Rocki flinched, wings drawing in tighter. Kofi's wing, however, stretched a little farther across her back. "It's just a lopenant. They make that noise to find each other."

Another one answered the first's cry. It was high-pitched like a bat's squeal, but long like a wolf's howl. A third added its voice, accompanied by scurrying sounds that seemed nearby. Before long, there were hundreds of shrieks attacking Rocki's ears and thousands of claws scraping against the stone-like ground.

Kofi made a pained noise, clapping his hands over his ears at the same time as Rocki. His wing tightened against Rocki. "There shouldn't be so many of them," he shouted. "I've never heard of them swarming before."

Hundreds of the creatures suddenly surged from their small holes, running around the two of them and over their feet. A few even tried to climb Rocki's leg, but she yelped and shook them off. Kofi was practically dancing as he swatted the creatures away with his feet, arms waving wildly for no apparent reason.

"Ow!" Rocki shouted when a lopenant bit her through her black dress pants. Her voice was muffled behind the mask, but she yelled at it anyway. "Burn you!" She kicked it as hard as she could, but it was replaced by two more on her other leg.

The creatures were still shrieking as loudly as they could, the sound practically deafening Rocki. They bit and clawed at whatever surface of her they could get at, which was mostly her feet and lower leg, but a few of them jumped to rip through her thighs.

"Kofi!" she shouted, not sure if he could hear her, but not sure what else to do.

His wings flared, hitting her across the face. She stumbled backward, almost falling into the hoard of animals. He grabbed her and hoisted her onto his waist like she was a toddler, circling his wings around them as much as he could as he continued to kick at the lopenants. He used one arm to support her, but the other blasted at the creatures with his plasma, although not nearly as quickly as either of them would like. It mattered little to the creatures though, there were so many as soon as he killed some they were almost instantly replaced.

"What do we do?" she cried, clinging to him. Not that he would be able to understand her behind the mask. There was no running—it would be like trying to push through quicksand. Fighting clearly wasn't helping since they were so vastly outnumbered. Her mind raced through dozens of scenarios, rejecting each one as fast as it came in. The piercing cries were driving her insane, almost more than the way they chewed up her legs.

"I don't know!" Kofi shouted; his face set angrily. He alternated between kicking and stomping on the vermin as well as blasting them. He tried to run forward, but almost fell, nearly taking both of them down into the frenzied creatures' jaws.

Are we going to die here?! Rocki leg snapped to the side, throwing a stray lopenant off her. Her heart was thundering in her chest to the beat of the scurrying and cries. Her mind begged her to come up with a solution, but in her panic she couldn't think clearly. She wanted to hide her face in Kofi's neck and just disappear, but he was blind in the darkness.

I never got to name him. I don't want my baby to die before he's even lived.

Kofi practically roared in pain as some of the lopenants leapt and sank their teeth into his wings, tearing the thin, leathery skin. Rocki's wings automatically flared out in shock from his loud cry, whacking one of his own assaulted wings. A few of the lopenants were flung off by the force, but more kept trying to get at him.

Her thoughts weren't coming clearly. All that she knew was the heavy, underlying rhythm in her head that chanted her demise, along with Kofi's.

"Hiiiieeeee!" A war cry rang out, high and sharp, over the screeching.

Rocki's head snapped up to look at the tunnel in front of them. She was greeted by a gust of wind that almost knocked Kofi over. He clung to her tightly as the lopenants now exclaimed in fear and began disappearing down their small tunnels. After a few seconds, they were all gone, leaving only Rocki, Kofi, and whomever had saved them.

"Who's there?" Kofi barked, not letting go of her yet.

"We are a few protectors from the Iincre clan," a male said as the wind died down. "But introduction later. We should go before the lopenants return for their dead."

Rocki blinked to clear her vision in the dim lighting, trying to get a feel for what kind of creatures had saved them. They were some sort of bipeds, but it was hard to make out features without a true light source.

Kofi began to troop blindly after the small group, probably following through hearing their footsteps. It looked like there were four of them, as well as a large object two of them were carrying.

Rocki reached a hand out and pushed them away from the wall her ride was about to bump into. She tried to subtly wriggle her way out of his arms and back onto the floor, but he refused to let go. She shoved her mask off. "You can put me down now."

"And lose the chance of a lifetime to carry a savioress to safety?" She could most make out the grin he was directing at her. "No, thank you. Besides, you can keep me from running into anything."

"I want down." Despite her words, she clung to his shoulder, not wanting him to suddenly drop her. His face was near to hers; she could see the cheekbones of his too-pale face and hear his slightly panted breathing.

He kept walking. "Your feet and legs are all scratched up. I don't want you making them worse than they already are."

"What about yourself?" she protested. "You were attacked too."

He scoffed, adjusting his arms so one hand splayed across her upper back and the other looped her lower back, holding onto her thigh carefully. "No, it doesn't hurt. I'm fine. Besides, you're just a tad more important than me, blue eyes." He winked.

She frowned. "That's not fair. A life is a life."

"Unless one life is going to save everyone else's. It's a save-one-or-save-all situation."

Rocki was quiet. She had always been the one to advocate for saving the lives of everyone versus someone who was important to a protagonist in a movie. The logic made perfect sense; one life was nothing compared to the lives of everyone else. She didn't like being the one someone had to sacrifice for though.

The walk to wherever they were going was pretty quiet besides their footsteps. The air was tight with tension as everyone scouted for more lopenants. Everyone except Kofi, who was as blind as a mole in the pitch darkness. Every time a creature would squeak somewhere far in the tunnels, Rocki flinched, and the group bristled, but nothing came near them again.

Eventually, there was a faint glow around a tunnel bend. Without much ceremony, they strolled right into a giant cave that was dimly lit with glowing moss, or some life form like it. The cave housed a small village with homes that ringed the parameter and faintly glowing trees encompassing the middle.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kofi asked as Rocki gaped shamelessly. "This is my third time seeing a village like this and I am amazed every time."

Rocki stared at one of the homes as they passed by. It seemed to be a smaller cave built into the walls of the larger one, the only thing separating the two of them was a cloth in lieu of a door. The entrance had two tiny trees planted on either side of it, their pinkish-orange flowers barely giving off a light. The color reminded her of the sunsets in Hawaii.

The group escorting them stopped, and turned so she could get a good look at them. They seemed relatively human-like, but their eyes were a bit too big, and they had thick spikes growing out of their knuckles. Their skin was a deep brown, blending in with the shadows of the cave around them.

One spoke. "Kofi I recognize from his last journey here, but you I do not." He extended his arm to point at Rocki.

She felt a surge of discomfort being seen on Kofi's hip like a child or someone close to him, so she managed to wiggle her way to the ground, wincing when her ankles hit the hard surface. "I'm Roxanne. Kofi brought me here to visit a seer." Kofi kept his wing around her, one hand lingering near her back as he translated her words. How does this translator work for speaking again?

"Understood," said the man. "I am Jex. You are fortunate we were patrolling the tunnels when we heard the lopenants."

"I've never seen them swarm before," said Kofi. "I thought they ate bugs, not valicara." He laughed ruefully, opening one wing to peer at it.

"Oh!" Rocki stared at the shredded skin at the bottom. Her gaze drifted down to his legs, the pants of which were torn and stained with blood. She also bore claw and teeth marks that were still bleeding slightly, but it wasn't nearly as bad as his. And he carried me all the way here. Her wings sagged a little.

He glanced at her with a smile. "I'll be all right, blue eyes. Don't over work your sharp little mind about me."

"You require healing," said Jex. "We will provide that as well as nourishment, then we will escort you to Lindka. Please, follow me." He dismissed the rest of his group with a wave of his hand, then started off around the orchard of trees.

Rocki glanced at Kofi. I don't know Jex at all. He and the others saved us, but are they good people? Are we safe here? She thought of the baby growing inside her. We're alive. They rescued the three of us. They wouldn't save us just to kill us.

Kofi winked, then started to follow Jex, his wing propelling her forward. She winced as her scratches created a new soreness with each step. They felt hot, uncomfortable, especially with the blood drying on them.

She tried to keep her face straight after an initial grimace, simultaneously trying to keep herself from limping, but Kofi seemed to notice anyway. "It hurts, doesn't it? If only there was someone to carry you." He sighed dramatically.

Rocki frowned, flicking her wings back to move his away from her shoulders as she dropped her mask for a moment. "I'm fine."

He scoffed. "Well, you've talked me into it." He picked her up before she could do anything about it, wrapping her legs around his waist so she was facing his wings and continuing to walk like it was nothing. "You know, I didn't think it was possible, but you are even prettier when you're this close."

Her frown grew deeper as she braced herself against his shoulders, trying desperately not to let her face flush. "Put me down."

"Maybe if you ask me nicely."

She rolled her eyes. "Please put me down."

He tipped his head. "Mm, no. I like carrying you. This seems like a good angle for a kiss for your hero." He leaned forward slightly but she recoiled as much as she could without falling backwards.

"Not a chance."

He laughed. "Fine, have it your way." But he didn't put her down.

He's trying to take care of me... I think. He's carrying me the same way as when he kidnapped me, but... this is different. It would be silly to believe that he really likes me—we've only known each other since yesterday. Not that I want him to like me anyway. I've got enough messes on my hands without having to deal with a love-struck alien. She turned her head so she wouldn't have to look at his face but let her frown ease up. But, for the guy who took me from my home and let my sister get kidnapped, he's not so bad.