we entered the cave at the top of a slope some thirty meters from where we’d cleared the ledge coming up from the canyon. His voice activated the bead light. The storm hit a couple minutes ago, so we managed to escape the worst of it as I stood inside the entrance and watched the lightning strikes crease the clouds in horizontal streaks. At this altitude, the storm engulfed us, and the thunder permeated my bones. It was awesome, rendered not as terrifying as it would be since we were tucked into this cave.
The bead light lit the entire space, revealing a narrow chamber that stretched into the mountain for about six meters. An old fire pit showed habitants used it often enough that charred wood bricks remained. Raxthezana started a fire, and I ambled over to sit and enjoy the warmth of the flames.
Like IGMC flight suits, my new armor seemed to be temperature-controlled, but there was something comforting and grounding about the campfire.
We unrolled our pallets again, and I noticed when Raxthezana looked like he would say something but then kept quiet. He deactivated the bead light, and we let the fire burn down.
“Thank you for telling me about your heart mate,” I said in the encroaching darkness. Lightning flashes had become sporadic and even the raging thunder had lessened. “I bet you would have been very happy together when you were grown.”
“Ik,” he said with a grunt. “It would have astounded our entire village. Heart mates haven’t been seen in two hundred years or more. We considered it a myth told by the old ones to explain the flighty years of adolescence.”
“You’ve seen others go through the change?” I asked. By now, I’d removed my helmet and lay facing the fire and Raxthezana on the other side of it.
“Nay, never before this cycle. I was not present save for the tail end of Natheka’s transition,” he said. “Now there is a tale for the fireside.”
“Oh?” I said, wondering what would impress this stoic male.
“By the time we knew Amity had crashed on Ikthe, Natheka was certain she was his heart mate,” he said. “He left our group as soon as he could to find her, and they had many adventures together. You should ask VELMA for archives. Nevertheless, once we had all reunited, there was an evening when Amity and Natheka danced around their interest in each other. It was quite painful to witness.”
Chuckling, I rose up enough to rest my head on my hand, my elbow supporting me. I liked hearing his alien perspectives on the other women and their mates.
“That night, she retired to the bunk across from mine while Natheka left for a night hunt. The female reeked of pheromones and confusion, and at one point she left to find him,” he said. “I thought I might finally get some real sleep when I realized I couldn’t let her wander the jungle alone. Natheka would have my head on a pike if something happened to her.”
Pursing my lips, I said nothing and listened, enraptured by Raxthezana’s voice.
“I couldn’t find her at first, but then alarms split my ears,” he said. “VELMA provided the location and announced that Natheka’s heart was shifting but that Amity squared off with a rokhura.”
“A rokhura?” I asked, moving to sitting.
“VELMA tells us it resembles the Earth dinosaur known as T-Rex but with longer front limbs,” he said.
“Dear Lord,” I muttered, and he continued.
“As we ran through the ikfal, we heard one another’s skirmishes. More rokhura approached. A lone devil dog harassed Hivelt,” he said. “By the time I arrived, Natheka lay writhing amidst the duff, enduring his heart’s transition from the heart home, but Amity fought the rokhura like a true warrior.”
Pride laced his voice, and I tilted my head, surprised he would harbor the emotion for someone not of his race or relation.
“She felled the beast at expense to her arm, and returned to Natheka’s side to ensure his safety,” he said with a satisfied smile and nod. “It was a good day to battle.”
Thoughtful, I stared once more into the dying flames. By now, rain fell in a steady downpour outside the entrance and sleep beckoned like an old friend. But I had questions.
“Joan found a heart mate, too?” My sweet Asian friend had been widowed two years ago; I couldn’t imagine her moving on.
“Indeed,” he said, fluffing his pallet and head cushion. “Raxkarax did not admit to a knowledge she was his heart mate as Natheka had done,” he said. “But he explained his desire to find the fourth human as a compulsion that could not be denied.”
“But did Joan want him in return?” I asked. Rubbing the crease in my forehead, I didn’t voice what I was really thinking: consent is a thing, right?
“She did not,” he said, and my gut churned. “Not at first. But by the time we found them, she would not be torn from his side, preferring his company even to that of the other humans.”
Surprised, I met his gaze, and he nodded. “It is true. They formed a strong attachment and seldom stray far from each other.”
“Huh,” I said, unsure how else to respond.
“We understood Joan had a former mate who passed into the Fields of Shegoshel,” he said.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I was with him when he died.”
Silence accompanied the moment the last ember faded from bright orange to a dull red and then black.
Heart racing, I shot a look at Raxthezana, but he lay down and his eyes were closed.
With any luck, he wouldn’t have noticed the spike of grief I felt at the mention of David’s death.
Joan had tried to get there in time.
But part of me had treasured those last moments with a man I’d grown to love with my entire being. Raxthezana was perceptive; but he couldn’t know. Because if Joan ever found out, she might disown me as her friend forever. And this far from home, friends were in very short supply.