Pernicious- True Evil

Chapter 16

Every day, they practiced combat moves and training techniques, before they began to once again travel in the direction of the star. There were days she would be told to hang from a tree and practice the same moves that Alek had originally taught her, while other days she would learn different hand to hand combat techniques that allowed her to use different parts of her body to attack, such as her elbow, open palms, and knees. She learned how to choke someone, crushing their Adam's apple in the process, and how when her enemy is on the ground, she could axe stomp them in the face or throat, using her heel to ensure more force. At first, she was slow and clumsy, but the more she practiced the better she became, and at an accelerating speed. It was shocking how quickly she learned. The worm she swallowed truly did help.

Sagan didn't stop at combat training. During workouts, he targeted specific muscles in her mid to lower body to help increase her vertical jump. He taught her how to do a backflip, explaining the technique he used. He taught her how to slide on the ground while pulling out her knife and what to do if she lost or broke her weapon. By the end of the week, she was faster and jumped higher than she could have ever imagined.

"You still have a long way to go," Sagan said as they walked alongside the river. "But I am proud of how far you've come."

They were now in an area that was coated in grass and speckled with beryl colored bushes and viridescent trees. The river was no longer a crystal blue color but had now become more of a rusty shade, moving slowly towards the distant mountains.

This area was teeming with life. There were strange insects with long tongues and eight clear wings that flew between pink puffy flowers. Furry mammals the size of her foot with two heads would often be seen laying in the middle of field, seemingly enjoying the sunlight. Massive featherless birds with clear skin and a wingspan the size of a small plane made their way towards the mountains in flocks of five or more. No animal around them seemed to notice their presence and on the rare occasion that they looked in their direction, they would always notice Elde who walked by Astra's side, and then continue doing whatever they were doing.

Astra stopped in her tracks as she saw a figure moving towards them from a distance. Her skin crawled as she recognized the familiar shape of the man she had hoped she would never see again. Why did he come back? She had hoped he had gone back to the cave or better yet, had been eaten by a hungry predator.

As Alek came closer, Astra noticed how unkept he looked. His dark hair twisted and turned in every direction. His fingernails were caked with dirt as were the lines around his face. He looked as if he'd aged ten years and she wasn't sure it was just because of the facial hair that crawled up the sides of his cheeks and puffed out like a dirty cloud, or that he looked like he hadn't eaten since he left the camp.

"I figured you went back to the cave," Sagan said as he crossed his arms. "You look like shit."

Alek lowered his head, refusing to say a word. Finally, his flaking lips split open.

"Can I speak with Astra alone?"

Sagan's eyes burrowed into Alek. "No."

"I don't feel comfortable being alone with you," she said, touching the weapon in her pocket.

"I don't blame you," Alek's voice trailed off. "I just... I don't even know where to start..."

Sagan tapped his fingers on his thick forearms. "Well I have an idea. How about you say, 'Hey, I'm sorry for treating you like an object created to pleasure me and someone that I can verbally and sexually assault."

"I am so ashamed. I feel horrible for what I did."

"You should."

"Nothing will ever make up for what I did, and I don't expect you to ever forgive me. I don't know what happened to me. I've lost myself being here. I've lost a piece of who I was and though I thought the only threat were the monsters outside, I didn't realize that I was becoming one of them."