Alien Fighter by Ava Hunter & Zora Black

Author:Ava Hunter & Zora Black [Hunter, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-20T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Ember

I don’t hesitate. I just act. With one massive heave of my legs, I lurch Ember onto the upper bank.

“What are you doing?” she demands as I turn around toward the pond.

“What I must.”

I squint into the storm, and spot a small outcropping of rocks near the pond’s edge. It is not perfect, but it would provide some shelter from the storm.

“Can you make it to those rocks?”

“Yes, I think so,” she shouts above the maddening din of the storm.

“Go. I’ll meet you there soon, with Lenora.”

“But—”

I have no more time. I push myself over the edge and hit the steep slope. Sliding down, sending up furrows of dust and debris, I skitter to the very edge of the pond.

When I reach the edge, I splash in, struggling against the water. I take three deep breaths, to oxygenate my system. I hold the last one and dive beneath the wind whipped waves.

The sound of the storm all but vanishes when I submerge beneath the water. My legs kick hard as I slice through the water like a fish. It’s hard to see with the sun obscured by the black cloud of the dust storm overhead.

I can see a dark patch of moving shadows on the muddy bottom of the pond. Plants, most likely, whipped up by the wave’s motion. I don’t see Lenora in the water. Perhaps she sank to the bottom and is lost among the verdant shadows?

I bat aside thick blades of the underwater plants as I frantically search for her. I spend so long on the bottom my lungs begin to burn. It’s no good. I can’t save anyone if I drown myself.

I kick for the surface, my head erupting into the air. I suck in several deep breaths, then plunge myself back down into the damp dungeon of the pond’s muddy bottom.

My hands feel through the mud and fronds. A school of fish flees my incursion, brilliant orange scales seeming oddly muted because of the dust storm. At last, my fingers close on Lenora’s wrist.

I kick for the surface, holding her tiny body to my own. When I erupt, I suck in a gasp of air and then swim for shore. Soon my feet hit firmer ground and I start wading to the rocky shore.

I lay her down on the ground beside the pond. A shelf of rock about chest height to me protects us from the wind’s endless howl and darting particles like small swords alike.

She’s not breathing. When I put a finger to her throat, I feel no pulse, either. First I must expel the water from her tiny lungs. I flip her over and push on her back until the water vomits out of her slack mouth.

I flip her back over onto her back and put my hands over her sternum. Then I lean forward, keeping my arms stiff, using my body weight rather than upper body strength to do the compressions. Human hearts are similar to Gorak. I hope this works.

“Come on, little one,” I rasp, continuing the compressions.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.