The other, smaller of the two has both his guns pointing at his companion. The guns are shaking. “It was unfortunate, but he-”
“You have always been too soft with the humans!” the injured one spits, his words a little gargled as he struggles with his pain. “You have betrayed our wife, Yix. She will never forgive you.” He laughs, then, and it is not a joyful sound. It is a taunting laugh,ragged and rattling. “You know what she will do to you when she hears of this.”
I don’t know what I should be doing right now. Should I rush them while they’re preoccupied with each other? Or should I take Tyll and run? I can’t leave Zyntarr here, they might take him, or I’ll never be able to find this very spot in the endless jungle again. He needs medical attention.
Slowly, warily, I crouch down, trying not to bring any attention to Tyll and I. My hand steadies myself on the ground, blindly bumping into something. Glancing down, I see it’s Tyll’s little toy spear. He’d dropped it to grab hold of me.
“We do not need to tell her, Yel,” the smaller bug alien suggests. “I-I can heal you, and we can leave the human here. We can say Yat was attacked by a native wild beast and we did not find any traces of her purchased females.”
‘Yel’s’ wet, gargling laugh comes from somewhere dark and vindictive. “I would soonerdiethan work withyou.Let us see how you enjoy your human friend now.”
Faster than I can even comprehend, Yel’s blaster is now pointed at Tyll and I. I yelp, shoving the little boy behind me, trying to shield him with my body, bracing myself for the impact of unimaginable pain. There are two quick pulsing noises and my arm and shoulder jerk. I think I’ve been hit, but the expected feeling of being scorched by those blasts doesn’t come. I’m breathing heavily. My shoulderdoeshurt, but it’s more like I’ve been knocked into, not shot.
Slowly, I raise my head where I’d had my arms over it. I’ve…notbeen shot?
In my hand, I’m grasping the little toy spear so tightly, I’m pretty sure I’ve given myself splinters. The life-stone tip glows but is now cracked where it hadn’t been before. When I look back up at the aliens, Yel has now gone limp, pinned up againstthe tree. Just above the spear in his middle, there is a scorched hole in his chest.
I glance back at the little toy spear.
Did-
Did the gun blast bounce off the life-stone head of the spear?
My lungs suddenly fill with air, and it feels like I’m breathing for the very first time. I drop the toy and gulp in more air, using one hand to blindly reach behind me, patting little Tyll’s body. The other hand reaches forward to Zyn -my Zyn. I grasp his feathers, giving him a shake as if that’s all that’s needed to wake him up.
“You-you do not need to be afraid.”
Quickly, I take up the little spear again, pointing the dull, cracked, glowing head up at the nearing remaining alien. He looks exactly like the one who had brought us to this planet, and the anger that bubbles up within me is as scorching hot as a blast from one of their guns - guns that this one has currently lowered.
“Don’t come any closer!” I hiss, standing and jabbing the small spear into the air between us. I can feel Tyll hug me from behind, burying his little face into the small of my back. Blindly, I reach back for him. He’s still shaking. “If you take one step closer, I swear I’ll-”
I’ll what?
I only have a tiny, dull spear. And I’m scared. I’m scared shitless.
But it’s just me, and this little boy, and I need to get Zyntarr s wounds seen to.
I take a clumsy step forward, dragging a terrified Tyll with me. “Youare nottaking me or this little boy with you.”
“I do not want to.”
“And if you try, I will kick, and bite, and scratch your fucking ugly-ass-grasshopper-eyeballs out, so don’t you dare fucking try me!”
I’m practically panting after my declaration of violence against my would-be captor. I’m buzzing with adrenaline because I know it’s true. If he takes one step closer, I will launch at him with everything I’ve got.
The alien stands there, his mandibles opening and closing as he tilts his head to the side. “I said I do not want to take you, or the small, winged native youth.”
Oh.
The alien shifts, and the adrenaline still in my veins causes me to raise the toy spear higher in response to the movement. But, as I watch, he slowly lowers his guns even further, placing them both on the jungle floor. “My name is Yix,” he says, raising his insect-like hands in a placating manner. “I had hoped that we would not find any of you human females on this recovery trip.”
I stay quiet, trying to keep myself calm.
“Not-not because I’d hoped you had all perished, you understand. Humans are very resourceful. I had hoped you had made a camp on this planet. I half-feared we’d find you all at Z’irri’s ship. You are better here, than where we would be taking you.”
I can feel Tyll peeking out from my side, but it only makes me grip him tighter. “Why would you care?” I spit.
Yix tips to the side and waves at little Tyll before he straightens. “Because humans are my friends,” he says. “I do not have a say in whom I marry, and where she puts me to work. But I do everything I can for my friends… I would like to be your friend, also.”
