Vengeance (20 page)

Drach’s
lipless smile falters.  “I need nothing!”

His adamant refusal
only proves that I am right...but why?  What significance does
he think my children hold?  Can he see into the future when I
cannot?  I can sense a tone of anxiety in his voice but am left
floundering for a reason.

“So am I to
remain here for the next several months in that room?”  I
cross my arms over my chest.

“Yessss,”
he draws out his hiss.  “I will keep you safe.”

“Safe?”
 I don’t like the sound of that.  “Safe from
what?”

Drach turns his head
away and I get the distinct feeling that he is dismissing me and yet
there are no guards here to retrieve me.  More likely it is that
he does not want to answer my question.  Logic would tell me to
let the matter drop but I’ve never really been all that good
with following a path that is in my best interest.  “Am I
a prisoner?”

“Prisoner?”
 He seems to ponder this question for several moments.  “Yes,
but not a slave.  I will allow you to be free to come and go as
long as you remain inside.”

“Why can’t
I go outside?” I question.  

As I look around the
room I realize for the first time there are no windows.  Only
two doors enter and leave from this room.  A feeling of unease
settles over me as he rolls his eyes back to stare at me.  “It
is not safe.”

“Yeah, you
said that already.”  I sigh and shake my head.  “What
about Bastien?  You promised an exchange.  His life for my
children.”  

“Yessss.”
 His thick forked black tongue flickers out from between his
teeth.  “He will make a good slave.”

“No.  I
demand that he remain with me.  If there is a danger to me and
my children I will need a protector.”

Drach surges to his
feet, stunning me with such speed for a creature his size.  “I
am your protector.”

I force myself to
smile.  “I am sure that you are most capable but you can’t
be with me at all times.  If the lives of my children are as
important as you claim them to be, is it not in your best interest to
grant me this request?”

Raising
a single curled claw, Drach scratches the underside of his throat.
 It is hard to call it a neck, as he doesn’t really seem
to have one.  It all seems to just be an extension of his
elongated head and broad torso.  The underside is black as
night, a vivid contrast from the bright scarlet of his hood.  I
force myself not to shiver at the sight of him.

Drach stands well
over nine feet tall.  He is among the largest of the Roamers
that I have seen.  I wonder if this culture is like others.
 Survival of the fittest.  The biggest and meanest control
all.

“You will be
moved into my quarters.  There I will keep an eye on you.”

“No.”  I
shake my head, trying desperately to keep the waver of fear from my
voice.  I can’t be separated from Bastien.  In my gut
I know that if I am going to survive this planet I will need him by
my side.  “I would only be in the way.  Surely your
wife will not approve?”

I’m
clutching at anything to place doubt in his mind but even as I
suggest it I start to wonder if they even take wives here.  Their
ways seem barbaric and so far I haven’t seen a single
female...that I know of.  
What
if they are just as ugly as the men?

Drach’s scales
seem to shimmer as he begins to pace.  I can tell that I have at
least given him a reason to think it over.  “Bastien loves
me; you already know that, and in knowing that you realize that he
would lay down his life to protect me.  Are you willing to do
the same for me?”

His pauses in mid
step and turns.  His wide shoulders rise and fall with what I
assume to be a deep sigh but I can’t hear him breathing.
 “Fine.  You will remain with the man for now.”

“Thank you.
 We will need provisions though.”

The black slits in
his eyes narrow.  “Provisions?”

“A blanket to
keep warm at night.  More food.  I can’t birth
healthy babies on what you are feeding me.”  I decide to
push one step further.  “And I will need a bed.”

A bark erupts from
his lips. “We do not sleep on beds here.  The floor is our
domain.”

“Maybe
it is suitable for you, but the floor is not a place for a pregnant
woman.”  A thought strikes me and I feel fear trickle down
my spine.  
How
are these monsters supposed to help me deliver the babies?  Their
hands are enormous and their claws...
I
shudder at the thought.  
Maybe
they will bring in one of the girls from the slave ship to help me.

I swallow hard as I
think of the alternative and vow that no matter what happens I will
not allow Bastien to aid in bringing Eamon’s children into this
world.  

He nods in
agreement, though I get the feeling he doesn’t enjoy doing so.
 “Of course.  I will see to it myse--”  his
head whips around as a cry rises from somewhere down the hall.  He
twists his head this way and that, weaving back and forth.  I
watch him, realizing that he does not have ears like I do.  Only
small holes on either side of his head, nearly covered by the hood
that rises from shoulders and connects at the crown of his head.  

“What is it?”
I ask, rising to my feet.

The thin layer of
skin closes over Drach’s eyes, sealing out everything.  I
wait impatiently for him to open his eyes but he does not.  His
head continues to weave from side to side.  A low rumble grows
in his chest.  

I hear more shouting
from the opposite side of the room, spilling from behind the closed
door.  I sense Drach’s attention has shifted to it.  His
claws clench at his sides, burrowing deep into the flesh of his
hands.  Brown blood drips onto the floor.  His stance
widens, his legs slightly bent.  

Every instinct in me
tells me that something is very wrong.  Drach is too silent.
  “Are we under attack?”

Drach’s eyes
slowly open.  The black slits in his eyes are wide, dilated. He
lifts his nose to the air and sniffs, breathing in deep.  “The
Duturi have found you.”

“The who?”
I glance back over my shoulder as I hear a guttural hiss.  Four
Roamers surge through the curtain behind me, each sporting deep
gashes.  One clutches its arm, the hand severed completely.  It
wavers on its feet, threatening to fall like a mighty oak of the
forest, but somehow manages to remain upright.

“Protect the
girl.  No one touches her.”  Drach’s shouted
command echoes in my ears, driving me to the ground.  The
communicator screams shrilly in my ear.  Loud explosions from
behind the closed door sound dull against the ringing in my ears.
 The sound of some sort of weapon discharge echoes from behind
me.

Something wet and
warm splatters against my back and neck, coating my arms but I double
over, clawing at my ear to be free of the translator.  I feel
the cartilage tear as I rip it free, chucking it away from me.  Warm
blood seeps from the wound, trailing into the hollow of my ear.  

The ground rumbles
beneath me.  I can feel the vibrations arising from all around.
 On Earth I would have feared the presence of the spider drones
but here...I do not know what is coming for me.   

A face swims before
my blurry eyes.  It hisses at me with such insistence that I
shrink back. Drach grabs my arms and thrusts me toward a wall,
hissing at me again.  With a mighty shove, he reveals a hidden
passage.  It is dark and long.  I know once the door closes
behind me I will be thrust into complete darkness.

Another
hiss turns my attention back onto Drach.  I do not need the
translator to know what he is saying.  
Run!

Darkness closes in
around me the instant the door seals shut.  I can hear wild
hissing followed by grunts.  The door shudders behind me and the
sound of claws digging into the flesh of the wall sends a shudder
down my spine.  I know that I should run, flee as far from this
battle as I can, but I can’t.  Bastien is out there.  I
can’t just leave him behind.

I turn slowly, my
hands walking along the wall to feel my way.  Only a thin line
of light can be seen from the bottom of the door.  I place a
hand upon it and listen, holding my breath for fear of being heard.  

Something slams into
the door and I cup my mouth to keep from crying out.  I back
away slowly, realizing as I do that the bottoms of my toes are moist.
 I press one hand against the wall and wipe my foot, bringing my
hand to my nose. I grimace at the metallic scent that accompanies the
thick blood between my fingers.  

Is Drach dead?
 If so, what sort of creature could take down a man of his size
with so little fight?  

The light at the
bottom of the door is blotted out as more blood slips beneath.  I
back away, the scent of it turning my stomach.  I move swiftly
in the opposite direction, disoriented by the lack of sight.  I
keep my fingers trailing along either wall, praying that I don’t
ram nose first into a dead end.

The air is thick.
 My hair feels like a matted rat’s nest against my neck,
heavy and drenched with sweat.  I push it back from my face,
feeling the effort it takes for me to gasp each breath.  

I’m
running out of oxygen
,
I panic.  I have yet to feel an exit or see any more light.
 This narrow tunnel has begun to descend and the ceiling has
dropped dramatically, forcing me into a stooped position.  From
time to time I think I hear voices through the walls, muffled and far
off.  

I
slow my pace, sure that soon I must find an exit.  
What
if I missed one already?

This thought wiggles
around in my mind, making my stomach begin to churn with fear at the
thought that I could be trapped in this small space.  I can’t
go back.  Even if Drach managed to survive, there is no way I
could push him aside along with the weight of that door.  No.
 There’s only one direction I can go.

I proceed at a
slower pace, careful to keep my breathing under control.  Even
though logically I know there is still enough air to breathe, I don’t
want to take any chances.  Panicking isn’t about to help
me.

The
hall makes an abrupt left and I pause, flitting my hands along the
wall to my right only to discover that another passageway has opened,
giving me an opportunity to make the wrong choice.  
Perfect.
 Why can’t this stuff ever be simple?

I know nothing about
the compound that Drach has been holding me in.  After we moved
through the horde of men bound for the mines on the day I arrived, I
was blindfolded.  It was not removed until the exterior doors of
this building had slammed behind me. Even the small window in my room
with Bastien was too high to ever truly see out.  

I
have no idea how far this compound spans.  As best I can tell I
haven’t been going in circles, so this place must be enormous.
 
Odd
that I never really saw many Roamers though,
I
muse.  

Something doesn’t
feel right.  Not about Drach or this place.  

I
close my eyes and listen. The weight around my neck makes my need
stoop, wearing m down.  For a moment I hear nothing and my hopes
begin to dwindle, but there, far off in the distance, I hear a cry.
 I take the right tunnel and rush forward at a gait somewhere
between a jog and a speed walk.  My fingers grow warm from
running along the walls long before I glimpse light up ahead.  Not
a thin line of light to hint at a door but a wide grate in the floor.

The
floor?
 

I approach with
caution, allowing my eyes time to adjust to the light.  When I
draw close I prop myself against either wall and lean over, staring
down through the grate and into air.  My stomach rises into my
throat when I realize why the canopy overhead looked so much closer
out of the window in my room with Bastien.  The entire place is
perched up in the trees.

It is eerie to not
feel any gust of wind through the metal grate, crisscrossed with inch
thick bars over the opening.  The air is still.  

A
shout from up ahead captures my attention and I race forward,
struggling to readjust to the darkness.  Around a corner up
ahead I spot three more grates, each tunnel fanning out into
different tunnels.  
How
am I supposed to know which one to choose?

I
drop to my knees before the first one, peering down at the ground
below.  I can see figures pacing back and forth beside great
vehicles with tires that I imagine to be taller than me.  They
look similar to the military trucks back on Earth mixed with a hybrid
of the glass domes of the spider drones.  Great cannons swivel
from the top, searching the trees.

Drach said they
found me.  Do they really think that I found a way to get down
there?

“Get off me!”
 A grunt quickly follows the cry and I’m instantly on my
feet and leaping over the grate.  I turn right and run straight
toward a dead end.  I lean against the wall as the voice comes
again.  “I told you it was him, alright.  Now let me
go.  We had a deal!”

Hyde!  What
is he doing here?

I
turn my ear and press it against the wall, straining to hear.  I
wince at the burning in my ear and am swiftly reminded that I tore a
chunk of it off when I threw my translator away. I hold my manacles
away from the wall, fearful of making any sound that will betray my
location.

“Hey!  What
are you doing?”  Hyde’s voice rises in volume.  I
can hear his mounting panic but it is quickly drowned out by a
thrumming of an engine.  The floor below me begins to quake as a
deep throaty rumble echoes through the tunnel.

I cover my ears,
doubling over as a wave of heat blasts the door.  I can hear
Hyde’s shouts as if from a distance.  He sounds terrified.
 The heat against the door diminishes and the sound of the
engines change.