One more try.
“Your throat is dry. There’s a river up ahead. A perfect place for a drink.”
The male’s eyes narrowed on the river in question, but then they widened, and Verakko knew he’d shucked off the sway entirely.
Mustering all the strength he had left, Verakko shot his legs up and wrapped them around one of the male’s large wings. They banked sharply, spinning and diving into the dense trees below. The male flapped but couldn’t dislodge the tight grip of Verakko’s legs while also holding him by the arms. Wrenching one arm loose, Verakko grappled to pull the communicator free, but the device slipped between his fingers and tumbled into the rushing river below. Verakko cursed and clutched the male’s forearms, lunging and snapping his teeth at any bit of flesh he got close to.
He managed to inject the few remaining drops of venom he had left as his fangs scraped across the male’s upper arm. It might not kill the Strigi, but it would do damage.
The male looked at his oozing cut, aghast. As Verakko had feared and hoped, the male let go.
For a moment, Verakko hung in midair. Then, he was falling. He tried to make his body go limp, knowing a stiff form would only cause more damage. The navy-blue sky disappeared a moment before his shoulder crashed into a branch, sending stars dancing across his vision.
He tried to grab onto the small sticks and twigs that tore at his skin, but every time he caught sight of a suitable limb or sapling in the darkness, it was too late. The trees continued to batter his body until one particularly dense, low-hanging limb cracked his head. His vision wavered. Soft ground could be felt underneath him. He was no longer falling. As the world went dark once again, he recalled lying in a ditch in a similar position. Broken and wondering if he’d ever be found.
Chapter 3
Pink juice from the fruit Lily bit into squirted onto her dingy yet clean white shirt, and she ground her teeth. Already? Only that afternoon had she taken precious hours to wash and dry her clothes. Why had she even bothered?
For about a week now, Lily had been hiking alone through this alien forest, and it was wearing on her. The constant hunger and thirst, incessant bug bites, and perpetual state of hyperawareness were all things she’d never enjoyed on Earth and now despised. To top it all off, she’d lost a good ten pounds from her already slender frame.
Throwing the small fruit into her woven grass bag, Lily glared at the flickering flames of her bright fire, no longer concealed in a pit, and became lost in her own thoughts. The small clearing she’d found two days ago was one of the more comfortable spots she’d camped while searching for Alex. The patch of soft, moss-covered earth was within walking distance to the river and protected by trees on three sides. She regretted having to leave, but tomorrow she’d need to move down the river yet again.
After she and Alex had been separated, she’d dragged herself onto the bank, then sprinted as fast as she could along the shore. She’d run until her legs had given out but hadn’t found a shred of evidence. She hadn’t even found any supplies washed up from the bag she’d lost in the river. Then a nasty rainstorm five days ago had flooded the whole area, forcing Lily to retreat to higher ground. Any evidence of Alex, or her lost supplies from her broken bag, would’ve been washed even farther downriver.
The chirping of insects she could never find, no matter how hard she looked, pulsed through her ears. She wrapped her arms around her waist and frowned. What she wouldn’t give for Alex to be here right now. A small smile tugged at her lips. The woman had talked enough to drown out the bug’s noises. Alex had always been great at that. Lily hadn’t realized how much her friend had done to keep her spirits lifted. She now wondered if Alex really talked that much normally or if she’d chatted nonstop because she’d somehow sensed Lily needed lightness to combat the nagging pressure she always put on herself. Either way, the loneliness was wearing on Lily.
Why had she told Alex to keep going? She should’ve told her to stay put! No, Lily argued. What if I hadn’t made it? It would’ve been selfish to force Alex to wait.
As she picked at her nails, now devoid of the bright pink polish she’d applied mere days before her abduction, she ran through her plan once more. The first few days on her own, Lily hadn’t been smart. She’d pushed her body too far in pursuit of her friend. Only sleeping a few hours of the night and only eating what little she found along her way. If she really stopped to think about it, she should be dead right now. Poisoned from the random foods she’d eaten without first testing.
Though she hadn’t died, she’d become incredibly ill. Lily didn’t know if it was the food or unpurified water, but her stomach pains had halted her in her tracks. The rainstorm had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it had forced her to take shelter until it’d passed and had provided water that was reasonably safer to drink than river water. She’d crawled into a dark, empty crevasse between some boulders high on the hill and had ridden out the worst of her illness while praying no wild animals came to take advantage.
After two days of misery, she’d regained her sense and had decided she’d need to work smarter if she was ever going to learn what had happened to her friend.
Lily felt the balloon in her chest expand, threatening to burst at the thought of Alex. She pushed it down. She’s a smart girl. She made it to shore and started walking along the river just like we planned. Lily kept carrying out the one-sided conversation in her mind, the only activity that prevented her from falling apart. I’ll find signs of her any day now; they were just washed farther down by the rain.
She vehemently silenced the voice in the back of her brain wondering if there was any evidence left to find.
A loud snap from the fire drew her eyes, a welcome distraction. She reached over to her pile to throw on more wood and cursed. She’d left all the wood she’d gathered today by the riverbank.
After spending the morning chopping and hefting a heavy load of firewood, Lily hadn’t been able to resist the crystal-clear water. She’d been dirty for long enough, hadn’t she? She deserved to have a few hours of frivolity where, instead of toiling, she washed herself and her clothes and sunbathed on a nice, big rock. Well, that was exactly what she’d done. Lily cursed and stared at her stained shirt again. She’d felt clean and rejuvenated for all of two hours, and now she’d have to drag herself back to the river in the dark to maintain this damn fire.
She grimaced and rose. Her muscles, stiff from the hard work of the morning, groaned in protest. She grabbed a stick from the fire and held the flaming end ahead of her. The trees were thinner here along the river, and the two moons, only one of which was visible from her vantage point, lit the area in soft light. Lily told herself the fire was needed to ward off animals, but really it was more for her own comfort than anything else.
Although she hadn’t been attacked by any of the animals lurking nearby, she heard them watching her throughout the days and nights. The longer she spent in this place, the more convinced she became that the creatures who stalked her were intelligent and were biding their time until she was either too weak or injured before making their move.
A rustling sounded from the trees, and Lily spun in place, holding her torch high. She crouched, ready to run or fight, whatever the situation called for. The rustling grew louder, and she peered into the dark forest, trying to make out any signs of movement. She saw nothing. The crack of snapping branches hit her ears, and she realized the sound wasn’t coming from in front of her but from above.