It was dark outside the shuttle. We had landed in some sort of forest. Or perhaps 'jungle' was a better term. Whatever it was called, we were surrounded by trees and plants.
The trees leading up to the back of the shuttle were broken. It was obvious the shuttle had crashed through them. Thick trunks had simply been snapped apart by the force of the impact, and the heavy logs were scattered randomly near the path.
I hoped that might make us easier to spot from the air, but given how dense the canopies of the other trees were I doubted it would be much help. I could see a few stars if I looked straight up, but it seemed like places with a view of the sky were few and far between. The shuttle had probably only made this clearing by tilting the final tree it had run into.
I couldn't make out any details of the shuttle from outside it. The entire thing was just a haze in the darkness. It reminded me of the invisibility fields the Kymari sometimes used. I could tell the shuttle was there, right up against the tree with the horrible dent in it and right below the faint stream of smoke, but I couldn't make any specific details out about it. I had no idea how it had fared from the crash other than what I had seen from the inside.
Given how thick the trees were and how easily it had blown through them, I doubted the shuttle had done that well. I was actually surprised we were even still alive. If nothing else, the Ilrivians had built a pretty sturdy ship.
Though I supposed given what I had seen of them, it was probably just as likely they had stolen it. My opinion of them had fallen considerably when they had tried to shoot us.
There were a lot of plants growing around the shuttle that I thought would make it harder for Minna's father to treat the other Kymari. There was no telling what kind of infection risks this much greenery posed, or if the Kymari could even get infections from the stuff on Earth, but if nothing else it would be annoying to try and work on somebody while constantly pushing back branches and leaves.
I tried not to think about how I was leaving Minna all by herself while she was unconscious, and while somebody else did who knows what to her, and after I fought down my instincts enough to let me move again I flew to the shattered trees. I found the spot where the shuttle had fallen into the ground - the ground had just been scooped out, and instead of being covered with plants there was just open dirt.
Nothing else around looked suitable, so I settled down in the middle of the dirt and stared anxiously back at the shuttle, begging Minna's father to hurry up and bring her back into view.
And I tried very, very hard not to think about what I had just agreed to. What I had just done.
How could I have promised that?...
I fidgeted in place until Minna's father finally jumped up into view. He landed on top of the shuttle and his feet disappeared into hazy nothingness, but I ignored that. He was holding Minna carefully in his arms. My attention was immediately glued to her. I felt a sense of simultaneous relief and fear as I saw she looked just the same as she had before.
He looked around us and squinted out into the darkness. I let out a loud warble to catch his attention. "Over here." He looked in my direction and carefully dropped down from the shuttle.
The plants must have been even thicker than I realized. It took him a good bit of time to cross from the shuttle to the spot I had picked out. He sat Minna carefully down on the upturned dirt, and I flew over to land on her chest and dejectedly nudge at her head once more.
Minna's father took a step back and looked around us thoughtfully. "You picked out a good spot. Flat surface, no plants in the way." He looked back at me and watched me for another moment.
I didn't look back at him. I didn't think I had the energy to face him. I just nudged at Minna again, and felt my ear tufts and wings drop even further when she still didn't move.
"She really has no idea how smart you are, does she? You kept that a secret from her. All of you have - I read about your kind on the way here. There was nothing mentioning you being intelligent enough for this, or that you were able to communicate to us. You are all hiding how smart you are." He looked out into the darkness, and I realized why he was delaying going back for the other Kymari. Things weren't adding up for him about me. He wasn't sure he could trust me to protect his daughter.
I forced myself to look back up at him and nodded again.
He looked back at me and narrowed his eyes. "Why? Why hide it?"
I snorted at the question and sent him the memory I had of him pointing the knife at me. I made sure to send along all of the fear and terror I had felt at the time too.
He blinked and took a step back. I had surprised him with that somehow. Had he not known what he had just done to me? Or... had it been the emotion? I had sent feelings to Ivy and other dragonets often enough, but that was the first time I had sent them to a Kymari. Had it gone wrong somehow?
It took him a second to recover, and he shook his head slightly when he did. "Because you are scared of what we might do to you, if we know. Terrified, from the feel of it."
I gave him another slow nod.
He watched me for another moment, then shifted his gaze towards Minna. He whispered, but not quietly enough to keep me from hearing. "But you were willing to risk it anyway." He watched Minna for another second or two, then shook his head and looked back at me. "I am sorry I frightened you like that. I am going to get the others now; I will be right back. Take care of Minna for me."
I nodded slowly and shifted to stand up on my haunches. I spread my wings out and looked out into the darkness around me.
Minna's father watched me for another long moment... then he shook his head. He walked slowly back towards the shuttle and jumped back into it.
I thought about how slowly he was walking. Were the plants really that much trouble? They did seem like they were growing very close together, and it was dark, but... he still should have been able to move through them faster than that. He had run so quickly when we had been fleeing the ship, and had run through all those corridors to get to the shuttle. He shouldn't be moving this slowly, even with all the plant growth everywhere. And he had been wobbling a lot in the shuttle, and he had that bump on his head...
I winced as realization sunk in. He was hurt, too. There was no telling how well he would be able to fight something off if it came down to that. That must have been part of why he had been so worried back in the shuttle - he knew he wouldn't be able to quickly get back to protect anyone outside if something attacked while he was inside.
I stared out at the darkness around me and felt a sinking feeling. Because I knew he was right to be worried.
Wherever we were, it was outside the Kymari cities.
And there were a lot of very dangerous things that lived outside those cities now.
Dangerous things that must have heard the commotion of the shuttle crashing, and which would now begin to smell the scent of six wounded, helpless Kymari.
Minna's father had managed to bring Kilpin and one of the younger guards out when I smelled the predator. I sniffed a few times to confirm what I was smelling. The Blood Memories had no name for it. But the scent dredged up a memory, one of running for my life and urging Susie to flee as fast as she could. The creature attached to this smell was not one I could win a fight with, and I knew it. Running was the only safe option.
Running was not an option this time.
I stared out into the darkness in the direction of the scent and began to hiss a warning. Minna's father was still in the shuttle and wouldn't hear me, but maybe one of the other guards had woken up. That would have been nice. Even an injured Kymari would do a lot better against this monster than I would. Even if they couldn't move, they could still shoot the thing with their guns. I wasn't sure it would be enough to kill the monster before it got them, but it would at least be something. Maybe enough to make it think twice and go somewhere else.
There was no such luck. All three of the unconscious Kymari seemed like they were going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. The only silver lining was that they didn't seem to be getting any worse.
I focused on Minna's father and sent him my memory of the creature just in case, hoping he would be able to help... but I doubted he would be very useful either. I knew from my own experience that this creature was an intelligent hunter; it wouldn't take it long to figure out that he wasn't moving quickly, and it would take advantage of that. Even if he had a firearm, I wasn't sure how much he could do before the predator attacked him. It might actually be better for him not to be involved. He would be a sitting duck, unable to effectively defend himself, and having a weapon would just mean the predator would go after him first.
Running was out, and a stand-up fight was a very, very bad idea. What did that leave? Scaring it off seemed unlikely to work. The last time I had run into it, it hadn't seemed terribly concerned by my fire. And it was still coming towards us despite being able to smell the smoke coming from the shuttle. Maybe even because of the scent of smoke.
That really only left one option.
It was coming to get food. I couldn't stop it from doing that... so the only real option I had was to give it something else to eat, and make it waste as much time as possible while it tried to do that. Maybe that would give Minna's father time to wake somebody else up. Or time to get into position to defend the others himself. It at least meant there was a chance.
I tried to think of some other plan, of any other plan as the scent got stronger... but nothing else came to mind. There just weren't any other options.
A very small, very cold part of my mind told me that at least it would be better for Minna that way. She wouldn't have to face the aftermath of my promise to her father. She wouldn't have to live with the knowledge I had run away from her if things ended like this instead. Her memories of me would always be of a loyal friend, and not of... not of one who had betrayed her and vanished.
I heard a noise as Minna's father jumped up onto the shuttle again. He grunted in sudden pain and his right leg collapsed under him. He fell down the side of the shuttle, dropping Morton's body as he fell, and the two of them landed heavily on the ground by the ship.
Minna's father panted heavily and started to get back to his feet, but he winced and fell back down. I could see the pain clear on his face. He sat on the ground and didn't try to get up again.
Whether he had understood the image I had sent him or not, he was too injured. He wouldn't be able to help.
A horrible gurgling sound came from behind me. I looked back and saw the creature I had smelled. It was an arachnid of some kind - eight armored legs, numerous beady eyes, cruel mandibles that seemed just as sharp as my claws, two curving tails that ended in vicious looking stingers.
I had never cared much for spiders or scorpions. It was one thing when they minded their own business and left me alone, and I could accept that they were eating the bugs that would have otherwise annoyed me.
It was another thing entirely when they were the size of a small horse and wanted to eat me.
The monster clung to the side of one of the trees and stared at us. Its empty eyes moved from one of us to the next, then finally settled on Minna's father. I wasn't sure if it had decided he was the greatest threat or the easiest meal, but it had made its choice of who to eat. Or at least, of who to eat first. I was certain it would come back for everyone else too, once it was done with him.
Unless it was drawn away instead.
I let out an angry screech and spread my wings as far as they could go. I was vaguely aware of Minna's father jerking in surprise at my sound, but I was focused on the alien predator. It looked away from the wounded Kymari and turned its attention on me instead.
It gnashed its mandibles together and brought the angry tails up behind it. Even in the darkness I could make out ugly stains covering the stingers tipping those tails. Leftover blood, from whatever it had last eaten.
I jumped from Minna and flapped my wings furiously to build up speed. I swallowed as I did, summoning up the oily saliva to summon flame... and I unleashed fire at the eyes of the monster.
The tails slashed down and I banked to avoid them, tucking my wings in to keep them from being impaled by the creature. I turned the motion into a spin and managed to rake my claws against the hard exoskeleton as I reached it... then I was past it. I straightened back out and extended my wings again, flapping for all I was worth.
I hadn't done diddly squat to the thing. Even if I had scorched one or two of its eyes, the thing must have had a dozen of them. And I knew my claws had been useless against the thick armor that covered it.
But I heard the creature let out another heavy gurgling noise, and I heard a crashing sound behind me as it leapt to another tree.
It was following me. It was ignoring Minna and the others.
I climbed into a hover and spat another ball of fire at the creature, then flew for all I was worth.