Page 16 of Einar (The Brigands of Ruk #2)

Chapter Sixteen

ROWAN

I’m disappointed when I wake up.

What did we do to deserve this?

I was hopeful that the blow to my head would be the final straw, and my body would just give up the fight so I can rest. A fresh wave of guilt fills me at that thought. I’ve turned into such a whimpering, self-absorbed weakling.

Ruby needs me.

With that thought, I force myself to open my eyes as I lie in … this thing, gasping for air. My vision is blurry, I’m nauseas and my head feels like it’s been split in two. However , that’s not even my biggest problem at the moment. The new room we’ve been deposited in is humid with air that feels so wet, it’s heavy. I’ve never fared well in humid climates and have had to use my medication when I was far healthier than I am right now. As it is, I’m barely able to inhale at all. My windpipe is almost completely closed and the rattling in my chest is an ominous warning of what is to come.

It won’t be long before I suffocate and die. I just can’t get my airways to open. This asthma attack has taken its toll on my body and without any of my emergency medications or a hospital, I’m not going to make it. Too tired to even lift my head, I glance around at the … something I’m laying in. I’m a bit confused at first, but the longer I look, the more it looks like I’m lying in a sort of nest.

Chills wrack my body, and I start shivering. Experience tells me I’m in shock.

It won’t be long now.

The position I’m lying in is not comfortable at all. I should at least be as comfortable as I can be given the situation if this is how I’m going to die. Slowly , I adjust my body only to notice that one of my ankles feels heavier than it should.

Carefully lifting my pounding head, I raise it to see a thick rusted shackle attached to a heavy chain that runs across the bottom of the basin and over the side. Presumably attached to some sort of anchor outside my current accommodations. Easing over on my side, I make sure the leg with the cuff is positioned so that the weight of the metal isn’t pressing down on me or pinching any more than necessary as I curl into myself. My movements make the leaves I’m lying on rustle slightly and cause the stench of rot and death to plume up into the air.

Even that small amount of movement was exhausting as I struggle to breathe. Focusing on each breath, the soft sounds of two women speaking catch me by surprise.

“ Rowan ?”

“ If you are asking about another female, there were two others brought in when you were.”

“ Hair like mine?” I hear my sister ask, her voice cracked and reedy sounding. Ruby is in the room with me! At least I managed to do something right. I got that bug to take me with him, so she and I weren’t separated in the end. Speech is beyond me now. I can feel my windpipe closing more and more as the seconds tick by. My attention is pulled back to the conversation when the stranger’s voice answers Ruby .

“ There is another whose mane is the color of the sun across the room. She has not moved since being thrown into the nest. Not that she could go far, the chains prevent you from leaving the breeding shell.”

I wish I could let her know I was here.

It’s got to be killing her, not knowing that I’m a short distance away. But as mom used to say, “ Wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which fills up faster.” A miniscule amount of humor flits through me. Nothing like hearing your mother’s words of inherent wisdom as you’re suffocating to death on a spaceship after you’ve been abducted by aliens. I can hear my own laughter in my head at the absurdity of what’s become of my life.

Ruby’s voice sounds again, and I listen to her conversation with our fellow captive intently. It’s not like I have anything else to do.

“ How long have you been here? What do they want with us?”

It breaks my heart just a little more to hear the fear in my sister’s voice. She’s always been an indomitable force and hasn’t ever been a victim. Not like me.

“ My time will come any moment now, as all the others that were brought in before me are deceased. Thankfully , they seem to only want a few birthing at a time, so there is still hope for you and this Rowan you speak of.”

“ Were you taken also?”

“ I was. I did not know until later that the Velgriddix had found a way to disguise their ships. A distress beacon was sent out, requesting permission to land. They were on the ground before our forces could muster a counterattack. The guards were easily overtaken, and the warnings came too late for the rest of us.

I was in the fields helping with the harvest when they were first spotted. Even though there were safe places where we could hide, our group was too far away. I fought, but their numbers quickly overwhelmed the few females that were there. The only thing that lightens my heart now is knowing that my sacrifice gave others time to run for safety.”

“ How can I understand you?”

Ruby’s next question is a good one. It hadn’t really dawned on me that the person she was speaking to might not be human. Guess I shouldn’t have just assumed I was listening to two humans talking to one another.

“ I have a translator that not only translates your words but helps me reply in your speech.”

“ I could’ve used that when those snakes took us. What are these damn bugs?”

“ Not many have a translator like mine, so most will not understand you, or it would only be one sided. You must be from an outer world to have been obtained by the Jaga ; they are a slither race known for abductions in your area. The Velgriddix , or bugs, as you call them, are the plague of our universe. They like the leftovers that other races deem unworthy.

Even though I was shocked when they brought you in, I’ve never heard of a human being not being wanted. Your kind is coveted by most. All I can think is the scars, drawings, and abnormal markings upon your skin were considered unflattering to the other species at the market, and so you were not sold. That’s how you ended up with them, the Velgriddix . They get inexpensive bodies because they only need us to remain alive until their eggs can be laid. So damaged goods are fine with them.”

Well , that’s just about par for the course. We were “unwanted” when, apparently, the rest of the universe covets humans.

“ Did you just say … eggs?”

The word “eggs” catches me off guard. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…

“ You need not know of the specifics.”

The tone of the stranger’s voice implies you really don’t want to know , but Ruby being Ruby , she’s gotta know everything. So I know what she’s about to say before the words even leave her lips, and when she speaks, I’m not surprised at all.

“ Well , we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that one, because knowledge is power where I come from.”

“ In this case, it will simply drive you mad. However , I understand and I suppose you have a right to know what is coming. The Velgriddix that brought you in here is the leader of this ship and the main breeder. That’s why only a few are taken at once. He can only produce so many eggs within a certain span of time.”

“ Are you saying that fucking thing is going to have sex with me/us?”

“ Not in the sense you are thinking, you are nothing to them but a live incubator. A piece of meat that his young can thrive within until they hatch, then eat their way out. The only positive thing about the situation is that you won’t be conscious after the first egg is ingested. They use the venom in their tails to paralyze our bodies so that when ingested, you cannot damage the eggs. Moments after he is done, your body will die.”

“ Hell’s fucking fire. Do I even wanna know how it gets the eggs inside our bodies?”

“ Their mandibles open, the sex organ elongates and then forces its way down the throats of its victim, uncurling it into their stomach cavity. There , it impregnates you with as many eggs as your body can sustain.”

“ I did ask, didn’t I ?”

“ I warned you.”

“ Lord , God .”

Ruby’s whispered words are nothing short of a plea and she falls quiet for a few moments before I hear her ask the freakishly knowledgeable neighbor yet another question.

“ How’ve you found a way to accept this?”

Ahhh . Leave it to Ruby to try to figure out a problem that has no way to be solved, but I am interested to hear the other woman’s response. Listening to them talk is the only thing keeping the seductive whisper of unconsciousness at bay. Though , I don’t know why I’m bothering. The other woman’s response catches me off guard. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t as profound of a response as she gives.

“ I cried, I fought, then I decided to pray. Not for this life, but for my next one. I would advise you to find some sort of peace with what’s to come because miracles are far and few between.”

“ What’s your name? I’m Ruby .”

“ Kallen , princess of Rukuhks .”

A swooshing sound, closely followed by the tickticktick of claws on the metal floor, announces the arrival of one of the bugs.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

The mantra is on repeat in my mind as I wait for the vile creature to stop in front of the basin I’m in. To pick me to be the next incubator. A loud click next to me makes me flinch and I brace myself to be grabbed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I wait.

Seconds crawl by and nothing happens.

Opening my eyes, I see the side profile of one of the bugs. He’s moved around the nest to position himself between mine … and the poor blonde woman the Naga bit then tossed into the wall. The bug has her suspended up in front of him, held securely in its many arms. A soft moan followed by a whimper are the only sounds the woman makes before I see the bug pry her mouth open.

What happens next is worse than any horror film I’ve even seen, and it’s like a train wreck. My eyes are fixed on the travesty before me as if I’m held captive by the scene transpiring in front of me. Its massive tail arcs over, the sharp tip gleaming with venom in the low light, as it impales its stinger into the woman’s side right before a long, flexible tube descends from where the mouth on a person would be.

It’s dripping some sort of viscous fluid that is black in color. The bug adjusts the woman in its arms, ensuring she’s positioned just so, before it shoves that tube in her mouth and down her throat in one swift motion. I can see the woman’s jaws stretch to accommodate the girth of the organ that’s been inserted into her, and that her throat looks distorted as well.

The bug removes its stinger, and the woman’s entire body goes limp. That must be the signal the nasty thing was waiting for. I watch in disgust as lumps emerge from the bug’s mouth area and travel down the tube, into the woman. I’m not sure how long this goes on, but I can see her abdomen swelling. It’s like I’m watching her progress with a pregnancy before my eyes, but it’s more of these disgusting things being implanted into her body.

Once her belly looks like she’s heavily pregnant, it withdraws the tubelike organ from her boy and gently lays her back down within the basin he snatched her out of. What miniscule amount of air I managed to force into my failing lungs leaves in a rush.

They’re going to do that to Ruby and I . That’s how we’re going to die!

The thing glances over at me and screeches. As if it’s taunting me with the knowledge that this is my fate. Without warning, the entire ship trembles and groans. The bug in front of me skitters out of sight and I hear the swish of the door open as multiple chittering voices start sounding out in the hall. All the sounds are abruptly cut off when the door slides shut.

A sudden jolt of the ship launches me forward in the nest, my body weight stopped by the hold of the chain on my leg. Gasping in pain, I weakly crawl backward to alleviate the tension on the metal links. Over the noise, I hear Ruby scream out.

“ Kallen , what’s happening?”

“ Hope .”

Hope …?

That’s the last conscious thought I have before what little sanity I have left escapes my grasp, and I finally allow my mind to fade into unconsciousness. One last breath escapes me in a ragged, pain filled, rattling wheeze.