Chapter 12 #2
“Yes. We—”
“Who is with you? Listen, this is important. Are you getting headaches?”
“Yes, now you mention it. Casey is suffering the worst, though all of us are getting headaches of various degrees. Is the dragon with you?”
“Yes, Ransom, and one other. Before you sleep, make sure you build a barrier around your mind. It’s an alien feeding on you. That’s how he gets his energy, and he’s starving. He’s a Maphra. Let me talk to Casey.”
Ransom leaned forward, listening intently. Talon appeared to be eavesdropping too.
“Casey, it’s a Maphra prince feeding on you. Are you having nightmares too?”
“Crap, my unit and I ran into some of these guys on a different planet. Half of my men died before we worked out what was happening.”
“What did you do?”
“Another race—the Elevenoss helped us make a potion. It helps, but doesn’t stop the feeding. I grabbed my medical bag. I might be able to make up something to help.”
“Feline shapeshifters seem to have an in-built defense. Get every feline with you to build a mental barrier before they go to sleep. I—”
The ground rippled beneath them, their feet riding the wave rippling beneath the surface. Rocks and the sparse plants buckled upward about a hundred meters from them.
“Frying fungus,” Casey muttered. “That was a bad one.”
“Scarlett, what’s going on?” It was Saber again. “Are you okay?”
Scarlett checked for Ransom’s reaction, and he nodded.
“Tell him,” Ransom said.
“We’re about to break a Maphra prince out of stasis and try to kill him before he slaughters us.”
“Wait for our arrival.”
“We can’t. He knows we’re here,” Scarlett said.
“What’s your plan?” Saber demanded.
“We’re winging it.”
Ransom heard a loud hoot and shocked disbelief coming through his com-circle.
Scarlett grimaced. “Not funny. He’s demanding we release him. He’ll have guards, and our assumption is they’ll wake when we enter the chamber where they’re buried.”
“Wait, the guy is underground?”
“Yup. Under a mound of rock with statues guarding the front. We have to find the entrance and dig our way in to release him. That’s as far as we’ve got with our plan.”
“We can see the volcano in the distance. We’ll start pushing. You and the dragon should carry on, but take your time finding the entrance. Maybe we can overwhelm them with numbers.”
“Who is with you?” Scarlett asked.
“Felix, Leo, Sly, and Joe. Sam came along with Casey. Some of Ransom’s feline friends too.”
Seven with Saber. “You all came,” Scarlett whispered.
The comm started to crackle and hiss, the sound dropping in and out.
“Of course…did. We’re…brothers.”
Another quake shook the ground, the surface bursting closer to them this time. Talon released a snarl as rocks rained down way too close for comfort. She leaped to her feet, as did Ransom.
“What…that?” Saber demanded, his bossiness coming through despite the dropped words.
Ransom would’ve laughed, but the pressure at his temples darted tendrils of discomfort down the back of his neck.
“Talon, the third in our party,” Scarlett said. “We’re going now. The quakes are getting worse here.”
Ransom groaned and fell to his knees, holding his head. Tendrils of pain speared from his temples, writhing deep—the prince exacting punishment for the delay.
“Frying fungus,” Scarlett muttered. “Talk to you soon.”
Ransom inhaled, exhaled, attempting to ride out the pain before the prince spoke. A groan squeezed from between his gritted teeth. This…agony. It had never been this bad.
Scarlett’s hand settled on his shoulder. “Build your fence again. Imagine a steel boot and try to kick him out. Tell him we can’t help him if he’s torturing you this way.”
“Where. Are. You?” the prince shrieked.
The element of the crazy in the prince had never been so noticeable.
“Coming. The volcano is creating problems.”
“You are not moving to my shelter. I caught the victory in your thoughts,” the prince thundered. “You delay so strangers can come to your aid.”
“The ground is shaking up here. You must get out of my head so I can function,” Ransom said.
“I will lose contact with you,” the prince said, his voice still accusing but not as loud.
“Your presence in my head makes me weak. If I'm exhausted, I cannot do the physical labor of digging you out of the rock mound.”
“You need not dig. Push the nose on the head statue and a door will open,” the prince ordered.
“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” Ransom asked, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
“I am telling you now. You must come.” The prince pulled out of his mind with a force that had Ransom’s gorge rising. At the last second, he angled his head away from Scarlett and vomited, barely missing Talon.
The Trolleris gave a surprised eep, and Scarlett laughed. Talon’s eep changed to a toothy growl.
“Don’t you snarl at me, you whippersnapper.” Scarlett shook her finger at him.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“I’m glad the pair of you think this is funny,” Ransom said. “I feel like crap.”
Both Scarlett and Talon yanked their shoulders upright, their humor fading.
Scarlett approached him. “Can you stand?”
“I need help.”
“The prince is a moron,” Scarlett snapped. “What is the point of weakening you so much that you can’t stand on your own? At least it should give my brothers a chance to get here.”
“The prince knows about your brothers.”
“At least he’ll have trouble feeding on them. I hope Casey finds a way to keep him out of her head. She’s the vulnerable one.” Scarlett slipped an arm around his waist.
As soon as she took his weight, he pounced. He dropped her over his arm while still holding her weight. Before her shriek of surprise echoed through their valley, he smothered it with his mouth and kissed her with everything he had.
“Ha! Not quite as weak as I thought,” she said.
After an instant of struggle, she relaxed, letting him hold her and master her mouth. Her scent roared through him. He savored her spicy flavor, gloried in her touch. The contact centered him, leaving his panic behind.
With Scarlett in his arms, he felt whole—as if nothing could ever harm them.
Invincible.
Aware of the passing time, he pulled back and held Scarlett until she had her balance.
A smaller quake shook the ground.
“Did I rock your world?” Ransom asked with a sly wink at Talon.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“Hilarious,” Scarlett said, pulling a face. “I thought you needed my help. We have a plan—a partial one, at least. Why don’t we get moving before the big, scary prince has another tantrum?”
Scarlett was right.
Ransom limped to their fire and doused it with water they’d collected from the nearby stream.
With well-practiced speed, they packed away the last of their gear and trekked along the edge of the lava stream.
They walked single-file, their pace slower than usual.
Only determination got his body around the base of a hill and into the next valley.
The view of the volcano and the prince’s burial mound was better from here.
Scarlett halted beside him. “Frying fungus,” she muttered. “That’s bad.”
At some stage during the blacklight, a quake had rippled through the area, resettling the heads in different positions.
The line of enormous stone blocks they’d seen the previous cycle was no longer visible.
The region looked like a playground for giants who hadn’t tidied their toys once they’d finished.
Added to that, a second stream of lava flowed from the volcano, and unless something else diverted it, the lava would flow through or around the mound of rock and strewn statue heads.
“We need a new plan,” Ransom said.
“We could wait until the lava gets him.”
“Another quake could easily make the flow change course.”
“Yeah.” Scarlett frowned at the rocky mound and the many heads lying at different angles.
As Ransom watched her, she lifted her hand to her arm and rubbed it.
Talon spotted the infraction and snarled at her.
He scampered toward Scarlett and used his sharp claws to clamber up her legs.
An instant later, he perched on her shoulder, his nails digging into her arm, judging by the way Scarlett slapped at him.
“Quit digging in your claws, you wee monster,” Scarlett snapped, confirming Ransom’s supposition.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“Have I ever told you I used to play rugby? When we still lived on Earth.” She started walking again as she spoke.
Ransom followed, wondering where this story might lead.
“I was an excellent rugby player. Fast and strong. The coach praised my passing skills, but it was my accuracy kicking the ball that impressed him.” She stilled and angled her head to glance at the Trolleris. “You’re about double the size of a rugby ball. How far could I kick you?”
Ransom choked back a chuckle as Scarlett and Talon squared off with glares.
“You claw me again, and I swear I’ll kick you over that burial mound. A threat and a promise. Are we clear, wee monster?”
Talon lifted and lowered his head several times. A nod of acceptance.
Grudging respect in that nod.
“Let’s do this.” Ransom set off in determined strides.
They reached the first fallen head, that of a bird with a cruel beak and beady eyes. Up close, it was huge, towering over even Ransom’s head.
Some heads were even more prominent.
“It would’ve taken a lot of effort and planning to position these statues. I got the impression the illness that drove them to take this step happened fast, and they didn’t have time to find a cure,” Scarlett said.
“That’s what I thought. Unless this is a burial chamber where they bring their royal kings and queens.”
Scarlett shrugged.
A quake rippled across the ground, and the statue behind Scarlett rocked.
“Watch out!” Ransom shouted.
He grabbed Scarlett and yanked her out of the way. In the nick of time because the head toppled, crashing down a short incline and kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Thanks,” Scarlett said.
“Anytime.” Ransom caught her close and kissed her hair while ignoring Talon’s hiss of disapproval at the rough handling.