Chapter 2
The days melted together in a seamless, sun - drenched haze.
Time lost its rigid Earthly meaning here in the canyon, marked only by the shifting shadows of the towering red cliffs and the blooming cycles of the alien flora.
I spent my afternoons seeking refuge under the broad, dark green leaves of my favorite oasis tree.
The moss beneath my back offered a cool, damp contrast to the oppressive, baking heat radiating from the rocks just a few feet away.
I closed my eyes, listening to the gentle lap of the freshwater pool against the stone bank.
It felt like a quiet, isolated bubble of safety in a world designed to kill.
Yet, I never truly relaxed. The hair on my arms prickled, a constant physical reaction to the heavy, unblinking stare of my stepbrother.
I opened my eyes and turned my head. Yarkur sat on the same flat boulder he claimed every afternoon.
The rock absorbed the midday sun, turning into a natural furnace, but his thick, terracotta - colored scales thrived in the blistering temperature.
He rested his massive forearms on his knees, his broad chest rising and falling in a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
His golden eyes, split by narrow black pupils, tracked my every movement.
If I shifted my leg, his gaze dropped to follow the motion.
If I sighed, his forked tongue slipped past his lips to taste the subtle change in the air.
He existed as a silent, overwhelming presence, a lethal predator acting as my personal, obsessive guard.
I looked away, focusing my attention on the lush vegetation bordering the water. Small, crimson songbirds flitted through the branches, their bright feathers matching the exact shade of the canyon dust. I watched them hop from vine to vine, searching for food.
Then, a strange movement caught my eye. Near the edge of the greenery, where the soft moss gave way to the harsh, barren stone of a narrow canyon path, one of the birds behaved erratically.
It remained on the ground, silently hopping in jerky, uneven spasms, dragging its left wing in the dirt.
It moved away from the safety of the trees, venturing out onto the exposed, sun - baked trail that hugged the cliff face.
Curiosity piqued, I pushed myself up from the moss, brushing a few stray leaves from my linen tunic.
The bird stumbled again, looking pitiful against the massive, unforgiving landscape.
I took three steps toward the tree line.
A heavy shadow instantly blocked the sun.
Yarkur materialized beside me, moving his massive bulk with zero sound.
The ambient heat radiating from his thick scales hit my skin like an open oven door.
He planted his heavy, taloned feet into the dirt, stepping directly into my path.
"Do not follow it, Talsey," his voice rumbled, deep and guttural, vibrating in his thick chest. "Stay by the water. "
I let out an exasperated sigh, tilting my head back to look at his sharp, reptilian jawline. "It is just a bird, Yarkur. It looks hurt. Maybe it broke its wing falling from the canopy."
"The canyon does not spare the weak," he countered, his golden eyes narrowing. "A broken wing is an invitation for scavengers. Leave it. We do not invite the wild into our sanctuary."
I rolled my eyes, letting out a short, dismissive laugh.
He treated every shadow like an assassin and every breeze like a threat.
"What kind of trouble can a tiny red bird cause?
" I asked, stepping around his massive frame.
"I am just going to look at it. I am not walking into the lower wastes.
" I pushed past the last row of broad ferns, stepping out of the cool shade and onto the glaring red stone of the path.
Yarkur let out a low, irritated hiss, a sound that grated like grinding stones, but he followed right on my heels. "You walk straight into the jaws of the wild," he grumbled, his heavy tail dragging a groove through the dust. "You lack the senses for this world. You walk blind."
"I am fine," I called over my shoulder, keeping my eyes on the fluttering crimson shape ahead.
We rounded a sharp bend in the rock wall, leaving the view of the oasis behind.
The path here narrowed dangerously, pinned between a sheer vertical drop into the gorge and a solid, towering wall of red stone.
The bird hopped a few feet further, finally stopping against the base of the cliff.
I slowed my pace, approaching cautiously.
I reached out a hand, making a soft clicking noise with my tongue to soothe the creature.
The bird did not react to me. Instead, it hopped forward, pressing its small beak against the solid stone wall.
Then, the solid stone moved. My breath caught in my throat.
A large, circular section of the red cliff face peeled away from the wall.
The texture shifted instantly, dissolving from hard, cracked rock into a thick, gelatinous sludge.
The mass rippled, discarding its flawless camouflage.
The red and burnt orange hues swirled, shifting rapidly into a sickly, translucent purple.
The injured bird hopped directly into the center of the jelly, sinking into the foul substance without a struggle.
The bird dissolved in seconds, becoming part of the shifting, formless mass.
It served as bait. A lure designed to draw curious prey out of the trees.
I froze, every muscle in my body locking in pure terror.
The purple mass surged upward, growing in size until it towered above Yarkur.
A jagged, uneven split tore open near the top of the sludge, revealing multiple rows of serrated, shark - like teeth.
Clear, viscous slime dripped from the hideous maw, burning small holes into the dusty path where it landed.
The creature lunged forward, jaws snapping wide.
I screamed, stumbling backward, my heel catching on a loose stone.
I hit the ground hard, scraping my palms against the rock.
Before the jaws could reach me, a massive blur of terracotta scales vaulted over my head.
Yarkur launched himself into the path of the monster.
His roar shattered the canyon air, a deafening, primal sound that rattled my teeth.
He slammed his broad shoulder directly into the center of the jelly mass, halting its advance with sheer, brute force.
The impact sent a shockwave down the narrow trail.
The monster shrieked, a high, metallic grinding noise, and wrapped its formless appendages around Yarkur's torso.
The acidic slime sizzled against his scales, sending up plumes of foul, acrid smoke.
Yarkur ignored the burn. He planted his heavy feet, bracing his massive legs, and bared his own sharp teeth.
With a savage hiss, he plunged both clawed hands deep into the creature's core.
His muscles bunched under his scales as he dragged his arms outward in a brutal, tearing motion.
The jelly flesh ripped, exposing a darker, pulsating center.
The creature thrashed, snapping its shark teeth toward Yarkur's neck.
He ducked, moving with liquid speed, and spun on his heel.
He used the momentum of his turn to swing his heavy, muscular tail.
The thick appendage slammed into the creature's side, delivering a blow that could shatter solid rock.
The monster smashed against the cliff wall.
Its surface tension broke under the devastating impact.
Chunks of foul, iridescent sludge exploded outward, raining down across the path.
The stench hit me a second later. It smelled of rotting meat, stagnant water, and sharp ammonia.
I gagged, pressing both hands over my mouth and nose, my eyes watering from the vile odor.
The remains of the creature quivered on the ground, the purple sludge trying to crawl back together to reform its body.
Yarkur refused to give it the chance. He stepped forward, his golden eyes blazing with lethal fury, and drove his heavy heel down, crushing the largest, pulsating chunk into a thin, motionless smear on the red stone.
He stomped again, and again, until nothing moved on the path.
Silence crashed back over the gorge, heavy and ringing.
The threat vanished, leaving behind only the horrific stench and the scattered, smoking remains of the ambush predator.
Yarkur stood over the mess. His ribs expanded and contracted as his lungs dragged in the hot air.
He turned his head slowly, looking down at me.
Disgusting, translucent slime coated his arms, his chest, and the side of his scaled jaw.
Thick drops of it fell from his deadly claws, sizzling faintly on the sun - baked rock.
He smelled worse than death, but in that moment, he looked like a god of war.