Chapter 14 #2
I raised my head to look around at the half a dozen males that remained of Joxra’s contingent of warriors. They were all watching us, following our exchange, even the ones I’d sent out to scout had already returned. “You might as well tell them,” Naomi said with a grin that I recognized as playful.
“She was proposing other ways to feed the Clan. But why Nomy? Why do you care? They want you dead…” I addressed my last words to my mate, but most of my focus was still on the warriors that surrounded us.
I released Jorxa’s arm and moved us closer to my pack of supplies so I could locate the furs and wrap Naomi back up in them, her skin was starting to get those little bumps, her lips turning blueish which meant she was cold.
She sighed when I wrapped a thick fur around her shoulders, setting her down on a boulder so I could check her limbs.
I was worried she might have injured her legs and hadn’t noticed yet so I carefully ran my hands over them.
“I’m fine, Krashe. I didn’t get hit by anything.
” I hissed at the lie, rolling up the leg of her pants to expose already mottling skin, she had bruises.
I knew what they looked like on her because she’d had to explain the markings she already had on her flesh. Now there were even more.
“Oh, that might have been from when I threw myself off the top of that boulder,” she said begrudgingly. Her hand went to her hip to rub there, a sure sign she had more of those bruises along the rest of her body.
“Anyway, to answer your question. I’m not a monster, you tell them that,” she pointed at Joxra who reared back in response, then nodded at several of the other warriors.
“Of course I don’t want any kids to starve.
That’s just wrong.” She was right, my mate was no monster, she had the kindest heart, and the bravest spirit.
I translated what she said and then made sure the warriors all knew that we did not intend to be a threat to the Clan.
“I am taking my mate away, take the wounded and leave. This is goodbye and Joxra, when you return, be prepared for chaos because they will have lost the fight, and many good hunters and warriors will be dead or gone. If I am a traitor, it is to the Queen, not the Clan. Think about that.”
With those words, I slung the pack onto my back, gathered Naomi in my arms, and under the sound of the Sleara’s chirp-kee-kee as a goodbye, we forged on.
Leaving behind a cluster of confused warriors, frozen in place as they watched us depart.
The shadow of the downed third-grade revenant cast them in darkness.
***
Naomi
I was quiet as we traveled, ignoring the little aches and pains that traveled through my body even with Krashe’s steady, soft swaying pace.
My legs were cramping, spasms twitching along my thighs and calves.
I’d asked far too much of myself in the past hour, starting with throwing myself off that boulder.
It was a price I was willing to pay, it had saved my life, and then my actions had helped Krashe end that crazy machine.
What the fuck was up with this planet? Finding datapads and holographic picture frames was one thing, but these machines?
Working and hostile? That was just insane.
It made me even more grateful that I’d lucked out as much as I had.
My Warlord and I had clashed, but I knew his heart now, and I knew that I was completely safe as long as he was at my side.
Over Krashe’s shoulder, I could see the downed form of the robot for a long time.
But the figures of the Naga warriors that had chased us had disappeared.
I wasn’t going to forget the confused expressions, or the baffled look that Naga I’d pulled to safety had given me.
Let them ponder this. I was Naomi the brave, even Krashe said so.
I’d distracted the robot when the others had fled and cowered, I was so proud of myself for that.
I wanted to ask Krashe a million questions about what was up with these robots but all he said was that they were revenants, they were more active during the cold season, and they had set territories they walked.
He had plotted a course that should avoid most, and he seemed certain we didn’t need to fight more of them.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t super worried that we’d just stumble upon another one, ridiculous considering that last one was as big as a house. You’d see it from miles away.
“It is only another day worth of traveling, go to sleep Naaah-ohmi, I will keep going through the night.” Krashe seemed determined to make it to our mysterious destination before the next sunrise.
I worried that he’d exhaust himself by traveling that far after that massive fight.
He might have somehow avoided any external hint of an injury but surely he was sore and tired.
Though I had to admit that he’d looked so freaking badass when he rode that machine down to the ground.
That was the stuff right out of action-hero movies.
I fully intended to stay awake with him through the night so I could keep him company and at first, the cramps in my legs certainly prevented me from falling asleep. Eventually, I nodded off, the darkness and the monotone journey lulling me to sleep. And when I woke, everything was different.