42. Drasuk

42

Drasuk

We've been on this hole in the rear planet for days now. I wonder why I didn't detect them before.

I let out a breath. It seems this foul-mouthed female has infected me with her speech habits. I better not let myself verbalize that phrase or she won't ever let me forget it.

As we move through the forest, we remain alert, even though the unspoken hope is to avoid running into anyone. Not exactly my usual approach. I haven't bothered to move us out of the way of the dangers I've detected so far.

That was before it was other drakonids who might be hunting us.

The initial shock of running into that group of monsters dims the longer we walk. Like any other emotion-intensive activity, it loses its impact with every hour that passes by. Not long after, the fear is all but gone, though the caution remains.

At least until I follow the smell of blood to the herd of xyxis floxis up a steep incline near a river.

Floxis are common domestic animals, usually stocked to run wild as a protein source on newly terraformed planets. They are stupid, but incredibly bulky things, engineered to provide as much meat as possible on one animal.

They are a more intimidating sight when alive, though I've never seen a group of them look so gruesome.

To say it looks like someone had far too much fun being incredibly cruel to this herd would be an understatement. They are all slaughtered. Someone drove them here, trapping them against a sheer drop down into a raging river.

That's when I know the traitors are still nearby. No honorable warrior slaughters entire groups of animals like this, especially those with females and young. They litter the ground, which is completely saturated by the animals' strange orange-colored blood.

I take a long breath in, but all I smell is the blood.

Kira looks like she is as disturbed as I am at the sight.

She gives me a level look. "Why do I get the feeling you have experienced dealing with whatever did that?"

She makes a sweeping gesture at the herd while cursing.

When I don't answer her right away, she speaks more forcibly. "I was mostly fine with you keeping things to yourself for a little while. But seeing this level of evil, I think you're going to have to tell me what's going on, Drasuk. Who was the dead drak?"

I tense up, not ready to answer the question. Not ready to think back to when Thukul had my respect, and then lost it. "I do not wish to talk about him, Kira. It's too personal."

"I get that, and I want to respect it, but his death really bothered you, which doesn't really make sense if he was a traitor. You haven't said a single arrogant thing for a really long time. As much as I've wished you would stop, I find it disturbing."

My gaze sweeps to her. "He was a terrible person. That's all you need to know about him. And now that he's gone from this life, the better off everyone is. If I could, I would have done it myself, but as it is, I am more concerned about what killed him. I can't say for certain, but I have a feeling it was the rest of the traitors in his group."

She curses. "How many?"

"I don't know. I only smelled a couple others, but that doesn't mean much. They are led by the drak outlaw Xar'Ar'ax. He was my brood mate. We completed our proving to become Maj'Ra at the same time, and he was easily one of the best warriors of my clan."

I take a pause, remembering, and she urges me on. "What happened?"

"Among other crimes, he was accused of killing civilians and selling their body parts to genali pirates in exchange for genetic modification procedures."

She curses, and this time I want to join her.

"Years back, I led the squad that destroyed their hideout, losing many good Maj'Ras in the process, but he was never found."

And now, he is on the same planet as I am. No doubt joining this season's group of deranged headhunters. I just hope I can get Kira somewhere safe before I engage Xar'Ar'ax and his group.

"We're taking them out, right?"

"I don't think you would survive the encounter, Kira. It is my responsibility, not yours."

She glares at me. "What happened to being a team? I don't know if you noticed this, but this world is huge. Plenty of places for them to be. What's your plan? Split up? What if they find me instead of you finding them?"

"They are close. This blood is fresh. I'd rather run you out of the area and then stalk back in."

She lets out a laugh. "And you think I would agree to that? You drive me crazy, Drasuk, but I don't back out of my oaths. We are allies, and if you need to take out a threat, then I will be there with you."

"Even if it means dying?"

She rolls her eyes at me. "Let's avoid that part, but I'm not leaving you."

Kira opens her mouth to say more, but lets out a startled yelp instead when a shot hitting a nearby tree throws bark at us. She drops to the ground, then rolls onto her back with her rifle in her hand. She's back on her feet the next moment, moving for better cover.

I move to a better location as well, trying to figure out where the shot came from.

I feel my skin prickle. I should have smelled or heard them.

I take a quick glance over to where I last saw Kira, but don't see any sign of her.

Keeping my senses sharp, I turn around when I sense someone coming up behind me. I quickly whirl around to face them.

Standing before me is none other than Xar'Ar'ax, the very traitor who betrayed our clan to a lesser race all for the purpose of feeding his sick pleasures.

His brother Mar'cte moves in from the right, and, to my horror, Mar'cte has Kira in his arms. She struggles hard to get out of the crushing grip that holds her pressed back into his front. He's a deeper red than his brother, and also shows signs of genetic tampering.

His eyes are no longer drakonid. If they weren't extinct, I would swear they were xarxisi. They were known for their silver eyes with glowing streaks of bright yellow that were forever changing shape and orientation.

I have a feeling they might have some answers for Kira about her own changes, not that they could be trusted to tell the truth.

They are both covered in floxis blood, which explains how they were able to get so close without me knowing. Did they butcher the whole herd to cover their scent? Just one of them would have provided the requisite blood.

"This is quite a surprise," Xar'Ar'ax says, with a hiss in his voice that doesn't match my memory of him. "I never imagined that, out of all the possibilities of worthy prey we could've found, it would be you, Drasuk."

The large red drak is just as intimidating as I remember him, with the same disdain in his voice as always.

Part of Xar'Ar'ax's prestige back on our home planet came from his impeccable genes. He is bigger than most drakonids, and many females sought him out for their heat. He was consistently more athletic and stronger than most of us.

He also had the early realization, compared to those of us who reached the same conclusion much later in life, that a fight was no place for fanciful moves.

There is no honor in letting someone else draw blood, but he took efforts to avoid it to a different level than the rest of us. He was open to all methods and tricks that came with dirty fighting. That, coupled with his already impressive size, made him out to be the sort of opponent you wouldn't want to run into if you could avoid it.

And now he has further added to his menace. His impressive height has gained an additional boost in the form of new bony spikes. His skin is a brighter red, with odd streaks of silver. He is completely covered in armor and weapons.

All in all, a sight designed to inspire unease, if not terror.

I narrow my eyes at the traitor. "I hadn't expected you either, but I can't say it is a surprise considering your usual terrible choice of company and allies. You clearly have always had more in common with slavers and pirates."

Xar'Ar'ax chuckles. "I don't know what I enjoyed more. The cries of the female you caught me raping and killing or destroying members of the Maj'Ras as I escaped. Both were quite pleasurable."

I snarl in disgust and anger. "You truly are a vile creature. I almost pity the winds of death when they come to receive you upon your death."

My attention snaps to Mar'cte when I hear Kira cry out. The traitor has his hand around part of her throat and lower jaw. Fear is ever-present in her eyes as he squeezes her. Xar'Ar'ax laughs and follows my gaze to his brother standing next to him with the small female.

"I can thank you for at least keeping our prize safe for us. I thought she may have met her demise with one of the many beasts here. Instead, we find her in your presence."

I blink, confused.

He continues his pompous tirade. "Imagine losing a whole shipment of perishable goods like these over such a hostile planet. The genali traders really should be more careful with their ships."

"I assume you had something to do with it, then?"

"Of course we did. If they are going to charge that many credits, there really should be more hidden treasures to find."

Either he's lying, and they found out there were valuable slaves on the planet, or he shot down a ship just for entertainment. If they did the latter, they must assume Shentrea will never find out or they wouldn't take the risk.

The bastard's incessant rambling brings me back to the present.

"My brother and I will be taking her with us now. Tell me though, do you think she will be even tighter and more delectable than the young female you didn't save? From the size of her, we might only get one use out of her."

Mar'cte laughs at his brother's remark and responds to Kira's struggles by squeezing her harder with the arm he has around her chest. She lets out a pained groan and I hear the snap of a bone.

Disgusting degenerates , my mind screams.

I want nothing more than to take this despicable traitor's head off, but I'm dealing with a difficult situation here. If I make a move, they might kill Kira, just like Xar'Ar'ax did to poor young Nkisa.

My hands tighten into fists at the memory before I hastily push it away.

"Let her go. This fight is between you and me. Or have you become a coward in addition to a traitor?"

I glare at Xar'Ar'ax, my teeth bared in a snarl. "Let her go," I reiterate, louder this time.

Xar'Ar'ax cocks his head to the side. "Now, why would I do that? She's my prize. I found her."

"Slavery has been outlawed for millennia. You're nothing but a disgrace."

I hear the unmistakable sound of wrist blades being engaged and look over in time to see Mar'cte holding one threateningly in front of Kira's face. I growl a warning at him.

"Watch how you speak of my brother. He's one of the best warriors in our clan, and you and I both know it," Mar'cte growls.

"You are no longer of the clan. You will cease this disgusting banter and fight me. If I win, she goes free."

"I can fight for myself," she yells out, then lets out her usual string of curses.

Mar'cte's moves his hand up to her mouth to stop her.

Xar'Ar'ax reaches behind him to pull a weapon from his back. "I will fight you. No one else will be a challenge here and I have grown bored with squashing slimes and trampling prey."

Before I can begin the ceremonial acceptance, Kira takes advantage of the loosening grip, pulls her glass dagger and drives it into Mar'cte's unarmored hand. He lets out an enraged roar.

Xar'Ar'ax and I look away from each other to Mar'cte.

His hand bleeds as the tiny female pulls it back out and strikes several more times.

He lets her go with a snarl, then pulls his arm back and slams it into her. Kira lets out a pained grunt as his arm impacts her torso, throwing her back. She hits the ground hard and rolls down a small, steep hill toward the river.

Then the ground beneath her disappears, and she is free-falling into the raging river below, screaming all the way.

"Kira!" I roar.

I have longed for an opportunity to confront Xar'Ar'ax, but now I must choose: stay and fight or jump in after her?

For a moment, I want to turn to the big red drakonid and tear into his hide, as I have in many of my dreams. Then Kira's scream pulls me away from my role as a warrior. Pulls me toward the strange woman, with her bizarre phrases, and those beautiful, perfectly squishy globes I had in my hands as she made my skin catch fire with her touch.

So much for being immune to her heat. This is exactly why draks avoid attachments and speak derisively about manticorid bonds.

As badly as I want this fight, I make the weak choice and quickly give in, sprinting to the steep side of the cliff.

Self-loathing that I couldn't let her go and am instead fleeing a formal challenge fills my chest as I urge my body to greater speed, panicked over the thought of losing her.

The others don't stop me as I jump off and start falling toward the river. I tumble, catching sight of Xar'Ar'ax and Mar'cte approaching the side of the cliff to scan the water below before I right myself into a controlled plummet into the water.