everyone up at first light and the bombs had not managed to destroy it.
Marian rubbed her stinging eyes and looked around to find that Blu was missing. Thoughts of betrayal ran through her mind and she wondered if she’d exit the building to an army of Fels waiting for her. She looked around frantically, wanting to be wrong, and exhaled easily when she saw that there was a note written hastily on the ground. It let her know that he had left in a hurry to go help a friend in nearby Veece.
She grabbed the jug and took a swig of the wine before standing up and stretching painfully. It had been a long time since she’d slept on the ground, and her joints felt as if she had slept in a cramped box all night.
She pulled on her shoes, secured her knife, and knocked the dust off of her dress and cape. She hated how impractical her garb was for playing the role of resistance fighter, but it was all she had so she put it out of her mind. She grabbed a few pieces of jerky, sealed the bowl from which they came, and then slid past the rock to emerge behind the bar of what used to be Cally’s famous cantina. She could almost hear the music and see the fighters dancing and mingling back in the glory days of the resistance. It was a sad image, especially since it was during those days when she would orchestrate raids on tiny cells like this one.
She walked her aching legs through a side door of the cantina, and paused to listen to make sure she was alone. The place was a ghost town, so she went into the woods, climbing the grassy, rocky surface of the hills. She climbed for the better part of fifteen minutes until she found herself in a thick sea of grass, yellow and green as far as her eyes could see.
She walked through the tall grass, amazed that it was high enough to swallow her legs in its deep yellow waves. Her hands stretched out to touch them as she glided through, feeling like Rienne the Baroness once again. The sky was a pink color; she noticed it for the first time, and Talula, which hung low below a large visible planet, gave it the most wondrous view that she had ever seen in her life.
Tyhera's landscape was the stuff of paintings back in Anstractor. She wished that she had a memtoc flobot to capture it all to show Marika. She was still in this deep thought when she caught herself from accidentally stepping on a nest of large eggs. They were brown with beautiful emerald spots, and a cracked top shifted aside as a tiny kitten pushed its paw out to meet the world for the first time.
Marian gasped loudly. “Hatch kittens!” she exclaimed with glee, but her excitement was cut short due to a low rumbling growl that came from behind her.
Marian whipped around and pulled her knife free, sinking into a low stance. In front of her was the biggest rock cat she had ever seen, and she immediately realized she was in trouble.
“Look, Mom, I don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “I got near your babies on accident. Please oh please oh please don’t make me kill you.”
The massive rock cat closed the distance on her slowly, then in a sudden motion, pounced with her jaws agape. Marian threw two tiny crystals, one in the air and one behind her. It was so fast and so effortless that it looked as if she had merely skipped backwards and was suddenly falling from the sky to land on top of the giant cat’s back.
The creature was confused and annoyed with Marian, who held on to the cat’s rough, rock-like neck as she leapt one way and then another, trying to throw her from her back. This went on for a while and Marian dug her heels into her underside and hugged her neck tightly. No matter how much the cat jumped and rolled to throw her off—which was a lot—Marian wouldn’t relent.
Though survival was all that occupied Marian’s mind during the encounter, there was a moment when she thought she would die. The cat would tear her throat out and splatter her blood across those beautiful stalks of grass. It would be a good death,
Marian rubbed her stinging eyes and looked around to find that Blu was missing. Thoughts of betrayal ran through her mind and she wondered if she’d exit the building to an army of Fels waiting for her. She looked around frantically, wanting to be wrong, and exhaled easily when she saw that there was a note written hastily on the ground. It let her know that he had left in a hurry to go help a friend in nearby Veece.
She grabbed the jug and took a swig of the wine before standing up and stretching painfully. It had been a long time since she’d slept on the ground, and her joints felt as if she had slept in a cramped box all night.
She pulled on her shoes, secured her knife, and knocked the dust off of her dress and cape. She hated how impractical her garb was for playing the role of resistance fighter, but it was all she had so she put it out of her mind. She grabbed a few pieces of jerky, sealed the bowl from which they came, and then slid past the rock to emerge behind the bar of what used to be Cally’s famous cantina. She could almost hear the music and see the fighters dancing and mingling back in the glory days of the resistance. It was a sad image, especially since it was during those days when she would orchestrate raids on tiny cells like this one.
She walked her aching legs through a side door of the cantina, and paused to listen to make sure she was alone. The place was a ghost town, so she went into the woods, climbing the grassy, rocky surface of the hills. She climbed for the better part of fifteen minutes until she found herself in a thick sea of grass, yellow and green as far as her eyes could see.
She walked through the tall grass, amazed that it was high enough to swallow her legs in its deep yellow waves. Her hands stretched out to touch them as she glided through, feeling like Rienne the Baroness once again. The sky was a pink color; she noticed it for the first time, and Talula, which hung low below a large visible planet, gave it the most wondrous view that she had ever seen in her life.
Tyhera's landscape was the stuff of paintings back in Anstractor. She wished that she had a memtoc flobot to capture it all to show Marika. She was still in this deep thought when she caught herself from accidentally stepping on a nest of large eggs. They were brown with beautiful emerald spots, and a cracked top shifted aside as a tiny kitten pushed its paw out to meet the world for the first time.
Marian gasped loudly. “Hatch kittens!” she exclaimed with glee, but her excitement was cut short due to a low rumbling growl that came from behind her.
Marian whipped around and pulled her knife free, sinking into a low stance. In front of her was the biggest rock cat she had ever seen, and she immediately realized she was in trouble.
“Look, Mom, I don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “I got near your babies on accident. Please oh please oh please don’t make me kill you.”
The massive rock cat closed the distance on her slowly, then in a sudden motion, pounced with her jaws agape. Marian threw two tiny crystals, one in the air and one behind her. It was so fast and so effortless that it looked as if she had merely skipped backwards and was suddenly falling from the sky to land on top of the giant cat’s back.
The creature was confused and annoyed with Marian, who held on to the cat’s rough, rock-like neck as she leapt one way and then another, trying to throw her from her back. This went on for a while and Marian dug her heels into her underside and hugged her neck tightly. No matter how much the cat jumped and rolled to throw her off—which was a lot—Marian wouldn’t relent.
Though survival was all that occupied Marian’s mind during the encounter, there was a moment when she thought she would die. The cat would tear her throat out and splatter her blood across those beautiful stalks of grass. It would be a good death,
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