Dark Thief: Savage Worlds, #6

By Melissa Riddell

Surviving an alien abduction demands a sharp dagger and an iron heart. It's too bad she only has one of these…

Caught in an alien invasion aftermath, Fala fights for survival armed with only a dagger and unyielding courage. Traveling through the woods on a food run, she's captured by a colossal, ruthless Henokan soldier.

Fala is determined to escape, while her captor is determined to claim her as his own, disregarding the suspicion she might be allied with the Henokan archenemies, the Baltins.

Can she escape his cruel cage? Can he break free from her courageous heart?

This is a stand-alone short story set in the Savage Worlds universe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Riddell
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798227258670

Melissa Riddell

Melissa Riddell is from a small, West Texas town in which she still lives with her husband. Her writing career started as a hobby when she was a teenager, writing poems and short stories. When not contemplating new story ideas, she can be found traipsing around Texas State Parks, herding her cats, studying a new language, or reading a book. Melissa hates talking about herself in the third person, but she absolutely loves writing stories with flawed characters who must face their fears before finding a happily ever after. If you enjoy sassy heroines and escaping to new worlds, then you've stopped at the right place.

Book preview

Dark Thief

A Savage Worlds Novella

Melissa Riddell

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Dark Thief: A Savage Worlds Novella

Copyright © 2023 by Melissa Riddell

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Cover Art by Harvest Moon Premades

Published in the United States of America by: Melissa Riddell

www.melissariddell.com

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

Contents

1.Leaving Camp

2.Little Squirrel

3.Die On My Feet

4.Dig For Your Life

5.You're Not Going Anywhere

6.I Want You

Other Titles Available:

1

Leaving Camp

Y ou want me to leave? Fine. I’m gone. I snatch my sleeping bag from the cold ground and roll it into a tight bundle.

Fala, come on. I didn’t say I wanted you to leave. Kody stands near the fire and shakes his head, running a hand through his red hair. I just meant you should scout out the cabin for supplies. He gestures toward the deer rifle at my back. Besides, you handle that thing better than me. A look of fear crosses his face before he schools it back into fake concern. You and I both know I’m better suited to guarding our campsite.

What he really means is he’s better suited to sitting on his ass while I take all the risks. Like usual.

What did I ever see in him? I saw a lost kid, like me, needing help. But sometimes, I can’t help but wonder why I put up with his shit.

A sneer pulls at my top lip, but I close my eyes for a moment, forcing myself to remain calm. This world we’re living in—I hold out a hand and motion to the thick trees surrounding the threadbare tent—"is hard. Which sometimes means making tough decisions. I need someone who has my back, not someone who jumps at his own damn shadow."

Kody’s lips twist and heat flashes in his dull brown irises. He whispers something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like bitch. But I can’t be sure. For the past few months I’ve known him, I get the feeling he thinks he’s my superior.

I choke back a giggle.

Not long ago, he sat at a desk in his apartment and remotely worked as a customer service representative for a dog food company.

Before the entire world turned into one big pile of dogshit.

He bends down and stokes the fire. His gaze follows the tiny embers rising into the dark sky peeking through the branches. Fala, I know how to survive. His voice, at once prissy and condescending, needles under my skin. "I don’t need you—a girl—to protect me."

I stifle another laugh. How many times have I caught him jumping at the slightest breeze or cringing from a nest of spiders?

The attempt to hide my amusement must show, because he props a hand on his hip and glares.

As angry as he can sometimes make me, I need to remember the apocalypse hasn’t been kind to him. It hasn’t been kind to anyone. Kody might not be strong physically, but he does have other strengths.

Like running his mouth when we stop at trade outposts.

Most people give us what we need just to shut him up, while others seem genuinely interested at the sharpness of his bartering ability.

Letting out a deep breath, I let my shoulders fall. Of course you don’t need me. Except to risk my neck every time I scavenge a building for food. One of these days, I may not come back and then what’ll you do? He really does need to learn how to protect himself.

I’ll get by just fine. He throws another log onto the blaze, avoiding my stare. His watery eyes focus on the wood. "You should be thanking me. If it wasn’t for the stuff I found in that pharmacy, you wouldn’t even be able to—"

Shut the fuck up already. I hate to admit it, but he has a point. A burst of shame floods my veins. Weak, I’m so goddamn weak. Letting out a breath of defeat, I shoulder my pack. "Fine. I’ll scout the area around the house, but that’s all I’m doing tonight. It’s too dark to go inside, especially if you’re not going to do anything but stay here, safe and sound miles away, wrapped inside a cozy sleeping bag."

"I am doing something. He straightens and juts his narrow chin outward. The firelight plays across his gaunt face. I’m protecting our camp."

Everyone has a purpose. I wish I could see more of his.

Though Kody’s twenty-six, five years older than me, he looks like a teenager and sometimes, he acts even younger. The boy can’t stand the sight of guns, so he’d rather flee than stand up to other scavengers.

Sadly, scavengers aren’t even humanity’s worst problem. He’s utterly terrified of the black spheres roaming the skies, lasering anyone unlucky enough to be in their sight.

What’s the point of arguing? He’s right. I should at least do a preliminary survey of the old house. I need to make sure we won’t be ambushed during the night since it’s not that far from camp. And in the morning, with the full light of day, I’ll go back—dragging him along whether he likes it or not—and pillage the place for usable tools, food, and water. If we’re lucky, the home will be untouched since there aren’t many survivors left on the planet.

I wave him away and jam extra ammo in my pink unicorn fanny pack. Yeah, I have a fanny pack. It’s the post-apocalyptic fashion rage nowadays. Uncle Harry would be laughing if he could see me.

Get going and stop thinking about the past. I try to shut away memories of Uncle Harry, who always had time for my questions, who urged me to