Part 3: The Ally
Chapter 1
She literally came flying out of the Sethari’s head from the shock of seeing images of herself, and especially of Coran, on the day of his disappearance. For the first time ever, Cat lost all control of herself and her abilities. She felt like she was falling off a cliff very quickly, without any protection or way to stop herself. In the fraction of the second that she had left before she came crashing back into her own body, she tried to soften the blow, but she already knew that she would not succeed. She braced herself for pain… but nothing happened. At the very last second, the Sethari had slowed her down, and was now allowing her spirit to glide back into her body in a slow and controlled manner.
Cat opened her eyes. She exhaled. She had never been more thankful for a pain-free and, above all, functioning body than now. No matter what the Sethari wanted from her, he had saved her from mental and physical harm. She knew that for certain. Cat could feel Talon’s arms around her, like a protective barrier, and she was more than thankful for that, too. When had she started to feel so safe and sound in his presence? Almost from the very beginning, he had started to undermine the mistrust that had become such a big part of her personality. He didn’t do this with nice talk, but rather with his unique character that was free of anything evil. That was extremely rare these days. Obviously, not all humans and aliens were devilish creatures, but evil did have many facets. She had seen everything that humans did to each other, from silent tolerance and looking the other way, to murder, blackmail, or worse.
Now she was standing in front of a Sethari who possibly knew something about her brother. Who had let her into his head and manipulated her with an ease that was startling. The line between good and bad were blurring more and more with every passing day. First, Talon had slyly caught her off guard with his open-hearted presence, and now this alien with his sucking snout also appeared to have friendly intentions. Or at least, not hostile intentions. If things kept going like this, she would soon have no idea if her world view had any validity or not.
With effort, and with Talon’s help, Cat got back on her legs. She heard a threatening growl coming from her beloved’s throat, and it directed her eyes to the path and the figure coming towards them. The Sethari obviously had no trouble moving in the snow, because he was approaching them quickly. Cat put a hand on Talon’s arm and nodded at him silently. “I need to talk to him,” she whispered softly. The small, white clouds coming out of her mouth reminded her of just how cold it was, and that they needed to find shelter as soon as possible.
“Not enemy,” the alien squeaked. By now, he was close enough for her to get a good look at him. For some reason, he had found human clothing. It looked ridiculous on him and had the effect of making him even more noticeable than if he had been in his usual, naked state. He was so close now that Cat could see that his sucking snout was scarred over, as if he had used it as a weapon. No, that wasn’t right. She could see that it had actually been severed at some point. Someone with considerable skills had sewn it back on. She shook her head. The Sethari let old people, the sick, and the wounded just die, but this looked like the work of a very skilled surgeon who had gone to a lot of trouble to preserve the organ’s mobility and functionality.
The Sethari stopped in front of them. He bowed, pointed to himself with his snout and introduced himself. “Shazuul,” he said in his strange voice. It made Cat shiver. This behavior was more than strange. Was he introducing himself before sucking the energy out of them? It was absurd. No, he didn’t want their energy, at least not yet. Even Talon seemed to sense that the Sethari posed no immediate danger, because she could feel his muscles relax underneath her hand. Only his eyes, still showing the predator inside him, betrayed his watchfulness.
“This is Talon. You already know my name.” Cat said. She took a step towards him, and like a warming, protective shadow, Talon followed her. “How do you know my brother and me?”
The Sethari held her gaze. “Knew your mother. Father, too.”
This second shock in a very short time was almost too much for Cat. The world around her spun, and the cold bit into her limbs. “Wait,” she said – what had he called himself again, Shazuul – and pulled Talon to her. “I am cold and urgently need to eat something, but…” She looked over at the Sethari meaningfully, and Talon understood.
“You want us to take him with us?” The way in which he frowned told her how he felt about that. “Fine, but you know that these energy vampires can’t be trusted. As soon as you have the information you need, I will throw him out single-handedly.”
“Thank you,” she whispered and motioned to Shazuul to follow them. He did so without asking for an explanation and stayed closely behind them. Why couldn’t she shake the feeling that this was exactly what he had wanted? Talon led their strange group, but not without throwing the occasional look back over his shoulder. Cat felt strangely vulnerable too, stomping through the snow behind her beloved. About a hundred times, she thought she could feel a soft touch on the back of her neck, as if the alien’s sucking snout were sneaking up to her, ready to stick to her and bore through her soft skin. It was similar to the feeling you had when a hand came near you, wanting to tickle you - not unpleasant, but very tense. At some point, she told herself that the Sethari would hardly start some kind of attack as long as Talon was so close by. Or would he? She had visions of Talon being held back by Shazuul’s power of the mind, while he helped himself to her energy, and these thoughts made the rest of the way a very unpleasant experience. At least, she told herself, she wasn’t cold anymore. She didn’t care if this was from constant motion or if it was out of fear.
The deserted library was just as quiet and lonely as they had left it. Wait, that wasn’t true at all. When the Krak had kidnapped her, Talon’s warriors had still been here and had filled the building with life. The Krak! She had almost forgotten all about the tentacled creatures and the promise she had made them so willingly. Even worse, she realized with a start, she still hadn’t told Talon anything about it. She would probably need to get rid of the Sethari first before they could have a quiet moment together.
They could see the traces that Talon’s men had left behind in the big reception hall and adjourning rooms. Seeing the random things left behind by the men made Cat feel melancholy. Not because she missed the warriors, as she had not had many opportunities to get to know them well enough for that, but the voices, occasional thumping, and other sounds they had made a lot during their practice fights, had filled the building with life. She was also sorry, for her beloved’s sake, that they were already on their way back to their home planet. What must it feel like to be cut off from everything he had ever known, and to be stranded on a strange planet?
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Sethari looking around. He seemed to be taking in every detail, no matter how small. He really was a strange fellow – exceptionally observant, standing there in his second-hand clothing – but had he told her the truth when he claimed to know her mother and father?
The time had come to find out.