Page 38 of When Eden Falls

I’d tried radioing Rooke yesterday evening but Kobe had picked up. Rooke had gone to dinner with Havav, alone. The thought had spiked my anxiety, probably instigating the dream. Rooke alone with Havav surrounded by armed guards? How safe were we here even without the daunting announcement that there were primally crazed psychopaths walking around?

I shook my head and walked out onto the balcony. The ground was still wet from the rain fallen during the night. I glanced at the beach and land surrounding the fortress, scanning for signs of Igknamai. I saw none…but…in the corner of my eye…

Up on the clifftop to the left, silhouetted against the pink glow of the brightening sky, a lone figure atop a horse sat motionless, almost picturesque. It looked identical to the one Rooke and I spotted a few days ago. Was it an Akquarian? A part of a scouting or guarding party perhaps?

I peered closer, trying to block out the morning haze fromdistorting my vision. If I wasn’t mistaken, the figure was looking towards the fortress, towards me.

“Who are you?” I whispered to myself. And as if they detected my attention, the horse and rider turned, disappearing beyond the clifftop.

I stood there for a while, gazing in the wake of the rider, trying to piece my thoughts together. Whoever it was, I felt drawn to them. Intrigued.

Yuska appeared a few minutes later. “Havav has requested your presence today,” she called to me through the archway. “I have an appropriate dress ready for you to wear.”

Luckily, the dress was far more conservative than the one I wore to dinner. I felt comfortable with the slashed neckline and long, tight sleeves. The hem of the dress brushed the floor, the shimmering green material felt soft and warm.

Yuska escorted me down the spiral stairwells to a part of the fortress I had not seen before. Zamya had checked my temperature beforehand, noting it was no different from my previous stats a few days ago. To be honest, I had no idea where my cycle was. Space travel always interfered with it, slowing the process. Now that we were on Earth, I assumed my body may start reacting in the same way it did on Allura, but when, I had no idea.

Following Yuska down a corridor of ornate walls and glassless windows, we approached a double door, guarded by two of Havav’s men. They opened a door each, neither taking notice of me, calming my paranoia of what Zamya explained yesterday. But a part of me chuckled at the thought. As if any of these males would find me attractive, Tektrasc or not? To them, I was just a strange human with dark hair and weird eyes.

Yuska opened another door, revealing a wide, empty corridor with a number of closed doors to the right. At the far end, a large, oval window looked out onto the beach and headland beyond.

“If you wait here,” Yuska said, gesturing to a low chair to one side, “your commander will call you in shortly.”

Passing her a grateful smile, I watched her leave the way we came in. Ignoring the plush chair, I walked towards the windowopening at the far end. The sun was rising higher in the sky, the breeze was warm but refreshing. Sea birds circled the sky above the ocean, their calls challenging the sound of the waves. But my attention was drawn to the illuminous yellow and orange object laying at the edge of the sea, being tackled by three large Igknamai.

The object was our life raft. It must have been dragged in by the strong tide. From the way the beasts were shredding at the material, it brought back memories of the mutilated bodies we’d found on the scouting ship…and Sym. Dear Sym. Mauled to death by those terrorising demons.Demons of Paradise, they were called. Very fitting indeed.

“Savage beasts, aren’t they?”

I jumped at the low, foreign accent close behind me. Whirling ninety degrees, I foundCaptain Blue Capestanding in the corridor, barely a metre away. He was gazing over my head, towards the Igknamai outside. Where he’d appeared from, I had no idea.

“I’d say savage is a far too polite a term to describe them.”

His crystal blue eyes met mine and I saw a hint of a smile. I glanced back to the view, observing the creatures who appeared to be fighting with one another over the piece of deflated rubber. “What are they doing?”

“Calling dominance before they feast.” He appeared beside me, still surveying the scene. He was tall, far taller than Oz even, and just as powerful. His gold cuirass armour glistened in the morning light. I contemplated how much of his armour exaggerated his physique, but judging by the thick set muscle and bulging tendons along the exposed part of his arm, I doubted the outline was anything but a good representation.

His facial features were more pronounced than most other Akquarians. The bridge of his nose was higher, the angle of his chin stronger. Apart from the scar across his chin, even his pale skin held less of a bluish tinge. If I wasn’t mistaken, he looked almost human. It was only the long white-blonde hair and elongated canines that claimed him to his Akquarian lineage.

I pulled my attention back to the Igknamai. “Do they eat everything?” I asked.

“Not everything, no. They leave grass, rock, sand, wood untouched. But crops, low lying plants and shrubs are devoured, along with any animal…any living being.” He looked down at me. “Since your kind arrived here, the Igknamai have found a new taste for the materials you brought with you. Tell me, what is it they’re eating?”

“That’s rubber, coated in a composite plastic. Our ships are made of a metal compound, also coated in composite.”

“Artificial materials?”

“Yes.”

“Their appetite has certainly become insatiable since tasting it.”

We stood there for several moments, watching the Igknamai rip the life raft apart. It astounded me how they could consume such materials without any ill affect.

“You will be safe here,” he said softly. “They can’t touch you here.”

I squeezed my lips together. “We appreciate that, thank you.”

“Forgive me,” he shuffled on his feet awkwardly, turning towards me, “I’ve been in your presence a number of times now, yet I have failed to introduce myself. I’m Dybgofor—” He pronounced a word—a name I had no ability of reciting. The look on my face must have confirmed my bemusement and he laughed…actually laughed. A deep throaty rumble. His most human attribute yet. “But you can call me Dybgo.”