Free Beneath the Twin Moons of Haldae by Angela Yseult Page B

before.
    As the afternoon waned, the vegetation around them grew thinner, the trees both smaller and growing further apart. Excitement slowly replaced her weariness, and she found herself walking faster to catch up with Kris and walk by his side.
    “The shuttle?” she asked, hoping the tone of her voice would convey the meaning of her words. “Are we getting closer?”
    Kris breathed in deeply, keeping his eyes straight ahead of him. Yet again, a muscle twitched in his clenched jaw.
    “Shuttle,” he repeated, adding a few more incomprehensible words.
    Zaren tried to hang on to her hope, as difficult as it was when Kris’ friendly personality had all but disappeared. The language barrier was hard on her, but as long as he had smiled with every word, she had been able to carry on. Whatever was affecting his mood now made everything that much more difficult to endure.
    Her heart jumped when they reached the edge of the forest. Straight ahead of her, the moons were slowly gliding toward the horizon, two thin crescents, clearer than they had been when she crashed. They weren’t what caught her eyes, though.
    To her Ce="h=" left, not very far, the light of the setting sun reflected over what could not be anything other than her shuttle. It was some distance still, maybe half an hour away, but as far as she could tell, it was in good shape. Maybe the emergency landing systems had come back online in time, maybe all she needed was to climb into the shuttle and fly, maybe—
    Kris’ hand closed on her wrist and brought her to an abrupt halt.
    “Rest,” he said, pointing at the forest behind them.
    “Rest?” Her voice climbed almost to a shriek. “But the shuttle is right there!”
    She looked at the gleaming metal, so close now. Couldn’t he see it? She tried to free her hand to point, but Kris’ hold tightened until she could feel his nails digging into her skin. She yelped in pain.
    “You’re hurting me!”
    He let go of her wrist and raised his hands, palms out toward her, murmuring a few words that sounded apologetic. She shook her head and gestured toward the shuttle. She didn’t care about apologies, not now.
    “We could get there before night falls! We could—”
    He shook his head and covered her mouth with two of his fingers, cutting her off. “Rest,” he said again. His tone was cold and unyielding, but his fingers trembled against her lips.
    With that, he walked back into the forest and started gathering leaves. Zaren watched him as he built another shelter. Her excitement had disappeared, giving way to frustration. Why didn’t he want to go to the shuttle now? He had to have a reason.
    She joined him, and although annoyed, started helping him. She hoped it was a good reason. Just like she hoped he had a reason for not building a fire even after she struggled to make him understand she was cold.
    Letting her tiredness and bad mood take over, she refused the food he offered her, just like she refused to come inside the shelter. Instead, she sat outside, at the foot of a tree, arms around her raised knees and her eyes in the direction of the shuttle. It was too dark for her to see it anymore, but it was there, almost close enough to touch. In the morning, whether Kris accompanied her or not, she would go.
    She wasn’t sure how much time passed before the wolf appeared. She scowled at it when it curled at her feet like she had scowled at Kris, but after a moment, she couldn’t help but relax. Without thinking, she reached to caress the thick fur. The wolf raised his head and flicked his tongue at her wrist, where Kris had held her tight enough to hurt earlier.
    “I’m sure he had a reason,” she murmured. “He’s helped me so far and nothing forced him to. He must have a reason.”
    The wolf stared at her with eyes that sometimes seemed to glow. She fell asleep hoping that Kris would come with her to the shuttle in the morning. She didn’t want to say goodbye before she really had to.
     
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