by K. A Knight
Kronk, Vrid, and Ryx go flying through the air on impact and land hard. Kronk turns mid-air and falls on his back, holding Carmen tight and safe against his chest.
Good mate.
My ears are still ringing from the collision, the ground rolling from the ship as a hiss of a fire starts, followed by the rattling of a dying engine. We land near Klan Marix and pull them up before turning to the goulyg.
“I’ve got Shiloh’s signal!” Nul shouts, waving his tablet! “She’s in there! The tracker is working!”
Relief floods everyone’s faces. But there is one thing we can’t be sure of yet. Though her tracker is working, that doesn’t mean our mate is still alive. The thought of her dead in there makes my chest tighten painfully.
“Let’s kill those Yarek bastards and get our mate back,” Trov growls, stomping towards the ship. There are holes ripped into the hull of the vessel, and a fire is starting at the back. Debris and glass are scattered around the clearing, as well as a tunnel of soil turned up around the downed ship.
I grab his shoulder. “Hold on, big guy. We need to formulate a plan first before invading their ship.” Trov frowns but waits to hear me out. “Let’s split up. Two teams of four, we can cover more ground that way.”
“Don’t you mean one team of four and one team of five?” Carmen interrupts. “Because there is no way in fucking hell you’re leaving me behind.” She jerks her chin towards the ship. “My best friend is in there. My fucking sister. You’ll have to tie me down to keep me out of there.”
“I’d like to tie you down,” Ryx quips with a grin. Carmen’s face flushes, and she punches his shoulder.
“You got it, Carmen,” I agree.
“Nul, percentages!” Trov shouts.
Nul thinks for a moment. “Eighty percent. Team one—Cryk, Joss, Vrid, and Ryx. Team two—Kronk, Trov, Xal, and me.”
“And where should Carmen go?”
“Eighty-nine percent with team two,” he rattles off.
Trov nods. “Okay. You heard the man. Let’s split up. Team one, you enter from the top. Team two, you’re with me. Let’s find our mate and kill some vekking Yarek.”
“Wait!” I shout, running towards Nul and pulling a tablet from my pocket. “Give me Shiloh’s coordinates.” He quickly sends me the link to the tracker in her necklace, and her blip comes up on my map. “Thanks,” I say, before jogging back to my team. “Let’s go.”
Trov said to enter from the top, so Joss and I fly up while Vrid and Ryx climb. We’d offer to carry them, but Klan Marix is a prideful Klan of warriors, and we don’t want to insult them. Joss and I land and look for an opening, but Ryx and I have a better idea.
Grabbing the narkkets off our backs, we make our own vekking door, slicing through the various plates of metal. Seeing how shitty this ship is put together makes me wonder how the hell it ever stayed in the air in the first place.
Vrid reaches down, and with the help of Joss, heaves the slab of metal off the ship, tossing it over the side where it crashes to the ground with a thud.
“Ugh! What is that smell?” Ryx waves his hand in front of his face, trying to save his nose from the putrid odour coming from the hole.
My stomach churns, and my heart aches. How could Shiloh have lived inside such a shit hole and survived the crash, much less survived her imprisonment?
I squash those thoughts swiftly, and without a second thought, jump down into the hole we made. With my weapons still drawn, I land in a crouch, the others following behind me. Our weapons are needless, even though we are on their bridge. A ringing blaren is sounding, and red lights flash all over.
The bridge looks like something I would have built out of margyn blocks as a youngling. Nothing matches, and everything is out of proportion. Various metals are used for the walls, which hang limply from the ship. Electronics have fallen from the ceiling, sparking as we walk under them. The control panels have severe damage from the crash and sit smouldering under their viewing screen.
At least fifteen Yarek are strewn everywhere, their goo splashed over every surface, making it look like a giant monster sneezed inside. “Vekking disgusting,” Joss complains, trying his hardest not to touch anything.
“Shit!” Ryx shouts, flapping his hand. “The ooze! It burns! Be careful where you place your hands!”
“Noted,” I reply with a nod.
I set my eyes on a Yarek and swing my narkket around before stabbing the nearest one between its giant black eyes. Brown liquid pours from the wound, smelling worse than the creature itself.
Joss takes a turn, stabbing into the heart of another. Ryx and Vrid get in on the action, slaying the Yarek where they lie. We don’t stop until the last one is missing its head.
Turning to the map on the tablet, I follow the blip.
Shiloh.
She’s so close.
We’re coming, little flyer, just hang on.
“This way,” I call, waving them after me. Shiloh’s signature takes me to a vekked up looking morfka. Usually there would be some type of car to ride in, but as I pull the doors open, I find this one is nothing but an empty hole.
Right now, I would kill for one of those human flashlight things. I look over the edge and notice the smell is worse. Turning back to the guys, I say, “We have to go down there. Any volunteers to go first?” I can see Joss wants to speak up, but I hold up my hand to silence him. “I’ll go.”
I slowly spin back to the dark cavern and let anger fill me. My heart races and my blood roars through my veins as I allow myself to think about the Yarek putting their slimy hands on my mate.
Then my scales flame, lighting up the chute, and I jump.
The free fall isn’t long, and I’m able to anticipate the bottom with my skin glowing bright red. I land with a thump and call up to the guys. “It’s about thirty feet!”
“Okay!” Joss shouts back, and I move out of the way as he plummets down to me, followed by Vrid and Ryx.
“Everyone okay?” I ask, helping Vrid to his feet. After they all nod, I turn back to the blip, realising it’s only twenty feet from me. I look down the dark hallway we emerge into. Three Yarek lie motionless on the ground, their excretions smeared all over the walls.
Not checking to see if they are alive or not, I slice the heads off each one before proceeding.
Ten feet.
Five feet.
“She’s through there.” I point to the door in front of us and try to pull the handle. “Vekk! It’s stuck!”
Vrid and Ryx join me, yanking and tugging on the door, but it won’t budge.
“Move out of the way!” Joss shouts, pulling a hitrel from his hip. We are barely able to flatten our backs to the wall before he fires. The blue blast of energy sails right in front of my face, the heat almost burning my skin before it crashes into the door. The metal sizzles away, leaving a gaping hole.
I look at Joss with wide eyes. He just nods and secures his weapon before jumping through the hole. “She’s here!” he calls out, and I hurtle after him.
“Shiloh!” I cry out, my voice breaking as I kneel down beside her. She looks dead. Her face is dirty, her mouth bleeding. Her red hair is a murky shade of brown, and she’s completely naked. But that’s not even the worst part.
It’s her body.
She’s covered from head to toe in red welts that glisten with infection, and the skin that hasn’t been eaten off her body is heavily bruised black and blue. Her hands are severely deteriorated, half the skin missing from her palms.
But her feet.
Oh, her feet.
They might as well have never had skin at all. Muscle, bone, and sinew take the place of her skin. How the hell did she even survive? It’s like she ran through the ooze for hours…did she bring down the ship?
“They’re vekking gone, Joss! Look at her feet!”
“Let me through,” Vrid demands with some force, breaking my pity party right up. Joss and I sit back as Vrid stabs Shiloh in her heart. She jerks but still d
oesn’t wake.
“Again!” I growl.
Vrid doesn’t hesitate, injecting her a second time. This time, her body jolts in response, and I see her eyes flutter.
“Cryk,” she whispers, before passing back out.
I look to Joss. “We have to get her out of here. Now!”
“On it!” Joss takes the tablet from me and types into it. “This way.” I pick up Shiloh, wincing as I see her wounds up close. Even with Vrid’s healing venom, this type of damage to a human will take some time to heal. We pass back through the hall of mutilated Yarek and find a hatch in the floor near the chute we entered from.
Ryx and Vrid pull it free and fresh air billows in. “About twenty feet to the ground,” Ryx informs me before jumping. Vrid and Joss follow. Then I jump with a broken Shiloh held tightly against my chest. As soon as I pass through the ship, I extend my wings and glide us to the ground.
We’re met with the sound of shouting and clashing metal.
“Die, you Yarek bastards!” I recognise Trov’s voice, and we run over to where it’s coming from and see the other five members of our party in the heat of battle. Xal, Kronk, Trov, Nul, and even Carmen are fighting at least twenty Yarek. Trov is engaging four Yarek, his bakkets glistening with their blood as he roars into their faces. A chittering noise comes from them as they try to rip away his weapons, but he is too strong. Xal is battling another, his oprey cutting through their grey bodies, brown blood and ooze flying everywhere.
Ryx and Vrid join the fight, and my fingers itch to follow them. Knowing I’m a better fighter, I gingerly hand Shiloh over to Joss and attack the nearest Yarek.
The mishans don’t stand a vekking chance. Their bodies are not agile, their extra leg constantly tripping them up, and they can’t hold onto their weapons as their slime causes their grip to slip.
We might as well be taking mylenum from a youngling.
Swinging my bakket, I attack. I spin and stab the nearest Yarek in the back of the head, then retract my weapon before he even falls down. Trov impales one in the heart and kicks it square in the chest, launching it into the air. Kronk duels two at a time, tossing his weapons to the side, preferring to use his fists. Ryx toys with his prey, dancing around it as he twirls twin blades in his hands. Nul takes aim with a lijik, firing blasts at any Yarek trying to sneak up on us.
Vrid watches Shiloh with Joss and a sobbing Carmen, who stopped fighting as soon as she saw her sister in my arms. Carmen pets Shiloh’s head, telling her that she’s going to be okay, even as her tears fall like raindrops.
It’s hard to watch, even though Shiloh’s skin is healing before our eyes. I’ve never been more grateful to have a friend like Vrid than I am now. Without his help, Shiloh may not have survived. Hell, we still don’t know if she will, that thought causes my heart to break a little in my chest. We won’t survive without her, she has to live, whatever it takes.
Xal and Nul fight a big vekking Yarek together. Nul drops to his knees, taking out two of its legs as Xal cracks it upside its head with an oprey. Not five minutes later, they are all dead.
My Klan sheathes their weapons and jogs over to Shiloh, worry twisting their faces. Their hands hover over her beaten body, wanting to touch her, to comfort her, but concerned they might hurt her.
“Will she be okay?” Trov asks.
Joss shrugs, looking very unsure, his hands shaking from the emotional toll we are all feeling. We can’t lose her, we just got her back. We can’t. “We’ve done all we can. Now all we can do is wait.”
Thirty-Nine
Trov
We sit around and watch over Shiloh. I bark some orders at Klan Marix, and they drag Carmen away and start searching the Yarek ship to ensure any of the vekking mishans left inside are all dead, and to look for the stolen tech. I have also relayed our location to the kings, who are sending a team. They will sweep the wreckage for communications with rogue Klans and anything else we can find. This site will become a hotbed of activity.
Until they arrive, I keep my hand wrapped around the tiny part of Shiloh’s skin which isn’t ulcerated or bruised. I wish I could go back and torture the mishans who did this to her, but I can’t. Death came too quickly for them. What she needs right now is us. So I push back my rage and slow my breathing, watching the even rise and fall of her chest. Vrid’s healing is already working. It’s slow, but her bruises are lessening, her skin is becoming less black and blue. Her feet are the worst, but as we watch, the skin starts to regrow, stitching together over her feet. Vrid comes back and injects her twice more before Carmen makes him rest.
Our Klan just sits there, huddled around Shiloh, who’s lying pliant in my arms. We should be securing the site, but none of us can bear to leave her side. Just waiting for her eyes to open and see those lips tilt up in her usual smile, only then will I know that she is okay. We are all touching her with unsure hands, not wanting to hurt her. As we observe, her even breathing picks up, her eyes rolling behind closed lids. I glance at the others, who look equally as concerned.
“Little warrior?” I rasp hoarsely.
She cries out, and her eyes flash open as she bolts upright, gaze panicked, chest heaving as she stares around. When she spots us, she stills and stares, as if she can’t believe what she’s seeing. Then her shock deflates, and her eyes fill with relief when she realises she’s safe. With a cry, she throws herself at us, her arms wide to try and encompass us all.
“You’re here, you are really here,” she sobs, tears leaking from her eyes, making me roar on the inside, wishing I could kill every single vekking Yarek again for hurting my mate, for making her cry.
“Of course,” I rumble.
“You think you could ever get away from us?” Cryk teases, but his voice breaks at the end.
“We will always come for you,” Joss says softly, rubbing her back.
“One hundred percent,” Nul whispers, his voice cracking with emotion.
She settles in our arms then, just letting us hold her, and my heart finally slows, my breathing settling with her close and awake. I scoot backwards and stand, and let the others pull her into their arms, knowing they need it. Shiloh winces when they touch a sore place on her body, but she doesn’t shy away. She needs our touch as much as we need hers. Nul backs away as well, standing next to me as Kronk heads towards us.
Kronk gestures to the okkrens which have landed near the downed goulyg. “The teams are here, they are asking for you.” He glances at Shiloh with a little smile. “Thank vekk, Carmen was going crazy with worry. I’ll let her know she’s awake.”
He leaves, and I look at Shiloh again, not wanting to leave her but knowing I need to lead the teams the kings sent—the bane of being generals.
“Hold her, you know she feels safest in your arms,” Nul whispers to me. “We can split up and get everything sorted quicker. At least if she is in your hold, we know she is safe enough for us to concentrate on work.”
I nod and look to Shiloh, who is still being cradled by Cryk and Joss. They look like they don’t want to ever let her go again. Cryk is petting her hair, and Joss is raining kisses down on her head. I don’t know what to say, my voice fails me, but Nul does.
He crouches before her and wipes her face free from tears. “Hey there, Shy,” he murmurs softly. She sniffs and looks at him. “We need to do a few things before we head home. Will you let Trov carry you?” She glances at me, then back to Nul, who leans closer. “It’s more for him than you, Shy. Please? Plus, your feet shouldn’t be walked on yet.”
She stares down at her still healing feet with a wince. It will take a few more rounds of healing before she is back to normal. I video called Klan Zolki, and they assessed them. Their lead surgeon explained what to do to ensure she will be able to walk again and gave us advice on how to help her wounds heal quickly. Her feet are still red and raw, missing skin in some places so we can see the bone and muscle, but it will mend. She nods, and he kisses her softly before getting to his feet. Cryk and Joss move away r
eluctantly, and Shiloh looks at me before lifting her arms into the air, waiting to be picked up like a youngling.
My heart cracks for a moment at the trust and need written across her face. I cover the ground with my shadow and scoop her up into my arms. Holding her like glass, so tenderly, I press her to my chest. She shivers, her hands gripping my shirt as she buries her face there. “I have you, little warrior, you will never be away from us—me, again. No one will ever hurt you, do you hear me?” She lifts her head, her eyes swimming with tears. “Ever. I will kill them all before they can ever touch you,” I vow.
“Promise?” she whispers, searching my eyes.
“Promise,” I growl, words still hard to speak, but I feel better with her in my arms.
She nods and lays her head on my chest, trusting me to protect her. I puff up at that as I look to the others. “Nul, find Marix and help them with the bodies. Joss, work with the science team, see what you can find on their systems. Try to figure out if the Yarek were working with anyone else other than Klan Gryme. Cryk, assist the enforcement team and secure this site, I want to know everyone who goes in or out,” I order, voice harsh.
They rush away, all knowing the quicker we are done, the quicker we can take our mate home. With her in my arms, I stomp around the site, barking orders and watching everyone. When someone gets too close, she huddles tight against me, and I roar at them for scaring her. I can see the looks everyone is giving me, filled with fear, except for my Klan who looks amused.
I don’t care, let them be afraid, let them tell everyone just how far the generals will go to protect their mate. Suddenly, Shiloh’s head jerks up from the sleep she had drifted into, her face covered in panic. “Tatiana!” she exclaims, struggling in my arms.
“Stop, speak,” I snap, and she stills, her eyes big and staring at me.
“Tatiana, my Harvest sister, she was in the ship—oh God, Trov!”
“Little one,” I coo, cupping her face until she looks at me. “We got her out on the first sweep. Her condition was bad, but she is alive. We have sent her to Vytal Recovery, the best doctors and scientists on Oxious will be taking care of her. I promise she’s safe. I will take you to see her once you are healed.”