Chapter 14
fourteen
. . .
Emily
My side throbbed like a toothache, which I knew wasn’t a great sign, and I had a headache.
While I hoped Kex’s village might have someone familiar with treating infection, a small part of my mind was aware my chances weren’t great.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t that worried. The last few days had been utter bliss, and while I could wish for a million more days just the same, hadn’t that online quiz said I would be the first to die in a zombie apocalypse?
That had to also apply to alien abductions, and I’d already defied death so many times.
My only worry was that without me, no one would know about my friends lost in the forest. Even if my chances of finding them with the help of Kex’s family had been low, there was still a chance.
As the morning progressed, I let myself relax against Kex’s back, long past worrying about him carrying me.
I only wished each step didn’t send a pulse of pain through my side.
After we’d been walking for a few hours, Kex came to a stop, but instead of tapping me to indicate I should drop, he squeezed my thighs, then slid his hands down to my ankles, pulling them tight around his waist. That was his signal for me to hang on while he let go, usually so he could climb over something.
Except I didn’t see anything in our path.
Still, I gripped him hard with my legs, and a moment later, he crossed to one of the thick-trunked indigo trees, sank his claws into its bark, and climbed. I squeaked and redoubled my grip.
He climbed about twenty feet to the first wide branch, then carefully helped me sit up against the trunk. I held on for dear life.
“Emily wait,” he said, and my stomach dropped.
“Where are you going?” I asked, a little frantic.
He pressed a finger against my lips. “Wait,” he said again, before running his finger against my cheek, then he dropped to the ground. I held in my gasp and leaned over to watch as he pulled out his spear and crouched down in the ferns at the base of the tree.
Was something down there?
Maybe it was another of those cute little green rabbit things.
Unfortunately, as Kex slowly prowled forward, something much larger than the rabbit thing stepped out of the bushes.
From my height, it looked small, but so did Kex, and that wasn’t right.
I tried not to cry out and distract him.
I held my breath as the blue-striped tiger circled my alien man.
Fuckity fuck.
Moments ago, I was just coming to terms with my own potential death, but that was knowing Kex would be by my side to make any remaining days wonderful.
If I lost him, not only would I be physically lost, but there was zero chance I would die happy and at peace.
There was also zero chance I’d make it out of this tree without breaking both my legs.
There was something odd about the way the tiger walked, its tail long and arched over its back.
After circling each other for a long moment, they both came to a stop.
Kex shifted his weight back and forth between his feet, his eyes locked on the creature, and then all at once, they both moved lightning fast. The creature tensed and sprang, just as Kex jumped to the side.
The tiger twisted in midflight, trying to correct, but Kex’s spear was there, driving into its neck.
The creature crashed to the ground and twisted around, reaching for Kex.
Then I realized why it looked off. It had six legs, the front four tipped with sharp claws.
As it lunged for him again, Kex reached out and snatched its tail out of the air, and with a quick crack, twisted it down.
The tiger let out a growling cry and slashed at Kex.
The blow looked like it connected, but Kex didn’t flinch as he dropped the tail and gripped the spear, shoving it deeper.
The creature cried out again, and I forced myself not to look away as Kex pinned it to the ground until it stilled.
Kex knelt over the creature and ran a hand over its head before he straightened and turned toward my tree.
I gasped at the long red gashes across his chest, but he didn’t stop to tend to himself, instead climbing the tree to my branch.
I winced and ran a finger above one of the claw marks.
They looked shallow, but dark red blood ran down his chest.
Kex took my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm before pressing it to his cheek, then he carried me down the tree.
Once my feet were on the ground, I reached for the pouch where Kex kept the plants he applied to my wounds, but he snatched my hand up, kissed it, and shook his head.
He casually wiped some of his blood off with a fern frond, then crossed to the tiger and threw it over his shoulder.
Six legs weren’t the only weird things. Now that it was right in front of me, I could see its tail had a sharp black spine sticking out of the end.
Was that why Kex had broken it? Disgusting.
Not as bad as the monster bird thing, but scorpion tiger was somehow a little scarier.
I grimaced but didn’t protest as he gestured for me to follow.
For the thousandth time, I wished we had more words between us so I could question him.
Did we need to take the monster tiger with us?
Did he expect us to eat that whole thing?
Even if we smoked the meat, it seemed like more than was rational to carry wherever we were going.
We walked only a few minutes before we came upon a stretch of trees painted with thick white bands around their trunks. The marked trees stretched out for as far as I could see in a long line. Kex came to a stop next to one of the trees and placed his hand on the trunk.
“Fonac Monai,” he said in a serious voice, before giving me a smile and continuing on.
We reached a stream a few minutes later, and Kex paused to clean his kill.
He cleaned the dried blood from his chest, and I was relieved to see he’d stopped bleeding.
I still wanted to apply the healing paste to it, but Kex urged me on.
Within a half hour, I realized the forest was brighter than it had been before, and the trees were a bit farther apart.
Then Kex picked up a trail, an actual trail that looked old and worn, as if people passed this way regularly.
My heart rate picked up as something like anxious excitement built in my chest. Were we close to where Kex’s family lived? Had the marked trees been a marker of their territory?
About ten minutes later, Kex came to a stop and called out.
An alien stepped out from behind a tree.
He was a similar shape to Kex, if not as tall, and while Kex was a pretty teal, this new man was purple.
They exchanged a few words, the stranger eyeing me with obvious curiosity, but before long, he disappeared into the trees.
As soon as he disappeared, I realized he had been wearing clothes not made of leaves.
A light purple shirt and pale pants. Real clothes.
I wanted them. Like, immediately. Kex gave me a reassuring smile, then took my hand in his, and we continued on.
We passed a hut, and then another. Kex spoke greetings to a few aliens, each a different color ranging from green to blue to purple.
They all wore clothes made of cloth. It looked hand-woven and a little rough, but cloth was cloth.
While the aliens we passed responded pleasantly to Kex and eyed me with interest, none of them stopped us or greeted us with what I expected from friends or family.
We made our way into what felt like the center of the village.
A large fire in the middle of a clearing crackled and popped while men and women sat and worked around it, and I got my first look at a woman of the same species as Kex.
She was taller than the average human man, wide and strong, but elegant with graceful lines.
Her breasts were smaller than mine, and she wore a woven green tunic dress.
All eyes landed first on Kex and then on me as we approached the fire, and suddenly I was very aware that I was dressed in fewer clothes than I’d ever worn in public before.
But while people stared, they didn’t gawk or make judgy faces.
Still, I wrapped a hand around my tummy, wishing I could hide.
Kex went to an old woman next to the fire, and I wanted to hang back, but he pulled me along.
He spoke to her for a moment, then she gestured to the ground, and Kex dropped my hand and lowered the blue scorpion tiger.
He unstrapped a pile of furs and laid them next to the tiger as well.
She smiled, and Kex gave her a little bow.
The woman said something else, then with a quick hand, poked Kex right on one of his scratches.
Kex winced but smiled and said something back before turning to me.
He snatched my hand back in his and squeezed it once before gesturing me onward.
We walked down a cleared path where the huts were larger and better built than Kex’s had been.
I was hot, my head and my side both throbbing, and I hoped we were close to his home.
I’d be glad for somewhere cool to rest for a little while, and maybe someone could help with the fever I knew I was developing.
I was nervous to meet his family, and I tried to walk behind him, letting his big frame shield me, but he pulled me back to his side, tucking me under his arm.
It seemed a little odd for the man who had worried so much over my wounds, but maybe he was just relieved to be home.