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The forest was an unforgiving place. The wicked would lay in wait - perched high upon branches for their unsuspecting prey. A group of bandits, clad in peeling leather armour and armed with rusty daggers, cornered Zeiss and the strange woman under his protection.
Zeiss felt a pang of frustration. It wouldn’t be easy fighting back whilst carrying dead weight. The alien woman lay on the ground behind him. Zeiss had a broken branch ready to smash their skulls in.
One bandit leapt at Zeiss with a horrific smile. Zeiss dodged his dagger and punctured the bandits neck with the hilt of the branch, pinning him to the ground. Blood squirted everywhere and the bandit cried out in pain.
Two of them rushed Zeiss and caught him by the arms and put him on his knees. The leader wore red armour of the state - perhaps he was a rogue soldier, but it was more likely he killed one. He crushed the dying bandit's skull with one boot.
“No place for the weak…” he laughed, “Now, I’ll be taking your dear lady.”
Zeiss burned with rage, but he was helpless. The men who held him back dug their dirty brown nails into his arms.
“Don’t touch her!” Zeiss said.
The alien woman lay unfazed by the violence - watching almost like a baby. The leader yanked her up and began to defile her.
“Err… What kind of wench are you?” He tried to rip open the thick cabbage-like covering over her body. Her skin was pale with a green sheen, and her eyes were crystals of pink. Her twig-like antennae were like a crown over her long black hair.
“When I am done with her, she will be begging for more!” He roared.
The anger swelled up in Zeiss like a volcano, “You bastard!”
Zeiss released a bolt of lightning from his left eye which annihilated the leader's head. His headless body stood there for a moment before collapsing.
The other bandits had been repelled by the blast. Zeiss knelt there puffing, not knowing what just happened. His eye glowed bright orange like the tip of a cigarette, before it faded back to normal.
The lady crawled over to Zeiss.
“My… name… is… Rayon,” she said in a strange and unsavoury accent, “I… need… nutrients…”
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The other two bandits had been knocked out cold. He pondered whether he should slit their throats, but decided it was needless death. Instead he bound their wrists and ankles with cloth.
Zeiss put on the clothes of the dead leader. The clothes smelt of piss, but at least Zeiss didn’t look like a prisoner. He left the armour - he wanted nothing to do with the state. He tied a slightly rusty dagger to his waist.
“Can you walk?” Zeiss asked.
Rayon tried to lift her body up but couldn’t.
“Cannot…. I need nutrients…” she croaked.
Zeiss picked her up and they continued deep into the forest. The trees here were twenty feet tall and had little leafy branches jutting out like spinal processes. The sky was always an ashy grey due to years of industrial pollution, and as the evening came, Zeiss decided to make camp.
They sat around a tiny fire underneath a large trunk. Zeiss had foraged multiple palm sized blue beetles. He smashed them and roasted them over a fire until the shells turned black. He cracked open the shells and inside was a chewy white flesh which steamed the air.
“Here, eat this…” Zeiss said.
Her eyes lit up and she began to eat the beetle. She nibbled it slowly, savouring the flavour.
“Satisfying…” she said, “I have not eaten in many months.”
Who was this strange woman? He should have been more surprised by her strange form and the fact she came from the sky, but he was too tired to care.
“When you can walk, we will part ways,” Zeiss said.
Rayon stared at Zeiss intently, “No… I need you.”
Zeiss sighed. He didn’t need anyone.
Zeiss turned. He tossed the beetle shell into the dark - there was a flicker of yellow eyes in the distance. He stood up and growled from the top of his lungs, and the predator ran. Rayon would be prime rib for a panther.
“Rest…” Zeiss sat up to stay watch.
“Rest…” she said before she curled up at the base of the tree.
She was innocent like his daughter Semira. How old would she be now?
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Zeiss woke up at dawn when the day was still blue. The fire had gone out and it was cold. Rayon wasn’t there, but he heard some laughter in the distance.
Zeiss watched carefully from the tree cover. She was playing with a panther. It was large with a sleek black coat. It rolled around on its back as she scratched its tummy.
The panther's ears twitched and it quickly turned to face Zeiss. It growled - ready to pounce.
Rayon purred and yawned; the panther seemed to understand and it relaxed its shoulders.
“You can talk to animals?” he asked.
“I can learn about any being,” she smiled and covered her left eye with her hand.
She had learned to speak when she had healed his eye.
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“You’re dead!” A voice came from behind Zeiss.
He turned to find a fist. Smash! Zeiss fell down the bank into the dirt. Before he had a chance to react, he was kicked in the gut. He turned over, holding his front. The surviving bandits had returned for revenge, however this revenge would be short lived.
The panther leapt for the bandit and bit deep into his neck severing his spinal cord. The other bandit stumbled back as he noticed the beast and decided to run. Zeiss could hear his helpless screams in the distance.
“He has not eaten in some time,” Rayon smiled.
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