Friends in Deed

Friends in Deed - Chapter 1

In the depth of my nightmares, Lycus IV would always be a formidable hell, no matter if the scenery gave off the illusion of mighty grandeur. Lush green trees lined the banks. Sporadic cloud cover offered broken views of a distant pale blue mountain range.

This prison planet’s terror was not found in its natural surroundings, but from its unwilling inhabitants.

A wide river flowed slowly before me over a bed of rocks. Filthy clothing, ripped and shredded, barely covered my bruised and bloody skin. I gazed across the clear, inviting water.

A bellow filled the air. I turned as a pale, naked giant rumbled through the brush, yelling at the top of his lungs. His makeshift mallet towered above his head, a boulder strapped into the fork of a tree branch. I jumped aside just before the weapon crashed down.

One of his eyes grew crazy-wide, while the other glazed over. Saliva dribbled from his lips. “I am King of the Wooded Realm! You dare invade my territory?”

This wasn’t a fight I planned to stick around for. This beast was obviously psychotic, and they were always the worst type of violent.

He hoisted his club and swung it. I stumbled back and it sent a breeze across my face. Escape was my only chance for survival, so I turned toward the opposite bank and sprinted across the riverbed.

“Your punishment is death! Vengeance is demanded!”

I high-stepped through the water while the beast screamed bloody murder. I didn’t want to look back, because that would leave no doubt he gained on me.

My foot tripped over a cluster of submerged rocks and I splashed into the cool, clear water. I flipped over and faced my attacker as his cold, dark shadow enveloped me. Milky-white foam oozed over his lower lip, dripping long strands toward the water below.

“Prepare to meet your maker!”

He raised the mallet high above his head. At least my death would be quick, but I couldn’t say much for painless. I shut my eyes tight and waited for the crushing blow.

A sharp whistle passed overhead and the giant beast gasped and choked. My eyes flashed open as the beast dropped his weapon into the river behind him.

Only one object stood between me and oblivion, a homemade arrow buried in his neck, with feathers fashioned into rear fins. He couldn’t pull it out from the front, so reached back. The beast’s mind finally gave up hope as soon as his fingers felt a stone tip emerging from the back of his neck. His eyes rolled up into his skull, then he fell backward.

The corpse splashed down and huge waves pushed against me. I jerked my head around and stared at the opposite bank. There, a bow in his left hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back, stood the man who’d just saved my life.

Elijah Cassus.

#

I shot awake, drenched in sweat and breathing heavy. The ship was rapidly decelerating, and something was definitely wrong. My ship’s computer usually gave me advance notice before we dropped below the hyperspeed threshold.

I wiped my forehead and tossed my legs over the cot’s side, speaking to my computer. “Jeanie, where are we?”

Her seductive voice was little comfort to me. “The Bacauri system.”

I involuntarily shuddered, even knowing we’d pass this way when we first set a course for the Tranon system. Quite likely, it was why I’d had a nightmare about my time on Lycus IV. Trouble was, we weren’t scheduled to make a stop before reaching Tranon. I scrambled for the bridge. “Why are we slowing down?”