4. Chapter 4

The warriors and I stood in a semicircle around the red swirling fog. We had stayed here all month after I stepped through the portal into the human's strange world.

Now, we would see if they took our deal or not.

I wasn't even sure if I wanted them to.

It was in the hands of the gods now, and I surrendered myself to their wisdom, just like I had done when Vorag guided me in not killing Matt. It had been Vorag who, one night, came to me in my dreams and showed me Matt—as a gallis. It was funny how I had never thought of human gallies before, but they had only ever sent males, so I had never given them a second thought until that night.

The next morning, I asked Matt about it. He looked a bit perturbed like he always did when he didn't want to answer me, but in the end, he admitted they did have gallies, and an idea was born .

It seemed only right to me that the humans should share their gallies with us after having killed—albeit unwittingly—most of ours. And sa, I did hold them accountable for our misfortune. Unwittingly or not, one didn't play god and called upon the demons from dagghar to make portals to come explore other worlds that didn't belong to them.

"Khadahr," one of my warriors called out, pointing at the swirling fog that slowly disappeared, allowing us a glimpse of the laboratory on the other side, the one I had visited before.

The warriors and priests around me had never seen anything but the red swirling fog, and many were using their fingers to draw Vorag's symbol on their chests to beg for his power of protection.

"You're playing with the wrath of the gods, Khadahr Tzar-Than," Bzun-Lhan, my brother, who was now the high priest, cautioned me once again. He had hastened here after his acolytes had called him the moment I informed them of my plan. "It's not too late to move from your demonic ways. Just slay them all, and Vorag will forgive you."

"What I do is between Vorag and me," I informed him coldly. It probably wasn't the brightest idea to alienate the high priest like this, but he and I had been enemies from the moment our mother had given birth to me. His disdain for me had only grown after the khadahr trials.

The gods had ordained Bzun-Lhan unfit to become khadahr when he was born with a missing thumb, denying him the right to prove himself in the khadahr trials. So he had chosen the path of priesthood to obtain the power his birth defect had denied him. He had done well for himself, becoming the youngest High Priest in Vandruk history, yet his hate for me, his younger brother, had never wavered.

I didn't hate him, but I didn't like him. Brother or not. He was too self-righteous. Too zealous. Too unforgiving.

"Whatever happens next is on your conscience," Bzun-Lhan announced, unable to keep his nasty smirk contained. He wished for nothing more than to see me falter in this. If he couldn't be Farruk's khadahr, he wanted ruling power to be taken by the temple. This would be his greatest achievement. He didn't care what would happen to Farruk's citizens as long as he was its ruler, one way or another.

The first human men stepped through the portal, all dressed in the blue uniforms Matt had informed me belonged to ICs. They wore crude stone axes on their hips, as well as sharpened bone swords, similar to ours—most likely fashioned after what the humans had observed during my short visit.

Each one of these males was taller and broader than Matt, trained warriors, I supposed, even though none of them would be a match for me or any of my warriors. I hoped they had been trained to use those weapons. They couldn't possibly have any idea how unforgiving and bloodthirsty our world was. Only the strongest survived Vandruk.

Not that these males mattered to me. They were as insignificant to me as the dirt under the soles of my boots. They were dust in the wind. Slightly irritating, but quickly forgotten .

Nek—no—my attention was fully focused on the gallies stepping through next. Twenty-one, even though I had asked for twenty. One separated herself from the others quickly, moving toward a group of three males, who also wore the IC's blue uniform. So she wasn't part of the deal; too bad, we could use any gallies sent here.

All twenty of the others looked young—but not too young—healthy, and beautiful. Their skin tones varied, just like Matt had described, from light pink to deep brown, almost black. My eyes moved over their heads. Their hair coloring was as varied as their skin: blonde, red, brown, and, there! Black.

I didn't realize I was searching for her until I saw her. My roaming eyes stopped and took her in. Where the other females wore a wide variety of clothes, ranging from skirts to short pants, very short pants that nearly obscenely exposed parts of their asses, she had chosen the same blue uniform the other warriors and scientists wore—the same I had first seen her in. Fortunately, she didn't separate from the group but stayed with them, assuring me she was part of the twenty females as per my request.

Her black hair was tied back, and her feet were enveloped in sensible boots that looked almost as well-made as ours. A backpack hung securely from her shoulders while she tried to blend in with the other gallies. Something I knew would never work; she wasn't like them. She wasn't like any gallis I had ever met. It didn't matter how hard she tried; she would never fit in with the others, and that was how it was supposed to be. I prayed that one day, she would realize that .

I had tried hard not to make a decision regarding her yet, at least not until I saw the other gallies, but I had thought about her more often than I liked to admit during the last month. Seeing her now, among the others, I was certain what my heart wanted and what my brain demanded would eventually be the same, but first, I needed to get to know her better. The long trek from here to Farruk would test her, and I almost felt sorry for her. Most of all, I hoped she would survive.

"Hey, aliens, who is your leader?" A tall brute of a male separated himself from the group of human warriors, staring down our ranks.

I moved toward the human. "I am Khadahr Tzar-Than of the Farruk. You are under my protection and order."

The human stretched out his hand. "Commander John Willis, I'm in charge of this expedition."

"You are under my command," I reiterated, shaking his hand in the strange way Matt had shown me.

"These humans are under my charge until they reach their destination safely." The Commander pulled his hand back first, staring up at me, which I was sure didn't sit well with him.

"As long as you follow my lead, we will all reach Farruk unharmed," I promised.

"When are we leaving?" Willis demanded.

With a loud sigh, I pointed at the females. "As soon as they're sensibly dressed. We have a long march ahead of us."