Chapter 19 #4
“Zurvashi discovered us and wanted us dead.” Lacey placed her hands atop Telok’s arm, which was possessively wrapped around her.
“But it was a group of shadowstalkers who protected us, including Ahnset. And then it was the thornskulls too. Garahk and Nalaki welcomed us into Kaldarak, and since then, the thornskulls have treated us as family. They did not have to aid us. They did so at great risk to their kind, knowing the queen hunted us. They are good, and they do want peace. So do the shadowstalkers. I think we all want the same thing… To live, happy and safe.”
Garahk touched a knuckle to his headcrest in respect as he dipped his head to the council. “The friendship of Kaldarak is yours.”
Telok and the other thornskulls, along with the two humans, mimicked his gesture.
“And the friendship of our Nedrayas is yours.” Shir folded her arms against her chest, forearms crossed, and bowed, with her companions doing the same.
“I am glad,” Garahk said with a trill. “But there are more words to share. You asked for aid with the kurghests.”
“We did,” Tas replied from his cushion near the dais.
“I must make it known that the friendship between our kinds does not depend upon your agreement,” Shir added. “We ask it of you only because we know not what else to do. But we cannot—will not—demand any of you risk yourselves on our behalf.”
“And we will offer whatever you desire in exchange. Whatever we can give,” said Sahn.
Jehk’s crimson eyes swept over the thornskulls and Telok, bearing a dire gleam.
“The survival of our Nedrayas hangs by frayed threads. These kurghests kill with a thirst for blood that cannot be quenched and eat with a hunger that cannot be satisfied. Already, our hunters struggle to bring meat to Tovuunshai, as the animals that have not been devoured have fled, and it is more dangerous to forage with every day. If these beasts remain, we must find a new place to dwell…and I fear we will lose many more of us on such a journey.”
Sahn buzzed, the sound low and mournful, nearly broken. “Our Nedrayas would shatter. Many of we elders would be unable to make the trek, and we would refuse to slow the rest down. And our younglings would be exposed to great danger in the Tangle.”
“Our younglings are the hope of our kind,” Shir said.
Tas clenched his fists at his sides. “And the kurghests may well take our movement as a threat to their claim on these grounds. If they were to attack as we traveled… I fear we would lose far too many. Their prime has been unchallenged, so their numbers have swelled.”
Telok’s throat constricted, and dread pooled in his belly.
Every kurghest pack had a single, dominant adult male, the prime, which mated with the adult females.
Challenges were commonplace for the beasts—a new male would arrive, defeat the old, and seize control of the pack.
The new prime kurghest’s first instinct would be to cull the offspring of his predecessor.
That cycle kept packs relatively small and often saw them splintering into smaller groups.
But if there was a prime strong enough to hold its place for years, attracting new mates and keeping those it had already claimed by its side… The pack would grow into a force of destruction that would upset the order of the Tangle itself.
Such a beast would be unlike anything Telok had faced.
“We have been unable to track the beasts,” Tas continued. “They strike from hiding and vanish into the Tangle with their prey like ghosts.”
Nodding, Garahk hummed thoughtfully. “So you ask us to slay these beasts for you.”
“No.” Tas twisted to face him, mandibles twitching. “We ask that you aid us in the hunt. We need your strength and skill, but we will not hide while you go out in our stead. We would stride alongside you.”
Now Garahk stood. He turned to look at his companions, meeting their gazes one by one. “I see much shar’thai. Enough to blind all eight of my eyes. Will we hunt?”
Ayali was the first to rise and thump her leg on the floor, making the wood planks vibrate. The other thornskulls immediately did the same, their stomps rapidly gaining speed.
Telok couldn’t help but recall the day they stood together against Zurvashi, when the thornskulls had pounded the butts of their spears on the ground, working themselves toward a battle frenzy.
Cole also joined them, and Lacey leaned to the side, thumping her fist on the floor in unison.
A cold, thorny strand coiled around Telok’s hearts and squeezed tight, its chill piercing down to his spirit. She could not take part in this hunt. It was too dangerous, and she was too inexperienced, too… Too precious.
I cannot lose her too.
Garahk looked back to the dais with a chitter. “We will hunt, my friends. And if any vrix can track your beasts, it is Scarhide. He sees with all eight eyes and finds what others cannot. Beast, vrix, and spirit cannot hide from him.”
The thornskulls cheered enthusiastically, stomping faster and harder, making it feel like the whole tree was shaking. But Telok’s thundering hearts were louder, the throbbing of his pulse stronger.
It is simply another hunt. One of many.
But no part of him believed that. Never in all his life had so much been at risk during a hunt.
He would have to find some way to convince Lacey to stay behind. Failing that…he would have to take the choice away from her. His arm tightened around her, fingers curling to press his claws over her belly.
Lacey turned her face toward him and frowned. “Telok? Are you okay?”
Telok met her gaze, and words clawed through his mind, forming a hundred responses, a hundred ways to tell her that she could not come along. That he would not allow her to. All the reasons were right there at the forefront of his mind.
But before he could voice any of those words, the thornskulls fell quiet, and Shir said, “You are all welcome to stay with our Nedrayas as long as you wish. We will show you where you may shelter and leave your belongings, and then we hope you will join us to share a meal.”
“Music and dance, as well,” Sahn added with a soft chitter.
A hurried stride pounded across the floor planks outside the building, swiftly drawing near. Telok knew from the sound that it belonged to no vrix.
The silk curtains covering the doorway were flung to the sides as a human female burst into the room. She came to an abrupt halt, chest heaving with quick, heavy breaths. When her dark eyes fell upon Lacey and Cole, they widened, and her lips parted in a gasp. “Oh my God, it’s true.”