Chapter 47 A Rescue or a Trap?

A destroyer flies out of the sky, and sees us before we can hide. A ball of fire is already above us, advancing quickly. All I think about is that I can’t take a direct hit by that thing, whether I’m equipped by an energy-absorbing parasite, or not… Last time it hit me I was at least inside of a ship. But there is no time to ponder this. I push Zumi to the ground and fall on him, ordering my parasite to protect us to its ability.

The ball falls within feet from us, and the scorching blast is all we need to get cooked to be a pretty good human\ederi meal, spiced up by the local crumbled granite, if these kribers care for a lunch...

The next moment I feel no pain or heat, but I see black. Which is understandable, as I must be dead already. This is it. What have I accomplished in my life, and why did it have to end in such a pointless way? And the talking stone lied all along, right?

I never close my eyes and I do not feel like I lost consciousness. I’m still here, just under something black. Zumi is under me, motionless. He is probably dead. Of all the people who wanted to kill him, it was up to a stupid wild kriber. Even more pointless and disappointing.

I raise my hand, and touch whatever it is, so black over me. It strikes my finger with a blast of energy and the surface goes from black to glowing bluish. Then it lifts, and I realize that we were covered by a creature with big long webbed wings.

“That was a close one. I had to combine my parasite with yours to absorb the energy from the blast. The good news is neither of our parasites need to feed for a month now.” Immaul smiles at my surprised face.

I get up, and turn Zumi by his shoulder, too afraid to know he is dead. But he opens his magnificent, beautiful eyes.

He groans quietly, and squints at the light. I notice small wrinkles all over his face. They were not there before. He must have been hit by some of the energy. I wonder if that affected the child…

“I had a vision.” Zumi says.

Good! Maybe the blast has finally administered a dose of reality in him, causing to see that he is now officially a persona non-grata on his native planet. Just face the music, dude. We’ll be OK on Earth. It’s not the first time it will have to harbor a fugitive alien!

“You will be forced to carry out the sentence.” Zumi adds, his face getting ashen, as he struggles to maintain his composure.

“Oh, no, you didn’t!!!” I growl, pull him up to his feet, and look up to Immaul for help.

He does not say anything, still glowing blue, as his parasite is busy consuming an enormous amount of energy from the fire ball. The sound of waterfalls suddenly fills my ears. I look at my hands, and see that I’m glowing the same bluish light. It feels ticklish, but not painful.

“You will have no choice, Demi. You are Leot’s creation, and you will follow his orders to execute the one he sentenced to die!” Zumi notices the glow, coming from me.

What is this sound I’m hearing? It’s not the waterfalls… Immaul and Zumi look at me, as if I have all the answers. Maybe, I do.

“Guys, I will tell you this.” – I say, looking sternly at both of them. “Nothing will make me kill my pregnant partner, whether he was condemned to die, or not. Calm down everyone, I have a plan. I just need to get in touch with my friends on Ashtarma! They will smuggle us to Earth, and it’s all going to be hunky-dory!”

“Demi, Zumi does not mean himself. He had a vision of you being forced to kill Kallitris.” Immaul sighs and looks up at the sky.

“I have to kill Kallitris?!” I yell more in frustration than surprise.

“I was condemned to die??” Screams Zumi more surprised than he should be.

“Oh, for Leot’s sake…” Immaul mumbles and shakes his head. “What is this signal I’m acquiring?”

Something is coming at us from the sky, and, really, I can’t handle another kriber attack. It’s a ship, and it is huge. I can see flashing lights dancing across its bottom. Well, whatever it is, we have no more defense. I feel the tight grip of Zumi’s hand. He exudes neurotoxin, making me dizzy with chemically-induced pleasure. I chase away the inappropriate feeling.

He is also watching the descending ship, but he seems to know more than me, because his face is alight with a smile. Going nuts, my friend? Right on!

The ship hovers ever lower, instilling fear in my soul. I grind my teeth in anger over so many obstacles and so much danger. It’s about time I just gave up. Seriously, I do feel abandoned by everybody.

Then a door in the bottom of the ship slides open, and a rope falls out of there, nearly hitting me in the head.

I watch the rope swing back and forth, still attached to the ship with its other end. I wonder at how were they planning to kill us with that? Or, maybe, they think so low of us, that they want us to just hang ourselves. Now, that’s a thought! Seems like an easy way out.

“Come on!” Zumi waits for the rope to fly by us one more time, and grabs it.

“What are we doing?!” I ask as loudly as I can, as the noise around us increases.

“Zumi forgot that you can’t pick up their communication. This is the ship from the Northern Shores that Verba sent for you guys. The ship is in disrepair, so it can’t teleport you, and they are too big to land on this platform.” Immaul appears in the air right by me.

Oh, I see! I catch the rope that feels really rough to the touch and the ship starts to move off. It is not easy to hold on to that rope at all! But Zumi is near me holding on to the rope with his tentacle-like boneless fingers with just one hand, and embracing me with the other.

His grip is enormously strong. It could be that even the bone structure in the rest of his body is not like human. Whatever it is, I feel safe, admiring my lover’s beauty, as he continues to smile, talking to the ederi on the ship in his head.

The rope swings, and I look down to the breathtaking sight – the precipice is right below us, with waterfalls all around, with sparkling water rushing down off the cliffs in endless, magnificent streams, just like on the videos taken by Ari. The faraway horizons of the planet of waterfalls beckon with unexplored beauty and it sure looks peaceful from here.

I do not enjoy the heart-stopping view for long – the wind picks up, and they try to reel us in, but too slow for comfort. We swing back and forth, and Zumi tells me to hold on for dear life. This is not the best rescue mission I’ve seen, and the guys do not know what they’re doing! They should’ve brought us aboard before taking off!

“They do not have any time.” I suddenly hear in my mind. “Another kriber attack is imminent.’

I know this voice. It’s the black stone. Essentially, it is Leot himself. Deep in my heart I freeze, because I’m afraid of him. He is too vast, too ancient, and too powerful for comprehension.

“An unfair law had to be broken for the civilization to be rebuilt. This is what you will say to them.”

Who? What? I can’t think clearly, and all I know is that I do not trust this voice. We continue to swing back and forth over the precipice, being slowly pulled up into the ship. The wind is blowing in our faces. It is fresh, bringing with it the moisture from the waterfalls, and Zumi looks at me with love regardless of everything that is happening around us.

“I need you to request the help of Kallitris.” – The voice continues.

A piercing sound penetrates all around, and to my dismay I see a ball of fire flying at us and falling into the precipice, barely missing the side of the ship. Another one is released by a destroyer, coming at us pretty fast from behind the clouds.

We finally get pulled up through the opening in the bottom of the ship. Some tall ederi helps us in, and the door closes. Immediately after that everything shakes. We must have taken a direct hit by that fireball I saw coming in, but this flying machine seems to be very sturdy.

The ederi leads us to the bridge of the ship. I recognize it as yet another one of my boyfriend’s ships. How many did he lose in that war?

There are at least thirty of the ederi waiting for us. They all wear their multicolored clothing looking surprisingly human, and yet they are not. As soon as we come in, all of them bow, and get on one knee. Verba appears, still transparent, but bright faced and confident.

“The prophecy has been fulfilled! You will save us all, Izumrud, we’re going to Crumbling Rose to do what has to be done!”