We stay by the lake for a moment longer, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Thukul was a warrior, one of the best,though he chose to throw away all his principles. If he was taken down, then we are in more danger than I initially thought.
I stand up, my resolve hardening.
"We need to move," I say, my voice firm. "Whoever did this could still be nearby, and we can't afford to be caught off guard."
She shoots me a look. "You sound worried, so I assume this isn't going to go well for us."
I sigh, before gesturing down at the corpse before me, "Maj'Ras armor is incredibly difficult to destroy because it uses very expensive alloys. There's a reason you have to earn your place as a veteran Maj'Ra, plus have political influence, before you get a set made for you. Whatever it is that could rip it to shreds is equally dangerous."
"A fellow Maj'Ra, but you don't seem to be mourning his death. Traitor?"
It doesn't surprise me that she figured that out. "Yes," I reply, leaving it at that.
Of course, that bastard Xar'Ar'ax and his crew would spend their time in these degenerate pits.
She nods, looking as composed as usual when a fight is imminent.
"Well then, it's about time we got the fornicate out of here, don't you think?"
I give her the flattest stare I can muster even as she pivots on the balls of her feet and begins walking in another direction.
Again, with the fornicating.
42
Drasuk
We've been on this hole in the rear planet for days now. I wonder why I didn't detect them before.
I let out a breath. It seems this foul-mouthed female has infected me with her speech habits. I better not let myself verbalize that phrase or she won't ever let me forget it.
As we move through the forest, we remain alert, even though the unspoken hope is to avoid running into anyone. Not exactly my usual approach. I haven't bothered to move us out of the way of the dangers I've detected so far.
That was before it was other drakonids who might be hunting us.
The initial shock of running into that group of monsters dims the longer we walk. Like any other emotion-intensive activity, it loses its impact with every hour that passes by. Not long after, the fear is all but gone, though the caution remains.
At least until I follow the smell of blood to the herd of xyxis floxis up a steep incline near a river.
Floxis are common domestic animals, usually stocked to run wild as a protein source on newly terraformed planets. They are stupid, but incredibly bulky things, engineered to provide as much meat as possible on one animal.
They are a more intimidating sight when alive, though I've never seen a group of them look so gruesome.
To say it looks like someone had far too much fun being incredibly cruel to this herd would be an understatement. They are all slaughtered. Someone drove them here, trapping them against a sheer drop down into a raging river.
That's when I know the traitors are still nearby. No honorable warrior slaughters entire groups of animals like this, especially those with females and young. They litter the ground, which is completely saturated by the animals' strange orange-colored blood.
I take a long breath in, but all I smell is the blood.
Kira looks like she is as disturbed as I am at the sight.
She gives me a level look. "Why do I get the feeling you have experienced dealing with whatever did that?"
She makes a sweeping gesture at the herd while cursing.
When I don't answer her right away, she speaks more forcibly. "I was mostly fine with you keeping things to yourself for a littlewhile. But seeing this level of evil, I think you're going to have to tell me what's going on, Drasuk. Who was the dead drak?"
I tense up, not ready to answer the question. Not ready to think back to when Thukul had my respect, and then lost it. "I do not wish to talk about him, Kira. It's too personal."
