I reach out and adjust the necklace so that the curved claws hang properly, with their sharp points away from the flawless skin onher collarbone. “If we had also had the claws from the irox, this would have been the most impressive necklace on Xren. No man that I’ve heard of has taken down both a drokandan irox, and injured an ocean Big.”
“We took them down together,” Dorie points out, reaching out to gently touch my chest with cool fingertips.
“The irox, perhaps. Not the drok. That was all you.”
She touches the skin near my small wounds. “Do you still feel the krolt venom?”
I shrug. “It wasn’t much, and it goes away fast.”
Her touch runs up my thigh and settles lightly on the side of my loincloth. “Maybe later, when Aker’iz is asleep, we can walk on the beach?” Her eyes have a peculiar light in them.
My loincloth bulges out immediately. “I think we can. Perhaps there will be fine moonlight.”
“Perhaps.” She quickly glances down at my loincloth. “And perhaps we don’t need it.” She sits back down and continues playing with Aker’iz.
I look up at the little sliver of sky I can see past the canopy of leaves high above. There’s still time for a quick hunt, so that we can have fresh meat tonight—if there’s prey nearby, that is. With two krolts dead, it’s very possible the prey Smalls are getting brave.
“I’ll go on a quick hunt,” I tell Dorie as I lean her spear onto the playpen. “Be ready to run into the ship if anything happens. The wise warrior avoids a fight if he can.”
“Yes, Chief,” she replies with mock seriousness.
I walk into the jungle with my hand on my sword and a smile on my face. Yes, we deserve some fresh, tender meat tonight.
I walk fast, looking out for krolts. If there’s a new nest nearby, then they will have chased away the rekh from this area of the jungle. Those two can’t stand each other. Where you find one, you don’t find the other.
Still, I have to go farther than I expected to find suitable prey. I kick over several of the white balls on the ground. They keep getting bigger and heavier.
Following the old tracks of a skarn, I find fresh tracks of something else: tribesmen. Three of them.
“They said they would go back,” I mutter as I follow them. The tracks are careless, showing no real attempt to keep to proper jungle discipline. Even just three, they feel strong when not alone. And those three were never the best jungle men anyway.
I smell the smoke from their fire before I see them. Getting down on all fours, I quietly crawl up on their campsite, staying out of view. They’re sitting on the ground, grilling a skarn. Their swords are on the ground beside them as they chat about nothing in particular, laughing, and being far too loud.
I could storm out of the jungle and kill all three before they could get to their feet. That would be the best thing to do. But I also know I won’t. Killing krolts is one thing. These are men. And I won’t kill men who are not trying to kill Aker’iz, or me, or Dorie.
I quietly draw my sword, then walk fast into the small clearing, blade pulled up high and ready to slash.
“Anyone who moves gets his head cleaved in two,” I state as I stand before them.
They’re all frozen, eyes large. “Kenz’ox!”
“Why are you still here?” I demand. “Why are you not on the way back to your tribe?”
They look at each other.
“We… we like it here,” Emar’oz finally says. “We’ve been walking for a long time, following you. We wanted to rest before we start going back. Look, there are skarns here. There aren’t any rekh. There’s lots of fruit and berries. We see no sign of tribes. Unclaimed turf, Kenz’ox! When did you ever seethat?”
This place does look as if they’ve been here for a while. The grass is flattened, and they have made a simple roof to sleep under.
“Rarely,” I admit, “and neither have you. This turf is claimed byme. That skarn is mine.”
Frant’ex moves as if to get up. “No, it’s not!”
I change my stance slightly, sword still pulled back. “Are you sure?”
He sags and sits back down. “No one man can claim a turf,” he says sourly. “Only a tribe can.”
“If the man can defend his turf, then the turf is his,” I state. “Compared to you three, I’m a full tribe, despite being only one.”
