Page 40 of Rebirth

I will just have to do so from a distance.

I turn to the exit, life organ thumping in my chest as I head in Soh’fee’s direction.

I should not have sent her away.

This part of her world might have no Gryken, but it is not without danger. For it is clear now the threat is no longer above.

We walk above it. Unaware of its growing presence.

Moving through the tunnel, heading to the surface is much faster solo. And yet, while descending, I’d not realized I’d slowed down so Soh’fee could keep up with me. That her constant little grunts and sighs as we descended had kept me company.

Now, the silence threatens to eat me whole and as I near the entrance of the cave, I wonder where she is. I’d expected to find her resting somewhere along the tunnel.

Did she leave for Unity?

She might be surprising, but she is no fool. We are far from the camp. Doing the journey alone would be a bad decision.

But the farther I go through the tunnel and do not come upon her, the more I increase my speed.

A feeling I have not felt since I watched my people being ripped apart on Edooria surges through me so hard that my ba’clan react, rising all around me in a display of aggression I long since thought dead.

And then, I see her.

Halting, I stop mid-haste.

Remaining in the shadows, I watch her pace until the light of her star is snuffed out over the horizon. Er’th’s blue sky darkens, worlds far beyond twinkling in its expanse.

One of them is mine. My home…or, at least, the place where I belonged. But now I stand in the dark watching the only other thing that has caught my full attention since then.

Soh’fee paces. Grumbling to herself, her words too muffled for me to hear.

For what feels like hours, she continues, and I wonder if I should approach.

Negative. I remain hidden.

Distance. For her sake.

Finally, she stops and faces the forest beyond before crouching down, a heavy breath leaving her shoulders. She fights with her gear for something within before pulling it out and setting it along the hard rock floor.

She settles on it before reaching into her gear for something else.

Sustenance.

I can scent it from here. Whatever it is. She chews slowly, eyes focused on the exterior of this hollow system before she turns her attention inward.

She looks directly at the spot in which I stand, but there is no recognition on her smooth features. Her light beam is off, possibly to conserve power. She cannot see me.

I lower into a crouch as I watch her, a skitter going through my ba’clan as my muscles flex and prime.

It is yet another movement from them. Several now, when they have been silent for so long. I should be rejoicing. Eager to return to my lab so I can run some tests. But…I cannot. A part of me already knows what I will find.

They have found their mate. They want her.

I push the thoughts away as Soh’fee licks her lips, cleaning away small particles of whatever sustenance she consumes.

Another skitter goes through me. Partially from the fact I am crouching here, watching her like the predator killishis would watch young Vullan as they played in the dark sands. And partially from the fact that seeing her tongue move over her lips ignites a hunger in me that wells deep.

Swiping my own tongue over my lips, I taste the ghost of her kiss.

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