Chapter Seven
GALAN
He came to a fallen temple, one the likes he had never seen. It was jagged as if torn apart by fire and claws but he knew of no such creature on Sonhadra that could’ve done what was before him. The smell that he had followed had grown stronger until he came upon the raised butt of forged metal. It stuck up with a half mile of skid marks leading up to it until the front had stopped it amongst the dirt and burned-up trees.
Orange beings, not unlike the raven-haired girl, milled about near what remained of the temple’s ruins. Many wore the same clothes the girl had but some were dressed differently. Those were less noticeable, and he decided that they must be the lesser brothers and sister valos of this new race.
Galan looked up.One that came from the sky...He itched to move closer but chose to remain hidden in the nearby trees. As the hours passed, he was privy to more than he ever thought he would be.
Females, not many. Males are the majority.All looking broken in some way. One of the men dragged down his pants beneath him and released his member, only to spray the stump of the tree with yellow liquid. Galan watched the man handle it, his member not unlike his own—although significantly smaller—before he put it away and returned to the others.
At least he knew these valos were built similarly to the others.His own shaft, having been painfully stiff since he left Dawn behind, jerked at the thought. It meant the girl Sundamar chased would be compatible with him and that what she had between her thighs would fit over what was between his. Galan shifted and pulled his wings tighter against his body, his quiver and bow hanging on either side of his stems but only a twitch and turn away.
His nostrils flared. He now had a name for the strange smells in the air. It smelled like newly forged precious metal weapons mixed with blood and something sharp and gaseous. It made his head spin. The constant drizzle of rain hadn’t lessened the stench. It only exasperated it and with it, the need to find out from where and from whom the new species had come.
They looked nothing like Lusheenn nor some of the other Creators he had seen. They were smaller than any valos on Sonhadra and appeared weaker. He cocked his head to the side and deepened his crouch on the branch, moving for a better view. Some held shaped metal rods on their hips, others carried them in their hands, while some had no rods at all. Only one female, he assumed by the curve of her bust, had one of these rods.
And yet, as they went about, all with a job in mind, many held electric lightning in their hands also shaped from thinner sheets of the same metal the rods and the ruined temple were made of. The flash emitted from the lightning electrified his eyes and he felt compelled to jump down and touch it like the tiny valos did.
He counted a total of twelve beings but couldn’t account for any that may have been out of the vicinity. Galan moved slightly on his branch and stiffened when excess rainwater spilled to the ground. He waited to see if any of the beings noticed but none had so he lowered his arm that had jerked up to his weapon in response.
His attention shifted to the several females in the group. None of them looked like his raven-haired girl; none of them stirred the shaft between his legs like she had, and to his frustration, he felt nothing for these other females. If he could muster any want for one of them, he could claim her as his own and conquer her, leaving the other beauty behind for his brothers to tame.
His jaw ticked at the thought and a well of disgust rose up in him.She’s as much mine as she is Sundamar’s. I saw her right as he had.He could even argue he saw her first as there was no way to prove...
It didn’t stop him from watching the new species or gathering intel for himself and his brothers. Galan found it strange that no other valos had come out to take in this new temple and these new people. He found it more disturbing that the Creator of these new valos was nowhere to be seen. They appeared to be left to their own devices. A new species had far too much to learn before their Creator left them alone.
“Stop! Stop, no!” A shrill feminine voice seeded through the humid air, drawing his attention away from the larger group, who in turn stopped to watch the sudden commotion.
“Please, you’re hurting me!” A disproportionate male, holding one of the rods against a female, dug its blunt metal head into her back. Galan slowly rose and turned as the female was dragged off and away from the larger group. The others who were left behind went back to work as if the female’s strange yelps had no effect on them.
He neither understood nor liked the sound of her crying plight and knew she must have done something wrong to deserve the punishment she was about to be given, however, it didn’t sit well with him.
Where is their Creator? Their leader?Punishment had guidelines and codes with choices allowed and decided upon by both parties. Judgment and sentencing had been a favored pastime of Lusheenn’s, and Galan knew his methods well.
Each kingdom had their own codes, their own way of handling things, but in one mutual respect, judgment and punishment werejust. The way the male dragged the smaller, clearly weaker female intrigued and angered him at the same time. There was nothing but him and her and that didn’t sit well with Galan.
The sky deepened into evening above. His eyes caught the two moons rising as the female’s shrieks grew distant and more frenetic. As they continued without stopping, aggravating his nerves, he stepped off the branch slowly, allowing his wings to flow through the air just enough for him to hover. When it was clear none of the new valos paid him any mind, he moved through the thick, mossy canopies until he reached the source of the noise.
And stopped.
The female’s lower body was bared. The male struggled with her clothes, knocking the rod against her skin as she was shoved roughly against the trunk of a tree. Even from his position he could smell the speckles of blood where her skin met the bark. It didn’t smell like Sundamar’s blood. It smelled like the rest of the new valos’ temple and products: different.
His nose twitched as a deluge of other scents washed over him next. Grimy, dirty, unwashed, and metallic, body odors that sickened his stomach.
“You’re hurting me! Please,” the female’s screams grew shriller. The man remained focused on his intent to punish. “No!”
Galan didn’t understand any of their words.
The female suddenly knocked the male away, sending him sprawling on the ground, but as she dove to the side her eyes locked with his, stopping her in her tracks, forgetting about her accuser. Her mouth parted but whatever she was going to say to him never came out. The man had taken her ankle and sent her crashing to the ground.
This isn’t right.He shouldn’t get involved.I know nothing of these valos.It could be a sacred ritual.
