Finding Solace (Ancient Origins Book 2) Read online

  “Joe,” Lochlan said. “If there are no people here what will we do? Who will Joey play with if the others find a way back to their planet? Things are so screwed up we may not need the plane. A sinkhole could open up anywhere at any time. I can’t begin to tell you how nice it’s been to have other people in our group, especially a woman.”

  Menace clutched Solace tighter. “There are other females on my planet.”

  “Each sinkhole that opens and we slip through has gone from hope to horror for me now that I finally have my boy back,” Joe said. “Since his mother died, I’ve been so lost. That night Joey disappeared suddenly half my house was gone. Do you know what it’s like to stare into a vortex, a black nothing and want to dive in headfirst? I’d just bathed him and tucked him in. He wanted one last story, but after five I said no. Do you know how often I wished I’d told him one last story?”

  “Daddy?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Daddy my other people, the ones who said they were my parents didn’t know any stories. At night I made up my own, the same one every night, and it came true, you came for me.”

  Joe hugged his son. Menace helped Solace settle the other children in the safety of the plane as the sun began to set. He then took her in his arms and cradled her against his chest.

  “I feel like I’m in a story,” Menace said. “An alien is manipulating our lives for its entertainment. What will happen next?”

  “I guess everyone lives a story. The moment you’re born a book opens. Each person begins a new chapter of their lives like in a book. Fate and destiny play their hand like an author spinning a tale.”

  “Clarity has a book. I saw it in her purse,” Menace said.

  “Consider yourself lucky she let you get that close to her purse. There are tazers in there. I almost zapped myself with her lipstick container. Doom rescued me. I’m guessing he got up close and personal with it once,” Solace said.

  Menace chuckled. “He sure did.”

  Solace rolled closer into his arms and she relaxed. Menace closed his eyes and hoped sleep wouldn’t be elusive. Thoughts and ideas nagged at him. Clarity’s book with the strange markings on them came to mind; she called them written words. How do you write a word you speak into the air? Menace felt a storybook would be better said with pictures. Either way, his thoughts were depressing.

  “If you are writing my story, alien, fate, or destiny, make certain it has a happy ending,” Menace whispered aloud. His eyes strained into the darkness. There wasn’t a strange symbol to be seen. Clarity said words could be written in many languages. His head began to ache with his thoughts. Was a dog still a dog if the word was spoken differently? The people of the trees spoke in a number of strange languages from what Solace said. Perhaps it wasn’t the words; it was understanding what was said.

  “Alien if you are listening, I hope you can write my story in my language. If not maybe that’s why strange things happen that I don’t understand.” The idea filled his thoughts for a long time and sleep was as elusive as he speculated it to be.

  ****

  When morning came his arm was numb, Menace hadn’t wanted to disturb Solace’s sleep. He watched as the sun rose to dazzle the highlights in her hair. Lips begged to be kissed in the slight pout she wore, and he wondered what she was dreaming of. Today he would find a quiet pool to bathe in, a secluded place where he would wash her flesh until she tingled with deep desire. His fingers would dance over her skin making her whimper with want. Menace wanted to watch her sweet nipples harden until…

  “Do you think Bongo, Muffin and Bubble-gum are all right?” Em interrupted Menace’s train of thought.

  Solace groaned, then squirmed. “Am I sitting on the gun?”

  “No,” Menace said, teeth pressed tight together, she was killing him. Then, “I’m certain Doom has been watching over everyone, Em.”

  The others began to stir and Joe handed out dried mammoth meat. But Solace refused and with a smile reminded them breakfast was in the ground. Later for lunch was soon enough for dried meat.

  “We could make a stew from the meat if we find fresh water, and Solace is adept at finding greens and other edible vegetation.” Menace shifted Solace into a more comfortable position; food was the last thing on his mind. He was concentrating on taking her away. Solace rose to her feet and sent him a saucy gaze. She knew what he had in mind. There was no missing the bulge in his pants.

  Menace followed her outside. The day dawned bright and clear which made Joe grumble it was an awesome day for flying. Solace and Menace dug the food out from the ground oven. The idea worked and the emu was delicious. There were many roots and a few greens as well. They ended their meal with nuts. Menace was antsy to be away and reminded Solace about the water. He remembered flying over a pond. They gathered the flasks and water skins they had.

  “Yeah and we should all wash up. It might get a little smelly in here with us all,” Bastian said. “I miss those hot springs in the treehouse. Normally a woman would find me eventually. Which wasn’t too horrible.”

  “I’m certain your sacrifice will be remembered fondly,” Tain said dryly.

  “Just takin’ one for the team,” Bastian replied with a quick smile.

  “One?” Lochlan said and raised a brow.

  “I think Solace and I will look for water today, alone,” Menace said, their references weren’t subtle to him, though over the heads of the children. He was remembering a few times with him and Solace in a few of their spring fed waters.

  “I think the kids and I should gather firewood and make a signal fire in case there are others and to keep predators away,” Joe said. “Yesterday was a long walk.”

  “Tain and I can go look in a different direction today. Lochlan why don’t you stay and help Joe? That way we’re all armed,” Bastian said.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Lochlan said. He glanced at Menace mischievously and said, “Don’t make us have to come look for you.”

  Menace smiled. “I can kill a raptor barehanded.”

  Solace grinned at the exchange. As she and Menace headed out she punched Lochlan in the arm.

  “It’s true. He can reach right inside and rip the heart from an exposed cavity.”

  “Good to know,” Lochlan said as he watched them leave.

  Menace took Solace by the hand. The area they traveled was clear with a few trees and shrubbery. He was wishing they were home. The hot springs would have been welcome. There was a gentle breeze that fluttered Solace’s hair. Menace chose to go bare-chested. Solace was using a leather bag to carry edible vegetation she found including nuts and berries placed in different compartments.

  “If the aliens can open a sinkhole do you think they brought us here?” Solace said.

  “Maybe,” Menace replied. He frowned. “I hope they aren’t watching us somehow.”

  “Thanks for creeping me out. I need to pee.”

  “I thought your humans were watched all year long? When sleeping and awake.”

  “What makes you think that?” She chuckled. “Drones, spies, Big Brother?”

  “Santa Claus.”

  Solace howled with laughter much to his surprise. She dropped her carrying bag and slipped behind a tree. Menace waited patiently. Watched or not when you gotta go, you gotta go. She emerged still smiling and tightened the leather draw cord at the waist of her hide pants. She tromped beside him in her leather shoes given to her from the treehouse people. She was in a hide shirt made of megaceros de-haired.

  “The aliens have been sufficiently mooned,” she declared. “Remind me on our way back to grab more of the leaves out here. They’re super soft. God, how I miss toilet paper.”

  “What are those?”

  Solace and he stopped to watch a herd of a massive beast. “Wow those are big. Big even for bison. Supersized. They are typically wild and wouldn’t rely on humans on my earth. But those are badass.” She gazed at him and she must have seen his curiosity. “This must be as much of a culture shock to you
as your planet was to me.”

  “You seem comfortable here looking at beasts I’ve never set eyes on before.”

  She went on to explain the bison were almost twice as large as their predecessors and hugely shaggy. The small herd of perhaps twenty grazed on the lush grass.

  “There must be water to support such beasts.” Menace took her hand and they continued to look. Past the herd and over a small hill they found a secluded pond with a marsh beyond. Long high stems rose and waved in a slight breeze. Massive trees with long hanging branches swished the water with their tips. Cattails were near the water’s edge and Menace wanted to take a bunch back to the plane, this was a plant he knew was edible and he knew how to roast the stalks.

  Menace stripped but Solace hung back looking worried. “Menace you don’t know what’s in there.”

  “Water is in there.”

  “What if turtles are in there? Snappers the likes we’ve never seen, or leeches the size of snakes.”

  Menace smiled and held out his hand. He was waist deep. “My planet has dinosaurs.”

  “Sometimes your fearlessness is scary.”

  She let go of her leather bag and stripped her hide pants off first, the rest of the garments followed. Naked she shivered as she went to him. She buried her face into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Tenderly he cupped her chin to have her meet his gaze.

  “I will not lose you to a turtle or any other beast. I will not lose you to an alien, or dinosaur or hybrid. What I will do is live inside you. As long as you carry me in your heart I am alive. There is no one on any planet more important to me than you. You are my everything and the most beautiful woman I have ever set eyes on.”

  Solace smiled. “You’re right. I don’t think there’s a kickass dinosaur alive that can evict you.”

  “No matter where we are we are one. If you could feel the love I carry for you you’d need to be a brontosaurus to carry it all.”

  “I think our love lifts me higher and makes my steps lighter. Love is an emotion of strength not weight.”

  Menace grinned. “Then you have the power of a full grown mammoth mastodon with you.”

  “A mammadon.”

  “Not a mastomoth?”

  She chuckled making her features light with delight. He was thrilled she loved him. Menace bent to taste her sweet lips. He reached down to cup water to pour over her flesh and she shivered. The droplets glided over her breasts and dripped from a puckered nipple. He bent his head to lap at her. When he released her, they took turns washing each other with water and their hands. He wanted to feel every inch of her and he did before slipping a finger deep into her warm wet heat. Her hands clutched his shoulders as she moved with him. Menace picked her up and settled them at the base of a willow tree.

  The grass was soft under his back as he sat Solace over him. She helped guide him where they both needed him to be. She gasped as he plunged hard pulling her down. He reached to knead her breasts in each hand. Solace tossed her head back moaning, rocking in a loving rhythm. It was his turn to groan when her insides squeezed and released. Menace rolled them over and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  Every inch of him buried to the hilt until he withdrew his throbbing cock. He plunged again loving she could take all of him. Menace gripped her silky hair to tilt her neck back. He nipped her throat to her jaw. He was ready and wanted to make certain she was. She quivered with need and Menace thrust harder.

  “I love you, Solace.” Her body shook and he felt his juices spurt. Their climax was quiet but no less powerful.

  She smiled at him and traced his cheek with her finger. “I love you my powerful warrior. I will follow you from the ends of one planet to the ends of another, as long as it takes, wherever it takes us.”

  Menace grinned at her then released her. He dragged her to her feet and told her to hurry. After she claimed the aliens might be guiding them, he realized she was not only right, but also why they were brought here. Out of fuel rendering the plane useless.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “One planet to another no matter what it takes,” he said. “You reminded me of something. A hybrid came through the sinkhole with me but we separated. The aliens are guiding us. They brought us here and I think I know why. The hybrid is here, Solace. This is where the fight will begin and end.”

  Menace took up her leather satchel and the pair sprinted off together.

  ****

  “Are you certain there’s a hybrid here?” Joe asked.

  “If Menace says there’s one you better believe him. Those beasts are dangerous and they can think,” Solace said. “The males are at least eight feet tall, built like tanks, show zero mercy, and will eat your brains from your head while you’re still alive if given the chance.”

  “Well then we won’t give the bastard a chance. We’ll blow it away,” Lochlan said.

  “I’ll kill the fucker all right,” Menace said. He swung his sword.

  “What if it’s seen us using the weapons, the guns?” Solace said.

  “I’m guessing it has,” Menace said. “It knows we are dangerous. It will find out how to be more dangerous. It has seen me battle with my weapon.”

  “We better find a way out of here then,” Tain said.

  “No,” Menace said. “If the aliens brought us here we won’t be going anywhere until we kill it. The hybrid cannot have the plane. It must die. I need to learn a new way to hunt to surprise it.”

  “Then I say we all hunt it,” Lochlan said.

  Solace was worried. She was female and she knew the hybrid was too big to breed with her but would still kill the men and eat their brains. If it could figure a way to impregnate her and wait a few years the children would grow up to provide new sacrifices. Could the hybrid be smart enough to cultivate humans?

  It already has.

  She shuddered with the thought. The beast would keep the children alive then use them when they aged, breeding them and once children were born he would kill off the parents until all humans ever knew would be of a hybrid ruler. The hybrid would study the plane until it could figure out flight. Joey might even be able to help him if his father was gone and there were no adults to turn to for protection.

  The men were planning a hunt. Menace wanted to be taught how to use a machine gun. He had a sword and small weapons, his knife and the one special tool made for him for skinning a hide. The hybrid would rip him to shreds if he had to fight bare handed but Menace said the beast watched him use his sword. What was needed was surprise.

  “We can give you a crash course, Menace,” Lochlan said.

  Menace shuddered. “I don’t want to learn to crash. The plane goes way too high.” Lochlan and Bastian chuckled.

  “A fast course in guns,” Lochlan said.

  “What if,” Solace began, interrupting them while they spoke of guns. “What if we were never going to be allowed to take the plane back to Menace’s planet. Nothing goes through on his planet except humans. Doom said he was surprised Clarity came through with her purse. Same with the earth dog, Bubble-gum is unique.”

  “Clarity wasn’t meant to go to our planet. She said the aliens made a mistake and battled to return her somewhere else,” Menace said. “You know Clarity. She won’t take shit from anything.”

  “That’s why she disappeared,” Nina said as though enlightened. “I got jolted in a bomb blast and she and I hid in a tree. A hole opened and she was gone but she came back before I could tell anyone.”

  “How did she disappear?” Solace asked.

  “The ground swallowed her but she shoved me back. Then the earth stopped rumbling and levelled off. I couldn’t dig her up.” Nina had tears streaming down her face. “I ran to get help but everyone was fighting. There was so much blood, and then Clarity was back and the plane came shooting out of the ground. I didn’t want to leave Kiki and Luke behind but I wanted to go home so bad. Nick and the twins and Joey were on the plane, and you Solace. I at least had half my fami
ly.”

  “Not Nina fault,” Nick said.

  Solace startled at the compassion in his voice. The teen had made the children his family. He took care of them; he loved them. Nick held Nina for a moment. He was awkward with his bent arms, but everyone was moved. A scary thought occurred to Solace. If Clarity could be grabbed so easily, what was to stop the aliens from taking the rest of them and leaving Menace to fight alone? He couldn’t without a gun. The Neandersauri knew Menace’s skill with a sword; she wouldn’t take the chance of him being so close to the hybrid. She turned to Lochlan.

  “You need to teach Menace to shoot. Now.”

  Menace placed his hand on her shoulder. “I can see what you’re thinking. We can only hope we all end up together.”

  “What, what is she thinking?” Bastian asked.

  “That the sinkholes will begin opening here,” Menace said.

  “If the children start to disappear we won’t know if it’s the hybrid or the aliens. My God what a crazy world we’ve all been tossed into,” Solace said.

  “Will the aliens send us home?” Em asked. “Mine was a mess. Going to Doom would be better.”

  “Daddy don’t let them take me away again,” Joey howled.

  “You need to stay with us,” Blue cried out and both he and Cole wrapped little arms around Menace’s legs.

  The entire plane was in an uproar. Until Menace made a loud whistle. He gazed at everyone.

  “If any of you suddenly find yourself on a strange planet filled with dinosaurs find Doom. He will take care of you.”

  “What if we’re sent all over? I’ll be all alone,” Em said.

  Menace disengaged the boys and dropped to a knee before her. “We will find you. Solace and I found each other. I will vow to not stop looking for you. For any of you children.”

  The other children crowded around him when he picked up Em and sat her on his knee. Even Nick hovered looking worried. Tain grabbed a machine gun.

  “Let’s get busy. We need to teach the big guy how to use this puppy.”

  Everyone filed outside and stayed close.

  “Do you think anything will happen today?” Nina said.