He nods stiffly at me. “Are you good now, Ssssabrina?”he asks, drawing out my name with his sibilant accent, his voice still dark from the earlier subject.
“I… I’m good now. Thank you. I’m full. But…”
“But?”
“I could use some wood, if you know where to find some. It's better to cook with.”
He abruptly rises and heads for the tunnel.
I shoot to my feet. “Where are you going now? You don’t have to leave.” I don’t know why I say it like I’m the one giving permission, but now that he’s here, I don’t want him to go. I’m lonely, and I didn’t realize how much until he started a real conversation with me.
“It has been a long two days, for the both of us. I would rather not be stabbed in the face while I ssssleep. Tomorrow I will bring you wood. Good night, female.”
He vanishes into the tunnel, pulling a boulder in after him, ending the conversation.
Sitting back down on the hides with a sigh, I stare at the fire and pretend he’s still here, only out of sight. I’m good at pretending. I always have been.
I’m not alone. Not really. Right?
Exhaustion hits me suddenly, and the flames die into another round of embers as my eyes hood. Pulling the hide over my body, I drift off to sleep with Darolus’s scent in my nose.
I no longer mind it.
ELEVEN
GIVE OR TAKE
Darolus
On the plainsthe pigs have abandoned their usual watering hole, and when I find them again, they are fitful, erratic with unrest. It has been hard tracking and hunting them lately. I only seem to come upon small herds rather than large, and far beyond the usual ranges. I have even stumbled upon pigs slumbering within the ruins of the city, an act I have never seen them do before.
They are either fleeing the forest or its violence has spread closer to the city. If it is the latter… I have always known this day would come.
But the humans…I did not expect them.
Nor did I expect their skycrafts, or for one of their females to end up as a captive in my nest. It has been several days since I returned with real sustenance for Sabrina, but with the flying vessels only seeming to continue, the animals remain unpredictable.
Heading through the building next to the one thatharbors my nest, I wind through one of the many different paths to my stored supplies. Eyeing the pool of water as I descend into the main space, I picture Sabrina on the other side of the wall. A short swim away.
But for fear she will see me, I must go the long way to my supplies, through the hidden pathways I made long ago—pathways that lead to a portion of the city’s underground that is still intact, and places I no longer dare venture for respect of those that live there. There are other underground tunnels I still use, but not these. I merely guard the above ground entrance to these tunnels and keep them safe from those who I do not want to find them. Which is everybody. Including the new humans.
Not being able to check the entrance regularly since Sabrina arrived has not been easy. Especially because it has been even longer since I last made an offering to those beyond the deep door. Though… I could return more often. I no longer believe Sabrina is in search of what I guard.
But I still cannot be certain.
In the past days, despite me being gone for great lengths, she has ceased fighting for her freedom. She has begun to settle into my nest like it is her own, even stealing one of my hides in the process, growing comfortable with the space. She is learning.
Oddly proud of the little human, I look over the piles of weapons, technology, and tools, noting that nothing has been moved or taken. After perusing the rest of the stockpiles, I approach the deep door in the back of the room, directly opposite of where my nest would be on the other side. Nondescript, it is like many within the city, except that both sides still hang as well as open and close properly. Cracked ajar right now, a draft of cold air seeps through tochill my face and chest. An earthy, damp musk fills my nose.
I place my offering on the floor inside and close the doors afterward.
Gathering a bunch of wood and hides from the supplies, I leave my stores behind, winding back above to check on the newer ones I’m drying outside in the sunlight. When there is nothing left to inspect, I head back to my nest, intent on doing something right for my pet today.
Sabrina’s gaze is already on me as I remove the last boulder in my path and recollect my newest offering from where I placed it on the ground to my side. Heaving the bundle in my arms, I approach her.
She stands and eyes the supplies in my arms with an expression that quickly turns excited, and I notice the black around her green eyes has been refreshed from yesterday. Her lips are freshly painted red. I trace the sharp edges of her mouth, wondering why I find it so appealing.
Questions form in my mind as I stare at them… Does the red coloring have a taste? Is it tart like an apple or sweet like overripe berries? I lick my lips and stifle the hiss that wants to leave my throat.
