Chapter Eleven #2
Royla crawled out from the thicket and stood up. Her eyes darted between Thanred and the direction from which the voices had come. Taking his hand, she walked next to him, peering through the trees.
Fifty paces farther, the figures came into view. There were half a dozen of them, all male she saw as shame burned her cheeks. She averted her eyes from the naked figures, their cocks hanging low between their legs the same way Thanred’s did.
“Kashegi,” Thanred said beside her.
His voice seemed strange as his tongue twisted around the foreign language.
“She does not speak Dranark,” he explained.
The figures drew closer. They were imposing but not nearly as large as Thanred. Royla could see why they had once called him their leader. He was far taller with far thicker muscles than all of them.
“So, this is your new pet then?” one of them growled, his lips curling into a wicked smile.
He had a funny accent but Royla found it remarkable that he spoke human at all. She dared a glance in his direction.
He seemed to be leering at her, his eyes raking over her body the same way Thanred’s had when she’d first encountered him in the forest.
Thanred stepped in front of her and folded his arms over his chest. “Not pet,” he growled, staring down the other male. “Mate.”
The other’s eyes widened for a moment before turning toward the ground.
Royla stared in wonder as Thanred cowed them with his gaze, staring down anyone who dared look back up to steal a glance at her. She peered out from behind his back at the group.
“Feresenc, Thanred,” one of them said.
“Speak human so she understands,” he ordered.
“Yes, Thanred. Apologies for misunderstanding.” His eyes shot up for a moment to meet Thanred’s gaze. “So she was the offering that wasn’t found?” he asked.
“She was,” Thanred replied. “What of it? Did something happen because there was no offering?”
The other Dranark looked sideways at each other. The one who’d leered at her and suggested she was a pet finally spoke. “Dodlin sent a raiding party to the palisade.”
Royla’s breath caught in her throat at the thought of what a raiding party might have done.
“And?” Thanred demanded.
“Dreg and Crebas claimed a virgin each,” the other muttered.
“Did they bring them back?” Thanred asked, his voice tightening.
The creature shook its head. “Not yet. No doubt they are rutting somewhere in the forest,” he said, his grin returning.
“Enough of that!” Thanred snapped. His eyes wandered over the group.
All had their shoulders hunched and were crouching in submission before him.
Thanred let a long silence pass before speaking again. As if to let the weight of what he’d said settle on the group. “And what are you doing here?” he asked.
A few of the others emitted low growls.
“Dodlin took the females,” one of them growled.
“What?” Thanred asked.
“All of them,” another one chimed in. “Rounded them into the cave and placed guards at the entrance.”
Thanred’s brow furrowed. “Guards? Those cowards that stood by him to drive me out?”
Their eyes darted sideways again, watching to see who would speak first. The one who’d been speaking stood up from his crouch and raised his eyes to meet Thanred’s again. “I don’t mean you disrespect, brother,” he said, stretching out a paw toward Thanred.
Thanred waited for a moment, then gripped his forearm and shook it. “None taken, Guro.” He pulled Guro close to his chest and patted his back. “Now tell me what is going on there.”
Guro sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Fire, Thanred,” he explained. “They have fire. Sticks they keep burning. When anyone tried to approach, they would swing them at us. They are cowards but even cowards can burn with fire. Dodlin told us we were no longer welcome in the caves. We had no choice but to walk into the woods in search of food.”
Thanred scratched his cheek with a finger. He turned to Royla and nodded. “Show them. Show them how you make it.”
Royla stirred from her stupor at the request. She quickly bent low and began gathering twigs and dried grass.
“Go find some fallen wood,” Thanred said to Guro.
Guro furrowed his brow, puzzled by what was happening, but did as Thanred asked. He waved at two of the others to follow him. They returned a short time later with dried-out bits of tree and set them down next to where Royla had built her little pyramid of sticks and grass.
They stared, heads cocked to one side, as she began rubbing the thin twig between her palms. When smoke began to rise from the heated wood, two or three gasped and staggered back. “Sorcery,” she heard one of them whisper.
“She is a human witch!” Guro said, pointing a bony finger at Royla.
Thanred’s reaction was unexpected. Instead of growling or barking at the others as Royla thought he would, he held up a hand instead, quieting them.
Royla continued to twist the twig until a flame licked up from where the smoke was rising, igniting the grass.
More gasps came from the group. But as the flames grew, the fire latching onto the kindling she had built, they peered more closely, even stepping toward her to stare in disbelief at what she’d done.
“She is no witch,” Thanred muttered. “They know how to make fire, the humans,” he said.
Guro shook his head. “Thanred... with this... with this we could...”
Thanred raised his hand again, interrupting Guro midsentence. “Who here is loyal to Dodlin?” he asked, his eyes wandering around the group.
All of them shook their heads.
“None,” Guro offered.
“Good,” Thanred said. “Then tomorrow we return to Nefresh to reclaim the caves. Who is with me?”
For a moment there was silence as the others stared wide-eyed at Thanred. Guro curled his hand into a fist, punched the air and grunted. “I.”
A moment later the others did the same.
The forest filled with the sounds of their cries.