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CHAPTER 1

Falling

The impact jarred Aidan's body, pain shooting through it head to toe, her bones breaking in several places, warm blood trickling down her face, mixing with the dust caked to her skin. She gasped for breath, her lungs struggling to inflate.

The world was a blur, colors muted and distorted. Darkness pressed in from all sides, and the air was thick, damp and unnaturally still, except for the faint echoes of debris falling somewhere above, dislodged by their descent. The ravine walls loomed high above, swallowing almost any trace of the sky, little to no light penetrating its depths. The ground beneath her was uneven, cold and mossy in places, as if water once flowed there but had long since dried up.

A groan broke the stillness, but not hers. Somewhere nearby, the Hargen warrior stirred, her white fur streaked with dirt and blood. She was breathing, and soon she would be back on her feet.. Aidan knew she had to act fast, or this might mean the end of her. Her body protested as she summoned what little strength she had left.

Her hands pushed against the ground but the unbearable pain forced her back down instantly, her vision shaking, the impact still ringing in her ears. She blinked, forcing herself to focus. Just a few meters away, the Hargen was already ahead of her, already on her knees, her body coiled with pain, her ragged breaths a sharp contrast to the eerie silence of the ravine. She hadn't completely risen yet, but Aidan knew she would soon. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She had seconds, at most, and here she was, unable to move.

Terrified by the prospect of being shredded to pieces by the warrior she just tumbled down a ravine with, tears started to choke her. She knew she was probably already dead, if not by the Hargen's hand and claws, then by the injuries her frail human body sustained from the fall. Her hunting party had been decimated, and after what she did, the Hargen warrior or her squad-mates would probably want to make her pay.

She tried once again to get back onto her feet, she had no choice. The pain stole a scream from her, loud, desperate and yet, she finally succeeded. Aidan started walking right away, slowly and painfully, her back turned away from the Imperial soldier, her legs about to give up again, any moment now. Each wobbly step was agony, but stopping would mean death. The cold ground shifting beneath her feet, a searing pain lancing through her ribs, maybe cracked, maybe worse but she didn't stop.

There was no time to consider the possible consequences of the fall.

Behind her, a deep, pained groan resonated once again, then a guttural growl rumbled from the Hargen's throat, low yet loud, reverberating off the chasm's walls. Pushing herself onto one elbow, her sharp claws digging into the dirty ground for stability, she got up. The fall had hurt her, but she was still powerful. More than powerful enough to kill, even injured.

Aidan did not dare looking back. She kept walking for a few steps, her heart feeling like it might give out from the pain and the all-consuming fear that took hold of her the moment she saw the Imperials on their tail in the valley above. She threw a very quick glance back to see how much time she had, confirming what she already knew: she was doomed. She would never outrun the Hargen in this state, but she kept going anyway.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack somewhere inside her leg, and a mind-numbing pain surged through her head. Her right shin had given up. She fell to the ground once again.

The pain was blinding, white-hot, strong enough to consume her every thought for an instant. The fall sent another sharp shock through her ribs, forcing a ragged gasp from her lips. Her vision darkened at the edges, threatening to pull her into unconsciousness at this point, the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. The Imperial was back on her feet. Dirt shifting under clawed feet, taking steady, controlled steps as she was walking straight towards Aidan. No more pained groans, no more struggling.

A sharp inhale, the sound of a deep breath being taken.

She was scenting the air, catching Aidan's fear, her blood leaking through her wounds.

"You're still breathing."

A pause. A step closer.

"How?"

With whatever strength Aidan has left, she shifted onto her back.

"Please!" she gasped.

The Hargen warrior was standing over her, silent. Her piercing blue eyes locked onto Aidan's, her expression unreadable. Her white fur was matted with dirt and blood, her long black hair hanging messily around her face. She breathed in heavily, her chest rising and falling in controlled but forceful motions.

Aidan's single word, "Please" hanged in the air, fragile as glass.

The wolf's ears flicked slightly, her claws twitched. Hesitating.

Then, she crouched. Not to pounce, not to finish Aidan off but to get a better look.

"Why should I spare you? You just tried to kill me, I should leave you to die." the words ringing hollow, even to her.

Aidan tried to say something, but she choked and coughed up a scary amount of blood clogging her pipes, the crimson liquid staining her already messy face a little more.

"I'm begging. We got too close to the edge, none of this was on purpose." she said, feeling her last moments creeping closer. "Please, help me."

The tall, long-haired wolf watched Aidan intently, her eyes darting side to side, thoughts clearly running wild in her mind. She didn't move nor spoke for a moment. She just stood there, crouched, her sharp eyes scanning Aidan laying there, dying. Her nostrils flared and she let out a groan.

"I should kill you, I really should."

"We... we didn't know we crossed the frontier. We only wanted to hunt for food, I don't deserve to die for this, none of them did." Aidan said referencing the hunting party she was the only surviving member of. Aidan stuttered, feeling her entire body about to give up, gathering all she could muster to stay awake. She stared straight into the Hargen's eyes.

"I'm begging. Please."

She glanced down at the blood staining Aidan's skin, at the dirt and pain in display in front of her. "I shouldn't be merciful, this is gonna cost me my head." she muttered, clearly torn between the two possible outcomes of this situation. For a second, Aidan remained silent, nothing but a short whine of pain escaping her lips.

"I... I can't walk. I think I broke my leg and my ribs too."

Another few seconds of silence went on before she pushed out a few more words from her bloody mouth. "I didn't mean to hurt you, to kill you. I swear."

The Imperial's gaze moved down to Aidan's leg, noticing the slightly twisted angle of her shin and then to her mouth filled with blood. She took a slow breath, weighing her options, her sharp claws hovering near Aidan's leg, but she didn't touch it yet.

"It's broken." she said, her voice a little less harsh. Her tone still firm. “And a rib clearly punctured one of your lungs. You don't have much time."

"I don't want to die." Aidan chocked, a tear running down her cheek, her voice trembling. "I feel cold."

The Hargen closed her eyes, reaching for her own head, clenching it hard, her internal conflict about the whole situation crystal clear now. "Fine, I'll help you." The words came unexpectedly. She placed her hands near your broken leg, assessing it silently again.

"I can't do that alone... You need to help me. I'm not like your kind... I'm just a human. Get me back up and I'll push as far as I possibly can..." Aidan's voice getting raspier, the blood making it harder and harder to talk. With a long and heavy sigh, the Imperial wrapped her arms around Aidan and helped pull her up, slowly, as any wrong move could make things a lot worse.

"We need to move. Now."

Her voice was low but resolute. "But remember this. If you try anything stupid, I won't hesitate. Not for you."

"I won't do anything. I swear on everything I have in this world. I'm unarmed."

The Hargen's grip tightened slightly, realizing the weak human wouldn't be able to walk any further. Without thinking much about it, she then swooped Aidan off her feet, now carrying her in her arms, instantly starting to move forward, step after step.

“Thank you." Aidan whispered, now a lot more pale than she was minutes ago.

“Don't thank me. This might be the stupidest thing I'll ever do and it might cost us both our lives."

"I-if I survive... what's gonna happen to me?"

For a brief moment, the only sounds Aidan could hear were the quiet scrape of her claws against the dirt and Aidan's labored breathing. When the human finally spoke, her voice was barely audible.

"My people, they say that Hargens are incapable of mercy. That you are all bloodthirsty monsters. But..." she pauses, "they are wrong. Clearly... they are wrong. Not all of you."

The warrior's steps faltered for just a moment, barely perceptible. She didn't slow down, but the air around her seemed to shift. Aidan had struck a chord, even if she didn't let it show. Her ears twitched, but her gaze remained forward.

"Your people..." she began, her tone colder than before, "The Empire hates them. We are soldiers, born from the need to conquer, to survive. Nothing else matters to us. Humans are easy to kill, easy to subjugate." She paused for a beat, the next step carrying additional weight as she shifted her grip on Aidan again. "I don't kill because I can. I kill because it's necessary. Because it's my job." there was a quiet bitterness in her tone now, almost like a whispered confession. "But not today." Her eyes flicked briefly to Aidan and for just a moment, her gaze softened, just enough for the human to catch it.

"Maybe I am different. Maybe I'm tired of it all." Her voice trailed off, and she quickly focused on the path ahead again. "But don't get confused. I'm not your ally nor your friend, I'm just giving you a chance." Her tone was wavering, unconvincing.

Aidan was getting worse, after a minute or so of struggling to stay awake, her last bit of strength abandoned her and her eyes closed, her face pale as a ghost.

“Damn it." The wolf's claws dug into Aidan's as she picked up the pace. “Stay with me!" she blurted out, her voice now clearly distressed. “You're not dying here. Not like this."

Barely conscious and shocked that such words could come from an Hargen's mouth, Aidan forced herself to hold on, to push a little longer. Her eyes opened again but barely.

Soon, they arrived at the end of the ravine, the tight stone corridor opening up into a vast valley covered in bright green grass, undeniably inside Imperial territory.

A shuttle and the black-haired Hargen's squad were waiting for her there, falling into complete disbelief as they saw her arrive with Aidan in her arms. The human's ears deafened, she was unable to make out what was being said as the warrior loaded her up into the ship.

“Keep her alive or you're all going to the Hole for an entire month!"