Page 96 of Bred by the Alien Prince

"What are you doing?"

"We might be able to use this to power the old tech and send a stronger beacon," he held up a flat device with wires jutting from it like exposed arteries.

"How far do we have to travel to get to this place?"

"Thankfully, not far. Just up that path there." He pointed to the base of a small mountain, but a mountain nonetheless.

"That path looks like a damn mountain!"

"We can make it if we use our jiva to push us along. We'll exert ourselves and won't have much energy for anything else, but we will make it in a reasonable amount of time."

"Jiva? I don't have that!"

"I saw you use it!"

I was confused, but then again, what else explained what happened in the woods?

He hesitated. "Get on my back." He looked over the ridge again, and sure enough, they were coming toward us. Those bastards just won't quit!

"They don't give up, do they?"

"Apparently not."

He didn't look particularly strong, but I wasn't overweight either. Hopefully, it was enough to get us through this.

He pushed off, and we glided fast and away from the pod.

We had been traveling for a long while when I noticed his breathing was labored and wheezing.

"I can get off if you need to rest."

"No, I'm fine, just tired," he breathed. "You must do the rest once we get there. I won't be able to..."

I looked out into the whirlwind of dark energy. We were high up and near the summit of the mountain, and by the time he stopped and collapsed, it was getting dark. He crawled to the door and pushed it open. "Hurry," he said through his strained voice.

I rushed inside the rusted station, which looked like a small outpost. "It's almost night," I said, unable to see everything.

"We won't be able to leave come morning." He crawled inside and pushed the door closed.

"Okay, tell me what to do!"

"Insert this power supply into that chamber." He handed me the device and pointed at a tube ahead, and I followed his instructions as he told me how to insert it and what buttons to press. He remained on the floor, drained of strength.

The station whirred with life.

He crawled to the beacon and stood up, still weakened, as I turned on the comms.

"Lorvian! Are you out there? Hello?"

"Caspian?" Connor's voice came on through the bits of static until he was clear.

"Connor? Where's Lorvian?"

"I'm here," he said, and I breathed a sigh of relief. But something was wrong. His voice sounded haggard.

"What's wrong? Your voice sounds strange?"

"Just flushing toxins out of my system. We're on our way to your Nav Point. I'm glad you're okay."

---