But it was easier said than done.
She turned her full attention to the baby, determined not to take her eyes off him again. He was sleeping in his little pod as if he had only been waiting for the moose to start moving so he could relax.
That pouty little face was adorable in repose.
She gazed down at him, unable to believe the incredible gift and responsibility she had been given.
The baby didn’t trust her yet, and that was perfectly natural. In time, she knew he would get used to having her take care of him.
For her, the bond had been instant. She already knew she would die to protect him.
“You’re my family now,” she murmured.
She patted his blanket, not quite daring to touch his soft blue skin while he slept.
Which was interesting, in itself.
This baby was supposed to be an orphan. But he was blue, just like Noxx.
She had been too busy gazing at her new son to pay much attention to her friends, but she thought she had noticed Aurora’s baby was yellow with a yellow guard and Phoebe’s was green with a green guard.
Had the warriors been assigned based on their color to make the babies feel at home? Or was something else going on?
“Quiet,” Noxx said, though she hadn’t said anything.
Maybe he could read her mind.
She glanced up to see that he had turned his to the valley and was frozen in place, looking through the trees at the sky beyond.
They were up among the clouds in the forest, but the breeze had just picked up and blown enough mist away to reveal something huge and gray floating in the air just below them. It looked almost like a solid cloud.
It shifted slightly and she gasped.
It was alive.
The gargantuan thing reminded her of the whale in the picture books about old Earth at the museum back on Terra-4.
She slid her body between the cradle and the creature, instinctively hiding the baby, and held her breath, heart pounding.
The massive creature let out a huff of air that made the trees shiver.
A cloyingly sweet smell filled the air, like fresh-baked sweet rolls.
Luna braced herself, ready for action.
But the beast merely blinked its tiny blue eye and floated away along the mountainside.
The bulk of it slid past for a long time before the feathery tail disappeared out of sight in the mist cover.
“Wh-what was that?” she asked.
“Sky leviathan,” Noxx grunted.
She shivered.
“Mostly harmless,” he added. “But they can uproot trees if you spook them.”
She nodded.
I’m going to live here. Alone. With a small child to protect.
“Is there some kind of plant and animal guide for Clotho?” she asked him, hating the nervous twang in her voice.
“Ha,” he laughed mirthlessly.
And kept walking.
5
Luna
Luna stood on the soft ground, looking up at her new home.
On the one hand, it had real wood walls, glass windows and presumably a whole roof, which made it head and shoulders more appealing than her hut back on Terra-4.
On the other, it was perched in the canopy of a towering tree.
“How are we supposed to get up there?” she asked.
But Noxx didn’t bother to answer her.
The big blue alien was busy releasing the burden moose from its saddle and lead. He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, as if he couldn’t wait to finish up and get back to his ship, and away from her.
She watched as he gave it a slap on the rump and it slowly lurched away into the overgrowth.
“Won’t you need the moose?” she asked.
She had been assuming Noxx would use it to ride back instead of walking both ways.
“Carry this yourself,” he told her, handing over the small sack of belongings she had brought. “I’ll take the whelp.”
She fought the urge to roll her eyes.
At least she wouldn’t have to put up with him bossing her around much longer. She just had to figure out how to get up and down from the tree, and then he would head out, and she could relax.
“This way,” he said.
She followed him around the huge circumference of the trunk.
“You first,” he said, pointing at the tree as if she were supposed to scale it.
“How?” she asked.
He sighed and pointed to where someone had carved shallow indentations into the trunk at awkward intervals.
Though it might have been silly of her to expect to find an elevator chute or hover disk out in the woods, this was an outrage.
“I’m supposed to climb up and down this tree using these things, carrying a baby?”
“No, you’re carrying yourself. I’m carrying the baby,” he retorted. “Let’s go. Now.”
“Okay, okay,” she grumbled.
She grabbed the body of the tree and put her foot in the first hold, then pulled herself up to the next one.
It wasn’t so bad.
“Move, woman,” Noxx moaned.
She kept going, slowly and carefully.
The sky was fading around them.
She began to feel nearly as anxious as he was to get higher up. It occurred to her that if it got dark while they were still climbing, that could be bad. It was hard enough to find the handholds in the light.
But why was it so dark already? Hadn’t it been morning when she arrived? Maybe a storm was coming. All the more reason to not be stuck on the side of a tree.
She climbed on and on, her heart in her mouth.
The wind picked up a bit, whipping her hair around her face. She kept moving by feel, her body falling into a steady rhythm. Until she moved her right foot to what she thought was an indentation, and it slipped out from under her.
Time seemed to slow down, and she felt herself falling.
Her hands searched the surface of the tree for purchase, but found only empty air.
Luna’s life flashed in front of her. It had been short and boring, with too many losses and not enough hot meals, but it was hers, and she wasn’t ready to let it go just yet.
Then a warm strong arm wrapped around her midsection, steadying her.
Instantly, time snapped back and she was fully in the present.
Noxx’s delicious spicy scent wrapped around her as firmly as his arm. She could feel the heat pouring off him, as if he weren’t merely warm but somehow more alive and vigorous than anyone she had ever touched.
No wonder the baby wants to be held by him.
She felt at home, and at the same time, desire bubbled up inside her, leaving her shivering with mad lust.
“Are you okay?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“F-fine,” she managed.
“Keep climbing,” he said.
She grabbed for the tree again, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.
He didn’t want her the way she wanted him. He didn’t even like her.
And, truth be told, she didn’t really like him either.
She just wanted him.
It was stupid mindless lust, that was all. She needed to get up this tree so he could leave, and she could concentrate on her new life. She made the mistake of looking up. There was still so far to go.
Luna took a breath and pushed on.
“Stop,” Noxx said a moment later.
A huge branch forked off of the trunk here. She stepped onto it to wait for him.