Chapter 52
Peony
“Careful, sweetie,” Peony said, watching anxiously under Temnavi's arm.
She was holding him up, giving him and his single, partially emerged claw access to the light that lined one of the long walls.
It was white and cool to the touch, like LED, and it was covered in a hard plastic that Temnavi was trying to pry up.
He had seen her attempting it and offered his claw instead which, despite being smaller than hers, was still much stronger.
He was too short to reach it, however, so she had to hold him up.
She was nervous. Not about him breaking the light, but about him breaking a claw.
Temnavi assured her that broken and ripped claws were common and that it would grow back even if ripped out at the bed, but she didn't want him to hurt like that.
It was bad enough that she was near out of her mind with anxiety because Atem wasn't here – she didn't want her new not-son bleeding and in pain on top of it.
She didn't think she'd be able to maintain her sanity.
Even now, she was breathing hard, and her hands were shaking as she struggled against her anxiety.
Stars above, if she got out of this alive – when! – she was never leaving Atem's side again.
“Got it!” Temnavi declared excitedly, the front cover of the light popping off at the corner.
Peony hurried to grab it. Once her finger got under the cover, she let Temnavi drop and then used both hands to pry the hard cover up. It felt and sounded, when she tapped on it, like hard plastic. Not the kind that would bend, but the kind that would-
Crack!
She beamed victoriously as the panel snapped. One half remained over the lights, but Peony grasped the other half in hand with a sharp, pointed end about the size of a machete.
“Wow!” Temnavi beamed. “It's like a sword! How did you do that?”
Peony smiled, wielding her improvised weapon. “My people don't come with claws. We have to find and make our own. You'd be surprised by how creative some people can get with it.”
“That's so amazing!” He yelled, jumping up and down, excited.
Peony chuckled, approaching the door. “Okay. We got our weapon. You remember the plan?”
“Yeah!” Temnavi grinned with wicked excitement, coming up to the other side of the door.
From there, all they could do was wait. Peony didn't know how long they had to stand there. At least, when she had spent all that time waiting on the ratchi spaceship, she had known approximately how long it was between ratchi visits.
This time, it was just waiting. Tense. Unable to relax. The strip of hard plastic held tight in her hands in an effort to keep them from shaking.
To her surprise, Temnavi was practically a statue. She expected a boy who didn't look older than ten to be impatient and wiggly. She forgot, briefly, that he was from an apex predator species and, though he might be young, those hunting instincts were strong in his blood.
The only reason she knew he was even still conscious was the steady blinking of his eyes. His one claw was out, and it looked like two more were trying to emerge. Both of them were still and silent.
Waiting.
Waiting...
The door hissed as the mechanism caused the two halves to part. Blinding light rushed into the dim space.
Temnavi and Peony didn't hesitate. With a roar, she slammed the pointed end towards the dark mass that stepped inside, uncaring of who she hit or where. The hissing roar that hit her ears just a second before the scent of ratchi musk told her clearly who had finally come.
Temnavi had sliced his little claw across the ratchi's thigh. She couldn't see if he had made contact but, regardless, the large male threw himself back reflexively.
Both of them ran out the door. Peony ripped her plastic stake from his abdomen where she had embedded it.
Temnavi jumped on his head, sending him falling back into the sand.
Both of them sprinted forward, past the other two ratchi that were too stunned to do anything more than reflexively drop back as they rushed past.
The vibrantly bright world burned her eyes nearly as much as the heated air that weighed heavily on them despite the sun already falling to the horizon. Fields of rolling, oddly smooth, golden sand stretched out before them.
The desert.
“Get them!” Someone roared. Quvi. She didn't have to turn to see.
“Remember what I said!” Peony yelled, looking to Temnavi. “Run and don't stop!”
His little face tightened with defiance, but he said nothing as the two of them raced down one of the near dunes to the valley below. The loose sand broke apart under each flailing step making the drop more of a barely controlled fall.
From the sand that hit her back, Peony knew they were being chased. She didn't bother to look behind as she reached the valley and turned with Temnavi to run through. She knew better than to think that she would be able to crest one of those shifting dunes.
She had no idea where she was going. As it was, she wasn't even sure if the sun rose in the east here, so she just picked a direction and ran. It was more important right now that she get away from her captors. They could worry about destination later.
“Two ratchi!” Temnavi reported as they fought against the sand. Luckily, the lizard men came from a swampy area on their planet and were no more accustomed to such terrain than they were. It was slowing all of them, but the heavy ratchi just a bit more as they sank further in the sand.
“Is one of them injured?” She asked, climbing a tiny hill only to slide immediately down the other side.
“No. He stayed behind. It's just the two!” Temnavi was beaming like a maniac. She was pretty sure this was one of those stories he would love to tell his friends.
Peony would be happy just to survive this.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed Temnavi's hand and pulled him after her as she turned, trying to circle around one of the dunes.
The ratchi weren't catching up, but they weren't falling behind either.
They also weren't shooting, and she guessed that was because, as Quvi said, they would prefer to fuck her without extra holes in her body.
“Temnavi, can you climb a dune?” Peony asked, looking up at one as they crossed its shadow. She swore, they never looked that big in pictures.
“Yeah!” He beamed, excited at the opportunity. Domini were natural climbers, after all.
“Nice. Get up there! Move fast!”
She didn't give him further instruction – she really didn't have any other ideas than to get one child out of harm's way before focusing on the other, internal one – but he was eager to obey.
He rushed ahead of her and used the precious few extra seconds to scale the dune.
He climbed it on all fours, sending a great deal of sand down on top of first her, then the ratchi – but he climbed fast. And when the lizard men drew even with him, he was well out of their reach and neither of the heavily scaled males could find purchase on the sand.
Even better, in trying to catch the boy, they stopped, for just a second, chasing her. Giving her just enough time to pull ahead.
When she came around another dune, she was out of their sight.
Not long. Just long enough for her to yank her skirt over her head and bury herself into the sand.
She covered her legs, then her torso and head, then jerked her arms into the tent made by her skirt.
She was weighted down, and she didn't feel the sun hitting her anywhere.
It wasn't a thick layer. Just thick enough that the ratchi, when she felt and heard them run by, didn't look twice at the lump she made under the sand. They hissed something as they tried to force themselves to run faster and get around the dune.
Peony remained still and unmoving, trying to control her breathing. She wiggled her way deeper into the dune, fighting to keep it from crushing her skirt against her face and suffocating her but still wanting to be unseen.
More sand began falling on her. She started, surprised.
Briefly, she worried that her burrowing had set off a sand-alanche but, after a moment, she felt a tiny hand on her leg.
She jumped just as Temnavi was digging up under her skirt.
He giggled, like this was a great, fun game, as he pulled his legs into her skirt tent, helping her hold it up.
“You're so amazing, Peony!” He whispered, hero worship making his eyes sparkle in the dim light that barely breached their sand blanket.
“We're not out of trouble yet,” she said, putting her arm around him and bringing him close. He snuggled into her breast, purring softly, surprising her. Atem didn't purr. She didn't think he could.
“Don't tell my friends I still purr,” Temnavi mumbled, obviously embarrassed. Though not enough to stop the purring.
It must be a trait of their young that, one day, would turn into a proper growl. Peony smiled as she kissed the top of his head.
“Your secret is safe with me.”
The two of them waited there for some time.
The air was hot and heavy, a combination of the heated sand and their own breath, but once again, Peony was impressed by how well Temnavi was able to remain still and silent.
Except for his purr, which wasn't loud enough to be heard beyond their little cocoon, so she allowed it.
On the other hand, she was on the verge of screaming. Each minute that passed, her separation anxiety was kicking up another notch and it was getting harder to remain still. She needed Atem with a desperation that was clawing at her throat, ripping her apart from the inside.
Never leaving him again. Never leaving the nest again. No matter what she had to do to never feel like this ever again, she was going to be absolutely dedicated to it.
Sometime later, she heard the thudding of heavy footsteps beyond their cocoon. Temnavi's purr ceased as he stilled, and she felt his single claw poke into her side.