They both picked up their packs but seeing her struggle to put the thing on—it probably weighed as much as she did—only pissed him off. He grabbed both packs and carried them himself.
“I can carry it myself!” the female yelled out as she followed behind him.
“Keep up, little human!”
Vaelor could hear her grumble something about males no matter what species were assholes. There was no time to ask her what she meant. The others were already ahead of them. His first instinct was to leave the female so he could catch up. But then he remembered the tether.
He actually felt it, connecting her to him. He didn’t like that he was not given a choice in partner or choice in whether he wanted to be tethered. Of course, he would have refused the second part. His people bonded but it was natural, not forced. This was a violation.
“Wait! Are we going in the right direction?” The female asked.
“Yes.”
“But I think the Slurchan and Rasilian are going towards the right.”
He glanced in the direction she spoke of. Indeed, the two strange aliens were moving that way. “They are going to get lost.”
“How do you know?”
“We have to head towards the Northern outpost on the other side of the planet. This way is North.”
“Are you sure?”
He stopped to point at the sun. “Yes. North is always 90 degrees to the left of the sunrise. We started in the South. The post is in the North, on the other side of the planet. That is East, that is West. It would mean that the direction we are headed is…”
“North,” she finished for him. “Do you want me to take my pack?”
“No. We need to keep moving if we are to make it to the campground before dark.”
“Lead the way.”
Vaelor knew that usually on the first night, all the players camped in the same location. But after that, they would not have to share the same camp space. He preferred being on his own. These aliens were strange and unusual. The more aggressive ones were dangerous and untrustworthy. If he was here with one of his warriors, he would feel more at ease.
They had been traveling for several hours. The female had not complained, not once. He had to admit that it impressed him. The sun was going to set soon.
“We can stop for a few minutes.”
“I can keep going.”
“No need to push yourself. I can smell the campfire. It’s not that far from here.”
She rubbed her nose and took a few deep inhales. “You can smell the fire? I can’t smell anything.”
He took a deep inhalation. A sharp, chemical burning came from the direction straight ahead. He compared it to the dry, resinous wood fires he remembered from home.
“It’s directly ahead.”
Vaelor took a moment to truly look at the female’s face. Her hair was hidden beneath a covering, denying him any hint of its color or texture, yet it did nothing to disguise the softness of her features. They were small and delicate—fragile by his standards. Her complexion carried a pale pink warmth, unlike the natural blue tones of his own people. It made her seem… warmer. Alive in a way he could not immediately explain.
Her eyes caught him unprepared. They were a light blue unlike any he had ever seen—clear and luminous, as if they held fragments of ice and sky together. Not the deep, uniform blues of his kind, but something brighter. More expressive. More intriguing. The thought lingered longer than it should have.
She was… lovely.
And small.
Nearly a full foot shorter than him, her slight frame looked ill-suited for the terrain they had crossed. He found himself cataloging the ways the world could harm her—sharp stone, sudden cold, wild creatures, the unseen dangers that barely registered to someone of his size. The realization tightened something unfamiliar in his chest.
She had made it this far without collapsing, and that surprised him. More than that, it unsettled him. Her endurance did not match her delicate appearance, and without conscious thought, he shifted his stance just enough to place himselfbetween her and the open path ahead. Not as a decision. Not as a duty.
