Chapter 4

Stay away from Draka.

That's what the ashora guard had told her a month ago. Now, she trudged up the side of the mountain wondering what the hell she was doing.

Maybe this was a bad plan after all.

If you care for your life, the ashora had said, don't let him see you.

Problem was, he'd already seen her. He was looking for her and if he didn't get to her, then Margrul would.

No, she was sticking to the plan. Try to hide in plain sight first, negotiate after.

Halfway up the mountainside she found a little cavern and took a moment to rest. The more she thought about what she was doing, the more that little vial of viluum kept popping into her head.

She'd made it a month. That was better than most right? She could say she really gave it her all, pat herself on the back, maybe say a little prayer, then take the viluum and be done with it.

She hunkered down beside the entrance of the cave watching for shadows moving against the snow. Water dropped from icicles above, and she could hear the soft trickle of water. There were small wisps of steam coming up from a vent a few feet away where the water could be heard.

She thought of the pool. Maybe she could find it again and at least feel warm before she put herself to sleep.

Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths. She slipped off her helmet and set it by the entrance, then she took out her knife, gripping it tight. She crouched for a moment, searching for any signs of others nearby, then she crept out of her little hiding place and over to the narrow vent where the steam seeped out.

If she was really going to go through with her idea, she'd better give it some leg to stand on. Or better an arm.

She rolled up one sleeve, icy air biting her skin. Aiming the blade down into the vent, she slid the metal end into the stream of boiling water and kept it there for less than a minute. She put the collar of her coat between her teeth, biting down hard, then she counted to three. In one swift movement, she pulled the knife out and pressed the metal to the skin along her wrist.

Fiery pain licked up her arm in an instant. It took all her will to not release the knife right away. She screamed into her coat and hunched over, trying and failing to keep quiet. When she couldn't take it anymore, she let the knife fall on the ground. She clutched at her arm, searing pain blinding her, making her stomach twist, nausea setting in. She stifled a moan as she picked her knife up and stumbled back to the cave.

Waves of burning pain came and went, her arm throbbing as she rocked back and forth. She would have stayed in that cave clinging to her wrist until morning, but she knew the longer she remained outside unprotected, the higher the chances were she'd be caught.

Ria gave herself one more minute before she forced herself to her feet. She reached up and snapped an icicle off the top of the cave and pressed it to her burning skin. She held it until it grew numb, then let the icicle shatter on the ground. She gently rolled down her sleeve, then sheathed her knife and picked up her helmet, putting it back on. She readjusted her gloves and cinched up her pack then, without hesitation, left the cave, continuing on up the mountainside.

She tried to not touch her arm, keeping it bent and against her chest as she trudged her way through snow and up rocky inclines. The wind blew down, sometimes whipping snow across her legs. Every so often, she looked back to make sure no one was following.

When she came to a set of towering rocks, she halted. Tilting her head up, she gazed at them. They looked like two shadow-clad giants in the night with the moons rising above them. There were long pieces of cloth at the top of each, swaying in the wind. Though it was hard to tell, she could just make out a star painted across each side. The rocks told her all she needed to know.

Past them was Draka's territory.

She hadn't encountered them the first time when she'd gone up and found the pool. She had steered clear of the path that had led straight to the entrance to his domain, trying to keep a wide birth along the mountain, unthinking about the paths that might weave deep in the rock. Now, she went right between them, continuing onward to the set of buildings not far ahead.

Carefully climbing up a set of flat rocks, she came to the landing and found a short wall. Along its length was a row of corpses—five to be exact—hanging on pikes. She nearly recoiled until she noticed two people watching her just beyond the wall, one on top of a small flat-roofed building and another leaning against the wall of a domed structure opposite.

She slowed to a halt as she came upon them. They watched her curiously—one a wolf-like alien called a kyrwori and the other a thick-skinned reptile like the one she had killed—an uugari. They wore thick padding and dark coats with the green star on their left arm.

The uugari on top of the building jumped down with ease and sauntered toward her as did the kyrwori.

They didn't greet her or say a word. Guess it was up to her to start the conversation.

"I'm here to see Draka," she said, her heart pounding, grateful the helmet's voice box worked to keep her voice low, unrecognizable.

"What for?" the kyrwori asked after a pause.

She turned her head to look between them, noticing their blades—larger than her own—at their sides. "I heard he's looking for a chemist."

The wind whipped between them. Their eyes remained locked to her, studying her.

"Draka isn't here," the uugari growled. "Come back tomorrow."

They were already turning away. She took a step toward them, ready to protest, and they turned back to her, hands on the hilts of their blades.

"Did you not hear? Leave or end up like those around you," the uugari said, gesturing to the bodies along the wall to her left and right.

"I heard you," she said. "When will Draka return?"

"Who knows," answered the kyrwori. "Tonight he hunts."

She could bet on who exactly he was hunting for.

"He could be out past morning," the uugari added.

They turned away again, expecting her to leave. She had a bad feeling if she tried to protest again, one of their blades would end up in her gut. Still, she couldn't be left in the cold, and she doubted they were going to let her stay in one of the buildings.

Before she could decide what to do, she heard the sounds of gears. The ground vibrated at her feet and a low hum filled the air.

Past the buildings and the men, the side of the mountain was opening up like a huge maw. It took her a second to realize it was the entrance leading inside.

From the mouth, another kyrwori stepped out. One eye was glossed over with a scar running across and the fur on his neck and face was in patches like he had mange. He was smaller than the other kyrwori who'd told her to leave and yet, somehow, more menacing.

Beside him was a huge ashora with a scar across his head.

The two guards stood their ground as the other two approached, their hands falling from the hilts at their sides.

"Storm's coming," the mangy kyrwori said. "Probably will last the night. You good out here?" His eyes drifted to her, his nostrils flaring.

She stiffened, waiting to see if he would catch her natural scent.

"We're fine," the other kyrwori replied. "This guy showed up. Says he's here for the new position."

The mangy kyrwori studied her, then said, "Draka's not here."

"We've told him to leave," the uugari hissed.

She didn't move as the kyrwori came toward her. He tilted his head, his nostrils flaring. He grimaced.

This was it. She wasn't even going to get inside before they figured out who she was.

"Smells awful," he said. He pinched her coat, tugging it lightly. "Did you dip yourself in qualka oil or what?"

Qualka oil. Ah, that explained the pungent smell that made the others turn away when looking for her. They used that sort of oil in the factories making engine parts and sometimes to fuel generators. If it got on someone, they smelled for days even after bathing. If it got on clothes, it was better to just burn them then try to wash them. Whoever had worn the coat before hadn't yet bothered to do so.

She could tell he was waiting for an answer. She cleared her throat and said, "I was sprayed by some on accident."

"Clearly." He laughed a little, showing long canine teeth. "So what? You got sprayed and your pack kicked you to the wilds so they didn't have to smell your stink all night long?"

"I have no pack," she said.

"I wonder why?" His smile widened. "So, you say you're a chemist, huh?"

"I know a few things."

"Yeah, I'm sure." He examined her some more, and she tried not to tense up, to keep her fear stifled lest he smell that too. "Well, you're just one guy, right?" He looked at the others.

"We saw no one else," the uugari confirmed.

He turned back to her, his yellow eye shifting over her. "Small guy too. Check him."

The two guards came around her, and she almost stepped back but feared that would give her away. She stood frozen as their hands padded around her coat, hoping to all hell they didn't notice she had tits.

They slid their hands up her sides and around her legs, checking her pockets. The only thing she had on her was her knife which they took. They forced her bag off her shoulders and searched that too, discarding the extra clothes and canteen onto the snow.

"Doesn't look like much," said the scarred kyrwori, kicking the canteen.

Thankfully they hadn't considered checking her boot where she had hidden her little vial of viluum. The kyrwori sniffed her some more and backed away.

"I can't smell what you are but by your build I can only assume ashora. That right?"

She dipped her head. "Right," she lied.

He snorted. "Well, ashora, it's your lucky day. Because I know Draka so well. He'd probably be more pissed we turned you away with a storm on the horizon." He smiled again, that toothy grin. "Better to test you first, make sure you really got the skills we're looking for. And if not, then we'll throw you out into the storm." He laughed and the others followed. "So, you picked a good time to come, eh?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she went to pick up her things when the alien halted her.

"Leave it. If you're a worthy candidate, you'll get better than that garbage. If not, maybe we'll give it back if you ask nicely."

She straightened, letting the things go seeing as she had no real attachment to them anyway. The kyrwori turned for the mountain and she reluctantly followed.

The wide open doorway, she noticed as they came to it, was just a bay door placed into the rock bed. Beyond was a driveway more than a path that went up a small ramp. As they walked up the concrete drive, she almost jumped when she heard the gears turn again and the door began to slowly shut behind her. It was a thick slab of metal dropping down from the ceiling to lock her inside.

Can't go back now, she thought. Sweat began to lick at the back of her neck, her breath making the dark blue eye-holes of her helmet fog up a little. She noticed it got warmer the farther in they got, especially now with the cold air shut out behind them. She wished she could feel relief being out of the weather, but instead she grew more on edge.

From the top of the ramp, they came to an open space not unlike a garage, with junk—crates, large pieces of metal, machine parts—placed on either side into specific piles. Things they had scavenged or stolen. There was a small group of prisoners, mostly consisting of silderhydes and smaller ashora, sitting on a set of crates, talking and drinking from a shared canteen. Each of them turned their eyes to her as she passed. The kyrwori didn't look their way as he made for a set of stairs at the opposite end leading up to another smaller doorway.

They climbed the stairs and went through a small passage. When they came out the other end, she halted.

In the center of a circular chamber was a giant drill, pointing downward, kept up by thick chains and scaffolding. From the rust and the grime, it was clear it hadn't been in use for some time. The path went from concrete to metal along the edges of the drill where she could see straight down into a deep tunnel, where small plumes of steam rose, swirling around the drill. That explained the heat coming from below.

Around the railing surrounding the drill, they had barrels tied with rope. From the greenish glow of lanterns also hanging from the rails, she could just make out the shine of water swirling down in the tunnel beneath.

It was a mining base at one time or another, drilling to get to the water. Now that was long gone, used by Draka's pack. Who knew what lengths it had taken for him and his group to fight to get this place. To become the king of the mountain.

There were several doorways leading to other paths around the chamber and another set of stairs leading up to a second level. A few prisoners walked along the metal grates on both levels, some pulling ropes with the barrels to bring up water, then unhooking the barrels and taking them somewhere unseen.

"Get moving," the kyrwori said to her when he looked behind to see her standing at the entrance. Quickly she returned to his side and followed past the drill to another passageway.

They went by a few other rooms, most using curtains as doors so no one could see inside. At one point as they weaved along the passage, she caught sight of one open doorway and the room beyond with generators in rows and a bulky ashora working to fix one of them. That explained how they had electricity, with rows of lights along the floors lighting their way.

The path widened and they came to a dead end with one door leading straight into a room and another, to her right, blocked off by a thick metal door like the one at the entrance—the only real door she'd seen within. The kyrwori took her to the room straight ahead where she found what she could only describe as a lab.

Dim yellow light above showed rows of tables lining one side with glass containers and tubes, two large storage units took up one corner, and several tanks lined one side.

All things they must have stolen from the factories though she suspected the storage units and tables were already here when they took over.

The kyrwori took a large metal box by the door, carrying it with both hands, then he pointed with his chin to two black bags that had been next to the box. "Get those and follow me."

She did as he asked. They left the lab and headed back down the passage into another until they came to an open doorway leading outside again.

Or sort of outside. It was a wide space but with rock all around, the rock below their feet smoothed out. When she looked up, it was like looking up from a huge open well. There was another metal door beside where they stood, and across the opposite side stood a tunnel next to passage like the one they had come from.

The kyrwori set the box down a few feet away from the passage entrance and motioned for her to set the bags down beside it.

"I would have waited for Draka, but he'll probably be out for who knows how long looking for the supposed human everyone claims is hiding somewhere out there." He went to the box first and opened it, the top half opening up like a flower, revealing a little burner in the middle and two small side tables. Then he opened up the bags, setting tools, bowls, pans, and glass vials down on the ground. Next he set several small lidded jars of unknown substances on the tables—some powdery, others liquid. The last thing he set on the burner was a little notebook.

"First page in the book, follow the instructions. If you do everything right, you should have no problems, and the solution should turn a deep blue almost black. If you do it wrong, you won't have time to realize you messed up, as you'll be scattered in several places, got it?"

She dipped her head to show she did. Fuck up and get blown to pieces—she understood that perfectly.

"Get it done before the storm blows in and then maybe you'll have a chance." The kyrwori turned back for the passage. He stopped right before the doorway and looked back at her. "Someone will be watching. Try anything and you'll regret it."

He left her alone. Or so she thought. But she didn't doubt there were eyes on her. Not like she was going to try anything anyway. She was way outnumbered and didn't know these tunnels at all.

She turned to the setup in front of her instead, focusing on that, knowing she had little time.

She flipped open the book. The writing was in karaki as were most things in the prison. She knew some but she wasn't fluent. Thankfully the numbers were the easiest to remember and that's what mattered. After that it was connecting the names of the chemicals mentioned with the labels on the jars. There were pictures also which helped. It was a short list, seemingly simple if one knew what they were working with.

Placing the open book beside her, she went to work.

Clouds were beginning to cover the moons above, and soft flakes were starting to fall on the ground.

She sat by the kit, carefully mixing one solution into a bowl with another while stirring. Something had been way off with the instructions as she went along, and she had to read through them again and again to figure them out. She recognized only a few of the chemicals out of the dozen, and she knew at least two needed to be boiled before they could be mixed with another. That's when she knew that particular instruction had been purposely left out to see if the person making the solution would catch it. Someone who knew what they were doing.

Problem was she didn't know all of the chemicals. But she also knew how to test properly if something wouldn't mix right, by making a sample of each solution in tiny increments to see how they reacted. When they reacted the way she wanted, she made the larger batch and continued on.

After an hour she was getting close to the end, but the storm was coming and she was losing time.

She worked carefully but swiftly. She turned down the burner a touch and dropped the solution she mixed into the pan atop the burner. She stirred carefully, waiting for the solution to grow to a pale green. She was so focused on the liquid in the pan she didn't hear the group come upon her or notice them at the corner of her eye.

"Interesting place to work," said a familiar voice.

She jumped, her metal stirrer almost falling out of the pan. She looked up and stared right into Draka's face.

He was wearing a thick black coat with gray fur along the hood, and his padded black pants and boots were dusted with snow. His mouth was covered by a black scarf. Her scarf.

Behind him was a group of his men wearing similar attire, some with goggles or a helmet like hers. Based on the tracks of snow, they must have come from the tunnelway on the opposite end.

He glared down at her with those wicked eyes, his pupils narrowing. He pulled down her scarf, showing off an expression which was undoubtedly annoyed.

Say something, she told herself. But she was having a hard time finding words. This was a mistake. Seeing him now again brought the fear right back. She was crazy—no, idiotic—to have come here thinking her plan would work, thinking it was in any way safe to close the distance between them.

His eyes flicked down to the chemistry set before her, his head tilting. "Please, don't stop for my benefit." He made a gesture with his hand—claws halfway out—and the men behind him dispersed, continuing on inside. He crossed his arms and waited for her to finish.

She turned back nervously to the pan, feeling his eyes burning into her back. Just finish it, she told herself silently. Don't fuck it up now.

She continued stirring, watching the liquid turn green. She took the last jar of powder and measured it out, then she carefully siphoned it into the pan with the liquid while slowly stirring.

The liquid went from the pale cloudy green to a full blue-black almost instantly. Ria quietly blew out a breath. She'd wipe the sweat off her brow if she could. She turned off the burner and poured the liquid into the little capsule like the notes instructed, then capped the lid.

"May I?" Draka asked, holding out his hand, his claws now curling.

She gave it to him, making sure their hands didn't touch. He flipped the capsule upside down and swirled the contents within. His look of annoyance lightened if only a little. He gripped the capsule in one hand and glared back down at her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Oza," she answered. A simple but common ashora name.

"Oza," he repeated. "I assume Freys let you in?"

"A kyrwori with…" She gestured at her eye.

"That's him." His mouth twitched. "You can get up now."

She did, cautiously, like she was in front of a predator and one wrong move meant she was dead. Snow started to fall heavier now as the storm began to reach the mountain. But the flakes didn't stick to the smooth ground, too warm from the heat below.

He tilted his head, his nostrils flaring. "You get dunked in qualka oil?"

"Sprayed."

"Where do you work?"

"The mines."

His eyes narrowed. "I didn't think they worked with qualka oil there."

She tried not to wring her hands. "Only a little, with the generators," she lied.

"Ah." He moved, stepping closer, showing just how much bigger he was compared to her. "So, is that what you do? Fix the generators?"

She hoped that wasn't some question to catch her deceit. "No, I filter water from debris in the inner pools," she said. "I checked on the generators as a favor to a fellow worker."

He started to circle her, like a stalking giant. "That's very selfless of you. Or did you owe them?"

She tried not to tense and failed. "Owed. He helped me when I desperately needed it."

He stopped again before her. "And you're not the kind of person to go back on a favor owed, are you?"

"No, Xia."

His pupils widened, and a hint of a smile spread across his face. "Xia...you know who you're speaking to. I like that."

She dipped her head. "Yes, Xia," she said quietly. She was lucky to remember that one term of authority used amongst the high-ranking sidonions. Something she'd learned in her studies a long time ago.

"Why don't you take off the helmet, Oza, so I can get a good look at you?"

She didn't move.

"I'm sorry, Xia, but I can't," she said, hoping he didn't hear the break in her voice.

His eyes narrowed again. "And why not?"

"I…had an accident."

His eyes drifted down her body. "What sort of accident?"

"I tripped into a boiling stream in one of the caverns I was drilling in. I was badly burned all over."

He tilted his head, "Oh, really?"

"Yes, Xia."

He pointed to her helmet, one sharp claw extended. "So, that helmet is stuck to you?"

"N-no. But the air hurts my face. It's still healing."

He didn't respond but she could see the doubt—and suspicion—on his face.

"I can show you." She put out her arm, and his eyes flickered downward then back up at her.

"Go on."

Carefully she rolled up her sleeve just enough to reveal the fresh burn she had given herself. She was not the same skin color as any regular ashora. They were all pale white or dark gray or blue, not brown. But reddening the skin hopefully hid that fact. Even she could see the blisters and shiny red skin where part of her flesh had been peeled away from her knife.

"Interesting," he said softly as he glared at her burned wrist. "A unique flesh burn for an ashora."

She quickly pulled the sleeve back down. Was it? Shit, she'd figured they were red on the inside too. Or maybe he meant the way it had blistered.

When his eyes met hers, she saw the amusement in them. Ah, he might be fucking with her. Maybe he didn't know either. Probably none of his men were stupid enough to trip into a boiling stream.

"It must be painful like you say. Since you succeeded in our little test, I'll choose to believe you. For now. But you can't hide forever." He grinned at her, and she had to choke down her gasp as a shiver slid across her body from seeing his silver fangs.

From the passage, Freys appeared. He froze for a second seeing them, then came to Draka's side.

"I didn't think you'd be back so soon," he said.

"The storm was coming," Draka answered without taking his eyes from her.

"Didn't find your little human, I take it?"

The amusement fizzled out in his gaze and was replaced again by that tight look of annoyance. "Margrul didn't find her either from what I've been told, and he might just be more desperate than me."

"Think someone else got her first?"

"No, the scouts found her hideaway, but she wasn't there. I've been told she fled."

"If she hasn't been caught, then she might be dead."

Ria was astounded that the kyrwori could talk so freely in front of him. Especially about something that clearly upset him.

Draka slipped past her, his talons fully extended. "Oza has been recruited. Get his room set up and show him everything in the lab, what will be required of him. He's also injured, so make sure he gets seen by Serbril when given the chance." He stopped at the doorway and looked back at her. "See you around, Oza."