Tongue Tied Episode 8

Grant

A stinging slap tumbled me out of an ardent dream into a mind-numbing aerial roll.

“Wake up, Grant.” Aria’s voice floated. “Wake up.”

Her voice stopped floating, coalesced into a battering ram, and slammed through my head. Her face hovered above me in a cold red dawn. I tried to reach out and grab her by the throat, but my arms flailed uselessly in the air.

“I missed you too,” she said. “But we got no time for that. We got to get out of here before the saloonies come for me.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” I said. But it sounded more like, “Wah n gana weah.” I was starting to feel more of my body. I tried making a fist and managed to curl my fingers far enough I could tell they moved. “You drugged me.” Which sounded more like, “Ahh dugve mah.”

Aria took my hand and pressed it to her chest, early morning twinkling in her eyes. “I think I love you too. But we got to get you up, and find that dragon of yours.”

I thought the drug was wearing off. But my mind tumbled into another confusing barrel-roll. A dream. That’s it. The sky shouldn’t be red, at least not that red. Aria’s face hovering in midair. And it sounded like she just said — “I love you.”

 Her kitten-soft hand stroked across my head and down the side of my face. She smelled lightly of Aria, leather, and lavender. This dream had possibilities. I closed my eyes.

SLAP. “Grant. Wake up!”

The urgency in her voice stung almost as much as the slap. At least feeling was returning to my face. I forced my eyes open to an unwelcome barrage of sunlight that burrowed through my head like a halogen spotlight. It felt like the end of a three-day drunk. “What?”

She shook me like a rag doll. “The saloonies are coming.” She looked nervous. “We need to skedaddle before they get here.”

“Where am I?”

“We’re at the Thurium dig. I might’ve found your dragon. But… I can’t see it. I threw this rock, and it — bounced — like it hit something — but there weren’t nothing there.”

“You threw a rock… at my dragon?”

“It was dark. I didn’t know it was there. I threw another rock. But it just hit the ground.”

“You threw another rock — at my dragon.” Every second the drug-fog thinned more. “To a dragon you’re crunchy and good with ketchup. Throwing rocks at one ain’t smart.”

“I didn’t know it was…” Her eyes lit up. “You really have a dragon.” She bent closer, her heaven-scented breath caressing my cheek. “An honest to Pete dragon?”

I reached up, gathered a handful of her hair, and squeezed. I held her tight, and reached for her throat with my other hand. She pinned it to the floor.

Instead of struggling to get away, she leaned forward. Her lips, so close, felt like hot coals when she kissed me.

(If you stumbled onto this by chance, and have no idea what’s going on, here is the link to Episode 1 where it all began)

(But if you just missed the last Episode, and you’re wondering how Grant and Aria got to the Thurium dig, here is the link to Episode 7)

Tongue Tied Episode 7

Tugal and Aria began searching the Thurium dig site by the light of the full moon.

They finished skirting the site perimeter.

“If there’s a dragon here, I can’t see it,” Tugal said. Morning was close, and a fringe of light was already growing on the horizon.

Aria leaned over the edge of the hole and scrutinized each cliff and crag. “I can’t believe he lied to me.”

“You did shoot him with a blaster.”

She picked up a rock and threw it into the pit below. “Not before he told me this dragon was supposed to be here.” She watched as the rock dropped. It stopped in mid air with a hollow thump, then rolled to the ground. “That’s a might odd.”

“What?”

“Watch this.” She threw another rock. This time it dropped straight down and landed on the dirt with a solid thud.

“That is odd,” Tugal said. “The rock went down.” He made an arc with his hand and whistled as he imitated the path of a falling rock. “Thud.”

“It didn’t do that last time.”

“Go down?”

“It didn’t… Uh, maybe… I should—just accept Grant lied to me. You take the roan and go on back to the saloon. I’ll deal with Grant for his lying thieving ways, and meet up with you later.”

“Don’t you want I should go down there and have a look-see before we give up?”

In the dim light Tugal couldn’t see the change in Aria’s affect. If he had, he might have figured out that she was hiding something. “Nah. He played us like a pair of deuces. I bet he was hoping we’d let him go before we came out here to check out his story. You go on back and get some sleep and a hot meal. I’ll be along,” she jerked her finger in the direction of the carriage where Grant lay unconscious, “once I’ve dealt with him.”

“I could kill him afore I go.”

Fear flashed in her eyes, hidden from Tugal in the darkness, and her face went hot. “No.” Aria blurted out. “I mean.” Her mind stumbled. “I want him awake when I take care of him. I want to look him in the eye.”

Tugal smiled in the darkness. “Aria, you learn from Tugal. It is satisfying to watch a man’s soul leave.”

“Uh. Yeah. That’s it. I want to see his soul leave. By myself. I want to do it.”

“Tugal understands. I will wait for your return. Do not delay too long, the others may begin to wonder where you have gone. They become restless in the daylight when you are not back.”

Ten times she had tried to escape. Ten times she had fled into the desert in a different direction, each time finding no water, no food, and no other settlements. The saloonies hadn’t hurt her, as such, when they found her and brought her back. But they hadn’t been none too gentle either.

Thanks for reading along with Tongue Tied. I hope you are enjoying them.

(Did you arrive here at Episode 7 and haven’t read the first six episodes? Click here for Episode 1)

(If you just missed Episode 6, click here)

(I think Aria is up to something, how about you? But will it work out – for her, or Grant? I will post a link to Episode 8 here when it’s available)