Being with Trish was beyond what my imagination was capable of creating on its own. I felt different. I was a completely different Corillion warrior. I felt complete. As I woke up with her in my arms in the cave, I could not stop looking at her beautiful features. I stroked her brown hair with my hands and smelled her human scent.
This was not what I was expecting after mating with a human female. I felt as if I had bonded myself to her. It was a strange feeling. I wrapped my body behind hers knowing that I would protect her with my life. This was not by choice; it was a biological need buried deep within me taking root. I knew that other Corillions had told of this special bond with human females, but I almost didn’t believe it simply because I had not experienced it. Now that I had, I knew that it was true.
She stirred awake and looked at me with her gorgeous blue eyes. “Hello, Trish.”
"Hello, Jedrian,” she smiled at me. She stretched her arms over her head and pointed her naked toes and let out a delightful moan. I smiled in response to her small body stretching out next to mine.
"Yes. I slept very well considering that I am in a cave on the ground,” she said. “What about you?”
"It is the first time I have slept at all, really, since being captured. I finally feel some relief,” I said.
She furrowed her eyebrows at me and put her small hand on my bearded cheek. “I am sorry that you had to go through that.”
I looked out of the cave opening to see the sun shining brightly. “Speaking of, we should get moving toward the lake we spotted on the map. They have had plenty of time to catch up to us. We cannot be caught. I cannot be caught. I will not go back there.”
"You will never go back there. Let us get going,” she said as she placed a kiss on my mouth and then got up from the ground and began to put her clothes on. I wished that I could lounge around with her in this naked state for days on end. But that was not possible, not today or anywhere in the near future. I got up and dressed as well. I buried the fire and threw dirt over any traces of our camp. She packed up her backpack and threw me a piece of fruit. I was glad that she was smart and had packed very well for survival. Water and food were essential.
"I will carry that for you,” I said as she handed me the backpack and I put it on. I did not want her unnecessarily weighed down. We would move faster if I carried all the burden. She held at the map and said, “I will guide us.”
"Let's get out of here,” I said as I moved toward the cave opening. She followed me. Soon we were taking strides through the thick forest. The ground was rough, and the grass was high. We were making our own trails.
I stopped in my tracks after we had been walking for an hour, “What is that?”
I heard a noise that sounded like thunder. I looked up into the sky. It was clear blue with not a cloud in it. I was not used to the sound of storms on Earth, but it was the only thing that I understood that sound to be.
"I don't hear anything,” Trish said that she studied the map, giving the noise only half of her attention.
"I know that I hear something. It's very faint, but I hear it,” I said, realizing that perhaps the Corillion hearing was better than that of humans. We had more strength. We were taller and broader. We had the defense of our hard scales. So we probably had better vision and better hearing as well. I took a risk by stepping out into a small clearing in order to get a better view of the sky. The sound grew louder and louder: thud, thud, thud.
I could not see anything in the sky. I looked at Trish. Suddenly she looked up from her map and said, “Now I hear it. Run!” she shouted.
I ran out of the clearing back to her side and followed her as she ran. Suddenly the sound was roaring on top of us. The wind picked up, rustling the branches and trees. I looked up to see something flying above us.
"It's a helicopter! It is the Earth army looking for us!” she shouted. She ran faster, and I was on her heels. I scanned the area and saw the perfect hiding spot.
"Follow me!” I shouted as I ran in front of her, leading the way. I stayed under the cover of the trees until I dove under a rock ledge. Trish followed. I pulled her close to me and we huddled together underneath the protection of the rock. I peered out slightly to see the helicopter hovering, but not directly over us. This was a good sign.
I stayed watching the helicopter with my eyes glued to it. It circled around and then flew away in the opposite direction.
"I don't think they saw us or they would have dropped a few soldiers on us,” I said, analyzing the situation.
"I think you are right. But we do know now that they are definitely hunting us,” she said.
"They are hunting me,” I said, reminding her. “Remember, this was not your choice. You are my hostage. You are not in trouble.”
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else,” she said as she kissed me on the cheek.
"We should stay under the protection of this ledge for half an hour or so just in case they swing back around. They are scouting the area to figure out where to hunt for us on foot. Let us stay here for a while.”
"That is a good idea. Look, there is fresh water. I'm going to refill the containers,” she said as she peeled the backpack off my back and roughly zipped it open and rummage through the stuff. She pulled out two containers and walked over to a trickle of water that was coming out of the wall. I sat down and organized the contents of the backpack. There was a notebook. I opened it. I had taught myself to read the human language long ago. But I was not expecting to read something like this.
"What are you doing?” I heard Trish ask me. I looked up to see the water containers in her hand, and she stood over me.
"I could say the same thing to you. What is this? What are you doing?” I asked her.
"That is my personal notebook. You are not allowed to read that,” she said as she yanked it out of my hand.
"This is all about me. Why are you writing about me? There are details of everything that we said in conversation. Things that you promised not to tell anyone,” I said, trying to restrain my anger.
"I didn't tell anyone. What I write down in my own notebook is my own personal business!” she said angrily, and she pushed it back into the backpack.
"No! It is my business when you were writing about me. Why are you writing that down? If it is not just for you?”
She was quiet. She zipped up the backpack and sat down. She looked sad.
"Look, Jedrian. I haven't exactly been completely honest with you. But I hope you know that things have changed. After last night, everything has changed for me,” she said, looking at me with her sad blue eyes.
I locked my jaw. “What do you mean you have not been honest? What are you hiding from me, Trish?”
"This is not how it sounds. But I told you that I was a scientist too. I am at a school where I am required to do a big project. It could make or break my future. That is why I came to the research facility in the first place, to do that project. But my father wouldn't allow me to see any of the real work. Then when I stumbled upon you, I knew that you were the perfect project for me to write about. My own project. It was going to be about my own experiences studying the personality of a Corillion warrior. I wasn't going to reveal who you were, your identity. I was just going to write about my own personal experience conversing with you. I swear, Jedrian. That is all I was going to do. But then all of this happened. So then I thought I would write about my adventure with the Corillion warrior in the woods. It is really good work. It is great for my scientific career.”
"You are a monster! You are just like your father! I knew that I should not have trusted you!” I shouted at her. I stood up and walked back-and-forth. I was trying to get rid of the anger I had inside of me over her betrayal. But it was no use.
"Jedrian. Please believe me. It is not like that. It may have been in the beginning, but I have changed. I promise you that,” she said to me and she put her hand on my arm.
"Your promises mean nothing,” I said as I yanked my arm away from her. Her touch made me angry. I was angry with myself for trusting a human female that had told me she was a scientist, the very humans that had been experimenting on me. She had already admitted to me that she was the daughter of Dr. Maxwell, the leader of the torture that I have been under. I was a fool not to think of these things like warning signs that she would be exactly the same. I thought she would be different. I gave into it, and this entire time I was an experiment to her. Each conversation with me was part of her experiment; she was studying me just like her father. She was doing it under the guise of a sweet and honest human female, and I had fallen for it. I felt like a fool.
"Jedrian. Look at me. Nothing has changed for me. I still feel that what we did last night is very special. Please do not pull away from me, not now,” she pleaded with me.
"I do not want to hear any more of your excuses! I do not want to hear any more of your lies. You will not talk your way out of this one. I see the truth of what and who you are. It is all there in that notebook in your own words. In your own writing. You were using me to make yourself important in this world of Earth, and you will still be able to do that when I leave you.” I started walking away from her.
"What do you mean when you leave me?!" she asked as she began to cry.
"When I get to the lake, you are free to go. I will help you get to a road or in a place where you will be found by the soldiers that hunt us. Then I want nothing to do with you. I never want to see you again.”
"I don't want to hear your voice anymore. It should be clear for us to go. Let us get a move on. The faster we get to the lake, the quicker I will be rid of you,” I said as I grabbed the backpack and moved out into the woods.
I could hear Trish following me. Her soft sobs were hard to hear. But I was pissed off. Even though I wanted to pull her into my arms and stop her crying, my pride would not let me. She had betrayed me. Loyalty was everything to the Corillion. She had violated my trust for her. I could not let her back in, no matter how much I wanted to. We walked in silence. In a few hours, the lake would be nearby, and I would have to make the decision to leave her forever.