"I get that, and I want to respect it, but his death really bothered you, which doesn't really make sense if he was a traitor. You haven't said a single arrogant thing for a really long time. As much as I've wished you would stop, I find it disturbing."
My gaze sweeps to her. "He was a terrible person. That's all you need to know about him. And now that he's gone from this life, the better off everyone is. If I could, I would have done it myself, but as it is, I am more concerned about what killed him. I can't say for certain, but I have a feeling it was the rest of the traitors in his group."
She curses. "How many?"
"I don't know. I only smelled a couple others, but that doesn't mean much. They are led by the drak outlaw Xar'Ar'ax. He was my brood mate. We completed our proving to become Maj'Ra at the same time, and he was easily one of the best warriors of my clan."
I take a pause, remembering, and she urges me on. "What happened?"
"Among other crimes, he was accused of killing civilians and selling their body parts to genali pirates in exchange for genetic modification procedures."
She curses, and this time I want to join her.
"Years back, I led the squad that destroyed their hideout, losing many good Maj'Ras in the process, but he was never found."
And now, he is on the same planet as I am. No doubt joining this season's group of deranged headhunters. I just hope I can get Kira somewhere safe before I engage Xar'Ar'ax and his group.
"We're taking them out, right?"
"I don't think you would survive the encounter, Kira. It is my responsibility, not yours."
She glares at me. "What happened to being a team? I don't know if you noticed this, but this world is huge. Plenty of places for them to be. What's your plan? Split up? What if they find me instead of you finding them?"
"They are close. This blood is fresh. I'd rather run you out of the area and then stalk back in."
She lets out a laugh. "And you think I would agree to that? You drive me crazy, Drasuk, but I don't back out of my oaths. We are allies, and if you need to take out a threat, then I will be there with you."
"Even if it means dying?"
She rolls her eyes at me. "Let's avoid that part, but I'm not leaving you."
Kira opens her mouth to say more, but lets out a startled yelp instead when a shot hitting a nearby tree throws bark at us. She drops to the ground, then rolls onto her back with her rifle in her hand. She's back on her feet the next moment, moving for better cover.
I move to a better location as well, trying to figure out where the shot came from.
I feel my skin prickle. I should have smelled or heard them.
I take a quick glance over to where I last saw Kira, but don't see any sign of her.
Keeping my senses sharp, I turn around when I sense someone coming up behind me. I quickly whirl around to face them.
Standing before me is none other than Xar'Ar'ax, the very traitor who betrayed our clan to a lesser race all for the purpose of feeding his sick pleasures.
His brother Mar'cte moves in from the right, and, to my horror, Mar'cte has Kira in his arms. She struggles hard to get out of the crushing grip that holds her pressed back into his front. He's a deeper red than his brother, and also shows signs of genetic tampering.
His eyes are no longer drakonid. If they weren't extinct, I would swear they were xarxisi. They were known for their silver eyes with glowing streaks of bright yellow that were forever changing shape and orientation.
I have a feeling they might have some answers for Kira about her own changes, not that they could be trusted to tell the truth.
They are both covered in floxis blood, which explains how they were able to get so close without me knowing. Did they butcher the whole herd to cover their scent? Just one of them would have provided the requisite blood.
"This is quite a surprise," Xar'Ar'ax says, with a hiss in his voice that doesn't match my memory of him. "I never imagined that, out of all the possibilities of worthy prey we could've found, it would be you, Drasuk."
The large red drak is just as intimidating as I remember him, with the same disdain in his voice as always.
Part of Xar'Ar'ax's prestige back on our home planet came from his impeccable genes. He is bigger than most drakonids, and many females sought him out for their heat. He was consistently more athletic and stronger than most of us.
He also had the early realization, compared to those of us who reached the same conclusion much later in life, that a fight was no place for fanciful moves.
