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“I’ve seen the archived drawings, JayJay. The silver pearl skin, the sacred linnea leaf markings…” He ran a thumb over the raised skin of my armband while his awed forehead ridge sank deeper into his head.
As the tube door clunked open, my heart jumped into a higher gear. If I’d had wings, my feet would’ve lifted off the ground, and my body would’ve floated alongside my elated mind. I hadn’t doubted the legitimacy of our bond, but hearing the reverence in Tuga’s voice made the truth even sweeter. Ginger had been right when she’d guessed we were true mates, like Geo and Makir.
Cool air greeted us in the dim pre-sun light. Dew dotted our boots as Tuga and I walked side by side to the temporary hoverbay.
“We must celebrate after we take care of business.” Tuga rubbed his well-shaped head with one hand, then shook it in dismay. “I wish to meet your female. Maybe your luck will rub off, though a life companion would be enough for me.”
A worthy male meeting my female? A guard by her side? I spun toward him. Fists clenched. Tuga didn’t live in a sono or share space with a bunch of young Rock Dwellers. His dwelling overlooked the Black Rocks of Nara, where the water sang down the lush valley side.
As my uncertainty built, a warm glow grew around my heart, and I closed my eyes, leaning into the sensation. An image of a gold shield spread, pulsing from my heart in growing circles until it encompassed my body and the doubt fled.
Tuga chuckled and backed up, hands raised before him. “Ah, I see the mating rage is true. I’ll wait until the bonding stage is complete. The records mentioned it could take weeks for some bonds to settle.”
Tuga carried on, “Though now I know why Devile almost ripped my head off, muttering about true mates. Then, out of nowhere, he’s sending me on a suicide mission straight into the monster’s lair. That is, if I don’t die on this beat-up machine first.” He strapped his bag to a borrowed hovercraft. “This backward dung heap plan has clearly been devised by someone who’s never encountered danger.”
We waited until the sun rose, but Devile never showed. When it came to taking action, Devile always made himself scarce. I pictured the lazy bastard, pillow under his thick skull, strategizing about how to claim the hellsna’s demise as his triumph while Tuga and I did all the work.
Ginger must have gone back to bed. In the back of my mind, her presence flickered, but I didn’t know the range of our connection or how it worked.
Tuga glanced at his wristport for the third time, but his tight jaw said it all.
“Devile hasn’t changed, then?” I pinged the entrance coordinates of the hibernaculum on the other side of the Starry Volcano to Tuga. “He’s still the same lying, deceiving RockDweller scum with wealth to waste and a bottomless desire for power.”
“That isn’t even the half of it, JayJay. Yagras has changed in your absence. The elite guard is no longer what it once was.” Tuga’s fist rose, and he slammed it into the saddle of the hovee in front of him, spraying the morning’s condensation over his skin. “If you came back, the supreme rulers would have no choice but to clear your name. The ancestors have spoken for you.” He waved his hand at me. “They’ve granted you a great gift.” His voice softened, and he unclenched his fist. “Then things could return to normal.”
I’d yearned for so long to return to Yagras and have my name cleared, but a female with long silvery-white hair and black bangs had me hesitating where I usually would’ve jumped in with both feet.
Tuga toyed with the bandolier that crossed his body and one shoulder. “After your banishment, the rumors started.”
I wanted to hear nothing of rumors about me. “Are you ready to bring these blanting beasts down?” I nodded toward my hovee and threw one leg over.
“Wait, JayJay…the rumors weren’t about you. You need to hear this. The rotation before Yula was attacked by a hellsna and died, she had given a gift to LenLen. She’d told LenLen that Devile had been pressuring her to mate against her will.”
I clutched the handlebars in a white-knuckled grip. “This is a twisted tale rife with deception and dishonor.” As younglings, LenLen and I had been inseparable. I rubbed over the scar on my thumb. A rock had sliced through my knuckle as we’d fallen from a vine while stalking a jungle cat. It had been many annums since I’d thought of LenLen.
Tuga smiled sadly and placed his fist on top of my shoulder. “You’ve always been blind to the worst in people, JayJay. There’s more. LenLen never recovered from losing Yula. I heard hetook the long, slow walk into the sea.” Tuga stepped back, head bowed, one arm crossed over his shoulder. “I know LenLen was from your district’s rearing group. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Loss turned to anger, and I lifted my head to face Tuga. “We must do something. Devile can’t ruin any more lives. My female is in danger. He’s trying to manipulate the mating bond in some capacity.”
“It’s not enough,” Tuga stammered, “but the guard have petitioned the supreme rulers with as much evidence as we’ve uncovered to clear your name and prove Devile’s unworthy of holding the representative title.”
The early dawn light ghosted through the morning mist in shafts of gold dust, as if the goddess Sola’s fingers were reaching out and touching us.
“You honor me with the time and effort spent on my cause, but we must clear our minds of this for now and prepare for the battle.”
Tuga nodded. “I follow you, as always, Lead Elite Guard.”
A moment later, the engine rumbled under my legs, and a warm weight nestled there, camouflaged, in my lap. The sooner I eliminate the threat, the sooner I can get back to Ginger.
The air warmed as we dipped below the volcano. Graneth grew in clumps between the sparse trees, and woodskies scattered in the downdraft wherever we passed. I breathed deeply, preparing my mind for the battle ahead. Nothing would get past me. Hellsna, be warned.
Tuga followed close behind, lining up his hovee beside mine beneath the cover of a boulder. The path the hellsna used to slither through the volcano opened a short distance away. Camouflaged, Nebula scurried up my arm when I rose from my bike.
“Will they have sheltered for the day?” Tuga asked.
There’d been no sign of them since the last one had plummeted to its death. On Yagras, Tuga would’ve been right. First sun approached—the time of day they usually avoided. “The Fires That Cleanse have devastated the landscape, but instead of eliminating life, it has transformed it. Expect the unexpected. The hellsna here do not shy from the sun’s light.”
Tuga opened the roll of fabric that housed the bloodroot fungus. “We’ll have to be careful with these.”
