They partly ran, partly walked, back to the truck.
Now Blue understood why the man had been dominating her to infinity yet not screwing her, though both of them were horny as hell most days. He had scruples, morals.
Just, he was also slightly nuts. He wanted a yes from her to be his slave?
They went around the last corner. The truck waited, the fading light showing how battered she’d become. After weeks of travel, the paint was fading to a mottled pink. Scratching, tinkling sounds came from near the vehicle.
Three figures rose into view on the far side.
Sassik halted and brought up his long gun.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, sir, please forgive me!” A skinny young man waved his hands, palms out. Something fell to the ground, clinking. “We need to leave town. An enemy of mine is a provost and he’s after us, to make us volunteer.”
A woman nursing a baby stood by his side. She hugged the child closer. Even in the poor light Blue recognized her desperation. She knew the feeling well.
“You have a wife and baby,” Sassik sighed. “I can give you a ride into the mountains. There’s room, if she holds the child. A son?”
“Daughter, sir.” His shoulders slumped. “The Chasm? I wouldn’t take my wife and child there. Perhaps we’ll find another truck.”
Steal one, more likely. There would be others like them.
For a few seconds Sassik stalled. He glanced down at her. “There are springs on the way. Aerthe will provide for us.” He looked to the father. “You can take her. I’ll get some of the gear. You sell or use the rest. We will walk to the Chasm.”
The thanks from the family were profuse, but Sassik only matter-of-factly unloaded bags from the back of the truck then gave the baby a smile and a pat, after asking if he might.
They watched the truck drive away, left alone in what was solid darkness.
“The moons will rise soon. This should take us two days of walking.”
He gave her the lighter pack and a bedding roll, strapped them on, then picked up his own. Without being asked, she helped him adjust the fit.
She followed his lead onto the paleness of the road. Both of them were quiet. The road went over a bridge then upward. Far ahead, the night sky roiled with a blue the same shade as the waik lights.
Why had the father been afraid to go there?
It was a mile or so further before Sassik spoke. “I heard your indecision, your but. I am taking that as a yes, only I need to convince you.”
Oh, he would. She frowned.
Once the moons rose, the muted shades let her see the path. They walked faster, ascending into a cloud of what seemed to be fireflies – the Aerthe version, which probably meant they killed you with stings.
Tracking their flight, Blue looked back over the town and saw the swathe approaching. The landships loomed high, their windows and portholes like ornaments, shining stark blue and yellow against the black. The tops were ragged in outline. Some landships seemed to rise as high as their present altitude. She’d forgotten how big they were, how threatening. The rumbling of the earth being crushed carried to her.
“It will miss them,” Sassik said at her shoulder.
“Ten must’ve volunteered. It doesn’t bother you?”
“It does, but one man cannot stop a swathe. That’s not a fight I can win and I wasn’t giving you to them.”
“Even if I chose that?”
“Even if.”
Strangely, that comforted her. Sassik was a man of layers. Helping that family had made her think about him. That boy at the markets he haggled with; his politeness in the face of danger; his refusal to kill when others would have.
What depths had she missed while she fumed over him spanking her, taking her uninvited, and giving her orgasms that made her legs shake?
She’d fall over a cliff thinking about sex while hiking up this mountain.
There were other questions.
“Why was he afraid to come with us?”
“The father? The Chasm gives guidance but it’s rumored sometimes she drags people in.”
“What? She? It’s a she?”
“The Aerthe is alive. Everyone knows this, though no one is sure what sort of alive.”
Well, that was a mind-blowing revelation.
“And us?”
“We’ll be fine.”
Blowing a raspberry might be unwise.
She jogged to catch up and walk alongside him. “Why did you help him?”
“Why not? This place breeds violence and vengeance. I decided it was right to add some kindness.”
She studied his profile. Not a kindly one,; big, squarish in the head, nose like a prow, she could imagine him as a landship.
“But, you’re not kind to me.”
“You think not?” She heard amusement in his voice. “I am fair to you. I have protected you. I will keep you and care for you if you let me.”
Let. There it was again. Those words awakened an ache, deep inside. He wanted a slave.
What could he possibly know of truly caring?
“You said slave. Why? What about love?”
“Because a slave is for a different kind of loving. What I would do to you is not what a wife is for. I treated my wife gently.”
He studied her, she thought, and she felt a touch of fear, then knew it was not quite fear. Her nipples tightened. Now who had perverse desires? She swallowed.
“Truth. I would not treat you gently. Or, not often. Just enough to keep you happy.”
He stopped and put his hand to her hair, scrunched in his fingers, and treated her to a rough, world-obliterating kiss. Then he let her go and resumed walking.
She stood there, shocked, her toes still clenched inside her boots.
Her pussy had also clenched, if she were honest.
“Like that,” he called back. “See? Happy.”
Asshole. She exhaled shakily then walked onward. But what an asshole.
“To add to what I said. Until I found you, I was tired of life. Now, I wish I could have another child, though it’s likely not fair to create one. War is on the horizon. The Mekkers are angry.”
Now he talked of children? She’d barely assimilated the notion of being his slave on purpose.
She caught up again. “Humans can’t breed with anyone here.”
“No.” Then he left a long pause before adding, “They can’t.”
Of course, he was reading a lot into what she’d just said. Blue gnawed a fingernail. Rightly so. That kiss had melted her brain.
“Once we get to the Chasm, I hope you find guidance also.”
“Serious tone there.” She saw him nod. “That sounds like this is almost a religious experience.”
“Like the Star faith? Not really. The Aerthe is alive – fact, not faith. Which is why the father’s fear is real.”
“I see.”
Then he took her hand in his.
They walked mostly in silence after that. Late in the morning, they stopped and found a place to sleep beside a stream. Her feet throbbed and she sat with them in the water for a while after they ate. What he’d said gave her much to ponder. Almost too much.
If she said yes? The alternative was worse, might be horrifying even – another man.
She couldn’t say yes if she wasn’t really saying yes.
He made her strip naked before tucking her into their joined bedding, then laid his hand on her stomach with his fingers grazing lower down. That he didn’t venture to go further surprised her. Still, he made her ache in all the nicely wrong places.
Teasing her on purpose.
“What do you want from me?” she whispered, turning and snuggling into his arm, putting her nose to his skin and smelling him.
“I told you. I want you to be mine.”
So simple. She drifted, thinking.
His hand on her brought dirty dreams. She was in the middle of being screwed, pinned on her stomach, when she jerked awake. An engine sound had woken her, and it was grumbling nearby. She rolled onto her back to find Sassik and a man in gray looking down at her. A pair of spectacles with circular, blue glass concealed the stranger’s eyes.
Wait. She’d seen him at the camp and the shop. Coincidence?
“This man, Zerlin, has a ride for us.” Beyond the men, a brown van sat on the trail. “Get dressed. You can eat on the way.”
She clutched the bedding to her chin, then realized Sassik was waiting and they weren’t giving her space. Resigned, she slithered out and began to dress, very aware of their gaze.
Then Sassik rumbled out, “Look away.”
“Sorry. She draws the eye.”
“Don’t I know it. You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you.”
“Figured you needed me more than you did a corpse.”
“I did.”
Blue faced away from the men as she sorted out her clothing. Sassik was guarding her modesty. She grinned and made sure to wriggle her ass as she pulled on her underwear.
“Thank you,” she murmured, as she went to climb into the brown van.
“Just an option, girl. Next time I might decide to show you off.” He smacked her ass as she mounted the first step. “Wait. I’ll take the middle.”
Something was wrong with her. She’d enjoyed this whole interaction – the teasing. Fuck. Insanity loomed.
Liking something was a good sign in most people’s books.
He’d given her the window seat so she wasn’t next to Zerlin. A shiny gold and gray handgun was tucked into a holster stuck to the driver’s window pillar. Zerlin’s clothes were more stained than before, with rusty colors that might’ve been old blood. Was he dangerous?
Everyone was, just some more than others.
On the drive to the Chasm the men exchanged views over the Mekkers and the sacrifice that’d been demanded. She listened, but only vaguely.
He wanted her to say yes to being his slave. On Earth that would mean she could still say no, if she changed her mind. Here, she couldn’t back out. Yet, that he even asked her was mind-boggling.
She closed her eyes, blanked out the environment, everything except him sitting beside her, squashing her a little with his bulk. Admit it. She’d come to like him. She trusted him to do what he said.
But slave.
That idea blew her mind out the other side into little fragmented particles of nothing floating in space. Yeah, she was lost.
He’d said why. Because he wanted to do things he’d never do to a wife. That electrified her in some nonsensical way. Because? Probably because...orgasms.
The Mekkers weren’t an option. One look at the landships bearing down on the town and her fears had crushed in like a tide of killer clowns herding spiders.
Ugh. She’d not lose that image in a hurry.
He laid his hand over hers where she rested it on her thigh. Big hand. Big man who promised all sorts of things. Scary, exciting things. She moved her fingers and watched him hold her even tighter. The sensation of being controlled in such a small way made her cease to breathe. She loved this.
His words: I want you to be mine.
A roar built as they ascended. The air cooled. The white clouds above were tinted haphazardly with scintillating blue.
By the time they stopped on a level area, she’d confused herself completely.
They were high in the mountains, with a view that continued forever into rolling mists and clouds. She hopped from the van. Zerlin emerged on the other side. He seemed a man content to be alone, which made her wonder why he followed them.
Sassik led her toward the edge of the plateau. Mist drifted and moisture dotted her skin. They climbed a raised lip and before her opened a gap that stretched for miles.
“The Chasm.” Sassik spoke loudly to overcome the roll of sound. He gestured in an arc at the break in the land. Oceans of water spilled into the Chasm. This was a waterfall to rival Niagara on Earth. Two thirds of the lip was a relentless torrent.
“Where does the water come from?”
“Rivers that feed from lakes on the far side. The final mile defies gravity. As I said, this is where we are closest to our Aerthe.”
And where science went away and got drunk and forgot to be sensible. She shook her head. It was here before her. Other things were as crazy. Like the Mekkers – a people who were forever on the move because if they stopped, the Aerthe, it was rumored, would somehow kill them.
“How do you find guidance?”
“You can simply wish but the most powerful wishes come from finding a waik crystal. Down there.”
Down meant over the edge. Though no waterfall flowed here, the rock was starkly precipitous, wet, and green with moss.
“That’s suicide.” Open-mouthed, she dared to inch a little closer to the true edge. Doing circus tricks was nothing like this. “Fuck, no.”
Footsteps crunched behind them and they turned.
Zerlin removed his spectacles then wiped them with his shirt. “News. I heard the Mekkers are coming for her. She’s the only human with blue hair. It appears the swathes are now communicating with each other.” He donned his glasses. “You need to run.”
“You knew this when we got in your van.” Sassik scowled. His long gun was at his feet.
Zerlin nodded.
“Why did you not say?”
“You were coming here for guidance. Find it. If you leave her here for the Ramm that is coming, you’ll be safe. May Aerthe guide you. You know she hates Mekkers.” Then he stalked back toward his van.
She? Did he mean her or this world?
“Ramms? Those are the bigger flying craft I saw on the battlefield?”
“Yes. One could reach us here.”
“Leave me then.”
“No.” He rubbed at his face then latched onto her wrist when she tried to move away. “I can’t kill a Ramm but I’m not leaving you.”
Arrogant man. Her wrist was hurting. Worried, she scanned the sky in the town’s direction. A fast-moving dot reflected sunlight. “There! Run, Sassik, please.” They only wanted her.
“We’re climbing down.”
Shit. Why did he want this?
“Trust me.” He pulled her to the edge.
With a last sigh, she inched over, backward, feeling for footholds. With Sassik climbing to her right, she found more footholds, handholds, and descended, avoiding the obvious slippery patches.
“Why?” she mouthed.
He pointed down and she spotted something shining below his boot. “Waik crystal. I’m going to wish.” Further down, where the cliff became sheer, crystals studded the rock like Christmas ornaments.
“Well, fuck. Such a good idea.”
He crouched, slowly, sticking close to the cliff, his fingers probing. “The Aerthe hates Mekkers. She changes the seasons to destroy them when they dare to stay still upon the land.”
What did she know? Fuck all. Except that Sassik was the most know-it-all arrogant man she’d ever met.
The Ramm whizzed overhead, blotting out sky as it spun. The golden glare from its cheese grater-looking thrusters blinded her for a second. The engines altered to a throaty purr and it dropped, landing somewhere near the edge.
“Got it.”
She heard Sassik murmur a string of solemn words.
A wish. He staked his life on a goddamned wish.
A crack sounded above. Small rocks rolled past. Fragments pattered like heavy rain on her head.
Sassik shifted over and somehow managed to cover her and still hold onto the cliff. “Don’t. Look.”
With a boom and a thunderous growl that could only be an avalanche, she felt a shadow eclipse them.
There were no screams, no further noise. Sassik shifted again.
Above, a chunk of the edge was gone from where the Ramm had lain. Jesus.
Remind her not to piss off this Aerthe. Maybe they landed on a weak section? Yeah. That.
“They’ll send another,” she said.
“No. Mekkers are practical. You’re not worth one Ramm, let alone two.”
Below was only a deep, dark lake, swirling as megatons of water poured into what must be a near bottomless crater. Black water. Her heart chilled as a swirl of blue lashed from the depths, growing clearer, whipping close to the surface. Not tentacles, but...something terrible lived down there.
She put her hand to her heart. “Thank you.”
“Here.” He closed her fingers around something. “A waik crystal. We’ll go up when you’ve wished. Throw the crystal into the Chasm when you’re done.”
Her? She blinked. Such a patient, crazy man.
He never gave in. He pulled thorns from her rear end. Had a thing about not killing, except for Mekkers, clearly. He wanted her to be either his slave or owned by another, because her being free and his wasn’t on his agenda.
“Come. Wish.” He stroked her hair. “I’m not keen on staying here forever.”
“I’m not sure I believe enough.”
“I’ll believe for you. In a place like this, incomprehensible things happen. Anything, Blue. A wish of your own.”
Anything? How far could a wish take her?
To return to the Mekkers and be shown a portal.
To go back to Earth.
Maybe a wish worked but there were limits? She might waste a real wish.
Gravity went upside down here.
To find a place that was safe?
But she looked at Sassik, a man who did what he promised, who would care for her and protect her, who was so engrossed in being kind to a boy at a market stall that he forgot to watch his disobedient and poorly trained slave, a man who liked leaving handprints on her ass, and she found she really wanted to wish for something else.
Maybe love took a different form here.
“If you had me, if I was yours, would you care for me until death do us part?”
She might burst into tears waiting.
“Yes.”
Just yes. Simple. And so very Sassik.
Blue took a long breath, held it, and clutched the crystal so tightly her fingers could feel every sharp edge of the stone, but she didn’t close her eyes. She looked into his.
“I’ve made my wish.”
She let the crystal fall, heard only the thunder of the waterfalls.
With her heart thudding, he said what she almost dreaded hearing. “What did you wish for?”
“I wished for something stupid.”
“Oh.” He raised his brow. “Go on.”
“I kind of made two wishes and maybe they cancelled out.” God, she hoped not.
“And those were?” His forehead crinkled in a stern frown.
“I...” She stopped to take another bravery-enhancing breath and continued, more softly. “I wished to be yours and...I wished to make a family with you.” The latter had popped into her head and she found herself blushing, stuttering. “I’m sorry.”
“Shhh. This, I like.” He placed a finger across her lips. “Let’s go up.” But first he cupped the back of her head and kissed her. “I want to say many things to you but they will wait. Up.”