Page 78 of The Hunter

“You must tell more,” Garahk said. “How did you go from her spear at your throat to her becoming one of yours?”

“I spoke to her. Thanked her. And she spoke back. I did not understand her words, but I knew they were words all the same. She backed away, ready to fight, when I tried to rise. But when I fell again, she seemed…distressed. I set aside my spear, leaned against the rock, and bound my wounds with silk while she watched from a distance. I was too weary to leave, so I closed my eyes and sank into sleep.

“I was awoken by something poking my leg. I opened my eyes to find her kneeling beside me with an offering. It was a pouch of some sort, sloshing with liquid, but it was crafted from no material I knew. Its skin was thin and smooth, white but for the strange symbols painted onto it. I took it hesitantly and sniffed. It smelled like water. She gestured for me to drink, and that was the first time I understood her.

“Then she gave me food. It was a small, hard block, but it crumbled into thick dust when I bit it. The water had been pure and sweet, but that food…” Tas shuddered. “It was the foulest thing I have ever tasted.”

Cole and Lacey laughed.

“Yeah, those things are fucking disgusting,” the human male said.

Tas chittered. “I shared bluevine fruit with her. She was hesitant. After she ate a tiny bite, she bared her teeth at me, and I worried I had angered her. But she went back to eating. The next day, I was strong enough to return to our Nedrayas. Shir found me long before I arrived. She had been scouring the jungle in search of me.”

“I was angry he had vanished without a word, terrified that I had lost him forever.” Shir emitted a soft buzz as her gaze dipped to the scars Tas had displayed earlier. “And I was making sure he was aware of my anger when he stopped me and began speaking of what he’d found. Then I feared he had gone mad. He said he would have to go back, and that he could not yet show me. He did not want to frighten the strange creature. And he did go back, nearly every day. I scolded him for it, especially after he had been attacked. But…he worried for the creature that had saved his life. Each day, he would come back and tell me of what he had learned, and I could not help but be fascinated.”

Tas leaned to the side, tipping his head against his mate’s. “Sophia and I learned from each other little by little, building trust and understanding. After a moon cycle, I asked if she would meet my mate. She agreed.”

Shir drew back and looked at Garahk and the others. “Slowly, we became friends with Sophia, but we feared for her each time we left her alone. She was too vulnerable there, exposed to beasts and floods. We finally convinced her to come and live with us, to become part of our Nedrayas.”

“That was three years ago,” Tas said.

“Three years…” Lacey said quietly in English.

Cole scratched his cheek, which had again grown hair since they’d left Kaldarak. “Didn’t Will say the crash was like a hundred and twenty years ago? Makes you wonder if there have been generations of people who’ve already lived and died on this planet somewhere while we were still asleep.”

“Would we be able to meet Sophia?” Lacey asked.

Tas straightened and met Shir’s gaze. Though neither said a word, Telok sensed a whole conversation in their eyes. She finally nodded to Tas, and he turned his attention toward Garahk. “Before we can answer Lacey, we must ask… You are hunters, warriors, very far from your Nedrayas. Why have you come here?”

“To gather Hunter’s eyes,” Garahk replied evenly. “They do not grow near to Kaldarak, and our stores are empty. We will take what other forage and hunting we find during our journey.”

“I know my mind, but the decision is not mine alone. Allow us a moment?”

Garahk dipped his chin.

Tas gathered his legs beneath him and stood, offering a hand to Shir to help her up. Their companions rose as well, and all five stepped away, huddling close together and speaking rapidly in hushed tones. Though they were only a few segments away, not even Telok could make out their words.

Cole also stood, raising his arms high as he stretched. “Think they’ll let us?”

“I hope so.” Chewing on her bottom lip, Lacey watched the winddancers.

Telok couldn’t muster the same eagerness. It didn’t matter that he was already growing to like these winddancers, or that he yearned to share with Lacey the same warmth and closeness Tas and Shir seemed to enjoy. When it came to his mate’s safety, when it came to her life, he couldn’t fully trust anyone.

With a few hops and a brief flap of its wings, Swiftclaw moved to a perch closer to the winddancers. Its head turned repeatedly as it scanned the area.

Dei’Shel Ohn gestured at the sky. The winddancers’ conversation grew more animated, though no more discernable. Finally, they seemed to reach some agreement, and they all faced Garahk and the others once again.

“It is decided,” Tas said. “We will take you to Tovuunshai, where you may meet Sophia and the rest of our Nedayas and take shelter for the night. And once there, we would meet with you as friends…and request your aid.”

Garahk touched a knuckle to his headcrest. “We accept with great honor, Wen’Xal Tas.”

Telok grunted, mandibles twitching. “You said shelter for the night.”

Tas nodded. “We must depart now if we are to arrive before dark.”

“There is no need for haste,” Garahk said with a chitter. “You may den with us here, and we will depart with the cresting sun.”

A distressed buzz escaped Tas. “It is not safe here. Not for us, and not for you and yours.”