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A hand touched Serenity’s shoulder.
It was Jagga.
The young ukkur took the translator device away from his ear and placed it onto Serenity’s.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find Hruk.” He tapped his nose. “I can smell him. Come with me. We’ll follow his scent trail.”
CHAPTER 36: HRUK
The forest at the top of the canyon was quiet and peaceful. An excellent place to die.
Hruk had made it back to the canyon just before sunrise. He had gone straight to the tribal leaders and warned them about the coming nith invasion. He had told them everything he knew and informed them that Serenity could provide additional details when she arrived later that morning with Jagga and Grodd.
The tribe acted immediately, making the necessary preparations for the upcoming battle. They had moved the human refugees into the cavern systems for safety.
Meanwhile, Hruk quietly slipped away to this secluded and shady spot above the canyon.
He had completed one duty. Soon he would fulfill another.
He sat cross-legged atop a broad flat boulder near the edge of the canyon and meditated, preparing himself for what he had to do. His stone knife lay beside him. The wind rustled in the leaves overhead. Somewhere nearby a gollan bird called.
Hruk took one last deep breath of the clean forest-scented air and he was ready.
He reached down and took up his knife. The obsidian blade caught the light filtering through the leaves. Hruk had crafted that blade with his own hands, following the knapping technique that Throlf had taught him. It was a good blade, and it had served him well as both a tool and a weapon. It had taken many lives. Soon it would take one more.
Soon his curse would finally be ended.
Hruk raised the weapon. He grasped the handle with both hands and held it at arm’s length. The tip was aimed directly at his heart.
The ukkur was at peace.
His mind was still.
His only regret was that he could not see the little human female one last time.
Just as Hruk was preparing to drive the blade into his chest, a tiny voice broke the silence of the forest.
“Hruk!”
At first he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But when the voice called his name again, Hruk knew he wasn’t just imagining things.
It was her. It was Serenity. She was here…
Still holding his knife at arm’s length, Hruk turned and looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was the little human female. She was clothed again, and she was riding on Grodd’s back as he and Jagga came racing out of the foliage.
They must have followed his scent up the canyon paths. He had not expected them back so soon. He had delayed too long.
The female saw the knife in his hands, and her eyes went wide with concern.
With surprising speed, she leapt off Grodd’s back, sprinted toward the boulder where Hruk was sitting, and clambered over his body until she was in his lap with her arms and legs wrapped around him.
She was putting herself between the knife and his heart.
“What do?” she cried, pronouncing the ukkur words in that funny human accent of hers. “Hruk…what do?”
Hruk sighed heavily.
He saw that she still had the nith device clipped on her ear, which meant she would be able to understand him.
