Page 10 of Veras
But he wouldn’t know anything about the old me. She didn’t exist anymore. This was the newer, sleeker,fiercerversion of myself, forged from alien fires. Obviously, I was filthy. Could he even decipher my features under the crud covering my face and arms?
“Truth. I’m anxious to see beyond your filth, Earther.” He retained possession of my hand, running the tip of his clawed forefinger over my blunt nails. I’d bitten them to nubs.
“Stop reading my mind.” My voice, husky from disuse, sounded foreign. Almost like the torturous experience had changed me on a cellular level. Nothing remained the same, not even the way I spoke.
He tugged me into the darkness. The smell of damp soil invaded my nose, taking away the beautiful smell emanating from my… alien hero?
“Yes, hero. I like this.”
“Stop reading my mind!”
“Stop yelling your thoughts.”
“I’m not.” I huffed.
“You are. I might have to call you little General instead ofTruuuu-yena.”He sighed. “I will tell you a secret since you seem to have so little trust for me. If…if you look away from me, the connection is severed. I cannot read your mind.”
I filed that huge piece of information for later use and whispered, “You can call me T-true.” I told myself the only reason I shared my nickname was because his odd pronunciation got on my nerves. But maybe I hoped he was trustworthy.
“True? What is this? Family name? Designation? Surname? You are called Truena True?”
“No,” I shook my head. “It’s what some people call me. When they have a hard time pronouncing my name.”Abuelacalled me Truena, and everyone else called me True. At this point, anything was better than Earther.
“I like both, especially the sound of it on my tongue. I like most things about you. Except your filth, of course.”
I sighed.This guy. So rude.
As we made our way down and around the long passageway, golden vines lit our path. I ate up the scenery and tried to remember where we turned as we twisted through the mountain, but I eventually abandoned the process. I had no idea where the hell we were.
Why would I want to get back to the ledge anyway?
“Because the ledge is near the portal you would use to return to the arena. If evading me is in your plans, that is where you would go. A poor plan, but a plan. Though it would be almost impossible to achieve because I will follow you to the ends of this world.” He retained possession of my hand, no matter how hard I tugged. “That is the portal that leads to the surface and back to the Aavvee. The planet is filled with them.”
“Really? Have we passed any portals?” Now,thiswas valuable information. “You said if I spoke, you would stop reading my mind.”
“I’m trying, maybe not very hard, because you scream observations or questions, and I can’t avoid them. It would be endearing if it weren’t so loud,” he said with no hint of humor.
He accused me of shouting my thoughts, but it became increasingly clear this alien shared every thought in his head. Plus, I had the bonus of feeling his emotions as he spoke.
“My people communicate telepathically. There is no avoiding it.”
“You can heareverythingthey say?”
He paused. “No, if we have private thoughts, we—” He tapped his temple with his thumbs. “I’m trying to find the right word. Shade? Protect them? You… do not.”
I thought about how I made myself small, concentrating on retreating and removing myself as I would with the Aavvee. In order to survive, I’d shrunk both physically and mentally.
“What are you doing?” He grasped my elbows.
I retreated further into my mind, wanting to guard my thoughts and keep them private. All these years, my only refuge had been my mind. The Aavvee had stripped me of everything else. If this alien insisted on invading my privacy, I would guard myself. Like I always—
“No, True! No,please. Not that far,” he demanded. “I exaggerated before. I’ve gotten used to the loud buzz of your thoughts and feelings. I don’t want to be without them.” He crouched before me, brushing the dust off my face with both his thumbs. “Whatever you are doing is distorting who you are. And I don’t like it!” He slammed his hands on the ground.
It surprised me enough that I snapped out of it. I hadn’t realized I’d hunched over as I transformed back into a pet. Istraightened forcefully, feeling the strain on thigh muscles that hadn’t been used properly in years.
He—Wait, I don’t even know his name.
“I am Veras.”
