Page 6 of Dweller of the Mists

And fear. She was in a strange world that no doubt forged chains binding her in there just as firmly as his respect and obligations to his people.

Perhaps this strange female was a kindred spirit. It was a novelty to be sure. He had never met anyone who shared this quality with him, least of all a female given that they were usually the most content with Bia traditions. And yet, he understood and empathized with this alien female and that did a strange thing to his hearts, making them clench unexpectedly.

The sensation was so alarming that he hissed again, louder, in frustration with himself. He was clearly being driven into a state of madness, and his body was reacting unnaturally to his confused mental state. He grabbed his crest as he struggled to regain control and gripped the leathery tendril in his hand in frustration but froze when he heard a clattering, then a vicious hiss echo from nearby. The sound sent a prickle of alarm through him.

The cazka was growing bolder and drawing closer to the dwelling and the female hiding there.

There was no other choice. He would approach her to hasten them on their way and put an end to this. He would make his approach tomorrow.

Chapter

Six

Noelle jerked away at the sudden sound of something pounding with an irregular rhythm at her door. It wasn’t the brisk tapping of a human, but it was clearly intentional. Gripping her blanket to her, she scooted warily back on the bed, her eyes going round as she stared at the entrance to the bedroom. She half-expected something to explode through the front door of the trailer and come tearing back to the room for her, but after several minutes the commotion subsided, and gradually she was able to relax.

That was until something landed heavily on the roof above her head.

Choking back a scream, she scrabbled from the bed, her heart leaping into her throat. A series of small scratching sounds rose from overhead, but they were rapidly getting louder and faster as if something was trying to tear its way through the roof.

“Go away!” she screamed, and the sounds above immediately fell silent.

It was an eerie silence—a complete lack of sound as if everything were holding its breath as a predator passed. But it was somehow worse than that because whatever it was had reacted to her scream in a way that few animals would have.Most animals would have bolted at the unexpected sound, but there were some that would have grown more excited at the sound of frightened prey. Whatever was on the roof knew she was in there and was listening.

She bit back a cry but jumped with a whimper when a familiar sound sang above her. “Jymlina.” But then it somehow got worse when it sang again and this time her translator kicked in as words entwined with the song in her mind. “Come out and come to me, jymlina.”

She was right. Itwasworse. It was not just a cunning predator; it was an alien stalking through the swamp around the camp, hunting her. The same one she heard night after night, calling to her, insisting that she leave the trailer with words that became more and more frustrated. Did it see her as prey or an intruder? Some aliens were highly territorial and didn’t react well to strangers invading their homes. Whatever its reason, it was one that she didn’t even want to imagine.

“Please,” she choked, this time unable to hold back her sob when the word fell from her mouth in an alien dialect. “Please do not hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” it echoed in a quizzical tone. “I would never hurt you.”

She shook her head, terrified at how clearly the alien’s words flowed to her. Even its tonal inflection. It made her want to trust it, and blindly trusting and unknown alien was perhaps the stupidest thing she could do, especially considering the missing exploratory team. And what of her own team? Were the aliens luring them out one by one as they had with the previous team?

It was a situation she had never dealt with before. All the planets she was sent to had been unoccupied by sentient beings. She had never met an unknown alien. Truth be told, as a non-gratas who was not permitted to mix in open social atmospheres designated for citizens, she had never even met an alien beforeoutside of seeing a few at a distance. Hearing alien words coming out in her own voice terrified her with its uncanniness from the knowledge that it was unnatural sounds forced through her.

“Come out, jymlina,” it crooned, and she gave an aggressive shake of her head.

“No!” she shouted as she scurried over toward the door of the sleeping quarters to put more distance between herself and the alien. “There’s no chance that I’m going to just walk out there for no other reason than because you say to.”

It fell silent again as if considering her words.

“You do not wish to remain here, jymlina,” it said thoughtfully after a long moment. “It may feel safe for you to be surrounded by familiar walls and items, but it is not good for you to remain trapped in here. Especially not since a cazka has claimed this abandoned place. This place no longer belongs to your people. It is his now, and you are neither quick enough nor do you possess enough natural defenses to protect yourself from such a predator.”

“I… I haven’t seen anything,” she replied uncertainly.

“Naturally,” it hummed in agreement. “I have been luring it away from here at night in the same manner I distracted other predators who caught your scent when you were traveling, but you will not be able to evade it forever. It is already returning more quickly now and drawing closer to this place. It will eventually find where you are hiding. Once I continue north, your protection leaves with me. It is better that you leave too.”

It had been… watching her? Her throat constricted, cutting off much of her air supply as panic rushed through her, making her lightheaded. Or maybe that was because she simply wasn’t getting enough oxygen? It didn’t matter—it was natural to panic upon discovering that her easy trip through the swamp hadn’t been so easy and that she had been hunted and nearly ended up something’s dinner many times before the alien on her roofintercepted them. Not only had she not seen any of the predators it spoke of, but she also had not seen the alien either outside of the galaxy of markings on it as it lurked outside the trailer. How had she not realized it was following her? Where had it even been hiding all this time that she hadn’t seen it?

“You… want me to trust you?”

“It would be to your advantage,” the alien agreed.

That was fair. But it wasn’t that simple.

“You can’t really expect me to trust a stranger.” She meant to say alien, but the word stranger came from her mouth instead. She supposed it was close enough. It was clear that the alien had no concept of species from other planets.

“I am a very trustworthy male. I am a healer,” the alien replied indignantly. “There is no one you should hope more to find you in the swamps than a healer.”

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