Page 39 of The Arabis Triad

He cleared three, then four. There were more remaining. A thin trickle of blood eased out of the tiny holes. A drop dripped from the end of the next wire he removed. He tossed it aside, and continued to work more freely. As he removed the wires, the clouds grew transparent, and the breeze weakened. The scream withered away, leaving a definite chill to the air.

Paxt eased the last wire out and threw it on the floor. The clouds disappeared and the crystal stopped glowing.

Coltan removed the crystal from Evelyn’s forehead. Her skin was burned, red, raw, and oozing blood. A light shimmered from the wound, and a line of blood trickled into her hairline.

A bright magenta light glistening with deeper hues of vibrant purple was visible beneath the welling blood coming from the gash. He gasped, seeing a perfect tiny gem embedded in the middle of her forehead, glowing with the colors of the Arabis crystal in the exact location the crystal had been placed.

His mind reeled, not completely understating why, and now wasn’t the time to work anything out. Evelyn was still unconscious. His blood froze as he grasped Evelyn’s shoulders and shook her gently. “Evelyn. Wake up.”

Beside her, Ashir groaned, opening his eyes groggily. “Paxt? Coltan?” His eyes widened when he saw their mate and he bolted up straight, muscles straining as he went to leap off the table. “Evelyn!”

Coltan steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. “She is safe. We have killed the scaled ones.”

Ashir’s gaze darted to the fallen bodies on the ground and then to Evelyn. He leapt off the table, sending it clattering in its side. His hands fluttered over her body. “Gods. What did they do to her?”

“I don’t know, brother. Why isn’t she waking up?” Ashir said.

Paxt had never heard his brother so enraged. There was a scruff behind them. Paxt spun as a scaled one slipped around the bend of the cave. “Coltan, you and Ashir take Evelyn to the medi-bay. We’ll revive her there.”

“I’m going with you.” Fresh blood started to drip down Ashir’s forehead from one of his head wounds as he staggered on his feet.

“Both you and Coltan need medical attention and can’t fight. I go alone. I’ll meet you back at the craft.” Paxt picked up his pulser and sword. Without further argument, he bolted around the corner as the scaled one’s tail disappeared through the leaves covering the entrance. It was wounded. He knew because between him and Coltan, none of the scaled ones had been spared. Not even by accident. For an impaired creature, it moved fast.

Paxt sprinted down the tunnel and burst through the leaves. A rustling alerted him to the whereabouts of the scaled one. It wasn’t trying to be quiet, just fast. Heart pumping, Paxt bolted in the general direction, breaking leaves and jumping over branches in his haste to catch up to the creature.

Branches seemed to barricade his path and drop in front of his face to slow him down. He slashed as fast as he could. If he could catch this one, they might get some of the answers they needed, but running hampered by the thick foliage was slow work.

He pushed aside a massive leaf. An ear-splitting explosion filled the air and a wave of heat brought him off his feet, throwing him backwards in a burst of white and yellow light. He crashed back to earth, the breath bursting from his lungs. His vision swam in a haze of blurred greens. A high-pitched tone blasted his ears. He tried to stand, to even sit, but he couldn’t move the right way to do so.

There was tapping on his face. He managed to gather enough of his wits to see someone peer down at him. Coltan! He’d explicitly told him to take Ashir and Evelyn back to the medi-bay. It took a moment to realize Coltan was speaking, but he couldn’t hear his voice over the ringing in his ears.

He gripped Coltan’s forearms, squinting into his brother’s face, forcing his way past the noise in his head.

“…explosion. Are you hurt?”

“Explosion?” That must have been what forced him off his feet. “What exploded?”

Coltan helped him into a sitting position. It was hard to move; his body was a mass of dull aches and sharp pains.

“Not sure. Have to get you both to the medi-bay. You don’t look so good, Paxt,” Coltan said.

Paxt’s grip tightened on Coltan’s forearm. Panic raced through him. The explosion. What if it hurt her? “Evelyn!”

Coltan nodded, his gaze concerned yet firm. “She is safe. Ashir is looking after her back at the cave. The explosion came nowhere near there. Brother, did you get that scaled one you ran after?”

Paxt shook his head, and then winced when his vision swam. “It moved too fast. I wonder…”

A thought gripped him. Ignoring his brother, he hauled himself to his feet and staggered in the direction of the explosion. It was easy to find after a few crooked steps.

A path had been cleared by the force. Branches lay limp on the ground, the leaves wilted and sagging in tumbled heaps. A few barren branches were the only impediment between them and a hulking mess of twisted metal and charred remains. Nothing was left except a blackened husk of the corpse of a craft.

Paxt came to a halt. “The scaled one’s craft.”

“Gods. If you were any closer…” Coltan said.

“Why did it explode like that?” Paxt wondered out loud.

“You said the scaled one moved very fast. Headed in this direction?” At Paxt’s nod, Coltan continued. “My guess is, it either tried something that didn’t work, or set off a self-destruct.”

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