Chapter 11
“What do you mean you can’t sense him?” Ellard turned in a circle, his gaze on the tangle of branches and leaves above their heads.
He sucked in a breath, identifying the smells—the greenery of the plants, the earthy scent of the ground underfoot, and the faint floral perfume from Gweneth.
No sign of Leeam, not a hint in their surroundings.
“It’s like he has vanished. I should be able to sense him in the way I could when we were all together,” Sheera said, her voice becoming increasingly higher and frazzled.
“I don’t understand. I never heard anything apart from the ship.
Leeam blinked off my inner radar. We have to find him.
He could die if he can’t feed. We’re already weaker than normal.
If it wasn’t for you and Gweneth, we would have died because we seem to be trapped in here. ”
“Steady,” Ellard said. “We need information. We’ll walk in the direction the ship went.”
“If it was a friendly, they would have got Leeam to communicate with us,” Gweneth said.
Yeah, his thinking exactly. No matter which way he looked at it, Leeam’s disappearance didn’t bode well for any of them. “We’ll reconnoiter and gather information, then come up with a plan. Sheera, we need you to keep calm and help us. Can you do that?”
During the brief pause, Ellard steeled himself for tears. Tears were tears, even if they were the invisible sort.
“Sheera, you need to be strong,” Gweneth said. “We need to work together to learn what has happened to Leeam. I want you to go up to the treetop like Leeam did and tell us if you can see anything.”
“I…what if I disappear?”
“We will come and find you,” Ellard said in a firm voice. “But I think his disappearance has something to do with the ship.”
“All right,” she said, but her voice lacked confidence. “I’ll do it now.”
“Stay alert and keep talking to us the entire time.”
“I’m going now,” she told Ellard. “I’ll morph up to the sturdy branch up there and stand on it. Should I become visible?”
“No,” Gweneth said. “Save your energy. Just keep talking to us.”
Gweneth glanced at Ellard when Sheera popped from view. “You think the ship knew his location and captured him somehow?”
“Yes,” Ellard said in a low voice, his gaze on the bushy pink-and-green leaves of the surrounding trees. A faint breeze had sprung up, the scent holding a pungent bouquet, which didn’t agree with his feline. He sneezed.
Gweneth scowled at the mass of trees and plants. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither.” Ellard studied their surroundings.
Narenda’s star pierced the canopy, creating flickering shadows.
Dead leaves crunched beneath his boots, and to his right, a bright yellow climber wound around a dead tree, a jarring contrast to the feathery pink-and-gray trunk.
But no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t hear birds, insects, or other animal life.
Instead, a preternatural silence hung over the forest.
“I wish we had weapons.”
“At least we have your knife. That’s a start.”
Sheera’s head shimmered into sight, and Gweneth managed not to make a sound, although Ellard saw the way she clamped her mouth shut. Glittery tears ran down the woman’s cheeks, her panic evident. “I couldn’t see Leeam or the ship.”
“What about the force field?”
Sheera wrinkled her nose. “It’s like a bubble over the area. I could see the curve of it over the flat hill. The sky is a weird color outside. A muddy yellow with streaks of red.”
“You can see through the force field?”
“Yes, but it gives me the creeps. It’s like something rubbing my skin in the wrong direction, and the field saps my willpower. I want to reach out and place my hand on it.” Sheera blinked, her long eyelashes sweeping her upper cheeks. “Leeam said that wasn’t natural and we should keep away.”
“The field of debris has moved even closer. That would be why no one has come to search for us. That thing doesn’t behave like any storm I’ve witnessed before. We should get moving and explore the rest of the area.” Ellard commenced pacing.
“But what about Leeam?” Sheera asked.
Gweneth went to Sheera and put her arm around where she thought the girl’s shoulders would be. Her arm cut through air, and Sheera giggled, the sound a welcome mood lightener.
Ellard stopped, and Gweneth ripped her gaze off his muscular backside. Not quick enough, judging by his stern look before he addressed the Incorporeal woman. “Sheera, do you have any weapons?”
“No, but I can make them as long as I have enough energy.” She sent them a shy smile. “You produce tasty energy during lovemaking.”
“Good to know,” Ellard said in a dry tone that made Gweneth grin. “They know we’re here. They’ll return for us. The force field must be a trap to catch something.”
“Us or Sheera and Leeam?”
“Do outsiders know you come here?” Ellard asked.
“We have always lived with the dragon shifters. Until Ransom took over as chieftain, outsiders never visited our planet,” Sheera said. “We are a secretive race and don’t appear to strangers.”
“But you were very open with us,” Gweneth said. “We haven’t been here long, but already, we know a lot about your people.”
Sheera blinked out. “I need to conserve my energy.”
“That is fine,” Ellard said. “Remain close so we can protect you.”
“That is why you were given our secrets,” Sheera said.
Gweneth shared a quick look with Ellard. “Pardon?”
“We can read minds. It is how we are able to fashion what each recipient requires. Niran judged you both pure and good people and worthy of our secret. Your first instinct was to protect me. You helped join the search to find Leeam and me when we went missing. You fed us, and now you’re trying to keep us safe.
That is why we gifted you with our secrets. Some seek to exploit us.”
It was the most Sheera had said since they met her, and her words rang with passion.
Gweneth thought about the dragons. “Ransom doesn’t have a mate.”
A tinkly laugh rang out. “No, but he is a lusty male. His energy is piquant and sustaining. All the dragons are lusty lovers.”
“I sort of want to ask how we measure up,” Ellard muttered.
“We’ve told you already,” Sheera replied. “You produce tasty energy. Leeam and I feasted well, and we needed it.”
“Good to know,” Gweneth murmured, shooting a smirk at Ellard. He looked kind of cute with the hint of color high on his cheekbones.
“One more question before we move,” Ellard said. “How long will Leeam’s energy supplies last?”
“We feasted well last eve but we used up some of our energy providing you with food and clothes. Unless Leeam is able to find another food supply, maybe two cycles?”
“Let’s move,” Ellard said and strode along the defined path leading through the trees.
“Sheera, how close do you need to be to feed?” Gweneth asked.
“We need to be near the location. If a couple is in a room, we must be outside. We are not peepers. Not usually,” she added in a sheepish tone.
“Leeam and I will never disclose details either, Gweneth,” Sheera said in a stiff voice.
“It is a basic tenet of our culture. We rely on others to provide our food, and we never, ever wish to make them uncomfortable.”
Ellard heard the hurt emanating from the girl’s voice and exchanged a glance with Gweneth.
“I’m sorry. Ellard and I…this is new to us. We’ll learn together, all of us. Now let’s find Leeam.”
“I’m sorry too,” Sheera whispered. “Friends?”
“Yes.” Ellard spoke for both of them. “We’d better cut the conversation. We’re coming up to a clearing and it’s full of those plant things. I can hear their drones.”
For half a cycle portion, they navigated the trail, brushing past sharp leaves and rough vines. Sweat trickled down his backbone, his tunic clinging to his chest and back. The squawk of a bird and heavy footsteps had them stepping off the track once to allow a flock of the big birds to amble past.
The tinkle of running water became audible, and the trees thinned. Ellard slowed and scented the air in the same way she’d seen Ry and Camryn and, recently, Jannike.
Gweneth stopped at his side and jumped backward without warning.
“What is it?” Ellard demanded, alarm tightening his shoulder muscles.
“Baby plants.” She pointed at the ground then frowned at her right boot. “At this rate, I won’t have any boot left. With each encounter, that hole becomes bigger.”
“We’ll have to cross the river,” Ellard said.
“What about the animal that howled all night?”
“Sheera, did you see it? Do you know what it is?” Ellard asked.
“No to both questions,” she whispered.
Gweneth stared at the river. “I guess we need to find a place to cross. It looks deep. And cold.”
“Can you swim?”
“I’m half feline. Of course, I can swim.”
“I can build you a—” Sheera broke off. “The ship is returning.”
“New plan,” Ellard said. “Sheera, I want you to become visible and stand between us. Wrap your arms around our waists, so they’ll have to take all of us.”
“Face the danger without hiding,” Gweneth murmured. “I like the way you think.”
“But—” Sheera began.
“At least this way, we will know what we face.” Gweneth reached for the girl’s hand as she shimmered into sight. “Hopefully, they’ll put us with Leeam, so he won’t be in danger of starving.”
“And we’ll discover if they’re friend or foe,” Ellard added.
Sheera trembled like a tree leaf in the middle of a violent storm. “I’m scared.”
Ellard tucked her against his right side, leaving his arm free. Gweneth nudged closer and looked up at the hovering ship, visible through the bubble of the force field.
“Tracking beam,” Ellard said.
A ray of illumination shot through the bubble and focused on them. Gweneth’s skin tingled, and Sheera whimpered.
“It’s okay,” Ellard said. “This is a good plan. We’ll know what we’re facing, and once we’re out of the bubble, the dragons will have a better chance of finding us.”