Page 17 of Alien Guardian's Vow
My tail lashed behind me, betraying my agitation. I had to reach her. The human was my responsibility—the Elders had ordered me to prevent human interference, and that included preventing her demise if possible. I tried to tell myself that was the only reason for the sharp fear slicing through me.
I stepped back, assessing the blockage systematically. Impassable. No amount of strength would clear this. My lifelines flared with frustration, casting golden light across the rubble.
Another path, then. I had to find another way around this collapse, another route to reach her. She knew nothing of survival in these ruins. Her technical knowledge might be impressive, but what good would that do against structural failures or the creatures that dwelled in these forgotten places?
I turned and moved quickly down the corridor in the opposite direction. There had to be another way.
The passage narrowed as I advanced, the walls closing in until my shoulders nearly brushed both sides. Strange, phosphorescent fungi clung to the stone, casting an eerie blue-green glow that eliminated the need for my light source. The air grew thick with the scent of minerals and decay.
I paused, extending my senses fully. A faint current of air brushed against my face from the right—a side passage, nearly hidden behind a partial collapse. I squeezed through the narrow opening, using my tail for balance as loose stones shifted beneath my feet.
The new tunnel sloped downward before opening into a larger chamber. The ceiling had partially collapsed, creating a treacherous landscape of fallen beams and shattered stone. Across the chamber, I spotted what appeared to be another passage—possibly circling back toward Rivera's position.
I tested the nearest beam with my weight. It held, but barely. Using my tail for counterbalance, I moved across it with careful precision, each step calculated. Halfway across, a distant tremor shook the ruins. The beam shifted. I leapt forward, landing on a more stable section of floor as the beam crashed down behind me.
A sharp, clicking sound echoed from the darkness ahead. I froze, recognizing the warning call of cave skitters—territorial insectoids drawn to energy sources. The tremors must have disturbed their nest.
I crouched low, scanning the shadows. There—movement along the far wall. Three skitters, each the size of my forearm, their segmented bodies gleaming in the fungal light. Their mandibles clicked rapidly as they sensed my presence.
No time for this. Rivera needed me. The thought struck me as odd—when had I begun to think of the human as someone who needed me specifically, rather than simply needing protection?
I grabbed a chunk of debris and hurled it to the far side of the chamber. The skitters immediately turned toward the sound, their antennae quivering. As they scuttled toward the distraction, I moved silently along the wall, keeping to the shadows.
One skitter turned back, sensing my movement. It charged, mandibles spread wide. I sidestepped, my tail sweeping low to knock its legs from under it. The creature flipped onto its back, legs thrashing. Before it could right itself, I delivered a precise strike to its central nerve cluster, temporarily paralyzing it without killing.
The other skitters noticed now, abandoning the false target. I backed toward the exit passage, grabbing a handful of the luminescent fungi from the wall. When the skitters charged, I crushed the fungi in my palm and flung the glowing particles into their faces. They recoiled, momentarily blinded by the intense light, giving me the seconds I needed to slip into the next passage.
I moved quickly now, relying on instinct and training. The path twisted upward, forcing me to climb over a series of collapsed sections. My hand brushed against a sharp edge, reopening the burn wound from earlier. I ignored the pain.
Rivera would be helpless here. The thought came unbidden as I pulled myself up a particularly difficult section. Her smaller frame, her lack of natural night vision, her human limitations—she wouldn't last long in this environment alone.
But even as I thought it, I found myself reconsidering. She possessed different strengths. Her mind navigated problems where my strength could not. Her understanding of the ancient technology exceeded anything the Nyxari had preserved. Without her, I might never have escaped the energy field.
I pushed forward with renewed determination, the ache in my lifelines a constant reminder of her absence. The sensation troubled me—this pull toward a human I barely knew, this protective urge that felt increasingly personal rather than the abstract duty I'd been assigned.
I remembered our moment in the alcove, her body pressed against mine as we'd sheltered from falling debris. The unexpected surge of awareness, the strange synchronization of our markings. Shame and confusion mingled with an unwanted physical reaction—my lifelines flared briefly at the memory.
Discipline. Focus. Find her.
After navigating a particularly narrow section of collapsed tunnel, I emerged into a small chamber and paused to catch my breath. My hand and back throbbed from the earlier burns, the pain a dull counterpoint to the sharper ache where the bond had been severed.
The chamber walls bore ancient glyphs, different from those at the entrance. These depicted energy patterns—concentric circles with jagged lines radiating outward. Warning symbols. I recognized the Nyxari word for "cascade" and "overload" among the faded script.
I approached the wall, running my fingers over the symbols. A section of panel had fallen away, revealing more text behind it. I carefully removed the loose section, setting it aside.
The hidden text described energy regulation systems—or at least, that's what I could decipher from the fragments. Something about external sources causing system instability. A reference to "harmonic resonance" and "containment failure."
A small object caught my eye, half-buried in the dust at my feet. I knelt and picked it up—a crystal shard, no larger than my thumb, with faint geometric patterns etched into its surface. It felt warm to the touch, almost alive. Some kind of power regulator? A component from the system Rivera had inadvertently triggered?
I turned it over in my palm, studying it. The crystal's significance eluded me, but Rivera would know. Rivera with her technical mind and her strange affinity for the ancient technology. The same affinity that had led us into this disaster.
I pocketed the shard and sat back against the wall, allowing myself a moment to assess my situation. The truth was unavoidable: I needed Rivera. Her knowledge was essential for understanding this place, for our survival. Despite her recklessness, despite the danger she represented, our forced partnership worked.
The memory of her markings synchronizing with my lifelines returned. The unexpected intimacy of that connection troubled me deeply. Such bonds were sacred among my people, reserved for lifebonds between compatible mates. Yet here I was, experiencing something similar with a human—a human who had ignored all warnings and endangered both our lives.
I pressed my palm against my chest where the lifelines burned brightest, where the ache of separation persisted. Was this merely the physical manifestation of my assigned responsibility? Or something more troubling?
The Elders had ordered me to block human interference, to contain any damage. I had failed in that task. Now my duty was clear: find Rivera, ensure her safety, and together find a way out of these ruins before the entire structure collapsed around us.
