Page 8 of Twin Warriors

Chapter Three

Amy slid down the smooth stone that made up the ramp she used to get in and out of the small cave she lived in. Emi and Tope, the two massive black beasts that were her constant shadows for the last few weeks had no problem getting in and out.

The wide pool of water to the left swayed and moved with the creatures that lived inside it, casting a stunning, shimmering light show over the ceiling of the dark stone cave. Emi, short for Emerald, was the female beast, and Tope, short for Topaz was her mate. After the initial shock and fear of waking up in the cave with them, Amy had grown to love and adore the two oversized house cats who never left her side. They were smart, funny, and very protective of her.

She also had Kisam and Maku, the two oil-black symbiote creatures that had saved her life in the cave and bonded them all together. Kisma and Maku were far quieter than Emi and Tope, who liked to fill her head with conversation all day.

She never complained, though. She loved each of the strange creatures that now made up her life.

Emi had told her that when she fell into the cave, so near death, Kisma had decided to bond her life to theirs, making them one living thing. They all had their own lives, and own thoughts, but they would forever be bonded in life. If one dies, the others die.

Life had gotten very interesting from that day. After a few days of trying to understand what they meant by bonded, and trying, but failing to understand what Kisma and Maku were, they had all decided to leave the cave and make their way to Mura, the largest city on the planet. The walk through the desert was nothing like it had been for her the first time.

Now, not only did she take turns riding on either Emi or Tope’s back, but the black ooze that made up Kisma and Maku morphed into a full body protective suit for her.

They provided her with protection from the sun, kept her healthy and made sure she had energy to keep going. Tope had hunted for them, going a little overboard with the food he brought back each night and kept an eye out while they slept. When they had finally reached the city limits, Amy saw the tall trees and fell in love with the towering branches that swayed in vivid reds, blues, and browns.

After the first night in the forest, Emi showed them to a cave she had found while out hunting. It was perfect. It had a pool of water for Kisma and Maku to live in. It had a concealed entrance that was not easy to see unless you stood right beside it, and it was close enough to the walls of some huge complex that Amy could sneak in and get the supplies she needed.

Kisma and Maku had made sure she got in and out without being seen, using their strange alien abilities to camouflage her and help her scale the almost thirty-foot wall with nothing more than the palms of her hands.

“Emi, we’re back.” Amy called out into the cave.

She and Tope had gone to the wall so Amy could get a few extra supplies when the same ugly ass aliens that had taken her had attacked the place. She hadn't seen anything more than the ship landing on the other side of the building, but she heard the fight unfold. Amy had taken the opportunity to grab what she needed while everyone was distracted and haul ass back to the wall before she was found by the huge alien warriors she had glimpsed fighting.

She turned to watch Tope come bounding down the slope on silent feet. She gave the big cat a smile and kissed his nose as he walked past. She chuckled when Tope rumbled with a deep growl.

Emi came out from a smaller space behind the main part of the cave. The entrance opened into a large cavern, with smooth, pale grey walls and a relatively flat floor. Two openings led to other smaller spaces, one where Emi and Tope had made their beds in, and one that led to a large pool in the rock.

“Did you get what you wanted?” Emi asked in her mind.

“Yip. That and more.” Amy said with a wide smile.

She watched as Tope stepped up to the crystal-clear pool of water beside her makeshift bed and waited as Kisma and Maku flowed off his body in a thick, liquid mass. They plopped into the water, turning it as black as the night sky. She felt the relief wash through her from the two thick black wristbands she had on each arm.

Emi had explained to her that elegant black swirls around each wrist was what kept them all connected and allowed her to communicate with Emi and Tope. Tope and Emi had stunning black metal looking collars around their necks and she had the bracelets.

Even though they looked like jewelry, she now knew that it was in fact a part of her skin. As though the black body of Kisma and Maku had replaced her skin with a piece of themselves, like a thick, dark tattoo.

On her left arm, the markings were delicate, with twisting lines that flowed in gentle waves around her arm. On her right arm, the same markings held sharp edges and straight lines. She knew that they represented the male and female of whatever species her symbiotes were.

Amy dropped her haul on the floor by her feet and pulled out a large slab of some kind of black meat that Emi and Tope went crazy over. She wasn’t a fan of it. It tasted very bitter when cooked and made her stomach hurt.

Emi let out a pleased rumble as she picked it up and met her eyes.

“Thank you, Amy.”

Amy smiled, “You’re welcome. Enjoy.”

Emi bowed her head and strode over to Tope, who was now drinking deeply from another pool of water at the back of the cave.

She watched as Emi dropped the chunk of meat on the floor, gave Tope a long, loving lick on his face and lay down beside him. She could feel the love they shared for each other through the bond that made them all one.

A pang of loneliness filled her heart at the sight. It was something she would never find out here. As far as she knew, she was the only human on the planet, and based on her experience so far, she wouldn’t want to go near any of the males with a ten-foot pole.

Well, maybe not all of them. She had seen a few human-like guys at the complex she borrowed her supplies from. Come to think of it, a lot of the men there were human like. Emi had told her that they were all half bio and half synth, or in Earth terms, Cyborgs.

Either way, they were huge, muscled, and dangerous. She still didn’t understand anything anyone said, except for Emi and Tope, who spoke to her in her head. She didn’t know what was said the few times she had wandered into town, but she did understand the way the people all looked at the huge cyborg aliens as they walked down the street.

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