Nightmares in the Light

Nightmares in the Light - Chapter 3

September 20, 2136

Captain Kerula very nearly pretended she didn't see the Yotul and Jalim diving through a gap in the fencing. She couldn't run with broken talons. She would just be caught. The greys would surely not take kindly to prey attempting to escape. Half a step before it would have been too late to change her mind, she decided that getting shot down running on a broken foot would be a better end than cringing in the darkness until one of the creatures ripped her apart for a meal. She squeezed through the fence, and flapped her wings as quietly as she could to compensate for her hopping gait.

Sauno forced himself to keep walking when he ran out of breath to run. Jalim considered taking to the skies to cover more ground, but realized he'd be far more visible above the forest than within it. Captain Kerula came to the same conclusion, and cursed her injured foot as she limped and flapped her way clumsily across the ground behind them.

They made it what felt like a mile, although in strange terrain it was impossible to tell for sure, before Sauno collapsed onto a fallen log and shook out his shaggy, brown fur in an attempt to soothe his screaming muscles.

"We... we have to find water," he panted.

"Even the primitive knows we won't live long without hydration," Captain Kerula sneered. "Save your breath if you're just going to say the obvious."

Sauno lowered his head angrily into a charging stance. Back home, he had prided himself on being better than the stupid, animalistic savage that so many in the Federation thought the Yotul were. Now, just steps away from the worst fate imaginable, stranded on some accursed Arxur planet, the constant, insulting condescension was too much. That arrogant bird needed a hard headbutt in the gut.

"That's not called for," Jalim said sharply. "Sauno's the only reason any of us made it out of there. We won't make it far fighting amongst ourselves."

Captain Kerula puffed her feathers up, ready to fight him for challenging her authority. Her foot twinged, and she deflated. A moment after she did, the Yotul reluctantly straightened out of his aggressive posture. Jalim was right. Arguing was a waste of their energy, and conflict would probably draw the Arxur right to them.

"Good work spotting the weakness in the fencing, kid," Jalim said to the cadet. "Such attention to detail is an important quality in an exterminator."

Sauno's ears flicked a sullen acknowledgment. He knew he'd never get an apology from the Captain, and he needed to remain focused on his own survival.

"Running water," he began again. "If we walk through streams, that will obscure our scent and make us more difficult to hunt."

Jalim tilted his head. "Is that what they're teaching at the academy now?"

"Well, no," Sauno admitted. "It's just... Before the federation came, my people had working relationships with a predator on our planet called the hensa. They would keep pests away from our grain silos and homes. It's folk wisdom to never build food storage facilities in wetlands, because hensas can't pick up the scent of pests moving through water to hunt them."

Captain Kerula squawked quietly in disgust. "You're saying we should use some idiotic superstition about some mythical 'beneficial predators' to survive the Arxur? Let me remind you that I have been—"

"We'll find a stream." Jalim interrupted. "Unless you have a better idea for how we can make them lose our scent without visibly flying off so we can just get shot down. I certainly don't. Besides, we need water anyway."

Captain Kerula fluffed up her feathers indignantly. "You have been serving under me for six years, Jalim. I am your captain, and you owe me a certain level of respect!"