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“Whoever does not die,” she answered softly.
“What the hell!” I said in English, shaking my head fiercely. “We’re in an alliance! Why would Gahn Errok come here and start shit like this?”
“I’ll give you three guesses,” Valeria said flatly.
I didn’t need three guesses.
I only needed one.
Because of me.
For fuck’s sake.
“Well, we can’t let this happen,” I sputtered at Valeria. I was worried she’d tell me no, that we weren’t going to insert ourselves into this situation. But thankfully, she agreed.
“You’re right. Both the Gahns seem to have forgotten that peace between the tribes is a fundamental part of this treaty. They can’t be entering into fucking death duels like this. At least, not if they want to remain allied with us and have any sort of access to human women.”
With that, she called Grim to her side, drew her pistol, and stormed out of the Sky Hall.
Of course, we all followed her.
We moved through the tunnel quickly, our boots scuffing along the stone incline as we ran. It didn’t take us long before we were tumbling out into the open air of the cold night.
The circle of warriors parted slightly, allowing us to see what was happening.
My eyes went wide, my mouth falling open.
Only the sound of twanging strings and whizzing arrows, coupled with Zaria’s explanation of the taklok helped me to figure out what was happening. Because based on sight alone, it was nearly impossible. The two Gahns moved so quickly their arms became blurs. Shooting and blocking and shooting again, the two huge men warred under the bite of starlight.
“They can’t keep that up for long,” I said fretfully, not realizing I was wringing my hands. I stopped the motion, shaking my fingers viciously at my sides.
“I think that’s kind of the point,” Fiona said grimly, all traces of her usual humour gone. “Whoever gets tired first gets shot.”
I shook my head, biting down hard on my lips. I was so fucking pissed at Gahn Errok I could barely breathe.
And even more than that, I was scared. Scared I’d see a man die in front of us. Gahn Thaleo, though not a warm person by any means, had still been hospitable to us. He’d fed us, taken note of what we liked and needed, and had been more than generous so far. I didn’t want to see him get hurt or die, especially when this was feeling more and more like my fault. Which was dumb, because it obviously wasn’t my fault. But it still felt that way.
And as for Gahn Errok...
As much as I absolutely hated what he was doing right now, and as much as he drove me up the alien fucking wall, I didn’t want to see him get hurt, either.
I walked forward. I would have walked all the way into the circle if the nearest warrior’s tail hadn’t shot out to block my path.
“Stay back during the taklok,” he ordered, his arms bulging with tension as he held his bow and arrow trained on Gahn Errok.
I swallowed and nodded, knowing I wouldn’t get any further into the circle right now even if I tried.
I returned my gaze to the two men at the centre of the circle.
Gahn Errok seemed to have gained the upper hand. Or, rather, he’d just given up on blocking altogether. His arm flew, arrow after arrow pounding through the air and forcing Gahn Thaleo into a pattern of defensive blocking. One of Gahn Thaleo’s men hurried forward and refilled Gahn Errok’s quiver, and another man did the same for Gahn Thaleo on the other side before either of them could run out of projectiles.
One of Errok’s arrows found its mark. It zoomed by Gahn Thaleo’s head, slicing his ear badly. The wound bled profusely, coating his scars in a fresh river of black blood.
Gahn Thaleo didn’t seem to register the injury at all – didn’t evenflinch. But I still couldn’t control my shocked cry of horror. I wasn’t going to stand here and watch Gahn Thaleo get killed overme.
“Gahn Errok! Stop!” I yelled.
The merciless rhythm of Errok’s arms faltered. His head snapped to the side. His sight stars found my eyes instantly, and I gasped. Those sight stars blistered. Got inside me like lightning. Hot and electric and –
