Calypso - S. G. Ricketts (reading an ebook TXT) 📗

much. She massaged the back of her neck and sighed. “Just for now, I’ll leave you down here.” Gingerly, she shut and locked the box.

She arrived in her room in a daze. Her foot caught on the lip of the cavern, jarring her back to reality. Kira leaned against the entrance and stared out across Calypso. The night was black and cloudy. Except for occasional lightning flashes, everything was dark. The air was charged with the coming storm, ozone pricking at her skin. Kira watched the waves roll below her. The surf thundered against the cliffs, oblivious to anything except its carved out path. She chuckled and made her way to her hammock. “Now I’m envious of waves? I must really be losing it.”

She went to stand at the edge, letting her hair catch in the wind and flip against her face. The ragged hairs tickled her cheeks and nose. She pushed it behind her ears, her fingers lingering in the choppy ends. Once her hair had been a thing of pride. She remembered the girl from the video with the long flowing copper waves. After watching another woman’s neck break because of her ponytail, Kira cut it all off. Pride was useless on this planet.

She frowned, eyes following the coast in search of the gryphon’s ever present shadow. Nothing hovered today in the gloom. Kira bit her lip and settled back on the hammock. Yesterday hadn’t been like any other attack before. She tried to remember exactly what happened. What had he wanted? It was so uncharacteristic for any of them to stand still, let alone speak to her. Kira stared at her hands, trying to figure it out. Had something changed? Was this a new tactic? “ugh.” She scrubbed her face with her hands and flopped back. A cave bat stared down at her, its triple eyes swiveling from her to the hammock and back to her. “Thinking won’t feed my belly, will it?” The bat squeaked and dropped, wings opening inches above her face. Kira watched as its dark form vanished into the dark.

Hungry, she stood and grabbed a canvas pack against the far wall. The aroma of fruit wafted her and her stomach rumbled. “Dinnertime,” she breathed. Kira reached in and grabbed—nothing. Panicking, she opened the bag as wide as it could go, but it was too dark to see into it. She shook it upside-down and ran her hand all inside. Nothing. “Shit!” The bag smacked into the wall. The fruit had been the last food she had. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what happened. She should have had more than enough. Something skittered in the darkness, eyes flickering blue-green before vanishing. Kira groaned and sat down heavily. Of course, the cave bat alone should have been a clue. Did Calypso really have a vendetta against her? She grimaced and tossed the bag against the wall. Now she had to go outside. Unarmed or not, she had to eat. She hadn’t had meat in days and the fruit had just barely been getting her by. “Shit, shit, shit!” The cave echoed as she pounded the ground. “Really?” Her luck was absolutely terrific. No weapons and no food.
Lightning flashed again, lighting up the cave. Her bow leaned against the wall, its bleached wood bright in the sudden light. All of her arrows were gone, dropped at the river and ruined in the rain. Pushing herself up, Kira searched for her stash of untipped arrows. “One...two...three...” They clinked softly against each other was she counted. “Twenty should be enough.” Kira glanced around the cave, searching for her little cup of thorns. She could always make more. Her eyes fell on the empty cup and she snorted. “Of course it’d be empty.” Without a weapon, she would have to stay here. It would be suicide to go out so soon after an encounter. Her stomach grumbled angrily.

“You are always running, always hiding.”

Kira shivered and looked behind her. His voice had seemed so close, so mocking. She searched the little cavern, almost expecting him to jump out. She shook her head angrily. This was insane. “It’s just the hunger.” She watched the clouds scuttle across the sky and bit her thumb nail. She had water. She would be fine for a few days. her stomach clenched and she winced, holding her stomach. “Two days. I can make it for two days.” Angrily she kicked at the empty canvas bags. Their smell was almost unbearable.

“You’re a coward, aren’t you?”

Kira flinched. No one had ever called her a coward. She dug her nails into her palms, trying to fight the urge to hide. Her stomach rumbled again and she threw her hands up. “I give up. I’m not a coward, and I need food. If i can just fix the trap...” She stood and forced herself to breathe. The trap would fill up quick enough and she could hide out for another week or so.

Lightning flashed again and illuminated her bow. Its edges were smooth from nights spent perfecting the finish and the ends curved wickedly out. She picked it up, trailing her fingers down the curve of the bow. It was heavy enough to be a club and the ends were sharp enough to cause serious injury. She had her weapon. She had no excuse not to go out.

“You have something to say?”

Kira grabbed her bow and headed down.


* * * * *


Thunder rumbled through a forest heavy with the scent of rain and ozone. It wrapped her in an electric blanket, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Kira glanced up at the heavy clouds and grimaced. She wouldn’t have long to fix the trap. Sighing, she readjusted her bow. The forest was still, boughs heavy with fruit and the weight of the storm to come. “Let’s get this over with.”

She moved quickly, careful not to leave tracks. Fallen leaves and petals stuck to her legs, but she herself left nothing behind. Kira forced herself to stay in the open a little longer before ducking under an overhang. As much as she tried to deny it, his accusations had hit home. Her mind was in turmoil. By nature, she hated Calypso’s inhabitants. They were vicious, blood-thirsty animals whose only goal in life was to torment her. She had spent years running from them and praying for their collective deaths. Kira sighed to herself, brushing a vine out of her way.

Kira dug her nails into the bottom of her palm, trying to center herself. Now was not the time to lose focus. Her bow tapped lightly against her shoulder, keeping beat with her steps, and she found herself humming a tune from earlier. Thunder rolled again, and she glanced up. Kira was in the open, in the dark, racing a storm. She dodged a fern frond and jumped from one root to another. The trees whispered in the growing wind, their bright clue bark standing out in the flashes. Watching the sky, she hummed quietly to herself. Tonight she would live or die. She needed all the courage she could get, even if it was from some crappy 2020s rock band.

Kira heard the rush of the water minutes before she reached the fringe of the forest. Adrenaline pumping, she scanned the bank. Nothing moved. Licking dry lips, she skirted the open beach and knelt before a massive knarled tree. Under a near-by bush was a shallow hole where she had hidden her supplies months back. Holding the branches away, Kira pulled back the tarp. Wood gleamed slickly in the storm’s light. It didn’t look any worse for wear, even with the constant rain. Kira glanced over her shoulder before pulling out two three-foot long poles. The wood was still supple, and she threw them towards the trap. A few pieces of tack and some string and she would be good. She pulled a fist-sized piece off the block, hefting the tack in her hand. It was silvery and semi-solid in its pre-use form, almost like a super duct tape putty. In the early days, the survivors had scavenged boxes upon boxes of the stuff. They were gathering dust in the storage cavern now, next to all the other remnants of their lives. Her hand tightened on the putty and she sighed. Those thoughts were best left to after she’d fixed the trap. Tonight was about facing fears, not reliving them. “Alright, Kira. You have 30 minutes.” She tossed it up and caught it, feeling surprisingly good for her earlier depression. There was something empowering about facing death. The irony made her smile.

She stood, all senses alight for any hint of company. The trees bent in the wing, leaves brushing her face. Lightning tattooed her skin briefly before leaving her in darkness again. She took a deep breath, slipped her bow off, and stepped to the edge of the shadows. The rods quivered in her other hand, their sides clicking together. Kira licked her lips nervously again and stepped onto the beach. Within moments, she was at the water’s edge, crouched with her bow at the ready. The forest bowed and twisted but nothing moved in the darkness. Kira narrowed her eyes. Would she see him even if she tried? Lightning cracked above her and she shook herself out of her thoughts, casting one more glance at the trees before setting her bow within reaching distance of the water. Grabbing the poles, she waded out into the water and began her repairs.

Over the next hour the lightning steadily grew closer and louder. Her hands worked fast in the cold water, untying and cutting the strings of the net and retying and fastening them onto the new poles. The net was slippery with algae and it took almost all her concentration to get it tied and glued on. “Dammit!” The wayside ripped out of her hands again and Kira lunged for it, her fingers cramping from the chill water. The wood bit into her palms and her knees burned from scraping the river rocks, but she had the side. The current pulled at it, trying to rip it from her grasp. “Just...a little... more...” Her arms ached, exhausted from fighting the water. Finally, the two ends were tied and puttied. She allowed herself a moment’s admiration. With the wayside net fixed, the others would take only a few minutes. Kira smiled briefly. She still had some small skill. She hadn’t lost it all in the months since she’d made the trap. The air was heavy, casting a thick silence over the forest. Even the rush of water was muted. Thunder split the sky again, breaking through her thoughts. The lightning flashes were closer together now, but the rain had yet to make its appearance. This would be a big storm. She needed to hurry. Kira focused her attention on the trap, shutting out everything else. It wouldn’t matter what he did if she let herself get caught in the storm. The net held on the last piece of the side. She stepped back with her hands on her hips and admired her work. Already there were a few fish. One nipped at her ankle and she kicked at it.. Satisfied, Kira turned to pull herself out.

He was watching her. She swallowed her terror and lowered her foot to the ground. He squatted by the edge of the forest, a strange expression on his face. Tonight, his markings glowed a