Page 6 of Claimed By the Alien Barbarian

She huffed and raced into the bushes, stopping inside to peek out at us.

Herbs. I’d seen some down by the river that only vaguely resembled ones my mother said had anti-bacterial properties. What if these didn’t? This was an alien planet. What might look benign to my eyes could kill him.

“He’s going to die if you don’t do something,” I whispered.

I straightened and went around to his head, where I hooked my hands through his armpits. Then I leaned back and slowly dragged him around the fire to the place I sat with my back against the tree. I added more wood to the fire, building it up until the raging blaze lit up the entire meadow.

“I have to go get a few things,” I told him. “Wait here.” My low laugh rose in pitch, coming out a touch shrill, but I was nervous.

And something inside me told me I didn’t dare lose him.

“He’s just an alien guy. He’ll probably die before you learn his name,” I said softly as I crossed the meadow with my bow and arrow in hand. “He could be married and have ten kids. Or maybe he’s an alien monk and has sworn off sex.” I made my way along the winding trail beside the river, pausing every tenseconds or so to watch and listen, though I couldn’t hear much above the rushing water on my left.

Thanks to the exposed moonlight, it didn’t take long to find the leaves and return to my campfire. Molly had crept back out of the woods, and she stood on her hind legs a short distance away from the alien, her little paws fretting against her chest and her eyes as wide as the moons above.

The guy didn’t appear to have moved.

I tugged my small collapsible camping pot out of my pack and expanded it, filling it with water I set on the coals to come to a boil.

Since I wasn’t sure about the leaves, I decided to wash his wounds first. The blood flowing from the big wound might help since it would flush out some of the pus. What still bled inside? It wasn’t like I dared poke my finger in the hole and feel around to locate the bleeder. All I could do was apply a pressure wound and hope for the best.

Once the water had simmered for a few minutes, I let it cool, then dipped clean strips torn from the nightie into it. I cleansed his small cuts and the biggest one on his chest and was pleased to see the latter didn’t bleed after my efforts. If it had, I’d stitch him closed.

I carried a first aid kit with me at all times—naturally—and after using a cotton swab to blot antibiotic ointment on his small wounds, I covered them with bandages.

Sitting back on my heels, I scowled at his belly wound, doubting my ointment would make much of a difference. I still wasn’t comfortable stuffing a bunch of leaves inside the jagged gash, but what else could I do?

I gently washed the wound while he thrashed and groaned but didn’t wake.

Molly peeped and scurried a few feet away, turning back to watch us.

I slathered a clean bandage with the ointment and doused the slice with sulfa powder I kept in my kit. It wasn’t easy to obtain, but it worked, so I kept a supply with me at all times.

Because I’d made the effort to find and pick them, I simmered the leaves in the water before tugging them out and draping them across his wound, covering it with a clean bandage.

Should I stitch it closed? It might be better if it healed from the inside, leaving it open to continue draining puss. I didn’t want to trap the puss inside him or he’d end up with an abscess.

Lastly, I wrapped long strips of fabric around his belly to add pressure, a challenge since he was so much bigger than me.

His back wound was only superficial, but it received equal treatment before I nudged him onto his back again.

With a grunt, I settled on the ground, leaning against the tree with my bow and arrow laid across my outstretched legs. The alien could remain where he was with me on one side for protection and the fire on the other.

Whoever hurt him could come back to finish the job. They might consider me a witness and eliminate me as well.

This meant I didn’t dare sleep.

The night stretched on for a very long time.

Chapter 4

Nevarn

Iwoke with pain lancing through my belly and the smell of woodsmoke choking my throat. Snapping my eyelids open, I stared at the sky streaked with dawn’s pink and gold, wondering why I lay outstretched on the ground with a sweat-drawing fire blazing on my right.

Memories rushed into my mind. Someone stabbing me. Following me. Me stumbling upon someone’s campsite and falling on my face in front of her.

Her.

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