by Ivy Cross
Even at a distance, the constant clicking from the disgusting bones attached to his face is easy to hear. The sound makes my skin crawl, and I try not to focus on the perverse jewelry—easier to convince myself the bones are only from small animals, and not women and children too.
Bailey and the other human remain where they are, clearly unsure of what to do or where to go.
I expect more arrogant speeches, but as soon as he is in range, he heaves the gleaming blackstone blade down at me with a loud grunt. I move around the blow without bothering to try to block his blade with my own. This is not to be a fight of blocks and parries. His weapon is far too heavy and would likely pass through mine as easily as it would my flesh.
No, this will not be a fight won with traditional combat. In fact, I do not think this will be a fight at all.
The force of his swing takes him almost to the ground. He recovers quickly for his size and readies the large blade to block my return attack. When it does not come, he takes a few steps back and makes an indignant sound in his throat.
“You are a coward!” he roars. “Do you think the tiny females will defend you?”
I do not reply. There is no need. He could probably rend me in two with his blade and obvious strength, but the fight that had moments before given me pause will never come. The moment he swung his weapon it became clear he could never touch me with it.
I take one long step forward, eating through the distance between us, and plunge the tip of my blade right into one of his white-rimmed eyes. The half-startled, half-angry expression—at least, the portion of it I can see through his monstrous bone mask—never leaves his face as he crumples to the ground with a loud thud.
A suitable death for one such as him. He deserved nothing more.
Bailey moves down the hillside toward me, pulling the rope loose from her neck at the same time. The other female hesitantly follows.
“I’m glad you showed up,” Bailey says, tossing the rope to the ground. “But… how glad am I? Anything’s better than being with the boneman down there.” She casts a disgusted look at the dead man on the ground. “But I assume Jaha sent you to bring me back. For punishment? I can explain what happened with the guard. It wasn’t my fault—”
I sling the blood from my blade and fix my gaze on the female. “Jaha sent me to kill you.”
Chapter 17 – Bailey
I take a quick step back from Atrae, but something in his gaze keeps me from turning to run. “Okay… I’m not quite as relieved you’re here as I was a moment ago.”
A smile lights his face and dispels my fear in an instant.
“Jaha sent me to kill you. But I no longer care what he wants. I am here for my own reasons.”
“Which are?”
“You asked me once to help you on your quest to find your people—”
“If memory serves, I asked you more than once,” I interrupt.
He pulls something from his pouch and holds it out to me. “I was wrong to decline. Much strife could have been saved if we had both gone from my village sooner.”
I take the object from his hand. It’s the dagger I last saw jutting from the side of the horrible, hairy guard. Thankfully, Atrae cleaned it.
Cara ducks her head down to mine and presses her lips to my ear. “I’m glad he killed the other one,” she hisses. “Really fucking glad. But are you sure we can trust him? What’s to keep him from doing the same stuff to us?” Throughout her frantic whispering, she doesn’t take her eyes from Atrae for a second.
I put my arm around her shoulder. “There are good and bad people here just like back on Earth.” I don’t bother to match her whispered tone. “I’m learning that Atrae is one of the good guys.”
“Your words do me honor,” Atrae says. “I am not blameless in what has befallen you, but I welcome a place at your side. If you will have me.”
I gaze back at his stone-chiseled features for several seconds until I realize he’s genuinely asking. “Of course I will have you.”
It feels a little like I was just passed a note in homeroom—will you be my girlfriend, circle yes or no—but I just let the awkward elation mix with the sense of relief. A moment ago I was going to be dinner or a plaything for Skeletor down there. I’m still not sure which option I would have preferred but, thankfully, I no longer have to choose.
“Alright then, any idea where we should go from here?”
“I believe I have a place to start.” He takes my shoulder and turns me back to look toward the hazy green lands beyond the Calji village. His touch seems like the only bit of warm comfort I’ve felt in days. “We will start back near the Vanthae territory.”
***
“This is starting to look familiar to me. Maybe…”
It takes us three days and nights to get to what Atrae assures me is the outskirts of Vanthae territory and the area likeliest to be where Talia and I came down. I have to take his word for it because for the last day and night, it’s been the same thick greenery of the forest. How the tribes figure where one group’s lands end and another’s begins is a complete mystery to me.
Maybe it’s a scent marking kind of thing…
“But we came down in a clearing on a bit of hill… I think. It’s a little hard to remember considering I was terrified out of my mind and I got bludgeoned over the head by a rat-owl looking Valat.”
“Jesus,” Cara says, wiping a lump of matted hair from her forehead. “Did none of the women end up coming down next to a peaceful village filled with pleasant, helpful people?”
“I don’t think that it’s that kind of planet.”
“I believe I know the clearing of which you speak,” Atrae says. He moves in front of me and tilts my eyes up toward his with a gentle touch under my chin. “Do you wish to rest before we continue? The day will grow hotter before night cools it again.”
“No, let’s keep going,” I say, enjoying the caress of his fingers. Atrae has gotten much more hands-on during our travels over the last few days. And I can’t say I’m unhappy about it… It’s a step up from when he could barely look at me.
“Very well but tell me if you need respite.”
“I will.”
“Good.” He continues to hold my gaze.
“Uh, so will I…” Cara says with a tired chuckle. “That is if you two even notice I’m still here in a few minutes.”
That’s enough to snap the staring contest. Atrae takes point and leads us deeper into the potentially unending forest. We walk for maybe twenty minutes when Atrae stops again.
“The clearing should be east of us here. We can take the game trail all the way there. It will make for easy travel.” He points to an area between two large shiny-barked trees.
“Game trail?” Cara mouths to me.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I don’t see it either. I think maybe he smells this stuff…”
Cara and I start to move as one, but Atrae puts out a hand to block our path. “Listen.” His voice becomes a sharp whisper.
I don’t hear anything other than the strange buzzes and squelches that have filled this weird forest since the start. And judging by Cara’s puzzled expression, she’s just as clueless as I am.
But as Atrae unsheathes his blade, it is clear there’s something out there worth paying attention to.
I pull the dagger from its sheath dangling from my neck. I doubt I would have much of a chance if the source of the noise makes it through Atrae, but the cool metal is still comforting in my fist.
Several minutes go by before I catch the first sign of what Atrae is focused on—the crunch of some twigs or leaves underfoot. The sound could almost be shrugged off as more background noise from the forest if it were not for its regularity.
Before long, even I can tell it’s the sound of footsteps.
Atrae uses his free hand to instruct us to get low, then he creeps behind one of the shiny trees ahead. His footsteps do not make a sound.
I see a hint of a shape—just the edge of an a
rm emerging from the forest gloom—before Atrae blurs into action. He glides like a whisper around the side of the tree opposite of the intruder, disappearing for a handful of seconds. When he pops back up, it’s with the edge of his blade pressed firmly against the throat of a tall, youthful warrior with a spear clutched in his hand.
“Drop your weapon,” Atrae tells the young man in a deadly calm voice.
The youth hesitates for a moment and then he drops his spear, his dark eyes flitting down to me and widening. “Who are you?” His voice is a little muffled and his jaw looks like he was recently on the losing end of a heavyweight boxing match.
“Vanthae?” Atrae asks, ignoring the question.
“Yes.”
“Are you out here alone?”
“No, half a hundred of my brothers watch us now from the trees.”
Atrae tightens his grip, causing the Vanthae youth to grunt in pain. “A joke…” he sputters.
“The truth is all I require from you.”
The youth looks from me to Cara and back. “Humans?”
That gets my attention. I walk over to the Vanthae to get a better look at his face. He’s not quite as tall as Atrae, but his youthful features and thinness give him the appearance of an over-tall sapling.
“You know of humans?” I ask. His expression is open and even kind. But I’m on an alien planet, so I wouldn’t stake my life on my ability to judge his intentions.
“Yes, I have met more of your kind.” To Atrae he says, “you can put your blade away. I do not mean you any harm. You are Calji, correct?”
“I am,” Atrae says after a pause.
“Then we have no quarrel. Our tribes now have an agreement.”
Atrae slides his blade away from the younger man’s throat but still holds it at the ready. “Then Regar and Jaha have come to terms? The two humans from my village are now in your tribe’s possession?”
The youth makes a sound that might be a laugh. “In a manner of speaking.”
“This sounds like good news…” Cara says, not sounding terribly convincing. “Did—did you find any other humans around here?”
“Yes, our leader did. There are four of your kind in our village including the ones that came from the Calji village.”
Cara and I exchange surprised looks. Four humans with the Vanthae… With the two of us, that makes six from the ten who came down from the Kaeth slave ship. The numbers are a hell of a lot better than I expected.
Now the only problem is that the Calji leader wants me dead. And when he finds out about Atrae’s betrayal, he’ll likely want the same thing for him. Why can’t things just be simple?
Atrae glances at me, and his expression seems to say he’s thinking the same thing I am.
“What word have you had from the Calji,” Atrae asks. “And these humans Regar found… do you know their names?”
That last is just for me. Atrae knows I have a special interest in Talia’s fate.
“There was a Calji messenger early this very morning, but I do not know the nature of the message.” The youth straightens his posture and stands a little taller. “And it was not Regar who found the other humans.”
“You said two were found by your leader.”
“Regar was slain in honorable challenge.”
“By you?” Atrae asks in an incredulous voice.
The young man’s smile is so broad it’s hard to think he could mean otherwise.
“Gods no…” The young warrior’s cheeks flush. “The great warrior Dekkar now leads the Vanthae tribe.”
Atrae flashes a look to me, but I can’t tell if he thinks this news is good or bad. From the little he said about Regar over the last few days, I got the sense he didn’t think much of the man. But there’s something to be said for the devil you know… and this new guy is a complete anomaly.
The Vanthae youth’s brow furrows comically. “What am I thinking? She just taught me this…” He says the words mostly under his breath and apparently to himself.
He raises an arm suddenly in my direction, looking for all the world like he’s offering me an awkward handshake. Turns out, that’s exactly what he’s doing. “My name is Nax,” he says stiffly, continuing to hold his hand out.
I grasp his outstretched hand, and his smile broadens. He pumps my hand for several moments, paying careful attention like he’s trying to get it just right.
“My—my name is Bailey.” I look to Atrae but, maybe for the first time ever, he looks completely baffled.
“Well, Bailey, I think I should take the three of you back to my village. I believe Queen Talia will be eager to see you.”
Chapter 18 – Bailey
Coming from the Calji’s home, the Vanthae village is a study in opposites. The strange circular village rears up from the center of a green valley like a tan pupil set in the middle of some giant’s eye.
Compared to even the smaller villages and towns of Earth, it’s not even really a blip on the map. But it’s at least four times the size of the Calji’s village, and a tall wooden wall surrounds the whole thing. The whole setup gives me the impression of some old-timey military installation—like something you’d see in an old black and white movie about the Civil War.
Nax leads us down a well-tended path to a large set of gate doors guarded by two bare-chested warriors with stony expressions. Without a word, they yank the doors open to let us through.
“Jeez…” I catch Atrae’s eyes and can tell he too is surprised by the bustle of activity on the other side of the gates. Tall children run from nearly every corner, flinging stick swords and spears at one another. Cookfires smolder in the yards of most of the huts in sight, with families of two or more lean, tan-skinned warriors gathered around each.
“You are in time for the midday meal,” Nax says. He smiles when he catches sight of the expression on Atrae’s face. “You have never seen the Vanthae village?”
“Once… when I was much younger. And not nearly this close. How many do you have here?”
“Not as many as we soon will,” Nax answers cryptically. “But that is a matter for Dekkar to discuss with you.”
We continue along a broad central path until we reach the largest of the huts in the village. It is similar in design to the others around, but the splash of bright yellow pigment on the front façade sets it apart. The paint looks fresh.
“Here is where I leave you,” Nax says, gesturing to the door. “I need to return to my hunt.” The young man pauses for a moment, as though remembering something else. “It was nice to meet you all.”
“Nice to meet you, too.” Cara and I answer in unison.
Nax’s face breaks out in another wide grin and he lopes off back down the path.
Atrae hesitates at the hut’s door. “If this does not go the way we hope, I will attempt to—”
The door bursts open to reveal a large, dark-featured Vanthae warrior standing on the other side. His eyes narrow and his brow knits as he catches sight of Atrae on the other side of his threshold. It makes him look a little like one of those perpetually fearsome warrior statues they used to carve in ancient times—not a look I would choose to be on the receiving end of…
But the look is gone just as quickly when he catches sight of me and Cara in the rear. “One of you is the human Bailey?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
The Vanthae warrior hesitates long enough to look Atrae over once more, then makes room for us to enter. “Come in. Tal will be pleased. I am called Dekkar.”
Atrae puts one foot across the threshold before Dekkar stops him with an upraised palm. “Leave your weapon outside.”
It’s Atrae’s turn to hesitate.
I place a gentle hand on his arm. “I think it’s okay. Talia’s a friend, and Dekkar is a friend of hers, so…”
“More than a friend,” Dekkar corrects in a serious voice. “Talia is my queen—my goddess.”
“Okay… either way, I think it’s safe to say we’ll all be on good terms here.”
Atrae pulls his blade from his side and studies it for a moment. “This blade is important to me,” he says finally.
“You have my word as the Vanthae leader that it will be untouched. I would know you before I allow you to carry it freely inside my home.” He touches his fingers briefly to a strange bandage on his side.
Atrae nods and leans his sword against the yellow wall. “A sensible precaution.”
With that settled, we enter through a longish mudroom-like space. The air still smells of incense, but I can’t see any lit in the dim room.
The moment we enter the next chamber, we’re greeted by a loud, high-pitched squeal.
Atrae drops low and positions his body to shield mine. It takes him a few seconds to figure out the attack is coming from a tiny woman on the other side of the room.
“God, you’re already here!” Talia runs over and flings her arms around me. She takes a second to nearly squeeze the air out of me, before scooping Cara into the huddle as well.
She doesn’t seem to notice or care that Atrae was moments from pounding her into a pulp. Then again, Dekkar’s eyes haven’t budged for a second from their Calji guest… so maybe she knows what she’s about.
“We just got word this morning that you were still alive,” Talia says, breaking away long enough to look me over. “Dekkar sent a party out to look for you… but there’s no way they got you here already.”
“We came on our own—just lucky timing. I was about to retrace our steps and look for you when Nax found us… I’m so glad to see you, Tal. You look like you’re doing well…”
That’s the understatement of the century. A few hours ago, I had visions of finding my friend cowering in some Valat hole covered in her own filth. But here she is, queen of what might be the largest village on this planet.
She’s dressed in a rich green tunic dress and has her long hair loosely braided. She looks downright radiant, and I think most of that is simply because she’s clean.
It makes me feel the days of sweat and grime all the more.