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“Heard he was killed by Kilo’s gang.”
“Do you not see him?”
“I wish I could fuck him.”
The last statement was said by more than one individual. So glad Roqs was not here. I admit though, I wondered how Brin would react to others wanting me.
Then they all ceased chatter when the irritable Drixan announced me to the room. I hated this. Hate was being too kind. My Silver Beast was itching to come out. Rather than look for Brin, I was stuck here.
“Esteemed Elders, Zirc of the Silver Tribe has arrived,” Drixan said loud enough that it echoed throughout the circular room.
When they all looked at me like I was a specimen, I folded my arms in front of my chest and glowered at Drixan. He bowed once to the Elders and walked back.
He leaned towards me, and in a soft voice only I could hear, he said, “Your scent has changed Zirc. I wouldn’t mind, since you haven’t mated yet with our kind.”
I made him see the Silver Beast in my eyes.
Seeing the terror in his eyes appeased me and my beast. He straightened up and tried not to run away from me. What the fuck was he talking about?
I schooled my eyes and moved forward to the raised platform. There were only three of them. Travre, the youngest to become an Elder, walked down from the platform and greeted me. He was only a decade older than me and Roqs.
“Zirc, finally. Come, we’ll go my rooms,” he motioned for me to follow him.
Tradition demanded I paid my respects so I bowed to the two elders on the platform. Even though they reached an age when they should be dead by now, they still smelled of blood. Like they made a recent kill. Elders Essu and Qhokzok stared at me then returned to writing. Still with the old ways of scribing. I wouldn’t be surprised if torture was on their agenda today because of how they smelled of blood.
The Elders were an important part of our society. Even the High Council defer to them. I was lucky enough the leader of the Elders was not here. Or maybe he was lucky. I haven’t forgotten what he did to my parents.
If I had known this visit would be reminiscing the past, I would have ditched this trip and asked someone to deliver this relic to them. Consequences be damned.
“There,” Travre released a sigh of relief when he closed the door. His rooms was a big open space instead of splitting it into his a personal, receiving and meeting room. One side of the room held books from top to bottom. I remembered Brin’s reaction to books. She would love here.
“Come,” Travre walked into one section of the wall full of books. I wasn’t surprised when it swiveled and revealed a secret room. Hiding in plain sight.
Lights automatically opened as we walked a narrow wall. I tried not to imagine we were beneath a mountain. Quakes rarely occur on our planet. There was still that small chance of it happening.
The narrow hallway ended up to a small granite room. Crystals adorned the room. Two sections of the wall were lined with small doors stacked on top of another. Almost like a mailbox. The Elder opened one and held out a black cloth, similar to what I have in my bag.
Without any question or fanfare, which was what I expected, I opened my bag and pulled out the charred black crystal. A charred wood was still stuck to it. Though it only spanned my hand, the air was saturated with its power now that it was out of the room. I saw something flashed in Travre’s eyes when he looked at it. I held the black cloth to him. He secured it using his thumbprint smeared with blood.
Interesting.
“Please sit,” he motioned to the chair nearest to me. A metallic table separated me from him. He sat and laid his hands on the table. “Is there anything you want to tell me when you retrieved the relic?”
I shrugged, trying to control my heartbeat. I wanted to leave now that my mission was complete. “It was located where you said it would.”
“There was an explosion?”
“When I arrived, everything was black, charred to the ground. The grasslands were burned to ashes within oneimpes.” Unsaid was the fact that was where I first encountered Brin.
Travre raised an eyebrow. “That is quite a radius.”
“The direction you gave me saved my life. If I went from the opposite direction, I wouldn’t be sitting here chatting with you. Elder Travre,” I paused. “If there is nothing, I would like to go on my way.”
“Meeting with someone?”
I failed to hear the slyness in his voice which I would regret later. “Roqs is waiting for me and Coone on the top side.” Meaning, the top side of this mountain. If I leave now, I would reach them in less than five hours. Three if I pushed myself to the limits. Traveling with a winox is pointless. I need to track them by smell.
“You mean, the alien you found with the relic is waiting for your, Zirc?”
