Page 100 of Tharn's Hunt
I sink into the pool with a sigh, the tension in my muscles easing as the water laps at my skin. A few other women are doing the same, scattered around the pool. Any sense of modesty we might have had back on Earth had been scrubbed away by sand and desperation weeks ago.Beside me, Tina is scrubbing her hair with something that looks like a flattened scale.
"These things are amazing," she says, holding up the scale. "They get all foamy when you rub them with water."
"Smell good too," Pam adds, sniffing her armpit.
I grab one of the scales and start working it through my hair. Sure enough, it lathers into a rich foam, leaving my hair feeling cleaner than it’s been in weeks.
For a moment, I close my eyes, letting myself enjoy the sensation. The sound of water splashing, the faint hum of the caves—it’s almost peaceful.
Almost.
Because no matter how hard I try to relax, my mind keeps drifting back to Tharn.
And my body? Oh, it's not drifting. It's marching.
There's this... persistent warmth between my thighs, like a second heartbeat. At first, I thought it was just stress. Then dehydration. Then I realized—with no small amount of horror—that my traitorous anatomy has apparently decided to sync upwith whatever cosmic nonsense our bond is doing while Tharn’s unconscious.
I desperately need a distraction.
Fortunately, the Drakav excel at those. They've got systems for everything, including the less glamorous aspects of life.
"Okay," Justine says, leading a small group of us to one of the side tunnels. "This is... uh... the bathroom."
The "bathroom" is a small, enclosed space filled with what looks like gourd-like plants. Justine explains that for, uh, number one, you basically pee into the plant, which absorbs it.
"For number two," she continues, gesturing to a primitive toilet dug into the ground, "there’s this." She picks up a handful of what looks like broad, velvety leaves, their surfaces covered in a soft, downy fuzz. "And you use these to, uh, clean up."
"They smell nice," Pam says, sniffing the leaves.
"No toilet paper?" Alex deadpans.
"Just some sand in your hand, baby," Mikaela quips, earning a chorus of groans.
"Mikaela," Tina mutters. Mikaela grins and shrugs.
"It’s not that bad," I say, though I’m not entirely convinced myself.
Still, it’s better than nothing. And the Drakav seem genuinely proud of their system, so who am I to judge?
This is our life now. Life in the caves is busy, strange, and surprisingly comfortable. The Drakav are endlessly curious about us, and we’re slowly learning to adapt to their way of life.
But I can’t focus on any of it.
Not when Tharn is still unconscious.
Every time I go to his alcove, I have the unrelenting urge to stay there. So I limit myself to short visits, or not going to the alcove at all. But whenever I look that way, my gaze lingers. I keep expecting to see him emerge, striding into the main chamber with that quiet confidence that’s so uniquely him.
But he doesn’t.
I try to distract myself. Help Justine with the language lessons. Take long baths in the pool. Chat with the other women about anything and everything.
But my thoughts always circle back to him.
What if he doesn’t wake up? What if the transformation took too much out of him? What if?—
"Jacqui!"
Pam’s voice snaps me out of my spiral. I blink, realizing I’ve been standing in the middle of the main chamber, staring at nothing.
