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He landed on one of the nith, and there came a sound like snapping branches as the creature’s bones were destroyed under the ukkur’s crushing weight. Dead on impact. The nith didn’t even have a chance to scream. It was the lucky one of the bunch.
Two more were gutted before they even had a chance to draw their weapons.
Grodd was a whirlwind of violence. He clawed. He bit. He pummeled. He was ripping the nith to tatters. The ugly reptilian creatures shrieked and snapped their long scaly snouts, but they were no match for the raging ukkur.
From his perch at the rim of the gorge, Jagga looked on in admiration.
Under other circumstances, he would have been perfectly content to let Grodd kill every last one of them. After all, the big brute was clearly enjoying himself, roaring with the thrill of battle. Taking out all of his pent up frustration on the hated nith.
But Jagga wished to get some information out of the leader.
And if he intended to do so, he needed to act quick. He had told Grodd not to touch the leader, but once the big crazy bastard was in berserker mode like this, he had trouble following instructions. It wasn’t insolence. He just tended to get a little carried away.
Time to act.
Jagga hurled himself into the fray.
There was a whoosh of air around his ears as he dropped down into the small gorge, followed by a soft thud as he landed on the balls of his feet and rolled in a smooth somersault.
The nith squadron leader—the one who had been speaking into the communication device—was standing a few paces back from the main fight. It had drawn a small gun from beneath its cloak and was preparing to take aim.
Jagga caught the arm wielding the gun and squeezed hard.
There was a satisfying crunch of pulverized bones. The nith leader shrieked in pain and fear. Jagga flung the robed creature to the ground and straddled him, clamping one hand firmly on the creature’s neck to keep those long jaws from biting him.
Behind, Grodd was finishing up killing the remaining nith.
The gorge grew silent except for the soft, incessant gurgling of the brook, which was totally indifferent to the brutality it had just witnessed.
The nith squadron leader writhed underneath Jagga’s weight, and the ukkur grinned.
“Your friends are dead, nith. If you don’t wish to join them, you’ll start talking.”
The nith hissed.
“Slave, how dare you speak to me thus?”
How dare he? Jagga’s blood heated with anger at the nith’s audacity. He squeezed tighter, letting his fingers bite into the scaly creature’s throat. Perhaps that would let the rotting bastard know how he dared.
The nith’s beady eyes widened and its mouth croaked with fear.
“W-what do you w-wish to know, slave?”
Now that was more like it.
“I heard you talking a moment ago. Your captain said something about an army and an invasion. What army? What invasion?”
The nith’s eyes narrowed.
“The canyon,” the nith rasped. “We will attack the big tribe of ukkur there.”
“Canyon? What canyon?” Jagga asked.
The nith’s body shook, and it made an ugly rasping sound. It was laughing.
“You are not allied with the big tribe? So you don’t know…Oh how amusing…”
Beneath Jagga, the nith’s weight shifted ever so slightly. There was quick movement of the creature’s uninjured hand.
