Rakkh stays close at my side, walking with me, his shoulder brushing mine. His presence is a constant, grounding line, like the horizon itself. When my steps falter for half a second, he adjusts without comment, matching my pace until I settle again.
Travnyk angles off slightly, scanning the perimeter out of habit more than necessity. Tomas lingers near him, blinking too often, exhaustion clearly catching up. He looks like someone who survived something he hasn’t processed yet.
We travel through the camp, silence and stares trailing in our wake until we come to a stop near the central makeshift tents. Rosalind and her mate Visdion, the Cavern Al’fa, and the Urr’ki Queen claim this area, and it is to them that we will report our findings.
Calista and Jolie emerge from their work tent, which isn’t far away, and both look cautiously happy. A wan smile plays over my lips as I see my mentors. Calista, slightly taller than Jolie, narrows her eyes, studying me. Nothing happens for a moment. Then Jolie makes a yelping sound and rushes forward, taking me in her arms and hugging me tight.
“You’re okay,” she says, relief and joy in her tone.
“Yeah,” I say. “Yeah.”
The weight in my chest and the tension in my shoulders ease. Calista strides over, looking me up and down, nodding.
The fire pops softly. Sparks rise and vanish into the dark. Around us, the camp resumes its slow rhythm, not loud or even curious in the way I expected. People turn back to their tasks, their meals, their quiet conversations. The glances linger, not suspicious, but measuring. Accepting that their leaders will get them through.
Even so, it’s clear that something has changed. It’s in the way the air sits on my skin. Whatever the ship made me, whatever choice I carried back out of that metal throat of a future, it didn’t stay there.
Rakkh shifts, his hand briefly resting at the small of my back, steady and warm, then staying. It isn’t possessive. It’s not for anyone else to see. It’s for me. I realize that I’m trembling, not from fear or cold, but from the delayed shock of after. From having carried the fate of a world and set it down without breaking.
“Well,” Tomas exhales, long and shaky, “if this is what saving the planet feels like, I’m gonna need a nap. And maybe… all the water.”
A few low chuckles. The sound loosens something tight in my chest. Normalcy creeping back in, inch by inch. Rakkh doesn’t laugh. He doesn’t need to. His attention never leaves me, his molten eyes steady, recalibrated and certain.
The leaders of all the survivors emerge from their tents, approaching in a loose group. Jolie holds my shoulders, pushing me to arm’s length and looking me over with a studious eye.
“What did you find?” Calista asks.
I swallow hard. Where to even begin? So much happened, and there is still so much to figure out. So much to do. The desert beyond the camp is quiet now, not healed, but no longer screaming. Night is settling over the camp gradually, like the desert is exhaling after holding its breath for too long.
Rosalind, the human leader, and Queen Dani, the Urr’ki leader, approach. Their mates trail a step behind, all needing to knowtoo. Exhaustion is making my brain foggy. It’s hard to form a fully coherent thought, much less give them all a full debriefing.
Around us the fires burn, conversations continue, and the sharp edge of urgency dulls into something almost unreal. Everything has a dream-like quality, and for the briefest of moments I wonder if maybe I died and this is some final dream before I pass away. Rakkh’s claws press into the small of my back, pulling me out of unreality and back into the moment.
“A lot,” I answer. “There is… We should debrief the leaders. You’re never going to believe what we found.”
“That’s an understatement,” Tomas mutters.
“Not yet,” Rosalind says, her sharp eyes on me.
“Huh?” I ask, unable to process what she means.
“Not yet,” she repeats. “You’re all exhausted. Hungry too, I’m sure. First you eat. Then you sleep. Tomorrow you will meet with us, and tell us everything. I do ask that, until then, you do not discuss your journey with anyone else. Will you all agree to that?”
All of us murmur our agreement, and my knees grow weak. I knew I was tired, but I think now that I’ve been running on pure willpower for the past few hours. The idea of a bed and sleep is so amazing that I can barely keep standing.
“You did good,” Jolie whispers in my ear, giving me a hug.
“Proud of you Lia,” Calista says, taking her turn to hug me.
Tears swell in my eyes, and I fight them with all I’ve got left. It feels like my chest is going to explode. I can’t speak around thelump in my throat, so I nod instead. They both smile and drift back.
“Go. Sleep. We’ll expect you shortly after first light,” Rosalind orders.
The Urr’ki Queen at her side nods agreement, calm and serene. Travnyk bows to her and I give the group a grateful smile. Rakkh leads me away, though I’m not sure where we’re heading, since it’s not toward the tent I share with three other women.
It doesn’t matter, because I’m just glad to be heading somewhere I can rest.
Somewhere with him.
