The Two Sides of a Sword

Chapter Six

Aley collapsed on the pile of blankets, exhausted. She had been screaming and kicking the door for a good five minutes, but no one even passed by the door on the other side. They weren't coming back.

She drew up her knees and rested her aching head on them. Hot tears gathered in her eyes, accompanied by a shuddering breath. Rocki is going to die and there isn't anything I can do about it. I shouldn't think like that ... Maybe the valicara will keep her alive and try to kidnap me. But maybe they'll kill Rocki just to keep the sariun from winning. What if they do kill her? What if I never see her again? Her jaw quivered. What about Mom and Dad? They don't know what's going on either. We're just gone. There's no way they'll ever find us. We're going to be stuck here if we survive the war. Maybe they'll take us home if we end everything. I really want to go home. A sob jumped from her throat, echoing slightly around the room.

She let her fears overtake her. The fear of Rocki's death; her own life; aliens; a war—The thoughts circuiting her brain made her heart pound and tears come in heavily. Her head was hot and throbbing, her wings uncomfortably sore, but she dared not take the medicine Tavl had supplied. There were too many things about it she didn't know.

She gave herself a long, hard cry before finally pulling herself together. I'm going to figure out how to rescue Rocki. I have to.

Her eyes landed on the blade still embedded in the wooden floor. The blade that had come from her body. It was long, thin, and plain, but clearly very sharp. She had seen similar blades come from the sariun during the fight where they lost Rocki.

As if I needed something else to let me know that I'm not really human. Her jaw clenched. She turned over her right wrist, staring at it. There isn't any mark. No bleeding or scar. Where did that freaking blade come from?

She heard footsteps.

Her head snapped up as someone knocked on the door. Xinn opened it warily, eyes darting around before landing on her. "Savioress. How are you feeling now?"

She rubbed under her eyes, sure he would be able to see how swollen they were. "The same as before," she said bitterly. "What do you want?"

"I've brought you the water you requested and something to eat."

She looked away, crossing her arms. "I don't want anything from you."

He took a few steps in, closing the door behind him. She could see now that he bore a tray ladened with food. "Is it less of a crime if I am merely the one delivering it and not the cook?"

"I don't want anything from you or your alien people," she practically snarled.

He raised an eyebrow. "You do want to get your sister back, correct?" he said coolly.

"Yes, of course. That's what I've been telling you."

"Then I advise you keep up your strength and eat, Savioress." He crouched, setting the tray in front of her. His eyes locked onto hers.

Aley frowned. "Don't call me that." Dang it, he's right though. She forced herself to grab some bread-looking thing, tearing it open to peer inside.

"You don't wish for me to call you by what you are?" His voice was languid and pleasant, as if he were having a conversation with a familiar acquaintance.

"It's weird. It would be like me calling you "alien" all the time. Call me Aley, or Aleyis, or nothing at all." She pulled off a small piece of the bread and popped it into her mouth before she could think any harder about it. It tasted like charcoal and pine trees, which was an odd flavor considering the trees here definitely weren't pines. Regardless, it was gross.