Valdyrin

Word Count: 1,722
“Fifty marks today, Shaan. It’s been fifty,” Ryden’s voice sunk even as it echoed slightly through the cold room.
“Happy fifty-day anniversary, then, missy,” the all-too familiar voice from the other side of the wall snorted. “Just remember, I’ve been here longer.”
Ryden paused a moment to listen to the drip, drip leaking from the ceiling. “Why did you choose not to count, Shaan?”
“What?”
“Why did you choose not to keep a tally? Surely it crossed your mind in the first days you were captured.”
“Missy, I’ve been studying aliens since long before the Valdyrin landed. I told you that forty-nine days ago. So then ask yourself, why didn’t I make cute little etch marks on the side of the wall every day? You’re smart. You were in graduate school, yes? Figure it out.”
Ryden gulped and her voice came with reluctance. “Because you knew you’d never stand a chance escaping.”
“Giant, super-advanced bipedal wolves with rock-hard scales versus, well, humans. I did the math right, missy. I don’t need tally marks for that math.”
Ryden’s response came abruptly. “Well, if you’re so hopeless, why have you been eating and drinking all these days? Wouldn’t it be easier to die than to wait out the rest of your life here spewing negatives?”
“Nope. It’s actually a lot easier to eat than to starve myself.”
Ryden grunted, and the conversation ended, not unlike the many other talks betwixt the two, in soundless irritation. Rather, it would have been soundless but for the persistent leak in the ceiling.
As the natural light that filtered through the small, clouded window in her cell faded, Ryden elected to sleep next. When she awoke, she heard a much smaller voice buzzing in her ear. “Ugh! Get away, you!” She scuffled and softly thudded her ear against the wall, her arms unable to lift beyond the reach of her shackles. The droning allayed only in part, indicating that the insect, while no longer in her ear, was still at large.
“Bad dreams, missy?” a drowsy Shaan called.
“No. I wonder how the Valdyrin feel about mosquitos.”
“I imagine they might have something similar where they come from, seeing as primitive creatures like that seem to get along well under such varying conditions.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Well, I just thought you’d know about the insect life on the Valdyrin home planet, having studied aliens for all these years.”
“... Are you being snide with me?”
“Now wherever would I have learned to behave like that?”
Shaan loosed a peal of genuine laughter. “Tell me what my hair color is, missy, and I’ll tell you about the insect life on Valdyria.
“It’s black.”
“... Lucky guess.”
They both chuckled.
“It’s your exotic accent that gave it away. Where did you say you were from, again?”
“Jatani. It’s a town in India, remember?”
“I’ve never been. Could you tell me about it? You never tell me any stories, Shaan!” Ryden feigned childlike excitement, determined to keep her own spirits up even if her fellow captive were no help.
He sighed. “Stories are tiring, and all I’ve been doing since you woke me up is trying to get back to sleep while it’s still dark out.”
Ryden sighed all the more heavily. “Fine. Sweet dreams, sunshine.”
The morning light gently nudged Ryden awake as her eyes opened to behold the colorless walls of her cell. For being so advanced, you’d think the Valdyrin would make less crude prisons, she thought. Not many moments passed before she heard a door opening just beyond her cell. It was mealtime.
“C’mon in, big guy. It’s been too long!” she chirped defiantly as the door at the side of her own gray world was opened. “There he is! What’s on the menu today, Gruff?” A creature nearly eight feet in stature approached her without speech. His scales were a ruddy texture and his face, like those of all his kind, bore a stern, toothy expression. He set a tray at her feet with a metallic clank and immediately turned away to leave. He unfastened the door by rotating a massive metal wheel upon its face, one which was far too large and heavy for any human to hope to turn.
“Good old mystery meat,” Ryden sighed at the amorphous protein before her when she was left alone. “Same for you, Shaan?”
“Always is.”
“... Do you ever wonder if they’re feeding us--”
“Human?”
“... Yeah.”
“It’s crossed my mind a time or two. I prefer to think of it as pork.”
“Cheers to that,” Ryden lifted the small cup of water off the tray and took a sip, carefully maneuvering the chains about her arms to avoid dropping them in the food.
They ate in silence for a spell, and Ryden watched as the meat disappeared off of her plate.
“Ryden?”
“Yes, Shaan?”
“Something’s happened this morning.” His words came with great deliberation. “This is very hard for me to explain to you right now. I have been working on an escape plan for many months. Long before I met you. And this morning, I succeeded to--”
“What? You told me you didn’t see a point in even hoping to escape! Shaan, where is this coming from?”
“Keep your voice down! They may not understand us, but if they hear a stir, they might come in here, and that’s the last thing either of us wants.” Something in the quality of his voice had changed.
“What did you manage to do, then?” Ryden whispered.
“I sawed through the chain, in a sense. My hands are still bound together, but I’m off the wall, and I have enough leeway to--”
“You’re off the wall?” Ryden was incredulous. “How’d you manage a thing like that?”
“That’s not important now. What’s important is I’m coming to get you. I think I can get both of us off of this ship.”
A storm of excitement erupted in Ryden’s thundering heart. “You… you do?”
“I just need you to stay quiet for me, missy. I still need to exit my door and enter yours. Prepare yourself.”
“How are you going to do that? Are you a superhero or something?”
“No, I… I’ve got it taken care of, alright? I just need for you to stay quiet. No matter who walks by, don’t try to warn me. Just act normal. I’m nearly there, missy.”
Ryden wriggled in her chains despite herself as she tried to calm down. “Be careful, Shaan,” she whispered.
She heard a door opening from somewhere outside of her own cell. He’s halfway here, she thought. We may actually get out of here. Then came the sound of heavy footsteps upon the solid floor. Almost there, Shaan. Come on, Shaan.
Her own door creaked, and for a moment, Ryden’s racing heart nearly stopped altogether. The door opened slowly, almost cautiously. She watched in horror as the foot which appeared was not human, but clawed.
Ryden writhed again, and it was all she could do to not scream out a warning to Shaan. A tall, thin beast with dark scaling stepped fully into view and came closer. Ryden had never seen this Valdyrin before. She broke out in a sweat and kept one eye on the door with the other on the alien. Just wait, Shaan. He’ll leave. She shuddered as she wondered if this was the one they sent when they were ready to kill a prisoner. I hope you weren’t too late….
The sable creature was now only a step away from her, and getting on his knees, he grabbed her chains at the junction of the shackles and pulled out a makeshift saw. It was only then that Ryden noticed that the beast wore his own shackles.
“Sh-Shaan?” she sought the beast’s face and he rose his dark gray eyes to meet hers. There was a melancholy within them rather than sternness.
“How to explain?” the pitch of the beast’s voice was exactly that which Ryden had heard from her neighboring cell these last fifty-one days, but the unusual quality in Shaan’s voice that morning was revealed to be a different accent entirely. “Shaan… Shaan was the human who occupied your cell before you. I mimicked his speech as closely as I could, having learned several human languages in my studies years ago.” Ryden’s face turned to ash, and the black beast looked down at the saw, working away at the chains. “I did this to honor and remember my friend, but also… I thought it would make me more relatable to the next human I would encounter. I can see from your shock this is not the behavior you would expect of me. I still don’t fully understand human behavior.”
Ryden opened her mouth and reached for a response, but could find none. The Valdyrin continued to break down her chains.
“He… he would tell me stories, Ryden. Stories of his family. I could never hope to tell them like he did. He always called his daughter ‘Missy’ in those stories.” Ryden was still reticent. “I was imprisoned here a few years ago because I am a human sympathizer, but I am also one of the better human experts they have, so they keep me alive just in case.” He paused. “I know the way out of here.”
“Why should I trust you?” Ryden finally managed to spit bitterly.
“Which scenario seems more hopeful to you? Staying here, or coming with me? I may have deceived you, but I really do want to help you and your kind.”
The chain link sparked and finally broke in twain; Ryden was free from the wall.
“We’ve got to hurry, now, Ryden. You follow me, and we’ll get off of this ship. My name is Hueroln, by the way.”
He helped her rise to her feet with his massive, hardened claws and led the way to the door. Ryden followed him until she came to the edge of her gray world, her weakened leg muscles struggling to keep up with Hueroln’s massive frame.
“What are you waiting for?” Ryden peeked out from the edge of the doorway to see her fellow prisoner waving her on.
She took one look back at her room and heard the drip, drip of the leaky ceiling. “Nothing,” she said, and she stepped out.