Kartega

The meat tasted burnt and chewy and Sid tried not to think about which part of the insect she was munching on — she tried not to think about the insect altogether but every prolonged crunch sent her imagination spiraling. They left the survival portion of their escape up to Dalrak, trusting that he would have the best means and knowledge to carry them through the dense jungle. Meals like the one they were having at that very moment made her question that decision.

She looked over the burning fire, surveying the warrior. He didn’t look bothered by the taste. Instead, he was already reaching for seconds. Sid twisted her mouth and continued to nibble at whatever she had in her mouth. It’s not like she could exactly ask to see a meal card out in the jungle.

Sid swallowed audibly and downed a large gulp of river water from a makeshift cup Dalrak had carved for her from loosened tree bark. Careful not to get any splinters on her tongue, she licked the droplets covering the edges. She wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. Her tongue still felt sore after pulling out dozens of red tree fragments from her swollen mouth.

“Il torrik sumpto kundrik,” Dalrak said quietly in between bites.

Ashlan looked at her, eyes wide and eyebrows arched. “What did he say?”

“He says I need to eat more.” She reached hesitantly into the charred mess of insect limbs at the edge of the fire, pulled out a piece then tossed it back in. “I’m alright for right now, Dee.”

The warrior turned his nose up and grunted something under his breath before continuing to stuff his face.

“I still can’t believe you speak Al’iil now,” Ashlan noted.

“I don’t. Not really. I can pick up some words and say a few sentences, that’s all.”

“You seem to do fine with him,” he pointed to the warrior who was still busy with his meal.

“I don’t think it’s about words with Dee. I just understand him somehow. It’s odd, right?”

He considered the notion then beamed a smile in her direction. “Considering everything I’ve seen lately, that’s the least odd thing on the list.”

“What’s the most odd thing?”

She looked up from her cup to follow his gaze past the fire to where the beasts were spread out for the night. Tann was tending to the herd, bringing them water and patting each one on the snout. He had taken to the creatures during their days on the run, his connection to them stronger than Sid’s and Dalrak’s put together. From her conversations with Tazmin, she thought it was magic that pulled the Tecken to her but Tann had no magic at all and it suited him just fine. More than fine, she thought as one of the beasts licked his face enthusiastically.

“So you’re what? A Freedom Runner too now?” She asked jokingly.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Sid. But after what I’ve seen Leona do, I’d choose them over her any day.”

“Even over the humans?”

He fell silent and averted his gaze.

“It’s alright if the answer is no. They’re your people. You have to do what’s best for them.”

“Is that what you’re doing? What’s best for your people?”

A loaded question if there ever was one. Sid had no idea who her people were but there was no chance of explaining it to Ashlan without telling him everything about her and his father. As far as he was concerned, even after all of this, she was just another Domer that got in over her head. It’s what she needed him to believe until she found the right time to tell him her story. “I’m doing what’s best for everyone.”

“That’s pretty heroic. I didn’t take you for the brave type,” he smirked.

There it is. The Starblade returns.

“I’m kidding. To be honest, you’re the only reason I’m out here in the first place. When Tann found me and asked for my help, I was going to have him arrested. I was this close!” He pinched the air in front of his face.

“So why didn’t you?”

“I started thinking about that thing you said, about having pride in helping the planet. That’s the reason I let my father push me into the Starblades. To do what’s best for everyone in Neostar. Letting the Al’iil take you would go against everything the Starblades stand for.”

“Don’t you just stand for whatever the queen wants?”

“No, no we do not.” She noted a sense of melancholy in his voice but let it go. “When I was little, my father told me that there was great honor in making the guard because we get to be the peacekeepers between the city and the domes. He told me we are the quiet, silent rope that binds the two together. I didn’t understand it before. Not until Tann found me and begged for my help. I almost killed him, you know.”

Her eyes widened, “You did?”

“Not my finest moment. Peacekeepers keep the peace. I just kept saying that to myself even when all I wanted to do was throw him in a lightline and bring him in.”

“So that’s why you didn’t?”

“That, and the fact I couldn’t get the image of the Al’iil doing star knows what to you out of my head.”

“I was fine. Nothing I can’t handle.” She tried to force a laugh but her quivering bottom lip betrayed her. Just thinking of her days and nights in Tazmin’s hut made her want to throw up every piece of insect part she’d consumed. Although, if she was being honest, she wanted to throw them up with or without the fear.

“But you almost weren’t fine. If I didn’t listen to Tann, if I left you here,” he shook his head, “I don’t even want to think about what they would have done to you.”

“They wouldn’t have done anything to me. Trust me. They needed me alive.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed and every thought she had before this disappeared into a fog. She looked around to see if anyone was looking. Tann was still a way off and if Dalrak could hear or see them, he made no movement to show it. She squeezed back and tried not to smile at the curl of his lips at her touch.

“So they actually thought you’d carry some implosion device into the city for them?”

“Yes,” she lied because that’s all she could do. It was the story she told him and Tann to avoid further questions. Dalrak played along without saying otherwise and for the first time since she’d met the warrior, she was glad they didn’t speak the same language. The less he said, the more chance she had of keeping the truth about her magic from Ashlan. She didn’t know why she lied to Tann too, but it seemed easier to tell one lie than try to keep her stories straight between the two of them.

“Well, that’s pretty foolish of them. Guess they don’t know you at all, huh?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

He pointed to her goggles and barred his teeth. “You’re the girl that doesn’t follow orders.”

* * *

“I hate this place!” Sid screamed and dodged out of the way of an incoming ice pellet.

The storm hit them without warning. One second she was helping Tann feed the Tecken and the next they were running after Dalrak for shelter with angry shards of ice raining down around them. Ashlan raced past her with the droid on his heels and she couldn’t help but laugh despite the situation they now found themselves in. It looked like the droid took a few hits, specifically in its behind, and it now zoomed by her with two large, circular dents on each butt cheek.

Sid sped up before she herself met the same fate.

A pellet hit the trees on her right, the sound sharp and penetrating like the racket of a ship landing. There was another sound immediately after and she barely had time to look before Tann grabbed the back of her suit and pulled her into his chest. His arms wrapped tightly around her and they fell back, their bodies slamming to the wet ground. The hit tree hurled through the air, landing just ahead of their feet with a ground-shaking thud. She opened her tightened eyes and peered over her own chest, rising and falling so fast she wasn’t sure if she was even breathing anymore. Tann’s heart beat senselessly at her back, the shock of the fall engulfing both of them.

Her eyes were wider than the moons when she finally unhooked his arms and got up. One more moment and she would have been under that tree.

“Tann! Sid!” Ashlan’s voice carried over the tree trunk in echoes. “Is everyone alright?”

“We’re fine!” She yelled back.

“We’re trapped!” Tann added.

The hail was getting stronger and the pieces that fell from the sky were as large as her arm. She looked up, searching for some hint of Jericho’s light pushing its way through the clouds but it was hopeless. They were blanketed in the anger of the storm and if they stayed there, the chances of getting hit by hail were not in their favor.

“We need to climb over!” She yelled at Tann who was already on one knee with his hands crossed and ready to hike her up onto the wood.

As she readied herself for the climb, a glowing lightline flung over the curve of the trunk and landed next to her face. “Grab hold!” Ashlan shouted from the other side and she noted the dash of fear in his voice. “We’ll pull you over!”

Tann plucked the line from her hands and wrapped it twice around her waist. “You go first,” he tightened the line one more time and stepped back. There was a light tug at the other end and soon she was hoisted in the air, legs dangling and body scraping against the tree bark.

“Use your legs, Sid!” She heard Tann yell from below.

Turning on her side, she pressed her boots into the trunk and tried to match the pace of her ascent with steps. After a few twirls and tumbles, she got the hang of it and was at the top of the fallen tree in no time. She looked down to Ashlan, Dalrak and the droid, noting the end of the lightline at its waist.

“Now what?” She yelled.

“Now, you jump!” Ashlan answered and elbowed Dalrak in the ribs. The warrior took a step forward until he was right under her feet and held out his arms. “Aim for his chest!”

“Are you serious?”

Of course he’s serious. He’s insane!

She didn’t bother arguing, at this point, the only place for her to go was down. Sid unwrapped the lightline and tossed it back down to Tann who started getting a grip on it immediately. Sid looked over the edge, regurgitating the morning’s meal. It was high. Not high enough to kill her, but enough to do some serious damage if she missed Dalrak’s arms. This better work, she told herself and stepped forward.

Air rushed past her and she felt like she was flying. The shrapnel of the ice ricocheted off her shoulders, pushing her through the air even faster. Sid wanted to scream but the words caught in her throat, replaced only by a pathetic whimper. When she landed on Dalrak, she felt like she had hit a wall. In fact, landing on an actual rock wall might have been more comfortable. The warrior’s chest contracted with muscle as if she was trying to escape, and Sid had to pat him on the shoulder just to let him know she was alright. Unenthusiastically, he lowered her to the ground, brushing tree bark off her back.

Tann landed in a regal crouch at her side a minute later.

“Show off,” she huffed and looked to Ashlan.

“We need to find shelter before we get ripped to shreds.”

“Already on it,” he said and pointed in the direction of a dark cave entrance barely visible behind the large mass of shrubbery that covered it. “Dalrak found it so I’m guessing it’s safe.”

“Good, let’s go.” Sid looked back, “I see you’ve been busy with Fred.”

Ashlan grinned before following Dalrak and Tann into the cave. “I may have made some improvements while you were gone.”

“Didn’t take you for a mechanic.”

“I’m not just a Starblade, you know.”

“I know,” she said and sped up her pace to shelter. Maybe everyone could be more than one thing after all.

* * *

They huddled close to the fire and listened to the hail intensify outside, all four of them still shivering from the cold. It would be a while before they could warm their bones from the chilling wet of the storm. Dalrak grunted something under his breath and kicked a nearby rock in frustration. Something wasn’t going his way. She glanced at Ashlan and laughed which irritated the warrior even more. With another grunt, he pushed up from his seat and stormed off.

“Dee! Come back! We’re just kidding!” She yelled after him but he barely heard her.

“He’ll be back,” Ashlan said.

She looked at the warrior’s disappearing bare back and sighed. Something about his absence made her magic curl at the tips of her toes and fingers; like her energy was reaching for his when he wasn’t nearby. Until now, she hadn’t realized how connected their magic had become, how dependent on one another. Back in the camp, she thought it was because he was the only one that was truly kind to her but out here, in the middle of nowhere with nothing left to lose, she knew it was something else entirely. They were bound somehow and, stars help her, she was afraid of what that might mean.

“You alright?” Ashlan asked when she didn’t respond.

“Sure, why?”

“You’re shivering.”

“Well, it’s freezing in here. Don’t act like you’re not cold!”

He looked at the small bumps on his arm. “I guess it is a little chilly. Doesn’t seem to bother some people though.”

She looked at Tann who was not bothered in the least by the drop-in temperature. His tunic had come undone at the belt and he was struggling with barricading the cave’s entrance with broken branches from outside. Her eyes slid over the bulges of his chest. Is that sweat? Is he sweating right now? Seriously? Her gaze moved over his body and she felt herself flush with an oncoming wave of heat. Speedily, she looked down at her boots before Ashlan could notice. Had he seen her gawking at Tann? She started to say something to distract him in case he caught her but stopped. When she looked at the Starblade, his face was just as red as she assumed hers must have been. She followed his gaze to Tann’s chest and look away uncomfortably, like she had interrupted some private moment that she had no business partaking in. Like she had stolen something from Ashlan.

As though he could hear her thoughts, he shook off his leering eyes and met her gaze. “I,” he stumbled, “I was just-”

“Stardaughter! You like Tann!” She yelped.

“Shh! Quiet!” He snapped, “I don’t like anyone. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Sid couldn’t keep her mouth closed. Ashlan and Tann? How? When? Why? Every question she could ask lingered on the tip of her tongue which started to feel too large for her mouth. All the jokes and banter she shared with Ashlan, did that mean nothing? How could he not tell her that he had no feelings for her? Sid wasn’t sure how she felt about him and if the attraction she felt had less to do with him and more to do with finding someone she felt comfortable with but that didn’t matter. Ashlan should have told her that the feelings she didn’t know she had weren’t reciprocated. Sid felt foolish thinking about it, embarrassed and torn. On the one hand, she wanted Ashlan to be happy but on the other… The fool should have told me! She had no idea that Ashlan felt this way about Tann, about anyone for that matter. Like her own people, the humans were fluid when it came to choosing a partner but it wasn’t the fact that Tann was a man that bothered her. Ashlan liked a Domer. A Starblade liked a Domer. She didn’t even think that was possible on the star. What would Colton do if he was here? Would he understand? Or would he condemn his only son for his choices? She wondered if Ashlan thought of the same things when he first started having feelings for Tann. Did Tann know? Did he feel the same? How had she completely misread this situation? There were so many things she wanted to ask him, the thoughts rushed through her like someone was chasing them. But this wasn’t the time to bombard Ashlan with her starved need for information. He technically never told her anything and if she was truly his friend, she’d keep her mouth shut.

“I won’t tell him. I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

“Good, because there’s nothing to tell!” He spat and looked away from her.

“Right. Of course,” she smiled and reached over to squeeze his hand.

To her surprise, he didn’t yank out of her grip but simply sat there in silence, his eyes trained on the fire. Though if she looked closely, she could see that his eyes were slightly tilted to the right where Tann’s body worked idly with the barricade.

It was starting to look like the jungle didn’t just change her. They were all different now. Better and so much stronger.