Page 7 of Across the Crimson Sands

He was Vinduthi, towering over me. Small horns protruded from his shaggy brown hair, and vibrant scarlet tracery swirled beneath his skin of his cheek like living tattoos. From what I could tell they continued down his neck, from what little of his skin was visible.

“That’s a lot of heavy clothing for the desert,” I blurted out, desperate to break the suffocating silence between us.

I’d glimpsed Vinduthi from afar, but Krelaxians didn’t exactly encourage fraternization. Being this close, meeting his gaze...

This was dangerous.

He was undeniably handsome, a fact my brain unhelpfully supplied despite the situation I was in. If I were a little less lucid, I might have been tempted to throw myself into those powerful arms, if only to know what it felt like to be held by them.

His golden eyes were stern, cold – and yet, something flickered behind that icy facade. A part of me ached to reach out and find that hidden warmth.

“You shouldn’t try running from me,” he said, his deep voice sending an involuntary thrill down my spine. “I’m your only hope. Another day out here alone and you’d be dead – from exposure, dehydration, or something like that.” He gestured back towards the fallen lizard with his rifle.

“I wouldn’t have run into that thing if you hadn’t scared me right into it!” I shot back, surprising myself with my own defiance.

He shook his head, dark amusement in his eyes. “And there are hundreds more just like her out there. Spiked rollpigs. Venomous plamseeds. Those creatures that hide in the sand, waiting for someone to unwittingly step over their always-open mouths. Then they clamp down on your foot, drag you into their cavernous belly, and slowly digest you in stomach acid.”

I planted my hands on my hips, glaring up at him. “You paint such a lovely picture of the desert. You should be a tour guide.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he holstered his rifle. He extended one large, gloved hand towards me. “Come with me, Arilee. You’re as good as dead out here. No need to make a fuss.”

I weighed my options, such as they were. He knew my name. He wanted me alive. He was clearly a skilled hunter or tracker. Someone had paid him to find me – and it wasn’t hard to guess who that someone might be.

What choice did I really have? If I took his hand and went quietly, I’d be returned to Gorin. I’d live a life of pain and abuse, but I’d live. If I refused... well, he’d made the consequences of that quite clear.

But death was its own kind of freedom, wasn’t it?

I turned and stepped off the cliff’s edge, the Vinduthi’s string of colorful curses fading behind me as I plummeted towards oblivion.

ROKAN

“Shit!” I yelled, my bag dropping to the ground as I raced to the cliff’s edge. My heart pounded in my ears as I peered over the precipice, eyes scanning for any sign of her.

She was gone.

I stood frozen, mouth agape. No trace of her landing on the distant ground below. No scattered or flattened body parts. She had simply vanished into thin air. The girl had to be insane to pull a stunt like that. But no one escaped me. No one.

Gorin’s description mocked me.

Stubborn wasn’t nearly a strong enough word. And she was undeniably beautiful – her holo image hadn’t done her justice.

I could also see how she’d managed to survive this long. Her body was lithe and agile, capable of maneuvering in ways my bulky frame couldn’t hope to match. This time, it had gotten her into trouble, but I could see how such a physique would prove advantageous in the treacherous desert.

Or a bed.

I snorted, then pushed the unbidden thought aside. Focus. Gorin was also right about her being headstrong. With a body like that, I could almost forgive such stubbornness.

One thing was certain – Gorin wouldn’t want her back dead. I had to pursue her, not only to secure my quarry but to prevent her from taking her own life in a desperate bid for freedom.

I retrieved my bag, adjusting it on my shoulder as I committed to finding a way down this damned cliff. For a fleeting moment, I considered leaping from where she had.

No. I was better than that. I’d been working as a bounty hunter on this godforsaken planet long enough to have a solid grasp of the Crimson Sands’ geography. I would find my prey.

As I scanned the terrain, I realized just how far I’d traveled. Much farther than I’d initially planned or estimated for Gorin. The massive gash in the planet’s surface stretched out before me, undeniable proof to the unforgiving nature of this world.

Finally, something caught my eye. A small footpath to my left, winding downward in a series of treacherous twists and turns. I took a few tentative steps, my feet slipping on the loose sand. No one had traversed this route in ages – the relentless sandstorms had obliterated any semblance of solid ground.

With each step, sand cascaded off the path, plummeting to the cliff floor below. A grim reminder of the fate that awaited one misstep. But I was confident. I could sense her presence, elusive as it was. This wouldn’t be easy, but I was Vinduthi. We thrived on challenges.

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