Page 37 of Saving the Alien Chieftain

“Well remembered, but we must hurry.” Xandor quickens our pace, slightly hunched over and a pained look on his face.

“Your training is a lot easier than Rylar’s. Well, you saw how bad I was this morning,” I say, giddy that I’ve made it through the day without any injuries.

Xandor continues on at a pace. Clearly, we are in a hurry. “Rylar’s job is to strengthen you. My job is to give you the knowledge to survive. But I can always make it harder if you prefer?” he asks, a wince crosses his expression.

I laugh. “No thanks, I’m good.” We walk a little farther, and I notice we’re approaching my house from behind. “Ah, home at last.” I give Xandor a brief hug. “Thanks for all the help, Xandor, I’ve learned a lot today.”

Xandor waves me off. “I’ve learned something today too, not to voiding eat zarberries,” he says awkwardly before darting off at lightning speed.

Definitely just eat the red berries.

Chapter 15

Krogoth

Unbreakable

My stomach grumbles noisilyin the eerie silence of my cell.

Thoughts of Pebbles gnaw at the back of my mind, like an itch I can’t scratch. Even prayer and meditation cannot diminish these intrusive thoughts. How many days have slipped by unnoticed in this oppressive abyss of unending darkness? Perhaps four or five, a blur of time amidst the unrelenting blackness that engulfs me. Not even hunger can distract me from thoughts of my Pebbles that tear at my mind. How I long to see her again, to know she is safe.

The guards are making good on Zyraxis’ threat to starve me. I pick up my empty plate and toss it to the side, just to hear something other than my growling stomach. The slop is usuallydelivered after my slumbers, and it has been conspicuously absent from my past two now.

I laugh bitterly to myself as I think back to Daigon Prime, a dead world on a dead planet, where I survived for months with only water. Zyraxis’ punishment, sending me to a holding cell in Scarn, is like the lashing out of a hydralith pup. Feeble and pathetic, just like him.

He will not break me.

The unsettling silence lingers for a time as I scratch my claws along the coarse rock. Without any news about Pebbles, my mind is a relentless storm of worry and dread.

Pebbles wouldn’t dare attempt the Proving.

Would she?

I tilt my head back, hoping my warning and the others have convinced her to return to earth safely. But then why haven’t they executed me yet?

No, this doesn’t feel right.

Something deep within me tugs at my mind. My head hurts so much it’s hard to tell the difference between my physical and mental pain. But there’s a relentless gnawing under this headache. A knowing in my gut.

Pebbles is in grave danger.

Is it the bond or my genuine love for her that is driving me mad with concern?

Are they one and the same?

I doubt there is a single person on Klendathor who knows the answer. Our knowledge of the intricate facets of our mating rituals is lost in the labyrinth of time, with only heartbroken ancient Klendathians lamenting the loss of their Mortakin-Kis for guidance.

Frustration simmers inside me as I attempt to pace the room within the confines of this minuscule space. The rock-strewn walls feel more and more suffocating. Restricting.

My hands curl into fists, shaking with a fury I can’t release. Even awake now, I am tormented by images of Pebbles, my beloved, fleeing a pack of hydraliths in the Draxxi forest. The vision floods my mind with a suffocating intensity.

Pebbles wouldn’t risk certain death, would she?

Perhaps my visions are the product of my mind growing insane, lost to the darkness. I’ve heard such things happen to prisoners confined to dark pits. Especially when the only thing they hope for is a quick death. I too must be succumbing to the same affliction.

Another image assaults my mind as I try to close my eyes for a moment’s peace. Pebbles lies mangled, her body half eaten, staring into my eyes, full of loss and despair.

She whispers clearly to me, “Goodbye, my love.” I can feel her breath tingle on my skin.

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