As a testament to their over-confidence, they didn't even bother to completely disarm me.
Still, we lost too much. The water tore the pack off me, though somehow the sword is still in its sheath, thanks to me having the foresight to add a loop to keep it in. I did it because I thought I would lose it while being tossed around. I hadn't imagined near drowning as part of that.
Redundancies are always part of the plan, though, which is why I can feel the pressure of a medkit, ammo, and rations against my body. Damn useful, this suit.
"What makes you so sure he will want to keep pursuing you, though?" I ask as I wring water out of my shoulder length hair.
Trying to cut it with a sword should be fun.
Drasuk snorts. "You don't know him as well as I do. Before he became a sullied traitor, we were bitter rivals. Always trying to best each other. Whether it be in a fight or who could obtain the most impressive accolades."
"Oh, look at you, an overachiever."
"I don't have the energy to figure out what you mean by that, Kira. As I was saying, no matter what the occasion was, we challenged each other. Whenever we fought and I won, he always took it personally, even if he won the fight before."
I let out a disgusted scoff. "I served with some of those. Everything they don't like about themselves is somehow your fault."
"Yes, exactly so. When I began rising swiftly in status, he became resentful. I believe he knew that the elders were planning to elevate my status to Elite. It's something he strived for but could never obtain because of his shaky morality and dirty fighting. It tipped him over some sort of edge and a lot of good draks died because of him."
I don't like how tired he sounds, or the haunted tone in his voice, so I try to lift his spirits by being mouthy. "Are you going to make me call you Elite Drasuk now? If so, you'll have to start calling me Corporal Kira."
He lets out a grunt. "I would, but I hadn't earned the title yet by the time I left. It takes many years."
I take a slow breath. "They'll just keep coming?"
"He'll not call off this hunt. Not only for the entertainment, but it's personal now. His main goal now will be to find me, engage me in combat, and kill me."
None of this information makes me feel better.
Not only is that giant red devil insane, but he has a personal grudge against Drasuk. And now it seems he will be relentlessly pursuing us until one or both of them are dead.
Great. As if the rest of this planet didn't already suck enough as it is.
I hate that I'm involved in this feud between them, but that's just my exhaustion speaking. That bastard had me involved from the moment he put his hands on me. Drasuk can have the red guy. I'm taking down his toady.
"Who was the one holding me?."
"That was his brother, Mar'cte."
"He's so dead when I see him next."
Drasuk lets out a subdued laugh but doesn't call me on my shit. Damn, he must be exhausted.
"How many did you smell?"
"They were covered in xyxis floxis blood to cover it, so I don't know."
"Are we talking hundreds here?"
"No, I doubt that. There are plenty of draks I wouldn't trust, but very few of them would fall this low. Xar'Ar'ax must provide enough financial incentive for the genali to outweigh the cost of his crew's body parts. If he had hundreds of draks he would be a target."
"Well, that is good news, at least. For all we know, they've been here a lot and know the terrain. Maybe even enough times to have found their own personal little caves or hideouts. But that can be to our advantage too. There are a lot of places for him to look, so we could keep moving and gather weapons again."
Drasuk lets out a grumble. "I don't plan on running or playing his games. While he's tracking us, I will track him in return. It's better this way and will keep us on high alert."
Why wouldn't we be on high alert, anyway? It's weak reasoning for someone who is usually so calculating.
There's history there, sure, but it doesn't his current state of uncharacteristic distraction. I'm still unsure because Drasuk refuses to tell me the reason why. A part of me believes it goes further than the two hunters being bitter rivals and Xar'Ar'ax turning to crime.
