I can’t hear them now. That’s… not comforting. They’re like the krolts that chased me, made for the jungle. Silence means nothing.
But I have to slow down. My lungs are on fire, my legs are going soft, and my vision is getting sparkly in a way that does not feel inspirational.
I can’t stop. I can’t. I have to reach Aker’iz, feed her, protect her… somehow. I don’t even know what the next step is, but stopping isn’t it.
I have to get to the saucer.
Ihaveto.
27
–Kenz’ox–
I can’t sleep. Worry for Dorie and for Aker’iz keeps my eyes open and my mind muddy.
The kronk story ended long ago, and since then I’ve stayed quiet, pretending Dorie is still asleep in here. I’ve even tried mimicking some of the small, soft noises she makes in her dreams, just enough that the men outside will think she’s still inside the hut.
I’ve positioned myself by the door so that if anyone comes through, I can lunge fast, grab his sword, and end him before he ends me.
It must be well past midnight, drifting toward the dawn hour. The tribe has mostly settled down, men snoring on the ground or lying awake, simmering with thoughts about the women Dorie promised them. Ancestors, she was magnificent. She beat the chief in his own tribe. Beat him without lifting a blade, only with her spirit. But if they ever realize she’s not the Woman… their fury will shake the jungle.
Even I thought she might be the Woman, back at the ship. I even wanted it, for a foolish moment. But then I stopped wanting it and understood something I’d never felt before. I loved her in a way no one could ever love the Woman. I loved her because she wasn’t sent by the Ancestors, because she was just herself—small, real, stubborn, and impossibly strong despite looking so fragile?—
The door is ripped off its frame. Tribesman Emar’oz thrusts a sword in first, then a lit torch, then his head. “She’s gone! The Woman is gone!”
I grab his sword hand and stomp on it with my heel. He screams and drops the weapon. I snatch it and ram it through the opening. It hits something, and his next scream is high and sharp.
I crawl out of the hut as fast as I can, sword leading. Outside, some tribesmen are still sprawled, half-asleep, but others are already scrambling to their feet. Many are coming straight at me, blades drawn.
I have a weapon, but the camp is in chaos, and if I stay here, they’ll cut me down in their fury over losing the Woman.
I sprint toward the darkness and let the jungle swallow me. And all the while, one question claws at me: how did they know Dorie was gone? Enough to rip the door off instead of checking quietly? They knew. Somehow… they knew.
Behind me, bellowing erupts, angry and panicked. I hear men crashing into the jungle in pursuit. Let them come. I must run for the beach. Both Dorie and Aker’iz need me.
And trying to lead these men away from the ship won’t work. Dawn is breaking, and some of the men are good trackers. They may get Dorie first.
And I must be there to stop them from doing worse.
28
–Theodora–
The jungle is getting brighter. It’s not a great improvement, but at least now I’ll see any deadly monster right before it gets me.
I sometimes hear the men pursuing me. They don’t care about being quiet anymore, so they chat while they walk. They’re not even running, and still they gain on me.
I’m not running, either. I’m exhausted and feeling hopeless, hearing the men coming closer and having no plan for what I’ll do if I get to the clearing, except grab Aker’iz, get into the saucer, close the hatch, and then just hope they can’t break it down. It can be hard to see where the hatch is if you don’t know.
There’s more noise behind me, cheering like old friends meeting each other. Yeah, there are probably more than one gang chasing me. And I’m not hard to chase—with my lack of experience, I must leave a trail like a bulldozer through the jungle. I keep stepping on twigs, and I get tangled up in vines and roots.
Finally, I hear the distant roar of the ocean. By some miracle, I must at last have been going the right way.
Using the last of my energy, I speed up. The beach is nearby, but then there’s the problem of finding the saucer. It could be miles away?—
I stumble over something and fall headlong in the undergrowth. The unusuallysmellyundergrowth…
There are bones and pieces of dinosaur skin, as well as a big, brown gape full of teeth. Except some of them have been pried off the jaw…
