Orc’s Forbidden Claim (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss #33)

18. Saylor

18

SAYLOR

I t all happens too fast. Memory is fragmented. Disconnected images that individually don’t make sense, but they dance through my head like a skipping vid. One moment jumps to the next.

I’m at Khiara’s side. One of the Urr’ki runs. He’s coming. He’s on me. Screams. Pain.

The pain. It hurts. So much that my mind shies away. I’m at Khiara’s side, again. I don’t want to leave. Here I am safe. He will protect me. Keep the hurt away.

I can’t seem to catch my breath. I try. Inhaling, but there isn’t enough air. Or room. Or… something. It is rough. Hard. What is happening?

“Saylor.”

I hear my name. That is Khiara. It has to be, no one else sounds like him. Why does he sound scared? Lost? I’m here. I yell but even as I do I know it doesn’t work.

Why?

Why don’t the words go, like they should? It’s simple. Open the mouth, form the words, exert a small amount of effort… no. No air. That must be it.

I hear him calling my name. Crying out for me. Yelling. All I have to do is find him.

It’s dark. Really dark. Why is it so dark? What happened to the light?

I run. It’s too dark to see. I’m not sure where I’m running to. Or from. I think I’m running from something. No, I’m running to. To him. His voice. I have this feeling if I run far enough, fast enough, I’ll find him.

Ahead there is a glimmer of light. Hope swells in my chest. Light. If I can reach that it will help. I’ll be able to see, to find Khiara. I know he must be close. I can feel him.

The light increases, but not from any source, things are just brighter. The smooth floor gives way to sand, and my feet are sinking into its soft, warm embrace. I struggle to keep moving ahead as I sink deeper.

The warmth of the sand rises to my calves and moving forward becomes harder and harder. Almost impossible. I’m tired. More than tired. Exhausted. Can barely keep my eyes open. Are they open?

Suddenly I’m out of the caves and standing on a ledge looking out over Tajss. The rolling red-white striations of the dunes are occasionally broken by protruding cliffs and rock formations. I’m far above, it must be close to the top of the mountains. The horizon seems so far way and I can see everything between me and it.

A herd of bivo wandering the barren desert, looking for its next meal. A pack of gusters that race across the sands so easily it could be a thoroughfare on the ship. An oasis, full of life, a central point emanating out to the rest of the planet.

Something races under the sand. My stomach tightens. I’ve never seen one of the giant sandworms up close, but we’ve all heard the stories of them. The apex predators of Tajss. Traveling beneath its surface endlessly burrowing, churning, and turning. The line of its path will intersect with the bivo herd at any moment.

I want to cry out. Yell at the poor dumb animals to run. Scatter. Get out of its way but my voice still isn’t working. The air still won’t fill my lungs. Then, somehow, my view shifts. I’m above the planet, looking down. I’m in the stars above, but the skies are not empty.

There are eyes in the stars. Not literal eyes, or maybe they are. I can’t see them, but I know they are there, watching, waiting, and worse, craving. Tajss glistens in the light of its double suns, pulsing with life, and the eyes know it.

On some level, instinctual or some strange, incomprehensible way of understanding, I know they know. They know that life has returned to Tajss. And with the return of life, their greed is ignited.

Warmth covers my skin. Loving, embracing warmth and I’m being pulled down. Down to the sands and below, but as I do this knowing doesn’t leave.

My eyes snap open and I’m staring into Khiara’s warm, dark eyes. His brow is furrowed, his mouth twisted with worry. When my eyes open, his own widen and he gasps with surprise. Then his lips are on my forehead, peppering my face with kisses as he squeezes me even tighter to his chest.

I don’t resist his affections. I wrap my arms around his neck and tug until his lips are on mine.