Page 34 of Twin Warriors
“I see,” Emi said, lowering to sit in front of her, “Perhaps you underestimate your mates? They would not have been chosen for you if they were not the perfect match for you… for all of us.”
“All of us?”
“Yes. When the bond appeared between you and the males, you were already five, Amy. We are all as much a part of each other's mind and body, that even our DNA has changed. If the males were to not accept us all, the marks would not have appeared.”
Amy glanced down at her wrists, at the thick dark marking of her symbiotes.
“I don’t know if I have their mark. I can’t see it underneath Kisma and Maku’s marks.”
As soon as she spoke the words, the markings on her wrists began to move and flow up her arm, exposing the intricate lines beneath. Amy gasped at the sight of the same markings on her wrists that both Cane and Cole had on their arms.
“It’s true…” She whispered, running a gentle finger over the thin lines that encircled her wrists.
“Yes. You are different from us, Amy, so you do not feel the connection like we do. We felt it the moment they touched you. The moment the bond was made. That is why Kisma told you to go with them. If the bond between you and the males is true, if it is meant to be, then not only will you find what you need to be happy, but we will all find a place on this planet to call home. It will not be easy, and it will take time, but we all believe that things will work out the way they are meant to. Do not fight it, Amy. There is no use. The bond that mates share is not something that can be ignored. Those males will come for you, no matter where you go. They will never stop wanting you close to them. The only way we can all get what we want, is if they accept us all as a part of you.”
A giggle escaped Amy out of nowhere. She heard every word Emi said, and she understood it. She knew what she needed to do, but the idea that she was getting life and love advice from a giant alien cat was just too much for her battered emotions.
When Emi tilted her head to the side in confusion, the giggle turned into a laugh filled with mirth.
“Are you alright, Amy?” Tope asked, coming to stand beside his mate.
Amy nodded, wiping the fresh tears of joy from her face. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry, Emi, I wasn’t laughing at what you said. It’s just that I never would have guessed that one day I would be getting sound life advice from a huge alien beast that I am bonded to for life, all while daydreaming about ravishing not one, but two alien cyborgs right before a dangerous mission into the desert to find kidnapped children. Do either of you know what I did before I was taken from my planet? I worked in a convenience store, for crying out loud. The most exciting thing that ever happened to me before I was taken by aliens was when two teenage boys tried to fake rob the store with water pistols. How the hell did I end up here?”
“It was written for you, Amy,” Tope said, shaking his head at her as he moved back towards the entrance to their cave.
“Written by who? A five-year-old on ecstasy?”
Emi grinned in that weird sharp toothed way she did when Amy was having one of her moments and followed Tope back down into their home. Amy sat on the tree, staring at nothing in front of her.
Kisma, for all her silence and unfaltering presence, knew a lot more than she let on. If the strange black goo said that things might just work out the way they all wanted, then Amy was inclined to believe her. None of her new family had ever lied to her, about anything. Not when she had asked if she could go home, not about how all their lives were joined, and not about the emotions they all felt. Good or bad, Kisma and Maku always told her how it was.
From the first day she met them all in that cave, she had put her trust in the strange aliens that had saved her life, and she would not stop now. If Kisma wanted her to tell Cane and Cole the truth, she would. She just hoped they were as understanding as the symbiote thought they were.
Rising from the log, Amy made her way back into the cave. Emi stood by the pool that housed the symbiotes, while Tope drank from the far pool of crisp clean water.
During the flight back to the cave, Amy had arranged the plan with them in her head. She would go back to the compound with Lace, meet up with Cole, Cane and Iron and fly out with them. Emi and Tope would leave now, taking Kisma and Maku with them, and follow her over the sands. Once they landed and began moving on foot, Emi and Tope would stay close enough to protect her if the need arose, but far enough away that the cyborgs wouldn’t sense them.
Once they made camp for the night, Amy would try to explain to the men what was going on and hopefully make them see that they had nothing to be worried about. During the night, Kisma and Maku would do their strange alien thing, liquifying into a fine mist, and search the rocky caves in the Shadow valley for any sign of either the missing children or the warriors. Once they had a lead, they would take the others to it and save them.
Then, after she got back to the compound, hopefully with Iron’s permission to bring the rest of her family there too, they would begin searching for the other humans Lace told her about.
Amy knew that this whole plan had far too many hopefullies in it, but it was the best she had for now. All she could do was hope that things went as smoothly as they planned. If not, then Cane, Cole, and Iron were going to get a huge surprise when Emi and Tope came charging into camp ready for battle all while Kisma and Maku morphed into an indestructible suit out of thin air all over her body.
A small smile spread on her lips at how they would react if she introduced the others to them in that way. She could just picture the shock on their faces when she stood before them, covered from head to toe in a thick black living organism that could grow claws, wings, or any number of other things to fight with, as Emi and Tope stood poised for a fight beside her.
Shaking her head, she dismissed that idea when she remembered the huge gun Cane had strapped to his back when he fell into the cave, and the long daggers on each hip as Cole approached her from the water.
No, she thought, that would just cause chaos. Easy does it, Amy. Don’t have them running for the hills on the first day.
Grabbing her bag from the crate beside her bed, Amy quickly packed the few items of clothing she had taken from the compound. She threw in the medical kit, just in case, before turning to run her gaze over the home they shared for the last month.
She didn’t know if she would ever return to this little hideout in the ground again. She would miss it. They had spent many amazing days and nights out here, away from the rest of the world.
But, as it was with the first cave she had woken up in, it was time to move on. To begin the next chapter of her life. With one last look around, Amy swung the bag over her shoulder and let out a sharp whistle for Emi and Tope.
They all climbed out of the cave and stood by the entrance.
“Please be careful,” Amy said, giving both beasts a loving stroke on their necks.