I stare dumbly at the orb.
What?
“Orb,” I cough, light-headed. “Do you know where Vruksha’s bunker is?”
The snorts are growing louder.
“I do not understand what a Vruksha bunker is. Please repeat.”
I reach up and cup the orb, bringing it to me. “Orb, is there a military base near my location? Anything?” I rub some of the dirt off its plastic frame.
“There’s the Caret Center two miles east and Eagle’s Rest base five miles north. We are currently within Eagle’s Technological Zone.”
A squeal pierces my ears, tearing my attention away from the orb. Rolling to my side, I look down the mountain.
I hear another cry as a second pig falls, tumbling hard against the rocks. There’s more now, at least a dozen, and they’re using each other to climb to my location. I drop the orb, letting it levitate, reaching for my stick before remembering that it’s gone. I find rocks instead.
Picking one up with both hands, I drop it on the nearest swine. The pig rears up and runs, skidding down the side before it falls off. It rights itself at the bottom and flees out of sight. I find another rock.
A bigger one.
I aim for a second pig. “Take that!” I shout, throwing it.
The rock smacks it directly on the head, killing the animal. It falls over, twitching.
I suck in, excited by my kill, before the pig closest to it stops climbing and tears into the corpse. I slink back over the ledge, disgusted and scared. Glancing up, there’s not much more I can climb without likely falling. There’s also not a lot of rocks left to throw.
I turn back to the orb. “Orb,” I hurriedly initiate, “is there anything near here that can help me get out of this situation?”
I reach over and pull another rock toward me as I wait for it to answer.
“I’m sorry. I do not understand your question.”
I close my eyes, press my brow to my knees. I don’t want to die here, not like this. I inhale and lean over the side, aiming my rock at the closest pig.
I miss.
I try not to cry. The remaining pigs, I count eleven now that the one that fled has returned, are between me and safety. I don’t have enough rocks left for half of them…
“Orb. Help me. Please, help me.”
I’m not expecting a response. I gather the remaining rocks to my side, preparing to die fighting. I can’t even kick the pigs off the ledge if they get close… my feet...
“Sending help to your location.”
Tears fill my eyes at the words.
“Help will be arriving shortly,” it says.
My fingers curl into my palms. I can scarcely hope that what the orb says is true; I don’t know what help is left to be had. But as I watch the pigs climb, trampling each other to reach me, a bang goes off, and blood hits my face.
I startle, shocked.
I don’t move as I’m drenched in the sounds, hearing shots go off one after another. The pigs scream and squeal. I fall onto my back, listening to the sweet sound of gunfire. Because that’s what it is: gunfire. I would know it anywhere.
“Female!” a voice roars, startling me further.
Vruksha?
I twist to my side. “Vruksha!” I scream. But all I see is red. Everything is red.
A bath of blood and pig gore.
Something moves through it, sliding up the ledge at stunning speeds. I call out, near delirious when Vruksha’s striking face fills my vision. It’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. I immediately start sobbing.
I grab him as he reaches for me, planting my face into his chest. His smell envelops me, and I sob harder. His scent immediately starts numbing the pain.
“Sssshhhh, female, sshh.” He gathers me into his arms. “You’re safe now.”
I gasp through tears, rubbing my face against him. “I thought you were dead.”
“As long as you’re alive, female, I’m alive. I’ll always be looking for you.”
He carries me away from the mountain, the blood, and the pigs.
Eighteen
A Naga’s Plea
Gemma
I wake to crackling and the smell of meat. My body curls deeper into the soft warmth that’s gathered around me. I don’t want to move. All I want to do is remain here, where I know it’s safe. In my dream, I was standing in a quiet, undecorated apartment, staring at paints I longed to use.
My belly roils, howling from prolonged hollowness. I groan and cling to the fur gathered around my mouth.
“Wake, female, and eat.”
I open my eyes to Vruksha holding a spit with meat hanging off it. Smoke rises from the meat.
I turn over and vomit, hacking up air. Vruksha gathers my hair and holds it away from my face. I cough until my empty stomach stops churning. I shake, barely able to hold my body upright.
Rising slowly from the furs, Vruksha helps me into a sitting position. He places the meat at my mouth, and I nearly gag again. I cup his hands to steady them and take a bite anyway, sinking my teeth into crisp perfection.
Meat this fresh, this good is rare, even for someone who works on the bridge of a warship. It’s for the rich and the planet dwellers who refuse to give such luxuries up. I tear into it after the first bite, not stopping until I finish.
I hope it’s one of the pigs who tried to eat me.
Vruksha pulls the spit away when I’m done, otherwise, I probably would’ve eaten it too.
“Thank you,” I say.
He hums and slips away, returning soon after with a cloth. I wipe my face and hands, and flinch from the cuts there.
“You are feeling better,” he says.
Am I? I glimpse the space around me, recognizing the inner shell of the bunker. But I’m
