"We agreed the females would not be harassed," he says, stopping a respectful distance away before folding his arms over her bare chest and glowering at Rynn.
Rynn tenses, the feathers on his huge, dark wings puffing up ever so slightly like the fur on the back of an agitated cat. I get the feeling these two tribe leaders aren't the best of buddies. "And who is being harassed, High Spear Zarriko? I am here with my mate." He turns his back to the other leader, acting nonchalant, but his jaw is tense and his arms tighten around his girl like he suspects someone's coming to try and steal her away.
God, these guys can be such big bird-man-babies. "It's just these spices," I say, addressing Zarriko. "We tried them for the first time and Rynn came over to see what all the fuss is about."
Zarriko's cool eyes assess me for a quiet moment or two before he twists gracefully, turning to lock eyes with Mavyx. I watch the silent interaction between the two and the communication is as loud as thunder despite no words being said, and despite the distance of the clearing between them too. Zarriko's body language is practically screaming that he's checking in with Mavyx;'this your girl, huh?'and Mavyx's reply of an aggressive jerk of his chin and a widening of his stance just about tips me over the edge. It's like he pissed all over me to mark his territory.
And I don't have the patience for this bullshit.
Standing, I march over to bird-man-in-chief and stick out my hand. "Hi, I'm Alana Carter-" I start. From the corner of my eye, I can see Mavyx drop his stupid macho stance and start heading toward us. I carry on with my introduction regardless, "-human female, employment lawyer, abductee from planet Earth, lover of chocolate and movies that will make me cry, oh, and nothing to do withhim," I jerk my head at Mayvx as he comes to a standstill beside Zarriko. "So if everyone could stop acting like I'm his little puppy and you gotta ask his permission to pet me, that would be great."
The furry tip of Mavyx's tail jerks multiple times. It kind of reminds me of when irate cartoon characters would have one twitching eye.
So, of course, I decide to push him even further.
Zarriko is still eyeing Mavyx when I grab for his hand. "This is called a handshake," I say, showing him an awkward variation of the greeting, shaking his stiff but huge hand in mine. The whole clearing is silent and still. Even the alien chirping-bugs are quiet. I swear I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears. "When someone offers you their hand, the polite thing to do is to-"
Mavyx's growl is a low, menacing rumble from deep within his chest making me halt in my tracks and drop the handshake like I’d been burned. One of Mavyx's hands curls into a fist, the other looking all too twitchy close to that huge opal-like dagger he keeps strapped to his muscular thigh.
I swallow. If I thought tensions at this gathering were fraught before, that was nothing compared to now. Several Trixikka are inching closer, eyeing their superiors, no doubt awaiting some form of signal to jump to action and let all hell break loose. Rynn has already silently glided on his huge wings to reach us effortlessly and stand beside his second in command, ready to stamp out the fire that's starting to spark.
"Youdarechallenge a High Spear?" Zarriko demands.
Rynn's hands are raised, but his tone is firm when he says, "My Second Spear meant no disrespect, Zarriko."
"And yet he issued a warning growl... directedat me,a High Spear."
The silence is electric now and I can practically taste the testosterone bullshit coursing through the air between these knuckleheads. All this because of a handshake?Are you kidding me?!
I damn near snap my neck from the way I whip my head toward Rynn when he gives two resolute commands. "This gathering is over. Mavyx, fly your female home."
His Second Spear wastes no time at all in hauling me into his arms and launching us into the air.
CHAPTER 2: MAVYX
I hold Ah-Lanah to my chest as we fly. She will not look at me, though. This is fine. At least she has stopped squirming in my arms, trying to twist out of my grasp as if we were not already two dozen wingbeats from the ground.
She is acting like this is allmyfault though. She is acting like she did not just take another Trixikka's hand and talk of letting himpether - right in front of me. She is acting like she didn't make those noises that are going to plague me all this cursed night.
She is acting like Iaskedfor my heart-stars to ignite for her.
And I will assure all the Goddesses there are in all the Temples of the land, that Idid not.I would swear on my finest, most deadly spear - a mate is not something I have ever wished for. No less, a mate who quite clearly does not wish for me, either.
But my heart-stars are alight and there is nothing I can do to cure this curse that ails me.
Our home mountain looms ahead, and, inexplicably, I want to slow my wingbeats just to hold on to her a little while longer. The thought makes me want to growl at myself for being such a fool.
We have all become fools since the females arrived. I thought I could rise above it, but I cannot. I am no better than my idiot green-male trainee Protectors who stand around chewing on the leaves of the deep-jungle plant in plain view of the females all day. The trouble is, they hear rumors that a female is more likely to take a male to mate if he is willing to eat the bitter plant, and all of a sudden you cannot stretch a wing in the village without touching some idiot with a mouth of the stuff. I have overheard tales of our own High Spear and his mate - that because he is willing to eat the horrid plant right down to the root if she should ask it of him, she... lets himdo things, in the privacy of their own hut.
I swallow thickly, briefly glancing down at the female in my arms before training my sights back upon the mountain ahead of us. Ah-Lanah would never allow such a thing as I have heard described in whispers.
And I should not want that.
I am a proud Second Spear. My duty is to my High Spear, my tribe, and my Temple. These females... they are distractions sent by the Goddesses to test us, and I have never lost to a challenge or a test of my focus. When a prospective Protector has completed his training, he is then put to test in the Spear Trials; a feat of endurance, cunning and strength. Our wings are clipped to keep us grounded and we are dropped at the very edges of the great forests, where the grasses beneath our feet give way to a sheer drop into enormous churning waters that stretch out as far as the eye can see. It is up to the tested to make their way back through the deepest, most dangerous parts of the jungle on foot. And I, Second Spear Mavyx, proudly completed my own trial in just three days and four nights, returning to my village victorious with a hunted frizikki kill slung over my shoulder and the severed hands of two slain mimyckah scum hanging from my belt. I even beat my dearest companion, Rynn, who would become our High Spear.
I could do all of that because it was my only focus - the one thing that needed my attention.
But now...
