by Atlas Kane
“And food. Meat smells great,” he choked out, and the woman sighed.
“Our man is recovering well enough. Yes, Cade, we will have a dozen steaks for you to eat, but first, drink some water.”
She held the waterskin to his lips until he was satisfied, thanking her when he was done.
He looked next to the faces around him. Somehow Ketzal and Sholl were present. They must have gone on one hell of a ride, he thought, getting to his feet. Cade walked over and sat down in front of the fire someone had made while he was out. He kept his distance though, the memory of burns all too fresh for his comfort. Then he looked to the woman who’d joined them.
“Cade, this is Gemma. We figured everything out already, and she’s very—” Ketzal said calmly but Minda cut her off with a hiss.
“She can say the rest,” the beastkin woman said. Never since meeting her had Cade witnessed such fire and outrage in the woman.
Gemma looked around them, her large fiery eyes blinking slowly. I had no idea that kind of beauty existed. She is otherworldly, Cade thought. He could barely ponder how lovely and fierce she was, as powerful as Satemi but as exotic and gorgeous as Minda. Finally, she focused on Cade and raised her hand to her chest, hand held in a rigid blade. “I have wronged you. I swear, my shelter is yours should you find yourself lost on the endless fields.”
A moment of confusion passed around the makeshift camp, but Cade recognized it as her version of an apology. He nodded and responded, “You are forgiven. I know you must have been frightened to wake and find yourself strapped down to a stranger, but we had no other options to safely transport you.”
She nodded once then took a bit of a strip of meat and looked at the ground between her crossed legs as if lost in thought.
“You are supposed to say you are sorry, ask for forgiveness. You have offended more than Cade, Gemma. You have offended our entire tribe!” Minda said after a pause, her eyes wide with reproach.
Gemma looked to her as well, and then to all of them. She placed her hand against her chest once more, her fingers held out in a sharp line. Cade noticed the gesture was exact and precise, the angle of her arm the same as the first time she’d done so. Then she repeated the words, “I have wronged you. I swear, my shelter is yours should you find yourself lost on the endless fields.”
Minda shook her head, her frustration escaping her mouth in a hiss of air. Then she stood and walked away. A few words trailed from her mouth as she went. “Thieving, darkcoat,” was all Cade could make out. What her words meant, he had no clue, but by the look of her rigid body as she stalked off into the jungle, he knew they’d soon find out. Ketzal followed shortly after, and Cade knew that if anyone could calm down a furious beastkin, it was the demoness.
It was Satemi who spoke in a voice of reason, which was odd, for Cade was just beginning to remember her angry outburst. “All is well, Gemma. We take your word that no other attacks shall be made on one of our people.” Turning to Cade, she asked, “And you, will you be able to travel after you’ve eaten? Your burns look largely healed already, but is there anything internally bothering you? Your lungs or eyes?”
Cade shook his head. “No, I think I’m fine, but how? No way the tincture and herbs did so much to heal me.”
Satemi tapped a silver buckler bound to her forearm and smiled. “I borrowed this from you. The Restoration of the Grove became available an hour ago. I wasn’t sure you would live until then, but the herbs and tincture stabilized you and began your natural healing process. This did the rest.”
He glanced down to his left arm where the buckler was usually rested and frowned. “I want it back tomorrow. Okay?”
The woman grinned wider, her eyebrows raising in unison. “Of course, Cade, but I had an idea. I think the buckler should be passed around to whoever is on guard at night as well. It makes sense.”
He nodded then received the portion of meat Satemi handed him. The meat was delicious, as it always was when his body was half starved. Halfway through his second large steak, he looked up to find Gemma inspecting him. Cade smiled at her, blood dripping down his chin, and for the first time since meeting her, the woman smiled.
It was still a half-guarded thing, barely worth qualifying, but it counted. That is a start. Now all we gotta do is prevent the cat fight that is brewing.
Minda and Ketzal returned soon after, and they all mounted up. The sky was darkening, but Cade agreed with Satemi. Traveling on at a faster pace and risking an ambush was less risky than sleeping in the middle of the jungle.
Though Cade was still exhausted, and he was sad to see the proud shoulders of even Satemi slump in fatigue, they made it to Camp Casmeer just as the stars were beginning to emerge.
A watch was set and Cade passed out like a high school kid at their best friend’s house, drunk on three types of booze. The vague memory teased at Cade’s mind as he drifted off, something worth sharing with the girls next time they were telling stories of their previous lives.
The following day was awkward to say the least. Minda stormed off to her garden as soon as it was light out, skipping breakfast entirely. Gemma ate only a small portion of the food they gave her and looked around the camp nervously. She looked as if she had no idea what to do. Poor Sholl was shivering in a tent, his condition worsened still. Ketzal poured attention over the lizard man, hoping to ease his pain if not cure him outright with affection.
So Satemi and Cade had the morning meeting alone.
“There’s a lot of work to do, but I don’t know how we can get anything done effectively if those two are still... well, you know?” Cade said, gesturing to Gemma.
“Yes. I want to build up our defenses here further. I expect reprisal. There’s no way Vormer will accept a second defeat like that. Though I think we have time. We thinned his forces, and should he march against us here, the man will likely bring his full strength. I don’t know, he might even be tempted to wait until we show ourselves again. But if he has access to more of the abyss creatures, we are in for company.”
Cade agreed, then asked her if she could go and see if she might find out exactly why Minda was upset. Yes, Gemma nearly killed him, but it was purely instinct. Even he could see that. Satemi agreed to do so and left, telling him only, “And if that one doesn’t eat more, she will not be strong enough to help us during the day’s labor. She’s on you.”
He sighed, stealing just a moment for himself to watch the departing woman’s hips saunter away. Satemi was something else. A brief recollection of their one night together, the way she’d tasted and felt beneath him, stole across his mind’s eye, and he had to shake the thought away. Maybe he could pay her a visit tonight, but not until things were sorted out.
The woman was chewing a piece of grass, staring at it in confusion after she tasted its bitterness when he approached. “Hey there, Gemma. We have a lot to do today, and Satemi was wondering why you haven’t eaten more. Literally, you ate a handful of berries. We have nuts, meat, whatever you want. Are you not feeling well?”
Gemma shook her head. “I have earned nothing from this tribe. Why should I share in your bounty? I ate the… berries because I was curious what they would taste like. In my world we have only meat and that is precious.”
“You have no fruit in your world?” Cade asked, hoping to get to know her a little more before he returned to the heart of the matter.
“There is none of this. What do you call these? All of these? Here, and over there, and this.” She finished gesturing to the sprig of grass she still held.
Realization dawned on Cade, and his mind spun. “Plants. They’re called plants. You have nothing like this on your planet?”
She shook her head and looked out again to see a gust of wind spread a ripple through the grass before them. “No. It is very beautiful. But it does not all taste very good,” she added, lifting the grass up once more.
He didn’t mean to laugh but he did. She wasn’t offended, thankfully, and he explained to her after how she
could inspect the plants to see what was edible. “Use your UVS and almost anything can be scanned for information.”
When she looked even more confused, Cade sighed. “You need to have a long talk with Pablo. Please do so immediately, but first, we want you to eat. We have plenty of food to share, and if we run out, I promise you can help us hunt for more game.”
Gemma’s concern didn’t fade until he mentioned hunting. Then she calmed down and nodded. He gave her some dried jerky to chew on and more fruit, leaving her to go and see what was holding up Satemi’s return. Cade found them still in the garden, and the way in which Minda was gesturing with her arms, the woman hadn’t calmed down yet at all.
“What’s the deal? I know it must be something important otherwise you wouldn’t still be so angry, but why can’t you just forgive her, Minda?” Cade asked, wanting to skip through the bullshit.
The beastkin turned on him, fury in her eyes. Though when she answered his question, her voice was steady. “I have been explaining to Satemi. I am still upset that she attacked you, and I do not recognize her apology. And…” Minda stopped talking, and seemed to search for the right words.
“And?”
When Minda sighed and turned her back to him, Satemi finished for her. “And apparently having a dark-colored coat is a vile thing on her world. I don’t understand at all, but there were other squabbles where I came from. There was a tribe of people with six fingers who we fought against for generations. They had hair on their shoulders and back as well, and though they were like us in every other way, I do not think I could stop myself from attacking one of them should I meet one here.”
Satemi’s admittance eased Minda’s shame somewhat, and the beastkin faced them again. “It sounds foolish to say aloud, but the darkcoats controlled everything unfairly. They were allowed to live in leisure, anyone like me worked their whole lives.”
“You were a slave?” Cade asked, a bit taken aback.
But the woman shook her head. “No, not quite. We were simply workers, earning a few credits each day to keep ourselves afloat. The darkcoats among us were given everything simply because of how they were born.”
The irony and connection of light versus dark complexions wasn’t lost on Cade, but he felt no need to explain the realities back on Earth. Instead, he asked Minda as kindly as possible, “Will you speak with her tonight? You can have the day to do what you must, but Satemi and I were hoping to do a few big projects to make Camp Casmeer safer for everyone. What do you say?”
Without speaking, Minda answered with a simple nod, then returned to her herbs in silence.
When it was plain that Gemma was too uncomfortable to pitch in and help with the manual labor needed to prepare for the construction projects Cade and Satemi had planned, he thought of the perfect solution. When in doubt, distraction can be a vital tool. What could go wrong?
He called Ketzal and Gemma over and asked them how they felt about going on a hunt. Ketzal’s face soured, but when he added she would be taking Bellows, her mood changed. Gemma was enthusiastic immediately, though she did seem put off by the concept of having company. She opened her mouth, and Cade braced for some obscure argument. But for some reason, she decided against it, instead just saying she was happy to help in any way.
The group left shortly after, and the tension in camp eased somewhat. Minda finally washed the soil from her hands long enough to find out their burgeoning plan.
“Palisades. Proper ones, and ditches before them. We are going to have our lovely Bellows help with those, but I expect to need at least three bodies with the palisades. All that happens tomorrow though. Today, we will all become woodsmen,” Satemi said with the cool authority of a foreman.
Minda looked relieved to have something to take her mind off of the new addition to the tribe. So the group headed down to the grove of trees and started their labor.
There are few things in life more exhilarating, more thrilling and satisfying than felling a tree. Cade knew this from his youth when he took the initiative to fell a small tree behind his house. It had been as thick as his thigh, which wasn’t much considering he was only ten years old. The axe he’d used was dull, but did the job considering he was working on a scrawny cedar that a mean wind could knock over. When he pushed on its trunk, and it cracked and fell, Cade was sure few children his age were as powerful.
And the day began with as much gusto. Cade was wielding an insanely sharp axe, hacking into full-grown trees as a full-grown man. So sure enough he felt like the cock of the mother blipping walk as he dropped timber in his grove. After a dozen trees, however, his hands ached, and his back was on fire. The tiny muscles between his ribs were twitching intermittently, and the two women he was laboring next to were giving him cool looks.
Okay, he thought. Maybe I went a little too balls deep to begin with. I was only having fun. But to the women, he said, “I think I’ll take a little break. Satemi, will you take over?”
Satemi’s swords were next to useless for the task, but the woman found Vormer’s shorter, heavier blade was perfect for cleaning the limbs from the tree trunks. So she had busied herself cleaning up the logs Cade had cut down. Now she hefted the axe, and rather than begin cutting down another swath of their precious grove, hacked the logs into useable lengths.
Sweet, vicious Minda took it upon herself to collect the discarded branches and haul it into a pile to dry. It would make remarkable kindling in a week or two. The cut logs she stored into her Inventory and made the trip back and forth to a location just down the slope from the main camp. Every other trip, she peeked in on poor Sholl, who remained febrile and incoherent most of the time.
What began as a fun adventure quickly turned into a nightmare fest. Grueling and endless, the six hundred six-foot pieces of lumber Satemi had ordered was an insane feat to accomplish. Each tree was well over thirty feet tall, but the thin tips weren’t usable for the task. So every tree gained them four, occasionally five six-foot pieces. To be safe, they chose twenty more trees and spent the entire day chopping them down, cleaning them up, and busting the logs into manageable sizes.
It was dusk when the three lumberjacks dumped the final pile of logs into the veritable lumberyard they’d assembled and meandered to the pool to soak. They didn’t strip down and bathe gracefully, but flopped into the cold water and sighed like pieces of hot forge metal dropped into a bucket of water.
Shortly after they emerged and stripped down to dry their clothes, Gemma and Ketzal returned with dinner.
The tension returned at once, but Cade was pleased that it seemed very much one-sided. Minda glowered while preparing the broad cook screen, seasoning turtle steaks with herbs and placing them side by side to roast above their fire. She didn’t say anything rude though.
As night fell, the three bathers donned the rough fur cloaks Satemi had made them the other night. Sholl had found a place by the fire and was slowly drinking some bone broth, and Ketzal sat beside him, wary he might suddenly swoon. They each had a hide blanket around their shoulders as well. A cover of dense mist had filled their glade, and with it, a deep chill.
Touched by some thread of compassion, Minda summoned a spare fur cloak and walked across the camp to stand before the nude woman. She held up the garment and asked in a flat tone. “Would you like to warm yourself? We have an extra.” The words were empty of all affection, but Cade was proud of the attempt. Satemi smiled softly, betraying the fact that he was not the only one relieved to see a peace offering made.
Gemma looked at the piece of fur and hide. Her head twisted to one side, like a cat puzzled by something odd. Then she laughed and declined the offer. “Only children need warm themselves with another beast’s hide,” she finished and returned to finishing her meal.
In a second, things went from bad to worse in Camp Casmeer. Minda crouched where she stood, dropping the hide and hissing. The short hair on her neck rose, as did the hair on the tops of her arms.
Their newest member didn’t ta
ke the threat well at all. Gemma let her food fall to the dirt and dove over her bench to buy herself space from the perceived threat. She was in full tiger mode when she hit the ground, then spun, her flames flaring brightly. Even as Cade leapt to his feet to pull Minda away, who’d produced a knife from somewhere, he admired the savage beauty of Gemma’s cat form. Writhing muscle and tendon danced beneath a coat of living flame. He saw the strange metallic hair still intact around Gemma’s head. It would have made her look more of a lion if the fur and orange flames didn’t flow and wave in the air all around her.
The heat from her combustion nearly caught Satemi’s workshop on fire, but when the two female felines were separated and cooled off, the warrior’s ire was directed solely upon Minda. “This is your doing. Fix your head tonight, and never threaten another in our village again. I am its defender, and if you do so once more, for any perceived slight, you will be facing me. Understood?”
Minda’s ears fell flat, and she retreated to one of the spare buildings for the night.
Shaking his head, Cade fought with everything he had not to nudge Sholl and whisper, cat fight! Despite the inescapably delicious irony, he knew this was a problem they had to overcome. In the morning, after breakfast and tea and lots of calm conversation, the two cat women would be having a tête-à-tête.
10
An Appealing Predicament
“Well so much for dessert,” Satemi groaned, finding her seat near Cade once more after the fight had been extinguished.
“My thoughts exactly. Then again…” Cade added as he handed the woman half a mango, its flesh already sliced with the help of his Nilgathi fang dagger.
She took it and shrugged. “Good point. There’s no reason I have to be in a bad mood as well.” They sat and listened to the popping fire, eating their small treat. Ketzal was dressing Sholl’s wound once more, and Bellows busied himself by making a competition to see if his snoring or flatulence were louder. Cade was so far undecided.