Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
Everything within Rekosh went still and silent as he watched Ahmya flee. It was a moment hanging in time, caught and suspended in a huge, complex, chaotic web. And within that moment, there was only him and his mate. No other vrix, no other humans, no heat, no smoke, no fire, no camp. No jungle.
My mate is alive.
By her own strength, cleverness, and determination, she’d escaped the blazing pit. Pride flooded Rekosh, filling him near to bursting.
His hearts thumped. The sound rumbled through him like thunder echoing between the walls of a ravine.
“Tend to our queen,” Ogahnkai commanded her companions with a sharp gesture as she reached the other side of the pit. She charged in Ahmya’s direction, powerful legs kicking up dirt and leaves.
Fire erupted from Rekosh’s core and swept through his body, suffusing him with heat more intense than that of the flames before him.
Ahmya is alive, and she needs me.
Ogahnkai’s companions hurried to the burning shrine, tugged off their silk wraps, and tried to beat out the flames using the cloth.
Ulkari released Rekosh’s shoulder and strode closer to the pit. Planting the butt of her war spear in the dirt, she turned to face Rekosh and the vrix around him—the pair of Claws restraining him, along with three more males and two other females.
“Do not stand and stare like fools!” she snarled. “You two, fetch water. The rest of you, ensure that pale worm has no path out of this camp. Now!”
Rekosh was aware of movement around him as the vrix scrambled to obey Ulkari’s orders, but he gave them none of his attention. Fury sharpened his focus to a point—a needle, a knife, the head of a spear.
And it was aimed at his first obstacle. His bindings.
He could almost envision the damage he’d done to the rope. It wasn’t enough, but it had to be. There was no more time.
Live, vi’keishi . Survive and wait for me.
Heat gathered in his muscles, buzzing and crackling; a restless, irresistible strength. Clenching his jaw, he forced his arms apart with a growl.
The rope held, but Rekosh did not relent. That heat grew and grew. His arms trembled, his shoulders ached, and his teeth ground against each other.
One thread , he reminded himself. All it takes is one thread…
My heartsthread.
The rope bit into his hide in its final act of defiance, and he could almost hear it creaking, could almost feel some greater will behind it, desperate to keep him from the fate he’d chosen.
Desperate to keep him from his mate.
Rekosh’s growl swelled into a roar.
The rope snapped, and his arms jerked apart. The males restraining him swayed, and one of them hissed a curse, digging his claws deeper into Rekosh’s arms .
Rekosh swept his lower arms backward. His claws raked across hide, and one hand struck something solid dangling from one of the male’s waists. A wooden haft. He curled his fingers around it and snatched it free.
He recognized the weapon immediately by its heft—a blackrock axe. His fury nearly sang its approval.
“Kill him!” Ulkari commanded.
The Claws fumbled for their weapons, and in that instant, Rekosh spun toward them and attacked. He lashed out with claw and axe, with kicks and slashes, his limbs moving faster than eyes could perceive, faster than thought.
And the crimson haze in his vision deepened with every drop of blood he spilled.
“Someone approaches!” a lookout called from the platform high overhead. “We are being atta?—”
The sentry’s words were cut off by a choked cry.
Rekosh hacked through one Claw’s throat with the blackrock axe, sending him reeling. The male’s barbed spear fell from his hands as he reached up in vain to clutch at the gaping wound, from which crimson flowed in a stream.
Rekosh caught the spear before it could hit the ground. The other Claw staggered back in a panicked retreat.
A black shape crashed down on the retreating male from above. Bones crunched and snapped, and the Claw uttered an agonized, strained cry.
Rekosh blinked. Another male had fallen atop the fleeing Claw—one of the lookouts from the tree platform, who had a spear with familiar feathers adorning it buried in his chest.
That weapon looked like Telok’s.
“Defend our camp!” Ulkari shouted from behind Rekosh.
He glanced over his shoulder to see her only a few segments away, war spear raised and pointed toward the camp’s entrance. Her eyes flicked to his.
Ulkari began pivoting toward him, moving her legs as though to advance in his direction. Rekosh spun around and threw his spear hard. The weapon struck the female’s abdomen, making her movement falter, but it didn’t penetrate deep enough into her thick hide for the barb to catch.
She reached for it.
Before her fingers could close on the wood, Rekosh charged at her. He slammed his palm against the butt of the spear, not allowing himself to slow, using his strength and momentum to drive the weapon deep into Ulkari’s belly.
She swung her spear at him in a wide, wild arc. He ducked under it; he both heard and felt her weapon cut the air just above his head. But he grasped his spear with all four hands and pumped his legs, pushing the barbed head deeper still with a savage snarl.
Ulkari stumbled, losing ground to his assault, and made a pained grunt. She sent her spear at his face in an unwieldy backhand thrust. A tilt of his head avoided the strike. He clamped his mandibles on the shaft, breaking the wood apart.
The female’s rear legs slid to the edge of the pit, and the ground beneath them crumbled. The female teetered, her eyes going wide, and he gave one more mighty shove.
“No!” Ulkari cried as she fell.
Distantly, from another world, someone called Rekosh’s name. A familiar voice, a friendly voice.
Fire and embers leapt high and smoke swirled as Ulkari struck the bottom of the pit.
Rekosh kept hold of the barbed spear as it swung vertical, using it to aid his leap over the pit. Ulkari thrashed and screamed, sending up more fire, and heat lashed Rekosh’s legs and underside.
He collided with one of the males beside Zurvashi’s bones. The male fell to the ground, and Rekosh came down atop him. Before they’d even come to a full stop, Rekosh struck the male with the axe several times in quick succession .
He felt the weapon’s impact jolting through the haft, into his hand, and up his arm, again and again, felt the blood droplets spraying his hide, felt the other male’s writhing. But neither the blood nor the male’s sounds of agony were enough. Only one thing could satisfy Rekosh’s instinctual urge.
Rolling off the male, Rekosh sprang upright and raced in the direction Ahmya and Ogahnkai had gone.
Shouts sounded behind him, adding to a rising cacophony, but he did not look back.
Everything he wanted lay ahead.
His mate, his nyleea . His heartsthread.
And she needed him.