Page 38 of Gladiator's Captive
“We stay together, then.” I spoke with death in my mind and my heart. “No matter what.”
Serena turned to me, her small hands wrapping around her arms in an involuntary gesture of self-comfort.
“No matter what,” she said. “No matter what.”
Chapter Nineteen
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Serena
The mountains were far, much farther than they seemed.
I wasn’t going to make it. I knew this even though I kept walking. What mattered now was to get Rager as close as possible to the refuge of the mountain before he had to carry me.
Dead weight or not, I knew he wouldn’t leave me behind. I loved him for it even as I hated him for it.
Because this meant he wasn’t going to make it either.
Rager walked with his shoulders straight and his head held high, a few paces in front of me. I knew in my heart that he would make it to the mountain if only I could manage to keep going for long enough. I owed him that for the hope he had given me. I might die today, out in the desert, but at least, I would die knowing what it felt like to be cared for. To matter to someone.
The sun hammered on my head and the back of my neck dripped with precious moisture, almost immediately dried up by the parched wind blowing in a steady breeze. What little water we found in the outpost was long gone and every drop of water I lost through sweat was one I couldn’t afford.
In comparison, Rager’s shoulders and back were barely moist. It was like his thicker skin was isolating him from the elements, rendering him resilient to both the heat and the cold. I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been.
Before the Galactic Empire decided to colonize their home world, the Muharib lived in a wild, hostile environment. The climate of their planet was harsh, with seasons that spanned years. Summers were long and dry, drying up the plains of their homeland, followed by winters so cold and wet, snow piled high as mountains.
A home world Rager would never see again.
Muharib warriors still lived, scattered to every corner of the Empire, their civilization gone, but their people resilient. They lived in small pockets of people, forming tight-knit communities on the wildest, less populated planets. As I stumbled, not for the first time, I wondered if he often thought about his home planet, his family. About the people he might still have out there, unaware that he had survived.
Maybe he would find them after paying for his passage with my necklace. I smiled at the thought of Rager finding his family and hoped he would remember me as he rebuilt his life with them.
My smile faltered as my vision clouded with darkness. I stopped walking as the sound of drums drowned my ears. Somewhere far beyond the fog, Rager called my name. I opened my mouth to answer, to tell him to keep going, but no words came out.
Arms strong and warm closed around my body, lifting me up.
