21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Iris

Dandilow II wasn't any more pleasant on the second trip, but at least they knew exactly where they were going and who they needed to find. It gave Iris a bounce in her step as she walked next to Damascus, who was still grumpy that she hadn't let him carry her.

Honestly, he'd argued to leave her behind, but Palathum gave into Iris's calm logic. No human was going to go with a bunch of Talins if Iris wasn't there to talk them into it. Merrick would've been a better choice, but everyone knew he wouldn't leave the infirmary while Grace and Maeve were there.

That left only Iris to talk to the other humans. For this visit, she wasn't wearing her collar. Instead, Palathum gave her a bracelet that locked and had the same tracking device as the collar. It gave Iris a sense of safety and stifled the vulnerability she felt whenever she had to take off her collar.

Three years ago, she would've laughed in the face of anyone who told her she'd want to wear a collar and would feel naked without it. Then again, three years ago she wasn't sure anyone in her community would survive much longer.

The universe was a strange place, and sometimes all you could do was relax and enjoy the ride.

"I've got fresh nok!" a seller yelled as they passed. "Come on, you won't find a better price anywhere."

The seller tried to get close to wave the dead creature in front of Iris's face. Before she had a chance to recoil, Damascus was there. He slapped the nok out of the seller's claws, and Iris heard a squishy impact as it hit the ground.

"Hey now, no need for violence," the seller yelled and retreated to find his nok. Just before they turned a corner, she saw him find it, brush it off, and thrust it into the face of the next passerby.

"Thanks," Iris said, moving a little closer to him. "I never thought I'd need rescuing from roadkill."

"You're welcome, but it was nok, not roadkill," Damascus answered.

Iris chuckled at the misunderstanding and let it go. "I think you guys should hang back and let me talk to everyone first. All of you together are intimidating."

"There's only four of us," Damascus argued. Palathum hadn't been able to leave the ship this time. She'd claimed it was because of messages she had to go through and answer since they had access to an interstellar com while circling Dandilow II. Iris thought it had more to do with Maeve than anything else. Palathum couldn't get enough of looking at the young child. She was so underweight that she didn't look like a toddler. She looked like a baby. The Healers were sure she'd start gaining weight rapidly.

Today Iris was accompanied by Damascus, Utharium, Savium, and Talzeum. If she didn't know them, she wouldn't think any of them looked friendly. As with the first trip, Kalorum stayed with the shuttle. This wasn't the type of planet where you left a shuttle unguarded.

"I think you know that four Talins is intimidating, especially to a bunch of humans," Iris said.

They were rounding the domed building now and Iris winced at the stench. She couldn't wait to get everyone back to the clean, fresh smelling ship. She just hoped it didn't take too long to convince her fellow humans that their offer was sincere.

"Behind and to the left," Utharium said. The warrior was walking on her left side, and she lifted her gaze to him only to realize he was speaking to Damascus literally over her head.

"I saw," Damascus responded without turning to look. "They're the same group that shadowed us earlier."

"There's more this time," Utharium said.

"No, I don't think so," Damascus responded, casually placing a hand on the latch to his belt. There must be a weapon there. "All the ones that were following on a separate street last time have joined the others."

"Ah yes," Utharium agreed. "I see that now."

Their conversation was so casual, Iris might've thought they were discussing what they wanted to have at their next meal instead of a dangerous group shadowing them.

"What should we do?" Iris asked, trying for the same nonchalance as the two Talins.

"Nothing yet," Damascus said. "But if anything happens, I need you to take shelter behind me."

There must be some kind of warrior game plan because Utharium continued to explain. "All four of us will make sure to fight facing out and if you stay at the center, you'll be safe."

Ahead of them, Savium and Talzeum both sounded rattles of affirmation, demonstrating that they'd been listening even though they hadn't looked back once.

"If you have any weapons to spare, I could help," Iris offered, even though she knew it probably wouldn't be taken well.

As predicted, all four sounded loud negative rattles.

"Absolutely not!" Damascus declared. She was impressed at the level of intensity he managed without raising his voice.

They were about to enter the tent-city ghetto when the subject of their discussion rushed at them from behind. Iris only realized what was going on when the Talins seemed to all turn at once to face the threat, rattling so loudly that, for a moment, Iris couldn't hear anything else.

Everything started happening fast.

There were eleven Massocs coming at them, all holding bludgeoning or stabbing weapons. Damascus pulled a metal diamond-shaped object from under his belt latch and threw it hard at the second closest attacker. The thing hit the guy in the face. Crying out in pain, the guy reeled and bent over, clutching his head.

"I can't see!" he screamed. "He got my primary eye, I can't see!"

Another attacker bumped into him and sent him flying to the ground. He curled up in a ball and sobbed.

To her shock, the thing that Damascus threw came back to him, and it was only as he caught it that she saw the thin filament attached to the item at the skinny end.

No sooner had he caught it than he was throwing it again, this time at the third attacker coming at them. As he did this, Utharium had made an impossibly thin blade appear out of thin air and swiped it at the first one to reach within arm's distance. He whipped the blade in the air so fast Iris couldn't follow his movement, she only saw a bright red line appear on the attacker's throat.

Gagging and gasping, the attacker let go of his weapon to clutch at his throat. He dropped to his knees and then fell sideways. Iris wasn't an expert, but she was pretty sure he wasn't going to make it.

Savium and Talzeum stepped up too. They each knocked out an attacker and maintained the line in front of Iris. She'd never felt so well protected in her life!

All the Massoc backed off but didn't leave. One of them grabbed the guy clutching his head, but the rest of the downed Massoc were left writhing or deathly still. They lay on the ground between the Talins and the rest of the gang.

"Give us credits and we'll go away," one of them said. He was brandishing a sword that looked like it'd been crafted from a shuttle support strut.

"Even if we did agree to pay you, I highly doubt you'd leave us alone," Utharium scoffed.

"We would," the man insisted, his primary eye bouncing from Utharium to Damascus, the closest threats. "That's how—"

Iris screamed as someone grabbed her from behind. They'd all been so focused on the obvious attack, none of them had noticed the three sneaking up behind to snatch her.

She threw her head back, hoping to strike her assailant in the face, but only met air. He must've been ready for it. Four strong snake-like arms held her in the air and away from his body. He shook her hard, making her dizzy, so she stopped struggling.

"My skin is poisonous!" she screamed at him. "If you don't let go, you'll get a deadly dose!"

"Humans aren't poisonous or venomous," he said as he stepped back and let the others move between them and the Talins. "If they were, we wouldn't have been able to take all their things when they first got here. All of you are helpless and deserve to be preyed on!"

"Fucking asshole!" Iris shouted as Damascus and Savium turned to face this new threat at the group's back while Utharium and Talzeum continued to protect their front.

"If you drop the human and walk away, you all get to live," Damascus growled. He took a stomping step forward while sounding a deafening war rattle.

The guy holding her flinched but didn't drop her or back up.

"I could easily crush this soft human before you got to me," he taunted. His arms tightened, making her gasp from the pain. "They're such easy creatures to kill!"

She needed to do something, or he might carry out his threat!

A lifetime of farm work made her strong. She brought both legs up and kicked back, striking both heels with all her might against this giant's lower torso. She only meant to break his hold on her or at least distract him so Damascus could get to her. She must've hit something vulnerable because he let go and crumpled to the ground, clutching the spot she'd impacted.

She stumbled a step and was almost regaining her balance when another Massoc grabbed her left arm. She could hear the sounds of fighting, but her entire focus was on not ending up in another bear hug of death.

Seeing something on the ground near her, she reached for it. The hold on her wrist meant she ended up wrenching her shoulder to go down in a crouch, but she got the item in her hand.

Now she had a weapon!

The Massoc gripping her didn't expect her to launch herself in his direction. Catching him by surprise, she slammed the odd shaped rock into the side of his face with all the power in her body.

With a cry of pain, he let go and staggered backward, falling over a small pile of garbage and going down hard.

Dropping the rock, Iris backed up a little. She cradled her throbbing right hand against her body. She might've broken a finger on that guy's face. He was down, so it was worth it.

She looked around, trying to figure out where to go to stay safe and out of the way. The orderly Talins of earlier were gone. Now they are all fighting with the Massoc in a messy group. It was a relief to see several more Massoc laying on the ground while none of the Talins looked like they were even slowing down!

A hand on her shoulder made her whirl around with a snarl, but she found herself face to face with another human instead of a Massoc.

"Easy," the woman said, eyes wide with fear. "Can you walk? If you can follow me, I know a place where we can hide."

Looking over the stranger's shoulder, she saw several more adult humans watching them, half hidden behind a stack of old shipping boxes. One of them was motioning frantically for them to hurry up.

"I can't leave Damascus," Iris said, blinking back tears from the pain in her hand. "Do you have any weapons?"

The woman shook her head at the same time she produced a small knife from a sheath on her belt. "Please don't! They'll kill you and no one will do anything!"

"No one's dying today except some scum Massoc," Iris assured the woman as she took the knife with her good hand. "Don't go anywhere. I need to talk to you after this is all over."

The woman looked dubious but nodded. "Sure. If you're still alive."

Then she rushed away to join the other humans behind the crates.

Clutching the knife in her left hand, Iris turned and looked for a target. Time to do some damage!

***

Damascus

The moment Iris got free of her captor, Damascus lost her in the fray. As if some silent signal was sent, all the Massocs attacked them at once when their leader cried out in pain and dropped Iris. Fear made him fight hard but not smart. Instead of judging his space and opponents, he simply tried to barrel through. That got him a solid blow to the head that almost sent him to his knees.

"If you die, no one will be there to protect Iris, you idiot!" Utharium growled as he shoved at the Massoc about to hit Damascus again. The Massoc's blunt, heavy weapon missed and impacted the ground near Damascus, allowing him the time to recover and deliver a stunning blow. The Massoc didn't make a sound as he toppled like a tree.

"Pay attention to what you're doing, or next time I'll let him cave in your head!" Utharium said as he turned to meet the next attacker.

He needed to get to Iris, but he also needed to stay alive! With a lot more care, he tried to find Iris in the melee. He couldn't see behind the bodies in combat. He needed a clear line of sight all around and that meant ending the fighting faster.

With renewed vigor, he launched at a Massoc about to stab Savium in the back while she was engaged with two men at her front. He tackled the Massoc to the ground and sank claws into the male's chest. Dragging his fingers down, he ripped flesh from bone. The Massoc howled in pain and shoved Damascus off him.

Covering his bleeding wounds with all four hands, the Massoc scrambled to his feet and scuttled off, disappearing into the crowd.

The number of attackers, which had seemed to keep growing, was finally diminishing. Utharium was fighting in the middle of eight bodies, and the other two crew members had killed five each. There looked to be nine more still fighting, but they were all far more cautious now that they realized they hadn't picked easy marks.

Damascus was stepping forward to engage one of the men trying to flank Utharium when he saw a familiar figure dart out from behind some old, broken stonework. Frozen in place and unable to believe what he was seeing, he watched Iris sneak up behind one of the Massoc waiting his turn to go at Talzeum. With smooth, practiced moves, she swept the knife across the back of both the Massoc's legs in two swift and deadly arcs. Blood sprayed out, and the Massoc fell hard with a startled cry of pain.

"What's been done to me!" he screamed, grasping at his legs in an attempt to stanch the flow of blood. It wouldn't work. Unless skin sealant and artery patches were applied immediately, he was going to bleed out in less than fifteen submarks.

Before the creature even finished his cry of surprise, Iris had retreated back behind the pile of stones, the mortally wounded Massoc the only evidence that she'd been there.

Had he just watched a human brutally execute someone almost twice their size?

He had, and it was strange to admit, but he was impressed and aroused.

"Are you going to fight or stare at stones?" Utharium barked, pulling Damascus back into the moment.

Sounding a war rattle, Damascus joined Utharium. It wasn't long until there were only three Massocs left. Realizing they were engaged in a losing battle, the three turned and ran. The crowd that had gathered to watch cheered, then dispersed quickly, probably afraid the winners might turn on them.

Liberally covered in blood, Iris came out of her hiding spot and rushed to him. He opened his arms and swept her up.

"Don't ever put yourself in that kind of danger ever again!" he admonished, rubbing his scent glands into her hair and ignoring the bits of blood that had landed that high. "But if you do, please be as unrelentingly fierce as you were today, my gloriously bloodthirsty human!"