Page 83 of Stealing the Star Stone
Day Five.
Elislidontoagreat beast.The girl had led a yuxmet to stacked bales, allowing him to mount with ease.It brayed, sticking out a purple tongue with drool dripping off.He’d ridden worse—all sorts of earthly animals cosmetically altered to resemble ‘alien’ creatures.The most interesting had been an animatronics that had moved with surprising agility.
As an actor, his job was to bring a character to life.All the props helped to fully realize the role he had to play.And for that, he was grateful.Layers of a mask was how he saw it.
“Sword fighting and bareback riding?What else can you do?”Nova gritted her teeth and accepted the reins.
What followed was a comedy of errors since she didn’t know to swing her leg, to hook her hand in the mane or reins, to hoist herself up and over.In the end, the poor girl and Zal had their hands on her ass to shove her on.
Eli cried he was laughing so much, but he knew better than to make a sound.She’d skin him alive.
He was sniveling by the time the pack of yuxmets cantered toward the lake in the direction of the island.Nova muttered curses and threats they all ignored, especially the yuxmet she was riding.
Zal paused at the waves lapping the bank, the last of the cobbles fading into sand beneath the yuxmets’ three-toed feet.He slumped, his hand on his hip, gazing over the rippling water kissed by moonlight.A cool breeze toyed with Eli’s braids.The stench wafting off the yuxmets was becoming more bearable.Or it had killed his sense of smell.
Nova kept glancing over her shoulder, no doubt expecting Orien to charge after them.They were so close to being their normal selves again.Perhaps, by this time tomorrow, all would be as it was.
He frowned.With Nova ‘hating’ him, and he in love with her?No, his life…hehad changed.
The seconds became minutes.The yuxmets shuffled, grumbling about standing motionless.In their place, he’d do the same.
“We wait,” Zal said into the silence.A pat of his ride’s rump drew a wail from the beleaguered yuxmet that echoed into the night.
“Is it just me or is this madness?”Nova leaned in to whisper, then almost toppled off the side.Once she righted herself, she sat like a plank of wood, her arms stiff, her lips pursed.
“We don’t have a choice,” Eli said.“We need another stone.And if, as Amenkar said, they have to like each other, the temple’s stone might not be the right one.”
Her shoulders relaxed for a moment, then she teetered, yelped, and stiffened again.“Fine.Argh.We have four days left.We can’t afford to waste time.”
He met her gaze.“See.No choice.”
She frowned, wiggled the bag over her lap, then palmed the blaster strapped to her thigh.“Why are we waiting then?Where’s a boat?”
“Not needed,” Zal said, pointing at the submoon.
“Right,” she mouthed at Eli.
He grinned.The yuxmet shifted beneath him, bumping into hers.
“Quiet,” Zal snapped.
The pack stilled, even Eli’s heart skipped a beat.The water shimmered, swished, then before them, a narrow, cobbled path appeared.
“Go,” Zal called, and as one, the yuxmets lurched forward.
They cantered like thundering elephants along what looked like slippery stones.The wind whipped Eli’s hair back, and laughter bubbled out.
“Zeet, zeet,” Zal called, spurring his yuxmet on with a wild bray.
They clambered onto the island’s shore, wet sucking noises following the Yuxmets’ footprints.Zal drew his ride to a halt and leaped off.“We will wait here.You have three hours before the tide returns.”
Eli whipped his gaze along the farthest shore, trying to see the ocean.A lake had minimal tidal forces, but a lagoon…
“My thanks, Zal,” Nova said, dismounting her yuxmet like a lump of soft butter off a knife.
“At the center of the island is a gate.”
Nova adjusted the bag, then raised her hands, offering to help Eli down.He caught her shoulders, and when she gripped his waist, he was airborne.For that second, she was his anchor, his world.Then his feet touched down, and she stepped back, unknowing that her touch had scorched him.
