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Jagga’s hand rested on her shoulder.
“He’s not here,” the young ukkur said. “I would smell him if he was. He must have left in the night while we were sleeping.”
Serenity grew quiet and still.
In a moment of intuition, she understood what had happened. Hruk had gone on alone to warn the canyon tribe even earlier. It made sense, of course. Now that he was healed, Hruk was able to travel swiftly on his own, and he was familiar among the tribe, so they would definitely believe the news he brought them.
Nevertheless, Serenity knew there was something else behind Hruk’s stealthy departure. His need for distance. His unwillingness to become too attached. If he were a human guy, Serenity would have chalked it up to a simple fear of commitment. But in Hruk’s case, Serenity sensed it was something more than that. Somethingdeeper.An old and painful wound that had never healed quite right.
Overhead, the first glimmers of dawn were showing through the dense canopy of leaves.
“Don’t worry,” Jagga said gently. “I’m sure Hruk will be there waiting for us at the canyon.”
Serenity appreciated the young ukkur’s comforting words.
She hoped he was right.
CHAPTER 34: JAGGA
They set out shortly after sunup. For the sake of speed, Jagga decided it was best to leave most of their belongings behind. They could return for them later or make new things once they had reached the canyon. All they took with them were their weapons—knives, slings, throwing stones—plus a small satchel of herbs and a few other supplies.
Grodd had protested about this at first. However, Jagga had allowed Grodd to carry the human. That had placated the big bastard.
Crossing the river was a simple enough matter. They had found a suitable vine that was strong enough to carry their weight, and they had swung across to the opposite bank. Jagga had gone first, then Grodd had done it with the little female riding on his back. She hugged tightly to the big ukkur’s neck and gave a little shout as they swung over the churning water.
After Jagga caught her and set her down on the silty bank, she flashed a sudden grin of exhilaration.
But her grin quickly disappeared.
She was troubled, and the reason was all too obvious.
Hruk.
The dark ukkur’s sudden and silent departure in the night had been unexpected. Then again, it made sense for him to go ahead of them to warn the canyon dwellers early. It would give extra time to prepare a defense or an escape.
Jagga liked Hruk. There was something familiar about him. Something Jagga couldn’t quite put a finger on. Something in the way he carried himself, in the cadence of his voice, in his expertly trained fighting style.
Actually, he reminded Jagga of his old gray-bearded teacher.
Then again, maybe it was just a coincidence. After all, due to Grodd’s ornery nature, there weren’t many other ukkur they had known.
Grodd’s attitude would no doubt pose a problem when they reached the canyon.
Oh well. Jagga would deal with that when the time came. For now, the important thing was getting there as quickly as possible.
After taking a moment to catch their breath after the excitement of swinging over the river, Jagga helped the human Serenity climb aboard Grodd’s back again, and they set off through the woods heading north.
Soon the forest opened up onto a wide rolling prairie covered in long red grass that came up to Jagga’s knees and rippled in the wind like a sea of blood.
Now they were out in the open.
Even though the morning sun was still low, its rays were already beginning to heat the grasslands. That was a good thing. The warmth would mask their own body heat, making them harder for the nith to see.
Jagga knew the scaly, long-snouted bastards were in the area. There were signs of them everywhere. His well trained eyes easily spotted the places where their hovering vehicles had recently passed, bending the blades of grass in the downwash of their propulsion systems. He could smell the rotters too. It was not the scent of the creatures themselves, but the acrid stench of the pollution emitted by their machines.
The farther north they ventured, the more tracks Jagga spotted. The nith had definitely been on the move, no doubt preparing for the coming invasion.
Luckily, they didn’t encounter any actual nith on their journey.
