Rin

 

 

 

Tina starts screaming before I can reach her. Crazy, hysterical screams like you’d expect from someone getting sucked into an escalator or mauled by a bear. I nearly jump out of my skin. The smile melts from my face as I duck down and search for the source of danger. I wish I had that spear now. Tina disappears back into the cave, running with her hands flailing and her feet flying like she was being chased by wild animals. I look to my left, and it doesn’t take long before I realize what caused her sudden outburst.

Targon is standing there, butt-naked (as usual—there’s no way for him to wear clothes with all the shifting he does), with one eyebrow raised. He‘s looking into the cave with an expression of utter confusion on his face. I sigh.

He points toward the cave and looks at me, shrugging his beefy shoulders. I think it’s going to be awhile before I understand your people, Rin.

“You better let me go in after her,” I tell him. I move my gaze up and down his naked body. “Alone.”

Cautiously I walk to the cave entrance, running my hand along the cold stone walls. Water drips somewhere deep inside, and I hear someone breathing not far away. My footsteps, my voice—everything echoes back at me. As I enter the cave there is almost no evidence of anyone living in here as I’d expected, but as I round the first corner I see water bottles and those purple banana-looking things I saw before. There are some small animal bones on the ground, and parts from the helicopter that they tried to use for other purposes. I can’t tell what though. I don’t have to go back very far before it starts getting pretty dark, but there is a flickering of light on the wall ahead of me.

“Tina,” I call out. I use a calm voice, not wanting to frighten her or the other girls. It’s impossible for me to know what they’ve gone through here. If it’s anything like my experience so far on this planet, then I totally understand why they’re afraid. I’m just glad that I’m back with them now, and soon we will all be safely away from this god-awful place and under the protection of Targon and the elders.

Her voice stutters in the cold, damp air. “Rin? Is that really you?”

“Yes Tina,” I reply. Her voice is just ahead of me. I’m anxious to see their faces again. “I’ve come to get you all out of here.”

I come into a big opening in the cave, where the girls apparently set up their camp. There are makeshift beds—grass and leaves tied together with vines that are pushed up against the walls. Pieces of metal and plastic cut into the shape of plates and bowls are scattered around. There’s a ring of blackened rocks in the center of the cavern with ashes in the middle. A fire pit, no doubt. A pile of embers smolder in the pit, providing sparse red light. And there are also articles of clothing here and there. A pair of shoes, someone’s dirty shirt crumpled on the floor.

But to my dismay Tina is the only one in the room. She’s huddled in the corner, grasping a sharp piece of metal in her hands. When she sees me she stands and drops the metal shank, which clacks loudly against the stone floor. She is reluctant at first—not trusting her eyes and ears. But then a look of recognition spreads over her face and she runs, embracing me and sobbing onto my shoulder.

“Oh Rin, it’s so good to see you.” she says, sniffling. “We all thought you were dead.”

I hug her back. “Where is everyone?”

She lets go of me and walks toward the middle of the room, shaking her head as she fights back the tears. “That first day we all heard horns blaring from the jungle and then Becky came running back up to the helicopter, scared out of her mind. She said the wild men took you, and she only got away because she got turned around. At first I thought she was crazy, but when we went looking for you we saw footprints in the mud.

“We debated all night whether we should leave the crash site and run off into the jungle, or stay and risk the wild men coming back for us.” She throws her hands up in the air, obviously agitated. “We couldn’t decide what to do, so the first night we all slept in the jungle—just on the edge of the clearing. All through the night we heard animal noises and no one could sleep, so the second day we moved into the cave.

Tina speaks quickly and nervously, and every few seconds she looks toward the cave entrance as if expecting an attack.

“Everyone was scared, but what else were we supposed to do? Run off and get lost in the jungle for animals and wild men to kill us? Plus, I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but there are some crazy big birds that fly around here. Scary lizard birds the size of houses. Or pterodactyls, I have no idea. I saw one blow fire. Like seriously… what the fudge, you know? So we decided to stick it out here where at least we’re hidden.”

My jaw drops when she mentions seeing “lizard birds that breath fire.” That means she’s seen dragons. Could it be that she’s seen the other members of Targon’s clan? I don’t know why but I almost smirk thinking about what a shock it’ll be when she finds out Targon is really a dragon himself. Not because it’s funny, but because it’s so insanely ridiculous compared to our previous lives on Earth. But I don’t laugh—it makes me feel sad to know she’s had it so rough here. She stops talking and picks up the chunk of metal again, holding it like a prison shiv.

“Who is that man you have with you? Is he safe?”

“Yes, he’s been helping me this whole time. He’s here to take us somewhere safe.”

“I don’t know, Rin,” she replies. “He looks funny, like Fabio with black hair and glittery skin. That’s just not natural.” Her hands are shaking all over the place. “And there’s things growing out of his head. Horns or whatever. It’s a bit much for me right now.” She grits her teeth and draws back her arm as if she’s going to slash the next thing that comes through the cave entrance.

“How do you know he’s not lying? How do you know he’s not a wild man? After what we’ve been through—“

“You have to trust me,” I interrupt. I walk over and place my hand on her shoulder, trying my best to calm her down. “He saved my life more than once. He’s one of the good guys.”

She drops the makeshift knife and takes a deep breath.

“What happened to everyone else, Tina? We need to get everyone together right away so we can get out of here.”

Tina’s shoulders slump. “They took them, Rin. The wild men came back and took everyone. I got up in the night to go potty, and I saw them coming through the trees carrying torches. I didn’t have time to get back and warn the girls. I hid in the underbrush, and watched as they carried them away. I followed them until I heard chanting and saw a bunch of fire and torches, but I chickened out. I snuck back to the cave and I’ve been here ever since. It’s been two days now.”

I hold her face and use my thumb to wipe away a smidge of dirt on her cheek. “The place they took the girls, were there big Mayan-temple looking building and little dragon carvings?”

“I never got close enough to see any of that,” she replies. “But the one thing I do remember seeing was a giant pillar rising out of the jungle. It had a bunch of torches on it and was the tallest thing around. It was close to where I saw all the fires and heard the chanting.”

A memory flashes through my head: I’m tied to the stone slab, and the lizard-masked man is standing over me while drums pound in the background. My throat tightens. My hands tremble. I can see the pillar in my minds-eye, the moment Targon first appeared in the sky above me, but it’s bringing back a lot of anxiety. I shake away the thoughts. “That sounds like the place they took me.”

Targon’s voice calls out in my mind. Is everything okay?

Yes, I tell him, we’ll be out in a minute.

Tina’s face is skinny and she’s lost a lot of weight since I last saw her. She’s going to need food and water right away. And a bath. I look around quickly for any supplies that might be useful to us, but I don’t think taking anything will be necessary. Targon can provide us everything we need, and soon we’ll be surrounded by other dragons as well. Back in civilization.

“Well you’re safe now, Tina.” I give her a big hug. “Don’t worry—we’re going to get the other girls back. I promise you we will all be together again.”

I can see in her eyes that she wants to believe me. I want to believe me too, but I just don’t know. I think about what my mother used to say when I’d get overwhelmed: “One baby step at a time, one foot in front of the other,” and I feel a bit better. For now I think it’s best if we focus on the things we have power over.

“Tina,” I say in my gentlest, most mother-like voice. I’m pondering the best way to break this whole dragon thing to her. It’s not going to be easy given her fragile state, but it needs to happen. He’s going to have to carry us in dragon form. She’s been here alone for two days, and the Vikon apparently live very close. I don’t want to be here any longer than we need to be.

“This might be a little difficult for you at first, but I need to show you something.”

She grasps my hand and we walk to the opening of the cave. It’s bright outside, and it takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

“Targon,” I call out. “Are you in human form right now?”

Yes

“Human form?” Tina says. She slows her pace, looking sideways at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What the heck does that mean?”

I turn to her and try to be comforting. “I want you to meet Targon. Don’t be alarmed by his nakedness. He can’t wear clothes like we do.”

Her eyebrows creep up her forehead. “Can’t wear clothes?” She scoffs. “Sounds like the sort of thing a guy would say to a woman. No clothes, hah. Okay buddy.”

“Just believe me when I tell you he is our friend, and he is here to help.”

With her hand in mine we step out into the light. As soon as Targon comes into sight she gasps, clutching my hand tightly and recoiling away. He stands there just as nature made him—shimmering skin, sharp handsome features, large towering frame, little bitty horns, and very large… member. At least he isn’t aroused at the moment¸ I think to myself. He is an imposing creature, as beautiful as he is intimidating. But I hold Tina steady, and after a few moments the initial shock wears off.

“Hi,” she says, her voice timid. I watch as she tries to make eye contact, but her gaze keeps drifting down to his nether regions. I don’t blame her—I had the same problem. But she’s polite and looks away. More polite than I was.

Targon smiles and waves at her awkwardly. He’s learned a ton about human gestures and language since meeting me. Of course he can’t speak entire sentences yet, but he knows some words. Phrases, too. Hopefully with me and Tina conversing around him, he’ll pick up enough to be able to talk to her. In the meantime, I can act as a liaison.

“So I guess I should ask how the two of you met,” Tina says. She gives me this knowing, devious look, and I can’t help blushing. I get a little flustered for a moment but she says she’s just kidding and drops it.

“He rescued me from the Vikon—those are the guys that came after you and the girls. I woke up in some sort of crazy sex ceremony on top of a pyramid and Targon swooped in and saved me from getting raped, or killed, or worse. Probably all three.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Tina responds. I notice her body relax, and the tone of her voice is calmer than just a minute ago. Now that she’s feeling more comfortable face to face with our birthday-suited hero, I decide it’s time to drop the bigger surprise on her. The big D—you know—D for dragon. She’s going to find out soon enough, may as well be right now.

“You might want to sit down for this part,” I say,

“It’s okay Rin. I’ve got myself under control now.” She points at Targon and his oddly reflective skin. “Besides, what could be stranger than this?”

I tilt my head and shrug. “Okay, you asked for it.” I look at Targon, who has been patiently waiting while Tina and I catch up. “Could you please show Tina your other side, my dear?”

Targon stretches his back, showing off his tight abs and narrow v-like waist. I still can’t get over the way his golden skin glimmers in the sunlight. It’s as if his skin is liquid metal, and it is freaking sexy. It’s so exotic it gets me revved up every time. Tina is anxiously awaiting the big reveal, and when I look back to Targon, he is sitting on his scaly haunches, stretching out his enormous wings and yawning in a way that shows off his long fangs and big forked tongue.

Needless to say, Tina is screaming again.

And now she’s running straight for the jungle.