Page 2 of Cherished By the Alien Outlaw

I tipped my head back and peered up at the vast, dark sky. Cloud cover hid the stars and our moons, though muted light filtered through the mistiness, giving the sand around me a lavender glow.

Once I’d lit my fire, I sat with my feet outstretched toward it and the rocks at my back. They dug into my spine, but at least I wouldn’t need to peer in that direction to watch for threats. No, whatever attacked would have to charge at me from the front or my sides, and I could slash out with my stone weapon strapped to my side within seconds.

I tugged one of my packs closer and lifted it, dropping it onto my thighs. After opening the top, I pulled out one of the wrapped pouches of dried meat I’d nibbled on earlier. I chewed on my salty, smoky dinner, washing it down with water from one of my flasks. Hopefully, I’d come across another oasis tomorrow torefill them, though I should have enough to get me to the city as long as I was careful.

After I’d filled my belly, I carefully rewrapped the pouch and returned it to my bag, securing the top and binding it around one of the rocks, something I’d quickly learned to do when I woke my first night in the desert to find a four-legged, scaled creature about the size of an adult chall trying to haul one of my bags away.

I added more dried limbs to my fire and stared into the flames that crackled and snapped as they eagerly ate my offering.

Nights could last a lifetime or only one second in the desert, and since I was tired, I pulled a blanket out of my bag and laid down beside the fire, covering myself to ward off the oncoming cold. Mornings here were cold enough to bite through your bones, a sharp contrast to the dry, oppressive heat of the day.

The swoop of wings told me of Perrin’s return, and I lifted my head only long enough to watch him land not far away. He settled on the ground, his head flicking one way and another as he surveyed the world around us.

I drifted to sleep to the snaps of the fire and . . .

I woke to an odd sound.

Bolting upright, I gaped at the Veerenads surrounding my camp. Some had pinned Perrin to the ground with ropes secured to spikes driven deep into the sandy soil. He groaned and jerked against them, his beak wrapped tight with a long cloth to keep him from crying out, and his hind legs bound together.

How had they snuck up on us with Perrin keeping watch?

A dark circle in the sand not far away gave me my answer. An underground passage.

It was said the Veerenads mined deep below the desert, though many believed that they found the crystals they adored within the mountain range near where they’d built their city.

“The desert is mined by the rogues,” a traveling Zuldruxian once told me. “Watch out for them, youngling. If they catch you, no one will ever see you again.”

As a youngling, I’d dismissed his tale as something he told to make me behave, much like the stories of creatures living in the forest who’d hunt me if I wandered too far from my home.

With my weapon in hand, I snapped to my feet. I leaped over my dwindling fire and attacked the Veerenad wrapping the last restraint pinning Perrin to one of the spikes.

The male’s light tan skin blended in with the landscape, though his dark eyes glowed with rage when he turned.

I landed hard against his side and struck out with my blade, but it glanced off his scaly hide. While others gathered round, cheering the Veerenad on, I stepped backward to assess the situation. I’d never battled one of the lizard people before, and I didn’t know anyone who had. They stood at least one-and-a-half times my height,and their claws . . . No one wanted to mess with anything like that.

Which was another reason why I’d been sent to secure this treaty.

“Puny Zuldruxian,” the Veerenad growled, circling me with his arms outstretched and his toe claws digging into the sand.

I moved carefully, gouging out with my blade, only to have him snap back before it hit.

He couldn’t see I was trying to put myself between him and Perrin.

Success. I swiped my knife through one binding, then another, and with quick work, eliminated the rope pinning Perrin’s legs together and the cloth wrapped around his beak.

The Veerenad roared and slammed into me as one, knocking me to the ground. My blade went flying, the stone glinting in the moonlight before disappearing into the thick sand. While I slept, the clouds had flown, and stars lit the sky.

I scrambled through the sand, pulling my second knife as I rolled to my feet, facing the closest Veerenad.

Perrin squawked and flapped his wings, creating huge gusts of sandy wind that pelted us all.

The other Veerenads raced toward him with new ropes in hand, but it was too late. My ryvar burst off the ground, quickly rising high above them. He circled, watching me, waiting for a chance to attack.

They’d kill him. Eat him, so I’d heard. I couldn’t risk it.

“Fly, Perrin,” I cried out as the Veerenads rushed me en masse. “Get help and come back.”

I gouged one Veerenad only to have another latch onto my wrist. His claws sunk deeply, and with a guttural bark of pain, my grip loosened. My knife fell to the sand without making a sound.

---