Chapter 12
Traze stood above his warriors as they collected and packed all the supplies they would need for their expedition. Najol had selected their best warriors, though he seemed doubtful they would discover anything about the healing sands.
Najol stood next to him, speaking quietly as the warriors readied their packs.
“We are going on this expedition simply because your kode suggests it?” he asked.
Traze could sense his paladin’s skepticism. “She is very smart. And we are running out of options. If there is even a chance that we may discover something, we have to try.”
Najol nodded. “But do you need to bring your kode with you?”
“Yes,” Traze said seriously, not liking Najol’s defiance.
Najol continued to press him, though. “It will be a mistake to take her. Camping out in the woods is no way to treat your kode. She should not be exposed to these harsh elements.”
Traze sighed. He actually agreed with Najol about this.
“I do not wish to take her, but she is very excited about the prospect of going. She begged me to take her, and I could not deny her. I cannot deny her anything, if she truly wishes it. And I will be there to protect her every step of the way.”
Still, Traze wished he could leave Veda behind where he knew she would be comfortable and safe. His desire was still, ultimately, to protect his kode at all costs.
It was killing him not to show Veda greater affection. Sleeping apart from her last night was difficult, and he was restless. At least on this expedition, Traze was going to have an excuse to sleep near her, and being closer to her would be a great relief to him.
Traze watched his warriors collect their things, and many of their kodes came along to help. The Ateran women were fairly blank in their expressions as they helped their mates, but the human women were extremely affectionate. They kissed their mates as Veda had kissed him last night. Traze found himself grateful that his kode was a human woman because he had quite enjoyed kissing her as well as feeling her affection for him.
But Najol did not seem to understand the practice.
“What are they doing?” he asked Traze.
“What do you mean?” Traze responded.
“When they press their lips to their mates’. What is that?”
“It is called kissing,” Traze informed him.
Najol was surprised that Traze knew what the practice was called. “But why do they do it?”
Before Traze could answer, he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned around to find Veda rushing to his side, a grin on her face.
Before she answered Najol, she casually leaned up and kissed Traze. It sent feelings of excitement through his body. She then turned to Najol. “We kiss because it’s how humans show love and affection,” she explained with a grin.
“Oh, this is something humans do with their kodes back home?” Najol asked. “That makes sense why you are kissing Traze, then.”
Traze froze when he heard Najol say this. He hoped Veda hadn’t noticed, that she would gloss over the sentiment. But he should have known Veda was far too smart for that.
She looked at Traze curiously. “Wh-what does he mean?”
Traze looked over at Najol, who seemed mortified. He had not realized that Traze had not told Veda she was his kode.
Traze could not even be mad at Najol, either. He had never explained that he withheld this information from her. So how was Najol to know?
Still, this was not how Traze planned to tell Veda.
“I don’t understand,” Veda pressed. “What does he mean?”
Traze was silent. He looked over at Najol who was looking guilty now.
He could not answer Veda. On the one hand, he could not lie to her. On the other hand, he could not tell her the truth. It was something he simply was not willing to get into right now.
Thankfully, he did not have to. He was saved by a loud rumbling noise that was rolling in through the distance.
Traze knew exactly what it was, of course, but Veda did not. And the shock of the loud noises rocking through the trees was enough to get her to forget about her question and focus on something else.
Traze just had to hope she would not bring it up again.
Chapter Thirteen
Veda stared on at Traze in disbelief as she awaited his answer.
She must have misunderstood. Surely Najol wasn’t implying that Veda was Traze’s kode. That made no sense. All the other women made it sound like the men on Atera knew who their kodes were immediately. Traze had never said anything to her.
Veda tried to read Traze’s facial expression, but she just couldn’t place it. He wasn’t outright denying it, though… not yet, anyway.
Could Veda truly be his kode? Sure, Veda felt drawn to Traze, but that was only because she spent so much time with him. It didn’t necessarily mean they were fated to be together or anything. Veda was sure she probably would have been attracted to any Ateran man she spent a lot of time with. That didn’t necessarily mean anything.
But it would explain why Traze was showing Veda affection. From what Veda understood of it, an Ateran man couldn’t have feelings for any woman that wasn’t his kode. But Veda had just begun to assume he was able to have feelings for her because she was human, not an Ateran woman. They had different biology, so why wouldn’t the rules change in their situation?
Then again, other human women and male Aterans had paired up as kodes, and they all seemed very happy. Could that be the case for Veda and Traze?
Veda didn’t have the opportunity to inquire more about it because suddenly, a loud roar sounded from the distance. At least, it seemed to be distant, but soon the trees near them began to rustle and rumble.
“What is that?” Veda asked fearfully. She looked over at the other human women, who appeared to be just as fearful as she was. They were leaning against their Ateran partners and looking up at them with anxiety.
Then Veda felt a thud behind her. She yelled out as she whipped around. The other human women were screaming as large, dark creatures began to leap out of the trees. One of these creatures, looking like some kind of jungle cat with saber teeth, came stalking toward Veda.
She stumbled backward, crashing into Traze and wrapping her arms around him as she begged for protection just like the other women had.
But when she looked up at Traze, he was not fearful or tense. Quite the opposite, actually. He appeared to be smiling and laughing.
“Do not harbor any fear, Veda. He will not hurt you.”
“He?” Veda asked. Traze made it sound like he knew this creature.
Traze nodded. “Veda, this is my lawe.”
“Your… lawe?” Veda asked as she observed the creature more closely.
He was black with a kind of purple sheen to his fur. He looked like the extinct saber-tooth tigers of Earth, except instead of four legs, he had six, with massive, five-toed paws. He was an intimidating sight to say the least.
“Is that… his name?” Veda asked.
“No, that is his species. This is a lawe. We use them for transportation in the Living Sands. This one is mine.”
“A lawe… So, your lawe has no name?” Veda asked as she let go of Traze and tried to relax around the creature.
Traze looked at her curiously as if he’d never thought to name him. “No, he does not.”
Veda found this a little sad. He was clearly some kind of pet to Traze. Veda vowed to herself that before this expedition was done, she would name the terrifying creature.
However, as she stared at it longer, it did start to seem cute to her. It approached Veda slowly, sniffed her hand, and then rubbed against her thigh as you might expect a housecat to do. Veda reached out and touched behind his ear, petting him gently and nervously, but the creature seemed to like it. He licked her hand, and Veda chuckled.
Traze continued to explain. “With the lawes, we can travel much faster through the Living Sands. They can reach great speeds and effortlessly climb up hills and trees. Especially when we are on an expedition that requires extra gear, our lawes are very valuable to us.”
Veda looked up from Traze’s lawe to those of the other Ateran men. They all had somewhat different colorations, which Veda found particularly interesting.
“My lawe is the largest of all lawes in the Living Sands,” Traze bragged with a smile.
Veda could see that even before Traze mentioned it. There was no denying it, his lawe was massive.
“Everybody!” Traze yelled out at the group. “Say goodbye to your kodes and mount your lawes! We will be leaving now!”
At the mention of the word kode, Veda was forced to remember what Najol had said and considered the fact that she might be Traze’s kode. But if she was, this wasn’t exactly what she imagined being an Ateran’s kode would be like.
The way it had been described to Veda, as soon as an Ateran met his kode, he could not be apart from her. He doted on her, adored her, and spent every moment he could with her… and Veda had really fallen into that fantasy. It appealed to her. She had wanted to be cared for that deeply by someone.
But that wasn’t exactly what had happened with Traze. He didn’t seem to have any trouble being apart from her. Though he had expressed some attraction, he did not dote on her. He did not seem obsessed with her.
Veda chose to believe she had misunderstood Najol. As much as she cared for Traze, and she truly did like him, she would be hurt if she actually was his kode. He didn’t have that fire for her that Veda was so desperate for. She wanted to meet her Ateran mate and know that he wanted her. She wanted to be definitively chosen because she hadn’t been at any time in her life before.
Still, looking up at Traze, she could see the benefit to having him as a mate. He was so calm, strong, and stoic. He was the leader of his tribe, and Veda imagined he would make a good husband and father. She imagined having little Ateran children running around, and the thought soothed her.
“Come on, Veda, you will sit on my lawe in front of me,” Traze said as he extended his hand to her.
Veda gleamed with excitement at the thought of riding the lawe. She gave Traze her hand and tried to climb on top of the massive creature. But he was tall, and she struggled, even with Traze pulling her up.
That was, until she felt two large hands gripping her ass. She immediately reacted with a yelp, not appreciating that someone decided they could touch her without even a warning, let alone grip her butt this way.
But she was pushed up on the lawe before she could protest, and when she looked down, she found Aldohr standing below.
“Hey!” Veda snapped. “Could you maybe not put your grubby hands on my butt?”
Aldohr scoffed. “As if I would wish to touch your human body. You clearly needed to be helped up, and I did so. You are welcome.”
Veda really did not like Aldohr. His attitude toward her was out of hand, and she’d done nothing to him to elicit such a rude response.
However, she couldn’t deny she did need help getting up on the lawe. Still, she would have preferred a little warning.
“You will speak to Veda with more respect, Aldohr,” Traze said calmly.
Aldohr only nodded and walked away, going over to one of Traze’s warriors and mounting his lawe.
Veda turned around to look at Traze, who was sitting behind her.
“Aldohr is coming?” she asked him.
“Yes, he has volunteered to do so.”
Veda was surprised to hear this. None of the seers seemed particularly interested in this expedition, least of all Aldohr who seemed irritated to spend even one minute near Veda.
But she wasn’t going to complain about it. No matter how much she disliked Aldohr, she could see benefits to having an Ateran seer on this trip with them. He’d be able to provide knowledge Veda did not have, and hopefully his insight would be useful.
Still, Aldohr had kept glancing back at Veda as he walked away. Traze didn’t seem to notice, but Veda had the heebie-jeebies. She really did not like the way the seer eyed her.
Traze put his hand on Veda’s waist, sending a tiny chill down her spine and bringing her away from her worries about Aldohr.
“Are you ready, Veda?” he whispered in her ear.
“Ready for what?”
“To climb, of course,” he said nonchalantly.
“To… climb?” Veda asked worriedly.
Traze laughed. “Hold on tightly, and you will be fine. Grip the neck of my lawe if you need to. He will not be bothered, no matter how hard you grab as he has very thick skin.”
Veda was a bit nervous but did as he said and grabbed onto the lawe’s neck as tightly as she could. He didn’t even seem to react.
Veda’s heart was beating quickly, and Traze gave her shoulder a comforting rub.
“You will be just fine. You had no fear when I was swinging through the vines with you on my arm. This is no different, I assure you.”
Veda nodded and reminded herself that she did, in fact, enjoy leaping through the trees with Traze. Hopefully this would be no different.
“Climb!” Traze yelled out to his lawe.
The lawe took a running start and suddenly leapt up into the air and into a tree. Veda could feel her body being pulled back as he climbed directly upward, so she held on as tightly as she could. Thankfully she had Traze behind her to steady her body, and she leaned up against him.
Going straight upward was daunting, but as soon as the lawe landed on a wooden platform in one of the trees and began to leap from tree to tree going horizontally, Veda relaxed considerably.
In fact, it felt no different from swinging along with Traze. Well, this likely was a bit faster, though it was hard for Veda to tell.
She kept her grip on the lawe but closed her eyes as she had with Traze, trusting the lawe to take them safely through the trees. She loved the feeling of the wind on her face once again, and her deep, red hair was blowing behind her. Traze pushed his head onto her neck so they were cheek to cheek. This only calmed Veda further, though she told herself Traze likely just wanted to get her wind-blown hair out of his face.
Shortly after that, Veda noticed several Ateran men following on their lawes. She turned around to watch them for a moment, and they began to yell out. They weren’t yelling words. Rather they were hollering sounds of excitement. At least, Veda assumed it was excitement… Aterans could be difficult to read at times.
“What are they doing?” Veda asked Traze.
“They are celebrating,” Traze explained.
“Celebrating what?”
“You, Veda. They are celebrating your ideas and shouting hopes that they may find the answer as to why the healing sands are depleting. They are grateful for Eana’s gift of you, the human woman who may save the Living Sands.”
Veda could feel herself blush with the praise and was glad that Traze would not be able to see it.
With the Aterans’ kindness, she was really starting to feel at home on this strange planet.