Page 39 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

As long as we make it there, we can start excavating in the morning. But we have to make the trek tonight.

The sight is eerily beautiful. The white snow fades to the softest lilac around the peripheries of the deposit, then darkens toward the center where a deep black hole can be seen. It must be the entrance to a cave, or maybe a disused mine. The overall impression is of a giant purple flower blooming in the darkness.

I intend to walk toward it. I believe I’ve given my legs the right instructions, but they barely move. The snow is impossibly thick.

Then I feel Taurek lift me, cradling me in his strong arms effortlessly.

“Thank you,” I whisper to him. “You are much more comfortable than a chordata.”

“Hopefully smarter, too.”

Taurek’s guffaw can be heard rumbling around the snow-clad mountain. I feel his arms holding me tighter, pulling me into his chest.

The huge bulk of Taurek shelters me from the wind. I can feel my body start to come back to life as his warmth seeps into me. It feels easier to breathe now that I’m warmer. My heart is not struggling to push blood to my periphery. I feel a massive wave of gratitude washing over me.

I’m almost drifting off into a warm, comfortable slumber when he halts. My eyes flash open. “We’re here?” I ask.

“We are,” he says with an odd sound of foreboding. “I’ll set up camp now, then we’re going to rest for the night. We have more work ahead of us than we planned for.”

I’m too tired to even ask him what he’s talking about. I’ll find out soon enough.

19

TAUREK

Ilower Zaya gently to the ground after I set up a place for us to rest. If she tried to break through tonight, she might legitimately die from exhaustion. Even I’m starting to feel the physical strain.

I set up a campsite with more speed than ever before, to the point that I’m getting overheated. The first thing I do is lay down leathers and furs for Zaya to rest on, and she smiles up at me, her face just a sliver sticking out of a plush bundle.

I curl up under furs, covering her body with my arms to shield her from the elements. I don’t want to let her out of my clutches, to be honest. But I’m glad to see some color back in her cheeks.

We’re woken up by the sunlight coming over the peaks. “Good morning,” I tell Zaya when I see her eyes open with a flutter.

“It’s morning? It’s so bright. Are we back in Cygoth?”

I let out a laugh that echoes around us. “Does it look like it?”

“Oh, I just had a dream that we were back there.” The disappointment that we’re still here is evident on her face.

“We’ll get started soon. There’s no time to lose,” I tell her, stating the obvious.

“Started on… what exactly?”

We stand in front of the collapsed mine shaft, shoulder to shoulder, and she’s aghast at the mess. The supports that once held the roof up have collapsed. Ice and snow have penetrated the area and then frozen solid.

“How on Kiphia do we get that clear?” she asks quietly beside me.

“We dig. Well, I do. You eat, I’ll dig.” I lift my ankle. “I’ll use the crampon talons.”

“There’s nothing I can do to help?”

“Sure. You can help morale by eating some breakfast.” I give a smile, and she gives one back, for a millisecond, just to show it’s not sincere. “In the pack, there’s gerlat jerky. It’s delicious in the morning.”

“I don’t know if it’s ever delicious. But it’s here.”

I start hewing through the ice with my talons, although the crystalline casing is thick and hard to penetrate. Her pleas to help in some way echo in my mind, and I realize there’s something she can do. It reminds me of Hanai as a child when she’d clamor to help clean the palace and then decide she didn’t like the idea after she realized the scope of the job.

“Actually, there is something you can do. The tools we had to rescue. Want to hand them to me?”

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