you were dead, Scorpi…” the man put the bug down next to her head. “I thought, you were killed during the Bima-Liss attack.”
“I survived.” Serena felt her voice being coarse and raspy.
The man reached out and touched her face, smiling:
“I’m so happy you did.”
Serena finally caught on to the dark eyes and the soft gaze, realizing that the man before her was the same man who taught her about balance, climbing and fighting when she was a child.
“Woofy?” she caught herself on calling him by the name she gave him a very long time ago, but correcting herself almost instantly. “Wolfin?”
She forced through her weakness and pain, pushing herself up. The man watched her struggling, but didn’t move to help, still weary of her being able to pull another trick.
“You remember me.” he said, seeing her lean over the rock behind her, wincing.
Serena lowered her gaze and studied the man attentively:
“I remember you being more scrawny.” she noted, looking up at his face again.
Wolfin cackled, admitting that he really did look differently all those years ago.
“It’s been a long time, Serena. A lot has changed.” he said. “You grew up strong, and you still sting like hell, my little Scorpi.”
Serena glanced at the preserved bug which was still stained by Wolfin’s blood.
“Though, now your sting is way more hefty.” the man chuckled, standing up and heading towards the kitchen area. “You need sustenance. Do you think you’ll be able to eat something and keep it down?”
The woman glanced around, thinking about her bag and wandering what the man did with her stuff while he kept her chained up.
“My bag…” she felt something cracking into place and bared her teeth, trying hard not to groan from the sharp shot of pain that run through her body.
A few long moments passed, when the pain subsided, and she opened her eyes to see Wolfin watching her with a hint of concern on his face. He saw her muscles relaxing and handed her the bag he found on her. The woman took it, still feeling her body weak and strained, and looked inside, not hoping to see anything there, but finding the flask and the few sustenance bars she had with her when she went to scout out the renegade mercenary crew before she was noticed and chased down into the canyons. Taking the flask, Serena froze for a moment and glanced at Wolfin, as if thinking about something, before taking out something else – something he didn’t see when he searched her bag.
She noticed his brows twitch in surprise, as she got the emergency syringe ready and gave herself a shot into the neck, feeling the painkillers immediately helping her with the pain.
“Any more surprises in there?” Wolfin tilted his head.
Serena took a big sip from her flask, feeling the sting of alcohol reaching her throat, and took a moment to answer:
“Just a stash of capsules with painkillers and some anti-venom for emergencies.” the woman gritted her teeth, forcing herself to sit up and hang the feet down onto the floor.
“Too soon for you to be standing, Scorpi.” the man said, sounding very unhappy to see her moving at all.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Serena slowly rose, feeling every bit of her body objecting to such abuse, but ignoring it.
She felt sweat immediately forming on her forehead, and knees trembling under her weight, but tried to make a step nonetheless, grasping at the rocky wall next to her. The tightness in her chest grew into a suffocating sensation and the woman bared her teeth, making another step.
“You were always so stubborn.” Wolfin sighed, watching her make a few steps and slipping down.
He stepped to her, catching her before she could fall, and helped her back to the bed.
“I’m fine…” gasping, Serena breathed out, trying to push him away.
“You’re not fine, Serena. You’re injured, soldier! Stay in bed!” the man ordered. “Or I’ll chain you up again until your body heals, got it?”
Chapter 4. SS Lyssandra
“Scanning inconclusive.” the AI reported for the hundredth time. “I’m sorry, I cannot find Captain Serena.”
Ever since the sandstorm started, they were unable to find any signs of Serena anywhere within the vicinity. Hunter felt helpless and enraged to be stuck on a ship without any knowledge about what happened to the woman.
The man forced down the urge to kick something and jumped to his feet, grasping his hair.
“Damn it!” he growled.
“You are sleep deprived, Hunter. You should get some rest.” Lyssa said. “I’ll continue searching.”
“How can I sleep, when I don’t even know if Serena is alive or not?!”
“You should trust her more. She’s a strong and capable woman.”
“I know that! And I also know that something must have happened! Otherwise she would have checked in already.”
“You should get some rest, Hunter. The stress you are experiencing is affecting your ability to reason.”
“I’ll go have something to eat, if that will make you shut up about it.” Hunter headed out of the bridge.
“Sleep would be preferable, but you hadn’t eaten in two days, so that is also a valid form of recuperation.” the AI replied.
“Any news from the Growler?”
“Negative.”
“Let me know when they check in.”
“Of course.”
Hunter sighed heavily, understanding that the situation they were in was a harsh one. The sandstorm prevented them from finding Serena in the first few days when she disappeared, and the lack of communication ever since made it even more unbearable.
As soon as the sandstorm began dying down, Cipher offered to get to one of their informants to see if Serena contacted them. The SS Growler left the very same day, heading to the town, leaving Hunter on the location they’ve set up as a rendezvous point before Serena left for her reconnaissance mission to search for any traces of the Red Lanyards – the renegade mercenary gang that terrorised the area.
Hunter cursed himself for letting her go on her own and staying on the ship to scan and monitor for any mentions of the gang mentioned through the local net of audio frequencies. Over the days he had found nothing of the sort, scanning through radio communications – when it was possible – between cities and the few trading caravans that carried goods between them. But as soon as the storm hit, all communications seized.
The man walked into the dining area and stopped in front
