She lets out a tired huff. "Look, Drasuk," she starts, then stops again, her frustration evident. "We need to find others. More women like me."
So she does have more information she's been keeping to herself. I had suspected as much, considering how guarded she always is.
"More pets?" I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.
Her head snaps over to me, and her eyes narrow into slits. "Pets?" she spits, the word dripping with venom. "No. I knew it was a bad idea to bring it up. You are disgusting."
Now that we are back to flinging insults, I feel much more in my element. I let out a rumble of relief.
"So, they're bigger and less squishy?" I prod, unable to resist.
The look on her face could launch a spaceship. For a moment, I think she might actually lunge at me, new little pink claws bared.
"No," she mutters between clenched teeth, her voice strained with a mixture of anger and something else, something I can't quite decipher.
My amusement bubbles over, erupting in a series of guttural guffaws that echo through the trees. The sound, a rasping rumble that falls somewhere between a boulder crashing and a volcano bellowing, surprises me with its power.
Kira, however, simply stares at me, a look of bewildered exasperation etched on her face.
The sight only fuels my laughter, the sound resonating through my chest.
With a final, earth-shaking tremor, I manage to get my laughter under control. Kira, however, isn't quite so forgiving. She snatches the hilt of her knife from an odd little pocket, the one she hadn't used for the hair-burial ceremony, stands up, and with a practiced flick of her wrist, sends it flying through the air.
The dagger, a dull, utilitarian blade more suited for survival than combat, finds its mark with a satisfying thud, landing squarely on the top of my foot.
I stop walking, staring at it.
The pain is negligible, a mere pinprick compared to the battles I faced on Maln'Kril. But the sheer audacity of the attack is enough to silence my laughter.
At least for now. I feel it lurking right at the edges.
Kira stands there, arms crossed, her chest heaving with a mixture of anger and something else, perhaps a flicker of amusement mirroring my own.
"See if you find that funny now,lizardbrain," she says, her voice laced with venom.
I stare at her in silence for a moment before I resume laughing.
"You're impossible," she mutters, but there's an answering mirth in her tone that lets me know she isn't immune to my charm.
25
Kira
Drasuk's laughter, a sound like boulders clashing together, rumbles through the forest.
Loud as always, the dummy.
Despite myself, I can't help the small smile tugging at my lips. This weird lizard-dragon companion of mine is impossible. Absolutely impossible. His eye-squinting expression, something he does when he laughs, is almost endearing.
Almost.
It would have been better for me to handle retrieving all the women on my own, and Drasuk's response didn't exactly make me feel confident. I regret sharing now, but he doesn't seem to want to harm them.
I'll just have to keep forging ahead and hope they don't hate me for having Mr. Insulting tagging along, questioning their status as free agents.
I snort at him. "Since I crashed in the desert, there's a possibility that the main ship itself also crashed nearby. They are probably still in it. Do you think you could track the scent?"
Drasuk, still chuckling, tilts his head thoughtfully. "Yes, but we should also look from a height. We should travel along the boundary between desert and forest. That way, I can climb the tall trees at intervals and get an elevated view of the area."
