The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles (13 page)

She was alone.

The night seemed to get dark around 6:00 p.m., according to the PSD clock. Emily had spent the rest of the day checking out her surrounding area on the ledge. Using her PSD, she was able to determine that the rooms were over a thousand years old.

A sharp pain shot through her foot the next morning, waking her out of her sleep.

A small owl-like bird pecked at her foot.

Her eyes popped open as she waved it away with her hands and kicked out. “Shoo!”

The bird flew out of the enclosure.

She yawned and then looked around. A small beetle-looking bug was on her shoulder, making her jump up. She stepped forward while checking the rest of her body. This enclosure would need some cover for the nights, assuming Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V had not already arrived. Her heart sank as loneliness crept in. She had been alone before, but always around people to some degree. To truly be alone made her palms sweat.

She stepped out of the enclosure and perched herself on the ledge to scan the jungle she had come through before. In all the excitement of the previous day, hunger had taken a backseat to more immediate concerns. She had shelter now, and the river could provide water. Her stomach grumbled as she thought of having breakfast. Dr. Snowden was probably having his morning coffee. Hopefully it was while they were trying to find her.

She pulled out her PSD and checked the survival section. Looking at it jogged her mind about the new food pellet feature Evaran had talked about. With a press of a button, a food pellet came out of the PSD and fell to the ground. She picked it up and dusted it off. It was brown and about the size of a quarter. She had a nine-month supply, but hoped she would not need more than a day or so.

With a shake of her head, she chewed the food pellet. It was tasteless, like chewing cardboard, but she knew it would give her the vitamin and caloric intake she would need. She briefly smiled as a thought popped into her mind of what she would say to Evaran about the pellet’s taste. The smile wound down as she remembered where she was.

Her bowels gurgled. She had already decided to go to the river to get water. May as well make use of it as a toilet. If she had to go, better to do it somewhere other than where she was going to stay. Maybe there was a place to do it nearby. Wherever she went, it needed to be soon. At least she would not need to worry about menstrual flow due to the nanobots breaking it down and reabsorbing it into the body. Evaran had mentioned that the process could be reversed, but would require some time to research. Even without them, the stress would have probably made her miss a few.

She climbed down the cliff face and headed toward the jungle. It was muggy, but it was not the temperature that brought her spirit down. Loneliness was ever encroaching into her thoughts. She gulped as she trudged through the sparse landscape.

It took her about an hour and a half to reach the river. She shaved off thirty minutes by going a different route that she scoped when perched on the ledge earlier. One of the interesting things she discovered was that the jungle was filled with poisonous trees. The PSD had warned her of that when she scanned them on her way through. It would explain why there were so few animals. Even insects were rare other than an annoying insect that reminded her of a fly. She was sure that she had touched some of the trees on the way through, but did not feel or see anything that would indicate she had a rash. Maybe the nanobots had protected her. She looked across the river as she took off her pants. There was no need to go over there. Ever.

The brown river was as she remembered it. Fast flowing and decently wide. It had a strong odor, which was something she did not notice her first pass through.

She drank several times using the purifying container and then stepped into the river. The strong current pushed firmly against her as she relieved herself. She spent the next few hours sitting next to a set of rocks where her pants were. With the two suns beating down, it did not take long for her to dry off.

She headed back to the enclosure and sat outside, dangling her legs off the side. The light breeze calmed her, but her morale was tumbling. With nothing to do but wait, she pulled out the PSD and browsed through the survival section.

The videos section caught her eye. They covered everything from basic tips to fighting techniques. She smiled as she saw Evaran going through them and showing examples in the holo room. How did he have the time to do all these? Or did he do them for someone else previously?

Most of the day went by as she studied the videos on the PSD. Evaran had even added one on the recent food and purifying container features. She had a brief moment of joy when first hearing Evaran’s somewhat emotionless voice. If she was going to be alone while she waited, these videos could occupy her time.

Later that night, around 9:00 p.m., she hunkered down in the enclosure. With two rocks holding the PSD back against the wall and pointing toward the open doorway and window, she activated the shield. It initially shot out a small square shield. One of the videos explained how to extend the shield and shape it. She was not sure she fully understood some of what was being shown, but she was able to extend the shield to the front wall, and expand it to touch the floor and almost the ceiling. A small slit near the top allowed air in.

She snuggled into the corner, satisfied with her setup. Looking through the shield out into the night, she wondered what Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V were up to. A lump formed in her throat as she cried herself to sleep.

Two weeks later, she had a routine down. Trips to the river were done in the morning and at dusk. She spent half the day exploring her immediate area and the other half learning from the videos.

The loneliness ate at her but did not make itself really felt until she was secured for the night. Several times she had panic attacks, thinking maybe the Torvatta could not come here and this was it. Maybe they were unable to come because they were dead. She fought these thoughts, but as each day passed, the sinking feeling that something was wrong grew stronger.

Another week later and even the routine was failing to keep the loneliness at bay. She tried to find anything to keep her mind off the situation, but hopelessness was beginning to set in.

On the last day of the week, the blaring horn sound that had announced her arrival earlier rang out. She was sitting by the rocks near the river at the time and almost jumped out of her skin. After putting on her clothes in record time, she hustled to the stepped pyramid, only to see a young man being devoured by the shelled creatures she had run into when she first arrived. Although she could not help the man, it was a brief light of hope that maybe she would not have to be alone if she could help the next one. When that would be, though, she did not know.

Although she did not want to go back to the stepped pyramid, she did over the previous weeks. The creatures she had run into earlier were in large mounds around a tree not too far away. It seemed the blaring horn brought them in, like a dinner bell. They did not bother her during her trips, as she was careful to be as quiet as possible. If they had, she knew she could outrun them if given a head start.

She spent her time there studying the podium. The blue dot on the map intrigued her. It was like a beacon. When she touched it, it showed a picture of a humanoid race with dinner-plate-shaped heads and black eyes on the underside, smiling, eating, and drinking. Whatever the place was, it had to be better than the cliffs. The green dots between the yellow dot, representing the stepped pyramid, and the blue dot appeared to be facilities of some type. The function of them was not obvious to her.

She had taken a picture of the map with her PSD and was able to calculate distances by establishing how far away her enclosure was. How accurate the numbers were was another question to solve, but even if they gave a rough approximation, she had an idea of how far away the blue dot was. It was approximately 150 miles away. The nearest green dot was ten miles north of her enclosure.

After another week, the decision to head to the green dot had become her focus. Sleeping was an issue for her. The loneliness that assaulted her increased to the point that it physically made her sick. She needed to do something to jolt her out of the state of despair she was circling into. The thought that maybe the blue dot would have some answers on where she was enticed her. Maybe there would be a way out as well.

After a morning dip, she rinsed her clothes in the running water and relaxed as they dried. She stayed on the banks a bit longer than she normally did, and when her clothes were dry, she headed back toward the enclosure.

Looking up at the place that she had called her safe spot for almost a month, she debated leaving again. Leaving felt like she was giving up hope on a rescue, and that thought clung to her mind. She shook her head and took off.

After several hours of traversing, the cliffs ended at a large body of water. She scaled the cliff, ripping her pants and shirt. The cliff top was not large, and after thirty minutes, she reached the northern edge.

Looking down, she could see a massive, flat forest. Far off in the distance, the forest appeared to get hilly before running into a mountain. She imagined the green dots popping up with signs pointing her toward the blue dot.

With a grimace, she scaled down the cliff and headed toward the forest edge. She ran her hand along the fractured dirt on the ground, noting that it had an unusual smell that reminded her of vinegar. It could have been the sporadic clumps of grass nearby producing it, but she was not sure.

With determination in her eyes, she set off. When she was several hundred feet from the forest, she heard the sound of something thudding her way. When she turned toward the sound, she froze.

A massive, overmuscled humanoid charged toward her. It had mottled brown skin, a ram-horned head, digitigrade legs, and sharp claws on its hands and feet.

She took off running but could hear it gaining on her. The cliffs were not too far away. She hoped it could not climb. When she got to the cliff, she began to scramble her way up it. She paused to look down when she was twenty or so feet off the ground. Her eyes widened as the creature launched into the air toward her.

“No!”
said Emily.

She hung with one arm as she tried to aim her PSD at the incoming creature. The impact of the creature washed over her like a tidal wave, causing her to drop her PSD. On the periphery of her vision, time slowed down as she saw the cliff wall approach her face. She struggled to breathe. The foul smell of something she could not identify engulfed her. A tingling sensation shot through her face as it hit the rocks.

Her eyes closed.

07

D
r. Snowden followed Evaran and the others back to the Torvatta after leaving Joktan’s office. He scowled as his hopes evaporated in that maybe the Helians would step in and help. They acted like they did not care. If anything was going to be done, it was up to him, Evaran, V, and Lord Vygon. He sighed and shook his head.

They had walked most of the way back to the landing pad when Evaran tilted his head.