Dark's Savior (Dark World Mates Book 2) Page 9

  "Let me just see if I can get a reading on their tag," Nar said.

  "Don't bother. They are as good as dead anyway," Ryziel replied indifferently as he went to unzip his slipsuit and strip it off, ready for a hot bath.

  "Yeah, probably, but I'm curious if it's another tylian. They said one got found close to the bottom the other day in the forum, but it didn't look like a usual sluth attack from what I read. Plus, they are going pretty fast," Nar stated.

  "Do what you like. It won't matter." Ryziel got the slipsuit halfway off before Nar made a curious little noise.

  "Oh, it's not a tylian."

  Ryziel untied the side satchel from his waist and placed it by the canister bag. He checked his techband for any messages from Xilya and found none. She would be down again soon enough anyway. He would get some tools ready for her when the time came as she had reluctantly agreed to help with harvesting. The work would still be slow as hell, but at least he would have someone else to help him.

  "Uh, Ryz..."

  "I'm going to take a bath. Xilya will be down at some point, so look out for her when you—"

  "It's a human."

  Ryziel stopped, confused. "What is?"

  "The signal just outside. The one running around. It's a human," Nar said. The urk looked back as Ryziel turned toward him and stared blankly. "You know, that race you were looking up the other day?"

  It took Ryziel a moment to understand, and, when he did, a strange sort of feeling overtook him. Something closely resembling a sense of dread. He didn't move at first but his eyes immediately shot to the screen behind Nar.

  "Which one?" Ryziel asked in a low whisper.

  Nar stared at him oddly, as if noticing the stillness taking him so suddenly. Then he turned back to the screen. He entered into the techband's data and brought up the record linked to it. The screen popped up and showed them who it belonged to:

  Aly Smith

  Human

  Age: 24

  Physical: gold-red hair along head, blue-green eyes, pale, soft-skinned, small

  Home planet: Earth

  Job Skill: Mechanic

  Background: Found by Xolis enforcers, led by Captain Marzin, on tradeship, being transported to [undisclosed]. Brought to Yilsand for rehabilitation and integration into Xolis system. Currently stationed on Lethe Maws.

  Threat: low

  All Vaccines given. No known illnesses.

  Testing still underway

  Before his brain even registered what the hell he was doing, Ryziel was out the door and blindly racing down the dark tunnel, with Nar's shouts echoing behind him.

  He knew he could find her easily, but he didn't know if he would make it in time. His receptors began to vibrate, and he caught her scent in the air, but the sluths must have already found her, and she could be getting ripped apart even now. A low, violent rumble tore from his throat, and he forced his legs faster, his muscles tensing and burning with each step.

  His vision—perfect in the dark—could see in the distance outside the tunnel from which he came, a dance of lights and the sluths circling them. As he bolted toward them, he noticed one sluth with a techband in it jaws, but thankfully, no hand to accompany it.

  As soon as they sensed him, the sluths immediately started their terrible shrieking, their eyeless faces turning every direction, their white flesh turning gray. Ryziel didn't hesitate. He caught one by the neck, crushed its vocal cords, and flung it against a nearby boulder. The rest backed away, their wide mouths twisting away from their usual grins, going slack as they hissed and bent their backs at him, ready to flee or strike.

  Ryziel made sure they fled.

  Blood wet the rocks as claws and teeth collided in a fit of violent fury. Ryziel roared out as he chased them from the wide cavern, catching one after the other, crushing bone and slicing skin. The ones who got away shrieked with terror as they disappeared into the wide darkness. Ryziel watched them go with breathless, seething anger, his Drega wanting to rise up and finish them. He forced it back.

  When he was finally able to calm himself, he went looking for Aly's body.

  He could only think the worst, after all. He could smell the blood in the air before he had made his first strike and knew it must be hers. He ignored the numb dread that kept welling up in him and started searching. When he finally did find her, it was a shock at first to see that she actually wasn't dead.

  But she was close.

  He crouched down beside her and assessed the damage. She had been bitten in several places and sliced in a couple others. Her slipsuit was ripped open, her chest bare to him, and he had to shove his Drega back down in disgust at its lustful wanting even now before continuing on. Blood seeped down her shoulder from a deep bite and trickled down her arms. A large, nasty bruise was already beginning to form along her neck, with a few marks scattered across her face.

  None of her limbs looked broken, which was good, but there was a lot of blood. And judging by how frail she was, he could lose her any moment.

  As Ryziel stretched his arm out to touch her, bracing to fight back his Drega in the process, Aly opened her eyes and saw him.

  Her face went ashen. She began to shake badly, her teeth chattering, a whimper falling from her mouth, which quickly turned into a shrill cry. She tried to back away, but it was a futile effort as she could barely move from where she sat against a rock. Ryziel feared that if he touched her, she might go into shock (if she hadn't already by seeing him), but if he didn't take her now, she would certainly die.

  He went for her again, and the words that escaped her (and the sound she made with them), hit him like a punch to the gut.

  "Please, don't hurt me."

  Ryziel flinched. This time, he didn't hesitate. Despite her little cries and pleading moans for him not to hurt her, he picked her up as gently as he could, cradling her against him. She placed her little hand against his bare chest, feebly pushing against it, and Ryziel let her because he was more concerned about getting her back to the lair than about his Drega, even if it did rear up just like before. He shoved it back again, taking deep breaths and forcing his legs to move. He began to run fast, maybe a little too fast, but he feared if he stopped, he wouldn't be able to fight back his beast, and he didn't have time to keep her from touching him in that moment, so all he could do was run.

  And pray he wasn't too late.

  Chapter Twelve

  There was darkness at first. A whole lot of it. Then the smattering of dreams or perhaps memories, though Aly couldn't tell the difference. She could only remember parts of these "visions." She remembered Blue; remembered seeing his face contorted with some hard emotion. Maybe anger. Or Fear.

  She remembered hearing his voice a lot. Hearing him yelling to someone, then feeling herself being let down on a cold, hard surface. She felt arms on her, keeping her in place, Blue's face once again above her.

  Then came the pain. Awful, awful pain.

  There was nothing memorable after that. Just one last dream of her standing on the edge of some cliff with Blue there beside her, the sun setting before them. The sun disappeared, bringing the night, and Blue was no longer there. A horrifying monster with sinister eyes and a wide, wicked grin had taken his place.

  Aly had started to scream, only to wake up instead. Her eyes fluttered open, her head feeling fuzzy, her vision blurry. She blinked several times and licked her lips, finding her mouth and throat dry.

  She turned her head to one side, and the room moved, disorienting her. She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them again and saw a wall full of...well, stuff. Robot parts, sheets of metal, silver coil wires, and broken tools, to name a few. Those were what she could identify, at least. Some of the objects she had never seen before, like a dark green sphere with black etchings across its surface or a strange transparent tray with shiny, grid-like designs. Aly carefully tried to sit up, pausing to let the dizziness pass, until she could sit bent over enough without feeling like she might vomit.

  She w
as in a small bed, lying only a few feet off the ground. Ahead of her was an open doorway covered by a black curtain. Aly straightened and could see a blue light glowing through a crack in the doorway. Carefully, she maneuvered herself into a different position and was shocked to feel little to no pain. She peered down at her torso and pushed the blanket off.

  She no longer wore her slipsuit but a dark gray robe instead. Underneath, there were bandages wrapped around her torso, but when she peeled some of them off, she found the skin underneath to be nearly healed. There was no scabbing or crusted blood, just a slick, clear oil that smelled similar to peppermint. Aly took off the robe and unraveled the rest of the bandages to touch at her skin. Someone had used expensive, medical-grade salve on her. And possibly some other advanced surgical tools. She had seen such things used before, when Jamie had been injured after being taken off the tradeship by the enforcers. Her cut had been deep, but they had used strange tools to seal the wound. Aly remembered Jamie's contorted, screaming face at the pain; then after, her look of shock as her arm started to heal before her very eyes. Within only a couple hours, she had been healed completely, not even leaving a scar.

  Aly stared down at her own body now and wondered who had done this to her. Then she remembered seeing the face of the nillium above her.

  Had he done this? But why? Why, after he had threatened her to never go below?

  Her memory started to come back ,and she remembered how she had been attacked by a group of pale, eyeless monsters, thinking for certain she was going to die alone in the dark, when the nillium had appeared. She might have felt relieved then, but after their last meeting, she only felt more afraid, believing him to be some deadly executioner who had come to finish the job.

  Maybe if she hadn't been so terrified, hadn't been going into shock from the pain, she might have thought over why he was running so fast to get away instead of ending her where he had found her.

  Thinking on this now, Aly's heart did a little flip. She drew the robe back tightly against her then scooted off the bed. She rose and went to stand before the black curtain then slowly pushed it away.

  The blue light blinded her for a moment, making her squint. Aly blinked and put up her hand until she was adjusted enough to see. Her eyes widened, mouth gaped open, and she stood there, staring.

  Beyond, in the center of the large chamber, was a ship.

  It wasn't a huge ship, by any means, but certainly big enough for a decent-sized crew carrying several loads of cargo. Its dark steel shone in the blue light cast on it from above, with four wings stretching out on either side, one missing most of its shell. The front was narrow and the back bulkier, with lights built around the sides like teeth. The design of it seemed familiar to her and, after a moment of staring, Aly realized why. It reminded her of the tradeship that had found her and the team.

  Her stomach dropped and Aly's eyes instinctively began searching for an exit out of the chamber. At one cave wall, she saw a large metal door shut tight and wondered where the latch was to open it. Searching around for any movement, she took a cautious step out of the room then slowly made her way down a short set of metal-grate stairs. Clutching her robe close, she winced at the cold ground on her bare feet and went on tiptoe, searching around for any slipsuit or pair of clothing that might give her some warmth from the chilly cave air. Her mind began to race with even more questions as her eyes danced around the cavern. Where was she? Where had the ship come from? Who was keeping it here? Was it the nillium? Or Traders?

  She noticed the dull hum of something nearby and a soft knocking coming from a set of large tanks against the opposite wall. As she moved closer to the door, she spotted a large console back by one wall, displaying a map of a cave route she had never seen.

  Curious, she went over to it and looked down. She gazed at the pinpoints of colors before her and reached out her hand toward the holographic image.

  "Hey, human, what do you think you’re doing there?" someone called out behind her. Aly jumped and whirled around but saw no one.

  "Hello?" she called in response. She moved back toward the ship and gazed around its sides. She heard the rattle of something above and looked up to see someone moving across the ship's roof.

  "Hello?" Aly called again, craning her neck to see. There was a quick shifting sound then a sharp clang.

  "Down here, human."

  Aly turned her gaze downward and nearly jumped as she found herself standing next to what looked like a—

  Well, she couldn't really describe in a realistic sense, only that the creature reminded her of a goblin. It was small, with sharp, flat ears and beady black eyes and a flat nose. It wasn't green like the ones she’d seen in books, however, but a pale yellow instead, with dark swirls across its face.

  And it had metal legs.

  "When you are done gawking," the creature said, "why don't you go on and sit over there?" It pointed to a thick metal table on the other side of the ship with a set of metal chairs.

  "Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

  "Yeah, yeah, sure." The creature waved. "Over there. Go on."

  Aly pursed her lips then turned toward the table, eyeing the creature once more before cautiously making her way over. There was a circular grate in the middle of the table with a blue fire glowing underneath. A metal pot filled with boiling water sat on one side of the grate.

  Without asking, the little creature came over and took up a small handleless cup on a shelf nearby, dropped a pill-like bag inside, then filled the cup with the hot water using a large spoon. He then plunked the cup in front of Aly.

  "Drink that and wait here," it said.

  Aly stared down at the steamy cup before her. "Um, what is this? And where am..."

  She looked up and found the little creature already loping away, back to the ship. "Wait!" she called, scooping the cup up in her hands. She rushed after it and got in its way before it could disappear back into the ship. "Where am I?" she asked.

  The goblin snorted, "Somewhere you shouldn't be, honestly." It moved around her to continue walking until Aly blocked it again.

  "Am I still at the bottom?" she asked.

  The goblin sighed. "Yes. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot—"

  "Why am I here?"

  "Trust me, I wish I knew," the goblin mumbled, attempting to walk around her once more. "But that stubborn ass couldn't even give a straight answer."

  Aly thought she knew who it spoke of. "So, this is where Blue lives?"

  The goblin actually froze and looked back at her with a confused, albeit curious expression, and Aly's face heated as she realized her error. That nickname was supposed to be a private one.

  "Who the hell is...wait, you are talking about Ryziel, right?"

  Aly drew a lock of hair back behind her ear and shrugged. "I don't know his name. I only know him as the nillium who hides in the underground."

  The goblin grunted and turned away. "Yeah, that's him. Funny name to give him, though, lady. A little too on the nose don't you think?"

  So, that was his name. Ryziel. Aly felt like some great secret had been revealed to her. She clutched the cup in her hands tighter and brought it closer to her chest. "This is his home? Ryziel's?"

  "Yeah." The goblin turned fully toward her and gave her a stern sort of look. "And if you so much as speak about what you saw here, you can bet I will force a memory pill straight down your throat. I would have done it as soon as you woke up, but I was ordered not to touch you, and right now, I don't really care to lose another limb, so..." It turned away and walked back into the ship. "So, just go sit down and wait for 'Blue' to show up."

  Aly's face heated even more. She didn't try to stop it again. Instead, she turned back to the table and sat down. She would've asked more about the ship, but she could see the goblin wasn't in the mood to be bombarded by questions. Nor did it seem inclined to help her find clothes or anything else of the sort. She could go looking, but something told her it was better to wait. Wait for the
nillium to return from wherever he was.

  ***

  The enforcers lurked at the bottom for at least an hour before they gave up their search for the human woman. Ryziel watched them in the dark as their tracers scanned the area where a dead sluth lay, where the human's techband should have been but was nowhere to be seen, at least not by them.

  "I see no trace of her," one said. A krull female. "We should just go back up. Judging by this sluth and the blood everywhere, I'd say she's a goner."

  "We will have to make a full report," said another. A lygin with a scar across one eye. "The captain will want to know."

  Ryziel's eyes narrowed, a sneer partially twisting his face.

  It had driven him to near rage at first to learn that there were enforcers lurking not far from the lair. Even those on Lethe knew not to come down to the bottom. Whether by threat or payment, they had done well to stay far away. Until now.

  And it didn't take Ryziel long to figure out what drove them downward, despite his efforts. Orders by Marzin could not go ignored, no matter the threat or bribe. And when Ryziel learned of their whereabouts not even an hour after bringing Aly into his home, he could guess what they were searching for.

  But what greatly bothered him wasn't so much the reason they had come down but the why. Why were they searching for the human woman? Why was her techband linked to their tracers in the first place? Why did Marzin want her looked after?

  These questions disturbed him, and he was almost curious enough to go searching for answers. Especially as he watched the band of enforcers walking around in his territory, looking for the girl.

  "Let's get going. Before the Dark One shows up," the krull added, looking around nervously.

  "Perhaps he knows where she went," said another lygin male, smaller than the first. "Maybe he could aid us..."