Chapter 8. Savior


"Wake up dear Shikha. You have no longer to fear. Here you are safe." A soft voice floated in and out from the Eloi's ears. The strange blackness that over took her soon faded out. She opened her eyes and stared long and hard. The room was illuminated by a blue light that was easy on the Morlock's eyes.

Shikha's eyes widened at the pair of burning eyes fixed on her. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing would come out but a pitiful wail. She squirmed, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Shikha it's me." The familiar voice reassured her again. "You don't have to fear."

"Am I in some other world? I am dead now." She answered weakly. Her body felt strangely warm. A slow heartbeat pumped against her cheek. She blinked and looked up into the eyes of this gentle Morlock. "Mog? It is you."

"Yes I'm here." He had her close to his chest in his wrapped arms. "You okay now? Want to sit down on the floor?"

"No. I just want to lay here." She sunk her face into his chest and breathed in his familiar scent. It brought an overly strong feeling of security to her again. "I was going to be eaten with my other kind. It was my fate."

"No. I told you Shikha." He stroked her face with the side of his hand. "You wouldn't have lasted a day. You were very lucky that I chose you. If it were some other Morlock. You would have been digested already."

"I guess." She spoke. "I guess so. You are right Mog, for once anyways."

Mog smiled and rubbed his nose against her cheek. "I managed to sneak inside. There was so many Morlocks that they didn't notice I was a stranger. Fate is on our side."

"Oh Mog you are truly something else." She complimented, pulling on his flaxen hair. "I don't want to be with the other Eloi anymore. I just can't stand them. They are just too different from me. I'm a Morlock and I don't care what anybody else says."

"Of course. You are a very odd-looking Morlock I must say." He teased her. "So what did your parents look like?"

Shikha laughed out loud and gave his stomach a pat. "I do admit though that I feel sorry for them. When I almost thought I died. The screaming and the blood." She trembled at the fresh memories of last night's slaughter. "It was so horrible."

"I guess it is frightening." Mog shrugged. Being a predator, the pity of killing his prey was just a relic from his human ancestors. One had no room for such feelings. "I won't allow nobody to take you as a meal of course."

"You would fight for me?" She leaned forward.

"Of course I would. You are closer to me then you probably think." He brushed the hair from her face. "I wouldn't be all the way out here then."

Shikha felt herself choke up inside. No softer words have ever been spoken to her. "I am sorry about what I said to you back there. We can just be friends. I'd rather have you as a friend then not know you at all."

Mog only petted her head and kept an eye on the entrance to his cave just in case another one of his kind might appear. He rolled his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"These Morlocks are doing very well. They're so picky about their meat I tell you. I'm sort of surprised they didn't you use you for breeding simply because of your eyes. It will change though when the Traveler finds them. Desperate times will spread everywhere. Oh that Traveler."

Mog bared his teeth and growled. "I remember him from when I was a child. When I first saw just a glimpse of him from behind the rocks. He set fire to our home and killed many Morlocks. I was just so little but I remember it. I almost didn't get out alive. I saw my parents burn alive."

Shikha clasped her mouth with her hand and shook her head. "That's dreadful. How could he do such a thing!?"

"It was because we feasted on the Eloi of course. I guess it's because they look so alike to him and he felt sorry for them." Mog groaned. "I really hate him. He's a monster."

"How did he get here? I mean isn't he an Eloi? I don't understand the story."

"They say he traveled from the past in a machine. Time machine I heard it was called. That is all I know about him though. He must be really evil though since he's slaughtered a lot of our kind." Mog snarled. "We must find a place far away from him."

"I'm interested in seeing what he looks like. This Time Traveler must have great powers," Shikha rubbed his face again. "but I don't like him either."

Mog wasn't paying any attention to her but his eyes set on the entrance. She turned her head and saw two pairs of eyes. She gasped and jumped behind Mog.

"Didn't anybody ever tell you?" One of the Morlocks called out to them. "You shouldn't play with your food."

Mog snarled and hauled his heavy weight off the ground. He planted himself firmly between his friend and these beasts. "You dare touch her and I will rip your balls off and shove them up your nose. Just try me."

The other Morlocks were even further confused by his reaction. One climbed further inside and clipped his teeth at this stranger.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you eating the Eloi?" The Morlock questioned. "The rest of us have already finished up!"

Mog snorted at them and waved his nails. "Perhaps I like to take my time!" He charged full ahead and bashed the Morlock straight in the stomach, sending him out the entrance again. He followed after them and cut them up with his teeth while Shikha squeezed herself out around the fight. She stumbled head first down the steep floor and laid there dazed. A few more surprised Morlocks snapped awake from their after-dinner slumber and glared at her.

"Why it's a stray Eloi. Anybody have any room left in their stomachs?" A female made a beeline towards her with wide spread arms. Shikha ducked between her legs and flipped the female onto her stomach with a loud fatty plop. "Ach! Get the little animal!"

Shikha scrambled back to the surface and sped off into the woods. Luckily for her it was nearly morning and too bright for the Morlock's sensitive eyes to stand. They shielded their eyes and disappeared into the darkness. Mog on the other hand was trapped now. Being such a talkative colony soon all the Morlocks knew of this stranger in their humble home. The one Morlock who was in league with the little, blonde animals. They cornered around him with bared teeth. Mog knew he was not going to last long unless he could get out. He squinted his eyes and used his large size to an advantage. Through the Morlock crowd he smashed till he clamber up towards the surface. The mad grunts and groan of the Morlocks was deafening. The light of the rising sun was like staring straight into the full sun on a summer day. Instinctively he covered his eyes and ran like mad in the same direction as Shikha. Stumping his toes and bruising his knees along the way he secluded himself under a tree with thick foliage. There at least it was very shady and kept the rays of the sun from reaching him.

"Damn. There must be someplace to hide. This won't stay shady forever." He panted, slimy foam covered his tongue and lips. "Where are you Shikha?"

The Eloi were all foraging from the fruits laid out for them by their masters when Shikha came to join them. The smell of Morlock was heavy on her clothing, giving her more attention then she had before. It didn't take too long for them to go back to their routine of being oblivious of the world around them.

Soon a few of the males were showing interesting her. Five male Eloi approached and sat next to her and offered fruit. What a change in attitude! She got the drift after awhile that they were courting her. One of them was probably hoping she would choose him to mate with. Unlike the Morlocks, the Eloi didn't waste excessive amounts of time courting a partner. It was a full show in your face and getting in the bed the next. When the males started to feel on her rear she snarled loudly and smacked him hard up side the face. The Eloi males, shocked at such odd behavior, didn't bother her anymore.

"Such a strange breed. I can hardly believe I am one of them. I would have probably been like this too if I had grown with my real family. I would have been already a forgotten meal as well." Shikha was extremely thankful for her mother teaching her all she knew. Without it she would just be another brainless twit like the rest of these. "I bet you could be taught as well. But the Morlocks need their food."

Some of the Eloi's nearby stared at her, listening to her peculiar hoarse grunting. Shikha rolled her eyes at them and decided to bask out on the cozy grass for a nap. The images of the fierce cave-dwellers flickered through her mind again. She raised her head up and gasped.

"Mog! Oh no I forgot all about him! The others will tear him to pieces!" She charged back towards the Morlock's caves. Mog was still under the tree with his head tucked between his legs.

"Shikha?" He called out weakly. "The sun is going to kill me! I'm still blocked from it for now but just being out here burns!"

"Mog! I thought you were still below! I thought you were going to be torn apart." She came to his aid and shielded his body with her own. "Come with me Mog. The Eloi's have their own little huts and some of them are dark inside. You could stay there."

"With the Eloi? Are you crazy?" Mog shook his head furiously.

"Why are you scared of them? A bunch of weak animals?" She giggled, resting against his back. "It's either fry or have a nice dark place."

"I am not afraid." Mog snorted and squinted. "Let's go now."

Shikha quickly led him back the Eloi's village. The blonde folk stopped their games and chat. They stood transfixed with gaping mouths. Mog hid in one of the nicely shaded huts and shut the door.

"They all just stood there and watched me." Mog rubbed his sore eyes and blinked hard. "Ugh they smelled so delicious I'm hungry."

"Not a good idea to stir them up Mog." She felt tempted to tell him not to talk that way. For a moment she felt afraid of being inside alone with him. "Later on tonight. Then we can keep moving before the rest of them search for you."

She sat down next to him and checked over his fresh wounds. "Keep doing this and there won't be much of you left. I don't have much medicine left."

"I'm fine. They don't hurt anyways. Didn't feel a thing nope." He boasted again. "I haven't lost a fight yet surprisingly."

Shikha smiled and hugged him again. "I miss my mother. I hope Fown didn't hurt her for letting me go. I still can't believe that he wanted to eat me. I thought somewhere deep inside he loved me. I was wrong. Turns out he just hated me instead."

"We don't normally harm out own mates. Females can put up a stiff fight." He licked her face. "I guess it's because males have a harder time bonding with children. A mother's bond is like nothing else. Nothing can break it. I think Fown just didn't connect with you not because he hated you."

"You are right. He never attempted to harm me before. He never played with me or spent time with me either like the other parents would with their kids. He just tolerated me." Shikha frowned.

"At least he didn't kill you in the very beginning. It's surprising to even see another Morlock just tolerate a living Eloi in his home. I am glad he decided to let you live. Otherwise I wouldn't have had such a loveable friend." He cooed. "My real parents were gone as well when I was very young. I know how it feels to be out of place. None of my stepbrothers liked me at all. Well sometimes they'd try and make me beat up other children but other then that I was the one getting beat up." He chuckled. "You remember that of course."

"Yeah you were such a rambunctious kid back then. Kept throwing sand and mud in my hair and making me run home crying." She gave him a playful sneer. "I will be right back. I need to get us something to drink. You must be thirsty."

Shikha went back outside with a bowl for water. The other Eloi were crowded around the hut, trying to get a peak inside to see this lone enemy. All of them were whispering a single sound that she didn't understand. Perhaps it meant "Morlock" in their language.

Nightfall came quickly for them. Mog felt free at last from his small prison and went out into the beautiful night air. The other Eloi were all squeezed in their places for the night.

"It's time to leave now Shikha. The Morlocks are coming." Mog tensed up and stared down near the mountains. Bright eyes were coming up the hills. They were still on the search for the missing Morlock that escaped them during the morning. Shikha packed a few fruit for the way and darted through the brush. Mog was still starving, having not eaten in over a week. He watched his friend disappear in the wood.

"Mog?" She called out to him. "Mog?"

"I'm coming." Mog jogged after her with a dead Eloi over his shoulder. "Sorry but I needed something for dinner. Who knows when I'll get any food."

"I understand." She looked back to the mountains and they went on their way for a search for a better home.