We ended up extending our stay in Tulma by another couple of days. If I had my way, we probably would have stuck around even longer. Leshu and Erastra were a freaking riot. At first I’d feared their relationship had soured over the years the way she was always on his ass and criticizing one thing or another that he did, like she had with his molting. But then I realized it was a game between them. When she had nothing to give him a hard time about, he would deliberately do something to egg her on. Many times, I caught one or the other trying to hide their face so we wouldn’t see the laughter they couldn’t suppress.
But whenever they weren’t picking on each other, they would cuddle in the sweetest way. It made me ache with longing. Going to the shower and seeing that beast of a male gently scraping the scales of the hood, back, and tail of Erastra with the porous stone they used to wash had me melting from the inside out.
Knowing that Szaro would grow to be as big or bigger than his sire messed with my head big time. There was something irresistible about an intimidating mountain of a male who turned into a teddy bear for his one and only. Szaro’s siblings were also a lot of fun, but their mother remained the one I had truly bonded with.
To my shock, my dancing ribbon became an overnight sensation. The poor seamstress got swamped with requests—the Ordosian females wanting them in pairs, like their bands. Catching a few females practicing with them gave me warm fuzzies.
Returning home was bittersweet, but Erastra made me promise to come visit often. As Krada’s Great Hunter, Szaro couldn’t stay away any longer. Elder Krathi only cut him some slack because I claimed it was our honeymoon—which they didn’t have here.
Upon our return, I nearly fell on my ass when I saw the work Irco had done in our absence. The cooking area outside the house could have been the outdoor kitchen of a fancy mansion, complete with a sink and cooling unit. The dining room set inside the main room had turned out even more beautiful than the reference I had provided the builder. My bed was to die for, and the mattress felt like sleeping on a cloud. It almost made me want to reconsider sleeping on top of Szaro. Almost…
That didn’t mean we wouldn’t use it to play naughty.
But what truly took my breath away was the in-house hygiene room my lovable wretch of a husband had secretly authorized behind my back. Irco had noticed my reaction to a crazy luxury bathroom while we were looking for references for my toilet and shower in the shared cleansing area. I couldn’t believe he’d shown it to Szaro and they’d plotted this. I couldn’t get mad. I loved it. It was beyond beautiful. But Szaro’s determination to give me a good life and make me happy was doing quite a number on me.
I expected guilt to gnaw at me, seeing my husband shaping his house to accommodate a wife he wasn’t even certain would stay. But it was nowhere to be found. On a subconscious level, I already knew the chances of me leaving Trangor—of leaving Szaro—were dwindling with each passing day. I was falling hard and fast for that Naga. But I was also falling for this world, these people, and this lifestyle…
The next twelve days went by peacefully. With no more Flayer incursions near vulnerable sectors, we let the Federation hunters finish the task for which they’d been brought here. In two, three more days at the most, they would pack up and leave. My chest didn’t constrict with sorrow, and no distress or sense of doom claimed me. Just peace. During the past couple of weeks, I’d fallen into a nice routine with the hunters as we went out scouting and tending to the local flora and fauna. There was always something to do, something new to discover.
I finished cooking my meal and went to set the table on the terrace, as had become the norm for us. Szaro was late. He usually sat with me, keeping me company because he knew eating was a social thing for humans. And even though he couldn’t share my meals with me, he nonetheless wanted to give me that sense of companionship.
Just as that thought was crossing my mind, the front door opened, and Szaro came gliding in, carrying a big bowl. He gestured for me to wait a minute and went into the kitchen. I waited patiently, my curiosity piqued. He came out to the terrace carrying a plate filled with cubes. He placed it on the table across from me. It took me a moment to recognize it as raw meat… complete with fur and claws. My eyes widened, and I stared questioningly at Szaro.
“I have depleted my reserves,” he explained, gesturing for me to take a seat. “From now on, I will share dinner with you.”
My jaw dropped as I stared at his less than appetizing plate of food. I looked up at his smiling face, and I just melted again. Damn the man and his countless attentions.
“That’s super sweet. But that doesn’t seem anywhere near enough food for you,” I said, worried.
“It should last me a day, maybe less,” Szaro said with a shrug. “But I would rather err on the side of caution. It has been a while since I’ve not eaten to last me at least a few weeks.”
“You’re really awesome,” I said with affection.
“I know,” he said smugly.
I huffed and scrunched my face at him. “I take it back.”
“You can’t. You’ve already said it, and you absolutely meant it,” he retorted with an obnoxious grin that made me want to throw something at him.
In that instant, I saw the Leshu he would become, and I melted some more. He’d brought a fork—which I knew the Ordosians didn’t use—and stabbed a piece of meat before shoving it into his mouth.
He didn’t chew.
It freaked me out a little, but nowhere near as much as I’d feared. Then again, his throat barely swelled as the piece went down. Although they weren’t, snakes always looked like they were in agony as their faces stretched to impossible extents to let the food in.
“You cut it up in small pieces for me,” I whispered, understanding dawning on me.
Szaro smiled but remained silent for a few more seconds until the piece cleared his throat.
“I would normally swallow this creature whole,” he conceded. “But I’m pretty certain you would not have enjoyed the spectacle while trying to eat.”
I squirmed on my chair, embarrassment heating my cheeks. “It is the way of your people,” I said, sounding a little on the defensive. “It would distress me at first, but I’d eventually get over it.”
“Why distress you when there is a simple alternative that really doesn’t make much of a difference for me?” he challenged. “Whether I swallow multiple smaller pieces, or a single large one, it will take me approximately the same time. The only difference is that one allows me to keep you company and have a conversation, whereas the other pretty much puts me out of commission for the duration.”
I made a face at him, which made him chuckle. “When you put it that way, it’s hard to argue,” I mumbled.
He grinned, stabbed another piece—this one included fur—and shoved it into his mouth. Thankfully, my gag reflex didn’t kick in. This would still take some getting used to. I took a couple more bites of my own dish when a sudden thought hit me as I remembered my conversation with Sahla.
“So… the pieces you’ve eaten so far had bones in them, and this one has fur,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “Snakes can digest bones, but not fur, feathers, horns, or anything that contains keratin. Are you going to turn that fur into a ‘furball’ type of thing and just spit it out?”
Szaro chuckled, no doubt in reaction to the expression on my face. I’d tried to keep it neutral, but…
“Actually, the first piece I ate had bones and teeth, and the second one had fur, bones, and claws,” Szaro specified with an amused expression.
I stared at him in horror, and my right eye twitched. Szaro threw his head back and burst out laughing. It was deep and powerful, his shoulders shaking with mirth. Under different circumstances, I’d be gushing over how handsome and badass he looked, but I was a little too busy being traumatized.
“And yes, I will spit out a ‘furball’ type of thing to get rid of the fur and claws. But have no fear, I will spare you that spectacle,” he continued, amusement still sparkling in his eyes. “And no, it won’t happen in the next minute or so. It will take a couple of hours for the process to complete.”
“Right,” I mumbled. “You’re having way too much fun with that.”
“I am, my mate. I am,” he confessed without the slightest remorse.
Even though some of his ways and biological functions freaked me out, I could get over them… once I recovered from the culture shock. But I loved that I could discuss it with Szaro, and he didn’t get offended by my involuntary responses. My wretched face was overly expressive and diplomatically challenged.
We finished eating while chatting away amicably. However gross I found his food, I had actually enjoyed sharing a meal, instead of him just keeping me company while I stuffed my face. Once again, my heart warmed for Szaro’s constant thoughtfulness.
As was his wont, my dear husband picked up the dirty dishes so that he could wash them. Before heading back inside, he leaned forward to kiss me. I recoiled, and slapped my palm on his chest to hold him back.
“Hell no!” I said in response to his stunned expression. “You are not kissing me with that mouth, not after the freaky stuff that just went into it. Go use my mouthwash first, then I’ll reconsider.”
Szaro’s eyes bulged so much, they looked on the verge of popping out of his head. “What?” he exclaimed, flabbergasted. “You eat dead stuff all the time and never have a problem kissing me.”
“That is definitely not the same thing,” I said, shocked he would compare the two. “You just ate teeth, fur, and claws!”
“Technically, I swallowed them along with the meat they were attached to. And you just ate a kweelzy’s butt and feet. How is that better?”
“It’s called ham and hock,” I argued. “AND it’s cooked, eliminating all the nasty stuff.”
“Those are just fancy terms to describe an animal’s ass and feet,” Szaro said with a mulish expression.
“I don’t care. I’m still not kissing that mouth as is,” I said with just as stubborn a face.
Szaro emitted a hissing-rattling sound of annoyance, gave me a look as if he was itching to put me across his lap and spank me, then slithered hastily into the house. I felt both hot and bothered by that look, and amused by his aggravation. I went inside to see him in the hygiene room, the dirty dishes sitting on the counter while he thoroughly swished some mouthwash in his mouth. After a good thirty seconds, he spit it out and gave me a ‘are you satisfied now?’ look.
I chewed my bottom lip, hesitated, then shook my head sheepishly. “Do a second one, just to be on the safe side.”
The even louder rattling-hiss that rose from his throat as he complied with undisguised exasperation had me in stitches. I was literally choking with laughter, tears pouring down my face while he glared at me, his cheeks puffing and deflating as he used the mouthwash. Despite his grumpy demeanor, I didn’t miss the glimmer of amusement in his eyes, subtle though it was.
Yep, I could definitely see my future Leshu.
When he spit it out, he rinsed his mouth with some water then came to draw me into his embrace. I didn’t resist.
“Now, stop denying me, female,” he grumbled.
“Kiss away, my dear. You earned it.”
And kiss me he did.
With tomorrow being the last day of the First Hunt, the Ordosians and I were venturing deep in the authorized hunting areas to start assessing and mending the damage the rampaging Flayers had caused. It was proving to be an enlightening experience for me. In my five years as a professional Hunter, I’d never really taken the time to evaluate how much the local flora and fauna got wrecked by such incursions, especially when massive, feral beasts ran through areas it normally never did.
Sure, I’d noticed the trampled beds of vegetation and the trees brought down. But I’d never really thought of the fact that, with a rampage of the scale Trangor experienced, the vegetation crushed underfoot was mostly roots and small berries that constituted the main food source of many small creatures. I didn’t realize that the battles and fallen trees occasionally caused underground collapses of the lairs of burrowing creatures. Some managed to dig their way out, but the squatting species that merely took over abandoned hideouts would become trapped and die of suffocation or starvation.
We found two such families in distress: one was a type of rodent, the other a lizard species. The rodents were extremely weak, but alive. We fed them rugal paste with feeding syringes. It would take them a couple of days to recover, so we left some food in their lair. The lizards didn’t fare so well. Both parents had died, the mother still brooding her eggs. We took the eggs and placed them inside one of the incubators on the carrier Drayshan. The caretaker females in the atrium would look after them until they hatched, then they’d be released into the wild again.
The screech of a Flayer in the distance drew our attention. Szaro made me activate my stealth shield and used his own natural camouflage, changing the colors of his scales to make him blend with his surroundings. I hopped onto his back, and he carried me towards the beast. The other hunters, also camouflaged, followed us silently.
Our scanners indicated a Federation hunter was already handling it. I’d found out the Ordosians had regularly been observing us in secret since the beginning of the Hunt. What I hadn’t realized was that they’d demanded the Federation remove a couple of hunters from the Hunt because of the cruel methods they used to kill the Flayers. The Ordosians wanted the excess population of these beasts eliminated to maintain a healthy balance, not for them to suffer unnecessarily.
We arrived just in time to witness the battle. My eyes widened at the sight of the human hunter, Donovan Craigh. We’d developed a healthy friendship over the years of running into each other on the hunting circuits. I’d never seen him in action before. Hunters zealously hid their trade secrets from one another. After all, we were in competition. I almost felt guilty spying on him… almost.
To my surprise, he was using a jetpack to fly around the beast, just out of reach of its long neck. He released four small spheres that hovered around the Flayer’s head and emitted a powerful white light, blinding the countless eyes of the creature. The sphere in front of its face broadcast a threatening growling sound. The Flayer immediately snapped its maw of dagger-like teeth while blindly swinging its scythe-like arms. The four spheres flashed their light again to keep it blinded while Donovan quietly hovered behind the creature which was too focused on the growling diversion to realize what was happening.
The clever son of a gun!
He aimed a strange weapon at the legs of the Flayer. A laser tag appeared on the front and back legs on each side of the beast. When he fired, four white balls shot out, each landing on their respective tag. As soon as they made contact, the white substance wrapped around the leg then immediately stretched to connect with the other ball on the same side, trapping the middle legs in the process. The four legs on each side ended up bundled like a bouquet, making the Flayer fall to its stomach. It shouted in outrage, struggling in vain against its restraints.
Donovan flew around to face the creature. He spoke a vocal command, and the spheres each emitted a beam of light at the base of what would be considered the head of the Flayer. It confused me at first, then I realized they were acting as miniature tractor beams, keeping the creature’s head immobile while it went on screeching. It allowed Donovan to take perfect aim at the vulnerable spot at the back of its throat. Within seconds, the battle was over.
“Damn,” I whispered. “No freaking wonder he’s been getting so many perfect scores.”
“It is very well done,” Szaro whispered back, his voice filled with respect.
“Can I go talk to him for a minute?” I asked. “He’s an old friend.” I bit back the urge to add that this might be my last chance to ever see him again.
Szaro looked at me over his shoulder then nodded.
“Thank you,” I whispered as he let me down.
I kissed his cheek then headed towards Donovan, who was busy claiming his kill with a beacon. I made enough noise so that he would hear my approach. Alerted, his head jerked up as he looked for the source. I deactivated my stealth shield. His shock gave way to disbelief, then to joy.
“Hey girl! What are you doing here? You look well!” he said, rising to his feet.
“I’m doing good. I’m out with the Ordosians, doing ranger stuff. They’re hanging out a short way back there.” I nodded at the Flayer. “Nice kill. No wonder you’ve been getting such badass scores.”
Donovan snorted. “Says the woman who is so far ahead in the lead, no one has a hope in hell of catching up and winning the grand prize,” he said with mocked despair.
I laughed. “Right, but I’m actually not going to claim the grand prize,” I said as I came to a stop in front of him. “I already informed the Federation to give it to whoever ends up in second place.”
“Why the fuck would you do that? It’s five million credits!”
“Because honestly, just the credits I’m making from the kills are way more than I ever hoped for,” I said with a shrug. “Plus, it wouldn’t be fair. I would never get so many perfect kill bonuses if not for the Ordosians, or that many kills for that matter. You guys are out there doing it on your own. You deserve it more.”
“That’s really neat of you,” Donovan said gently. “But then, you were always a classy lady.”
I smiled.
He sobered, concern filling his eyes. “How are you doing, Serena? Everyone was pretty shocked when we heard the news. I can’t believe they wanted to execute you for saving one of their own.”
I shifted uneasily on my feet. “It’s complicated. They didn’t want to hurt me, specifically for that reason. But you know what kind of precedent that would have created if I’d just been able to walk away. People would abuse it to try and get away with shit.”
He nodded slowly, a frown marring his forehead. “Yeah, I can see that. It still sucks for you though. I mean, we’re relieved they found an alternative solution, but are you okay? Are they treating you well?”
“More than well. They’re really awesome to me, and I’m loving the life here. Seriously,” I insisted when he gave me a dubious look. “You know I’ve always wanted to become a ranger in a major park. Right now, the entire planet is my playground with the most incredible creatures I’ve ever seen.”
“I can imagine,” he conceded. “Their fauna is pretty damn amazing. No wonder the Federation and the UPO are bending over backwards to remain in the Ordosians’ good graces. One of the pharma reps gave us a breakdown of all of the medicines and treatments they’ll be able to derive from the Flayers alone. It’s pretty insane.”
“You have no idea,” I said with a grin. “Szaro—my husband—was showing me some creature whose empty chrysalis shells can be used to create a cream that regenerates severely burnt skin, among other things.”
A troubled expression crossed Donovan’s face, immediately putting all of my senses into high alert.
“What is it?” I asked.
Donovan shifted on his feet. “Look, maybe it’s nothing, but if you guys are scouting, you might want to head southwest.” He hesitated before continuing. “I was there yesterday. With the Flayers becoming more scarce, it was a bit overcrowded with competitors, which is why I decided to come to this sector today. But while I was there, I stumbled on a hunter’s bracer.”
“A bracer? No arm attached to it?” I asked, taken aback.
“No arm and no blood,” Donovan said. “It was pure luck that I found it. I left it with one of my kills for the extraction team to retrieve so they could try to find and rescue its owner. But where I found it didn’t feel like it could have fallen there by accident.”
“You think its owner deliberately got rid of it so the Federation couldn’t track his movements,” I said.
Donovan nodded. “When I returned to the base camp last night, everyone was accounted for. I have no clue who it belonged to. But I have my suspicions.”
“Oh?”
“With these being the last few days of the Hunt, everyone has been pulling long hours to try and score as many points as possible,” he said. “Everyone’s score went up noticeably last night, except for three people: Baron, Tholya, and Djomoug.”
My heart sank. “Baron, of course,” I said through gritted teeth. “Whenever shit goes wrong, he’s always involved. But what of the other two? Were there other missing bracers?”
Donovan shook his head. “I only found the one. But it doesn’t mean the other two didn’t hide theirs better and managed to recover them before going back to the base,” he said.
“Where was it stashed?” I asked in a tense voice, a sense of dread washing over me.
“Hang on, let me transfer the coordinates to your map.”
Moments later, my bracer beeped with the confirmation. “Thanks. Well, it was really great seeing you again. Give my regards to the others, and take good care of yourself.”
“You do the same,” he said with a gentle smile.
I nodded in farewell and hastened towards the location where the Ordosians waited for me. Szaro discarded his camouflage long before I reached him.
“I think there might be a problem,” I said warily.
“We heard,” Szaro said, then gestured at his back with his head. “Get on, my mate.”
I complied. While he carried me, piggyback, to where we had left our Drayshans, I wondered how I felt about the fact that they’d eavesdropped on our conversation. Well, technically they had not. With their enhanced hearing, they’d been close enough to make out what we were saying without making any effort. I wanted to believe that had simply been the case and not that they had wanted to spy on us from any lack of trust.
When we reached our mounts, one of the hunters took the carrier Drayshan back to the village with the rescued animals and eggs, and the rest of us rode hard to the coordinates Donovan had shared. Szaro had sent a com message to the villages in that vicinity so that they could begin to scout the forbidden sectors nearby for any sign of foul play.
Twenty minutes before we arrived at the coordinates, my chest constricted painfully as the purple light of a distress flare began pulsating overhead. A second and then a third appeared: the Ordosian signal for every off-worlder to leave their forests immediately and retreat into the base camp. Anyone failing to do so would be killed on sight. This was the signal every hunter had feared and that the Federation had dreaded: the confirmation that someone had royally fucked up.
Then the news reached us. A Khenad den had been all but decimated. The creatures were the alien version of a mini-gryphon, with the body of a fennec, a head vaguely resembling that of an owl, and a wide pair of wings. They were among the few creatures on Trangor immune to the Ordosians’ appeasing rattling song. Despite their small size, they could do serious damage when feeling threatened. Their vicious talons and their acidic venom could wreck anyone foolish enough to mess with them, especially during birthing season.
By the time we arrived, the hunters of the Cizsa tribe were hard at work tending far too many orphaned hatchlings screaming for food. Tears welled in my eyes at the sight of the countless corpses of the adult Khenads which had only been defending their den.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered, looking around me. “They all have blaster burns, but no cuts, no organs removed. And all the young are still here. Why this senseless killing?”
“Because of this,” Szaro hissed, pointing an angry finger at a series of vine-line branches that ran all over the face of the cave, some of them even crawling inside.
It took me a moment to understand how the vines were relevant to this tragedy. The top section, far out of reach for even the tallest among us, was covered in bright-red flowers with yellow-edged petals that reminded me of marigolds, whereas not a single one could be seen below.
“No!” I whispered, staring at Szaro in disbelief. “They slaughtered these animals to grab some flowers?”
“They’re not flowers, but fungus that the Khenads feed on,” he ground through his teeth. “Off-worlders call it Attrimat.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Attrimat was a prescription-only, powerful painkiller. In the past couple of years, it had become a highly sought-after recreational drug for the absence of dependency or negative side-effects. As it was extremely difficult to grow, and required specific conditions to do so, its trade was strictly regulated. Judging by the size of the surface that had been plundered, the bastard who had done this would be raking in millions in credits on the black market.
Shortly thereafter, we received news that two more sites had been desecrated. In one, half of the population had been slaughtered, and specific organs removed. The other was a small hidden valley, similar to the one where Szaro and I had made love for the first time. Blind fury washed over me at finding out the son of a bitch had ripped the little Scogas right out of their chrysalis to steal their shells, leaving them to die, half-transformed. In only two or three more days, they would have left the shells on their own.
As soon as the female caretakers of the neighboring villages reached the ravaged sites to take over the care of the surviving creatures, the hunters and I mounted our Drayshans and descended on the Federation base camp.
