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Chapter Fourteen

Xaixek

Iglanced beside me at Alliana as we walked side by side in the direction of my colony. She was a trooper, but her drooping shoulders and fatigued expression gave her away. She was exhausted from the trek. The fluctuating temperatures and the rugged terrain were taking a massive toll on her.

“We’re almost home,” I mentioned to reassure her.

She gazed at me and smiled, nodding her understanding, but she didn’t say anything. Her short bark colored hair was matted to her temples and wavy from the humidity. She had lost some of the vibrancy in her dark cocoa eyes, but the flare of adventure and rustic determination was still present underneath it all.

“I know it’s hard for you,” I said.

“I’m fine,” she promised, trying to appear tougher on the exterior than I knew she felt inside. “It’s just that I cared about your uncle too. He became my friend. I think he realized that he’d eventually have to give me away once he decided that he could never breed me as requested by the King.”

“Roult was nobel that way. I bet he would’ve tried like hell to keep you as his metal working student. You must have learned a lot under his roof.”

“I did. He was such an artist. I mean, his creations were works of art…”

As she spoke about all the things my uncle taught her, I listened. I had already went through the metal working training, so everything was familiar to me. I found comfort in listening to her anyway.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence between us, Alliana stopped talking and halted in her tracks.

My heart did a nosedive because she had a disturbed expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, stiffening as my internal skeptical meter began to rise.

“Do you hear that?” Alliana asked, searching the woods without looking at me, seemingly distracted by something.

“I don’t hear anything,” I said.

“You don’t?” Alliana cocked her head to the side and listened acutely. “You don’t hear that buzzing?”

A low hum suddenly flooded my ears from the south. “Now I do.”

I spun around quickly in the direction where the buzzing originated. A black and silver drone hovered a few feet in front of us.

“A drone?” Alliana asked, her voice incredulous. “What is a drone doing way out here?”

I briefly glanced at her, licking my lips nervously. “I don’t know.”

“Have you ever seen a drone this far out in the woods before? This area is so remote—”

“I have seen them, yes.”

Alliana frowned and began approaching it.

I held my arm out to my side, keeping her held back behind me. “Wait.”

“Do you think it’s dangerous?” Her eyes flickered with doubt.

“I’m no stranger to these kinds of things. I’ve seen many drones while on patrol—out hunting down a convict,” I admitted.

Alliana casually shrugged and attempted to step forward again. “Okay, so what’s the problem then?”

“I just want to check it out,” I said, still keeping her at bay for her safety. “Usually it means that someone who isn’t from the area is scouting for something, but you can never be too sure. All bounty hunters are instructed to destroy suspicious drones. This is still Zunatorian territory. It’s not our drone. It’s not supposed to be here.”

I fished into my satchel and pulled out my throwing axe. I’d been trained since I was a boy to chop down almost anything, so the sharp end of the blade shattered the drone on the first throw.

I walked ahead to retrieve it. “Wait a minute…”