Page 29 of Dark's Savior

And it didn't take Ryziel long to figure out what drove them downward, despite his efforts. Orders by Marzin could not go ignored, no matter the threat or bribe. And when Ryziel learned of their whereabouts not even an hour after bringing Aly into his home, he could guess what they were searching for.

But what greatly bothered him wasn't so much the reason they had come down but the why. Why were they searching for the human woman? Why was her techband linked to their tracers in the first place? Why did Marzin want her looked after?

These questions disturbed him, and he was almost curious enough to go searching for answers. Especially as he watched the band of enforcers walking around in his territory, looking for the girl.

"Let's get going. Before the Dark One shows up," the krull added, looking around nervously.

"Perhaps he knows where she went," said another lygin male, smaller than the first. "Maybe he could aid us..."

The other lygin moved the sluth body with his foot and looked under it with his light. "No. If anything, he would have killed her himself if he found her down here, and he won't take kindly to us lurking around. Yva is right, we should go. Likely, the sluths got to her first, anyway."

The band was in agreement. They swiftly left for the nearest elevator. Ryziel waited until they were fully out of sight before he moved. He slid off the rock where he had been sitting and took out Aly's techband from his bag.

It hadn't taken him long to find it, and when he had, he’d quickly unlinked the tracer system before the enforcers got to the mark where their tracer said it was supposed to be, leaving them to think it ended there. Let them think she was dead for now until he could figure out what the hell he was going to do.

Because he certainly couldn't keep her in the lair. By now, she might even be healed, and if she had rested enough, she would have to go back up toward the surface. Because she shouldn't be near him. He saved her life, and she certainly would be too afraid to come back down a second time, so he would need to take her back up without being seen. He would have to reactivate her techband and decide whether or not to give her a memory pill, which could potentially alter her memories completely, or risk trusting her not to go telling everyone that he had a ship. Especially Marzin, who would definitely want to know what happened to her.

Ryziel bared his teeth as he trudged back to the lair. He’d put the whole mission at great risk just to save this human woman. But he had no time to decide what he should have done once he saw the techband had belonged to her. His mind had already been made up, whether he cared to admit it or not.

He could imagine what his brother would think if he had seen him racing to save a non-nillium female. He would have been amused, somewhat, but also greatly concerned.

What, now you are the savior of the lessers, Ryziel? Don't forget who you really are. Because they won't.

But then Aly didn't know who he was or of his past. So, maybe it didn't matter. And it wasn't like he had saved her out of some sudden need to be heroic, he had done it because...

Because he still didn't have her figured out. That was all.

Ryziel slipped through the tunnelway that led to the hidden metal door several paces inside. When he got to the door, he paused, standing before it for a moment as if to prepare himself. His receptors began to vibrate, making his brow tingle. He closed his eyes and caught the scent of something sweet, reminding him of the velblum flowers that grew in the gardens of the First House. His brow furrowed at a single memory in those gardens, and he brushed the vision aside. Now was not the time to think about the past.

Opening his eyes, Ryziel went for the lock on the side of the door and plugged in the code to unlock it. The door began to rise before him, spilling blue light out into the tunnelway. He ducked inside then closed the door before it reached the top, hearing the sounds of Nar shouting nearby.

"No, for the last time, human, I don't need your help! Your impatience is astounding. Just sit down, will you!"

Ryziel looked around and stopped as his eyes scanned over to the ship and saw the human, Aly, standing before it, the light from the ceiling casting down on her like the moon had the night he first encountered her. She turned her head, a smile playing on her lips, until it fell as soon as she saw him, her eyes going wide, fear paling her features. She clutched at a mender in her hand, her body tensing as she stared at him, her lips parting ever so slightly. Ryziel caught himself staring back and took a step to move, only to still as he noticed her flinch. Her eyes skimmed down to his hand and her face seemed to pale more as she saw her techband dangling in his fingers. She opened her mouth to say something when she was sharply interrupted.

"Ryziel, you're finally back," Nar said from the top of the ship. "This human of yours," he pointed down to Aly with the end of his wrench, "can't just sit down for even five minutes. And she won't stop asking questions. I can't even get one part done without her interference. I knew it was a bad idea to bring her here, but would you have listened? No! I was this close to tying her up and gagging her, you know? This close!" The urk disappeared back into the ship with a huff, the sounds of banging and shuffling continuing as usual. Ryziel looked back at Aly, who smiled sheepishly, her face now red.

"I, um, I wasn't sure how long you would be," she said softly. A lock of hair brushed at her cheek, and she quickly curled it back behind her ear. Her body was still tense, the mender's end pointed at him, perhaps unconsciously, as if ready to use it as a weapon. Ryziel didn't respond. Instead, he took a few quick steps toward her, ignoring her nervous response. He held out her techband, and she looked at it for a long moment then gazed back at him as she carefully took it from his grasp.

"Thank you," she said.

Ryziel watched as she placed the band back on her wrist, checking for any lasting damage.

"I thought it was lost for good," she said casually. "I figured I was royally screwed."

Ryziel got most of her meaning. "You’re lucky the sluth didn't get far with it."

She looked back at him then. "Sluth?"

"The things that attacked you."

She made a silent 'oh.' "The things...you saved me from."

It sounded almost like a question, like she wasn't entirely sure if he had meant to save her or if he had just taken her with a plan to do something worse than the sluths, and she hoped that he could confirm or deny her fears.

Ryziel felt compelled to answer honestly. "Yes."

Her body seemed to instantly relax, the mender in her hand even going a little slack, causing the robe to slip ever so slightly off her shoulder. "Thank you."

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