Chapter 15 #2
“Yes,” I said. “Though not like this.” The words came easier than I expected.
Talking about Valose always did. “Our rovers are smaller. Single-rider. Built for mobility through the Huren jungle—the forest where our domed city sits.” I gestured to the skiff’s disruptor array.
“They operate on the same principles. Gravity disruptors create a repulsive field between the craft and the ground. The rider controls the field’s intensity to adjust altitude and stability. ”
She crouched slightly, peering beneath the skiff. "Nothing's touching the surface."
"No," I said. "Ours don't either."
She rose and looked at me, a radiant smile illuminating her face with such effortless beauty that it stole the breath from my lungs.
I had faced monsters, survived captivity, and crossed a world determined to kill me, yet nothing left me more unbalanced than the simple curve of my spirit mate's lips.
"Once we reach Valose," she said, "I want you to take me through the Huren jungle on one of your rovers. I want to see the wetlocks and patooga in their natural habitat.”
"Only if it can be done safely," I said, feeling my scales blanch. “The jungle is beautiful, but dangerous.”
“I can feel how protective you are.” A soft laugh escaped her as she pressed a hand lightly against the center of her chest, directly over her shawra. “You worry about me far more than you should.”
“It is my duty to keep you safe.”
“I’m flattered, but I've managed to survive eight weeks on this planet before you showed up.”
I took a step forward, closing the distance until only a breath separated us. Lifting a hand, I gently tipped her chin upward, needing her to see the truth in my eyes.
"For as long as the Spirits allow me to walk beside you," I said softly, "your well-being will always matter more than my own. That is not a burden to me, Quin. It is the greatest honor of my life."
Her breath caught as she held my gaze. The faint echo of emotions that were not my own brushed against my spirit. Curiosity tempered by reluctance. Interest pressed quietly against the walls she had built around herself.
"We've already spent more time here than I intended,” Vala said. “Let's be underway while we still have daylight."
The spell between us shattered.
Quin looked away first and turned toward the skiff. I fell into step beside her as we walked around the vessel to where a boarding ramp had unfolded from beneath the hull, its metallic surface descending silently until it rested lightly upon the deck.
Warm light spilled through the open hatch, revealing an unexpectedly inviting interior. Four contoured seats were arranged in two rows facing forward, while softly illuminated control panels glowed from the front of the craft.
One by one we boarded the skiff. Tyrk secured the junction conduit assembly while Vala settled into the pilot's seat. Quin chose one of the rear seats, and I lowered myself beside her. Behind us, the boarding ramp folded smoothly into the hull, enclosing us within the warm glow of the interior.
The skiff hummed to life around us, its disruptor arrays engaging with a low, resonant vibration that traveled through the deck beneath my feet.
I looked across the cabin at Quin.
She met my gaze for only a heartbeat before the corner of her mouth lifted into a small, almost hesitant smile. It was not the radiant smile she had given me moments before, but it carried a warmth that eased the tightness inside my chest.
A faint impression brushed against my spirit. Curiosity. Cautious acceptance. Beneath both lingered a quiet uncertainty. The feelings were as fleeting as sunlight through leaves, impossible to hold, yet they stirred hope where I had promised myself there would be none.
I swallowed hard and turned toward the viewport before my feelings betrayed me further. My spirit had recognized its complement the moment our eyes first met. Now, despite everything standing between us, my heart was beginning to follow.
Vala's hands moved confidently across the illuminated controls. Without so much as a tremor, the skiff drifted through the gaping wound torn in the freighter's hull and out into the open air.
The twin suns hung low above the horizon, bathing the world in warm light.
From above, Spore Valley possessed a haunting beauty that concealed the horrors waiting beneath its canopy.
The luminous spore sacs shimmered like scattered gemstones among the dense vegetation, their gentle glow belying the deadly hallucinations they unleashed.
Beyond them, I recognized the narrow path Tyrk and I had carved through the choking undergrowth with swinging blades as we fought our way toward the freighter.
Even from this height, memories of bursting spore sacs, grasping carnivorous plants, and the desperate race to outrun death tightened every muscle in my body.
The skiff skimmed effortlessly above the danger, gradually giving way to the dense forest. Towering trees swallowed the fading sunlight beneath their broad canopies, and familiar ribbons of mist drifted through the Huren-like wilderness that surrounded Vala's ship.
"There," Vala said, pointing ahead.
The skiff descended in a slow, controlled glide and settled gently onto the forest floor beside Vala's vessel.
From this height, the battered hull looked less like a crippled wreck and more like a warrior stitched back together after battle, its fresh repairs standing out against the scarred metalloid plating.
One step closer to Valose.
One step closer to losing the female my spirit had already claimed.