The Joy Thief

Four - Willa

"Where are the humans you brought here in your ship from Earth?"

Fifth rose from his seat in the filth. He calmly wiped the disgusting mess from his pants, and turned to face me. Isaiah had come to stand beside me, reaching out and grabbing my hand.

"They will have been transported underneath the surface of the city by now, in the tunnels. There's a place we call the Crypt. It lies beneath the palace of the Queen. We keep a storage faculty there where the humans are held until their essence is harvested. The next harvest takes place tomorrow morning. Your sister, and everyone else, will be nothing more than shells of their former selves by this time tomorrow," said Fifth. "I can keep you hidden, then we can steal a transporter vessel and I can send you back to Earth. You would have to lay low for some time. Time enough for me to locate a vessel and send you back home."

"No." The word rolled off my lips before I noticed how my shoulders had rolled back.

"Willa, it might be safer for us to take him up on this. We could go back to Earth and warn the rest of the people there."

"And leave Della?" I frowned, my stomach becoming a whirling ball of bile at the thought of what would happen to her if I abandoned her.

"We could save a lot of people and get them prepared for the next round of abductions," said Isaiah. "Della would want us to put the other people's safety before hers."

He was right.

The way Isaiah rubbed the palms of his hands together revealed he was scared. As he rightfully should be. These Ironhides were scary and, though we humans had tried to prosper in the colony established here on Nexpernon, this was their planet. Their turf. It would be hard, no, impossible for us to stay here and help the rest of the humans here. But, I came here for a reason. I came here to save Della, and I wouldn't give up my chance to rescue my sister. Not even if protecting the rest of humanity held equal importance.

"Will you help us rescue my sister? I know it's a lot to ask, but I refuse to sit here idly while my sister loses her soul and it's injected into some random Ironhide for the sake of a couple of hours of being high," I said defiantly.

Della. I will save you. Whether this Ironhide helps me or not.

Fifth cocked his head to the side, a look of confusion covering his weathered and somewhat rugged face. "You want me to sneak you into the most heavily guarded building on our planet, to save your sister? One human?"

"What's so confusing? I need to rescue her. She's the only family I have left. I won't leave this damn planet until I have her safe and sound."

Fifth's face twitched.

"You have courage, Willa. You would make an effective legionnaire." Fifth started to pace the room. His fingers inched towards a small pouch that was strapped to his leg. Opening it, he pulled out two small blades. They were shaped like crescent moons, each blade a pale blue color that shimmered in the vague light seeping through the windows and reflecting off the armor masking his face. Each blade had a small handle. Well, small for the Nexspheni. Fifth dragged one of his thumbs across the tips of the blades in his hand, nodding as his gray thumbs pricked the edges, before he extended his arm to offer them to Isaiah and me.

"I hope it doesn't come to a point where you'll have to use these, but I'd be a fool if I tried to sneak you in there without providing you with some form of protection. Conceal these as best you can. I will be slipping you in as prisoners. Do not pull hose blades out until you're absolutely sure it's necessary for your survival." Fifth's stern tone never wavered. "In an ideal situation, you won't need them."

Isaiah grabbed both blades from Fifth carefully. I had never needed to use a weapon like this before. Isaiah knew this. He began to pass a blade from palm to palm, feeling the weight and make of it, before handing it over to me with its handle facing outwards. Taking the blade, thoughts of seeing my sister again rushed over me, and my heart began to beat heavily.

Isaiah placed one hand on my shoulder, sensing my nervousness, before he turned to face Fifth.

"Let's do this."