Page 63 of Warrior Rescued

“One, and two, and three…” she counted off when the first one burst, noting how far its boiling jet sprayed and the direction of the wind.

The second geyser burst when she was up to fifteen and she scribbled the number on her arm. She kept counting and writing, until all four had erupted, and there were four lines of numbers on her arm recording when each started and stopped.

“What is taking so long?” the pilot groused.

She held up her hand, silencing him, while she studied the geysers and counted again, double checking the pattern.

“Stop wasting time,” Spiny snarled as he menacingly stomped toward her.

“The timing has to be just right if you don’t want to be boiled alive,” she growled at him, returning his spite with a bit of venom, since that’s all they understood.

Spiny hissed, his clawed fists clenching in midair like he wanted to strangle her. She was miserable and angry and tired of their threats. These bastards were the monsters in her nightmares as she relived the way they killed her friend, but she was sick of being afraid. Elena didn’t avert her gaze from his sickly yellow eyes and stood her ground.

“When I run, I suggest you run,” she bit out, then clenched her jaw as she returned her attention to the geysers.

Her back foot dug into the soil, energy building in her legs. The instant the first one finished its explosive shower, she took off. She measured her count along with her footfalls. Faintly she was aware of the thudding boots behind her as the reptiles followed, but she couldn’t be bothered. The vibration in the ground told her the first geyser was gearing up to erupt so she picked up the pace.

They passed the first obstacle in time and headed toward the next boiling fountain.

“But it hasn’t stopped!” one of the reptiles shouted.

She ignored the warning and kept running.

Number two petered out as they got within range, and she pushed on. The third geyser had already stopped and they needed to clear it in a pretty narrow window. Her lungs burned as her breath heaved. The thick, steamy air made this all that much worse. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she stared at the path ahead, willing herself to be at the other end. This planet hadn’t beaten her. It honed her for this moment and she would be victorious.

A triumphant gasping cry burst out of her mouth as she reached the oasis of calm ground amidst the rumbling and spewing geysers. She gripped her knees and pulled in gulps of air. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her nemeses. Yet again they managed to make it, but at the moment she hardly cared.

“We have until I figure out the pattern,” she huffed as she caught her breath.

She wiped the sweat off her brow and pushed aside the hair sticking to her face as she turned her attention to the next score of geysers in the way. Again, she counted out and recorded the pattern.

Shit. It’s going to be close.She studied the distribution of pauses.

She wanted to groan, but then her gaze slid to the Jurou Biljana still catching their breaths. She looked at the stops and starts of the seven geysers scrawled on her arm then back to the distance they’d have to cover.

Yes, it’s going to be very close.But it had to be if she was going to shake the reptiles. She eyed the first pit where the geyser had already been silent for ten seconds.

“Now!” she barked and started running.

The ground began rumbling before they reached the steaming hole in the rocky earth. Even with her feet pounding the earth, she felt the building tremor quake up her shins. The eruption was coming.

Fuck!Maybe she’d cut it too close this time.Faster! I need to run faster!

Payim quo Desero

The cruiser skimmed dangerously low to the ground, rustling the brush and kicking up whirlwinds of dirt as he retraced his flightpath. He again reached the swamp and his wrecked cruiser, but still there was no sign of the Jurou Biljana vessel. He thought surely if he flew lower, below the interference in the atmosphere, and continued scanning, he’d pick them up somewhere along the route.

“Tormented Vrag, where is she?!” Payim snarled and punched the console as rage burned in his veins.

His fear for Elena and the need to find her twisted him in knots. It was said that nothing was as fearsome as a newly bonded warrior, and yet all he felt was impotence, blinded by the sheer intensity of his emotions and absolutely useless to anyone.

“Goddess, please help me!”

He called on Kali, the creator, the defender against chaos. She was his mother in so many ways, taking care of him and seeing that he was found as a babe. Except she was also a warrior and sometimes her will was harsh.

“Please, I am nothing without my beautiful little warrior, my bonded.”

As he hung his head, feeling utterly lost, a whisper cut through his desolate thoughts.

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