The air inside the cave is cool and damp, tinged with earth and something mineral. This still freshness feels almost unreal after the chaos outside.
My pulse is still hammering in my ears, too loud, too fast, like my body hasn’t realized yet that we’re no longer being chased.
I let out a slow breath as I will myself to relax.
Moe is slumped against the cave wall. She lets out a weak laugh. “We actually did it.”
I nod, still breathless. “We did.”
We’re both looking at each other. I don’t know who smiles at whom first. But if I were to make a top ten moments of my life so far, this would be number one.
“We make a great team,” I say.
“See? I told you so. We make thebestteam.”
I stare at her, unable to look away.
She bends forward, her hands on her knees as she catches her breath. There’s dust streaked across her cheeks. Her hair is tangled from the run, and her clothes are streaked with dirt. She looks as I do—absolutely wretched.
But there is something that holds me captive. Her eyes. They’re so bright and alive, sparkling with vitality. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this.
The Moe I know is typically reserved. A little shy and mostly soft-spoken.But that wasbeforeshe followed me here. Before she showed me she’s not just a delicate female in need of gentle treatment.
I think in my attempt to please her and do everything for her I may have treated her a little too…carefully. Perhaps she’s always been this way but I never gave her the chance to show it to me. After all, she was always a little private and withdrawn back home. We did have conversations, but they were surface level.
This is different. Itfeelsdifferent. Perhaps it’s the life-and-death situations we shared that made us grow closer.
We shouldn’t have survived that. People far more experienced than us probably didn’t. And yet we did. Ourteamworkdid. We made a plan and we both executed it perfectly. Even when things deviated slightly from the plan, we worked together seamlessly to resolve it.
It’s not just that I had some abilities from the Zantrax, and thus could execute more difficult tasks. Without her brilliant ideas and thorough planning, I would have likely died had I attempted to do this alone.
Something settles in my chest at that realization.
As I look at her now, my pulse accelerates in a way it did not before. Whereas I liked and felt attracted to her in the past, it’s nothing like the simmering desire in my blood.
How the hell am I supposed to last another night with her?
I clear my throat and attempt to dispel those thoughts from my mind.
“We should prepare the parts of the Wilka here. I’m worried that if we leave we might be attacked by other beasts since they now know we are here.”
“I agree.” She nods. “You’re out of Zantrax, too, no?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should prepare as best as we can. These beasts are highly intelligent. I don’t want us to take any risks.”
I reach into the proto-realm. The Wilka’s body drops onto the cave floor with a heavy, lifeless thud.
The faint glow in its chest hasn’t disappeared entirely. It pulses weakly beneath its hide, like the last echo of a dying star.
Moe straightens and steps closer, drawn towards the odd light.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispers. “I almost feel bad that we killed it.”
“It is quite striking,” I agree. “You might want to look away if this makes you uncomfortable.”
I take out a saw, some knives and scissors.
