Page 17 of Meat

Rot him, he was an arrogant one.

“So what do you think?” Ravnar asked. “Will it cook up well?”

The creature had sat up now and scooted away to the edge of the fire’s glow. Krogg dragged it closer. He pinched at the scant flesh on its arms, its lean thighs, its flat belly.

“Not much meat on it, is there?”

The animal shivered, stared at him with wide, wet eyes.

“What about the cuts on its legs,” Jale said, pointing. “If those get infected, what meat there is will be ruined for sure.”

Krogg cast the youngster a sidelong glance.

Jale was a sly one. Krogg had some idea what the sneaky little bastard had in mind. Still, the kid was right, those wounds would need to be cleaned up.

“Take it down to the river,” Krogg grunted, “Wash it up quick and then bring it back here for salve.”

Jale nodded eagerly and gathered the little animal up in his arms. The creature gave a soft cry as it was flung over the young ukkur’s shoulder.

“Careful,” Krogg said. “You heard Ravnar. That thing has teeth, mind.”

“I know, I know,” Jale muttered, carrying that thing off like he was in a hurry to be alone with it.

“And keep your rotted fingers out of its hole,” Krogg called to Jale’s back as the youngster slipped into the shadows.

“I will.”

Krogg knew rotted well that was a lie. Oh well.

Jale was a sharp one; the lad could take care of himself. He was the most recent addition to their crew, having joined with them after they freed him from that nith-operated ksh plantation. That had barely been a year ago, but in that time Jale had proven himself a useful partner. Just as Ravnar had a knack for ropes and traps, Jale had shown a special facility with blades. Mostly that skill was put to work skinning and butchering wild game, but the lad had carved up more than a few nith along the way too.

Krogg spat at the thought of the despised nith. Many long years he had toiled under their whips.

He glanced at Ravnar. The hunter had risen from his seat and now stood beside the skinned krelk carcass. With his stone knife, he carved off a bloody strip of meat and fed. The firelight danced over Ravnar’s back, which was even more hatched with whipscars than Krogg’s own.

There came sounds of splashing from the river. The sound of that strange creature’s tiny voice and the sound of Jale speaking to it, the way one sometimes speaks to animals.

Krogg nodded in the direction of the sounds.

“Not much meat on it,” he repeated.

“I noticed,” Ravnar said as he chewed. “Looks like the thing was starving out there. I don’t think it’s wild. More like a nith pet that ran off and got lost in the woods. Did you see that collar on its neck?”

Krogg nodded. He had seen.

“Aye, and the mark on its hip too.”

Ravnar was right, this thing probably was nith property. Not a pet, though. Krogg had not been able to place the scent straightaway, but now he had it. He had caught that smell blowing from the nith meat factories on the rare occasions when he had ventured near those places.

Krogg and the other ukkur never bothered raiding the meat factories. Not worth the trouble. Their time was better spent freeing their brethren from the ksh plantations instead, bolstering their numbers. He had no use for nith processed meat. Not when there was far tastier wild game to consume.

Still, Krogg took some satisfaction in the thought of eating a thing that had been stolen from his enemies.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something special about this creature.

Its voice came again from the darkness where Jale was washing it. And probably doing other things as well. A sudden shocked squeal gave credence to this suspicion.

Krogg shook his head. The boy was sharp, but you couldn’t tell him anything.