at him through eyes that looked dark and unrecognizable, as if they were not registering the meaning of the word.
Behind him Bannack gripped a silver compact in his hand and stared into it. The compact looked like a larger, heavier version of the one that Loralia carried and Pyra wondered what Bannack could possibly be doing with it as he struggled to not only fight off Lynx's violent reaction, but to understand what was causing it.
"Loralia!" Bannack suddenly gasped.
"Bannack?" Loralia's voice came into the room and Pyra shot a shocked look at Bannack, "What's wrong?"
"Something's happening to Lynx," Bannack said into the compact, "We don't know what's going on."
"What happened?"
"I can't get into the whole story right now, but he's been injured and now he seems like he's completely out of his mind. He's fighting Pyra and we can't get him to calm down. He looks like he's trying to kill him."
"Show him to me."
Pyra forced his knee into Lynx's chest to give him more control over him and watched as Bannack came closer and held the compact at an angle as if reflecting Lynx in the mirror.
"What are you doing?" Pyra asked.
"If anyone would be able to figure out what's going on with him, it's going to be Loralia."
"How was he injured?" Loralia asked through the compact.
Her voice sounded slightly strained, as if she knew something but didn't want to actually say it until she knew for sure that she was right.
"We encountered another species…"
"The Covra," Loralia said before Bannack could even continue his sentence.
"Yes," Bannack said, "You've heard of them?"
"Yes. A long time ago. I didn't know that they still existed. You need to get Lynx to Ciyrs as fast as you possibly can."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's been infected by the Covra. They are fairly weak creatures. They have their talons, but their greatest form of defense is infecting those they are fighting. If they can get their venom into another creature, that creature forgets what it is and tries to kill anything near it. The effect lasts until the venom is removed, or the infected creature is destroyed."
"I don't understand. If they can turn whatever they get near into killing machines, how are they weak? Why aren't they able to just destroy whatever comes their way?"
"They used to, and then other species realized that it takes many, many years for them to reproduce, and that they have a very specific vulnerability. They were once feared more than anything on this planet, but several generations ago they came in contact with an enemy that took that power from them. They found that vulnerability and were able to stave them off."
"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.
Bannac
k 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 breathed. 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 the
ir 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.