Page 29 of Alien Warlord's Fury
Hand-in-hand, we stepped into the narrow passage. A strange pressure brushed against my skin—the monitoring field. Our merged aura rippled but held.
Nirako led us at a measured pace through the shadowed cleft. I felt the field intensify, instinctively pressing closer to Nirako, my shoulder brushing his arm. The contact strengthened our merged energy, making it pulse brighter.
Nirako's breath hitched, his step faltering slightly before he regained his rhythm. Through the bond, I could feel his sharp intake of breath, his awareness of me heightened by the forced proximity and synchronized energy. His tail brushed lightly against my leg as we moved, an unconscious seeking of proximity.
We emerged from the passage into open ground, the pressure of the field fading. Nirako released my hand slowly, the shimmering aura separating back into silver and gold before dimming. The intensity of the connection left me shaken.
We continued onward, the terrain gradually leveling out as we approached the coordinates Ravik had provided for the primary relay station—the last major surveillance hub we needed to disable before the compound itself. Nirako scouted ahead, returning with a grim expression.
"The relay is heavily fortified," he reported, crouching beside me behind an outcrop. "Larger than the watching post. Fences, automated sentries."
"We can't disable this one from the outside." He pointed toward a maintenance access panel visible on the structure's north side. "We'll need to get inside. You'll have to interface directly with its core systems."
My stomach tightened. Interfacing directly meant channeling energy, risking another backlash like the one at the conduit. But Nirako was right—it was the only way.
"I can do it," I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.
Nirako studied my face, his gaze searching. "I know you can," he said, the quiet confidence in his voice surprising me. "But this will require more precision, more energy than before."
"We need perfect coordination." He looked toward the relay station, then back at me. "And we need rest. We move on it tonight, under cover of darkness."
"But first, we recover our strength."
He led me to a sheltered hollow formed by the gnarled roots of an ancient, massive tree overlooking the relay station. It offered concealment and a clear view of our target. As I sank onto the mossy ground, exhaustion washed over me—the journey, the constant vigilance, the intensity of using the bond.
Nirako settled nearby, taking the first watch, his posture alert even in stillness, his tail resting in a relaxed curve on the ground beside him. Our bond hummed between us, a quiet promise in the face of the dangerous task ahead.
NIRAKO
Darkness settled over the corrupted landscape. From our shelter beneath the ancient tree's roots, the relay station glowed faintly with artificial light, an unnatural intrusion in the wilderness. Automated sentries patrolled its perimeter with mechanical precision, their sensors sweeping the area.
This target was far more formidable than the simple watching post we'd disabled earlier. Getting inside, letting Claire interface directly with its core—the risks were significant.
Claire slept soundly beside me, exhaustion finally claiming her after the strain of navigating the monitored passage using our bond. Her silver markings pulsed gently beneath the masking paste, their rhythm now steady, synchronized with my own lifelines. Watching her, I felt the familiar pull of the bond, a connection that had deepened from reluctant necessity into something fundamental.
My tail remained still, betraying none of the complex emotions swirling within me.
She stirred slightly, murmuring something unintelligible. I reached out instinctively, my hand hovering over her shoulder, sending a wave of calm reassurance through our connection. She settled again, her breathing evening out.
How had this human, so reckless and fragile, become so essential? The Aerie taught discipline, control, the suppression of personal feeling in favor of duty. Yet Claire challenged all of it.
Her impulsive courage, her raw emotional honesty, her unexpected resilience—they chipped away at the walls I'd spent a lifetime building.
"Thank you," she'd said earlier, after we'd found this shelter. "For coming with me. For... believing this was necessary."
"The younglings are my priority too," I'd replied, the standard answer.
"It's more than that," she'd insisted, her fingers tracing patterns in the dirt that unconsciously mirrored my lifelines.
And she was right. Itwasmore. It was the way her silver energy resonated with my gold, the way her intuitive understanding of the Nexus complemented my hunter’s awareness.
It was the unsettling fear that gripped me whenever she courted danger. It was the quiet satisfaction of seeing her grow stronger, more controlled, finding balance within the chaos Hammond had inflicted.
The Aerie taught that fated paths intertwine for a reason. Perhaps our reason was this—to balance each other, to achieve together what neither could alone.
Three hours passed. The moon climbed higher, casting stark shadows across the clearing. It was time.
I gently woke Claire. Her eyes opened immediately, alert despite her fatigue. "Time?"
