“You do realize that Faltz is probably going to kill you when he catches up to us,” she pointed out as he prodded her forward.
He sneered down at her. She also discovered that he really hated it when she talked at length. She wished she had realized it sooner; she would have made it hell for him in that cave. But ever since then, she had been making up for lost time, talking about anything and everything that came to her mind.
Her smile widened. “I take it you don’t believe me. You are in for a surprise, then.”
His brow furrowed, falling right into her trap. “What do you mean? There is no way that he would even know where we are going, and it is notoriously difficult to follow a trail among the canyon terrain. Even a hunter as accomplished as Faltz will not be able to find us.”
Beni pressed a finger to her lips. “Unless of course someone left a note telling him we’re heading west through the canyon. This is the only direct path, if I’m not mistaken. Oh dear,” she murmured, as his eyes widened in a haunted look, “I do believe you may be in very big trouble.”
A laugh tore out of her as he shoved her forward. She didn’t miss the fact that his eyes were scanning the passage behind them. Oh, yes, Isnah was worried now. She almost regretted waiting so long to tell him; she could already have been enjoying this, but she had needed to buy Faltz as much time as possible. He hadn’t attempted to carry her to speed her up, despite his grousing, because he had been confident that they were safe from pursuit.
She wasn’t surprised when he untied her wrists and, in one movement, swung her over his withers so she was seated on his back. He tugged her hands forward around him, and she felt the leather cord wrap once more around her wrists, binding her to him. Amused by his fear, her uncontrollable laughter bubbled out of her the entire time.
“Silence. Stop laughing!” he barked.
She only laughed harder, the jolt of his sudden leap forward startling her into a hiccup. It didn’t stop her; it just broke her laughter into an annoying hitch that made him snarl as he plunged through the passage at a full gallop. It didn’t escape her notice that he was acting recklessly, as rugged red stone rushed by her. She didn’t comment on that fact. The sooner he wore himself out, the better—as long as his mad dash through the canyon didn’t get them killed.
Eventually her hiccupping laughter did silence, so she moved on to singing some of the tavern songs she remembered. It served two purposes, really. She heard that loud noises would discourage animals, so on top of driving him nuts, she considered it a matter of her safety. If she had forgotten some lyrics and hummed a few bars off key, all the better. Predictably, in less than an hour, she could feel his sides heaving as he labored for breath, his pace slowing, jostling her as his paws fell against the ground.
“What’s wrong? Getting tired?” she asked innocently. “I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself… I mean, sure Faltz could carry me all day without breaking a sweat, but you are still kind of puny. You are still really young and all. Not that this should surprise you. Males are strange that way. I knew one guy in the Citadel who…”
“Quiet!” he roared as he swung around in a thrashing motion that had her stomach leaping to her throat.
“You know, if you make me puke, I’m going to aim for the back of your head,” she warned as she flopped uncomfortably against him.
He growled in warning, his head turning toward her, but her attention was caught by a loud clicking sound drawing up to the side of them. A cold chill swept up her spine as she turned her head, ignoring his threats. His voice cut in and out as she strained to determine exactly where the sound was coming from. He was Mintar, a being with senses far better than her own. How did he not hear it?
“…and if you do not cease immediately…”
“Isnah, shut up!” she hissed, interrupting him. “Something is out there, you idiot.”
The barrel of his body stiffened, and a noticeable tremble racked him as he finally heard the sound. Unlike her, he pinpointed the direction right away, his head whipping toward a large cluster of rocks as the clicking grew louder. A giant scorpion-like creature clawed its way over the rock. It was larger than Isnah, and looked like it could consume a three-year-old calf in one bite. The barbs on its three massive tails rattled. Two sets of pincers raised threateningly and clicked.
“Holy shit…! That’s not a normal scorpion!” she yelped.
Isnah gave her a startled look. “It is not… Somehow the creatures came over generations ago from our home world when we arrived. It is a sting tail. One sting will kill us.”
He surged forward, but she could feel his legs shake beneath their combined weight. Isnah panted as he spun around and stumbled to a halt. She wondered if he was going to try to outrun the creature, but felt Isnah’s fingers fumble with her bonds.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Panic curled through her as the leather cord fell free and he scooped her off his back.
“I apologize. I really want you for my mate, but the only way for me to escape, as tired as I am, is to give it something else to distract it,” he mumbled.
Her mouth fell open as her feet touched the ground and he immediately stumbled away from her. His legs were still wobbling, but he put distance between them quickly enough. Swallowing hard, she turned, her stomach dipping as she faced the monstrosity watching her. Its attention cut to Isnah’s rapidly retreating form, but returned to her the moment she attempted to back away.
“What an ass,” she whispered, trying to distract herself from the fear crawling up from her gut.
The sting tail scurried closer, and she shouted as she darted to the side, barely evading the creature. Its tails whipped at where she stood. It seemed to have poor eyesight. At least that much weighed in her favor. Two long fuzz-covered prongs extended from its mouth, quivering as it let out a series of clicks with its claws. Her jaw dropped. Echolocation, just like a bat, except the large insect didn’t have ears to receive the information. Instead, it appeared to be picking it up with receptors that waved about only when it started making the clicking sound again. It was both fascinating and horrifying.
It scurried toward her a little more cautiously, and she choked back a whimper. She didn’t know how she was going to survive this.
Chapter 31
Faltz skidded down the rocky slope, doubt twisting in him. The shortcut that Bakin had suggested before setting out that morning was starting to feel like a fool’s errand. A desperation to be reunited with his mate was the only reason that Faltz had agreed to such a suicidal plummet while Bakin sent the rest of the guard on the trail to close in behind Isnah. He did not wish to risk losing the male to the open plains on the other side of the canyon before they could catch up to him. The shortcut shaved hours from their pursuit—assuming they survived it. Judging by the way the rock crumbled under his feet, that was questionable.
“Are you certain this will work?” Faltz bit out.
Bakin skidded to his side and nodded, the barbs fully extended on his tail as it snapped behind him. “Few males are permitted to scout into the canyon due to how dangerous it is and how easy it is to become lost, but those who do are familiar with the direct routes from our land to the western trail, as well as the side trails around it. Fortunately, here I can actually be of use, since I’m one of those assigned to this route. This side path is not that stable, but will allow us to get ahead of Isnah.” He jerked his chin to a sharp drop at the end of their path. “We can wait just behind that stone for Isnah to approach. The moment we hear him, we drop in front of him. Simple.”
The male grinned at the statement, a little too pleased with himself. Faltz glared at him, nostrils flaring.
“We are not here to play games with my danmi’s life,” he reminded him. “Are you certain we will arrive there before them?”
“Without a doubt. This route cuts over half a day’s worth of travel. I would not recommend using it frequently, due to the sheer drops and unstable rock, but for this case, it is perfect. I
suspect we might even have a bit of a wait for Isnah to catch up. He still has a few annums to go before he reaches full size.”
Faltz grunted in agreement as he dropped down the path, trying to ignore the way the rock crumbled beneath his feet. He just needed to keep moving. The idea of stopping as the path gave out from under him quickened his pace. It was no wonder that the guard did not use it when they patrolled the western canyon route.
Not wishing to risk himself any longer than necessary on uncertain ground, he took a deep breath and raced down, bounding from one area to the next, kicking off before the trail could break beneath him. Within several leaps, he braced himself as he slid to the side of the drop-off. Behind him, he could hear the spray of loose stones as Bakin caught up.
It was not too far. He could make it easily.
“Please do not do that again. Do not make me explain to your mate why I am returning her to a male who needs to be sequestered with the healer,” Bakin grumbled as he stumbled to his side.
Faltz grunted again and narrowed his eyes at the trail. “Now we are forced to just… wait?” He hated waiting. It made him feel useless.
“Yes, now we wait. Do not scowl so. You will have the opportunity to bludgeon the young male to your heart’s content,” Bakin said cheerfully.
Growling, Faltz leaned against the stone as he stared down the trail. He did not realize that he was whipping his tail with aggressive impatience until he heard a bark of alarm from Bakin.
“Watch the spines, Faltz!”
Faltz muttered an apology and shifted to angle his tail away from Bakin in case it started up again. As they waited, he entertained himself with imagining how Isnah might arrive. Would he be trotting at a leisurely pace with Beni seated on his back, running in a short sprint, or would they be walking side by side, keeping to a human pace? He knew they would have to do much of that, but he half-suspected that coming so close to the end of the canyon just beyond that point, Isnah might be tempted to pick the female up and bolt the short distance to freedom.
A short time later, he was near the end of his patience when a strange sight made him lean forward with confusion. In the near distance, he could see a cloud of dust rolling on the dirt as if something were hurrying down the trail. None of the predators he was familiar moved with that kind of speed, and Isnah would not be able to if he had Beni. The male was not strong enough to gallop while carrying a human.
It did not take him long to figure it out.
When Isnah came into full view, fury clenched hard and hot in his gut. The male could move so fast because he did not have Beni with him.
Faltz did not wait for any signal from Bakin, nor did he alert his friend in any way. His mind was not there. He leaped down, his ferocious roar echoing through the canyon. The moment his paws touched the ground, Faltz surged forward, barreling toward Isnah with every bit of strength he possessed.
As he closed in, he saw the young male stumble and draw up short. The fearful shout was satisfying as Isnah wheeled around and attempted to escape him. A brittle chuckle escaped Faltz as he leaned forward, increasing his pace. The transgressor would not escape him, and he would wring out where Beni was from the male, or choke the life out of him.
He did not have to chase Isnah for long.
The first-season youth was shaky and clearly exhausted, though he made an attempt to outrun his fate. Faltz almost pitied him as he sprang forward, his paws extended to knock the smaller body over from the full force of their collision. Isnah had no way to protect himself. Built smaller and with shorter horns, he lacked the natural protections that would benefit him in a fight with another male. His body dropped hard beneath Faltz. Bringing his fist back, Faltz smashed into Isnah’s face twice before wrapping his large hand around the male’s neck and jerking him forward, his face bloodied, as he snarled down into Isnah’s terrified eyes.
“Where is my danmi?” Faltz growled.
Isnah blanched, but did not respond. Impatiently, Faltz swept his tail up beside him, the long spines threateningly close to the younger male’s face.
“Gone. Dead for certain,” Isnah rasped in a pitiful whine. “I could not save her. The sting tail…”
Faltz roared and tossed the male into the rock wall near them. “You left Beni to a sting tail?!”
He swung his tail, slamming it into the male’s side with just enough strength that, while the spines did not dig deep enough to puncture anything vital, it made Isnah squeal with pain. Faltz glared down at him in disgust as he grabbed the male by the arm and hauled him over to where Bakin watched. With a hard shove, he delivered him to the clan’s guardian.
“Restrain him, and leave him here at the rock. We must go and rescue Beni,” he growled.
“Faltz,” Bakin said hesitantly, “the likelihood that she escaped a sting tail’s attack…”
“Do not speak such words to me. My Beni is alive. She would find any way to survive. She survived him, despite his best efforts to get her killed. If anyone could survive against a sting tail long enough for help to come, it would be her.”
Falling silent, Bakin removed some cord, bound Isnah’s hands, and hobbled his legs until the male was fully secured. Brushing dirt from his hands, he nodded at Faltz to lead the way.
Spinning around, Faltz rushed down the pass, putting Isnah’s wobbly gallop that had carried him away from danger to shame. He could feel the burn of his limbs as he pushed them to their maximum capabilities. His lungs labored, and his heart pounded at a furious pace—but he would not let up. Even as his claws scraped over rock and earth, kicking up a cloud of dirt and debris, he refused to slow even a little. Beni needed him.
He heard the sting tail before he rounded the bend. The menacing clack of claws nearly made him weep in relief. If the creature was making that much noise, that meant it was still trying to locate Beni.
She was still alive!
Turning his lateral torso mid-sprint, Faltz yanked his spear free from its harness, pulling it high as he rounded the bend, a roar of challenge bursting from him in his charge.
The sting tail skittered around, its flexible body moving out of the way at the last minute as Faltz landed to the side of it, his spear moving harmlessly through the air. A growl echoed from his chest as he swung to face it, raising his spear again as he dodged the tails, leaping as the tails swung down in vicious stabs.
Bakin’s spear cut through the air just to the side of him, sinking deep into one of the tails. It snapped once before crashing to the ground where it dragged limp, only the base twitching, without the strength to lift the damaged end of its tail. Faltz turned a grateful grin to his friend as they split, moving in opposite directions, the click of the claws following them.
“Faltz!” Beni shouted.
His heart almost stopped at the sweet sound of her voice. Glancing around, he caught sight of her as she rushed out from behind a rock. Her hair hung in a tangled mass and her beautiful dark eyes were wild with fright.
“Go to her!” Bakin ordered as he danced away from another plunging tail. “I have this creature. Biggest sting tail I’ve ever seen. Our clan will feast!”
Faltz did not need to be told twice. Dodging a tail that swung his way, he rushed toward Beni, his heart aching as her face crumpled. Never had he seen his mate cry. Her arms reached for him, tears streaming down her face. He did not break stride as he let his spear drop from his hand and reached down to swing her up in his arms. His heart pounded as if it were attempting to escape his chest as he held her tight, unable to let her go. Held high against him, he was aware the moment her legs and arms slipped around him, and he knew in that moment that she was not going to let him go.
His hands swept over her, reassuring himself that she was not harmed as she cried against him, her sobs wetting his neck and chest.
“I can’t believe you found me,” she whispered hoarsely.
“I will always find you, danmi. You are my mate. That is forever between us.” He pulled back and looked her in the
eyes. “I will not let you leave me. I discovered that I am, in truth, a selfish male.”
Her eyes gleamed, and her teeth flashed in a wide smile through her tears. “Thank the gods, because I was about to tell you that there’s no way you are ever getting rid of me. You’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives.”
“That sounds perfect to me,” he whispered as he dropped his lips near her temple, caressing the soft, silky skin there. “My heart is yours, danmi.”
“And mine yours, danmi,” she replied.
“Danmal for a male mate,” he said, an amused chuckle escaping him.
The guards brushed past him, their roars fading into the background as they joined Bakin. It all seemed apart from him. All there was for him was Beni.
“Hush, cookie. Don’t you spoil the moment,” she chided with a soft laugh.
Her head turned, looking in the direction of the guards, her dark curls brushing his face as he dragged her scent into his lungs. She turned and caught his lips with hers. His mouth opened instinctively at the brush of her tongue, and he sucked it into his mouth, meeting it with his own. He allowed her a moment before he plundered the sweet cavern of her mouth. Slowly, reluctantly, he released her mouth as she pulled away.
“You’d better go help your friends,” she whispered against his mouth.
He groaned, but dropped her the ground, far enough away from the sting tail that she was well out of danger. Whirling around, he trotted back to his spear, stopping just long enough to bend and pluck it from where he had dropped it.
Picking his pace back up again, he sprung forward toward the creature. Only one tail flailed weakly. The creature was nearly done.
Meeting Bakin’s eyes, he gestured to the tail, and Bakin nodded. The other male lunged forward, stabbing the tail, as another guard joined him in his effort, aiming for the lower portion of the tail. Dodging the two sets of pincers that swung dangerously close to him, Faltz leaped into the air to come down heavy on the large abdomen of the creature. Lunging forward, he raised his spear, targeting the vulnerable spot in the exoskeleton just behind the head.
Librarian and the Beast: A Mintar Romance Page 20
