Chapter 20 #2
When I’d stolen the medicine to help those kids on Earth, I had no one.
Nobody was willing to stick their neck out and take a risk, and I was certain someone close to me had even ratted me out to the authorities.
Now, Khawla was on my side, and I knew I could trust him with everything.
I also had Jasmine to back me up, and the humans and Naga at Haven hadn’t had to think twice to set up this plan.
These were good people, free to do good deeds, and I was proud to be part of that.
Then we reached the edge of the treeline and took in the ship crouched over the land like a big, hulking shadow.
It was covered in snow, as was the ground itself, but we did not need to see tracks to know where to go.
We weren’t the first to arrive. Khawla came back, grim-faced, to huddle with Zathar and discuss what he’d seen, while I peered with Jasmine and Kalani at the battlefield from behind the shelter of a tree.
The Krektar were out in force just outside the ship, more of them than I’d seen during my escape.
I was surprised there were this many still around, but it was a force of at least three dozen.
They were fighting with the Naga in the snow, and the Naga were heavily outnumbered and possibly in trouble.
I wouldn’t be sorry about that, except for Khawla.
These were probably people he’d grown up with, friends, even.
Some of them might even be the hunters who had helped us escape.
“Look there,” Kalani said, and she pointed.
On a hill to our left, sheltered by the trees, a small group of blue Naga were watching the battle as well.
I would bet good money that it was the Queen and an escort—overseeing things, but not taking a risk herself.
She’d sent her hunters into battle, and they’d been caught by surprise by the number of enemies still hidden inside the ship.
The question was: Why had the Krektar taken the fight outside? They could have sealed the ship.
“Now what?” Jasmine asked. “They’re doing our work for us, but when the fight is over, we will have to deal with the winners.
” She was right, and I didn’t like our odds.
The Naga were more effective fighters, but they were outnumbered.
Unless we came to their aid, they might not make it.
I glanced from the two girls to where Khawla was huddled with Haven’s leader, Zathar.
There was no mistaking that Zathar himself was once Thunder Rock and probably had ties to the males fighting down below.
They were both incredibly grim-faced when they turned to face the waiting males behind them.
“We have two choices,” Zathar said as he raised himself higher on his tail to address everyone.
They were a motley group, some blue, just as many purple, and a handful of other colors: a sprinkle of red scales, a few green, and then there was the one golden Dragon rider male.
Not all of them would feel loyalty to the Thunder Rock males fighting for their lives with the Krektar.
Khawla had told me about the former prince, and he’d spoken with tones of respect.
He’d clearly liked Zathar and had faith in the male’s ability to make fair choices.
Raising his hand, he held up a finger. “One, we can leave the Thunder Rock hunters to die at the hands of the Krektar, then sweep in afterward to fight the remaining force. Or two, we can join them now and possibly save their lives in the process.” He pierced the males with a bright, azure stare, giving one blue male a slight nod and piercing a red guy with a sharp look, as if he were gauging their desire—gauging their thoughts.
“I understand that only those once of Thunder Rock would feel any loyalty to the males bleeding in the snow right now. They are here, sent by Thunder Rock’s Queen to kill the humans aboard the ship.
They are not our allies. So I cannot ask any of you to risk your lives for them.
We will put it to a vote.” I held my breath as I waited to see what the gathered warriors would do, my fingers squeezing around Jasmine’s as we held hands in tense anticipation.
It was the one human man among the group who stepped forward and asked to address them before they cast their vote.
When Zathar nodded and moved aside, Reid stepped in front of the group of armed, grim-faced warriors with casual confidence.
He was dressed in leather from the planet—pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a fur hood and collar—but his boots were military issue from his life before.
He pushed his hood back to expose his mop of unruly black hair and pierced everyone with a sharp stare.
“I know they are not our allies, but speaking as a human, I do not hold it against them for fearing us. We are new and different, a threat to a way of life.” He gestured with a hand to the fighting going on in the snowfield below us.
“They are also following traditions long ingrained in all of you, to obey their Queen. Just because she is wrong doesn’t mean they feel the same way.
Remember what it was like to be part of a Clan before you were cast out, and put yourself in their…
uh, scales.” With a final nod, he slipped away, moving easily through the snow to take up a position next to the golden Naga.
That male smiled broadly and slapped him on the shoulder, his appearance making him stand out not just because of his unique hue but because he had two black horns rising from his forehead.
When the votes were cast, even the more hostile-looking red Naga that Zathar had glared at was in favor of helping those below.
It was he, in fact, who suggested we use the distraction of the fight below to send a party to board the ship.
It was an option eagerly embraced, and Jasmine and I were quickly picked to be part of that group.
We had a job to do waking people from stasis and assuring them they were being rescued.
Khawla came to my side then, his tail looping about my hips to hold me protectively, but he did not voice an objection.
“No point,” he whispered in my ear. “This is why you are here, is it not? Bold female with the big heart—you would protect everyone if you could. You are a warrior, like all of us.” He pointed at the males as they stripped off their warm tunics, quickly limbered up their muscles, and sharpened their spears one last time.
I didn’t think I was quite like that, but he was right, I was a warrior in my own way, an advocate for the needs and rights of others.
“I will have your back,” he added, and his purple eye pierced me, filled with the weight of his vow.
My eyes wanted to fill with tears; that meant the world to me.
I was not alone in this fight. I had only to look at Zathar as he barked out orders and at the males fearlessly rushing from the woods to join the fight.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell Khawla right then that I loved him—a pre-battle declaration.
But he swept me over his shoulder, ducking through the woods to circle the fight as planned.
The lack of warning left me breathless, and I struggled to lift my head and scan our surroundings.
I was too busy to find words of love as adrenaline pumped through my veins.
Behind us, two more Naga followed, and one of them had picked up a protesting Jasmine, hauling her with him the way Khawla was carrying me.
We were much faster this way; it made sense, our boarding party was tiny, all they were able to spare if they wanted to turn the tide of battle against the Krektar.
Then Kalani fired her first shot from where she’d climbed a tree, laser fire whistling through the air. I could not see if she struck true.
Then the dragon rose from the trees and flung itself like a speeding missile toward the ship, its roar and a cone of fire blasting through the air.