26. Ree

26

Ree

We run for nearly an hour, stopping once more for more food and water. The whole time Thivoll's ears swivel in all directions, his paws and fists barely making any sound.

My body is stiff and sore from holding on for so long by the time I see his ears both swivel to the left and he stops to look that direction with an intent gaze.

I hold my breath, not wanting to interfere with his surveillance.

He speaks quietly. Almost too quiet for me to understand.

"Two genali. They sound like they're arguing. I think they're lost."

My hands grip harder onto his mane. "Suitable targets, then. Distracted."

Thivoll nods, then turns toward them, his pace slower, but still moving us through the forest at a good clip. Even I can hear them yelling at each other not long after, but Thivoll moves even slower.

I appreciate his caution.

As we move in closer, I can better make out the source of their argument. One of them thought they should be following a nearby creek to look for prey, but the other feels like they should continue to dig in and wait for prey to come to them.

Considering how loud both of them are, either they are complete idiots or maybe this is their strategy to get unsuspecting prey to come to them for what seems like an easy fight.

Or I guess an easy meal? Gross.

I take a moment to truly appreciate how lucky I am that Thivoll is the one who found me.

It could've ended very differently.

Thivoll is taking long, deep breaths as we get closer to the sound of the fighting. I hear a very gentle whistle like he is pulling air in so it moves along the roof of his mouth.

We continue to stalk closer and I'm afraid to even breathe, concerned that the aliens may suddenly stop arguing and hear us.

I still can't see them when Thivoll stops, the angle of his head suggesting that he's staring at something on the ground. I move to the side so I can see, careful to keep my balance. It would be a disaster if I tumbled off so I clutch his fur tightly.

I see what caught his interest.

A thin metal cable stretches across the path in front of us. I follow it with my eyes, every once in a while having to jump ahead past some foliage to keep following the line of it. At the end it's simply tied around a tree.

I start back in front of us and follow it the other way. It terminates in some sort of device with multiple holes pointed toward us.

It must be some sort of rudimentary trap.

Thivoll carefully steps high over it. I turn in my perch to watch him pull his back paws slowly and deliberately over and notice that his tail is held high. He must be taking no chances.

I approve.

Later I should talk to Thivoll about possibly coming back and disassembling it so we can take it with us.

We come across one more trap before Thivoll moves us into the trees.

The genali are very loud now but I still don't see them, since the foliage is extremely thick. Thivoll repositions me and then climbs and I'm impressed that I don't even hear his claws make purchase in the bark as we smoothly and rapidly ascend.

I hold on as tightly as I can to ease our passage.

As much as I want to know what's going on, the heights still bother me so I keep my eyes closed. I can tell we're making our way along branches and moving up and down tree trunks from the difference in where gravity pulls me.

Soon after, he gently rearranges me so I'm sitting on a thick tree branch, with my back against a trunk. He catches my attention with a hand wave and then points.

We are high above the arguing genali. I can just barely make out the top of their gray and pink slime-covered heads.

Thivoll lets me know with gestures that he wants me to wait here and I nod at him. He moves away, then turns back to me. His eyes soften and he reaches forward to stroke my cheek and run his hand down through the fall of my hair. I smile at him and then cover my mouth.

Maybe someday I'll remember it's a threat.

Or maybe he'll just have to deal with it as a permanent human quirk. His whiskers move forward past my shoulders, something about his face letting me know he knows what I'm thinking.

Or at least knows that I'm embarrassed.

After one last pet, he silently disappears into the thick canopy of the trees. I carefully avoid looking down, but luckily most of my thoughts are taken up by anxiety.

I hope he'll be alright.

I assume if they have traps they definitely have weapons.

He moved so quickly with the genali who were threatening me before it was mind-boggling, but they were unarmed, simply relying on that terrible choking gas that had no effect on him.

I carefully keep my breathing under control but I can't help my hands from wringing. It would be a lot better if I could see him and know where he was in relation to the shouting aliens.

A long, anxious minute later I see an orange flash above their heads. Thivoll must've decided to pounce on them from above.

Now the aliens are yelling for a very different reason.

I reach forward and pull down the branch that's blocking my view, more concerned about his safety than the heights. One of the aliens is already on the ground, jagged lines across its throat and a gray viscous liquid coming out.

The other one scrambles back while Thivoll pounces on their compatriot.

I gasp in a breath when I see them pull what looks like a gun, but before they get it fully into position Thivoll's tail whips around and knocks it from their sticky grasp. I wince when there's a loud retort, but I can't see if the bullet contacted Thivoll.

The slime continues to stumble back while Thivoll repositions himself for another strike.

The genali pulls a long serrated knife from a sheathe near his other flipper hand.

He moves toward Thivoll with a gurgling cry, raising the knife to make a stab toward his side as he dances away from them. Thivoll continues the arc of his movement and whips his tail around to drive the ovoid shaped end of it into the alien's side.

The slime tries to take a swipe at him with their blade but his tail pulls back as fast as it struck.

A moment later the genali is overtaken by violent tremors and starts screaming. Despite what I know about them and that they would absolutely kill, rape, or sell me into slavery, the sight of it's still disturbing.

I hope I get used to it, I think.

And then my mind violently reacts to how counter that is to everything I believe. All the oaths I've made to myself in relation to easing the world's suffering, not adding to it.

I'm no longer on Earth , I remind myself. These hunters are not innocent.

It's definitely an us or them situation.

I carefully suppress all those thoughts. They are luxuries from a different life in a different reality. They won't help me find or help all the missing women. In this reality, I need to feel grateful that we have such a protector.

He is absolutely magnificent.

He's scanning around him, obviously assessing if there are any additional threats. There's a raw purple score across his flank that's oozing blood. At least the bullet only grazed him, but it's yet another reminder of how dangerous even stupid hunters can be.

He stops scanning and stills, his bright eyes losing focus and his ears no longer moving.

I remember he commented that his venom made it difficult for him to think clearly. It occurs to me that this is our most dangerous moment and I'm nowhere close enough to him to help ease it or to watch out for him.

If there is another genali hiding, he could be killed.

For now there's nothing I can do. I'm not able to get myself out of this tree, which tells me just how little we actually thought this through. I have no way to help him if he's injured. If he is killed, I'll be stranded or captured.

I know both of us are smarter than this.

This certainly warrants a conversation as soon as possible.

I sigh, thinking of how few of the skills I focused on building in my life are a natural fit for this insane situation. Then I push all of those thoughts aside and focus on Thivoll. I hope he breaks out of his trance soon. I watch him closely, hoping for a sign that he is working through whatever has him locked down.

I'm pretty sure a hiding hunter would have struck by now and some of the tension leaves my body.

Now that the danger has passed and I've rerouted my overthinking brain, there is nothing to distract me from the ever-present lust. My nanites are telling me he is everything my body needs and wants.

Right. Now.

Even though the violence bothered me, I have to admit there was a beauty to his movements and the raw power is incredibly attractive. He was as poised as he was brutal and as I play the sequence of his motions back through my mind, I have to squeeze my legs together to provide some relief.

I shouldn't enjoy seeing that level of efficient violence, but I can't deny that it turns me on.

The thought of him up against me with such a graceful and powerful body makes me moan.

Thivoll whips his head toward me, his mouth open and his lips pulled back as he takes a deep breath.

Then he is on all fours and bounding in my direction.