Wrong Alien (TerraMates Book 6) (33 page)

Asher shook his head. "I don't know. I don't… Abon
always said that they were waiting for us to come back, but. I don't know how
they could survive here like this. I don't understand it."

It seemed like there were a lot of things that Asher didn't
understand about his homecoming, and the only thing that was going to clear
things up was them finding Abon. When Mia pointed this out, Asher nodded.

"You're right. And he should be here. I'm sure he's
tracking us, and if he'd been somewhere along the way, then he would have
flagged us down or something. He's definitely here somewhere, probably just
waiting for us to find him.

For the first time since she'd known him, there was true
irritation in his voice when he spoke of his uncle, and Mia didn't blame him.

Apparently he'd just up and left, leaving his nephew to fend
for himself and leaving behind cryptic clues and notes and journals in the
hopes that they would be able to piece it all together. Mia didn't know how he
could feel good about taking those kinds of chances, really. If one thing
hadn't gone to his plan, just one thing, then they would have been clueless.

But maybe he'd planned it out that well, Mia didn't know.

What she did know was that they weren't accomplishing
anything by sitting on the transporter, hovering above the land.

She moved away from her window and rested her hand on
Asher's shoulder, giving him a smile when those bright eyes looked at her.
"We won't find anything out here," she said gently. "On this
ship thing, I mean. If Abon's down there somewhere, then we'll just have to
find him, won't we?"

He hesitated for a moment and then gave her a warm smile.
"You're right. Of course. He's going to have to explain himself sooner or
later, and I would rather it be sooner." Asher seemed to debate something
for a moment and then he was pulling her close once more, pressing his lips to
hers with an almost desperate ferocity that she hadn't encountered before.
"Thank you," Asher breathed against her lips, and allowed it when Mia
pulled him back in.

It was several minutes later when they finally came up for
air, and Mia was highly amused to see twin spots of color on Asher's cheeks.
Clearly he wasn't used to having someone he could kiss whenever he wanted to,
but it didn't seem like he had any complaints either way.

"We should uh…" he trailed off and cleared his
throat. "We should get moving. Yes."

Mia grinned at him, amused. "Yes," she echoed.
"Let's go." It occurred to her then that she'd forgotten something
very important, and her eyes flew open wide. Just because Asher and his kind
lived here on Quantari, didn't mean that she would be able to. She might not
even be able to
breathe
out there, let alone live. When she asked Asher,
he didn't seem worried though. In fact, he smiled.

"You'll be fine," he promised. "You're not
the first human to come to Quantari, and you probably won't be the last. The
reason Earth was the place we fled to was because it was the closest planet to
us that was similar to our own. From what I can tell, Nalyi and humans aren't
so different.

"Oh," Mia said, relieved. "Well, that's good
then. Okay."

When the door to the transporter opened, Asher motioned her
to stand back, eyes wary on the horizon. The sun (which was much paler and a
strange shade of lavender) looked like it was hot nonetheless, but the air that
fanned in on her face was cool and almost refreshing. This place was so
confusing, and Mia had to wonder what caused the land to look so cooked and
desolate if it wasn't the heat from the sun.

Before she could get an answer to that, something was
happening. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the trees. She
opened her mouth to say something to Asher, but found that he was staring at
the ground with his mouth open.

"What is it?" she asked, heart pounding. Maybe
something dangerous had found them?

"Look," Asher breathed, pointing to the ground.

Mia had to lean around him to see what he was talking about,
which was easier said than done since he was still halfway in the transporter,
one foot on the ground in front of him. What she saw made her eyes widen.

At the point where Asher was standing, greenery had burst
through the earth. It was small, but grass seemed to be growing around his
foot, and when he moved to stand completely on the ground, more came.

"What's happening?" he asked, wonder in his voice.

"You're asking me?" He seemed to understand how
silly that was because he smiled at her, and then took a deep breath and
stepped forward again.

Everywhere he walked there was more grass. Movement caught
her attention, and she looked to the trees to see that buds were springing
forth from the branches, tiny and the palest shades of green, but there
nonetheless. Color winked at the corners of her vision, and she looked to see
flowers lining the edges of the destroyed buildings. Those, at least, stayed
destroyed.

It was as if the land was responding to Asher's arrival, and
the scene was breathtaking. She half expected to see people poking their heads
out, but they remained alone where they stood.

With the greenery returning, it was easy to see how lush
this place once was. The boundaries of roads and property became clearer, some
of the earth staying hard while grass and flowers bloomed and came to life on
the edges. Vines climbed up the sides of the broken buildings, making the
crumbling stone and brick seem alive with color.

In the distance, Mia could see the sunlight glinting off of
something, and she shaded her eyes, trying to see what it was that she was
looking at. It was tall and pointy like a spire, and when she squinted, she
could see turrets below it.

"Look," she said, pointing in that direction, and
Asher obeyed, looking up and over and gasping softly.

"The palace."

"Which palace?"

"
My
palace," he said. "Where I grew
up. That's probably where Abon is waiting. That's where I would wait if I were
him."

"Then I guess we know where we need to go," Mia
said, gesturing ahead of them. Asher seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded and
led the way.

He seemed to be lost in thought as they walked towards the
palace, and Mia was content to let him think, looking around her at the
surroundings and watching as things grew and changed right in front of her
eyes. It was amazing, and she could see how this land could have been somewhere
lush and wonderful to live before the destruction had set in.

The Shaddoc were truly cruel to have ruined a homeland like
this just for their own pleasure.

"I remember that night," Asher murmured to her,
and Mia looked up at him.

"What?"

"The night… my last night here until now. I remember
it. I was really little when it happened, and I just remember people screaming
and running around, everyone trying to get to the tunnels and to safety. And I
was trying to see all of it, you know. I wanted to know what was going on, but
Mynee, my nanny, she found me and brought me to my mother. I wasn't supposed to
be out in the corridors anyway. Not while we were under attack, and my mother
had been worried sick about me. I remember how she scooped me up and held me
close and called me
kithroi.
"

"What does that mean?" Mia asked softly.

Asher looked at her. "Beloved, or something close to
it. Special one. Something like that. She always called me that when we were
together, and I loved it. I loved being special to her."

"What was she like? You told me a little before,
but." But she wanted to hear all of it.

"My mother? Beautiful. She had hair like mine, only
long and wavy, and she always left it loose. It smelled like the flowers that
grew outside of the palace, and I'd tuck my face against it when she held me.
She was so regal all the time. Her brother was the king, and her father had
been king before him, so she knew how to behave like a queen, but she was one
the kindest people I'd ever met. I wanted to be just like her when I was old
enough to sit on a throne."

Mia felt a stab of envy hearing him talk about her, just as
she had the first time. She wished that she had good memories of her mother
like that. Memories of them being close and wanting to be like her, instead of
the ones of her mother taking her father's side and not letting her do anything
she wanted to do.

"When the Shaddoc came, she stayed here," Asher
said, motioning to the wreckage of the palace that they were drawing closer to.
"She said that someone had to stay with the people, to make them know that
their royalty hadn't deserted them. I didn't get it then because I wanted her
to come with me, but I understand now. The people looked to her and my Uncle to
guide them and lead them, and without them there, there's no telling what would
have happened. Abon and I had to leave, so that there would be someone to sit
on the throne when the attack was over, but I cried the whole way to Earth,
missing my mother so bad."

She was assaulted with the image of a tiny Asher, bawling
for his mother, and it made her reach for his hand. More than likely, he didn't
even know if his mother was alive or not, and judging from the fact that
everything here seemed dead, there was a good chance that she was dead, too.

Unless whatever power Asher seemed to have to bring the land
back to life worked for people, too.

He smiled at her and tangled their fingers together as they
walked.

The palace was getting closer now (or they were getting closer
to it), and Mia was astounded by what she saw. It seemed to be made of the
palest stone imaginable, shot through with vibrant colors and studded with
shiny stones and windows. It wasn't hard to see that in its prime, it had stood
as a testament to the royal family and the beauty of their land.

Mia opened her mouth to say something, but froze when she
heard the sound of metal on stone from up ahead. "Did you hear that?"
she hissed.

"Hear what?" But there the noise was again, and
Asher paled. "I didn't even think… This might be bad."

"
What
might be bad?" she asked, heart
racing in her chest.

"Shaddoc. They might still be living here. I didn't
think they would be after all this time. After they'd done
this,
but
maybe there are still some left just in case."

"Just in case? What would they want to be here
for?" Mia wanted to know. "There's nothing here for them to
have." Of course, they would know that they were there by now, what with
all the things that were growing. There was a whole path of greenery behind
them, and it seemed like the process had sped up so that Asher didn't even need
to walk near a place for the green to spread. The path was already racing along
ahead of them on its way to the palace, and as Mia watched, the same vines
started to creep along what remained of the palace walls.

All the same, there wasn't really any place for them to
hide, and they didn't know where the Shaddoc might be coming from in the first
place.

The answer to that was made clear mere moments later. The
grating sound rang through the otherwise silent air, and Mia's head snapped up
in time to see one of the Shaddoc come lumbering out of the ruins of the palace
ahead.

It was just as horrifying as the ones she'd seen at her own
house, and she gasped, hand flying up to cover her mouth to keep herself from
making any more sound.

Where the others hadn't been armored or armed, this one most
definitely was, a wickedly sharp looking sword with a curved blade dragging the
ground behind him.

For a moment, it seemed like he hadn't noticed them, and
Asher motioned for Mia to get behind him. She wanted to hiss that they needed
to run or hide or
something
other than just stand there, considering
neither of them had any weapons at all, but her voice was dead in her throat,
and she trembled instead, not even fighting it when Asher practically shoved
her out of the way.

He was shaking almost as badly as she was, and it occurred
to her that he probably had never fought one of these beasts before if he'd
left here when he was a child, and they didn't really get violent when they
came to Earth to take people.

"Just stay behind me," Asher whispered, and that
tiny sound seemed to be enough to make the creature lift its head and pin them
with a hot stare.

It tipped its head back and blood curdling cry rang through
the air, and for one breathless second, Mia was sure that he was calling more
of his kind and that they were going to be killed right then and there.

When no one answered the call, though, it became apparent
that the Shaddoc was alone, a raider who just happened to be there at the same
time they were, and just happened to be threatening them. If they had some kind
of weapon then maybe they would be alright, but even after frantic searching
Mia could find nothing but stones.

"When in need," she muttered under her breath,
picking up a large stone, ducking around Asher, and throwing it with all the
force she could muster.

Her aim wasn't bad. In fact, it was excellent, even though
she hadn't really been aiming for anything in specific, and the rock slammed
into the side of the Shaddoc's head, making it grunt angrily.

"That's
not
staying behind me," Asher said
from between clenched teeth.

"Sure it is," she quipped back. If she was going
to die, and it seemed more and more likely that she would, it wasn't going to
be with her tail between her legs.

Of course, by then, they were out of time. The rock to the
head seemed to stun the creature for a moment, but it was bellowing soon after,
beady eyes locked on the two of them as they tried to inch their way behind one
of the crumbling buildings in an effort to use it as a shelter.