This is the second time I’ve had to watch Margo being carried away from me, only this time I’m helpless to do anything about it. Suddenly, there’s something strange happening inside of me, something I’ve never experienced before. My heart is pounding so loudly it echoes through my ears. Adrenaline is building so quickly it feels like my body is expanding to accommodate it.

There’s a strange tingling sensation in my hands and when I look down there’s an aura floating around me, then through me. As quickly as my heart was beating a moment ago, it slows down. Time itself slows and I’m conscious of everything happening around me; from each individual snowflake that falls in front of my face to the flow of the wind carrying the sounds of battle to me.

I stand up from behind the snow barrier without feeling my body as I move. There’s a horde of Salthu coming toward me, battle axes drawn above them in the air, faces contorted into animalistic growls, eyes set to claim me as a victory in this death match.

I smile.

And then somehow, I release all of the energy inside of me. It starts in my hands and as I raise them in front of me, as if making an offering to the gods, pulses stream from them, throwing the warriors back that attack from in front of me. The waves continue to assault our enemy, pulsing through me, my body acting as a vessel for this strange untapped power.

This power surge continues for a few moments until I start to feel weak, like there’s nothing left inside of me. I drop to my knees, trying to pull anything that I have left inside of me in order to continue the fight. But as much as I was unable to control the pulses of power coming from my body, I can’t stop myself from falling over into the snow. For the first time in my life, it feels cold. So cold that I want to lift myself up, but I can’t. My eyelids drop like the ice blocks we use as drinking water and I’m pulled under into darkness.

* * *

“Is he dead?”

“Of course he’s not dead, he’s breathing isn’t he?”

Consciousness is slowly returning. Instead of blackness, there’s dull light seeping through my eyelids. Slowly, I try to move my body and open my eyes.

“He’s coming to!”

“Are you sure? I think he just twitched.”

Krenar? Tuliran? How is it possible? I force my eyes open and blink away the haze surrounding me. When my eyes clear I’m looking up into the faces of my guard brothers.

“There he is, I knew you’d come around,” Kjallak says, slapping my face a few times to snap me out of my daze. Slowly, I pull myself up onto my elbows and breathe in the cold air, clearing my senses.

“Krenar, Tuliran? What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Mallyk sent us to check up on you guys. Veduco, Halvdan, and Dragos are here too. We came just in time to see the show,” Krenar says.

“What show?” It’s clear to me that I missed something while I was passed out in the snow. “What happened?”

“Look around you, brother,” Kjallak says, grabbing me under the arm and helping me to my feet.

I stand on unsteady legs, willing my strength to return quickly. The battlefield in front of me is quiet, littered with the bodies of the dead. I look around for Branyx, he’s walking through the bodies checking for any Salthu that might have survived.

“Shit,” I say, marveling at the destruction around us. Finally realizing why there is still an unsettled feeling inside of me, Margo’s beautiful face flashes into my mind. “Margo.” I whisper under my breath. “How long have I been unconscious?” I ask, turning to Kjallak, filled with a sudden urgency to take off running toward the forest. “I have to go after Margo…they took her.”

“You need to give yourself a minute to make sure you have your energy back. It was crazy, Lodyn, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“What was crazy?”

“You. You took out all of them,” Kjallak says, waving his arm in the direction of the battlefield. “There was a huge explosion and when I looked to see what was happening, you were standing down there…glowing. Then you turned into a huge Attalan weapon or something and decimated the Salthu. I saw it all from the cliff behind the ship.”

Kjallak looks amused and though I don’t share his excitement, I suppose for now, whatever happened probably saved all of our lives.

“I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know if it’s even possible to do it again, whatever it was. All I know is that I need to get some things and go after Margo. They took her and it won’t be long before they try to sell her. They’re going to want to get rid of her quickly. If that happens, it’ll be much harder for me to find her. I need to get to her now before she slips through my grasp.”

Panic starts to well up inside of me but I need to keep it to myself. Margo is our responsibility. Our job is to protect the humans while they are here on our planet. All of the men will understand this urgency to get her back. They don’t need to know that she’s actually my fated mate. They won’t understand how this connection changes things for us. How it makes me question my purpose and if I’ll be able to eventually let her go.

“We will go with you,” Kjallak says.

“No, you need to stay here and guard the ship. Whatever happens we can’t allow the ship to be taken or they’ll never make it back to Earth. I’ll get Margo back and you make sure the ship is safe. Anything less will be the ultimate failure.”

Kjallak nods and I head inside the ship, set to gather my things and go after her. I can’t afford to waste anymore time. I have to force myself not to think about all of the things that could happen to her. They’ll keep her alive, there’s no reason to kill a human female. They collect an insanely high price on the black market because they are so rare on Attala. I only know this because of the rumors that I’ve heard throughout the guard of one of the leaders, years ago, defecting because he fell in love with a human female. I always figured the story was false, until I fell in love with my own human. Now the story doesn’t seem so outlandish.

The others are gathered outside the ship when I walk down the ramp, ready to head off on my journey. I walk over to my brothers that have most recently come back to help defend the ship and human.

“Thank you for coming to help us,” I say, nodding at each of them and then showing my respect by grasping the back of their necks. They return the gesture and then I walk off, through the snow-covered field, over the dead bodies of my enemies.

I walk to the edge of the woods and then slow my stride in order to find the tracks of the Salthu that took her. The snow has started to fall, but it’s a slow, lazy sort. As long as the snow doesn’t pick up too much I will be able to follow the tracks that will lead me to Margo.

The problem with the Salthu is that they don’t inhabit just one location. They have several groups living scattered throughout the vast wilderness. They scavenge, hunt, and kill in order to take what they need to survive. The wall was erected long ago to protect the growing city from these savage attacks. The guard was given the job of protecting the wall. And guarding the wall means protecting the citizens living inside the wall in the city.

Margo has a job to do and her job involves going back to her planet. So even if I could eventually convince her to stay with me, we’d be forced to live outside the walls of the city, hidden in the wilderness where dangers lurk around every corner.

I push those thoughts from my mind and force myself to focus on finding her. It doesn’t take me long to find their tracks. They move in large packs and don’t make any attempt to hide. I don’t know if it’s cockiness or stupidity. Or maybe they don’t think I’ll come after what is mine.

I’m moving fast, setting a rhythm fueled by the worry inside of me that I’m not going to reach her in time. They traveled far while I was passed out in the snow. When I reach the clearing and see the animal bones littering the ground, it sinks in just how far ahead of me they are. This time when I take off after them, I push myself to move even faster. It’ll be dark soon and then I’ll have plenty of other things to contend with.

I arrive at the bridge of bones and am instantly overly aware of my surroundings. This bridge, constructed from the rib cage and spinal column of the Argali is the entrance to the Salthu’s caves. There’s no sign of life out here, which is troublesome because it’s usually guarded. Crouching low, I make my way across the bridge until I reach the edge of the cliff. From here I can look down into the Salthu’s camp. Finding foot holes, I ease down over the side and begin my decent.

As soon as my feet hit the snow at the bottom, I flatten myself against the cliff wall as a small pack of Salthu move along the path directly in front of me. I want to move quietly, in and out, without alerting anyone to my presence. Obviously they’ll realize something’s going on when Margo’s gone but I want to be far away by then.

Once the area is deserted I move with purpose toward the caves. I keep to the shadows, covering my tracks as I move like a ghost, a mere whisper on the wind. The caves are close but there are more and more guards in this area. Before I move any closer, I find a better vantage point where I can survey the area to see if I can figure out where they might be keeping Margo.

It strikes me how cold and desolate this place is. It’s not something I would have noticed before Margo. Now, the thought of her sitting alone in one of these dark, damp caves fuels the anger inside of me even more. Anger at myself that she was taken in the first place and anger at these prehistoric beasts for having no sense of pride and honor. For thinking they have the right to forcefully take whatever they want in order to sell it and make a profit. They’re dishonorable, this is something I have always known. But now it has become personal.

There are a series of caves that have caught my eye. They’re off on their own, away from all of the rest with huge bones propped in front of the entrance, a makeshift prison. Making my way to the caves, my instinct tells me what I’ve been dreading all along. I don’t feel Margo close, my body isn’t alight with awakening knowing she’s near me. When I look inside the cave through the bars, it’s dark and empty.

Margo’s already gone.