My cage with me interred within, was retrieved from Woodlark's shelter. I was carried to the edge of the camp, where I heard Tawny whistling. The cage was lowered to the ground and the plate was removed from my eyes. Below me, a shallow pit had been dug into the earth. A lattice of heavy limbs, strung together with vines covered the pit forming a secure holding pen. I saw two small hands reach up from the shadows of the pit and grasp the limbs that held her inside. It was Woodlark. She looked up at me with tears rolling down her face.
I lurched forward in my chains. It was a natural reflex to try to comfort her, but I could do nothing with my hands and ankles restrained behind me. So, I simply stared at her and forced myself not to cry.
Tawny whistled a low comforting whistle and placed her hand briefly on my cheek. Then she bent over and placed the same hand on Woodlark's, thus delivering the kiss of good-bye that I could not by myself. Woodlark grasped Tawny's hand and held it in place until she slowly slipped back into the darkness of the depths of the pit.
I held back my tears until my mask had been replaced, my cage had been raised, and our journey resumed. Woodlark would be released from the pit when I was gone. Woodlark would be free when I was gone.
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
“I tried to go up to the surface…” Cosette started.
“Oh, yeah… the company doesn’t like that so much…” Faelin said.
“The security guard… She said that your boss, Dr. Han, was mauled by a bear last year,” Cosette said.
“Well, she must be mistaken. I had a video conference with Dr. Han just yesterday,” Faelin explained.
“Oh,” Cosette said. “Hm… do you know who it was that was mauled?”
“I’ve never heard of someone getting mauled by a bear here,” Faelin said.
“So, what the fuck was the security guard talking about?” Cosette asked.
“She must have just been trying to scare you,” Faelin replied. “She’s probably just trying to stop people from bothering her so much about trying to go outside. It’s probably a huge liability issue.”
“Hmm…,” Cosette said, staring blankly at a wall. “Hey. I’ve been here for several months now, and I still haven’t met Dr. Han…”
“Let’s go see her right now, then,” Faelin said.
“Oh! Awesome!” Cosette replied.
Faelin led Cosette through the facility going down further than she had ever gone into the depths before.
“Here we are,” Faelin said and she knocked on the door.
They stood and waited for a moment, but there was no reply.
“Hmmm…” Faelin said, looking at her watch. “She’s usually in her room at this time.” She knocked again.
Finally, the door opened. It was Dr. Markov. She was standing in nothing but a towel - her hair still dripping. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower.
“Faelin!” Dr. Markov said. “I’m glad you’re here. We have a big problem.”
Dr. Markov looked at Cosette, frowning.
“Take Cosette back up top, then I need you to meet Dr. Han and I in the detention room. We caught Deepa trying to steal data from her simulation,” Dr. Markov said.
“What?” Faelin asked, looking shocked.
“Yeah. She claims that she wanted to try to ‘replicate’ herself,” Dr. Markoff explained. “She was trying to access all her parameters from her time in the simulation.”
Faelin led Cosette back up to her room. “Sorry, babe. Bad luck!”
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
It was a cool and drizzly morning when I was pulled from my cage. My wrists and ankles were freed, but my mask was left intact. I was carried a short distance and then placed gently on my feet.
"Okay, Summer, it's very simple." It was Gyr holding me whispering in my ear. "Just grab the Homestone and get back out."
My legs were held together. I felt a rope slip around my ankles and tighten, holding them together. When I heard a series of clicks near my ear, I knew Tawny was there, though I had no idea what she was saying.
My heart was pounding in my chest. There was no way I was going to be able to do this. How could I do anything? Particularly with my ankles tied together?
Finally, my mask was removed. We were standing on the edge of the gorge. I could hear the distant rush of water rising from the river that carved the gorge. The Mosguito stronghold was barely visible through the cloud and fog on the other side of the chasm.
I looked down at my ankles. There was only a single loop of rope holding them together. The rope trailed away half a body length along the ground to where it was tied securely to a formidable stone about the size of four of my fists held together.
"When you get there, signal us. Then we'll signal for Gannet to come with Firecrest. She's already working the land entrance with all the others right now. But hurry. Don't mess around. Get the Homestone from where it sits on the back wall. And, Summer, there's only one outcome, right?"
I looked up into Gyr's eyes hopefully doing my best to show my confusion, hoping it was masked by my fear. How was I supposed to get across the gorge without Gannet?
"Right, then!" Gyr said and she began to pull up on the loose chain that is embedded in the top of my skull until I had no choice but to look in front of me where Tawny was waiting.
Tawny pulled down on my arms so they were straight, then let them go and held hers down the same way and flexed her muscles. Apparently she wanted me to copy her actions, so I did.
She kissed my cheek and stepped away. A moment later, Eyes said, "Go!"
Suddenly Gyr pulled me off the ground by the chain embedded in my skull. The world tilted around sideways. My body was pulled taut as the rope and its weight pulled down on my ankles. The world began to spin around faster and faster. Between the forces at my head and ankles I was certain I was going to be pulled in half and the strength of the strain continued to quickly increase.
I heard Gyr grunt heavily and the spinning stopped. Instead I found I was flying through the air pulled by the stone tied to my ankles. Below me I saw the chasm yawn with fingers of fog and cloud dipping into the darkness. Oh, the Goddess! I was flying across the chasm towards the Mosguito stronghold. I was certain that I wasn't going to make it across. I was going to bounce off the far wall and drop into the gorge. It's not possible to throw someone across the gorge. Even if I weigh so little.
I heard the stone anchoring my ankles strike the granite wall first. I flash later, my feet hit the wall and my knees buckled pummeling me squarely in the mouth hard enough that I would have lost some teeth if I hadn’t had the dur plate sealing my mouth closed. My head snapped back and struck the granite wall. My body bounced and then began to fall.
I dropped only a short distance and landed with a splash in a pool of water. Any sense of determining the extent of my injuries from the impact with the granite wall were quickly forgotten as I thrashed around in the pool to get my head above water. The bottom was coated with algae and was slippery, but by the time I finally got to my feet, I felt a surge of energy coarse through me. I was in pain, but not really injured. I wanted to scream in joy, but could only pump my fists.
I was in the stronghold of the Mosguitos. Gyr had thrown me into the crack of their cliff side dwelling. I looked around the room. The entire floor was covered in the thigh deep pool in which I stood. But, somewhere in the darkness on the back wall was where the Homestone lay. I turned to look out the opening of the room through which I had been thrown. I did not see any of my sisters on the other side of the chasm, but I waved my arms, certain that Eyes would see me.
I turned and looked at the pool of water. It was brown and fetid. I do not know the life cycle of the Mosguito, but if it was anything like its insect kin, I could only imagine that the pool was used to support their young during the maggot stage. I looked fearfully in the depths to see if I could see any fleshy movements.
I moved toward the depths of the cave and immediately fell headlong back underneath the pool of water. Something had my feet! I thrashed around trying to free myself until a realization fell upon me. My ankles were still bound together by the anchor stone that had carried me across the chasm. As I calmed a bit, I was able to pull loose the slip knot with trembling fingers and struggle once again to my feet.
Back across the chasm, I heard a roar of squaks and when I looked I saw a black cloud of flesh and feather rise. My sisters had released pigeons! It was the signal for Gannet and Firecrest.
"Hurry!" Gyr had said.
I stumbled and splashed across the slippery floor towards the back wall. As I reached the wall I heard the braying, beastly screams of Mosguitos echoing through the tunnels of the cave. If Gannet was headed my way, then certainly the Mosguitos were too.
It was hard to see in the dim light, particularly since the morning sun had not yet breached the edge of the sky, and the heavy cover of clouds only made things worse. I used my hands to see in the darkness doing my best not to pause with each Mosguito scream louder and closer than the last.
Certainly, they were just outside the room when I found the Homestone. I turned and ran stumbling through the pool towards the outer opening.
A Mosquito ran into the room and saw me immediately and began to splash after me.
I saw Gannet up and above to my left. I held the Homestone above my head and she stalled and dropped with Firecrest holding on tightly to her back. Arrows from the Mosguitos higher up in the stronghold streaked across the sky around Gannet and Firecrest as they made their approach.
I braced myself as best I could and heaved the Homestone with all my strength out the window and into the void of the chasm. My stomach lurched, because I knew immediately that I had not had the strength to throw the stone as far as I needed and I watched in fear as the Homestone fell far underneath Gannet's flight path.
I watched Firecrest leap from Gannet's back headfirst into the chasm after the Homestone, and a moment later, Gannet's strong wings flapped and tucked in tight, her eyes directing her into the chasm as well.
I started to take a step forward to see their fate, when I felt the heavy meaty hook of a Mosguito grab me by the hair and heave me back into the depths of the cave.
My body flew across the pool of water and my left shoulder crashed into the back wall and fell into the piles of refuse there. When I looked up, the Mosguito was splashing towards me. I had never seen a Mosguito close up. Its body was almost human, but covered sparsely in fur. Even its face had long chunks of fur hanging off it. Its arms and legs and chest were covered in muscles, much larger than any of the Aderyn warriors carried.
It elicited an awful braying sound and grabbed me by my neck - its hook nearly encircling it completely. It lifted me into the air and looked at me as I struggled to suck in a breath of air. I grasped its foreleg in my hands and tried to kick with my legs, but I was no match for the strength of the beast.
It easily held me in the grasp of its extended foreleg dangling above the pool. It pushed a flap of animal skins aside on its lower abdomen and its stinger emerged and began to extend towards me. The stinger erupted from a tangled mass of graying fur and grew bigger and more bulbous as I stared in horror. I had a fleeting sense of relief when I discovered that the stinger was not as sharp as I had expected. I did not see how it would be able to penetrate my skin, and, unlike Jaye, for better or worse, all my natural fissures were sealed behind heavy dur plates. On the other hand, it would only take a sharp point to create another hole into me. I prayed that I would die quickly.
The monster grabbed my right leg and pulled it up into the air. It, too, seemed confused by my coverings. It twisted me around, pressing my back into its chest. It released my neck, but I only sank far enough for my head to wedge into a vice-like crook in the mosguito's foreleg.
I tried to use my elbows and fingernails to hurt the beast, but any attack I had seemed largely ineffective. Still suspended, the beast began to paw at my stomach and breasts, squeezing my flesh and painfully pulling at the chains anchored to me. It grasped the eyelets at my waist and yanked on them, apparently attempting to tear the dur from me. I felt its stinger pressing into my back. I prayed to the Goddesses that it would not transform further and pierce my skin.
My flailing legs must have found a tender spot, because the monster suddenly roared and threw me away and into the pool. I slipped around struggling to get my head above the water. The moment I did though, the monster had grabbed me by the neck again and pushed me face first, deep into the pool.
"Just suck in a deep breath of water," I told myself. Certainly death by drowning would be preferable to being eaten alive by its maggot spawn. Unfortunately, its grip on my neck was so tight, I could not even inhale through my nose.
It continued to hold me underwater as it pulled up one of my legs. The monster inserted itself between my legs so that my kicks flailed hopelessly to the sides. It pulled my hips until my backside was arched above me in the air. I felt its stinger slide along the flesh of my arse and into the small of my back. Its claws began to dig into my skin where the rib of the dur protected my rear.
Suddenly, I heard a roar and the monster let go of my neck and fell away from me. I struggled to my feet with the fetid fluid of the pool spewing from my nose and my chest spasming and heaving painfully. I twisted until I was face up and looked up to see what had become of the monster. It still stood above me, but its attention was drawn out the opening of the cave.
I saw a stream of red begin to drip down its foreleg. Looking up, I saw an arrow embedded in its bulky shoulder. A second later, I heard a whoosh sound slice through the air and a second arrow zipped into the cave, missing the monster, and clattering against the back wall.
The Mosguito ducked defensively, trying hard to see the source on the far side of the gorge.
A third arrow zipped over my head.
The Mosguito dove into the water beside me, grabbing my neck again. It stayed low in the pool of water and waded towards the opening. When it got close enough, with a simple flick of its powerful foreleg, I was pulled from the water and flew out the opening of the cave.
It was a powerful throw, but it was not intended to send me back across the chasm. I watched the gray clouds of the heavens rotate above me as I spun through the air. Soon I found the lip of the gorge and watched it slowly slip away from me as I fell into the deep gorge.
My chest was pounding. I thought it would explode. I heard the wind begin to roar as I fell past the streaking stains of rocky cliffs. I prayed I would pass out before I hit the bottom of the gorge.
I did not.
I landed on a steep slope. I felt skin stripped from my left shoulder. My hips hit hard and I bounced away into a wild spin descending further into the chasm. I heard the high pitch crumple of dry limbs breaking as my vision went black and I slipped into nothingness.
I dreamt of pain and regained consciousness slowly. I lay sprawled, half buried in dirt and stones. When I opened my eyes, I saw blue skies far above the rim of the gorge. A new pain knifed its way into my brain. One that I could identify amongst the plethora of sources. I needed my cage. The sky and everything else faded to a fuzzy gray and winked out.
Something was moving my body. Each adjustment briefly intensified the burning pain in me. I open my eyes just long enough to see The Wanderer’s head loll towards me. Her second eye slowly opened. She was carrying me in her arms. Cradling me. Kill me quickly, please. My vision grayed out again. I smelled stinky fish breath... The Wanderer always eats fish...
The next thing that I remember, I was curled up in a tight ball in my cage. My arms and legs locked behind me. My eyes were covered by the dur mask. It felt comfortable. I was home.
I lay perfectly still for a long time surprised and elated by the lack of pain that I felt. I was afraid that it I moved, I would aggravate some wound of some sort, so I simply lay until I heard a noise somewhere nearby. I lifted my head a little until I heard chains rattle a little. The noise quickly moved toward me.
"Summer?" It was Woodlark with a slight librato. "Summer? Are you in there?"
I sat up and nodded slowly.
"You aren't a demon are you, Summer? This is really you, isn't it?"
I continued nodding for a moment. Then I began to weave my head back and forth, reprising my imitation of the way The Wanderer walked. Woodlark began to laugh and cry at the same time. Woodlark pulled me close to her. I felt her warm skin in all the places where the cold dur bars of the cage were not.
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
“Ow! Oh my god!” Cosette explained, looking at the bruises that were covering her body. “She did it! Summer saved the Homestone!”
“Woohoo!” Faelin said. “Let me fix you a drink!”
“Yes! Ow! She suffered a bit for it though,” Cosette said, holding her side. “Ow!”
“Sounds like it was an intense battle!” Faelin said, handing Cosette a shot. “Cheers!”
They both slung back their drinks and pounded the empty glasses on the counter in Faelin’s room.
“That should take the edge off,” Faelin said. “Let me help out of your clothes and lie down in bed.”
“Yeah, I might be too sore to get freaky today,” Cosette said as Faelin helped her step out of her body suit.
“That’s cool,” Faelin said. “Just lie down. Close your eyes.”
Cosette relaxed on the bed. She felt adrenaline slowly begin to drain from her body. She started to feel a bit numb - like she was floating.
Faelin looked at her watch. “I’ve got to check on something, babe. Just relax and I’ll snuggle up with you when I get back.”
Cosette smiled and grunted, too lazy to even try to make her mouth work. She closed her eyes and started to drift to sleep.
The opening of the door startled Cosette and her eyes sprang open. Faelin was trying to pull a rolling hospital bed through the door. When she finally had the bed in the room, Deepa and Dr. Markov entered.
Cosette wanted to get up to cover herself…
But, she couldn’t move.
“Okay. Lift her on three,” Dr. Markov said, as the three women gathered around Cosette finding good positions to lift her body. “One… two… three…”
Once Cosette was on the bed, they started using straps to hold her in place. She frantically tried to move, but her body wouldn’t listen to any of her commands. She looked at each woman’s face, trying to plead with her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. She was having trouble getting enough air even though she seemed to be breathing okay.
She watched the ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights pass overhead as she was wheeled down the hall and into an elevator. They went down.
They rolled into a room. High up on the wall were tall windows from which people would be able to observe. Faelin and Deepa were doing something with Cosette’s vagina - pushing something in.
“It’s just a short lasting paralytic,” Dr. Markov said to Cosette. “It will wear off in a couple of hours.”
Deepa was attaching an IV to the back of Cosette’s hand.
“Of course, by then, you’ll be in the simulation tank, and the catalyst will have been applied. Your body will be frozen,” Dr. Markov explained.
“We are all sad that you’ll be leaving us, Cosette,” Dr. Markov continued. “Faelin, in particular. She’s been telling me how hot you are between the sheets.”
Faelin began to feed a tube up Cosette’s nose and down her throat.
“This is for the greater good, though,” Dr. Markov said. “It turns out that the first generation of simulation tanks had a flaw. A fatal flaw. It killed Dr. Han. Luckily, Dr. Han was in a simulation at the time. She still is, actually. She’s been stranded for over a year. We need her brain to continue our work here.”
A clear mask was pressed down over Cosette’s face, forming a sticky seal with her skin.
“You can thank Deepa for being brave enough to test these second generation tanks. She was in it for a month with no ill effects on her body… Of course, you won’t be in the tank for very long at all. I mean… your body won’t, at least.”
Dr. Markov held up a pair of plugs connected to cables. “When I stick these in your ears, you won’t be able to hear me anymore. But, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”
She shoved the first plug in to Cosette’s left ear.
“Remember, Cosette… This may not be what you wanted in life, but still… Just live the life you have to its fullest.” Dr. Markov shoved the second plug in and Cosette’s world went silent.
They lifted Cosette from the bed and placed her in the tank. Connections between the tubes and the walls of the container were made and the top was lowered into place, sealing Cosette inside.
She felt liquid begin to pour in around her body. By the time it covered her face, her eyes were growing heavier and heavier until she closed them one final time.
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
I was in a primitive shelter when I awoke. Sora was standing above me. “Get up!” she said grumpily.
I looked at my hands. They were different. They were not my hands.
“What’s going on?” I asked, but the words that came out of my mouth sounded nothing like they should have. They were whistles and clicks.
“Don’t you remember?” Sora said, angrily, apparently able to understand the sounds I made. “Firecrest and Gannet retrieved the Homestone. You’re being heralded as a hero of the tribe. Get up! They’re waiting for you.”
I stood and slowly followed Sora in a daze to the center of the camp.
“Fuck!” Sora swore with disgust. “The demon!”
I looked up and saw Woodlark leading a short, pretty woman decorated in glistening chains. She had metal plates covering her mouth, nipples and her crotch. Her eyes were bright. If she could, I believe she would be smiling. It was Summer! I had never seen her from someone else’s perspective.
I was amazed at how easily she was able to walk. All her wounds were healing quickly. Woodlark kept kissing Summer.
"She's back!" Woodlark sang as they moved to the center of camp.
Gyr ran up and swept Summer off her feet. Firecrest ran out from her shelter to greet her. Gannet stumbled after her, a large bloodstained wrapping around her leg.
Summer swept her hands through the air to indicate the vague shape of the Homestone.
"Yes!" Firecrest cried. "We have the Homestone!"
Summer pumped her fists into the air triumphantly.
Sora was standing next to me watching Summer with a sour look on her face. “Demon,” she whispered.
Unfortunately, the brief moment of celebration quickly ended. "We lost someone in the battle," Gyr said.
My sisters led Summer into another shelter. I saw Scaub wrapped in furs, her face was pale and misshapen. There was no life left to keep its form. Tears formed in Summer’s eyes as she slowly approached Scaub’s nest.
As Summer started to kneel, I heard a scream of rage outside the shelter. Kite! I turned as she leapt through the door. Her eyes were cold and focused.
Kite jumped on top of Summer. She grabbed her shoulder and threw her violently out the door. Summer tried to scramble backwards but Kite was pouncing on her again, hitting her, digging her claws into her face and ripping her skin.
Gyr and the others pulled Kite off of Summer. Her arms were flailing, her lips curled with rage. "Get that demon away from Scaub!" she screamed. Firecrest came running out to help restrain Kite. Peregrine ran out with her pet bird flapping on her shoulder.
"You better keep your demon in her cage, Woodlark! If I have a chance, I will kill her! A dumb Mosguito may not be able to kill her. The gorge may not be able to kill her! But I am an Aderyn and I will kill her! I vow to you all. I will kill her!"
The Supreme Aderyn raised her staff. “Summer has saved the tribe, you fool! Tell us the truth of the battle, Tawny!”
The whole tribe looked at me.
What the fuck? I’m Cosette! I’m not Tawny!
I looked at all the eyes waiting for my response.
“Yes. Summer retrieved the Homestone and fought a Mosguito,” I said. “She is a hero.” My words were nothing more than squawks and whistles. All the eyes turned to Sora, waiting for her to translate.
“Tawny says that Summer is a hero. A secret weapon. But now that the Mosguitos know about her, we must keep her hidden,” Sora said. “Tawny says that we must take Summer’s cage to a hollow tree and keep her hidden inside. We must make sure she is kept in the tree and is never seen or the Mosguitos will attack and try to steal her.”
Woodlark looked at me with anger and Summer’s eyes were filled with a look of betrayal. “I didn’t say any of that,” I yelled at Sora in whistles and chirps.
Sora grabbed my arm and started pulling me out of the camp.
“Tawny is exhausted,” Sora was explaining to the tribe as she pulled me away. “She’s a bit delirious.”
“Hey! Wait! She’s lying!” I screamed.
Sora pushed me into our shared shelter, then threw me into the nest. “Shut the fuck up, bitch! Or I’ll lock you in the hollow tree with Summer. It’s too bad about Scaub, but once Kite is done mourning, I’ll be there to ease her sadness. The Supreme Anderyn won’t live forever. And with you saying exactly what I want you to say, I’ll soon be in charge of this tribe.” Sora leaned over me, her face in mine. “From now on you better do as you’re told!”
Sora’s breath smelled of grain and mint.
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
Dr. Markov settled back after a long kiss. “I’ve missed you so much Dr. Han. I didn’t think that we would ever be together again.” She slid her hand over Dr. Han’s smooth, bald head.
“You should get used to calling me ‘Cosette’,” Dr. Han replied and gave Dr. Markov another quick kiss. “I guess that is the name that goes with this body.” Dr. Han slid her hands around her torso for a moment, finally lifting up her breasts. “It’s a pretty body, isn’t it? Do you like it?”
“I’ve been wanting to fuck you since the moment Cosette arrived,” Dr. Markov said, wrapping her arms around Dr. Han. “Cosette.”
The End for now!