Razar (The Mating Games series Book 1) (3 page)

She continued through the narrow passageway, praying that it would come out on the other side of the mountain. The narrow tunnel opened up into a magical cavern. The ceiling was lit with what looked much like a night sky of stars but it was inside. There was a pool, also lit but from the bottom and she could see what looked like fish swimming about and something like seaweed waving at her. There was a large rock that called to her to sit down and rest a while but danger was still too close on her heels for her to heed the call.

Lista walked cautiously through the huge cavern avoiding pools, rocks, and holes that seemed to go on forever. Curiosity won out and she dropped a small rock down one of the holes and waited to hear it hit the bottom. She waited and waited some more but if it hit, it either landed on something soft or it hit so far below that she couldn’t hear it. That made her even more watchful for holes in the ground. Reaching the end of the cavern, she entered a smaller darker one. There was a small pool that looked like runoff from the large pool in the other cavern.

Tired, thirsty, and hungry, she decided to take a quick break and found a smooth rock to sit on. Pulling out her water bottle, she drank a third of it. Next, she ate a nutrient bar of some kind and even though she was tempted to rest, she got up and headed out of the cavern. Noises echoed from the large cavern and she wondered if something or someone had made it through after her. It was careless but in her hurry, she tripped over a rock and fell into a hole.

Her fingers hurt as they scrambled to grip something, anything so she wouldn’t plummet down into the endless darkness. Scratching at the ground, slipping a little lower, she finally grabbed something like an exposed shelf of rock. Letting out a ragged breath, she focused on pulling herself up and her legs over onto the ground. Lying on her stomach trying to calm down, relief flowed over her. Since she’d been on this planet she had had more close calls than in any year of army missions.

The sweat on her skin cooled rapidly and she shivered now cold all over. She’d been lucky but Lista never counted on luck because it always ran out. Whatever was behind her had gained some ground while she’d been hanging over the bottomless pit fearing for her life. Jumping up, she hurriedly grabbed her backpack and took off at a steady pace watching carefully to avoid another deadly trap.

The darkness in this cavern wasn’t her friend and she felt relieved when she entered the next cavern to find that although it was even smaller, it was lighter. There was no water and the ground seemed smooth and without holes. Lista took that as an invitation to move faster. It was a huge mountain and there was no way she could even begin to estimate how long she would be stuck making her way out of here. At least she wasn’t out in the sun where she would be dehydrated and overheated in no time.

As she hit the next cavern she was amazed. It was as light as day in here and moisture hung in the air as a pool of water and a small river ran in front of her. Trees grew here on mighty trunks reaching upward toward the lit ceiling. It had to be an unnatural light yet it seemed so much like sunlight. Flowers bloomed and their sweet scents floated to her. Some kind of grass, a deep purple color, covered the ground she walked on. It worried her to touch these unknown plants but the red leaves on the trees spread out making it difficult to miss them.

Flowers in every color of the rainbow spread out in her view. Many lined the pools and the river but seemed to be reaching for the light that came from above. It was an odd way to describe plants but they reminded her of the sunflowers of Earth except for their colors. She saw something flying over her head. Some kind of featherless bird or maybe this planet’s version of a bat? One thing was certain, she didn’t want to stick around to find out. Not because she thought the creature was dangerous, but because she didn’t have any time to waste if she wanted to evade whatever was slowly closing in on her.

The grass wasn’t as easy to walk on as she’d hoped. It was uneven and clumpy slowing her pace and making her stop to regain her balance. A vine slithered across the grass and at first she thought it was a long snake. Thankfully it avoided her but her skin crawled as she stepped over it to get to the other side. Once she was past it, she moved faster. If someone were watching she wouldn’t look graceful, only nervous and hurried. There were things down here that were making her skittish and ready to leave this cavern behind. It was funny because it had looked so beautiful at the first glance. On the surface, it was peaceful and beautiful but it seemed like there were hidden dangers.

The edge of the cavern was almost in view when the vine twisted around her ankle. She couldn’t break free so she reached for her knife. It was a lock back blade so she opened it and set the sharp blade against the vine just below the part that was wrapped tight around her ankle. It almost looked like it shrank away from the blade.

“Loosen up or I will cut you off.” Oh my God! Now she was talking to an alien plant. She sliced at the vine and a shriek echoed through the cavern. Was that the plant? It retracted and pulled about five feet away and almost seemed to be watching her. This whole situation was nothing if not crazy.

Chapter 4

Mates

Razar sensed the cat move in behind him just as he saw his mate looking at him. She bolted which didn’t surprise him and at least he wouldn’t worry about her getting in the way as he and the cat fought. He would try to dissuade the cat with primitive weapons, but he had an unauthorized blaster in his pocket if all else failed. This was the desert and he was no fool. He would take an equalizer with him, just in case he met one of the greater predators. It looked like he had been smart to keep one with him.

He would bet money that every hunter out here had at least a blaster. If they didn’t, they were a fool. Turning slowly, he put his mate out of his mind and concentrated on the batar which was similar to an Earth lion only four times as large and a lovely royal blue. This one was a male and so striking it was a shame to contemplate killing him but Razar didn’t feel like dying either.

“Go find safer prey my friend or you’ll leave me no choice but to destroy you. It’s something I’d prefer not to do.” As silly as he felt for talking to the batar, the regal giant seemed to be giving it some thought. Unfortunately for them both, he decided to go ahead with his plan to eat Razar.

The batar growled low as he crouched in preparation of leaping at Razar. When he landed, the beast looked in surprise because Razar wasn’t under him and he had a deep puncture wound bleeding heavily in his stomach. Looking at the wound, Razar was certain the creature would still heal if he left before he received more wounds. It wasn’t to be. The batar crouched again springing much quicker this time but still landing on nothing with another wound inflicted to his other side this time. At this point whether he could heal or not was anyone’s guess.

Razar found he was angry. Not at the batar who simply followed his instincts, he was angry at the officials of this hunt who had not accurately determined the dangers. This beast would have easily destroyed several mates had he found them first. He was in the hunt zone and stalking Razar or his mate, whichever he came upon first. There was no way she would have survived the first attack. It was unacceptable and he intended to file a complaint. The batar had slowed down but he wasn’t out of the fight yet. The blood loss was making him dizzy and weak, but he was still one of the strongest animals on this planet. They rarely attacked Mazlans so this whole thing was odd.

The beast was preparing for one last attack. Razar felt sad for what he knew he must do. One more leap and it was the last. The batar landed in a heap with his chest moving rapidly as the last of his blood pumped out of his body. His eyes closed as he shivered from the cold of approaching death. It was the law of the wild, kill or be killed.

“I’m sorry, my wild brother. May your spirit find a new home where you will live many years.” Pulling his communicator from his pocket, he called his brother Travlr. “I had to kill a batar at these coordinates. Please pick it up for me.” He didn’t worry, his brother would see exactly where he was calling from.

“Certainly. Have you caught your mate yet?”

“No.” He hated to be so abrupt, but he needed to go in case she got into trouble again. “I must go.” Hanging up, he rushed in the direction his female had headed.

Thank the goddess for the amazing sense of smell his people had. He picked up a strong scent and headed after her. The small opening she had entered would allow him to pass, barely. The passage was uncomfortable but he made it dragging his backpack behind him. It finally hit a huge cavern with some kind of light source in the ceiling. He’d never seen anything like it before. There was a large pool with crystal clear water and if he looked closely, small water dwellers were flitting around in the bottom. There was even some sort of plant growing in it. It was well lit and looking closely showed him there were animals that gave off light burrowed into the sandy bottom.

This cave needed to be reported so it could be explored. His people were still new to most of the area around here. They had been trapped in the prison portion of the planet until the planet their parents were from had been destroyed. At that point, the warden and the officers had released them all. Most of them hadn’t agreed with the emperor’s methods but to disagree was to be imprisoned or die. Punishment was swift and final, none who came here had ever left. They had been free over two years but their exploration was from the settlements in an outward direction and this was far from any settlements. The discovery of gold and other exports had also taken much time away from exploration.

Even though they were free it was taking them awhile to adjust not only to the planet that was their home but to the galaxy even the universe, they were a part of. Razar thought these human females would help them learn about being free and push them to explore and try new things. His female didn’t seem to have any trouble rushing in wherever she found an opening. They would be a good match because he would teach her caution, she needed to learn it. Taking one more look around the cave to memorize its beauty, he moved on to find his mate.

Carefully, he worked his way through the cavern. The rock he was walking on seemed porous with large holes that would be easy to fall through. It was good when he exited the large cavern and entered a smaller darker one. His mate would have trouble seeing and he would make better time. Sniffing at the small pool which probably had runoff from the pool in the other cavern, he’d thought about washing off but an unknown smell made him rethink that and move on.

He hurried on but noticed the holes were here too. Locating a smooth rock, he sat to eat and take a drink. His nose assured him she had stopped on this rock as well. Razar knew he couldn’t stay long. Stepping up to one of the holes as he moved on he saw signs of blood, his mate’s blood. She had fallen but caught herself on the sharp ledge of rock. All signs indicated she had moved on but at a slower rate. Hating that she had hurt herself, he couldn’t help but hope it would allow him to catch her before something worse happened.

Moving on, he carefully went from one end to the other of the smaller less lit cavern. It was a relief when he moved into the next cavern which was even smaller, lighter than the last one but not as light as the first one, and had a smooth floor without the holes that had slowed him down. Feeling the need for speed, he kicked it into high gear hoping to gain ground. Even though he could tell his female had sped up too, he was catching up to her.

Hitting the next cavern, he stopped in shock as his eyes absorbed the purple grass and huge tree trunks in front of him. All the colors of a rainbow, a rare phenomenon on this planet but common, or so he’d heard, on Earth, spread out before him. There was water in abundance, not only in pools, but there was a stream, a large one. It was probably part of an underground river that cut through this mountain. Had he not been hunting his wayward mate, he would have enjoyed exploring and discovering all the plant and animal life present here.

A scream ripped through the air, but it was such an inhuman sound. Never had he heard anything like it. Thankfully it sounded nothing like a human should sound. Nevertheless, he needed to hurry to see what had happened. The grass that looked so lovely was harder to walk on than porous rocks had been. A slithering vine crawled along the ground but when he came near it quickly jerked out of his way. It wasn’t long before he discovered why the vine seemed frightened of him. A foot long section of vine had been separated by a sharp object. It would be his guess the vine was carnivorous and his mate its intended prey. She was probably carrying a knife and that was lucky for her.

Frightened, she had sawed through the vine roughly causing it a great deal of pain. The vine wouldn’t bother her again but it was just an example of how dangerous this cave was. There were things here that neither of them was familiar with. The sooner he found her and they got out of here, the better. Unfortunately, she had put on a burst of speed after she’d broken free of the vine. Looking around, he saw no sign of her and her scent was growing fainter by the second. Terror had given her wings and she was flying away from him.

Moving in the direction she had raced took him out of this cavern. He wondered what the hell would come next. It wasn’t long before he saw another tight passageway. It was passable, but she would get through faster since she was smaller. The best thing to do was just head in as fast as possible and hope at some point it widened. The tunnel was dark but the walls were smooth. It made him wonder if they were natural like lava vents or artificial as in made by an advanced race at a time in the past. This was the worst possible time to discover such an incredible place. Of course without his mate, it would still be undiscovered.

The tunnels grew lighter as he moved along and he entered a small rounded cavern. There was no way out and as his eyes scanned the room he found his mate sitting on the floor completely dejected.