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“I remember everything you’ve taught me, Woofy.” the woman finally got the new shirt on, which was obviously too big for her. “Especially the tales of Artemis Serdana. And all those cautionary tales of never trusting men…”
“Is that what you think those were?”
“Weren’t they? She was killed by her own husband.” Serena began braiding her wet hair again.
“It not a tale of caution to never trust men, Scorpi. It’s a tale of how vulnerable we can be, putting our trust in the wrong people.”
He watched her collect her hair and make it seem like it’s no longer than her shoulders.
“Look, I know that you were telling me those stories, because you wanted me to know how dangerous it can be finding a man…” she said, tilting her head.
“Why do I get the feeling those stories made you deny all suitors?”
“Not all of them.” Serena’s face turned sour. “I was attacked at my own engagement party, remember?”
“I meant… before that. How many suitors have you denied?”
“Enough to make a very long list of duels that I’ve won.” the woman looked at the boulder, blocking the entrance. “How long is it until the sun is up?”
Wolfin took a moment to think, then sighed:
“Grab your things. Time for you to meet Dalilah.”
Serena frowned in surprise, not knowing that there was someone else around the caverns.
As soon as she was ready to leave, Wolfin set the boulder aside, freeing the dark passage leading out.
“How much do you trust me?” he suddenly asked Serena, who was looking into the dark with a frown.
“That’s a tricky question… Still hadn’t decided on that. Why?” Serena tilted her head, meeting Wolfin’s gaze.
The man chuckled and took a few steps back, entering the thick darkness that surrounded the tunnel. Serena saw his eyes turn from pitch black to very faint shimmering gold and lavender and remembered how she loved seeing those eyes checking in on her every night when she was little.
“Right…” the woman gritted her teeth in a moment’s hesitation. “One of the reasons you were my bodyguard was your unique mutation.”
“So… how much do you trust me?”
“Depends on what you are about to do.”
The man stepped back into the light and showed at the leather straps on his back that were part of an intricate set of belts and straps to hold all his various weapons that he carried.
“You grab onto the strap and follow me. I don’t want to take a torch for many reasons, one of them being Dalilah. She’s got a temper when it comes to fire.” he said.
“And the lights here?” Serena nodded to the torches.
“I’ll put them out, if you are ready to trust me in the dark.”
Serena took a few deep breaths, before nodding silently. Wolfin went over the cavern, putting out the torches and sconces one by one, until there was only one left – next to the exit. As he put it out, he was looking at Serena. The woman couldn’t help but close her eyes for a few seconds, forcing down he irrational fear that crawled into her soul in the pitch darkness that surrounded her.
“Still afraid of the dark, little Scorpi?” she heard Wolfin chuckle.
“No.” she replied, trying to hide her true thoughts. “I was waiting for you to attack me. Easier to hear the opponent, than try and see through the dark.”
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the two glowing eyes of her past mentor right in front of her.
“Don’t sting.” the man chuckled, carefully taking her hand and turning his back to her, placing her palm on his shoulder. “Grab on.”
As he let her hand go, she traced the strap to the middle of his back and clasped her fingers around the leather, realising the extremely vulnerable position she was placing herself in.
“Ready.” she said, hearing her voice crack just a little and hoping Wolfin didn’t notice.
The man silently made a step forward and she followed him, quickly adjusting her steps to his pace. He walked calmly, slowly, without stopping, and she felt him turn from time to time, understanding that either he really was taking her out of the underground maze of the tunnels, or… he could be making her disoriented.
However, she soon felt a whiff of fresh air coming from ahead and this made her relax just a little bit. They walked on, and Serena felt herself becoming uncomfortable with the faint sounds of the caves surrounding them. Each drop from afar, and each quiet screech from some tiny creature under her feet made her tense up every time.
And then, she heard the sudden growling rumble, seemingly coming from right beside her. She darted back and to the side, immediately arming herself – a gun in her right palm and a blade in the other. Pressed with her back to the rocky wall of the tunnel, the woman gritted her teeth, waiting for the growl to repeat to know where to shoot, but instead she suddenly saw the two glowing eyes looking at her through the pitch dark.
“Lower your weapons, Serena.” Wolfin said very quietly. “Ignore the growl.”
Feeling her teeth gritting, she didn’t lower her weapons, still trying very hard to see a single sign of the danger she sensed in the dark. A minute passed, and she heard a heavy sigh and a warm palm lay on her wrist, gently pushing the hands down.
“Lower your gun.” the man repeated.
“But…” Serena fell silent, seeing the glowing eyes looking at her calmly.
“Please. Trust me.”
Serena felt conflicted, though slowly allowing him to lower her hands.
“What the fuck is that thing?” she hissed, hiding her sudden anxiousness behind anger.
“You’ll see soon enough. She’s quite friendly.” Wolfin smirked.
“She?!”
“Come on.” Wolfin slightly squeezed her wrist. “Sheath your weapons. We’re almost out.”
Serena knew that he saw the total wreck that she was at the moment – panicked and tense. He must have seen it – after all, his eyes could see in the dark. She forced down her comment and calmed her breathing, sheathing her blade and then, with a few seconds of thought, the gun.
“Good.” Wolfin seemed to be happy she listened to him.
Serena felt his hand on hers again, putting her palm on his shoulder once more. Gritting her teeth, the woman traced the lining of the straps to the one on his back once more. This time her grip was harder.
“I feel you trembling…” Wolfin’s tone seemed teasing. “Are you afraid?”
“Shut up!” Serena hissed at the man as he continued his way.
Soon she saw the darkness parting, giving way to the dim light coming from the outside, and, finally, released the leather strap on Wolfin’s back, feeling more confident. She glanced behind her, but found no indication of anyone being there. Still, she increased her pace, pushing through Wolfin and walking out into the dim rays of the sun that was only rising on the horizon.
She felt the suffocating sensation of the caverns dissipating, and calmed her nerves, finally seeing the outside. Stopping a few steps from the entrance to the tunnels, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Wolfin leaning down to pick up a stone that fit perfectly in his fist. The woman slowly turned to face him, understanding that he could be plotting to knock her out with it, throwing it at her, but the man looked at her, smiled and leaned over the rock wall next to the entrance with his back, knocking three times with the stone on the wall next to him.
Serena tilted her head, not understanding what he was doing, when suddenly a sound of someone – something – moving came from within the dark tunnels. The woman frowned, not understanding the strange mix of shuffling and scratching that came from inside. The sound grew louder with each second, until Serena saw a gigantic creature bursting from the dark.
The smooth, crème-coloured chitin body, consisting of a multitude of sections, dozens of thick legs, moving fast and allowing the creature to grasp at the smallest holds in the coarse rocks around it, this titan of a centipede jolted out and onto Serena in a blink of an eye – which the creature had six.
As the head of the creature darted towards her, Serena managed to catch the spiky mandibles and, as the creature screeched, pulling her up from the ground, pushed at the neck of the thing with her legs, not allowing the monster to shred her body with the sharp ends of its legs.
“Dalilah! Down!” Wolfin shouted.
Serena felt the creature freeze, and saw the back pair of its eyes slowly look behind it, while the other four eyes were fixated on the woman.
A low, rumbling growl emanated from the throat of this immense creature, and the centipede lowered down, her smaller mandibles clicking against each other. Serena shot a quick glance at her holster, and the creature hissed, ramming the woman’s back into the ground.
“Dalilah!” Wolfin’s voice sounded closer and more stern. “Let her go, now!”
Serena felt her legs shaking under the pressure of the gigantic body, but the centipede slowly leaned back, watching the woman closely.
“Serena, let go.” the man approached, running his palm on the side of the centipede.
The woman glanced at him and saw him nod. Returning her eyes to the foul muzzle of the rumbling creature, Serena slowly let go of the mandibles, still holding her hands up to catch them again if the creature attacks her once more.
“Good girl…” Wolfin scratched the centipede on its forehead.
The creature rumbled – this time it was softer – and leaned into the man, allowing him to pet it.
“See?” the man chuckled. “She’s friendly.”
Serena allowed herself to fall back to the ground, relaxing her muscles and catching her breath.
“Friendly… you fucker!” she exhaled.
Chapter 7. SS Axathaal
“Hunter, we are being hailed.” Lyssa’s voice threw the man out of bed in a matter of a split second.
“Put it through!” Hunter saw the screen coming to life and walked over to it, seeing the face of a man he would rather not have seen ever again.
“Hunter!” Lindon Dorn Gray-Linn greeted the man with a nod.
“Lindon.” Hunter returned the polite nod, feeling his teeth gritting.
“Your ship notified me that your captain is… not aboard?”
“We’re on a job, Lindon. She’s out.”
“Perhaps, we can be of help to each other then. I have a job here as well.” Lindon tilted his head to the side. “Let’s meet man to man and have a conversation like civilized people?”
Hunter felt his hand turning to a fist.
“Fine.” he said, not really wanting for Lindon to get involved.
“Your ship or mine?”
“Don’t care.”
“Yours it is then. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Lindon nodded again and the screen turned off.
“Lyssa!” Hunter grabbed his shirt from the seat in front of the office table, where the screen stood.
“I have run the scanners again, Hunter. Still no sign of Serena anywhere in our vicinity.”
“Any thoughts?” the man dressed up, making himself presentable for the Veluthian captain who was about to visit.
“I suspect she might have lost her communication device.” the AI sounded calm. “However, there is a possibility that the sandstorms might have impacted the communication between the ship and her earpiece.”
“Fuck!” Hunter felt anger rising once again and forced it down. “Keep trying!”
“Of course.”
The man walked off, leaving the captain’s quarters, and heading towards the back of the ship to meet Lindon. His earpiece came to life and Cipher’s voice came through:
“Hunter? Is everything alright?”
“No. Serena’s still nowhere to be found and this Veluthian fucker wants to talk.” Hunter felt frustrated. “It’s been six days! Tell me that you have good news for me?”
“I’ve spoken to our informant and he said Serena hadn’t contacted him yet.”
“Shit!”
“You think something might have happened?”
“Cipher!”
“I know, I know. We’ll keep trying… Keep me updated to what the fucker says, alright?”
Hunter switched off without replying, walking up to the airlock door and already seeing Lindon waiting on the other side. As soon as the door slid open, Lindon bowed politely and smiled:
“Hunter. A pleasure to see you, good man.”
“Likewise, Lindon. What brings you to this distant planet?”
“Business. I’ve been sent to investigate a certain number of disappearances of Veluthian men and women around these parts.”
Hunter felt a wave of fear grasping his back with a shockwave:
“What?”
“Imagine my surprise seeing two Veluthian ships right here…” Lindon tilted his head. “You look disturbed. Is everything alright? When will Serena be back? I would like to speak to her.”
