“Okay.” Trisha said thankful the horrible cramping was gone. “We need to finish covering the shuttle then move out. I would like to put a couple of miles between us and the shuttle before it gets dark. We will need to find shelter as well.”
“There are the remains of the small colony to the east about a half days hike.” Terac started to say but stopped when Trisha shook her head.
“No, that is the second place Raffvin would look. Or at least it would be if I was tracking someone.” Trisha said. “We need to do the unexpected. There will be plenty of places where we can find shelter, even if we have to build it. We need to move as carefully as possible. We will lay out some false trails towards the abandoned settlement to throw off anyone looking for us. Do you have a holovid of the moon?” Trisha asked. “I can look at it while you two finish covering the shuttle.”
Terac nodded handing Trisha a device. “Tap the screen. You’ll see where it will project a holovid of the moon’s surface.”
Trisha smiled her thanks and moved towards the shade. She sat down gingerly under the trees near the packs she set out earlier. Looking over the holovid, Trisha zoomed in studying it carefully. To the southwest was a set of small mountains. There were thick forests between the meadow where they landed and the small mountains. A river cut through the center. Trisha glanced up at the trees. There were not as tall as on Valdier or nearly as thick but they would provide some usage for moving above the ground. When Kelan came for her, he would know to look for clues. She showed him the signs her dad taught her to leave, Native American symbols, so he could follow her without anyone else knowing. She would leave the cryptic messages for Kelan. She didn’t have a single doubt he would come for her.
Once Terac and Jaron were finished covering the shuttle, they sealed it tightly and headed towards Trisha. The plan was to start towards the abandoned settlement leaving obvious tracks. After two hours, they would ‘disappear’ and work their way north, then circle around back to the southwest towards the mountains Trisha picked out. They would rest once each hour for ten minutes. Terac and Jaron both argued it was too much for Trisha in her condition but she promised she would stop and rest more often if she felt even the slightest twinge. Neither was happy but they bowed to her determination. Setting off, they moved at a steady pace. Trisha observed her environment for clues to both hostile plants or animals and helpful ones as they moved through the thick forests. Trisha left a mark indicating where she was hiding her first cryptic message as they entered the forest. She hoped Kelan would find it and remember the symbols she was using so he could track her.
Kelan's mouth firmed into a straight line as he looked at the image his symbiosis was showing him. The old Class Two freighter and a newer Curizan warship were stationary not far off the second moon of Quitax. He would need to be use caution coming in. Fortunately, unless either ship contained technology he was unaware of, they would be unable to detect his symbiotic fighter. It was a living creature and not susceptible to their radar equipment. It was another advantage the Valdier had over the Curizans and Sarafin.
“Take us around to the far side of the moon in a moment.” Kelan told his symbiosis. “I do not want to chance them having technology we are unaware of, especially after what happened outside our living quarters.”
Kelan could feel the rage that ran through his symbiosis at the reminder of the death of the new symbiosis forming as part of Trisha’s protection and the destruction of his two guards’ symbioses. Kelan knew the information had already been sent on to the Symbioses Queen. Even now, he could feel changes occurring in his symbiosis as if it was evolving to another level. He would investigate it once Trisha was safely at his side and they were on Valdier. Kelan closed his eyes for a brief moment drawing a picture of Trisha into his mind as he thought of how close he was to seeing and touching her again. He refused to believe anything else was a possibility. Once she was by his side again, he would bind her to him and never let her out of his sight again. Kelan’s dragon rumbled in agreement.
Want my mate,
he growled out softly.
Kelan’s eyes snapped open. He needed to find out if Trisha was on board one of the ships or on the moon’s surface. He reached for the small device his brother Trelon gave him before he left the
V’ager
. Trelon used some of the modifications his mate devised when she was messing with their communications systems to improve intercepting signals at varying ranges. Trelon developed a handheld device using Cara’s calibrations and some of the crystals. Trelon hoped it would allow them to ‘listen in’ on transmissions sent between two warships. He tested in on some of their small warships already. Kelan set the device and waited to see if he could find out any information about his mate. After several moments, a transmission signal was picked up.
“
New Kingdom I
, this is the
Tri-twin
. Request for open communications.” A deep voice said. Kelan’s eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened as he listened to the transmission being sent from the freighter to the Curizan warship.
“This is the
New Kingdom I
. Authorization approved for communications. Request current status report on the female.” A disembodied voice replied to the
Tri-Twin’s
request.
“Twelve men confirmed dead. No sign of the female. Current hunters are in progress to return to ship.” The
Tri-Twin
replied. “Repeat. Twelve of our men confirmed dead. Eight from the hunting parties sent down, four confirmed remains from the shuttle. No confirmation of the female’s body or of the other two missing men.”
“
Tri-Twin
…” The disembodied voice started to reply before a deep snarl broke through the transmission. Kelan would recognize the voice of his uncle anywhere.
“Send more men down! Find me that bitch and bring her to me. I want her alive so I can tear her heart out while she is watching. Find the other two men that are with her and kill them as examples for not following orders.” Raffvin snarled.
“Sir, the moon’s predators are extremely dangerous after dark fall.” A new voice from the freighter replied. “We…”
“Captain, I suggest you do what you are told or I will blow that tub you call a freighter to the moon’s surface to join the others, do I make myself clear?” Raffvin bit out coldly. “Find the female.” The transmission signal ended.
Kelan fought back a wave of relief at knowing Trisha escaped followed by terror at knowing she was down on a moon known for its savage predators. Kelan sent a command for his symbiosis to take them to the far side of the moon. They would circle back around. He would focus on finding where the shuttle they were talking about landed. Trisha would have left him some type of message.
Several hours later, Kelan stood in the dark watching the small group of men. It appeared there were only four hunters left alive. All four shifted nervously around a small fire peering out into the darkness. Kelan’s keen eyesight could pick out the partially covered shuttle. The covering of branches over it screamed Trisha. Kelan let a cold smile curve his lips. He motioned for his symbiosis to shift into a Werecat. He would kill three of the men immediately saving one for questioning. He listened intently for a few minutes so he could determine which one would give him the most information in the least amount of time.
“Is the captain sending anyone else down?” One of the men asked nervously as he pushed more wood into the fire.
“No.” Came the short response from a huge man with several scars across his face. “Bastard can’t afford to send any more. He’s lost half his crew. If he sends any more he won’t be able to handle the freighter.”
Another man spit in the flames. “He left us to die in this stinking hole. Should have taken the credits and ran at the last spaceport. That other bastard is crazy. He’s going to get us all killed.”
The last man stood up and stretched. “Yes, well, I plan on having a piece of the bitch’s ass before I die. She is a fine looking specimen. I’ll enjoy listening to her scream out my name before I hand her over to Raffvin.” The other men laughed as the man imitated what he would do to Trisha.
A low growl escaped Kelan’s throat at the threat to his mate. He let his dragon’s fury wash over him as he moved out of the shadows. All of the men jumped to their feet as the low growl rumbled through the dark meadow. Two of the men started to raise their laser rifle, they never made it. Bio, in the shape of a massive Werecat struck with deadly precision, slicing through skin, tissue, and bone severing both of the arms holding the rifles. Screams ripped through the air as Kelan breathed out a wave of dragon fire igniting the men on fire as Bio turned to the scarred-face man. The man who threatened to rape Trisha stumbled backwards away from his burning companions in horror. He turned and ran for the dark forests. Bio looked up with a hiss from where scar-face’s body lay twitching on the ground, the contents of his stomach spread out in a grisly, bloody twist of organs across the blood-soaked ground.
Kelan growled out in a low voice as he shifted back to his two-legged form. “He’s mine.”
Bodor pushed through the thick branches, ignoring the cuts and scrapes to his face and hands as he tried to get away from the creatures that killed the other men within a matter of seconds. He tripped several times and fell. The last time he fell he didn’t even bother getting up, he just started crawling until he was pressed against a large tree. He gasped for breath trying to still his racing heart so he could hear any sound. Pulling a long knife out of a sheath at his waist, he slowly stood up listening. The forest itself seemed to realize there was a predator fiercer than anything currently living on the moon. Bodor ran his sweaty palm down his pant leg. He strained to hear the slightest noise. He was about to slide back down against the tree when four gold arms wrapped around him pinning him to the tree.
Kelan stepped out of the dark shadows staring dispassionately at the man as the front of his pants turned dark and the rancid smell of urine filled the air. Kelan let one of his hands shift until the long, sharp claws of his dragon protruded where his own fingers had been. Bio, in the shape of a Pytheon, had one golden arm wrapped around the man’s mouth preventing him from screaming.
Kelan sent his symbiosis a brief command to release the man’s mouth. “Where is she?” He asked coldly.
“How the fuck do I know? Dead probably.” The man replied hoarsely. “Everyone who has been sent down to this miserable moon has died.”
“How long has she been here?” Kelan asked. He knew the longer she was on the moon the more likely it was she was not alive. Kelan drew a long, deep cut down the man’s face when he didn’t answer fast enough. “I won’t ask twice.” Kelan said softly.
Bodor whimpered as blood poured down his face, the metallic scent filling the air. “Four days…We’ve been searching for her for four days.”
Kelan looked at his claw for a moment before he drew it down the man’s other cheek. “Who are the men with her?”
Bodor started sobbing as pain and fear radiated out from him. “How the hell should I know? Wait…wait,” Bodor pleaded as Kelan pushed a claw into his shoulder. Gasping around the pain, he panted out. “They were supposed to stake her out so the predators would eat her alive. Raffvin wants her mate to find her as she’s being eaten. Please, please let me go. I’ve told you everything.”
Kelan rotated the claw listening as the man screamed in pain. “No, you haven’t. Was she harmed?” Kelan gritted out. He needed to know if the crew harmed his mate. If they had, he would hunt every one of the bastards down and kill them.
Kill them anyway.
His dragon snarled. Kelan felt Bio’s agreement wash through him as a flash of the dead symbioses flared in his mind.
“No…” Bodor whispered hoarsely. “…Not that I know of. The two bastards with her might have done something, I don’t know. What’s the bitch to you anyway?”
Kelan pulled the knife hanging uselessly from the man’s hand. He let his hand shift back until it was normal staring at it for a moment before he looked at the man again with flaming gold eyes.