Page 63 of Uprooted
Nearby, Tai kicks aside the dead carcass of an Atorum as he makes his way toward me. Eyes wide, he looks me up and down.
“What the hell happened to you?” Tai asks.
Maak gives up on cleaning the shield and slaps me on the back. “Nice battleform.”
Realization crashes over me: I shifted into battleform, something that hasn’t happened in centuries. The awareness makes my body constrict back into its former shape. My muscles cramp painfully as they go back down to size. I look down at my shredded clothes, splattered with mire and dirt.
“You good?” he asks, looking me over for any injuries, his eyes landing on my bleeding side.
Stunned, I assess my body. “I don’t know.” Another realization hits me. I need to get to Elowen. I need to get to my mate.
45
Elowen
My eyes are glued to the horizon while I pace back and forth along the deck of the watchtower. I was reassured this was the best place to see anyone approaching the base after I got confirmation Bri had safely arrived with all the other evacuees. Even climbing the hundreds of zigzagging stairs to get up here didn’t tire me out.
Just stop. Calm down. He’ll be here soon.
The only light in the dark sky is the faint orange glow of the fire that destroyed the dome. I watch the chaos below. Tilaks help evacuees get around and massive tankers are loaded and leave in the direction of the attack. From up here the dead Atorum and Allometradon stain the once unblemished grass.
A theory has begun to formulate in my head while I pace. The Atorum have got to be targeting humans. Between Andi, the dome, and now myself—it’s the only logical conclusion.
I knock on the watchtower window, getting their attention. “Anything?” I yell through the thick glass. One guy looks up at me, shakes his head and goes back to the transparent screen he’s working on.
I turn back to the empty tree line. I’ve bitten my nails down to nothing. I shake out my hands and resume walking, unable to stand in one place for long. Suddenly, the lights of an approaching porter flicker into view.
“Come on, Aro. Come on,” I whisper.
He’s got to be okay. Maybe I should have tried to turn the porter around to get him. At least there would have been something betweenhim and the Atorum. I shake away the memory of the black leg smashing through the plexi.
Someone bangs on the glass behind me.
“He’s on his way.”
I take the stairs two at a time. When my feet hit the ground I bolt for the gate. I dodge porters and soldiers, trying my best to stay out of their way. I wait impatiently for the gate to open. The heavy metal creaks as it gradually opens. As the space between the two doors widens, a figure emerges. With his head hanging low and shoulders high, he forces the huge doors open.
Aro swings his head to the side. Wet hair whips off his face and he marches straight toward me.
We roughly collide, and Aro grabs my face with both hands. His eyes desperately search my face. “What happened back there?” he asks, nodding back to the wreckage.
“Sir, you should have seen her. She took on an Allometradon and an Atorum at the same time, and she’s the only one that walked away,” a soldier standing to the side answers for me.
A smile breaks out over his dirty face. “You’re a badass.”
“It was mostly luck,” I tell him.
“My little dragon slayer,” he says and crushes me to his chest. His tight arms hold me up. I sink into him and feel his chest pound against my cheek.
“Uck!” he says and pulls away, strings of black ooze still clinging to him.
A blue blood stain on his side is spreading.
“Aro! You’re hurt,” I say frantically.
* * *
Aro drops me off at the cafeteria on his way to the med clinic. I promise to stay exactly where he put me. He frets over me for a minute, then takes off to get his side closed up.
