Chapter 11 Gnnar
I eyed the suracet sunning itself on the yellow-brown boulder. This one hadn’t quite figured out camouflage and had chosen the warmest spot on the raised rock rather than on the reddish sand nearby that was similar to its color. That would soon prove to be its downfall.
The stone felt like an extension of my arm as it flew out of my hand and hurtled toward the creature. It hit the suracet on the head and clattered to the hard ground, startling the nearby scaly sunbathers. The closest ones scurried away, leaving their fallen companion behind, but they didn’t go far. Several reptilian heads turned to the sky, looking for signs of avian predators. Seeing none, they relaxed.
I picked up several more stones, hefting each in my palms until I found one that felt just right. I missed my weapons. As a weapons specialist in Kadri’s extensive military, I was rarely ever seen without several blades and my favorite blaster. Currently, said blaster was the property of Nova Vita, though it was nothing more than a pretty decoration for them. It wouldn’t work in their hands since it was programmed to my biosignature.
The blaster had been a gift from my brother. It had gone missing during training once, and when Ragnnar and I had finally tracked it down, hidden under another new recruit’s bed, it was the first time I’d ever been reprimanded for starting a fight, though it wouldn’t be my last. I’d saved up to get a tiny chip installed so I could always find it. The weapon meant a lot to me.
I wondered if I’d be able to retrieve it from the humans. If they’d kept it inside Nova Vita, it would be difficult. But that was completely my fault. I wasn’t even supposed to have been snooping around the human colony at all, which was why nobody at the stronghold knew where to find me.
It had been a stupid idea anyway. After not finding my mate among the humans at our stronghold or at the human settlement, I thought maybe I’d check out the pickings at the edge of the main human colony. Not all parts of Nova Vita were fenced in, especially since it had grown a lot in the past few years.
I’d gone because something inside had told me to go; call it intuition. And I’d known that Krxare, our leader, would most likely not have approved if he’d known, so I’d left on my own. I hadn’t even thought past what I would do after I got there.
Logically, it had been a bad decision, but I couldn’t regret it, not when it meant that I’d met Dana in the process.
I scanned the colony of suracets again. My marksmanship was renowned, but that was with a blaster and ship weapons. It wasn’t quite the same with a stone, even though I was still pretty damn good with throwing knives.
I aimed my stone at another suracet, glad that I’d flown toward the dryer terrain rather than through the dark forest. Weakened and with the rut on me, hunting suracets was a lot easier than fighting ruka beasts.
But this time, the suracets’ reaction wasn’t to me but to something else. They all turned their heads skyward. I did the same, squinting through the too-bright sun.
There was a pair of avian creatures, but they weren’t eyeing their usual prey on the ground. Instead, they were chasing something metallic. But the presence of the predators was danger enough; several creatures stood on their hind legs and gave out shrill calls. The entire colony ran for their burrows under the rocks. The valley was instantly empty. If it weren’t for my future lunch and dinner still lying on the ground, I’d have questioned if they’d ever been there.
Fuck. The drone was back, and it scared away all the food.
The Nova Vitan drone had been one of the reasons why I hadn’t gone out to hunt or find fuel to start a fire when Dana and I woke yesterday after our first night together. The other reason was that the first two days of the rut were always the worst. I’d quite enjoyed spending the entire day with my little mate, but that also meant we were now out of food.
I weighed the pros and cons of knocking the drone out of the sky now. If I did, it wouldn’t be able to follow us back to my hideout. But if I let the avian creatures take it down, then whoever was watching would be unable to confirm that we were in the area. I decided on the latter approach but kept a good-sized stone in my hand anyway, just in case it saw me.
When the drone ducked below a ridge, I took the opportunity to run out into the canyon basin to grab my prizes. With both suracets tied to my belt, I slung the blanket I’d made into a makeshift bag over my shoulder. The bag was filled with plant matter I’d collected during my outing. It was a good haul even though my trip had been cut short. Supplies in hand, I started heading back to my mate and our temporary hideout.
The sun was searing down today, making it feel much later in the season than it should be. It made my skin itch and crawl, urging me to hurry back to Dana and to the relief her body offered. But she was so much more than that. She was intelligent enough to outwit the cameras and the guards. Brave and determined enough to try to remove her ID chip on her own. And most importantly, she made me smile.
I remember her mock offense at me pretending to steal her meatball food package and grinned, a warmth filling my chest. I’d make her all the meatballs and gravy she’d want when I had the chance. For now, roasted suracets would have to do. The thought of her had the heat rushing in, so I forced myself to move faster through the maze of gullies and ravines.
After relieving our heat during the rut, male Kadrixans only had a short time before it came rushing back. We had to get as much done as possible while we were still clearheaded. I’d taken the opportunity to look for things to make the cave more comfortable.
The first night, the temperature had dropped more than I’d expected, and I’d spent much of it with my wings cocooned around Dana to keep her warm. Well, that, and fucking. That kept us warm too.
Last night, the temperatures were more comfortable, but tiny flying bugs had swarmed us. Dana hid under one of the blankets, and I’d spent most of the night slapping them away. We’d eaten whatever was left of the food she’d tucked into her bag, though we still had plenty of the water pouches left.
I didn’t trust myself to make the rest of the journey to the other continent until the rut was over, so I’d gone out to look for things to make the cave more comfortable. Even though we didn’t live on this continent, we’d done as much research on it as we could. I’d been part of the team sent out to explore this region when we’d first arrived. That was how I’d known that the suracets were rather tasty. I wondered if we could raise them over on our continent.
There were plants that gave off a scent when trodden underfoot or burned that warded off the biting critters. I’d also found the remnants of last year’s seedpods of a tree that produced fleecy fibers. They’d make a good insulating layer under the blanket to ward against the chill of the cavern’s floor.
I was almost back at our hideout when the caws of avian creatures had me looking up. The drone appeared from over the canyon walls and I froze, cursing the fact that there was nowhere immediate to hide. But there was a good chance the drone had not spotted me since it was too busy evading certain doom.
Behind the drone were not one, or two, but dozens of the creatures I’d seen chasing it earlier. It must have made the crucial mistake of attacking one of them. We’d learned that the hard way too the first time we were here, except they’d divebombed us en masse when one of us had thrown a stone at a particularly ornery one that kept swooping down on us. We’d had to duck into our shuttles to wait out their ire.
We never did get the names of these creatures from the Vokiren tribes that used to live here before the humans drove them away. I made a note to ask about them when I got back to the stronghold. We tried to use native words for the animals and plants we found here for both ease of communication with the indigenous population and for efficiency. It was a lot of work naming everything on a completely new planet, so why do it if it was already done.
I held still until the drone was out of sight again, still pursued by the many angry, clawed predators, then made the final push to the cavern where my mate awaited.
A muffled shriek had me dropping both suracets and my bundle of plant material so I could squeeze through the crevice quicker to get to her defense. I found Dana dancing around the cavern, a dozen or so multi-legged invertebrates with shiny dark green and purple carapaces scurrying around her. Each one was about the size of my hand. One of the creatures had been crushed by her boots, and the smell that came from it was putrid.
The moment she saw me, she launched herself at me with a soft squeal.
“Omigadimsogladyoureback itriedtocrushdem butdeysmellsobaaad andeywonlebmealooone.” The words sounded rushed, slightly panicky, but also filled with relief.
We hadn’t come across these creatures during our reconnaissance mission, so I didn’t know if they were dangerous. It was best to avoid getting stung or bitten. I grabbed the large animal bone I’d strapped to my belt earlier and tried to carefully bat them toward the exit. I didn’t want to kill any of them and release more of that noxious stench.
But they all stopped when they reached the plants I’d left at the entrance, refusing to even step near the blanket bundle. The plants must work on these creatures as well as the small, swarming ones. I released Dana and pointed to the back of the cavern, and she hurried back there. Picking up the tied blanket, I tossed it into the center of the cave before grabbing the suracets.
By now, the invertebrates were making their way back into the cave toward Dana. They were attracted to her, and now I worried if she’d already been bitten or stung, though I saw no visible stingers.
Too impatient to untie the knots in the blanket, I cut through them with my claws and grabbed a bunch of the repellent herbs, tossing it in Dana’s direction. The creatures scattered immediately. I wondered if they worked for other invertebrates on our continent; they’d be useful as long as they weren’t dangerous to the wildlife that shared our home, especially the kukees that helped keep our stronghold clean.
“Gimme gimme.” Dana reached her hand out, her eyes on the bunch of weeds in my hand.
I handed it to her, more than happy to relinquish the bouquet. She took it from me and brandished it like a weapon.
“Ha! Howydalikedemapples?” she yelled victoriously as she chased the creatures around the cave and toward the exit.
I grinned so hard watching the spectacle that my cheeks hurt, and a tightness started in my chest, like it was so full from how happy she made me that there was no room left for air. But that was okay. I’d live on her and only her for the rest of my life if I could.