Chapter 6 | Hazel

Chapter 6

Hazel

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From the moon's grace, a god was crafted from the molten core of our largest moon, Lupa. Skin the color of white and blue crystal. Loh was capable of glowing so hot that no eye could gaze upon the moon god without bestowing his light on those worthy of his blessing.

From his seed, warriors were given his power to disappear amongst the stars. Our loh were not bound to their jeweled form, but burst forth like the wings of a loretig, a great creature that disappeared along with the clan's mythical sky warriors.

But there stood one, a warrior that appeared just like the crystal statue of the moon goddess's gift of a god in flesh to protect our clan. Only the Almder herself was known to have loh that could replicate rapidly with the moon's rays and sprout as the loretig once did. He appeared out of thin air, and I stared in shock as he disappeared like a wave, blurring until there was nothing.

I stared as the scales on Yueril's head flared, and I quickly brought my hood over my face as he instructed. I couldn't see anything through the thick fabric, but I heard the sounds as their boots scuffed on the ground, loh and claw scrapped, and that twisted laugh of a male that marred the beauty of a clan I never got to be part of.

My lip trembled with self-pity as I cowed in the disillusioned safety of nothing more than a thick blanket of fabric. I wanted so badly to be accepted and rejoin my clan, even after my mother's passing, but I missed every chance given. Time and time again, I could have returned to the palace, explained why I was alone, living in a cave beyond the clan borders.

I chose to be a coward then, too.

Yueril hissed, and it wasn't the kind of noise he made as I wrapped my mating gland around his tail and squeezed. It was... pain. I couldn't stand by, crouched on the floor, as he protected both our skins from Lord Zorn. Shame made me hesitate that such an outlaw came from my planet, born from the decisions of a leader I never got to officially meet, and my mother abandoned to keep me by her side.

A lifetime of indecision and I finally lifted my hood up to see it was wrong of me to allow someone else to handle my battles for me. Yueril wouldn't have been in this position if it weren't for getting involved with a runaway slave. Glowing a bright green, my loh burned in preparation. I didn't have the power to transmorph my loh into a weapon like Lord Zorn, but I held firm that he was no god of Estreldez and his energy stores were as finite as the rest of us.

Quietly, I moved behind Lord Zorn, and as he threatened Yueril once more, I leaned in and growled out, "He doesn't have to." I will, I thought wickedly. I will be the one to kill you myself.

With renewed vigor and resolve, I gripped his back loh and began absorbing as much of his radiation as I could. As fast as I could, I pulled his radiation into myself, channeling it into the tarnpul strapped to my hip. Fire coursed through my veins, and my jaw clenched down to stop the scream bubbling up from my throat. I swallowed the pain down as I continued to syphon from Lord Zorn, praying he was too occupied with Yueril to fight back and reverse the flow of radiation back into himself. I felt the jerk of his shoulders as he tried to get away, break the connection, but I held tightly. Blood flowed from my palms, along my forearms, and dripped from my elbows, glowing from vengeance instead of grace, just like Lord Zorn wanted.

The pain was too much, and my head flung back as I screamed towards the ceiling, wishing that the last thing I saw in this world wouldn't be the boring metal of the Den of Bounty. I always dreamed my last moments would be staring at the moons, showered in their glow as I returned to the ground that gave me life. That wasn't supposed to be today, I thought wistfully, as my energy to hang on drained. I was overloading my loh. I knew that from the way my skin felt like it was melting, being drenched in my own blood seeping from the seams around each jewel.

Still, I didn't let go. I didn't stop pulling the radiation from the male that wished to take my freedom, my skin, my life. My throat grew hoarse, and my screams became silent, though the air still pushed from my lungs in an effort to be heard. Someone hear me... I thought with disappointment that Lord Zorn was winning, even when I was taking his life. My own would follow him into the void.

I felt the flow of radiation weaken and knew I didn't need to continue anymore. He had less radiation in his loh than I did the day I crawled to the trader with the largest loh from my feet dug from my flesh, begging for the radiation pack that saved my life.

Funny, I thought with a smile, as the feeling in my arms tingled and something tore my hand from Lord Zorn's back loh. I didn't even care that I felt my melted flesh tear apart, sticking to where I gripped him.

Lord Zorn got exactly what he wanted. My freedom, my skin and... my life.

Numbness crept up my back and my knees shook from my own weight. Pressure pulsed up one of my arms, but I couldn't see anything through the haze of radiation.

"Forgive me," I heard the whisper of Yueril's deep voice. It was a strong sound, and I smiled, knowing that he would live. As if that confirmation was all I was waiting for, I collapsed and allowed the light to take me.