“It’s Delphi,” I say out loud, my voice sounding far away and not like my own. “Her name is Delphi.”
And she’s my sister.
Chapter 24 - Aloryk
The new females are even more of a mixture of physiques, colors and attitudes than the original females the Goddesses gifted us to protect. Truly, humans come in such an exciting array of differences, it makes me wonder if they are all from differing tribes and whether all their tribes live amicably together. This is something I shall have to ask my Polly, once I am done helping, and finished with washing her lush body of the sticky clay.
Daffy, the new female I am tasked with helping, is relatively calm in my arms. She is lean, but tall, with a shining dark mane not unlike well-preened Trixikka feathers. She will have no issues attracting a mate, I am sure, but she does not compare to the mouth-watering curves of my Polly.
No-one does.
“It’s not broken,” she tells me as I walk toward the Healers hut. “It’s just sprained. We were running from those awful things back there and I went over on it. If you guys have some ice-… or bandages? I should get it elevated.”
I grunt in acknowledgment. Daffy’s ankle does look painfully swollen and bruised. “You are a healer to know these things?”
“I’m a physiotherapist… or, I was.” She tries to move her ankle but winces.
Now that I am further away from the excitement of the new arrivals, I can scent this female more clearly. She is acting calm in my arms, but she stinks of fear and apprehension. Itis understandable given her circumstances. My Polly wore the scent of confusion for her situation for days after she awoke from her sleeping pod. “What is a fee-see-oh-thrip-pest?” I ask, deciding that keeping her talking is probably the best way to take her mind off both her injury, and her fear.
After some time with Daffy and the Healer, it is confirmed that she is correct in her knowledge of her injury - and of how to treat it. Some eager Protectors are now on their way to the peak of the highest mountains in our territory to retrieve as much ice as they can in an obvious bid to secure affections from the new female. I grin at the thought, happy that I already have my Polly and knowing that I would do exactly the same for her should she ever be in need of it. Goddesses! Even if she just wanted to play with the ice and snow, I would bring it to her, or her to it.
My skin-stars start racing all over my body while my mind conjures images of a piece of ice melting its way down between my Polly’s wonderful breasts.
Only for the image to come to a complete, jarring halt.
I cannot go to the top of the mountains for my female. Not while my wings are not yet properly healed.
The Healer is busy, kneeling before Daffy while he binds her injury. I know his thoughts on my wings. He is not hopeful at all, and only seeks to ease my pain until my body is used to the new, awkward set of them.
But Daffy is the Healer from her own, human tribe. She will not know the ways of wings, but it may be worth talking to her about my own recovery. Perhaps she will have a more hopeful outlook.
I do hope so. A female like my beautiful Polly deserves nothing less than a whole male.
After seeing to my duty to Daffy, I deliver her to a hut that has been cleared for the new females. Alana is there, trying her best to comfort the ones who weep, and the one that seems toostunned by her ordeal to speak. Before trying to find my Polly, I intend to make a visit to the Elders on my way.
An idea had occurred to me while I had been attending the meeting with my High Spear. Part of the reasoning for that gathering is now resolved, what with the rescue party now returned. High Spear Rynn had asked me to attend to see if I could recall more of our journey from the cave by the salt-waters. He had an Elder with him to etch out a map of our lands on some stretched hide. My High Spear also described how Zarriko’s tribe will likely not take too kindly to finding out we have found the other females and they have had no part in the rescue. This was not a matter for my mind to dwell on, though. I have my Polly, and soon my heart-stars will ignite and Zarriko’s tribe will have no claim upon her. Besides, the High Spears agreed that it is the female’s choice, and I shall make sure my Polly will always want to stay at my side.
No, in truth, when the others had been discussing the other tribe and how their High Spear is probably more concerned with his own mate now, my mind had narrowed to the sap stain the Elder had been using to map the path from village to cave. His fingers were permanently marked from the dark liquid.
It had made me think of my Polly and her love of skin-etchings.
* * *
When I have secured my surprise and go to find my Polly, she is with Chaz-Titi, on their way toward the river with some accompanying Protectors.
“My mate,” I practically purr as I catch up with her. I have not seen her nearly enough this day and I plan to rectify that by seeing a whole lot more of her before the twin suns turn in fortheir slumber. She stops, and I lean down to nip playfully at her ear. “You were not going to wash that luscious body without me, were you?”
Her reaction surprises me. Or rather the lack of one. I have learned that being playful with my Polly normally brings a gorgeous pink to her cheeks and scents the air with the delicious perfume I have since learned is her body readying itself for my cock.
But there is none of that.
“Uh,” she says, shaking her head and pulling away. “Yeah, all the clay is starting to dry and it’s getting uncomfortable, so…”
She carries on walking and I look to my friend, Chaz-Titi with a clear question on my expression. She is no help, however, offering me only a frown and a shrug.
Is my mate unhappy with me? Have I done something to displease her? The thought is as uncomfortable as a barb to the tail or nasty bout of feather mites.
I suppose I have been a while with helping Daffy and then getting my mate’s surprise from the Elders. And waiting around with mud caked upon your skin is not pleasant at all.
