Page 30 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

I continually look at her throughout the night, monitoring her for signs of hypothermia and appreciating the beauty she adds. Rylan tells wild stories of his travels. Winning over clans with reputations for cannibalism, taming wild wolves and playing fetch, and fashioning his own ice skates out of actual ice, he has a tale for everything.

Eventually, she can’t keep her eyes open, and she falls asleep. Rylan does as well, but I’m restless. Between watching the stars make their movements in the clear sky and watching her sleep, there’s too much keeping me awake.

The fire goes out after about an hour of her resting, and she starts shivering again. I take my blanket off and place it over her, hoping it will warm her enough. It does, and I spend the rest of my night admiring her beauty before drifting off to sleep myself.

14

ZAYA

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Taurek holds on tight to me and the chordata we’re riding.

Never in my life have I seen something move as quickly as this blizzard does. One moment it’s far off in the distance. The next, I can hardly see my hand in front of my face.

This trek through the mountains was already anything but a smooth ride. But now, consumed by this furious snowstorm, I realize just how good we had it before. I’d rather cross a thousand broken bridges than spend another moment in this storm.

The freezing cold winds slam clumps of snow into my body. Any bit of exposed skin went numb long ago. I also long ago decided to stop trying to see where we’re going. I just keep my head down against the surprisingly still cozy fur of the chordata and hope Taurek knows what he’s doing.

Taurek’s hand on my waist is the only confirmation I have that he’s still with me. Any sound gets instantly overshadowed by the roaring wind. Forget about keeping track of Rylan.

“There is a little depression just up there. We can hunker down there and wait for the storm to pass,” Rylan had said when we first spotted the storm coming. That was just about the last I heard from him.

With each passing moment, I curse Rylan for exaggerating how ‘just up there’ the trench is. It feels like we’ve been caught in this storm for an hour. Unless, of course, Taurek lost track of him in the storm, too. I’ve just been assuming Taurek’s Kiphian eyes were better at seeing through the snowstorm. Maybe he’s just as blind as me.

“I can barely see in this, but I know Rylan isn’t here anymore. Either we left him behind somewhere or he got too far ahead of us. We have to stop. Follow me.”

Taurek hops down off the chordata. I try to follow him, but my foot gets snagged on one of the straps of the stirrups. Taurek’s hands grab me under my knees and back and carry me over the snow to a small lip of stone.

We’re still exposed to the elements here, but less so. The lip gives us some protection from the snow and wind. We’re also able to hear each other without screaming every word. I’ll take whatever comfort I can get at this point.

The comfort doesn’t last for long. “Taurek. I think something bad might have happened.”

“Worse than all this?”

“In addition to it. I think I dropped my bag.” I look behind me, and I can barely see our chordatas, much less a bag buried in the snow.

Wherever I dropped it, it’s likely long gone. It must now be covered in layers of snow that probably won’t melt until the summer, if even then.

“Okay. It’s okay.” Taurek places a reassuring hand on my back. “It’ll be fine.”

“That bag has the tools we need to get the minerals. Without them, we can’t save Hanai.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find another way to get the minerals. I –”

“We need to go back.” I’m not sure whether we’ll need the tools for certain, but there’s an exceptionally good chance. And if we do need them and don’t have them, that’s the end for us.

“We don’t have time for that, Zaya. We have to keep pushing ahead.”

“Plus, what if Rylan is back there?”

“I trust Rylan to take care of himself even more than myself. He knows what he signed up for. He’s probably survived worse blizzards with fewer supplies.”

“I don’t know what to do. That’s why I had the bag with me. It was such an important thing. If we got separated from the chordatas, I didn’t want to be without them.” I feel the tears forming, but I don’t want my eyelashes to freeze shut.

“Maybe we’ll be able to get the minerals without your tools, maybe not. But we have to keep going. We absolutely cannot go back. It’s dangerously late in the season already.”

I’d be tempted to laugh if it wasn’t for the crushing weight of this failure. Hanai isn’t going to get the medicine she needs. All because I was too stupid to hold onto the bag a little tighter. How is Taurek so calm?

“Zaya, you know what? I remember that bag being on you until just recently. I could feel it while we were in the blizzard. I bet it fell off you when you fell. It’s probably just over there. I think it’s possible to get.”

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