He exhaled sharply. “Nik, I was born in a horde. My father was adarukkar.”
A warrior, I knew now.
“With thewrissangone, the horde fell. We had to return toDothikor else we would have starved in a single moon cycle. We used the last of our stores on the journey to the city.”
His fists clenched on the reins, his golden skin whitening. He squeezed so hard, I thought the chain would disintegrate in his hand.
Without thinking, I placed my fingers over his fist, not knowing why I wanted to soothe him. His sigh was gruff but his hand loosened nonetheless. I stared down at his hands, at the myriad of raised scars there. His hands were calloused and rough. The hands of a warrior.
“It was never about hunting,kalles. It was always about a careful system that the Dakkari hordes have had in place for centuries, one that honors the beasts that roam our land, one that honors Kakkari. Outsiders do not understand our ways. They never will. They take but do not give.”
Carefully, I said, “Perhaps because the Dakkari have never given them the chance to. I was born here. On Dakkar. On the same planet that you were. This is the only home that I’ve known…and yet, I’d never heard about the overhunting orwhywe weren’t allowed to hunt.”
He grunted.
“There has to be a better life,” I whispered. “For everyone.”
“OurDothikkardoes not give weight to the lives ofvekkiri. Or Killup, Nrunteng. Or Ghertun.”
“And what about theVorakkars?” I asked quietly. “Do theVorakkarscare?”
His jaw tightened.
He didn’t answer and I turned my gaze away. I didn’t know why his answer mattered to me. What I asked didn’t matter at all, actually. Even if I wished there was a better life ahead, I didn’t actually believe there was one. Not for me at least.
My fate was to return to the Dead Mountain, to work there until I died. The Ghertun controlled me. They always would. I couldn’t survive for more than a month away from them, even if I managed to escape. The poison, thevovic, coursing in my blood ensured that.
But you are free now, I thought.
I looked up at the darkening sky. At the bright stars that were beginning to shimmer overhead. Stars and constellations I’d missed under the mountain. A cool breeze threaded its way through my hair.
I was riding apyroki, of all creatures, with a horde king of Dakkar, a male who was equally terrifying and fascinating to me.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was an adventure. A quest, like the old storiesMamanhad always recited to us. I was on an adventure all my own…
A part of me knew it was the only one I’d ever get. The three and a half weeks that remained until the black moon was the only hint of freedom, oflife, of excitement I’d experience.
Kakkari had always meant for me to die under the Dead Mountain, hadn’t she? Whereas theVorakkarbehind me believed she’d written his death on the battlefield.
The ground began to vibrate.
The sound echoed off the pillars until the plains seemed to boom. Loud rallying cries and chants rose up from every direction.
My heartbeat roared in my ears and my hands clutched onto the horde king’s furs, pressing closer, seeking protection and comfort from a male I knew better than to trust.
TheVorakkarbellowed out a phrase in Dakkariand the cries grew louder. The vibrating became so loud that my teeth rattled.
“W-what’s happening?” I asked the Mad Horde King.
When I saw his dark grin, when I saw a quick mass approaching us from the front, when I spied Dakkari with blades strapped to their backs, riding on gold-paintedpyroki, I feared I already knew the answer.
“We have arrived at my horde, kalles.”
Chapter Seventeen
My horde came into view, a warm glow rising above it in the blue darkness.
Tension released in my chest, a knot unravelling.This. This is what I’d worked so hard for.
