1
TIRIL
Ido not expect any kindness from the human soldiers when I agree to go with them so my brother can keep the women we rescued from the screamer. That one soldier accepted the whisperer, and seems to understand me, I take as a good sign. Though I expect to be put to work as a brute, doing the jobs that are beneath warriors. Brutes are fed last and given the roughest clothing and accommodation. And only after they have proven they have accepted their place.
Some brutes fight to their last breath. If I had not surrendered to give my brothers a chance, then we all would have fought. It is what is expected from banished warriors. As I follow the human in front, aware of their weapons pointed at my back, I know I could not have denied my brothers this small chance of happiness. I hope Sabine takes Edilk as her mate. I hope the other women also claim one of my brothers for their own.
While my stomach churns, not with fear of what is to come, I try to focus on the positive. The human colony has far more women than men. Perhaps one of them will choose me.
I will also be the first Honey warrior to see inside the human tribe.
However, that information is only useful if I can leave. There has been no discussion of how long my service will be. A debtor has a defined sentence as a brute. For a captured warrior, there may be no end. That is why many choose to fight and die.
Before joining Edilk's tribe of banished warriors, I would've been happy to die fighting. That is an honorable death.
But I have seen there is more than struggling and fighting and the life the banished are expected to lead. We can work together and make our own tribe instead of fighting over scraps.
None of the humans speak to me and the nerves in my belly turn to dread. Were those few words exchanged for show?
In those couple of heartbeats, I understand what the dread means. I don't want to die. It's fear that these human men, who do not value the women of their tribe, will behave dishonorably and kill me when I have done nothing wrong. I draw in a deep breath and exhale. If they were going to kill me, they would have done it already. There would have been a bloody fight, and either they would have died, or they would have killed my brothers and taken back the women.
Instead, they surrendered their women as if they no longer wanted them. Perhaps because they have so many…
The thought catches like a thorn the more I think about it. I am so used to there being an excess of warriors, and too few women, that imagining the opposite means I am looking at the situation the wrong way. If too many warriors cause problems, then perhaps too many women also cause problems. So perhaps giving up three women and gaining a warrior in return is a desired outcome.
Does that mean I will not be treated as a brute?
I'm tempted to ask, but as no one is speaking and there is a tension between the humans that I feel best not to break.
These soldiers do not like me. But a soldier does not need to like their orders to follow them. And talking to a soldier will not change my fate. That will be decided by those in charge.
I glance up at the stars. Will the banished warriors who came before me watch over me in the human tribe? Or have they abandoned me for surrendering instead of dying with honor?
There is a small seed of hope that I will find a mate among the humans, but even that does not soothe the wound caused by leaving my brothers. I have been banished for nearly five years, and the first two of them were bleak.
This is not the first time I have surrendered.
When Sunif found me, I was half starved, wounded from a fight with another banished warrior, and ready for death. I offered him no fight, hoping that he'd give me the mercy of stopping my heart.
Instead, he offered me a place as his brother.
I swallow and re-fix my gaze forward. I have survived without a tribe before, and I will survive this. Whatever this is.
Perhaps it is the not knowing that is twisting in my gut.
I study the human soldiers as we make our way through the woods toward the human colony. A man carries a light that sweeps over the ground and into the trees because the humans cannot see in the dark. They step heavily on twigs and leaves and stumble over rocks. I could kill at least three before they retaliate…and then what?
If I do that, I will have broken the deal, and more humans will attack my brothers.
No, I will follow, and I will obey…at least until I know if the humans have honor.
2
CHLOE
When I'm escorted beyond the colony boundary, my first thought is that they have found out I'm a dissenter and they are leading me away to kill me. I'm sure that's what happened to the other missing people. That survivors returned talking about an animal attack has helped the leaders with their story that the missing people were sent on an errand and attacked.
My sister didn’t return from the expedition. And I have heard whispered talk of aliens with swords. Though the survivors were quickly isolated—to be treated for their injuries.
