To The Ends of The Universe (ONC 2024 Shortlister✔)

Chapter 11: The Hybrids

A pulsing heart echoed in her ears. Beep. Beep. Beep. Her eyebrows furrowed. Ursus? Her hands embraced air. Ursus! Her eyes flickered open. Light flooded her vision, causing them to snap back shut. A groan left her lips.

"You're awake." She turned to Etta who sat on the edge of her bed. "I was starting to worry."

"What happened?" Eileen glanced around. Where's Ursus?"

"He's alright." Etta's gaze flickered away. "He's resting."

The more Eileen stared at Etta, the more worried she became. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "You're hiding something from me."

Her eyebrow rose. "What?"

"I know you're hiding something from me! I can feel it." Eileen, grunting against the pain, started to ease herself up.

"Easy, Eileen! You're going to get Ursus riled up if you don't stop!" What? Eileen froze. What did she mean by that? Shaking her head, Etta sighed. "At least tell me how you're feeling?"

"I'm tired and sore."

"It seemed Ursus protected you from most of the debris." Of course he did. Ursus would give his life up if it meant protecting Eileen. And yet...something was different about him. She had never seen him act like that before.

"Well to bring you to speed, most of the fungus was wiped out in the explosion." Something cool pressed against her forehead. "Here, this lizard skin will help you cool off."

Blinking, Eileen released a stressed sigh. "If I wasn't exhausted, I would lose it at the thought of lizard skin pressing against my face."

Etta's lips twitch into a smile. "Sleep human."

Too tired to correct her, Eileen closed her eyes as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Rumbling, however, soon shook her awake. Is that...an earthquake? Throwing the covers off, she pressed herself down to the ground. The rumbling intensified, startling dragonflies and knocking over objects. It's vibrations coursed through her body. And just as quickly, it was over.

What...was that? Knocking announced an arrival. "You alright?"

"Yeah." She stood up. "Was that an earthquake?"

"Yeah," Pavel frowned. "That fungus dug a lot deeper than we thought. I've been tracking them, and they won't hurt the village. That being said, it's best to stay away from the cave until it's settled."

"Fine by me." I wouldn't mind staying far, far away from that place. "How's Ursus?"

At his name, Pavel hesitated. "He's good."

Her eyebrow furrowed. "And why do I feel like that's not really good?"

"He's fine, Eileen." Pavel pulled up the hologram of his vitals. "I'm watching his vitals right now through the tracker and everything seems steady enough."

"Enough?"

"Yes," Pavel sighed. "I...I need more data to be sure but there's something I want to talk to you both later about." She watched him clear the hologram. "But right now, he needs to rest more. You on the other hand should probably head out and explore. I know this place is much different from earth."

"Well, yeah we don't have giant dragonflies." She took a step forward and paused. Wait. She glanced down. A colorful scaly skin was wrapped around her ankle. "My ankle."

"Lizard skin works wonders when it comes to increasing circulation and decreasing healing time." She watched him pull out a small bag. A black drawing of what seemed to be sunflower looking seeds decorated the front. "Speaking of animals, I got you this. Almost every insect here loves the fern seeds. Feed some and they'll be your friends forever."