Chapter Ten
Ryko slowly opened his eyes coming to a decision on the fate of his friend. Zal smiled at the advantage held in his grasp. Ryko shifted against the massive wood post keeping him down. It was made of a hardened grain that will not buckle with ease.
"You wish to say something brother?" Zal asked the hapless zealot. Seeing Ryko struggle against the binds made his face beaming with elation and mandibles widen into an odd smile.
Ryko sighed and prayed to the sun god to spare him and Tyler then he looked at Zal and nodded that he wished to speak ending her torture. "It is a weapon Zal aimed at Sanghelios's core. I don't know how it works or why it was put there." Zal smiled and spoke to the two red elites to free the human.
Tyler was removed from the table and tossed at Ryko's feet. Her face burned around the eyes and cheeks. Zal kneeled next to the unconscious Marine.
"Why you would care for such a weak nishum is strange to me, but no matter soon you both can live in paradise." He stood up and left Ryko alone to think about his hubris.
The Phantom took off from the outpost with four Sangheili on board. The banshee had already been flown to the keep by its last elder who will oversee the final plans preparations.
Ryko sat hands bound around the post, a rage boiled over inside him, breaking the cuffs fastening the large male in place. Picking up the young woman against his chest. The Sangheili in a moment of solitude started to cry. Tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping on to Tyler's face. He looked down at the woman. She had not moved since being freed. Wrapping his arms around her torso he pulled her closer wishing for forgiveness that would never come now that she was gone.
"I can't breathe." Tyler gasped her lungs being compacted by large muscular arms. The hold loosened freeing her from the grasp of a Sangheili surprised to see her alive. She ran an arm over her face absorbing the tears in the sleeve of her military BDUs. "Were you crying?" She asked the large male it being her turn to be shocked that he showed this kind of emotion.
He shook his elongated head denying the accusations. She moved off him and sat in front of the large elite. He looked at the woman and she noticed a single tear slide down his right cheek. Tyler reached up and brushed it away with a thumb. "I would guess crying is frowned upon on this planet?" She asked him knowing well that it was true.
Ryko nodded and sighed. "Showing signs of weakness would be disastrous for your keep. It could be used to oust the head of the keep, or bring shame to the generations that followed." He looked at her with a cold stare communicating words that did not need speaking.
"My lips are sealed, big guy." She locked her lips with the imaginary key and tossed it away. He tilted his head confused by the little motion. "It means I will never speak about this with anyone." He nodded and stood to his feet.
Ryko moved to the tents only entrance. The outside devoid of vehicles that he could use. Walking back to Tyler examining the burns on her face. "Can you walk?" He asked her.
Tyler moved against the post then to her feet. She reached her hand out to his forearm. "I think I'll be fine. Is there transport outside?" She asked hands on her shaking knees.
He shook his head, "None that I could see but if there is I am sure it has been disabled." He helped Tyler along. Hands on her shoulder guiding her steps to the entrance of the tent. "I can try finding some attire that will protect you." He offered the woman.
She nodded a weak smile formed on her lips. "I'm not going anywhere big guy." She sat on the sandy floor and dismissed a hand to help her back to her feet.
Sitting alone gave her time to think. The last person to cry for her like that was her mother after her daughter joined the UNSC. He showed a side never seen by his people. The tears were clearly not all for her; mourning his family and the dark path his brother followed. Hearing sand shift under heavy weight. Ryko entered the tent with a large cloak in hand. Getting to her feet and accepting the blanket sized overgarment.
Moving through the desert on a type-32 rapid assault vehicle Ryko found in a repair bay. Sarah wrapped her arms around his back. A haft working carbine slung around her back. They had been traveling for five miles at top speed. The sand kicked up left a noticeable cloud behind them.
Ten miles into their journey when the problems began. The vehicle started to slow and smoke festered from the ghost's front. Ryko pulled the vehicle over close to a shaded outcropping. The type-32 touched the ground and refused to rise again.
"How much further till the keep?" She asked using the darkest shade as protection from the blinding sun.
"Eight units maybe more could be twelve." He said kicking the ghost with an annoyed huff. Joining Sarah in the shaded area to discuss an alternate plan.
Tyler shifted on her feet unsure to bring up the topic of her dreams with Ryko. Sitting against the rock her body covered from head to toe by the robe. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere. The sun wasn't setting anytime soon and Sanghelios was thriving on borrowed time.
"What are we going to do now?" She asked the large saurian.
He looked at her with deep consideration. Planning something, she would not like. "I will go to the keep and you will stay here. Give me the carbine." Holding out his hand he expected her to comply but was met with an angry female ready to draw his blood. She crossed her arms and shook her head violently.
"You can't leave me here. How will I defend myself? and what will I do if you don't come back?" She asked him, features marred with anger changing to distress that she might, could lose him for the second time.
"The journey will be long and I don't want you succumbing along the way. Please give me the weapon."
She turned away with her arms crossed not willing to give in to his demands. "Take the damn thing." Turning back around she unslung the carbine from her back and tossed it at his feet.
Ryko picked up the weapon and check its semi-working condition. "I am sorry Sarah. Your well-being is my only concern in this matter." He turned his heavy frame and disappeared on the other side of a large rock forming the wall that she was left to lean against until he returned.
The large sun low on the horizon casting Mdalcam's shadow across the land eclipsing its last-born son. Ryko shields his eyes from the blinding light. He walked along the path cut into mountains by his ancestors. The young Sangheili of noble blood kept his eyes on the cliffs above for an ambush. The grip on the carbine tightened hearing movement ahead. A large field separated him from his home. Two groups patroled guarding the field with weapons ready to use.
This force failed to notice distortions in the setting sun's light that passed with the soft breeze over the land. Ryko moved to the keeps back entrance. Inside the dimly lite halls were clean to an extent, no bodies but blood and plasma scoring tarnished the walls and floors. Stopping he peered inside the room he had called home after being brought into this world. Looking back down the corridor Ryko spotted the hidden stairs at the end of the long hall. Memories came back to a time in his youth. His father would disappear behind this wall early in the morning before anyone rose to complete their daily activities. In the meeting room practicing his sword techniques he overheard his father talk with a keep elder on what laid buried underneath his home.
A machine drew his attention; made of metal that was in the all too recognizable forerunner design. "I am glad you could make it brother." The voice made him turn around to Zal standing behind him. The elder stood with him both in combat harnesses and brandishing energy swords.
"You plan to destroy this planet for what, you did not get chosen to lead the keep after father?" He asked his lost brother but was cut off by the older Sangheili's laughter.
"No, Ryko, I plan to hold her hostage until the Kaidon relinquishes his grip on the land and give the role to someone who is not a heretic or a traitor."
Ryko raised his carbine at his brother and the keep elder. "I can't allow you to do that Zal." He fired at the elder dropping his shields and sending the Sangheili's brains against the wall behind him.
Sounds of plasma fire came from above ground halting the fight. Later an orange glow shinned from up the stairs mixing with the chambers low light. A goldened armored figure stood in the entryway. "Too cowardly to face me in combat Zal, your grand plan is to use a decommissioned forerunner weapon built long before the holy rings?" Ryko watched Thel approach his brother.
"Coveting what you cannot have will get you nowhere. You earn your place by appointment or challenge." Thel looked at the younger elite in the eyes.
Zal lept at the older Sangheili. Thel ducked under and rolled coming up behind his opponent. The kaidon lunged under another ill-conceived frontal assault and planted Prophet's bane through the elite's chest. Ryko nodded at Thel that the deed was done. "You did well making an effort to save Sanghelios on your own that I have decided Sarah Tyler may stay." Ryko nodded but kept his eyes on his expressionless brother.
"Where is she, sir?"
"Upstairs."
Ryko found her in the meeting room. She had discarded the robe in favor of her military attire. "Sarah, I wish to..." She struck his face leaving a noticeable mark. He looked at her with a stunned expression. "Sarah, I do not wish for your wrath, but..." She cut him off with a failed attempt to shove the large male away.
"You thought I would be safe out there? Huh? I was worried. I thought I lost you." Her voice moved from angry questions to tear-filled statements faster than a dying star. She grabbed Ryko around his waist hugging him with every ounce of strength.
He patted her back to comfort the young woman. "I did it to keep you save Sarah, but how did you get here?"
"That thing produces a lot of smoke for such a nimble craft." Showing her hands with scares and pinkened skin. "I wanted to talk to you about something personal Ryko." Taking a seat on the broken column.
Ryko watched the woman sit in the moonlight. Sitting tall she eyed him with a stoic expression devoid of emotion. What was she thinking? He hated having her stare at him like that. When she did speak it left the male with two thumbing hearts and a head full of 'What If' scenarios.
"I dreamed about us in bed together." She saw his expression in the light of the moons. Looking confused as he walked towards her with a worried appearance on his face.
"You are saying you wish for us to be mates? Life-partners? Her face turned red as the setting sun. He was sure that is what her words communicated, but him? She needed a male of her species. He liked her of course but to go farther than they have gone could ruin relations between their people. He was sure it would lead to war on a scale just shy of the previous twenty-eight-year conflict. Now, she was thinking of him as more than a friend or ally.
Ryko sat next to her and gazed at his feet. "Why me? I am a male, but I am not a male of your species." Trying to rationalize her words in his mind and his own thoughts on the matter.
She sighed and looked at him a face filled with sadness meet his eyes. "I know big guy, it's just you have been there when no one else had come close. I want someone who has my back. My parents are gone, and I need someone strong to guide me here. I have nothing back on Earth, so I was planning to live here for the remainder of my life."
Standing to his feet he looked shocked by her confession. "Have you talked with someone about this? He asked worried about the dangers from any bitter Sangheili that still resented humanity.
Tyler dismissed his question with a wave. "I have talked with your Kaidon on my way here. I told him the situation about my family and he seemed to agree that letting me stay would be of great benefit to the human elite alliance."
He had to admit her words are true. The Sangheili allowing a human to live on Sanghelios does bring a matter of trust. She trusted him to protect her and he had a lot of questions. "How much did you discuss with him?" Needing to know this conversation was not something she was recounting from anything said to someone else.
"Only things he needed to know, I promise." She was cut off by a large figure in the doorway arms crossed and a neutral look on his face.
"Your words are true Sarah Tyler. But the proposition is unthinkable. You are not of Sangheili blood and would gain us nothing from this union. We take matters of this natural serious as we do war. Only the best may carry on their family's name. The Zealot is a good warrior, and if he wishes to rebuild this place he must start by finding a female of noble blood to carry his line forward. You may be noble in deeds, but that is where it ends." Thel stood in the light of the moons eying both parties like a parent deciding how to discipline their children.
Later, in the main courtyard, Tyler sat on a broken stone bench. She was sent out here by Thel so he could talk with Ryko. An hour had passed still nothing from inside the keep. What was she thinking? Thel was right; she was not an elite. Standing up she decided to take a walk to clear her head.
Through the main gate, Ryko watched Tyler leave the keeps boundary. Thel stood beside him with arms crossed. What did she see in him? Ryko didn't know what to do. The Kaidon had been clear, go to her and risk your place on Sanghelios. Stay and be the head of the keep. Now, his mind was conflicted. Letting her go was like betraying an ally, something he could never do. But his father would want the family to rebuild which was now his responsibility.