He answers, but we both know talking is useless. Taking my face in his big hands, Rynn stares at me and the expression is so mournful, it kind of makes me want to cheer him somehow. Like, I don't know... make him a sandwich and tell him everything will be ok. That's what old Adeline used to do for me whenever I got sad about my mom leaving,she'd make me a grilled cheese, sit me down at her tiny kitchen table, and braid my hair while I ate, telling me that everything will be alright because somehow, God has a plan.
Well, God might want to rethink this one because in the past twenty-four hours or so, nothing about this plan has made any damn sense.
The brightest glow in this little feather cocoon comes from the lights at Rynn's chest. And in here, they're kind of giving an eerie up-light, illuminating his sad features from below. Leaning down, he gently rests his forehead on mine and closes his eyes.
This... feels like a goodbye.
Is it a goodbye? If this spaceship can fly, maybe he's thinking of putting me on it.
Or... this is a primitive species of alien, right?Fuck, I hope he's not thinking of sacrificing me to his feathery alien Gods because that would round off this being abducted experiencesuper well.
"Zahreenah," Rynn sighs like a prayer and before I know what I've done, my lips press to his.
Rynn stills and I pull away quickly. I'm not even really sure why I'd done it. It had just felt right in the moment. Sure, this guy saved me from being demon-chimp food, had my injuries healed, and let me use part of his body as a blanket last night, but we don't even speak the same language.
And he's an alien, Serena, don't forget that little tidbit.
Rynn's eyes have gone almost comically wide after my little impromptu kiss and for a second or two, I wonder if I've just made a bird-man faux-pas. But then, Rynn lifts his fingers to brush against his lips before reaching to touch mine too. He looks so in awe that I can't help but giggle.
From outside our little sectioned-off world of wings, one of the other bird-men says something to Rynn, causing his pretty mouth to turn down and his tail to twitch against my leg. Tucking his onyx wings back, sunlight floods my eyes. Rynn has a grim expression on his face as he gestures for me to approach the big UFO thing with him. Behind us, it seems like the whole village has followed. The air is thick with tension. Everyone looks concerned.
Oh boy, Ireallyhope I'm not about to be sacrificed.
The closer we get to the big, white ship thing, the more I see that we're heading toward a small, upright rectangular black section on its outer wall, making it look a bit like a TV screen when switched off. Rynn stops in front of the screen and takes a deep breath. His eyes close and his wings sag behind him. What is happening?! His tail finds my ankle again and he offers his palm up to the black rectangle. A light looks as though it travels up the press of his hand, scanning him and then a small hollow appears beside the screen, and... a floating ball of light bobs out slowly.
"High Spear Rynn," a female voice says, the ball of light glowing brighter with each word spoken. Little sparks whiz around the ball like a tiny, high-speed solar system.
I gasp. "Holy shit,what-... You speak English?!" Little sparks whizz around the ball like a tiny, high-speed solar system but it doesn't answer me. Instead, it seems to wait, bobbing up and down in mid-air as Rynn starts to speak again, telling the ball something.
Rynn's words end and there's a long, tense silence before the ball of light answers. "Thank you. There is no need for you to return the female to us, High Spear Rynn," it tells him. Are they talking about me? "We only ask that more offerings are made."
The weight that seems to lift from Rynn is palpable. Behind us, the rest of the bird-men and... bird-boys, start murmuring. When I look back at... 'High Spear' Rynn, there's a huge smile on his face and such a light in his eyes that I know he had not wanted to'return me'to... the ball of light people. He advances on me like he's about to scoop me up in one of those bone-tight hugs again and I have to stop him.
"Whoa, whoa, there, big fella," I say, hand out, stopping him. "Why can I understand the ball of light thingy?"
Rynn looks at me, confused and I know it's pointless asking him anything. So I turn to the only thing on this planet that I've heard speak English since that earthworm from hell ate Mr. Buggy. "Hey, you," I say, tapping on the ball. The bird-men behind me gasp. And not in a good way. "Uh...sorry," I cringe. Rynn gives me a concerned look but I try again. "Hello, people inside the floaty ball of light,uh... could you.... maybe.... tell me what's going on? And why can I understand you?" The ball floats and bobs, the little sparks of light whizzing around and around. "Please?"
"You are a human female," the ball of light says, "and you find yourself on planet G36229. You are currently among one tribe of native winged 'Trixikka', a noble species who have inhabited these lands for millennia. And you can understand us because... we are deities and deem it so."
Ok... that last bit seemed...nevermind. But who am I to question a floating ball of light? I'm just so relieved to be able to talk to someone!
"Ok, um... could you please help me? Can you tell Rynn that there are more human women out there? They're alone in the jungle and they need help."
The ball of floating deities or whatever they are, seem to take a moment to decide before they repeat my words. I'm about to tell them, no, they need to tell Rynn inhislanguage when he tenses beside me, and the whole village of bird-men burst into action.
Duh,Serena, whatever these 'Gods' are using to translate probably works like Z'irri's translator did.
Rynn grabs me by the shoulders and searches my face as he asks me something.
"High Spear Rynn wishes to ascertain how many females remain in the forest," the ball supplies.
I take the time to mentally count. "Uh, eight! Tell him there are eight girls out there who need help and more in these weird pod things!"
After Rynn receives the information, he seems to shift effortlessly into being the commanding leader of his people, barking orders at guys carrying spears and calling for someone to bring a belt laden with daggers that he then straps low on his hips. All around us, his men take to the sky, beating their huge wings and disappearing fast to do their leader's bidding. Finally, Rynn calls over two of his biggest men. The lights on their skin seem to be pulsing with excitement. Rynn issues some form of order, gesturing to them and then to me. He then pauses, softening to stroke along my jaw and murmur something before he launches himself into the air, sending a powerful gust of wind to whirl my hair about with the flapping of his jet-black wings.
***
It was clear that Rynn had ordered these two feather-brains to be my guards while he and the others search for the missing human women. At least, that's why I think they're staying close, albeit from a safe distance. I'd tried to smile and talk to them through gestures but they'd only blinked at me, those lights at their temples working overtime.
