“That won’t hold for long. Let’s go!” Shouted Chapman, brandishing her gun forwards. “Follow me!”

No one had time for questions. We all fell in behind her, sprinting down the hallway. She was the only soldier left. Since she’d been standing at the back with all of us, she’d been somewhat safe. Everyone else on the bridge was gone. Holy fuck. It’s literally just us now.

Chapman led us to the other side of the ship, entering what appeared to be some kind of cargo bay: a large, open room with supplies and boxes lining the walls. She ran over to a keypad at one end of the room and started frantically typing before smashing her key badge against its small screen. A massive metallic click rang out, followed by a loud rolling sound, like a garage door being opened. I gasped to see the far wall of the cargo bay sliding up into the body of the ship. Sunlight poured in.

“Wait, that’s the plan?” I shouted as she ran towards the exit. “We’re going out there?”

Chapman whirled back. We all crowded in towards each other, a crying, shaking group, while Chapman stared.

“You want to stay in here? Be my guest. But those things were powerful enough to smash through our reinforced screens. Screens that can withstand space travel. There’s nowhere in this place you can hide where they won’t find you. I’m not hiding in here and waiting to die. I’m gonna run.”

She used her gun to point to the now open side of the cargo bay.

“Come with me or don’t. It’s up to you.”

With that, she started sprinting. With a curse, Kat followed her, then Melanie, as did some of the other girls.

My stomach churned, and with a sickening ache in my chest, I realized I’d left my pack behind. No food. No water. No nothing.

But Chapman had a gun and maybe some sort of plan. That was something.

“She’s right,” I said to the others, about half the group that were still standing with me in the cargo bay. “Those crab things are going to tear this ship apart looking for us. We have to run.” I didn’t want to leave anyone behind if I could help it, but I had no doubt the sound of the doors opening was going to attract those things to this side of the ship at any second. We had to go. Now.

Theresa sobbed, but grabbed my hand and nodded, her tears tracking watery blue lines through her sunscreen.

“Hope you paid attention in your Alien 101 classes,” she choked out as we started to run, followed by the others. My jaw tightened grimly as we made it out onto the brutally hot sand. Oh, I’d paid attention all right. I’d done my level fucking best.

I just hoped to God that it would be enough.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER FOUR Buroudei

It had been more than fourteen days since the Lavrika had called me to the pools. Fourteen times the sun had chased the broken line of moons from one side of the sky to the other. Fourteen days of coming back to the Cliffs of Uruzai searching for clues. Searching for something. Anything. Anything that might give me more information about the strange vision of my even stranger mate.

It was getting harder and harder to think of excuses to come here alone. Even Galok, who trusted me implicitly, was growing concerned. Every time I told him I was leaving to patrol our borders, or to hunt, he’d look at me strangely. “Let the hunters and guards do that, Buroudei. The Gahn should not concern himself with such mundane tasks,” he’d said, looking at me as if I’d gone half-mad. And maybe I had gone mad. I’d never before been so consumed with such a singular need. The need for answers. The need to see that small, pale face again.

I adjusted my positioning atop my mount, my irkdu, its massive long body moving easily over the sand, as we approached the Cliffs of Uruzai yet again. As we got close to the cliff’s opening, the Lavrikala stationed there eyed me warily, but said nothing. The Lavrikala had grown used to my daily visits. I never dismounted, never tried to enter the caves, and so the sacred guards largely let me be as I stalked back and forth on my animal. It was pointless to try to enter the caves again now. Warriors were only permitted inside at the invitation of the Lavrika. Otherwise, only our female healers were allowed to enter at will, to replenish their supplies of Lavrika’s blood.

Perhaps the Lavrika has lied to me. Shown me some falsehood I should ignore.

But no, such thoughts were blasphemy. Generations ago, our ancestors had ignored the visions of the Lavrika. And it had almost destroyed us, decimating our numbers. We were nowhere near recovered from those mistakes.

I sighed, staring first at the sand, then the sky.

Nothing. Nothing new. Everything just the same as before.

Wait.

I squinted, my gaze narrowing in on a strange dark shape in the distance. It was descending from the sky, and as it got closer to the ground, I heard a deep, unfamiliar whirring sound.

My mount bucked and wriggled, its animal senses picking up on the thing in the sky. Wordlessly, I pulled my axe from its loop on my belt, and gripped my spear, leaning forward. The Lavrikala widened her stance, readying her spear, her eyes cast upward, looking worried but determined.

“I will go,” I called to her. Whatever this was, whatever threat, I would put myself between it and the Lavrikala and the caves.

The creature flew, as if it were a krixel, but it had no wings to speak of. And at this distance, the fact it looked as large as it did, meant it was bigger than any krixel, bigger than any creature I had ever seen. It had a round, flat body that reminded me of the discs our cubs threw back and forth for sport. When it landed, the whole ground shook, and my irkdu groaned and tossed its head. I tightened my thighs against its body, keeping it under control, then clicked my tongues, axe and spear at the ready.

My irkdu shot forward, its many legs working swiftly over the surface of the sand. There was no time to return to the tents and to gather my men about me; we were almost at the fallen flying thing. But when I heard the vicious screams of the zeelk, and saw them burrowing up out of the sand and scuttling towards the fallen creature, I stopped short, whistling for my irkdu to heel, wishing that I had my men around me after all. The zeelk were monstrous, brutal things that could tear even the strongest Sea Sand warrior to pieces. With my irkdu at my side, I could handle a few of the things on my own. But there were more than ten scrabbling towards the strange fallen creature. I had no reason to throw myself into that fray, and I held back, watching with keenly guarded eyes, my hands still tight on my weapons.

There was a see-through shelf of bone at the front of the fallen thing, and the zeelk crashed through it, moving into the body of the huge best. The creature did not seem to be alive after its landing, and I saw no blood running from its wounds. The zeelk were all inside the thing now, and I could hear their terrible shrieks alongside terrific crashes. And then more screams – lighter and softer, working deep into my bones. My chest clenched, my grip tightening so hard against my weapons that my knuckles cracked. There were other things inside the great beast. Creatures that were still alive.

Suddenly, the other side of the fallen beast split along an invisible seam, and its shining skin pulled back and up. My irkdu snuffled and growled, but I held it steady, eyes narrowing. I expected zeelk to spill out of that new opening, as if the fallen creature was expelling them somehow. But what I saw instead brought everything around me to a powerful, grinding halt.