Savage Seed by Ivy Sparks

2

Leslie

As the beastlunged for me, the first image that flashed in my mind was of my father. I imagined him clearly, as if he was standing before me, hands on his hips, lips pulled into a thin line. “Do you know how much your death will cost us?”

Funeral expenses. Another worker lost. The entire crew missing. Broken machines and rigs. No one to help him keep the books, or make sure he took care of himself and didn’t overwork. No one to confide in about how stressed he was, about how the mine just couldn’t take another hit, about how he couldn’t bear the thought of losing me after he had already lost so much.

It was too much for one man to handle. First his wife, then his only daughter. Next would be the mine he’d worked so hard for, had spent so many countless hours building for his family.

A family that would no longer exist if I died.

Now my father knelt before me, his chest heaving as sobs coursed through his frame. Within his curled fingertips, I saw a thin black ribbon dangling loosely toward the ground. From the palm of his hand, a silver-white glow of a crystal pulsed slowly, the light continuing to soften until the beating ceased. The light went out, and the image of my father became nothing more than a silhouette.

The pure Vyrec crystal was a gift my father had given my mother upon opening the mine, and other than my complexion, it was the only thing she passed down to me. When Dad first gave it to her, she had fashioned it into a necklace and wore it every day. It signified a new beginning, a new chance at life—until she left us.

Though it was all I had left of my mother, I had never been able to wear it. Just looking at it made my skin crawl. She had taken so much from my father that it seemed an insult to wear it, so I never did. But I never tossed it out either.

It was a pure, flawless crystal, and those were very rare for a mine our size. So I brought it to work with me every day, in case I needed a specimen for comparison to anything we pulled from the ground. At least, that was the reason I told myself. I told myself every day that the crystal meant nothing anymore—not to me, and not to my father.

So why was he holding it in my vision, as my life flashed before my eyes?

A sudden hot pain ripped into my hip, bringing me back to reality as the sand beast cut through me like butter.

I screamed, making the beast recoil, which bought me time to scramble away. The initial damage was done, though—a nasty gash split my hip open. But there was no time to assess the wound any further as the beast lunged again, this time with its mandibles lashing out toward me.

I brandished my knife, hoping that would be enough to keep this thing away from me. I tried to back away, but each time I scooted farther back, the creature scrambled forward twice as much. It was only a matter of time before I became its lunch. I quickly stole a glance at my only human companion and saw the other beast lurching toward her. Panic gripped me and a scream caught in my throat. I choked out a weak warning, saying, “Look out!”

The woman turned her face toward me. But with her destroyed leg, she couldn’t even stand, much less run.

Her fate was certain.

Tears stung my eyes as I watched the sand beast closest to her close in. As much as the scene horrified me, I couldn’t let this woman die feeling completely alone. I opened my mouth to say something, perhaps something soothing or encouraging. But it was over before I got a single word out. The beast tore into her neck, her screams turning into gurgles as she choked on her own blood. Only a second later, she was silent, her head hanging limply as the beast tore into her.

I swallowed dryly and finally averted my eyes, trying to block out the crunching sounds of her bones being eaten.

I was on my own, now more than ever.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t do this. Dad didn’t raise a wimp, I told myself, forcing my legs to stand as I turned my attention back on the sand beast before me. I raised my knife higher and gripped it so hard that my knuckles turned white.

The sand beast continued to advance. My hands shook and my throat dried as I side-stepped its attacks as best I could, but then I stumbled backward over a piece of the fallen shuttle, landing on my back and leaving myself wide open.

The creature was fast, and a moment later it had drawn so close that it blocked the sun shining overhead. I got a clear picture of it, clearer than I ever would have wanted. It paused, seeming to revel in my frozen fear. I took a shallow breath and felt the grit on my tongue, the dust in my lungs, and the frantic beating of my heart in my chest.

This was it. This was the end. There was no other way out. Nothing short of a miracle was going to save me, and I didn’t believe in miracles. There were no knights in shining armor in the real world, and definitely not on an alien planet like this.

Screw this, I thought. If the bastard was going to get cocky and try to play with its food before killing me, I was going to leave a lasting mark on it.

Just as I pulled back my arm to stab at its squinted eyes, a loud roar pierced the sky and startled us both. The noise caused me to drop my knife, and I cursed loudly as it fell to the sand.

The beast fidgeted its mandibles and tilted its head to the side to listen, forgetting all about me for a moment. The sound was close—too close for comfort—and my stomach dropped. Whatever that roar was, it wasn’t from a sand beast. Was there some other apex predator I wasn’t aware existed out here?

Regardless, this distraction proved the perfect opportunity for a counter-strike. The creature was no longer looking at me, instead turning its head in the roar’s direction. The other beast had also stopped moving and mimicked its partner’s stance, as if the two were part of a hive mind.

Steeling my nerves and willing myself to believe in myself, I bent over, grabbed my knife, and adjusted my grip to prepare for an underhanded stab. As I sent out a silent prayer that I’d see my father again, I swung the knife up toward the sand beast’s head.