Chapter 23

The next day was awkward, to say the least.

Though Veda had to ride Batair with Traze, she stayed icy toward him. At times she felt a little mean for this, but she simply could not control her emotions.

She was torn. On the one hand, a little part of her was relieved to know that Traze was her mate. She had wanted him so badly.

But to hear him say that it was difficult for him when she woke up, that she was a distraction… that hurt. And it was the exact opposite of how Veda expected to feel when she learned she was someone's kode.

All she wanted was to feel inexplicably loved by someone without question or hesitation. Instead, she felt the same rejection from Traze she had felt her entire life.

She simply couldn't focus on it right now. It hurt too much. She would rather focus on the task at hand… The expedition had to take priority.

The one thing that made Veda feel important was the fact that she was doing something good for the Aterans. If she could help find more potential dams and eliminate them, she'd be thrilled to do so. She could figure out her feelings for Traze later. Right now, she was thinking like a scientist.

This part of their voyage was the most difficult, to say the least. Veda was all wrapped up in snow clothes, and as Batair hiked slowly up the mountain, she shivered.

It was odd to Veda how different the plains of Atera could be. She had heard one of the warriors explain they were crossing over into the Frozen Sands soon. To have the Frozen Sands be just a few days ride from the rainforest of the Living Sands was bizarre to her.

But once again, she found so much beauty in Atera. The white snow around her was stunning, and the cold air felt fresh. It reminded her of Christmastime back on Earth. Not that Christmas held a lot of good memories for her. Christmas was a time to spend with one's family, and Veda was always reminded of how she didn't have one.

Though she glanced back at Traze as they rode Batair and thought… Maybe she could now. Maybe if she could get over her pain, she could allow herself to be Traze's kode and have a family with him. If they even could have a family… It was unclear whether or not humans could mate with Aterans. None of the other human women looked pregnant, despite supposedly being on Atera for months.

As they climbed higher up the mountain, Batair began to act oddly. Traze instructed him to go straight, but instead he started veering off to the left and pacing erratically.

"What is it, Batair?" Veda asked him.

"He is bothered and is trying to tell us something," Traze explained as he got off of him. He took Veda off of Batair as well.

"He wants us to go this way. Half of you come with me. Half of you stay with Najol," he announced to his warriors before turning to Veda. "You stay here."

"No!" she said defiantly. "I'm coming with you. I'm only here because you need my brain and my expertise. If Batair is trying to show us something, I should see it."

Traze shook his head in frustration. "Very well, but stay by my side and be quiet. We must all be silent in case Batair is alerting us to a large predator. We may need to sneak up on it."

This did spark some fear in Veda. She remembered the fight with shuraa. Could there be even larger predators here on Atera?

She didn't ask. She couldn't focus on the worst-case scenario. She followed Traze in the snow as quietly as she possibly could.

As they walked deeper into the forest, she heard the familiar sound of a running stream. She eyed Traze, who signaled to her to be quiet by covering his mouth. She did remain quiet, but inwardly she was hopeful that Batair was alerting them to the real problem with the healing sands.

They walked through the forest brush and then heard someone speaking. It sounded like other Ateran men. Traze followed their voices, walking slowly through the trees, and the warriors followed, creeping up behind them.

When they found the source of the voices, Veda's jaw dropped.

There was another dam—this one significantly larger than the last. It was still made like a beaver dam, with many sticks and leaves, but it was gigantic.

And surrounding the dam were a bunch of Ateran men. She watched as they started scooping the water out in large buckets in addition to the sands. They started hauling buckets away, taking them god knew where.

Veda looked up at Traze and saw fury in his eyes. He motioned to the other warriors to step backward, and they quietly retraced their steps until they'd put a fair amount of distance between them and the other Aterans.

"It is the Aterans of the Frozen Sands," one of the warriors said incredulously before Traze could speak.

"Yes. They are stealing our water and our sands," Traze said, still not able to calm his fury.

"That is not right. They know they belong to the Living Sands! We must stop this!" another warrior spoke up.

"And we will," Traze assured them. "We will destroy their dam. Perhaps we should wait until nightfall to attack them when they will likely have nobody guarding the dam." He looked at Veda. "And when we do attack them, you will not be around."

Veda wanted to argue this, but she understood Traze's point of view. If any other Aterans caught them destroying the dam, a fight may very well break out, and Veda wouldn't be even remotely safe around them. She needed to keep her distance, and she nodded her agreement to Traze.

"Very well," Traze continued, "then by nightfall, we will—"

But he did not get a chance to finish his thought. Suddenly, charging through the trees was a horde of Aterans from the Frozen Sands. They had swords drawn and were coming their way!

"Form a line! Protect Veda at all costs!" Traze screamed out, and his warriors began to take formation in front of her.

She stumbled back, her heart pounding, terrified about what would come next.

As the warriors of the Frozen Sands rushed Traze, Veda was most afraid for him. The Living Sands Aterans were outnumbered, and she was horrified to think of what might happen.

Was she going to lose Traze? No, she couldn't. She couldn't stand the thought. She had finally met the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with… She couldn't lose him!

Suddenly, all of Veda's anger and sadness about Traze faded away. She no longer cared that he hadn't announced she was his kode sooner. That didn't matter now. The only thing that mattered was that he would be okay, and she would get to spend all of her days with him. She felt foolish that she had ever made such a big deal about him not claiming her sooner. He loved her now. He claimed her now. Couldn't that be enough?

Yes, it could be, and if Traze made it out alive, Veda vowed it would be.

To Veda's slight relief, the Aterans of the Living Sands were holding their own. They seemed to be winning against their enemies. Especially Traze, who had taken on two Aterans at once and was still knocking them to the ground.

Veda calmed herself for a moment. Traze could do this. She just had to have faith.

But she felt so useless just sitting there while they all fought. She wanted to do something. She wanted to make a difference.

Suddenly, she realized exactly how she could!

She couldn't fight an Ateran, of course, but while the Aterans of the Frozen Sands were distracted, she could destroy the dam!

Veda realized this might be the only opportunity they'd get to deconstruct it. After other Aterans of the Frozen Sands realized what happened, they'd be guarding the dam day and night. Traze and his warriors would probably never get access to it again.

But Veda had access right now.

She got up from the snow and started sprinting to her right, getting out of the line of fighting. None of the Aterans on either side of the fight seemed to notice.

She sprinted through the trees to where they'd found the dam initially and found that what she initially expected was correct. The dam was unguarded.

She ran to it through heavy breath and knelt down in the snow next to it, starting to pull sticks and twigs apart. The more she pulled, the more broke under her, and soon the rushing water was helping to break the dam as much as she was.

The sticks were initially very tightly compacted, but Veda still found it easy to pull them apart. Despite the freezing temperature of the water, she reached inside as far as her arms could go to continue pulling the dam to pieces.

It was freezing, but she stayed motivated. Every time she saw more of the dam break away, she reached in even further to dismantle it.

She had both of her arms submerged to her shoulders when the last of the dam crumbled away and white waters rushed in. For a very brief second, Veda was relieved to see what she had accomplished.

That was until the rushing waters pulled her into the river and started washing her downstream.

The water had seemed fairly calm with the dam in place, and Veda wasn't even remotely expecting it to rush this way. She was a good swimmer, but the freezing temperature had shocked her so that she had to will her muscles to be able to move.

Even using all of her strength, though, the rapids were too strong for her to find the surface. Most of the time, she wasn't even sure what direction she was moving. She would get a gasp of air above the water and then subsequently be forced down under.

Veda was fighting for her life… Until the fight became too hard. The water had choked her air supply, and she quickly started to fade into unconsciousness.