Warol moved up beside Rager, his body likewise alert, every muscle tight, light against the lead’s darkness. He sniffed the air, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Both males turned their heads to the southwest and stilled. Their ears perked forward. Knowing they were listening for any sign of danger approaching, Arie was afraid to even breathe loudly. Her muscles knotted and beads of sweat trickled down her back despite the cool temperature of the night.
In a fluid motion, the males parted from each other like water. Kyx materialized behind her and pulled her into his arms as Rager swept up behind them. Though he was still weak, Warol took the lead. The lead and second had argued about it for hours during midday. Rager didn’t think the other male was strong enough yet to protect their fore while he protected the rear, but Warol had argued that even in his weakened state, he was still meaner and tougher than Kyx. Warol had won the argument through sheer stubbornness and Rager had relented so long as the male communicated if he became tired and needed to rest.
Leaning into Kyx’s neck, she whispered, “Why isn’t Rager leading us? Wouldn’t that make more sense than Warol leading, especially when he is still recovering?”
She felt Kyx’s amusement more than she was able to see it from her angle.
“Rager is the lead for our triad, but often this means that when we are traveling through dangerous areas, he takes the rear to protect us and make sure we are not attacked from where we are most vulnerable. He also ensures everyone ahead of him makes it safely rather than potentially going missing. When Warol fell with you, he was able to notice it and alert me.”
“Is he always at the rear then when you travel?”
“Not necessarily. When we are traveling through safe, familiar territory, we tend to do as we like. I am quicker and so will often scout ahead while Warol and Rager move at their own pace however their moods strike them. When we are moving through more dangerous areas, they prefer to keep me between them, since they are stronger males, in case something should try to ambush us. While you are with us, however, Rager will not give up the rear position so he can keep you in sight.”
“What happens when you find a mate? Will she be kept between you like this, then?” Arie asked. She found the whole thing fascinating, despite the sudden dip in her mood at imagining them no longer with her. “I assume any young… uh, rogs… would be, but I was wondering if that protection extended to your mate as well.”
Kyx went silent and Arie craned her head to attempt to look up at him. Finally, at length, he spoke.
“Ragoru females are not like you. You are soft, vulnerable, and precious. Ragoru females are dominant. She accepts a triad only if she considers them worthy of her, which is often based on the strength and characteristics of the lead. She would not permit a triad to protect her except when and how she demands it. No Ragoru female I’ve met would have the patience to travel with me between Warol and Rager. She would lead at the fore with Rager at the rear. Warol would likely trail close behind her while I would travel at a safe distance with whatever rogs are produced.”
Arie was struck by how sad he sounded at that moment. She rubbed her cheek against his neck in an effort to cheer him.
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I know I have disrupted your plans and delayed your triad in finding your female. Will you still have time after you deliver me to the Citadel?”
An amber secondary eye turned toward her and glinted with an unidentifiable strong emotion.
“I don’t care about that anymore,” he said. “You are far kinder and better in all ways than any female of my own kind that I’ve met. I am enjoying our time together. It is worth any sacrifice for me,” he said with solemnity that she felt her breath catch in her chest in awe.
She ducked her face into his fur to hide her smile.
“I’m really happy to be here with you as well,” she whispered, her eyes widening as she realized just how true that was. When her mother died, her world had turned gray and she hadn’t been able to foresee any happiness. Even when she attempted to attract the attention of Joshu, it had been born of desperation not to be left alone in the world. She hadn’t expected real happiness. Yet, despite her initial terror and a few hiccups in their time together, she discovered that she was, in fact, happy.
Arms silently tightened around her, and unless she was imagining things, it seemed that Kyx’s step seemed a bit lighter at that moment.
Arie glanced back at Rager. She smiled at him where he paced behind them, his head continuously moving as he scanned the landscape. His ears seemed to constantly adjust, and every few minutes he lifted his muzzle into the air. Only briefly did he still enough to meet her eyes, and his expression softened before he turned his attention away and returned to his task.
Arie settled more comfortably into Kyx’s arms. She still felt guilty being carried around, but ignored it. It wasn’t like she could keep up on her own and she was practically night blind; the last thing they needed was for her to wander into the reach of a nocturnal predator. She’d always known that humans were a weak species when it came to natural defenses and survival, but it had never been more than a passing observation. As they traveled through the pitch-black forest, barely illuminated by patches of moonlight, a few large bioluminescent beetles, and night-blooming flowers, she was acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. Her stomach knotted and bile rose.
She tightened her fingers in the male’s fur as a fist-sized beetle swung toward her face in its rapid flight. She felt a scream bubble in her throat but Kyx knocked it harmlessly away. Her eyes widened when the beetle halted in midair and began to wiggle its torso and legs in an attempt to free itself. She squinted, but then it shifted just enough that the luminescence of its wings bounced off the long filaments of a giant web.
Oh, no, no…
Kyx veered away from the web, but not before she saw a spider—with a body roughly the size of her head—descend near where they’d been standing. She watched as the spider crept along the threads of its web toward the beetle. The beetle’s wings trembled and its mandibles flipped rapidly. Arie whimpered as the light gave her a glimpse of what had sent the beetle into its frenzy: the horrific maw of an arachnid, a thing of nightmares.
She felt the male turn his head to see what had scared her and he made a sound of disgust.
“That is not particularly attractive, is it?” he said. “I think I could have lived without ever seeing that.”
“I think I would rather face the huntsman.”
Kyx’s shoulders shook with silent laughter but stilled when a heavy body rammed into them, sending them veering to the side just as a whip-like frond extended out just short of snaring them. Arie panted and her blood ran cold. Even Kyx had yelped when the vine had come within inches of his face, the tiny barbs attempting to hook into his fur and skin.
Rager growled just behind them. Arie couldn’t see his black form in the dark, but she caught four flashes of blue from the eyes narrowed on them.
“Cease your foolery, Kyx, and pay attention to where you are going,” the lead grumbled. Warol muttered a curse from up ahead and Arie heard a crash. Kyx called out an insult in Ragii in a low voice and all three males shared a quiet laugh. Arie’s recognized that one as a familiar insult thrown back and forth between them. She didn’t have an exact translation, but it was something about the male being a one-footed rog—or clumsy.
She wondered if she would be able to understand Ragii if she spent enough time with the Ragoru. Speaking it would be a lot harder. Their language had a lot of growled consonants and strange shifting vowels that she wasn’t entirely certain her vocal cords would be able to produce accurately.
Arie had to give Kyx credit though. After their close encounter with the carnivorous plant, his pace became a lot more cautious than his previous carefree trot. The rhythmic movement of his body would have lulled her to sleep if she weren’t so terrified. Every sound from the woods made her heart feel like it
was about to burst from her chest. Even the croaks of frogs, which had always been a comforting sound as a child, seemed threatening in the deep gloom. There was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep.
Three times they stopped in small clearings. She couldn’t see Warol, but she tracked his position by the yellow glow of his eyes and demanded that Kyx take her over to him and set her down. With a healer’s efficiency, she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders to check his condition and found him near shaking with exhaustion. She turned toward the blue illumination that marked Rager’s position.
“We need to stop soon. Warol is clearly exhausted, and even Kyx is starting to tremble with the exertion of carrying me so far.”
The eyes blinked at her, but she couldn’t tell if he gestured any sort of agreement or not. Instead, they shifted as if he were looking around and getting his bearings.
“Another stretch and we will arrive at a den suitable for resting in for a few days while Warol finishes recovering.” His eyes shifted over to Warol. “Will you make it, brother?”
“Yes,” Warol rasped. “I am tired, but I can go on a little further.”
Arie thought he was more than a little tired, but also knew he was too proud to ask for a longer rest. She also knew him well enough by now to know that if she attempted to force the issue, he would resent it.
“It really isn’t a good idea,” she said.
“I’m fine, Arie,” he soothed, his muzzle brushing her cheekbone. His fur was damp with sweat, but when she sat her hand on his chest his primary and secondary hearts did not feel as if they were beating with overexertion. She decided to trust his judgment. As if to prove his point, one of his large hands shot out. She heard a crunch, and he brought his hand between them. Fingers uncurled to reveal the mangled pure white corpse of the sleep-bite-insect. A single black stripe bisected its abdomen. He dropped it and brushed off his hand.
If Arie could have willed herself to either pass out or throw up right then and there, she probably would have. Anything to settle the sudden fear-riddled churn of her gut. He leaned so close to her that she could almost make out the corners of his mouth twitching up.
“No matter how tired I am, I am never so tired that I can’t face a little physical exertion.”
His husky voice caressed her, and warmth sprung up inside of her from a hidden well. Heat stained her cheeks. Just that quickly, the insect was forgotten, and her focus shifted to him, her nerves singing and on edge with some sort of unknown erotic anticipation.
Had Arie been anything like some of the women in her village, she would have had a perfect reply ready. But she was not like them. She was not bold, or flirtatious. But she doubted any of the women she knew would have had the nerve to flirt with Warol, if that was even what he was doing.
Although she’d become more adept at reading the Ragoru, she didn’t assume they flirted and played games like humans did. Their social relationships were, for the most part, straightforward. To a degree, she found that disconcerting despite her preference for honesty in matters of courtship and friendship.
She grimaced. Joshu was a glaring example of her failure in both areas of her life. He was a human raised with the same social cues and standards as her, but still she hadn’t anticipated how he would turn his back on her. Never mind her failed attempts to flirt with him. That was embarrassing enough. The last thing she wanted was to compound her embarrassment by assuming that Warol had meant something more than the obvious.
She was able to avoid dealing with the case of Warol’s questionable flirting when Kyx hauled her into his arms once more. The males spread out from their relaxed cluster to resume their positions. Branches rattled as each took off, one at a time through the trees ahead. Arie pulled her fur tighter around her as the cold air nipped at the parts of her face that she couldn’t completely bury into Kyx’s fur. Over his shoulder, she watched the gradual path of the moon as it rode through the heavens and sank once more.
She was barely clinging to wakefulness when the sun began to ascend and peek through the trees. Arie didn’t even notice the rocky entrance to the cavern until Kyx slipped inside of it and her entire body jerked in alarm, utterly unprepared for the change in environment. Two of his hands ran down her back in soothing motions as he crooned a gentle rumbling sound to her. She relaxed once more against him, her eyes fluttering closed, only to jerk open as he laid her on a soft fur.
Three bodies curled around her comfortingly. Their firm weight and warmth lulled her back toward slumber. The last thing she was aware of was a hand stroking down cheek and a soft rumbling voice.
“Shh. Sleep, rya.”
Part II
All the Beautiful Flowers
14
Kyx woke with the weak sunlight streaming into the cavern and glared at Warol before kicking him in the shoulder. The loud growling sounds coming from the other male died off as Warol’s body relaxed back into deep slumber. Kyx grunted and settled his jaw once more against Arie’s hip, inhaling the sweet musk of her fragrance with pleasure. He lost track of how many days they’d been in the cave since Warol had half-limped, half-dragged himself in with the rest of the triad following behind him.
They’d all been concerned for their brother. It was obvious that he’d pushed himself far too hard to reach the cavern. Arie had been right to be concerned, but they’d all taken him at his word that he would tell them when it became too much. Kyx was just glad that Arie had been too exhausted to notice just how bad Warol was when they arrived, else she would have pushed herself to stay up all night so she might care for him. Rager had been furious, however.
As soon as Arie was settled into the furs, their triad lead had ordered his second to the furs beside the female. To Kyx’s surprise, Warol hadn’t argued, instead slipping around Arie when she began to toss and turn. It took the press of all three of their bodies to convince her exhaustion-addled mind to allow her body to rest. Not that she hadn’t had plenty to say when she woke and saw the pitiful condition Warol was in.
Warol recovered, and they settled into an easy routine. They were in a cavern bordering territory familiar to Kyx. It should be, anyway. It was his family’s territory. This cavern had, in fact, been one of his retreats in his youth when he needed to get away from his parents for a day or two. Here, he’d been able to enjoy his own freedoms before he’d become of age to leave his whelping den and search for his own triad. He’d been the one to bring it to Rager’s attention when they’d been planning their route to the human Citadel. But the cavern, unused for many revolutions, lacked food or even basic supplies beyond a few aged scraps of fur.
Kyx closed his eyes and wondered what they were doing venturing northward. They should take Arie to their own territory and be done with it. Arie would be angry, but she would have been far safer than she’d ever be in the Citadel she was trying so desperately to travel to. If she thought it was a place that would embrace her, she was mistaken. He meant to tell her on many occasions of what he knew of the Citadel, but he’d always lost his nerve, not wanting to see sadness on her lovely face.
Only once had he been that far north. He’d been a curious male and had just gained his freedom. His mother had cautioned him not to travel north beyond the Great Forest. The Harrowed Mountains, so named for the deep escarpments on its face, was brutal even during the mildest of months. But beyond that was nothing more than rolling plains dotted by the occasional tree, or a grove clustered around a gentle glade. That was beyond Ragoru territory, and dangerous for their kind. She’d begged him to stay far away from the Citadel, but he’d been a foolish male, just barely in his adult pelt.
He hadn’t dared get close, but it was enough to see it rising with walls of stone into the sky from where he’d crouched low on his belly on the tall grasses. The scent of livestock, grease, and fuel had stung his nose, as did the numerous human bodies dwelling together. But it wasn’t until he heard the loud crack of a weapon that kicked up dirt just feet from him that he realized hi
s error.
Humans had spotted him.
It was only by luck that he was able to tuck himself into a hollowed-out apple tree and hide until he was certain that not a single human followed him further. As soon as it was safe, Kyx had run all the way across the plains until he reached the safety of the mountains. Not once since that day had he desired to return. Nor had he even given the human Citadel any thought, until Rager promised to escort the human female there.
Ever since that day, it loomed over him like a threatening specter. That first night after Rager made his pronouncement, Kyx had argued against it. Although he’d half-joked with a suggestion that they keep her, he’d been earnest in that he would do anything to avoid taking the human to that terrible place. Not just for his sake, but for hers as well.
Nothing good came from the Citadel, as his mother was fond of saying. Human cities bred hatred like vermin. He knew nothing good would have been there for Arie. Her bright spirit would eventually dry up and die there.
Unable to return to sleep, Kyx sat up and met Rager’s quiet gaze. The male was completely expressionless. Kyx would have thought him asleep, except every now and then he blinked. Nothing interrupted his focus for long.
“How long have you been awake?”
Rager’s lips twisted with amusement, his ears relaxing as he regarded him. “Not long, but long enough to watch you kick Warol. A good thing you did, too. I was tempted to do the same and probably would not have been as gentle.”
Kyx shifted uncomfortably as Rager continued to stare him down. Finally, Rager leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, breaking all eye contact.
“You said this cave borders your parents’ territory?”
Red: A Dystopian World Alien Romance Page 11