My brain is a bit foggy, and I’m struggling to remember why I hurt so bad. Slowly, I open my eyes. It’s not as easy as I expect it to be—as it’s supposed to be. God, it feels like my lashes are crusted and stuck together with some kind of gross, gritty substance. After exerting far more energy for such a small task, I manage to get it done. Almost immediately I wish I hadn’t. The sun is a blinding, blurry mass overhead. I slam my eyelids closed and jerk my head to the side. Big mistake. One that makes me whimper in agony.
“Be careful. You do not want to injure yourself further.”
That voice is new. Once more, I peel my eyes open and search out who spoke. I guess I wasn’t imagining him. Wait, this isn’t the same one. This is like a miniature version of him. I blink slowly a few times—squeezing my eyes tight—but he doesn’t disappear. Instead, he cocks his head.
“Is there something in your eyes, female?”
“Elodie.” My name falls stupidly from my lips in a harsh sound. Even harsher than what came from the slender and young—I think—alien kneeling next to me.
“What is this word you speak?”
I try again, but have to clear the roughness from my throat. God, my mouth is so dry. “Elodie. It’s my name.”
“Elodie,” he repeats or at least I think he does. It doesn’t come out quite the same, but I suppose it’s close enough.
“That’s me. What’s your name?” Am I talking to a real being or is he merely a hallucination?
He glances up and to the right. I follow his line of sight and suck in a harsh breath. Standing over me is the larger version of the alien. He’s massive and imposing with his oil-slick black skin shimmering in the sunlight. Even more so with the beady black eyes that stare down at me with an intensity that sends a shiver running down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“You may give her your name.”
Another shiver hits, but this time it’s from the rumble of his voice vibrating through me. Okay, so not a hallucination. I’d read once about some phenomenon called frisson where music and song could give some people goosebumps. While thistowering alien dude—I’m assuming his gender—isn’t literally singing, there’s something about how he speaks that makes my eardrums tingle.
“I am called Gannen.” I flinch slightly, because I’d somehow forgotten the kid. He glances back to the elder version of himself. “My gogo is called Ortak.”
What the hell is a gogo?
I shift, and agony unlike anything I’ve ever experienced pierces me. Or my leg, rather. The one I couldn’t feel, but sure as fuck feel now. The pain is excruciating. I think I might be sick, except being sick means moving and if I move again, I might pass out. Black spots already swim in my vision. Shit, maybe I should if it would make this pain go away.
“Elodie, you must not move,” Gannen commands in a strong enough voice to grab my attention. “Gogo, we must hurry.”
“I am nearly finished.” He—Ortak—kneels down again at the opening of what I’ve come to realize is a fucking hole in the ground.
I still have no memory of falling into it. Unless I was pushed? I’m still in pain and my brain throbs when I try to think too hard. The agony flowing through me isn’t helping. A loud thud comes from close by and I manage to open my eyes once more. Ortak squats. Gannen mirrors his pose. I’m swarmed with fear of what they’re going to do to me.
“You need a healer,” the elder alien says. “There is a human one in the Tavikhi village we will take you to, but we have to get you out of this trap first. Your leg is twisted in an unnatural way. It will be painful to move you, but if you remain down here, you will die.”
Well, that’s grim as fuck.
“Do you understand my words, female?”
“Elodie.” I don’t know why I’m insisting Ortak knows my name.
He dips his chin. “Elodie.”
Like Gannen’s, his pronunciation isn’t quite right, yet I like the way he says it.
“Here.” He shoves a piece of hard leather in my face. “Bite down on this.”
I’m wary to do what he says, but I open my mouth enough for Ortak to slip the thing between my teeth. He reaches for me and the moment I’m lifted off the ground and my leg turns with the movement, a muffled scream explodes from behind the leather. I grind my molars against the gamey tasting material and when I can’t take the pain any longer, my vision goes dark.
Cool liquid hits my lips and I suck it down, desperate for the relief it provides despite the gross bitter flavor that accompanies it.
“Easy now,” a soft, feminine voice coaches. “There’s plenty more. We don’t want you getting sick by drinking too much too fast.”
I comply even though part of me begs that it’s not enough. Every single part of me hurts. There’s a vague memory trying to push its way to the front of my brain of a large alien with shimmery greenish-black skin and coal eyes that stared almost into my soul. A memory of a rough, guttural voice that settled deepinside my chest. A small, young alien who mirrored the larger’s image.
“Elodie, my name is Sage. I’m a healer here in the Tavikhi village. Are you able to open your eyes?”
