13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
~Kitari~
W hen I awoke in the open, my first instinct was to find the omega and hide. My body ached, my arm was bleeding and torn where the ahk-bkèlearino had sliced me with its talons. My entire lower body from the chest down felt like it had been crushed for some reason. Even so, I rolled to my feet in a crouched position, less smoothly than my usual form, and looked around.
The body of the ahk-bkèlearino lay next to me, unmoving. My spear was nowhere in sight, probably still impaled in it and trapped beneath its body. The omega was a short distance away with his back to me. He did not appear to be badly hurt, so I slipped away into the shadows.
I knew I should use this opportunity to get away, but instead, I stopped. From the safety of the shadows, I watched as the human moved around. He was hobbling, but had found somewhere to sit, his clothing pulled up on the damaged leg. There, his skin was a different color, a dark metallic gray instead of pink like the rest of him. He gripped his leg, twisted, and it came off in his hands. I stared.
As far as I was aware, Clay’s limbs did not detach, but I would have to investigate the next time I saw him. After I had escaped this cave, of course. Was it a result of the fall? But he seemed entirely too calm about it, and the process of detachment did not appear to be painful.
The human had been awake before me, and though he had not done me any harm while I was unconscious, my life would no longer be worth living if my father found out about this show of weakness. Shame seeped through me. I had never disobeyed my father’s commands so entirely before. Not only had I left Amalya, I’d revealed myself to the human and actively involved myself with him. That was both disobedient and incredibly foolish, even for me.
Helping him had been a split-second decision. Although, if I were to be honest, it was not a decision. If I hadn’t stopped him he would have died, and I could not stand by and allow that to happen, in this or any life. But even my attempt to save him had not worked and things had gotten quickly out of hand. When I had confronted him in my panic, I had lost all hold of the Panlin language that Clay had taught me. And then, when I had foolishly attempted to draw the creature away from the human omega as I had done with the pachaelion —fearing that if I carried him, I would not be able to outpace it—it had pursued him instead. It appeared my father was correct about me; I could not help but cause trouble.
What should I do now? I had already broken the rules; not only broken them, but shredded them into a hundred pieces. If my father found out, he would be enraged. I needed to slip away, get back home, and do any damage control needed to prevent him from ever finding out about this.
But I lingered. The scent of him when I had him pressed up against the trunk of the tree, my hand over his mouth, it had been intense. Now I understood Arcay’s actions with Clay. The urge to take this omega, to claim and protect him, was immense. But I could not.
I did not know if the human omega was safe down here alone, and it felt wrong to just leave him. What if he never made it out of the caves? What if some other predator caught wind of him? Did the smell of humans attract dangerous creatures?
As I was debating with myself, the human discovered my absence, and I was alarmed by his strong and immediate reaction. He stood, fell, and started spinning in circles searching for me. Fumbled with his leg and dropped it again, all the time speaking to himself in a panicked whisper.
There appeared to be something wrong with him.
He struggled for breath, attempted to stand again on one leg, and landed heavily on the loose rocks.
Did he really believe I meant to harm him after saving his life? Humans must be an illogical race. This was one of their warriors, and yet he was behaving like a scared child caught in a nightmare.
I could not leave him like this. I was unarmed now, and in some amount of pain, but he was still no threat to me with his weapon gone. If I left him like this, he would be an easy meal for whatever found him next.
I hesitated. Should I reveal myself again? Break the rules yet again? It started to feel cruel watching him, like watching a small animal struggle in a trap.
I eased out of the shadows and stepped into the blue light.
He spun towards me, arms raised half in defense, half in attack. His eyes were wide in his pale face, but they were glazed and did not seem to be entirely looking at me.
I raised my own hands to show that I meant him no harm, but kept moving towards him.
“Stay where you are.” His eyes skittered over me, never lingering in one place. “I knew it.”
Knew what? As I moved closer, he moved back away from me, shuffling on his behind.
My reappearance did not seem to calm him at all. In fact, it only appeared to agitate him further. His breathing became very shallow, his movements jagged.
“I will not harm you,” I said as clearly as I could.
His eyes widened further still, until there was more white on show than brown. And then they rolled upwards in his head, and he fell backwards onto the ground.
Alarmed, I crouched over him. He was still breathing, his chest moving in a much slower rhythm now. He appeared to be asleep. It seemed an odd reaction to fear, especially for a warrior. Perhaps it was a human survival trait, although I did not see how becoming unconscious would help them avoid danger. He had shown similar reactions the first time I saw him in the jungle, and then again when I tried to save him.
Strange.
I poked his shoulder to ensure he was not merely playing dead. He rolled slightly, but did not respond. I searched the shadows of the cave, but no answer presented itself to me.
Now I had an unconscious human omega, who smelled incredibly inviting. My plans had a habit of not working when this human was involved.
How should I proceed? Take him from the caves and leave him alone in the jungle? I could not take him back to his camp and risk the rest of the humans seeing me.
Or perhaps I could peel two klava with one blade; the idea was so perfect in its simplicity, I did not know why it had not occurred to me until that moment. If I were to take him prisoner, I could keep him safe and also win favor from my father. Surely taking a human captive would prove to him that I was capable. And the human could provide us with vital information about the invaders.
And perhaps , my most inner voice added, I will be able to keep this omega for myself.
I could not see any possible drawbacks to my new course of action.
I removed a sash from around my waist and used it to secure his hands behind his back—I did not trust him not to hurt himself if he became distressed again—then lifted him into my arms. I considered for a moment, then picked up his leg too. It was cold and heavy.
Congratulating myself on my own intelligence, I tasted the air. Freshness came from the far side of the cave, through a medium-sized opening that led to the next cavern.
I followed it, holding my new prisoner carefully against my chest.