by Lizzy Bequin
“Gunnar, you’re the smart one,” Thusar growled. “Please tell me you’ve got a plan to get us out of this.”
Gunnar scanned his eyes all around the landscape. Aside from the crashed vehicle that they were hiding behind, there was absolutely no place to hide from the withering fire of the nith guns.
They were rotted. Well and truly rotted.
“Sorry boss,” Gunnar grunted, “but I’ve got nothing.”
He looked sadly at Ika, who was crouching beside him. He didn’t care if he lost his own life, but the thought of losing her filled him with all kinds of negative emotions. Rage. Fear. Hopelessness.
“We’re gonna need a miracle,” he said under his breath.
No sooner had the words left his mouth, than an earth-shuddering roar rolled across the land. Gunnar’s first thought was thunder, but the sky wasn’t cloudy enough for that.
What the rot was that?
“Look!” Muk shouted, pointing toward a ridge in the east where the land rose slightly.
There were figures gathered there, tiny in the distance. There were hundreds of them lined up in rows. Some of them were standing, but others appeared to be mounted on other creatures.
“Nith?” Thusar asked.
“I don’t think so,” Muk said. The young ukkur shaded his eyes and squinted. Suddenly a huge grin spread across his face. “Ukkur! B’gods, they’re all ukkur! Hundreds of ’em!”
CHAPTER 26
There was a sound of a hundred voices roaring in unison, then the ukkur army began charging down the snow-covered slope like a living avalanche. Their feet shook the ground like an earthquake.
Peering over the side of the wrecked vehicle, Ika could hardly believe what she was seeing. Until a few days ago, the only ukkur she had really known was Rolf. She had caught glimpses here and there of the other ukkur who would pass through their territory, and now she had gotten to know the four brutal and dominant ukkur who had captured and protected her over these last days. But she had never seen anything like this.
An entire army of ukkur.
Hundreds of them.
The warriors were clad in furs just like Ika and her companions. Most of them were charging on foot, but a few were mounted on two-legged reptilian animals called skriks that Ika had never seen before except in Rolf’s cave drawings. Some of the ukkur were armed with primitive weapons such as spears, bows, and slings while others carried energy rifles that must have been stolen from the nith in other battles. They put all of these weapons to good use, raining death and destruction on the rows of nith lined up outside of the slaughterhouse facility.
“Gods,” Thusar growled. “It’s them! The army of ukkur from the southern territories.”
Ika’s heart lifted.
Just seconds before, it had seemed that all hope was lost. They were outgunned and pinned down by the nith, and their death had seemed like a certainty. Now, however, the army of ukkur were cutting the nith to ribbons. The enemy was scattering and retreating in a panic.
“Let’s help them!” Ika shouted.
There was a rifle embedded in the snow by her feet. It had fallen from the vehicle during the wreck. She took it up now and charged out from behind the shelter.
“Ika,” Thusar bellowed. “Get back here!”
But she was too caught up in the thrill of battle. Her heart was pounding with excitement and a triple dose of adrenaline was rushing through her veins. She sprinted ahead through the ankle-deep snow.
Ika aimed her rifle as she had seen Thusar do, pointing it at a knot of nith guards. She squeezed the trigger, and the gun bucked in her hands, sending out a three-shot burst that flew way over her target and slammed into the dark walls of the slaughterhouse with three sparking explosions.
“Whoa!”
Apparently this kind of weapon would take a bit of practice.
“Careful with that thing,” Thusar growled.
He had appeared at one side of her and Gunnar was at the other side, bracketing her protectively with their own bodies. But at this point, there was little chance of harm coming to her. The nith were on the retreat.
Her other ukkur charged ahead toward the fray. Muk was yelling and firing his gun wildly. Slaine, of course, would not deign to use such weapons and instead grabbed stones from the ground, which he pitched at the fleeing nith. He managed to kill two nith in this manner, which was two more than Muk hit with his rifle, and Slaine gave a gloating grin.
The charging army of ukkur had reached the entrances of the slaughterhouse now. They were pouring into the building, whooping and hollering as they went. From inside there came the echoes of more gunfire and fighting.
Ika tried to sprint for one of the entrances, but Thusar and Gunnar both held her back.
“Let me go!” Ika shouted. “Rolf is in there!”
“I know,” Thusar said in a low, soothing purr. “But we don’t know the situation in there. It’s too dangerous.”
“Rolf would feel the same way,” Gunnar added.
Although it infuriated her, Ika knew that both ukkur were right. Rolf would be furious at her for charging into a nith slaughterhouse, even if her purpose was to save his life.
But she had to know if he was still alive.
She tried to struggle away from Thusar’s and Gunnar’s grip, but their massive ukkur hands held her tightly.
“Patience,” Thusar said. “If Rolf is in there, the ukkur will free him.”
Unable to escape from the grasp of her protectors, Ika resigned herself to waiting and watching as Muk, Slaine, and some of the others mopped up the remaining nith guards on the outside.
After a few minutes, the sounds of fighting inside the building grew quiet, and other figures began pouring out of the building.
Ika had not thought she could be more surprised than when she had seen that army of ukkur appear on the ridge a few minutes before, but now she realized she was wrong. As she looked at the figures spilling out of the slaughterhouse, her heart jolted with shock and her legs went all wobbly beneath her. She was grateful that Thusar and Gunnar were holding on to support her.
The naked figures coming out of the slaughterhouse were not ukkur.
They were creatures like her, like Ika.
Not exactly like her, perhaps. There were many different shapes and sizes. Different colors and lengths of hair, blond, red, and dark brown. There was a variety of skin tones too, ranging from a paleness that almost blended into the snow to a rich, deep brown and almost every other shade in between.
But they had the same anatomy that Ika did. Lumps on their chests and no stick between their legs.
For her whole life, Ika had thought she was the only one like herself in the whole world.
Now she saw that was not true.
There were hundreds of Ikas. Thousands, in a myriad of shapes and sizes and colors.
“Gods,” she gasped.
Once the strength came back into her legs, Thusar and Gunnar let her go, but they stayed close by her side as she walked forward to get a better look at the creatures.
Some of them were not like her. Some of them did have piss sticks swinging between their legs, though they clearly were not ukkur since they had no tusks and their bodies were smaller and weaker.
But the one thing that all of these creatures had in common was that they were terrified. Ika knew it was for good reason. Though she didn’t know exactly what the inside of the slaughterhouse looked like, she knew it had to be bad, and the smell of death and blood wafting from the entrance turned her stomach.
The ukkur army had its hands full too. They were trying to round up the naked creatures and provide them with furs, of which there was an abundance stored in the saddle packs of the skriks. Some of the naked creatures apprehensively accepted the ukkur’s help, but others were just as scared of the ukkur as they were of the nith, and they tried to flee away into the snowy landscape. Other ukkur had to run after them.
Ika also noticed that the naked creatures all had ma
rks drawn onto their hips. A series of parallel black lines. Was that the mark that the nith had asked her about before?
As Ika, Thusar, and Gunnar approached the chaos, one of the other ukkur came forward to meet them. He was a tall, handsome warrior with his mane trimmed into a mohawk that spilled down his back.
“Who are you?” the warrior called. “I’ve never seen you before.”
“I am Thusar. My pack has been traveling south with the intent of joining your army. But we didn’t expect to encounter you this far north.”
The warrior with the mohawk grinned and shook Thusar’s hand.
“Greetings, Thusar. I am Jale. You are more than welcome to join us. We are always in need of strong and experienced ukkur warriors. The only requirement is a desire to kill the nith, and I can see that you and your companions possess that trait. I will introduce you to my leader Krogg as soon as we get these humans rounded up.”
The warrior, Jale, turned his attention to Ika.
“Thanks for catching this one,” he added. “I see you’ve already dressed her in furs as well. The army shall reimburse you for that.”
Jale reached out for Ika.
“Come little one. Don’t be afraid. We are here to help you.”
Ika almost laughed at the childish way Jale was speaking to her. Thusar and Gunnar, however, did not find it funny. They positioned their bodies in front of hers and snarled aggressively at Jale.
“She is ours,” Thusar growled. “She did not come from this place.”
Jale backed off and his face transitioned into a quizzical look.
“You rescued her from another slaughterhouse then?”
Thusar shook his head. “No.”
Does she have a mark?
“No, I don’t have a mark.” Ika said, butting forward. “And I’m standing right here. It’s a bit rude to talk about me in the third person.”
Jale’s face had shifted from a look of curiosity to outright awe. His eyes were wide and his jaw hung open.
“You…speak perfect nith. No accent at all.”
“Of course,” Ika said in annoyance. “What do you expect? I’ve been speaking it my whole life.”
Jale stared at her in a daze, then shook his head and swallowed.
“I…I need to let the leader know of this. You must come with us to the south. The First Woman will definitely want to meet you.”
The First Woman? Ika wondered who that could be.
“That’s the plan,” Thusar said. “We intend to join you on your journey southward.”
Jale nodded, slowly recovering his composure.
“Good. Just stick close by for now. We will leave as soon as the humans have all been gathered.”
“Humans?” Ika asked. “Is that what these creatures are?”
Jale gave her one last confused look before he departed.
“Yes. Humans. The ones with the piss sticks are men and the others, the ones like you, are called women.”
Humans.
Women.
Ika scanned her eyes over the frightened, naked crowd. Finally, after all this time, she knew what she was. She was so overwhelmed by emotion at this discovery that she nearly forgot the reason she and the others had come here in the first place.
Then a deep booming voice called out over the din of the crowd.
“Ika! Ika!”
Her heart nearly exploded with joy at that sound.
It was Rolf. Her Rolf. He was alive.
CHAPTER 27
“Rolf!” Ika shouted.
Even though it had only been a few days, it felt as though she hadn’t seen him in years. And poor Rolf almost looked as though he had aged a few years in that time. His iron-gray hair and beard were disheveled, and his eyes had a sunken, bruised look as though he hadn’t slept for days. But when Ika turned to face him across the field of snow, Rolf’s tired face lit up with a smile of joy.
“Rolf!”
Ika broke away from the others and ran to him. He had been stripped of his fur clothing and was naked, but she didn’t care. She flung her arms around him and squeezed him in the tightest hug she had ever given in her life. Rolf’s arms were shackled together, but he looped them over her head and hugged her like that.
He let go a weary exhalation of relief.
“Ika…Gods, Ika, I thought the nith had taken you from me. I was so worried I would never see you again. I missed you so much.”
“Me too,” she sobbed, pressing her cheek against his chest while her eyes leaked with joy. “Rolf, I’m so happy to see you. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
They just held each other like that for a long time. The din of worried human voices and the sound of ukkur giving orders in the background faded away, and for a moment Ika was a child again, barely taller than Rolf’s knee, and they were together by the warm fire of the den as Rolf told her funny stories and hummed soothing songs until she fell asleep.
For those few moments, held in Rolf’s protective arms and listening to his strong heart beating inside his chest, everything in Ika’s world was right and good once more.
But that moment of comfort and serenity was short lived.
A low, aggressive growl started rumbling deep in Rolf’s throat, getting louder and louder until it was a vicious, feral sound.
“Rolf?” Ika tilted her head to look up at his bearded face, which was now twisted in anger. “Rolf, what’s the matter?”
When he didn’t respond, Ika followed the line of his eyes, and she got her answer. Rolf was glaring at the ukkur with whom she had spent the last couple of days. Muk and Slaine had rejoined Thusar and Gunnar, and now all four of them stood there silently looking on.
“You,” Rolf snarled at the ukkur. “I should have known.”
He released Ika from his hug and forcefully shoved her behind him so that he could shield her from Thusar and the other ukkur, whom he clearly perceived as a threat.
“Rolf, no! You don’t understand.”
“Quiet,” he said. “I’ll deal with these bastards, Ika.” Then turning back to Thusar and the pack, he growled. “You tried to steal her from me. You tried to steal my Ika!”
Thusar took a step forward, his hand upraised in a peacemaking gesture. But behind him, his pack brothers were tensing for a fight. Slaine in particular.
“Easy, Rolf,” Thusar said. “It’s not like that—“
“Liar!” Rolf bellowed. “You tried to steal my Ika!”
Ika had never seen Rolf like this before. It was like the silvered ukkur was locked into a spiral of aggressive thoughts from which he could not escape. His muscles tensed, and he dropped into a crouch in preparation to spring. Even though his hands were bound, he was going to try to take on four ukkur at once.
Ika knew she had to do something, and fast.
She darted forward, placing her body in between Rolf and Thusar.
“Rolf, stop it!” she cried. “Don’t fight them!”
“Get out of the way. I’m going to tear these rotted bastards to shreds.”
The crazed look in Rolf’s eye showed that he meant it, and Ika could sense the other ukkur responding with equal aggression. They were growling in warning. Some of the frightened humans had moved away, and other ukkur were forming a ring of onlookers in expectation of a big fight.
Ika needed to de-escalate this situation, and fast.
“Rolf, you’ve got it all wrong,” she shouted. “Thusar and his pack didn’t try to steal me. They saved my life.”
That was bending the truth a little, but right now the situation required that.
“Saved you?” Rolf said, relaxing slightly.
“Yes. They saved me from the nith. Rolf, please don’t fight them. They are good, honorable ukkur, and they just want the same thing that you do. They want to protect me and keep me safe.”
“It’s true,” Thusar said from behind. “Ika’s protection and happiness is our greatest concern. We just want to keep Ika safe.”
“Ee-kah…safe,” Slaine
added helpfully.
Rolf relaxed a little more. His eyes darted from Thusar to Gunnar to Muk and finally to brutal-looking Slaine. He still seemed only half-convinced, but that was an improvement at least.
Ika kept her body positioned between Rolf and Thusar. She could feel hundreds, maybe even thousands of eyes on her now—the other ukkur watching the scene play and the humans, who probably had no clue what was going on, poor frightened things that they were.
Ika took a deep breath and went on.
“Rolf, if you are going to get angry at anyone, please be angry at me.”
The tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She had reached that point of no return where it was impossible to hold the water back, and there was no point even trying. She wasn’t even ashamed that everyone could see her eyes leaking now. All that mattered was saying what needed to be said.
“I’m so sorry, Rolf. All of this is my fault. I sneaked out of the den the other night to spy on these four ukkur because I was curious. I disobeyed you, and because of that, I endangered myself. And even worse, I endangered you. For that I’m truly sorry. But please, please don’t fight with these ukkur. I…I care for them, Rolf. I want to be with them. And I want you to be friends with them to.”
Ika dropped her head and cried, letting the tears run down her chin and drop into the snow at her feet.
All the fight went out of Rolf then, and he seemed almost to deflate. He trudged forward and lifted Ika’s chin with his bound hands.
“Ika, you are wrong. It is I who must apologize to you.”
She sniffed and looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“I have been selfish, Ika. I kept you hidden away in that den of ours because I wanted so badly to protect you. But I never thought about how it would affect you. I never stopped to consider your feelings, and my selfishness almost drove you away. For that, Ika, I am sorry.”
Rolf paused, gathering his thoughts. His hands dipped to Ika’s chest where the metal ring hung from her necklace. He lifted it, studying it carefully, and to Ika it seemed that Rolf’s gray eyes were not looking at her but were staring far off into the past.