Jaydel stood before Hyrak as his mind raced. He was at the Chief’s house. He felt elated that he would finally be able to save his race, thanks to Rydel. He was the one who brought the woman. She was a miracle – her blood almost magical. He had used a very small amount of her blood to create the antidote for the virus. And the first subject he tested it on had recovered quickly. Thirty-six hours back, he gave an injection of the cure to one of the men. He was stage four, and this morning he was much better.

“How many of these do we have?” Hyrak asked as he picked up the small vial, turning the liquid inside it.

“I am making more. It will be enough to cure all of us and still more to keep in reserve,” Jayden said with pride. “I brought this one for you, sir. It’s a one-time shot.”

“What about the woman?” Hyrak said, not impressed.

“Oh, she’s fine. In fact, I wanted to tell you that we don’t need to do the procedure anymore. I was thinking of sending her home . . . ”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Hyrak barked, making the doctor flinch.

“But sir . . .  She is Rydel’s mate. We can’t . . . ” Jaydel frowned. 

“You keep your mouth shut, Doctor,” Hyrak said in a cold tone. “Take out all her blood. Suck her dry and store it for future use. I want to see it while it’s done.”

“But Rydel . . . ”

“Rydel will die . . . I had him branded. A punishment for disobeying my orders,” he whispered and then laughed.

Jaydel winced as a chill ran down his spine to the tip of his tail, making it twitch. No . . . Rydel branded? This was insane. He looked at his leader closely and saw that Hyrak was ill. His eyes were bloodshot and he could no longer focus on one thing. He kept staring into the distance.

“Do you hear the doctor?” Hyrak suddenly said, a wild look in his eyes as he grabbed Jaydel by the shoulders and stared at him. “They are coming for us . . . ” he whispered eerily.

Jaydel shrugged out of his hold. “Who?” he asked, playing along. This sudden change in behavior was a sure sign that the Chief had entered stage four. The virus was messing with his head. He was seeing and hearing things that were not there. And stage five was the complete invasion of the mind, leading the person to commit suicide.

“The black-winged monsters. Their legion is coming to take us over. We must prepare for war . . . ” He went on and on. “Or we will become one of them . . . ”

“Sir, you need to calm down. Where is Rydel?” Jaydel made him sit on the chair, his mind racing. If Rydel had been branded, then there was only one place for him. The Grim Fort.

“Rydel will die . . . ” He kept laughing like a madman.

Jaydel clenched his teeth and, taking the vial, he filled the syringe with the antidote. And then, without losing another minute, he injected it into Hyrak’s neck.

Hyrak collapsed and fell unconscious. He would be out cold for a few hours before he woke up. When he did, he would be himself once more.

Jaydel walked out, passing the guard at the door. He got into his car and headed toward the underground prison.

***

Rydel woke up, feeling numb. He was cold, so cold. He tried moving his legs but pain seared him like knives and he couldn’t. His mouth felt dry, and the side of his neck burned. The sliver of light coming in through the shaft told him it was daytime. The place was more like an underground cave where holes had been dug up and the prisoners chained inside, as if inside a well. There was no way of escaping. Since the plague hit the planet, most of the prisoners had died, leaving the place deserted. The eerie silence made him shudder.

He thought about Tara and a headache stabbed in his head again.

He didn’t hear the footsteps coming. A flash of harsh light lit up the small cell he was in. He looked up and the light blinded him momentarily. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Rydel? Rydel?” someone called out to him. The voice sounded familiar. “Rydel, can you hear me?”

Rydel nodded, blinking as his voice choked. He groaned in pain.

“Okay, I’m coming down to get you,” the voice said.

He heard the shuffling of feet and metal grinding against the walls.  Rydel blinked again and saw the man now standing in front of him. He carried a flashlight. It was Jaydel, the doctor.

“You . . . ” Rydel managed to whisper.

“No need to panic. I’m here to help,” Jaydel assured him as he flashed the light all over Rydel, checking his wounds with the scanning device. He saw the mark on his neck. Blue-black veins stretched outward over his skin indicating that the poison was spreading. It was very slow, but lethal and painful.

“You have been bleeding . . . Lost quite an amount . . . But we can fix that . . . And that gash looks nasty, but it can be treated. Here, drink this,” Jaydel said, unscrewing a flask. Rydel gulped down the water.

“Easy now,” the doctor said. “You have been in here for two days without water or food. And you have been bleeding.” Jaydel then gave him two shots in the arm. “This is for the pain and healing. And this will rebuild the tissue.” He gave him another shot in his neck. “These drugs will only help with the wounds inflicted. I’m doing my best to heal you, but you have been branded. Magic is at work here, and no drug will work against the spread of the toxin. I’m sorry . . . ”

“That son of a bitch,” Rydel cursed loudly, teeth clenched. “Why are you helping me?”

“I’ll tell you in a while,” Jaydel said. Rydel saw the compassion in his eyes. “Now we need to wait exactly 15 minutes for the drugs to work,” he said as he swiped the scanner over his shackles, unlocking them.

“Thank you . . . ” Rydel gasped as he collapsed to the floor. “How is Tara? Is she okay?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“She is fine. She freaks out and keeps asking about you, so I have had to sedate her . . . Don’t worry. She is on a low dose. Her human body reacts more strongly to our medication,” Jaydel said as Rydel glared at him.

Jaydel looked at him. The man was madly in love with that human. Rydel sighed with relief – as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest.

“Listen to me, Rydel. I have news for you,” Jaydel said in a serious tone.

“Good or bad?” Rydel asked.

“Both. Now, the good news is that I have the antidote ready. Tara’s blood is all I needed, and voila! It is working and there is no need for an extraction,” he said.

Rydel gazed at him. “That’s great news doctor.”

“But the Chief wants both of you dead. Yet, he has entered stage four and I am guessing that is marring his judgment.”

“I bet it’s not just the virus that’s talking here,” Rydel said dryly.

“Listen to me, Rydel. You and Tara can’t stay here. I have given Hyrak a shot of the antidote. He will be all good in a few hours, but you need to take your mate and get out of the city.”

“Jaydel, do me a favor. Just get me out of this hellhole,” Rydel said. He was starting to feel better. His head was cleared, the numbness gone. The pain was fading a bit, but he still felt weak.

“I will in another few minutes,” Jaydel said, his eye on the time on his comm device.

“Why should I trust you?” Rydel eyed him skeptically.

“Hyrak is wrong. I don’t get why he can’t see that you and your mate saved our race. I’m a healer, and I know what it means to save a life. I’ll help you escape . . . Consider this a thank you gift for what you have done for us. I am sorry I can’t do more.”

“Stop apologizing, Doc,” Rydel said, irritated. “Do you have a plan?” he asked him, still grateful for his kindness.

He shook his head. “You tell me. You only have a few hours before Hyrak wakes up and finds out what’s happening.”

“Okay, here’s the thing. The suns will set any time now. We get Tara out, and we sneak back to our ship. I want to get off this planet as soon as I can,” Rydel said.

“There will be guards everywhere. But you can go in disguised as a doctor. You can wear that breathing mask so no one will recognize you. Plus, if you are with me, the guards won’t get suspicious. And,” Jaydel said as he made one last scan over Rydel’s body, “you seem to have recovered a little.”

“Thank you, Jaydel. I owe you one. But how will we get Tara past the guards?” Rydel mused as they climbed out of the hole.

“There’s one gate at the back of the facility where only one guard is on duty. He goes out for a drink around that hour. We will have five minutes, you can go out that door. I’ll be waiting in the car outside.”

“Sounds good . . . What about you, Jaydel? Hyrak is ruthless. He might punish you,” Rydel said, seeing now that Jaydel was risking his life for them.

“Only if he finds out, which he won’t. And if he does, I’ll deal with him,” Jaydel was confident.

“Okay. Let’s go get her,” Rydel said, his mouth set in a firm line as his mind raced. He couldn’t wait to get to Tara.