Page 56 of Xefe
His leader dared keep me from her! TheGlrtsstllllorogggburned inside of him, but instead of a cold slide of relief, it torched a path through bone, through his soul, awakening instincts he never knew he had. Before the feelings swept away the hard-fought calm, Hermosa’s words whispered in his mind, “You’re different now.You can feel.They went through a lot of trouble to keep you emotionless. You don’t know what’ll happen when they find out otherwise.”
Bam!The mid-pistol fired, indicating half the race was completed. His body reacted before his mind. His eyes automatically found Hermosa. No matter how he fought it.Xefe’s gaze zeroed in on the tiny earther flanked by three other fighters. Her team. They looked dwarfed by the competition. How would they win?
Xefe took the time to steady his thoughts while he watched them compete. Hermosa fought hard and fast. She hadn’t used her speed yet, the one he’d witnessed when she almost killed Tontoh, which was smart. If she peeked too quickly, she would exhaust herGlrtsstllllorogggand collapse mid-race.
“They-theybore me! When will they—”
The spectators exploded in sound, cutting off the supreme’s words. Hermosa had sprung up behind one of the green aliens—the Verders, a champion race—cut her legs under her knees and pushed the competitor off the launch beam. The move was unprecedented. No one ever attacked the Verders directly. The competing teams were too terrified to even look at the champions.
Pure, unadulterated pride filled Xefe, along with fear. The Verders would never let this slight pass. To quell the rush of emotions, Xefe tore his gaze from Hermosa. It became vitally important not to hyper-focus on her, or he would begin tofeel. The tendrils of desire would subtly grow and spread through him, centering on his rod. He could not awakenhimwhile dealing with the supreme. At this moment, Hermosa could not be his focus. Xefe had seen enough to ensure she’d made it across the beams. Hopefully, they’d heeded his warnings and found a way to traverse the floating stones.
Xefe had a new target. His supreme. His leader would not stop him from seeing her. He would not!Figure this out.Xefe would not lie, but he would use Hermosa’s advice to get what he wanted. Monitoring these volatile earthers was top priority. The absence of emotion allowed him to remember his goal. He would mislead his supreme, not to harm him, but to protect him fromthe earthers. In case they still proved a threat. Xefe decided to catch his leader off guard. “They possess many secrets.”
“Secrets-rets?” The supreme extracted his large tongues from the mouths of three different concubines, and continued, “What-whatsecrets?”
Xefe heard the earthers scream in outrage below him on the field, but he refused to look. Instead, he tried to manipulate no…leadthe supreme into what Xefe wanted him to do. To protect him, Xefe reminded himself silently. But he also had to honor the vow he’d made to Hermosa. Not to betray all of her secrets. “They have more abilities than just speed.”
“Do-dothey? I see none of that at the moment-ment. Although…” He leaned forward in his seat. “They do seem to have a death wish-wish. They attack the Verders as if they have a chance to win.” The supreme screeched and clicked his large beak in laughter. “Maybe-bethey are more interesting than Tontoh suggested. He-hewants to use them for research.” His large eyes cut into Xefe. “What abilities do they possess-ss?”
Xefe wracked his brain to give the supreme a taste. “They are quite inventive.”
“Yes-yes. I know this.”
Xefe thought about the one who fought the most with Hermosa. “The one with pearl-white hands can sway beings with her words and actions. And the mop-headed one,” he couldn’t remember their names, “is deadly with spears and knives, constantly training every waking second. But…” He forced the slightest bit of emphasis on the last word.
“Yes-yes!
“There is more. Abilities seem to grow by the day. They are fierce despite their small size. I was close to finding out more. But no matter.” He paused and watched his leader fixate on the games. “I live to serve the supreme. If they hold no purpose. I comply.” Xefe would not outright lie. Everything he said heldtruth. But he would maintain both vows to Hermosa and the supreme. Why he held her in the same regard as his leader, he would think about another day.
The supreme narrowed shrewd eyes. He had not ascended to power by being stupid. “If-ifshe does not display her special powers, why should I let her live? I want you away from her-her. Tontoh begs me for her every day. It is exhausting-ing.”
“If you wish. But it was Tontoh’s blunder in the labs that caused all of the problems yesterday.” Xefe had no trouble finding the kernel of truth in these words, knowing full well the Aavvee scientist constantly lied and manipulated the supreme. “I have heard told he’d adjusted the machines right before extraction. Something went wrong. Many of my warriors and I reacted in self-defense. He is clearly responsible.”
“I was not told this-this.” He snapped the plume of feathers atop his head and pushed his harem away.
Xefe crossed his arms. He remained detached and spoke without emotion, “If you trust Tontoh to learn the earther’s secrets. I will end my investigation.”
A roar went up in the crowd, and both Xefe and the supreme turned toward the Great Race in unison. Hermosa and the other earthers, along with the purple-haired alien—one of the Tattats—had made it to the penultimate stone. They defended their space fiercely but couldn’t traverse the last floater.
A crack formed in his chest, a fissure that expanded under the weight of extreme emotion. It threatened to break through his chest. Fear for Hermosa almost reduced him to a roaring flame of need. He willed the last of theGlrtsstllllorogggin his system to smother those feelings. He had to remain calm in the face of the supreme. These emotions would not rule him.
“They-theyhave captured the crowd’s attention. Maybe you will study them-them. A bit more. But-butyour first priority is me. Do-doyou hear?” The supreme clacked his beak. “But-buthere this, First. If they serve no purpose for entertainment, we will study them other ways. On a cellular level-vel. Rip-ripthem apart, piece by piece.” He returned to his harem, like a child seeking comfort from his mother’s teat. “If they don’t get off that stone soon, none of this will matter anyway-way. Three-eeother teams have traversed.”
Truth.The supreme’s words rang true. He was Xefe’s priority. He would follow his leader’s decree. Only interact with Hermosa—no, the earther—when necessary. Use her to gather intel. Nothing else. It would return equilibrium to his life, and it would protect her. It didn’t matter why it was important that she stay safe, but no matter how much he wanted her, Xefe would resist to protect them both.
CHAPTER 25
Damn,estupido, hijode la chingada, floating stones.
I perched on the edge of a door-sized wedge, floating hundreds of feet above the ground. Every time we’d practiced traversing the floatingnightmares, we’d gotten stuck right here. Our short legs couldn’t make the last jump, and I wasn’t sure how to fix it. The boulders ascended like giant hovering stairs, and got progressively higher and farther away with each one.
“What now?” Nieve screamed into the whirling winds. “Can’t you use your super-powers or something?”
I would. If I knew how. I glanced back at the other competitors. This was the only entrance point to the neon finish line. It floated a good twenty feet in front and above us. Three of the four green-teamers had completed the race, but they couldn’t win until all four members crossed the line. So far, we fended off a few of the snake-chicks and miners, but Greenie, my bestie from the soup station, was stuck on the beam back at the front of the race.
Tragically, someone had sucker punched Greenie and pushed her off the beam. I couldn’t imagine who would want to harm such a precious flower—me, me, it was me!—but it only bought us a little time. She was limping her way closer to us. Most teams were afraid to confront her and jumped out of her way.
“We need to figure this out soon, or else we’ll be dead meat.” Nieve’s bouncy curls whipped around her head as she balanced carefully on one foot, making room for Nheenya’s larger frame.
