Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I want to tell her that she can climb on her own, but I think of her words earlier, and how she said she sometimes has numbness. “Being carried is best,” I whisper, caressing her jaw. “Save your strength for later.”
And perhaps we will find a khui for her soon.
With R’slind curled against me, I do not sleep. I remain on guard, watching her for signs of distress or cold, and listen to Set’nef and his brother talk in voices too low to make out. They do not sleep, either, and I worry they will leave R’slind behind. That they think she is already too weak to continue and will attempt to abandon her.
It does not matter. I do not know my way out of this maze of caves, but if they try to leave R’slind behind, I will stay with her. I will carry her to safety…wherever that may be. I hold her tighter, as if my determination can somehow protect her from everything in this world.
A loud cry pierces the silence.
Immediately, Set’nef and his brother jump to their feet.
A rock flies towards us, followed by another. The cry sounds again, and Set’nef pulls out a blade and scans our surroundings. “We are under attack. The time for silence is over. Wake your female.”
“What is it? What is wrong?” I move to R’slind’s side to guard her, forgetting they cannot understand me.
“It is Kin’far the Tainted,” Tal’nef explains, pulling out a pair of blades of his own and scanning the area. “He is waking the gorgers.”
Gor-gers? I shake R’slind to wake her, surprised that she yet sleeps, but she does not stir. My heart stills in my chest and I press my ear to her teats, desperate to hear her heartbeat. It yet beats, much to my relief, but it sounds weak and R’slind shivers with cold. I must get her a khui soon. Very soon.
I gather her in my arms and carry her closer to them. “What is gor-gers?”
Something slithers through the mushrooms in the distance, heading our way. “Gorgers,” Tal’nef says again, his gaze scanning the cave walls, “are large scavengers. They eat anything that comes through here. Bats, vermin…people. They are attracted by sound. They are why we must be quiet. One scratch from their claws will paralyze you and then they will take bites out of you while you lay frozen.”
As he speaks, a large, slender mushroom shakes and falls over in the opposite direction. Another one.
“You take the left,” Set’nef tells his brother, springing to action. “I will take the right.”
Tal’nef nods, crouching low, and then turns to me. He flips his blade, offering me the handle.
I take it from him with a nod. Now I can protect my mate.
Quicker than lightning, Tal’nef springs into action. He pulls out another blade and with three free hands, climbs atop one of the broader mushrooms. He leaps forward, and a moment later I hear a snarl of anger and the hiss of a creature as he disappears into the mushroom jungle.
Another rock flies near, and I settle R’slind behind me, against the sheer rock wall. Does this crazed exile think to get us killed by these gor-gers and then scoop up R’slind for himself? “Show yourself,” I snarl at the shadows. “You shall not get my female.”
There is a laugh in the shadows, and a rock pelts my shoulder. A movement catches my eye and I watch as Set’nef scales the wall with two arms, his other two flashing blades as he fights…something. It looks the same shade as the light brown, strange moss that covers the cave floor…and I am suddenly worried that my mate is not so safe.
The ground shivers in front of me, and I ready the unfamiliar blade, crouching low and ready to strike. A tail thrashes, and then my eyes adjust and I see it. The creature is camouflaged. It looks much like the kaari of my home island, but flatter. Hooked spikes cover it, and when it races forward, it moves in a side-to-side fashion, like a serpent. As I watch, it springs to the nearest mushroom, faster than I imagined. Its legs extend like a hopper, bent to allow powerful jumps, and I slash at it as it jumps again, heading for us.
The creature—the gor-ger—hisses, backing up, and its jaw unhinges, lowering unnaturally wide.
It is awful.
It is hideous.
It carries a khui for my mate.
Fifteen
ROSALIND
I wake up to the sound of shouting.
My dreams were thick and syrupy, real but disjointed. It’s like I knew I was dreaming but couldn’t wake up anyhow. I dreamed I was home, at the library, and shelving books. Each time I put a book on the shelf, it screamed at me as if in pain, so horribly that I’d immediately remove it again.
But now I’m awake and there is still screaming.