Page 22 of Stone Awakened

My internal clock told me the sun was starting to rise on Arakon, and I needed to get up. I didn’t want to leave my female, but I doubted that Carator would be up this early. I had heard him say he’d see her again at dinner, so she had several hours of safety ahead of her first.

Climbing out of her soft bed carefully, I made sure she wasn’t jostled. As soon as I vacated my spot, she rolled over and curled into the dip my body had left behind, her face scrunched up and her hand moving as if she was looking for me in her sleep. I gently pulled the blanket free from the foot of the bed and covered her nude body with it, admiring each soft curve as I did.

Gathering my clothes, I headed for the washroom and quietly washed up and dressed. With a last kiss on her forehead, I headed for the exit, hoping that she’d understand why I was gone when she woke. The door slid open silently, revealing the lit hallway, the wall sconces already burning at full strength.

A figure stood propped against the wall right across from Aggy’s door, and I froze in my tracks, my wings spreading out to shield her private space from his eyes. Or’tal had a lazy grin on his face, his uniform neat and precise, his boots so shiny I could see myself in them. His green and black visage was like that of a poisonous lizard or amphibian, warning anyone to stay away.

“Morning Sunder,” he said with a smirk, his deep voice rich with sub-harmonics. “What happened to your tail, brother? I noticed it last night,” he asked a taunt to his voice that made it seem like he already had the answer. I didn’t move my tail, didn’t try to hide the now disfigured tip, as that would only give away my spike of nerves.

Keeping my expression mild, I shrugged, stepping out of Aggy’s door opening and letting the door slide shut behind me. I didn’t need her to wake up for this confrontation, it would only make her worry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, brother,” I said, acting mildly confused, “It’s been like this for years.”

The head guard raised his eyebrows in disbelief but he didn’t continue on the subject, he didn’t need to. It was soon clear he’d only mentioned my tail to drive home how indebted I was to him, to him and his goodwill. “You owe me one for last night,” he said, nodding his head at Aggy’s door.

I squashed the instinct to bristle and flare out my wings, I didn’t like that he was this close to her door, and I really didn’t like him looking at it. He was implying that he’d had something to do with the close call Aggy had with the Crimelord. Had he fabricated issues with the planetary grid to get Carator away from her? If so, I did indeed owe him. The tally was starting to get very uneven, in his favor, and I didn’t like it.

“What do you want,” I demanded, not pretending I didn’t understand his meaning this time. I wondered what he thought to gain from me, why he wasn’t doing everything he could to curry favor with the Crimelord. What did I have to offer this male? He had all the cards in hand at this place.

He made a lazy shrugging motion with his shoulders, emphasizing the brute strength in them. “I’ll think of something, eventually,” he said, pushing away from the wall and flicking his barbed tail briefly in the direction of the courtyard door. “Your protegee awaits you,” he scoffed, clearly unimpressed with Uron. He sauntered off, his tail lazily swaying behind him, tall, arched horns regally rising above his head. Everything about his bearing was military straight, unsurprising as each Kertinal male served a mandatory period of time in the Kertinillian Army.

I watched him walk away, but I couldn’t change this, and the bastard didn’t know our lift was about to arrive, just one more night. Spinning around, I padded to the bunk room door and pressed my ear to the panel. Soft snores still sounded, so I breathed a little easier as I went outside.

Uron was pacing around the courtyard, his uniform neat and clean this morning. The look in his eyes was wild as he saw me, and he seemed to have an abundance of restless energy. “Start running,” I barked out at him, and the command immediately set him into motion. I fell into step beside him, my clawed feet digging into the cobblestones for purchase as we ran.

For the next hour I ran with him until the both of us were out of breath, we switched to combat practice then. By the time we’d gone through half-a-dozen routines, during which I’d steadily called out improvements to the youth, Aggy had shown up with the kids. I took a break then, shooting a warning glare at Uron before sinking to my knees and giving each boy a hug. “We’re going to be alright Jett, I promise.”

Uron didn’t say a word as Aggy ran the boys gently through their warmup and basic sparring routine. His eyes went wide when she sat them down in the sand afterward for reading lessons, but he held his tongue. We couldn’t trust Uron to keep our secret, but he’d proven more loyal to the kids than I’d expected. Clean from the Roka, he was trying to make something work, but the change was so new that it was hard to say if it would stick.

It felt calm and peaceful, but I knew that in a few hours, Aggy and I would have to make another appearance in the grand hall with the safe. I wondered if they’d managed to get it open yet but sincerely doubted it. That safe was made to be uncrackable, it would take extraordinary computing power to crack the access codes. Or you had to be willing to blow the thing up with something really big and risk destroying what was inside of it.

Just before we were about to share lunch that afternoon I drew Aggy aside, “We need to talk.” She looked at me with her big brown eyes, a little frown between her softly arched eyebrows. I shrugged, pointing at the courtyard door, the only thing between us and Carator’s people. “You need to hide,” I said, worry for her safety a heavy pit in my stomach.

She was already shaking her head, her hands going to her shapely hips as she took on that typical battle stance that human women seemed to enjoy. “No way, I’m not leaving the boys behind!” she said adamantly, shaking her head for emphasis. She looked indignant that I’d even suggested such a thing. If it wasn’t about her safety right now, I’d actually be impressed with her loyalty and bravery.

“Aggy, the Crimelord is going to call on you again tonight. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be saved again!” I said, swallowing roughly as I also pushed down my sense of pride. “I was helpless last night, I couldn’t have rescued you, I would have died trying but… You saw the number of guards, it would have been impossible odds.”

Her frown intensified and she reached out to jab me hard with one of her fingers, their claws blunt and ineffectual. “Heck no! Sunder!” She exclaimed, her face paling, “Don’t say that! You mustn’t risk yourself! One shot remember?” she added and jabbed at my shoulder again to drive home the point. I hated it, but she was right, my battle-form was ineffectual at this point, it was as if I had human skin instead of strong Tarkan stone.

“Aggy,” I sighed, watching as her eyes filled with tears just at the thought of seeing me hurt. I tugged her into my arms, my wings curling closed around her back. “That’s why I’m telling you to hide. They will come for you tonight, there will be no rescue. You need to hide. The boys and I will be fine, it’s just one more day.”

She didn’t look at me as I spoke, keeping her face pressed into my chest, which was bare as I hadn’t donned the new uniform that morning. I’d save it for later today when I had to report back to that grand hall. I savored the feel of her soft cheek pressed into my skin. “Please, Aggy. Let me hide you somewhere so you’re safe.”

Her body shuddered against mine, tension seeping from her pores. I thought she was about to give in, and my mind raced with the possibilities, I knew where I could stow her for a couple of hours. I could get her there without being seen, as long as Uron kept an eye on the boys for an hour.

She sighed, long and deep, tilting her head towards where we could hear the boys chatter, not that we could currently see them as we were wrapped up in my wings. “I am scared, I don’t want to see that monster again,” she whispered at last. “You’re sure it would be safe for the boys?”

I nodded against the soft cap of hair on her head, pressing my face against it as I inhaled the scent of the soap she used to wash. “Yes, we’ll all be alright. We just need to hide for a little, and then I’ll sabotage the gate, and my brothers and I will do the rest.” It was a large force of guards to fight, but none were skilled fighters like my brothers, and under their advancing force, I knew many would simply run.

“Okay,” she agreed, “After lunch, I want to reassure the boys first.” Relieved that she’d given in and was going to do the sensible thing, I dropped my wings from around us. Tucked against my back, I now had all the light I needed to look down on my female, and I greedily took in her image. She lifted her face to mine, smiling when I bent down to kiss her.

There was a sharp whistle from Uron and a hoot of laughter from my son, Amar joining in though he didn’t understand the joke. Aggy and I sprung apart, the female blushing as the kids and Uron laughed and stared. I curled my arm around her shoulder, urging her towards the boys, “Yeah, yeah,” I said, “You saw that.” I flicked Jett on his nose and smiled when he gave me a huge grin in return.

Guards poured into the courtyard just as we’d finished eating lunch in the shade of one of the walls. Aggy was sitting down, her back against the brick, and the boys were practicing some moves with Uron overseeing them. While I’d been pacing around the courtyard, filled with restless energy, and worry, I wanted to move her now, but she wanted a little moment to say goodbye and had been watching the two move with a worried frown on her face.

The dozen males that burst into the derelict training space were led by one of Carator’s two female guards. The green-skinned Xurtal females were practically indistinguishable from each other so I couldn’t tell if it was Arta or Iol. It didn’t matter anyway, the female was on the warpath, charging across the courtyard toward Aggy.

I was all the way across from her, as far away as I could possibly be. Later, I’d reflect that this was the only reason I didn’t do something incredibly stupid and impulsive at that point. In the heat of the moment, I only felt despair at being unable to reach her in time. My wings flared out, the muscles in my legs bunching in preparation to leap through the air at her. A dozen guards were between me and her, the dangerous Xurtal woman right in Aggy’s face.

“Impostor!” she snarled at Aggy, her soft, fragile skin going white as a sheet. My battle-form twitched, trying to slide into place when it already was. I felt skin crack and break along my back, starting to bleed in little streams. The pain was nothing compared to the fear I felt for Aggy, for my woman, my Fire.