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I had underestimated Krexar, and in doing so, I had failed Riley.
The one person I had vowed to protect, the person whose trust I held most dear, had been put in danger because of my oversight.
It wasn’t the physical pain from the darts that hurt the most, but the realization of my miscalculation, and the weight of my responsibility.
As the darkness pressed in and the oxygen turned thin, the overwhelming feeling of shame clouded my thoughts.
Riley
“Ten…”
The familiar metallic voice echoed in my ears, jerking me out of the disorienting sensation of freefall.
I gasped, filling my lungs with the pod’s sterile air.
My eyes flew open to the familiar confines of our capsule.
It took a moment for the implications to sink in, and when they did, my first instinct was to check on Talan.
His chest heaved, his brilliant blue scales glinting under the pod’s dim lights.
I could see the raw gashes where the darts had struck him, the red of his blood contrasting starkly against the luminescence of his skin.
My fingers brushed against his wounds gently, assessing the damage.
“They’re just surface cuts,” Talan murmured, his voice raspy. His hand covered mine, pressing it reassuringly. “No poison.”
But my mind was racing.
How? How did Krexar dodge all of Talan’s intricate traps?
The sheer impossibility of it gnawed at me.
My initial confidence, bolstered by Talan’s prowess and our combined ingenuity, wavered for the first time.
Krexar was a force to be reckoned with, and now I was beginning to truly understand that.
I forced myself to peek into the adjacent pod.
There he was, Krexar, pacing like a caged beast.
His restless energy was palpable even through the barrier of the pods.
His scales shimmered with an impatient gleam, his eyes darting around, always calculating, always seeking.
His confidence was unnerving.
He looked ready to strike, to give chase, to begin the hunt anew the moment we touched down.
My heart rate quickened, not just from fear, but from a rising tide of anger.
His audacity, his arrogance, how he viewed us as mere prey in this twisted game — it fueled a new resolve in me.
I could feel Talan’s eyes on me, sensing my turmoil.
He squeezed my hand, urging me to look at him. “Riley, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “You havenothingto be sorry for.” Hot tears burned my eyes. “I just… I didn’t realize how formidable he is.”
