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“What is that?” Leah asked Zaku as we soared over a large, dark stain on the otherwise pristine landscape.
“The site where the Gretolics crash-landed,” the huge, purple Moktain said.
As we drew closer, the twisted metal carcass became more apparent. The broken vessel lay sprawled across the terrain, a silent testament to Lily, Marie, Elise, Rose, Isobel, Willow, Amy, Layla, and Jane’s harrowing arrival on this alien world.
"Almost there," Zaku said as we approached the Trisess Forest, his words releasing a swarm of butterflies in my belly.
Why was I suddenly so nervous?
I leaned closer to the bubble craft's transparent wall, my eyes tracing the contours of the forest that seemed both alien and achingly familiar. From above, the majestic trees stretched endlessly, their silvery-blue boughs swaying gently in the wind. They whispered promises of a future I never dared to imagine.
Far below, several figures moved with practiced efficiency, their muscular forms casting long shadows across the clearing. They heaved objects that looked like giant bugs, their scaly bodies glistening like wet cobblestones under the glare of the twin blue suns. The creatures were launched off the edge, plummeting into the churning froth of a river far below, lost to the insatiable currents.
One figure paused, his stance speaking of authority and strength, even from this distance. My heart knew him instantly; it was as if the very rhythm of my pulse was attuned to him— Gunnox. It was more than recognition, it was a resonance of that tiny echo of him ribboning around my heart.
The bubble craft descended, and with each passing second, the pull to be by Gunnox's side intensified. It wasn't just eagerness; it was a need that clawed at my insides, a desperation that bordered on madness. I was no longer the veterinarian student from Earth, bound by logic. Here, within the alien grandeur of Valose, I was something new, something wild and uncontainable.
The craft descended toward the clearing between the tree line and the chasm where a raging river cut through the land, and the sense of urgency within me grew to a crescendo. Soon, I would be reunited with Gunnox, and that thought alone set my heart to pounding.
We touched down without so much as a bump, the hatch swishing open without a sound. Leah rushed out first, racing through the group of Valosians until she was scooped up in Nullar’s arms.
I stood at the open hatch, the breeze caressing my face with the essence of Trisess, the forest's breath a balm to my worn senses. It was warm and carried the tang of life, untamed and pulsing. I breathed in deeply, letting it fill me, trying to steady the riotous beat of my heart.
And then, there he was.
Gunnox turned, drawn by the same force that compelled me, and our eyes locked. The sight of him was a shockwave to my system, and something primal within me stirred, igniting every nerve ending. Time, with all its relentless march, seemed to pause, giving way to the eternity that spanned between two spirits fated to collide.
After days of searching for his face in every crowd, there he stood within arm's reach for me to claim.
Chapter Eighteen
GUNNOX
Pressure mounted behind my sternum, an unmistakable sensation I knew was the echo of Sarah's essence. At first, confusion clouded my senses, but I closed my eyes and focused inward. There was such emotional upheaval, that I couldn’t decipher what she was feeling. Fear? Anxiety? Then I realized she was alive with excitement. Something had happened to make her pulse quicken with a rush of anticipation.
Had Ruze and Tyrk returned from their mission already? Was she watching the Moktian Galaxy Cruiser land outside the dome of Huren knowing she was soon to be returned to Earth?
A heavy weight settled over me like a suffocating shroud, pressing against my chest with an oppressive burden that made each breath a laborious effort. It felt as though invisible hands clenched around my hearts knowing my ancillary heart would soon stop beating once the echo of her spirit faded away.
My gaze snapped to the clearing as the air rippled like disturbed water, and the hatch of an invisible spherical craft slid open. Zaku, stood behind the command console, no doubt delivering what the techs needed to finish the lumentric barrier around the border and keep the Nuttaki out for good.
Suddenly, Leah burst forth from the craft's embrace, her short-cropped, bright mane catching the light as she moved with purpose toward the medic who stood just outside the tree line. A knee-length dress clung to her form, the same style as all the females wore fashioned from the same cloth as a Huren kiltus. It billowed around her in a dance of blues, silvers, and whites, hues that shimmered and blended with the surroundings as if the fabric itself held the essence of my home planet.
Nullar caught Leah in a warm embrace. Yet, despite the beauty of the moment, a pang of envy pierced the center of my chest. How I wished it were Sarah emerging to greet me instead. I longed to wrap her in my arms, to peer into the depths of her liquid gaze, and feel the shared pulse of our connection, a connection that now throbbed with her unrestrained excitement to board a spacecraft and leave me far behind.
A glint of golden brown amid the visible slice of the craft’s interior snagged my gaze. Blinking hard, I strained to confirm the vision that had hijacked my senses. There she was—Sarah—her silky mane blowing softly in the gentle breeze.
As our eyes locked across the clearing, the echo of Sarah's essence within me crescendoed into a symphony of excitement, vibrating through every fiber of my being.
Was her emotional response for me?
The very air around us electrified, charged with the raw intensity of our connection. My breath hitched, uncertainty waning under the weight of her palpable joy.
In that moment, propelled by an energy that seemed to defy gravity itself, Sarah launched herself out of the hatch. Her blue gaze never left mine as she sprinted across the clearing, a beacon guiding me home as my feet found purchase, and I surged forward, muscles fueled with the fresh heat of adrenalyne. The distance eroded between us until, at last, I caught her up in my arms, her body colliding with mine in a crash of relief.
"Sarah," I breathed, voice rough with emotion as I held her tightly against me. The world fell away, leaving only the warmth of her lush form molding perfectly against my scales.
"Gunnox," she whispered in return. Clinging to each other, we reveled in the reunion, and for a fleeting eternity, we simply existed in the joy of being together.
