Orange Sky, page 9
part #1 of Manasty Series
I needed to find a new place for her. Somewhere, she can make it by herself.
And maybe visit her every few months.
I grumbled. Once I left her somewhere, I did not need to see her again. I needed to focus on my mission. The relic was just one of the many things I needed to accomplish.
Yet, I found myself intrigued and caught myself looking back at the top of her head. She kept her head covered so people would not take notice that her face lacked fur and stripes. We do not want to attract too much attention.
Surprisingly, two hours into the ride, the female was able to sleep. I doubt she could fake sleeping because I felt her heartbeat and her dead weight. I guess the Blue Tribe slave and I tired her out.
Roqs must be right behind my tail. We agreed to meet in the south sector a few days from now, unless he gets held up with his duties. I found myself excited when I imagined Roqs and I playing with her.
Ah, Roqs. Whatever am I going to do with him?
She mumbled something in her sleep that was somewhat cute. And irritating at the same time.
“Sleep more.”
But she fidgeted in her seat. I sighed.
“What is it?”
“Umm.”
Of course, I was probably too tired to even scold myself for asking her questions when she couldn’t speak my language. I don’t know where to find a doctor to repair her language chip. Finding one would surely cost me my tail to keep that doctor quiet about her.
She mumbled something incoherent, and she was still fidgeting.
I urged our fulnel to stop at a nearby forest. We should be close to a town soon. As soon as we stopped, she struggled to come down.
Maybe something is wrong with her?
Instead of asking, I grabbed around her midsection and leaped down. It amazed me that she got scared like a kit when I did that.
She tried to push my arm from around her. I let go but grabbed her arm and followed her. She went to the cluster of trees. I was curious why we needed to go so deep in the trees, but at the same time, I was hyper-alert in case she showed her true intentions.
I had the fulnel taste my blood so that it would come to me when needed. Just to be sure, I unlocked one of the buttons on my belt pouch using my free hand.
Well, this should be interesting. She tugged her arm and glared at me. She kept repeating a word over and over again.
“Was that a challenge, kitten?” I asked, amused.
She just kicked my legs with her tiny foot. I barely felt it.
I could feel the heat in her eyes. Yes, she looked really angry right now. What is her problem?
Then she scurried away from me. As fast as her little legs could move toward the bushes. I tried not to follow. I had an idea of what she was up to. It was strange that she relieved herself by squatting on the ground. I hadn’t seen any lifeforms who did that. Maybe her kind does. Unlike us, we just looked for a nearby tree and went about our business.
After a few moments, she stood, dusted her hands against her tunic, and glared again at me. I tried hard not to smile. She looked cute and fluffy, like a small neko with all their fur up. Too bad she didn’t have a tail.
I allowed her to rest some more before I decided we needed to leave this area. The relic was weighing heavy against me. I was still undecided if I should bring her to the Elders. I needed Roqs on this. He was the only one I could trust with this issue. If I couldn’t trust the Blue Tribe leaders, Axad's parents, then something was wrong with me. My instincts had never led me astray. And something was telling me that I needed to keep her a secret. And Roqs is the only Manasty I fully trusted. Even though he’s probably chasing me down as we speak. This was the longest we’d been apart.
I wonder what he would say about her.
She was rubbing the fine sand along her body again. Is that how her kind groom themselves? How primitive.
Sighing, I pulled out a small cloth from my holster bag. Then took another flask of water. It would be days before we came across another river.
Before I could go near her, I smelled it.
A sharp, rich smell of iron.
What the—
I looked around. Who could produce that too strong of a smell?
Then it was gone. But I was on high alert. A monster lived in this area that craved iron. My fur began to stand on end.
I had no time to waste.
I grabbed Brin and hauled all our stuff, her and myself, onto the fulnel. I did not mind her comfort as she struggled to sit herself upright.
She was screaming so near to my face. I smelled iron again. There was no iron in this region—
It was coming from her.
I had no time to stop though. Maybe she will understand me?
“Why do you have iron?”
She stopped fidgeting and stared at me.
At the same time, I hear something moving, about a tenth of an impes away.
“Why do you have iron?” I shouted at her. Even if we got away, that thing would follow us even if we reached the outer regions.
She was speaking gibberish again. Then she brought one shaking hand toward my face. Her other hand was gripping too tightly on the pommel.
There were gashes on the top of her right hand. And some thick pearls of blood. The smell was almost suffocating.
I grabbed her hand and licked along the gashes. Sure enough, she had iron for blood. When I first saw her, her burns and smoke must have hid the iron smell of her blood.
Fuck.
Maneuvering the reins along my body, I grabbed a cloth and pulled it tight against her hand. The strong smell was gone but she probably had some on her clothes.
Why the fuck is she bleeding like that? When did she get hurt?
This is one of those moments when I want to use one of Axad’s crystals and transform her iron into dust. Of all the alien life forms, I met someone with pure iron!
…….
Brynn
Whoever made it look like riding a horse at full gallop was easy was totally crazy! If not for this guy’s big thighs, I would have broken my neck ages ago.
He seemed stressed out by the bit of blood on my hand. Do we not have the same blood? Still, I’m pretty sure they should be warm-blooded creatures, right?
I gasped and closed my eyes briefly. We had just jumped from a very high cliff and I was amazed that I did not leave my soul back there. Whatever was after us, I couldn’t hear or see. I long for the day when Zirc could finally understand me so I could scream and bitch at him about this abuse!
Still, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to save himself and me in the process. I know I owe a lot to him but—
“Hold the reins, Brin!” he shouted in my ear while he shoved the reins in my hands. The makeshift bandage came a bit loose as he did so. But he wrapped it together again with the reins!
I felt and heard the swoosh of his sword as it sliced outward.
Then, a loud clang, like metal meeting metal. I couldn’t see with the flurry of motions beside me. For a big guy, he moved really, really fast!
I tried to hold onto the reins as he said. Am I supposed to direct the horse somewhere because all I saw was open plains? I was bad at directions and if not for Waze, I would be lost.
More loud clanging. I could barely hear Zirc breathing, which was alarming.
Then, all of a sudden, the earth in front of us erupted. It boiled and out came a large tentacle. Then another. And another until I lost count. They glinted against the afternoon sun like stainless steel. Yes, of course the tentacles was partly made of metal.
The horse kept pushing forward, but we would run into those huge tentacles in a few seconds. At last, Zirc leaned forward and took the reins even though my hands were still on it.
“Hah!” He urged the horse to move forward. Move faster.
I had no time to close my eyes as the huge, monstrous thing in front of us grew closer. The monster’s tentacles, there can be no other word to describe this creature other than a monster, began to whirl.
Zirc bent forward, crushing me between him and the horse.
I could hardly breathe as we passed by the monster. I’m sure we’d just seen the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Because if these were its tentacles, I can’t imagine how big the rest was.
Zirc maneuvered the big horse left, right, then straight ahead. I hope Zirc’s back is not hurt from all the whirling blades.
Dust flew all around. I never felt so helpless!
Seconds later or maybe more than that, the smoke cleared.
“Hold!” Zirc shouted and my body instantly reacted to hold on tight to the reins. I felt him move again, like reaching into the saddle bag. Then, he was holding a crystal in both hands in front of me. It was solid white with pink edges. Similar to a Himalayan salt block. It was only as large as my fist.
“Hold on tight, Brin!”
That was the only warning I got before a bright light enveloped us. I felt nauseous. My insides were like a circus in revolt! I wanted to puke but held on.
When the bright light was gone, I swear it was only for a few seconds, we were in another location. There were huge oak-like trees everywhere. So they were still orange. Up above, a canopy hid us from the suns. The top of the trees were light orange. It looked like autumn because I think some were yellow. The trunks of the trees were dark reddish-orange.
Of course, Zirc gave me no time to explore our surroundings. Or even breathe in some fresh mountain air, the first I’d had since I landed on this planet. Though the air on this planet smelled fresh, even the towns with the blue-striped people did not have this kind of air quality. This air reminded me of home. Of when I first hiked a mountain with my foster parents back in Colorado.
Gods, I missed them. I tried hard not to think about home, otherwise I would bawl my eyes out all day. I could hear my foster mom imitating Dory. Just keep on swimming, hon!
As he dismounted, I felt a swish of air and Zirc’s arms like metal around my waist. So I guess we’ll be walking. The forest is not that dense. A car could pass between the trees. But the leaves were thick enough to cover almost everything.
Zirc was not looking at me at all. His eyes were dark like steel grey. I wondered how far he can see with those eyes. He seemed frozen in stone, but his grip on my arm was like a heavy-duty manacle.
“Quiet,” he shushed when I tried to move my legs a bit.
I took this opportunity to study our surroundings and marshal my mind to think about what just happened.
How far were we from where that monster showed up? Will it follow my scent because I know Zirc was freaked out about my blood? My hand had stopped hurting though, unlike before when it pulsed madly.
“Let’s move,” Zirc said in a low tone as he dragged me to the left. I didn’t know which direction we were heading. The horse just followed us.
A few meters later, he stopped abruptly. Good thing the forest floor is not uneven.
A low growl came from him. I looked and saw his canines peeking from his upper lips.
“Get down!” Zirc bellowed. I barely had time to duck and avoid the monster’s lunge.
My basic Aikido training from my youth helped as I tumbled and rolled away from him. I saw from my peripheral that Zirc was angry. Very angry.
I ran toward a huge tree and hid behind it. But I don’t want to be too far away from Zirc. Damn it, I always find myself depending on him too much.
I heard more metal grinding metal. And huge explosions?
I tried to peer from my safe spot and gasped.
Zirc’s body was enveloped by the monster’s long tentacles and I could just feel it crushing him. The rest of the monster emerged. Huge black inky eyes stared at Zirc. The monster looked like a cyborg Kraken.
All I could do was gape as Zirc used his broad sword to cut away parts of the monster, which he does.
Something prompted me to move from hiding my spot.
But I didn’t get a chance to step forward because a strong arm gripped my middle and a strong hand covered my mouth. To my relief, Zirc’s eyes were zeroed in on me.
Zirc bellowed, his pupils growing large and then the monster was engulfed in black fire.
The forest vanished and everything turned white. I felt that same nauseous feeling from before.
14
BRYNN
Iused my dead weight to dislodge myself from my abductor. I could breathe again. My abductor had been covering my nose!
I kicked behind me but his grip around my middle was strong. So I stepped on his toes as he dragged me into a cave of some sort. The air was stuffy but I could still breathe.
The guy behind me just grunted as I kicked and kicked and stepped on whatever body parts I could reach. I forgot that these aliens were made of sterner stuff.
I barely scratched his blue arm.
Blue arm.
I stopped and the body behind me stiffened. I know that bracelet.
He seemed to have realized I had figured it out.
This can’t be happening. This only happens in movies, right?
I was stressed out, thinking about all sorts of scenarios instead of finding a way to escape.
“Breath, Brynn, breathe,” he urged.
“It’s okay. I will not harm you.” How many times have I heard that famous line before the kidnappee dies?
It was harder to breathe again.
His hands massaged my back. More like kneaded. Then he purred and that calmed me down like my cat back home. On Earth.
How I would like to be back home and escape all this.
Who do I even call when this happens? There are no police. They have some sort of social system, but I haven’t seen what could be remotely called the police.
There is Zirc.
I blame that thought on the lack of oxygen in my brain.
Everything felt foggy. I knew I was losing consciousness, and still, my last thought was if Zirc was okay. He hadn’t been bleeding badly but he had nicks and bruises on his arms and neck the last time I saw him.
Zirc, I whispered in my head.
…….
Zirc
My insides pounded with black rage.
I thanked the fathers for helping me. How else could I have defeated a musat?
With only my sword and bare claws.
Looking down, I saw my full claws out. Long and dark. Black from the blood of the musat made them barely visible in the darkening night of this forest. Rarely has anyone lived to describe my claws.
Brin has been taken.
That single thought made me want to rage more.
I saw the black fire from what was left of the musat. It crawled out of the sand and now I saw the large part of its body burning. Nothing will be left, no traces of the creature, once the black fire was finished.
Even this forest would be gone in the next few days. But no one will know—such is the power of my Silver Tribe—except for the two people with me earlier.
My thoughts kept turning back to Brin. I needed to think beyond her. And plan my next steps.
The manasty behind her. Though he was shrouded in black garments, I smelled him. How dare he take Brin away!
What drove him to take Brin away?
I purposely stepped away from the musat’s carcass.
One, two, three steps.
Then, I was sprinting toward the plains again.
I saw the horse running at a full gallop beside me. Might as well take him with me.
I grabbed the taaffeite rock. Using my energy and channeling it to the rock in my hand, I rubbed, and the background blurred around the horse and me.
A few seconds later, the background cleared, and I almost see a mountain silhouetted against the moons.
Good, that blue guy could only go as far as a quarter of an impes.
The horse whined so we both slowed to a halt. The horse stamped its front legs as if trying to kill a qhudril on the ground.
“Shh,” I said, trying to calm it down. And it did. The Blue Tribes deserved the title of best horse breeders and trainers.
Taking the lead, I moved slowly, lowering mine and the horse’s heartbeats. And listened to the still night.
Still holding the taaffeite, I changed direction and headed back toward the western side of the mountain. Beyond the mountain was a swamp. Home to dangerous creatures and manasties.
Pirates, my inner beast whispered.
It irritated me that my unease loosened a bit. If these were pirates, then they probably wanted me.
A bait.
My beast was being very vocal tonight. Not a good sign when I’m on edge. I must take care not to unleash my beast.
So was my resolution when I heard a whisper.
Zirc.
A soft tone, even manasties with very sharp hearing, wouldn’t have heard her.
But I did. Loud and clear as if she’d spoken it against my heart. A plea.
She was hurt.
I couldn’t stop my beast from resurfacing. It was shameful to release one’s beast before you engaged the enemy. This had only happened twice in my youth and I vowed never again.
…….
Brynn
“Wake up!”
A loud slap and my face stung.
I was startled. My body reacted before my mind realized I was still in that dark place.
“Stop struggling,” my captor said.
How would he feel if we were reversed?
I struggled to get up from the damp floor of the cave. There are lanterns but it creeped me out. The one beside me had what looked like a glow worm looking back at me.
Definitely, still in this alien world and not a dream. My cheek still stung.
I managed to get a foot out from under him, but even though he was thin, he weighed a ton. What do these people eat?
“What do you want from me?” I screamed in his face. I tried to bite him but he simply moved away.
He shook his head. “You know I can’t understand you. But I know you can understand me. Listen. Listen,” he said firmly while maneuvering my body into a sitting position. As if we were in a wrestling match.
