Page 77 of The Hunter

Lacey brushed her fingers over his leg. He glanced down to find her focused on the winddancer, seemingly unaware of what she was doing, like she’d sensed Telok’s troubled thoughts and was instinctively driven to soothe him. But that simple action was a balm to his spirit.

Tas raised his hands before his face, claws hooked. “It pinned me against what I thought was a rock, ready to tear at my throat. I sent a final prayer to the gods and asked them to watch over my mate and our broodlings. And then…the unac snarled in pain. Its rear legs buckled, and it twisted to lash at something behind it.

“Someone was attacking it. I saw a spear and assumed it was another vrix who had come to my aid. I did not waste time wondering who it could be. I shoved myself up and joined the attack, throwing myself at the beast. Our spears plunged into it again and again, pouring blood onto the cave floor, until finally the unac collapsed and moved no more.”

“Your shar’thai burns bright,” Garahk said. The thornskulls behind him thumped their chests in agreement.

“An unac is no easy beast to slay,” Ayali added. “You fought well.”

Tas shook his head. “I cannot say whether I fought well. I know only that I wanted to live. With the beast slain, I felt my wounds all the more. I lifted my head to thank the one who had saved me, and I could not believe any of my eight eyes. It was no vrix looking at me. It was unlike anything I had ever seen.”

“What was it?” Elharat asked.

Okkor elbowed his friend’s arm. “Have you not listened? The human.”

Tas nodded. “It was. And she held her spear to my throat.”

Garahk grunted, slapping his forelegs. “Humans are small creatures, but their shar’thai is bright as the sun. The Blooddrinker Queen was slain by a human.”

“The Blooddrinker?” asked Ayn’Drost Zesh, the male winddancer with golden eyes.

Telok curled his hands into fists. “Zurvashi. The former queen of Takarahl, who made war with Kaldarak.”

“The bitch queen,” Lacey added.

The winddancers exchanged startled whispers and gasps, regarding Lacey and Cole with wide eyes.

“I once beheld her with my own eight eyes,” Tas said. “She was as big as a yatin and fiercer than any beast.”

Jira’Kai Ess, a male with black hide and vivid purple eyes, gestured toward the two humans. “Which of you killed her?”

Cole snickered and answered in English, “Badass as that would’ve been, it wasn’t either of us.”

“Did…did the other human die to claim victory?” Shir asked in the same language, her mandibles hanging low.

“No,” Lacey said. “She’s alive and well in Kaldarak, with her mate and youngling.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Seven.”

Excited trills sounded from the winddancers.

“So many!” exclaimed Dei’Shel Ohn, the other female. She had red eyes, a dark gray hide, and white fur.

Zesh nodded. “Sophia will be happy to hear this.”

“Sophia is the human’s name?” Lacey asked.

“Yes,” Tas replied. “Sophia Moreno.”

Cole crossed his legs and leaned forward. “So that cave was the ship, right? And there was no one else?”

“Only Sophia. And yes, it was the ship. Or…part of it. She has explained many times, but I still do not quite understand it all.”

“How long was she there?” Lacey asked.

“Two moon cycles before I came,” Tas said, switching back to vrix. “And it was three more before she became part of our Nedrayas.”