Page 62 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
“Something moved,” I grunt. “Something big.”
We stand still for a while, but nothing else moves.
“This is a disconcerting jungle,” I observe as we walk on. “Always moving.”
The jungle is dense and hard to move through. There are always branches and twigs and roots to avoid, and I mostly can’t see what my feet are moving through because the undergrowth is dense in several layers. The heat and the humidity aren’t helping make it more comfortable.
I keep checking on Umbra, just making sure that she’s still there. She struggles more than me, especially with the roots. I can mostly step over them, but she has to walk around.
I make sure to move slowly so she can keep up. She has a determined set to her jaw, and I find myself admiring her resilience. She hasn’t had an easy time recently, but here she is, insisting to come along on a reconnaissance walk when she could have been sitting by the pod.
“Do you really think she’s my Soulbound?” I ask Bellatriz in the secret battle language. “She’s an alien.”
“All the signs are there,”the sword replies. “Now, keep in mind that I’m an AI and I can’t sense the Syntrix at all. I’m as skeptical as you are about the Soulbound. But I can also separate feelings from fact. And the facts are stacking up. IfUmbra can use Syntrix, why can’t she be your Soulbound? It would be strange, yes. She is an alien from very far away. And yet, your combined Syntrix is so strong it made you faint. It’s so strong it made Umbra make a spectacle of herself at the reception. It’s so strong it made your rings blaze like stars. It’s so strong it makes you both climax with great force. And you fight well together.”
“All the signs, you say. You claim to be impossibly ancient. Have you seen Soulbound before?”
“Just once. And it wasn’t as strong as this. But it was much the same.”
“It would completely ruin my plans if we are,” I growl. ”How can I send Umbra back to Earth then? How can I live without my Soulbound?”
“These are rhetorical questions?”Bellatriz asks. “I can’t answer them.”
“I can hear you talking about me,” Umbra says from behind me. “I hope it’s something nice.”
I stop and wait for her to catch up. “Sorry. I just don’t want?—”
A terrible screech pierces the air. Both Umbra and I duck instinctively and look up.
“What wasthat?” Umbra asks, clutching her spear with both hands.
She gets her answer right away. There’s a tremendous crash from the canopy of leaves high above us, and some kind of flying creature falls through it from above. It releases a rain of broken branches and leaves.
It’s a nightmarish creature, with long wings and a flowing tail. For a terrible moment I think it might be a draco, that mythical horror, but its head is too long and too ugly compared to the old descriptions. And this one only has two legs, not four. Still, I spot sharp talons, and it is a horrific monster. It beats its wings and zigzags between the thick tree trunks as it makes its way lower.
“It’s coming for us!” Umbra says and grabs my upper arm.
“Get behind me,” I tell her and push her up against the nearest tree trunk, which is nowhere near as thick as I would want it. “You’ll be safe there.”
I’m not as sure as I want to sound. I’m used to fighting Vyrpy, which like to walk on the ceiling and attack from above, but an actual flying enemy might be a different thing altogether.
I pull Bellatriz out of her sheath and take up a defensive stance, while trying to find an escape. But the pod is far away.
“Pterodactyl!” Umbra says. “Look at the claws!”
The leathery wings beat again, closer now, and the air fills with another high-pitched screech. This thing is fast, impossibly so for its size. Its long, toothed beak snaps open and shut, a clear indication of its intent.
Then another crash echoes from above, followed by a third. More shadows tear through the dense foliage, and the rain of leaves and splintered wood intensifies.
My blood runs cold. It’s not just one.
“Syntrix, Umbra!” I yell, my grip tightening on Bellatriz.
I feel a ripple in the air beside me, a subtle pressure. One of the descending monsters suddenly veers wildly off course,screeching in confusion as if it’s hit an invisible wall. It slams into a thick tree trunk with a sickening thud, and its wings snap at an unnatural angle.
But more are coming. Two of them break through the canopy, their leathery wings catching a thin ray of sunlight as they descend with terrifying speed. One dives straight for me with talons extended like grappling hooks. As I sidestep, the wind from its passing wings buffet me. I swing Bellatriz in a wide arc. The blade connects with a screech of tearing hide, but it feels shallow, glancing off something tough beneath.
The second monster aims for Umbra, snapping its beak at her. I lunge forward and intercept its attack with my sword. The force of the impact jars my arm, and the creature screeches in pain and surprise. Its momentum carries it past us.
