Текст книги "Alien Tyrant"

Автор книги: Ursa Dox

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Buroudei

Gahn Fallo’s territory was beyond the Cliffs of Uruzai, a full day’s ride from our tents. We maintained a good pace over the sands and did not stop for breaks, eating and drinking as we rode. Anyone who needed to stop to relieve themselves did so quickly, before speeding up to rejoin the group. I rode at the head with Gahn Irokai and Taliok. Normally Galok would also be at my side, but he was in the middle of the pack with Zeezee. By staying in the middle, she would be shielded from any potential predators or threats that could accost us. So far, there was no evidence of zeelk or krixel activity. And that was very good.

As we passed the Cliffs of Uruzai, I muttered an excuse to Gahn Irokai and fell back, slowing until my irkdu trawled along next to Galok’s. Zeezee smiled at me, her face shaded by the hood of her human cloak. Her skin was bluish-white, like it had been the first time I’d seen her, and she had strange black shells over her eyes that I had never seen before. She must have seen me looking because she took them off, waved them around, then slapped them back on her face.

“They’re called sunglasses. They protect my eyes from the sun.”

I stab of dismay went through me. The sun didn’t just hurt her skin, but also her eyes? How truly fragile was my pretty mate?

“Do you need to stop and rest?” I asked, suddenly worried. It wasn’t in the plan to stop, but I could convince Gahn Irokai to do so if needed. But Zeezee shook her head.

“No, I’m OK. I’m sure I’ll be stiff, but this saddle is great, and I’ve got water and snacks and everything.” Her tone grew hard, then. “I want to get there as soon as possible. I want to get my friends.”

Pride replaced my dismay. My little warrior, willing to go to such lengths for her people. I urged my irkdu closer to Galok’s, and reached for her. She reached, too, our hands brushing momentarily across the distance. Though it was difficult, I tore myself away and returned to the front with Gahn Irokai.

“You brought your mate?” He grunted, not looking at me. But I felt Taliok’s gaze upon me as I spoke.

“Yes. She is the only one who knows both languages and she can speak to the other females for us.” I paused then, sighing. “She insisted.”

Gahn Irokai made a gruff, amused sound.

“So they are like our women in at least one way, then.”

I cast him a questioning look, and his lined face broke into a small smile.

“Stubborn.”

I thought I noticed Taliok urge his mount to go a little faster.

It did not take long before we officially entered Gahn Fallo’s territory. We all became more tense, our gazes constantly tracking the horizon. Each tribe had vast areas of land, and it was impossible to patrol the whole area daily. But there was still the chance of being seen by a patrol or hunting party. I held my axe in one hand, my spear in the other. The landscape changed as we moved further, the sweeping desert becoming more hilly, rindla flowers, thorny axrekal berry shrubs, valok plants, and peet grass dotting the ground. Beyond these hills, where the flat ground met a great sheer wall of rock, were the tents of Gahn Fallo’s tribe. We would be there soon. The sun was already beginning its descent, lining the world with shadows.

We snaked through the hills, our pack forced into a thin line in places. Eventually we cleared the hills, reaching the flat plain that butted up against the cliff where Gahn Fallo made his home. In the rapidly dimming light, I could just make out the tiny shapes of tents along the rock face.

I slowed, once again drawing back to reach Galok’s irkdu. This is where I would leave Zeezee. She would be somewhat sheltered in the hills we’d just passed through.

“It is time,” I said, bringing my irkdu to a stop. Galok did the same, and the other warriors went around us.

Zeezee nodded gravely, pushing back her hood and taking off her sunglasses now that it grew dark.

“Be careful,” she whispered, her eyes shining.

I had planned not to do this. I had planned to break from her easily, without too many words or touches. The things that would make this harder.

But when I saw her sweet face, the tremble of her lips, I could not help myself. I bent across the space between us, gripping her about the waist and yanking her over to my mount. Her rump landed directly between my thighs as she faced me, her legs draped over mine.

Our mouths met like the thunderheads of a rare Sea Sands storm. Hard and explosive. I gripped her hips as her hands found their way to my jaw, and she arched against me. She muttered little words between the crashing of our lips, words like “I love you so much,” and, “Don’t get hurt.”

I wanted to give her everything, promise her everything. But I could not promise her that. This battle would be bloody, I had not doubt.

I would have stayed there all night had I not heard the warning shouts coming from the group that had moved away from us. Galok stiffened, and I immediately hoisted Zeezee up and over, dropping her into his arms. He helped get her settled back into her saddle as she looked around wildly.

“What’s happening? Buroudei, wait!”

But there was no time to wait. A patrolling party had spotted us, and Gahn Fallo’s forces were heading this way even now. Galok clicked his tongues, turning his irkdu sharply, and they sped away through the hills. As they moved away, the last thing I saw was Zeezee’s terribly pale face as she turned and leaned around Galok, looking back.

Now was not the time for pain of the heart. Now was the time to fight. Fight, and be victorious, so that I could see that small, pale face again.

With a savage roar, I turned my mount and raced towards the battle.

I caught up with our group quickly enough. We were plunging forward over the plains, trying to get to Gahn Fallo before he and his men were fully prepared. But that did not quite happen. Before we reached their tents, the tents that likely housed Zeezee’s people even now, irkdu began moving towards us from the crags in the cliff face. Battle cries rang out from both sides, and in moments, our forces met in a Zaphrinax-shattering crash.

I dodged the deadly launch of a spear, howling, bending and urging my irkdu to move even faster. I would take out any man. I’d take out a thousand men if I had to. I would do this for Zeezee and her friends.

All around me, men and irkdu fought. One warrior came my way, blade in hand, ready to be thrown. I ducked just in time, hefting my spear up as he leaped from his mount onto mine. As he landed, I drove my spear into his guts, then yanked it back, letting him fall to the ground. Another warrior came for me, and another, but I made short work of them. The triumph of battle rushed through me, a song in my blood, as I hacked through the crowd. In the fray, from the corner of my eye, I saw Gahn Fallo and Gahn Irokai on the ground, locked in vicious combat. A snarl ripped from my throat as Gahn Fallo bested Gahn Irokai, sinking his blade into Gahn Irokai’s chest. I started moving toward them, and saw Taliok was doing the same. But Gahn Fallo was quicker than the both of us and quicker than the injured Gahn Irokai. He plunged a second blade into Gahn Irokai’s guts, then slashed, spilling blood and organs to the sand.

Though Gahn Irokai was not of my tribe, he was my ally in this fight, and the sight provoked a brutal rage. I cried out, urging my irkdu faster, faster, until I was almost upon Gahn Fallo. I pulled my axe from my belt and threw my spear as I leaped from my mount.

Gahn Fallo watched me jump, pulling a blade from his back as he dodged my spear. His laughter split the air.

And then I was upon him.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Taliok

Gahn Fallo killed my Gahn. Right in front of me. Gahn Irokai, who’d trained me as a warrior, who’d treated me as a son, was butchered, his guts spilling to the sand like the vines of the veroar plants of the mountains. I never roared in battle like other warriors did. The promise to exact vengeance, vengeance like this world had never seen, was a silent one.

I watched Gahn Buroudei leap from his mount in pursuit of Gahn Fallo, and I moved to follow so that I could slay the other Gahn myself when I heard it. Gahn Irokai saying my name.

I jumped to the ground, running then skidding to a halt at Gahn Irokai’s side. I knelt. He did not bother trying to stem the flow of black blood from his wounds. Neither did I.

“I do not want a baklok called after my death. I have chosen my successor. It is you, Taliok.”

Other warriors may have let grief force them into denial. Other warriors may have told Gahn Irokai no, that he would live to be the Gahn for many ages after this. But I did not. I remained silent as he called out to one of our warriors staggering nearby, clutching at a wound inflicted by the man he’d just slain.

“Oxriel! Witness me. Before I die, I lay the title of Gahn on Taliok.”

Oxriel fell to his knees beside me.

“No, mighty Gahn, you will live. We will get you to a healer.”

I wanted to strike Oxriel. He was wasting time with is denials. Precious time.

Gahn Irokai groaned, then fixed his unspooling gaze on us.

“Hear me. Taliok will be Gahn. I decree it with my dying breath.”

His voice faltered. Black, silent rage seethed inside. Oxriel was fussing at the wound in Gahn Irokai’s chest, but I watched the life fade out of his eyes all the same.

“He is dead,” I said, rising and scanning the battlefield for Gahn Fallo and Gahn Buroudei. I expected to find them still locked in battle, as both were strong warriors and neither would fall quickly. But they weren’t fighting, and I squinted before starting to sprint towards them, trying to make sense of the scene.

Gahn Fallo was on the ground and there was a woman there, too. A woman like Gahn Buroudei’s mate. And beyond them, there were more strange women, looking out from between Gahn Fallo’s tents.

As I ran, I couldn’t help but let my eyes sweep over their faces. I froze, just as I reached Gahn Buroudei.

There she is.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Buroudei

“Surrender the women and you do not have to die.”

Gahn Fallo laughed at me, as I knew he would. Surrender was not our way

He slashed his blade up and in, quickly. I jumped back, but not fast enough, and his blade slashed along my chest, drawing blood. In the heat of battle, I did not feel it. I snarled and pressed forward, swinging my axe, cleaving down onto Gahn Fallo’s arm. The blade stuck, deep in the bone, and his knife dropped from that hand. He had another working hand, though, and another blade. My hand shot out, gripping his wrist. I still held the handle of my axe, which kept his one wounded arm immobile, but he channeled all his strength into his other arm, forcing his blade closer and closer to my face. He was slightly taller than I was, with longer limbs, and he was stretching my arms to their limit, which dampened my strength. In a moment of heated frustration, I slammed my head forward, connecting sharply with his jaw. I felt his teeth tear my skin.

The headbutt stunned Gahn Fallo just enough for me to have the time to pull my axe from his forearm and sink it into the meat between his shoulder and his neck. He screamed in anger and fell to his knees. As he fell, he swung the one blade he still held in his working hand at my legs, but I easily jumped over the weapon.

I pulled the longest blade I had from my back, raising it for the final blow. He drew his lips back from his fangs, fangs dark with my blood.

“You will not get a single one of the women. My men will keep fighting you long after I am dead. You will not touch them.”

So he will be defiant, even in death. It did not matter. Whether he continued to fight or stopped to beg for his life, he would die, and we would take the women. My hand tightened on my blade and I raised it higher, ready to bring death down upon this fallen Gahn of the Sea Sands.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Chapman

“Holy shit. I think he went down.”

Kat was sticking her buzzed head out from between the tents. Us humans were the only ones outside. The alien women and children had all been smart enough to hunker down in their tents when the fighting had broken out. But us? Nah, we wanted to see what the hell was going on.

“Who?” I asked, leaning around her. I squinted. I was the only one with combat experience among our little group of survivors, but even I didn’t have much of a clue of what the fuck was happening.

“It’s the big one. The Leader,” Melanie replied, her voice flat. I clenched my jaw, following her gaze.

She was right. The biggest alien, the one they called “The Leader” and I called “The Enemy” was on his knees. A new alien, from the group that had attacked, was standing over him, victorious. The Enemy was done for. Even from here, I could see the cartoonishly huge axe sticking out of his neck.

He was gonna die.

And for some reason, that just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe it was something about saving the devil I knew. Or maybe it was something else. Without even realizing what I was doing, I started walking out between the tents towards the carnage.

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Kat hissed loudly. I ignored her, moving to a jog, adrenaline cascading through my body, forceful and hot as gunfire.

“Come on,” I heard another girl mutter, and then I heard the others start to follow me, jogging behind me in the weirdest rag-tag group you could ever hope to see. The other girls stopped at the edge of the tents, but I kept going, breaking into a sprint, my long legs flying. Sweat drenched my back, and my breath came in gasps. The alien I didn’t know was raising his blade. He was about to swing -

“Stop!” I screamed, pumping harder. The Enemy jerked his head to look at me from the ground. I was close enough now to see the weird swirly parts of his eyes go crazy.

Fuck you. Don’t even try to stop me.

I slipped in the sand, catching myself and snatching a huge knife from one of the straps at The Enemy’s back as I scooted around his front, standing between him and the intruder. The new alien reared back, nostrils flaring, his weapon lowering somewhat, as if he were unsure what to do. The Enemy growled something behind me, and I figured I had a sense of what he was saying. Something like Get the fuck out of my way, human, or, Don’t bother. Whatever. This alien had been a royal pain in my ass, but I wasn’t about to watch him get slaughtered just so that us humans could hauled off by yet another group of hooligans.

I gripped the huge weapon with both hands, staring murderously up at the intruder. I had always done well with hand-to-hand combat, but I had never gone up against a seven-foot-tall slab of alien muscle. First time for everything.

“Bring it on, big boy.” I raised a challenging brow.

To be honest, I was bluffing. I didn’t stand a fucking chance.

But, by some unbelievable stroke of luck, it seemed to be working.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said, jabbing my knife, a knife that was more like a sword in my hands, at the other guy. The Enemy said something else from behind me, and grabbed my ankle. But holy shit, had he ever grown weak, The grip felt almost just like a normal man’s.

Almost.

The other alien looked dumbfounded. He stepped back, studying me, then finally turned and called something out into the crowd of fighting aliens. Eventually the brawling slowed and came to a stop, everyone turning to stare at us.

“OK,” I said, my bravado starting to slip.

I hadn’t exactly thought past this part.

“Now what?”

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CHAPTER THIRTY Cece

“How much longer do you think it will be?” I asked Galok. I was seated backwards in my saddle, staring at him, as if by staring I could make him somehow end the battle. As if I could make him tell me that Buroudei was OK. I wanted to be on the ground. I would be pacing if I were. But Galok wouldn’t let me. He said it was for my safety, so that if things went south we could take off immediately. But I had a feeling it was more to do with the fact that he was watching me like I was some kind of flight risk. Like I would take off running after Buroudei the first chance I got.

To be fair, he wasn’t that far off.

I was desperate to see Buroudei. To make sure he was OK. To help him, if I could. But instead, I was stuck in some fucked-up staring contest with a very loyal, very stick-to-the-rules alien.

Great.

Galok sighed and opened his mouth to tell me, for the umpteenth time, that it would be over when it was over, when we heard the startling call of his name echoing through the dark air. Galok straightened immediately, his ears and tail twitching, looking out over my head. I swiveled in the saddle in time to see one of our warriors, a guy named Malachor, riding his irkdu, fast, really fast, through the hills towards us.

My heart leaped into my throat. This would either mean something very good or something very, very bad.

“Gahn Buroudei requests the immediate presence of the Gahnala,” he panted, raising then lowering his tail quickly. Relief melted inside me, warm and sweet.

“He’s alive,” I said, the words coming out in a soft whoosh.

“Yes. Gahn Buroudei is alive.”

Galok gave a victorious whoop behind me.

“So then we have won!”

Malachor didn’t seem excited, and something like dread settled in my chest.

“Gahn Fallo is still alive,” he said. “But the battle is over. For now.”

He stopped speaking to Galok, turning his eyes to me.

“Please, Gahnala, the Gahn requests you right away.”

I nodded vigorously.

“Of course. Galok, go, let’s go!”

With that, we followed Malachor out of the hills and onto the battlefield.

Only there was no battle. Not being fought right now, anyway. I saw a small number of men who looked to be dead, and others badly wounded, lying on the plain. The rest stood silently, watching in a broad circle, the men we’d come with on one side, and men I did not recognize on the other. We pressed into the circle to see what was happening.

And I tell you, I almost lost my shit. I mean, I knew we were coming here to find the others. But actually seeing one of the humans I’d come with, alive and in the flesh, hit me like a ton of bricks. And it wasn’t even a human I liked. It was Chapman, the soldier from the space ship. But in that moment, she looked like a red-headed angel. I laughed and screamed her name, and her head jerked towards me, her eyes widening.

Grinning, I took in the rest of the scene. Buroudei was facing Chapman, and I noticed now that Chapman held a giant alien knife out in front of her. Behind her, slumped over on his hands and knees, was a massive alien I didn’t recognize.

Buroudei turned to look at me, and before Galok could stop me, I slid out of my saddle and careened down to the ground clumsily. I sprang back up, running to Buroudei’s side. As I collided with him, breathing in his scent, counting every heartbeat to make sure he was OK, I realized that he was bleeding. Black blood coated his chest and abdomen, coming from a long, jagged wound along his upper chest. Fuming, I whirled, staring at the weapon in Chapman’s hand.

“You better not have done that,” I muttered, and she rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t. Relax. And why do you care, anyway? They’re aliens.”

My gaze flitted from her to the alien behind her. It kind of looked like she was... protecting him?

“You tell me.”

Even in the darkness I could see her freckled face grow red.

“That’s different.”

I was about to tell her that it didn’t seem a whole lot different, when I heard the excited shriek of my name. Kat was barreling towards me, followed by Theresa, Melanie, and the other women from the space ship. My face broke into a smile so wide it hurt. They were alive. They were all alive.

Kat reached me first, crashing into me and laughing, followed shortly by Theresa and Melanie, and then the others, until we were all lumped into a massive human hug. Half of us were laughing, half were crying. I was pretty sure I was doing both. The only one who didn’t join in was Chapman, who kept her knife raised, her eyes on Buroudei.

“We thought you were dead!” Kat shouted against my ear.

“Same,” I replied. “I mean, I thought I was the only one who got away!”

Kat pulled back, tears shining in her huge blue eyes. Her buzz cut had grown out a bit over the last few days, soft, short hairs coming in the palest shade of blonde.

“Nope. All these nutters scooped us right up off the sands and killed all the crab things. Then they brought us here.”

“Were they good to you? Were any of you hurt?” I looked from face to human face, searching for signs of mistreatment.

“Don’t even get me started,” huffed Kat, but Theresa shook her head, cutting in.

“I mean, they didn’t roll out the red carpet for us or anythin’. But we’re fed and clean. We had a place to sleep. No one hurt us.”

That was good to hear.

“Look,” I said quickly, pointing back at Buroudei, my poor mate who looked beyond exasperated and confused. “That guy is the leader of the tribe I’ve been staying with. They’ve taken good care of me. We’re here to rescue you guys.”

The others didn’t look convinced, eyeing Buroudei warily.

“Honestly, hun, we don’t know him or any of those others. We got used to these people, the ones we’ve been with. You should come back and stay with us. There’s more safety in numbers.” Theresa sounded concerned.

Uh oh. I hadn’t anticipated this.

“I can’t,” I said, my voice breaking. Kat’s invisible brows drew inward immediately.

“Why the fuck not? What did they do to you? Are they using you to coerce us somehow? Why can’t you leave?”

“No, no, it’s not like that.” How the hell was I going to explain all this? That I’d fallen in love with an alien tyrant, the monster behind us now? “It’s more like... I don’t want to leave.”

“You sure hugged him tight when you saw him,” Melanie said from beside me, her dark eyes watching closely. Heat raced through me.

“Oh, girl. Oh, no, honey. Tell me you didn’t. You didn’t have to trade sex for safety, did you?” Theresa’s eyes were huge in her pretty, tanned face.

“God, no! OK, this is going to take forever to explain. But I will say right now that that guy, Buroudei, he loves me and thinks I’m his mate. And I agreed to go along with it. Not because I was coerced. Because I wanted to.”

“You must have hit your head somewhere along the way,” Kat said, wrinkling her nose. Theresa had grown pale under her tan. Melanie remained expressionless. A girl whose name I didn’t know piped up from towards the edge of our little huddle.

“Oh, come on, none of you guys have thought about it? They aren’t bad looking.”

Twenty human voices broke out at once, some professing their own bizarre attractions, other spluttering in horror. Buroudei’s growl cut through the noise instantly.

“My mate, would you kindly let me in on the conversation?”

“They don’t want to come with us.” It hurt me to say it, but I could kind of understand. Even if I didn’t have Buroudei, I wouldn’t want to leave the tribe I’d been welcomed into. It was the closest thing to home I had on this planet.

Buroudei’s tail thrashed.

“They will not come with us?”

The scarred alien who’d come with the other Gahn, Taliok, stepped up next to Buroudei, jaw working, eyes ablaze.

“I refuse to leave my mate with Gahn Fallo’s men.”

Excuse me? His mate? That was new information. Taliok was staring into our huddle with a look of pained hunger. But I couldn’t tell who he was looking at.

Great. One more complication.

“Guys, let’s hurry this up. I don’t think he’s going to last long.” Chapman was speaking, looking down at the alien at her feet. He was still on his knees, but now slumped forward on his elbows. I recognized Buroudei’s axe sunk deep, in above his shoulder. I swallowed. This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid. This bloodshed. But this was their culture. And I wasn’t going to change generations of their ways by batting my human eyelashes.

I moved out of the huddle, standing next to Buroudei.

“I want to remain with Buroudei. You want to remain with your group. But I don’t think we should be separated.”

My mind worked, playing scenario after scenario in my head.

“What if,” I started slowly, a plan unfurling, “we set up a human camp in a central area. Between all the tribes. So that no one is cut off from anyone else, and all the humans can be together.”

Nobody looked impressed with my plan. Taliok snarled, and Buroudei’s tail thrashed. The other women stepped back, alarmed.

Charming, fellas. Really.

“OK, look, I’m going to be straight with you guys because you need to understand the situation. These people have this alien being, this spirit... I don’t know what to call it. It’s like a dragon with no arms or legs or wings. Anyway, it summons men and then shows them the face of their future mate. This is, like, soulmate level stuff. It means everything to them. Buroudei saw my face before we ever even got here.”

Gasps and looks of confusion met my words, but I kept going.

“I have a feeling that more and more warriors are going to get assigned human mates and are going to want to split us off from the group. There are three alien tribes represented here right now, and there are others out there, maybe looking for some of you even now.”

“Well, that’s terrifying,” somebody said.

“Look, it all seems really weird right now. And it is. But if we want to head this off, and head off future battles like what just happened, we need to come together on this right now. If we all live together in a central location, not tied to any one tribe, we can avoid a lot of bloodshed.”

I turned to Buroudei, pleading.

“And you.” Then I looked at Taliok, and the other warriors, speaking to them in their language. “If you all agreed to move closer together, to move into neutral territory, you could all be near the humans. And no more blood would have to be spilled over who will take us home.”

We had to do this. If we didn’t stake out our territory now, and force the tribes to come together for us, we’d be screwed. Just because Buroudei had said women could refuse their mate didn’t mean that every alien man out there would feel the same. There were tribes I hadn’t even encountered yet, and who knew what they’d be like.

Jeers and complaints ran through the crowd of watching aliens. Buroudei drew me into his side, growling. Taliok turned to the watching men, stepping forward to speak.

“Gahn Irokai is dead. As he died he named me Gahn. It was witnessed by Oxriel.”

A warrior nearby thrashed his tail in agreement.

“In my first act as reigning Gahn, I decree that our people will leave the mountains to reside in neutral territory near the new women.”

Silence fell. I stared, slack-jawed. Out of everyone, this scarred, moody alien was the last one I would have expected to agree to my idea. Buroudei’s arm tightened around my waist.

“I, Gahn Buroudei, I will follow my Gahnala wherever she goes. I decree that we, too, shall stay near them in neutral territory.” Then he turned to the alien with the axe in his neck. “What say you, Gahn Fallo?”

“What’s he saying?” Chapman asked, her eyes never straying from Buroudei.

“They’re agreeing to my idea. They’re agreeing to have us all live together in a neutral place, near to all of them. They’re saying they’ll relocate to live near wherever we are.” Chapman pursed her lips, eyes narrowed.

I took a breath, looking down at the injured Gahn Fallo, then added, “I have a feeling it’s either he agrees, or he dies.”

She spoke immediately. “Tell your boyfriend he agrees.”

I swallowed an exclamation of surprise at the way she spoke so easily for the Gahn at her feet. I wonder what happened while I was gone.

The other women were starting to nod, muttering about how staying together did sound like the best plan.

“We’re all agreed,” I said breathlessly, looking up at Buroudei, not really believing that this was happening. That I’d get to be together with my friends, and my mate, without further battles and bloodshed. There were a lot of details that would need to be worked out, of course, and I had a lot more explaining to do to get the humans up to speed. But this could work. This could really work.

“Where will we settle?” Taliok asked. Buroudei thought for a moment, then spoke with decisive authority.

“The Cliffs of Uruzai. They are neutral territory. They cliffs and valleys offer some shelter from predators, and no one will want to shed blood at such a sacred place.”

Taliok’s tail thumped.

“Then it is done. We will ride back and collect our people. To be clear, our territory will remain ours for hunting, and for any other purposes we see fit. But we will live in the neutral territory to remain near the new women.”

“Yes, it will be the same for our tribe.”

I relayed this information to Chapman, and she nodded impatiently.

“Yes, yes, that’s fine. All good. Are we done here?”

“I guess we are,” I said.

Some of the next details were worked out quickly. It was determined that the other women would stay here for now and help prepare for the move down to the Cliffs of Uruzai. I could tell Taliok did not like this.

I spoke to him in the alien language. “Taliok, you won’t win over your new mate by forcing her from her people tonight. Let us work this out at our pace, and then see what happens. We’ll all be together soon.” I still wasn’t sure who he’d been staring at. But he seemed to take my words to heart, turning and stalking from us without another word, calling orders to his men as they prepared to leave. They collected their fallen Gahn’s body, along with the others, and Buroudei’s men did the same. Gahn Fallo was helped to his limp feet by some of his men, dragged towards what I could only assume was their healers’ tent. I hugged my friends. Knowing I’d be seeing them again so soon was more than I could have hoped for.

I released the other women, returning to Buroudei’s side as he watched Gahn Fallo get pulled away.

“I should tell him I expect that axe back when I see him next,” he muttered. I gripped his hand, rolling my eyes.