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20
SILAS
When I woke,it was in a state of utter confusion. At first, I couldn't quite piece together where I was. My memory was fuzzy and my whole body ached.
The ship crashing.
The thrashing of our bodies together on this hard, stony floor.
And the exhaustion.
The adrenaline must have finally worked its way out of my blood, because I was feeling every bump and bruise as if it were amplified a thousandfold. I'd heard rumors of Guardians surviving terrible storms, only to come through and realize they were clinging to life by a thread. Re'Utu's power had a way of warping our minds in the moment, wringing more out of us than we could have ever given of our own volition.
With a groan and a sigh, I rolled away from Anya, stretching my legs and arching my back against the floor to ease the knot that had formed there during the night. As I shifted, Anya made a garbled sound and clutched at my arm, trying to pull me back to her.
I pressed my lips to the soft skin behind her ear and whispered, "Keep resting. I'll be back."
She groaned another protest but allowed me to rise and step over her. I smiled to myself, marveling at her smooth skin and the peaceful expression on her face. It was so unlike the hard, frustrated woman I had met in the palace. Out here, I could see the kind of person she might have been if life hadn't handed her such a raw deal. At once, it occurred to me that she might have had a mate back on her home planet. Someone who was graced with that delicate smile and those warm eyes every morning. A flicker of jealousy lit up within me and I scoffed at my own ridiculousness.
I surveyed the land outside. Whatever time it was, the light was still dim, and what little I could see of the sky still appeared as dull and grey as it had when we escaped from the wreckage of my ship.
My stomach grumbled and I frowned. The world was still so quiet. No animals. Nothing to hunt. But we would have to eat, sooner or later. I wasn't even sure we were still on Ke'Thal, or if the storm had brought us to some new, hostile planet. As far as I knew, no Guardian had ever passed through a storm and lived to tell of it.
Shooting a regretful look over my shoulder, I made a decision. I could move faster without Anya. She'd be safer here, anyway, out of the wind and whatever other strange weather might turn up.
Taking one more long second to stretch and decide on a direction, I determined that the best place to start was at the top of the hill we were currently occupying. The higher I could get, the more I would be able to see, and perhaps I would be able to get my bearings.
I tried to move quickly, afraid that if Anya woke she would try to follow me. The going wasn't too hard, until I reached a sheer face near the peak that gave me pause. I paced back and forth, surveying the stone for the route least likely to end with me tumbling down the hill and making my injuries worse. Finally, I found a suitable path and began the slow, arduous climb, hugging close to the stone wall to fend off the worst of the winds stealing my heat, whisking it away from the surface of my skin and causing me to shiver, even through my scaly armor.
By the time I reached the crest and threw my upper body over the edge, my limbs were feeling like jelly. Between the cold and the soreness, I worried that I might have a difficult time getting back to Anya after all.
But when I rose to my feet and looked around, I felt all the breath go out of me and my blood run cold. This time, it had nothing at all to do with the weather.
Over the tops of the trees, I looked out across the landscape, letting it all sink in. I could see the hull of our ship, still sticking awkwardly out of the ground where it had landed nose-down. Beyond that, I was surprised to see the faint outline of the palace through the fog. We were not too far. That was promising.
But in the spaces between, the land was covered with dark scars undoubtedly left behind by the storm's fury.
I was filled with dual sensations in the wake of my discovery. First, relief. Relief that I recognized our surroundings and that we could find our way back without much trouble. But beneath that, there was something else. Sadness? Worry? What would it mean to go back?
Anya's words from the night before played through my mind. I felt a twinge of guilt at the way I'd dismissed her so easily. At the time, it had seemed absurd. We didn't know where we were, or if we could even survive. But faced with the reality of the palace and all of its twisted politics, the thought of running as far and as fast in the opposite direction became immediately appealing. A part of me wished I had never taken that oath, that I had found the courage to say no to my grandfather long before we ever came to this place. But it was too late now.
I turned a slow circle, looking out over the rest of the forest and the landscape. There wasn't much to see. The palace was like a tiny gem hidden among the tangled mess of a planet long overtaken by wilderness. It was the last standing stronghold in Re'Utu's kingdom, and it had come at a heavy price.
"Silas?Silas!"
I closed my eyes and sighed. Anya's voice rang out, bouncing off the rocks and breaking the stillness of the morning... no, not morning. Whatever time it was, it wasn't morning.
I heard a noise down below and leaned over the ledge just far enough to spot Anya's tiny form standing at the bottom, looking around with worry written all over her face.
"Silas!" she called again, cringing at her own echo.
"Up here," I called.
She whipped around, relief sweeping over her expression in an instant, and she ran to the rock wall, placing her hands and feet on it as if she meant to claw her way up it just like that.
"Stop. I'll be right down. Don't move."
Realizing that this was the more logical thing to do, she nodded and stepped back, wiping her hands on her robe.
Carefully, I lowered myself over the edge, trying to remember the steps I had taken to get up here. More than once, my feet slipped off narrow holds. When I got close, I pushed off the wall and let myself drop, bracing myself for the way my joints protested the jolt.
"So? What's up there?" she asked, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around me quickly.
I returned the gesture, reaching out to Re'Utu for what warmth I could find and using it to banish the worst of the shivering. I let my cheek rest against her head, savoring the scent of her hair, even as it carried the odors of smoke and sweat. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to let her go, but she was waiting expectantly.
She pulled away, eyes wide and searching as she held me at arm's length.
"Silas? What is it? What did you see?"
