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He must not intervene.
But he could follow. He could watch.
And that’s exactly what Hruk was doing.
It was night. The sun had fallen beyond the horizon, and the canyon was once more plunged into darkness. There were a few scattered campfires, but already these were being extinguished as ukkur and human alike retired into their dwellings for the night. Soon the camp was still and quiet.
But not for long.
As Hruk watched from his perch, the flap of the women’s communal sleeping tent peeled back, and a small figured emerged. Hruk could not make out any details in the dark, but he didn’t need to. He knew exactly who it was.
The little female was breaking curfew for the second night in a row.
She was a bad little human. Very bad.
But Hruk felt an irrational compulsion to protect her. And considering her equally irrational compulsion to go wandering alone at night, she wouldneedhis protection.
Hruk followed, keeping a safe distance.
After a short walk through the camp, the female encountered another small shadowy figure, and Hruk had no doubt that it was the male he had seen her with earlier that day. Once more, he felt hot rage surging into his head, but he managed to keep his emotions in check. For the time being, at least.
The two humans made their way farther down the canyon, sticking close to the stone walls. Eventually they ducked inside one of the many cave entrances that dotted the side of the canyon.
Hruk kept following.
The faint blue-green glow of the cave lichen confirmed the ukkur’s suspicions. The female’s companion was indeed the skinny, fragile male he had seen earlier that day. He led the way, following a twisting path through the cool, musty tunnels smelling of minerals and mold and ringing with subterranean echoes.
Hruk followed at a distance, careful not to be seen.
At last, the tunnel opened once again onto the night. But this was not the deep darkness of the tree-shaded canyon. It was the prairie that stretched away to the south. The moon was up, and though it was not completely full, it was bright enough to cast a pale silvery glow over the tall grass that rippled like water in the breeze.
A few paces outside of the tunnel, a pair of animals were tethered to a gnarled bush. Skriks. Bipedal reptilian creatures used by the ukkur for riding and carrying provisions.
The puny little male might be a weakling, but he clearly had brains. He had obviously sneaked these skriks out of the stables and tied them here for later use.
Rot him. Rot the little bastard.
Hanging back inside the cave, Hruk felt the flames of rage returning to his chest. He scented blood and realized that he was unconsciously clenching his fists so hard his claws had broken the skin of his palms. He licked the blood away. It was warm and tasted of iron.
He wished it was the human male’s blood. He wanted to kill that little turd.
But as always, the curse kept him rooted in place. All he could do was watch while the two humans untethered the skriks, mounted them, and headed off into the prairie.
Perhaps it was for the best, the ukkur thought.
As much as he wanted her, as much as she fascinated him, Hruk could never get close to the female. He could never get close to anyone without putting their life in danger. Such was the nature of the curse that he had carried with him all his life.
He lived among the other ukkur here in the camp, and he did his part to help fight the hated nith. But he refused to join a pack or to make friends with any of the other warriors. He remained aloof, and though the other ukkur surely thought him odd, they respected his privacy.
So perhaps it was for the best that the little human female was riding away from him, never to be seen again. It was the only way to ensure her safety.
Yet…
Something did not seem quite right.
As Hruk crouched in the entrance of the cave, watching the pair of skriks carrying the riders away through the quicksilver sea of moonlit grass, something caused the hairs to bristle at the back of his neck.
The woman was being led into danger.
