‘Did you have anything to do with this?’ Micah asked.
‘All they needed was a nudge,’ Fea replied.
“You always show up with crazy ideas!” Cassia argued, slamming his fist on the table.
‘Just a nudge, huh?’
“Since when is feeding our people a crazy idea? Who cares if oversized, talking Rabbits are the ones to help or not? We don’t have a ship like they do, so maybe they’re doing something right and we’re the ones who aren’t. Did you ever think of that?” Gailey glared across the table at her counterpart.
‘Maybe you can dial it back a bit?’
‘The stallions have bolted the stable and are no longer under anyone’s control.’
Micah sighed and watched as the elders engaged each other by bringing up perceived slights from the past fifty years. None of them noticed when Micah excused herself and ushered her group back to the outdoors.
“I think that went well,” she said when they were back in the fresh air. The light flashed before her eye, telling her she had an urgent message. ‘Did you miss me, Holly?’
‘I swear that you and Braden will be the death of me,’ Holly replied.
‘I hope not.’ Micah shook her head to clear the thought away. ‘They have an Old Tech building with a deep basement where the elders meet. They are talking about our proposal now. In the interim, I think we’re going to go shopping, see what there is to see. I’ll be back when I have an answer from them. Have you heard from Braden?’
‘I have not heard from him, but I continue to track their progress and that of the Wolfoid spears. They continue through the mountains, but Braden’s group has stopped for some reason and he hasn’t answered my call to him, either. You two!’
Micah grimaced and looked at the ground. The twins each grabbed a hand. They knew something was wrong.
Trials
Braden crawled carefully downward. The Wolfoid pup lay in a tangle, silent and still.
Bounder and Cygnus remained at the top, where they tied a rope to one of Brandt’s horns.
Skirill and Zyena had flown to the bottom of the narrow gorge and confirmed that Rainy Forest was alive, but they could do nothing for him besides pack a beakful of numbweed at a time into his visible wounds.
He was too heavy for them. The Hawkoids couldn’t get leverage, but Braden was on his way. As was Aadi. The Tortoid was swimming through the air as quickly as possible. G-War had abandoned his efforts to stay out of the rain and raced down the trail from where they’d been watching the raiders.
The Golden Warrior looked over the edge. He studied his path and leapt. Like a combination of a mountain goat and daredevil, he bounced and slowed, hooked a paw, dropped, jumped, and kept going, always downward. Braden watched the ‘cat race past until he was close enough to the bottom to leap. He hit the ground at a run. G-War made a tight turn and returned to the side of the injured Wolfoid.
G-War wedged against Forest and touched his mind, easing the pain while Braden continued to navigate the cliff face. He lost his grip and started to fall. He flailed as he slid, found a projection to grab, and grunted as his body slid down the rocks and slammed to a halt. He hung there for a few moments before looking down. He was barely an arm’s length above the ground. He pushed off as he let go, falling the short distance to land on his feet.
Blood oozed through tears in his Old Tech pants. His boots were scuffed, but still had the power if he needed to run quickly. Braden didn’t see that anywhere in their near future, but he had other concerns at the moment.
He braced himself over top of the Wolfoid and carefully pulled him straight up to free him from where he was wedged. Braden shuffled sideways until he found a clear spot where he could put the pup. He rolled him onto his back so he could look for injuries. One ear was split in half and blood ran from the wound. A bump on his head had already swelled, giving Forest a misshapen look. Braden ran his fingers over the spot, praying that he wouldn’t find a depression or break. The pup’s skull felt solid. Braden pulled a small gob of numbweed and held it against the Wolfoid’s ear as he checked for more injuries.
There were scrapes aplenty, but Braden determined that his four limbs were intact. With G-War’s help, the pup rose to a state of semi-consciousness.
“Where does it hurt?” Braden asked, but Forest’s eyes rolled back in his head before he could answer.
Braden felt along the ribcage. The pup winced at his touch. Broken ribs, Braden thought.
A shadow descended from above. Braden ducked and covered the Wolfoid, thinking something was falling.
‘Just me, Master Braden,’ Aadi said. ‘How can I be of service?’
“We need to use you like a stretcher, if you don’t mind.”
‘I don’t believe I’ll be able to lift the pup by myself,’ Aadi said, concerned, wanting to carry some of the burden but limited in what he could do.
“You’ll have plenty of help, probably too much.” Braden waved at the faces he could see at the top of the cliff. “Send the rope down!”
Braden wrapped the rope under Aadi’s shell and made a sling. “You’ll keep him from bouncing off that rock face on the way up.” Braden pointed at the cliff, but Aadi looked at the matted blood on the man’s legs. “There are some sharp rocks, you might get scraped a bit on your way up.”
‘As you say, Master Braden, I shall endeavor to persevere. Let us tend to Rainy Forest first and foremost.’
Braden pulled on the rope to test his knots, then carefully cradled the pup in his arms as he arranged him as best he could on top of Aadi’s shell. Forest gasped with the pressure on his chest, even though Braden had laid him with his good ribs against Aadi’s shell.
Braden tied the loose ends of the rope to a couple of the pup’s legs, just in case he slipped off. Braden untied those as he thought better of it. He tied the ends off between the four legs of the basket to create a loose cage in which the pup lay on top of the Tortoid’s shell.
“Pull it up! Slowly,” Braden yelled as he started to climb. G-War vaulted upward to land on Braden’s back. He wrapped his paws around Braden’s neck and hung on.
Braden tried to keep pace, climbing the rock face as Brandt slowly pulled with the Hawkoids watching behind, directing him down the trail. Cygnus and Bounder guided the rope as the Tortoid and Forest rose. Braden slipped once, then twice, and decided it was better to take his time than risk becoming the second casualty of their ill-fated adventure.
G-War applauded the slower pace, even though the ‘cat had no doubt he would land on his feet should his human tumble.
“Maybe I’m taking you with me, G,” Braden said as he pulled from one handhold to another. “We live together or we die together.”
‘That is what I told you, but we don’t actually die. I would be most upset if you were killed, maybe even for a whole turn of the sun. After that, I’d be on my way, places to go, ‘cats to see. It would be nice to have a little more freedom. You have seriously cramped my style.’
“G? We’re climbing a cliff, and you aren’t making it any easier.”
‘It’s nothing more than a pimple on these mountains. Do you think of this as a cliff? I don’t. It’s not very cliffy as far as cliffs go. Only about five or six humans tall. That’s not a cliff.’
Braden made it to the top and crawled over. Bounder and Cygnus had moved the pup from Aadi’s shell to the nearest tree.
“Were you trying to distract me to make that climb easier? I love you, little man.”
‘Make the ugly noises stop,’ G-War said as he turned and strutted away, holding his wet rat tail in the air to show his ‘cat butt.
Braden would have laughed at his friend, but a Wolfoid lay injured and the rain continued to mercilessly pummel them.
***
Micah strolled through the town with her entourage. They stood out wherever they went and since Micah didn’t have anything to trade, they headed back to the ship without any prizes. Ax and ‘Tesh were disappointed.
Fea had bitten
Klytus’s ear at one point to get him in line. He walked in front of the group on their way toward the dock, his head hanging low and his tail dragging on the ground.
That put Ax in a foul mood, even though his mother had told him that they couldn’t have the ‘cats running free throughout Southport. She held the twins’ hands and power-walked. The Rabbits hopped, stopping to sniff at anything growing. Strider strolled along majestically, even though she still felt naked without her harness or spear.
Halfway down the dock, Micah spotted bodies on the Warden’s deck. She quickened her pace, but the twins held her back. When Strider saw them, she ran ahead, dropping to all fours to increase speed and leaping high into the air to land on the deck. She sniffed at the two.
‘They’re alive. Stunned, it seems,’ she reported.
Micah slowed as the heat rose within. Why had someone tried to board the Warden? She would beat the answers out of them. No, she would talk to them first, give them a chance. The beatdown could come later if they needed it.
Micah helped the Rabbits on board and then the twins.
“Go inside, please,” she told them. The Rabbits weren’t sure if Micah was talking to them or the twins, but they took charge and ushered the children inside. The ‘cats hovered around the unconscious pair, a man and a woman.
Fea sat gracefully, eyes focused on the two souls. She didn’t feel sorry for them. She accepted that they were there and when they awoke, that they would wish they weren’t. It brought the ‘cat comfort, doubly so when she saw the look on Micah’s face.
“They came aboard unbidden and I had to shock them. I assumed you didn’t want the Wolfoids to use the lightning spear within the harbor. They may be simply curious and not have any ill intent,” Holly reported using the ship’s speakers.
“The reason we’re here is because of ill intent, Holly. It’s hard to assume anything but. The raiders have put us all on edge.”
Strider summoned the pups. They cautiously walked into the open.
“How are you feeling?” Micah nonchalantly asked the young Wolfoids while not taking her eyes from the two figures crumpled on the deck. Klytus snarled and raised a claw. “Not yet, Klytus, but stand ready, just in case.”
Strider thanked the pups and relieved them of her lightning spear. She liked the feel of it in her small paw-hands. The power. Who were they to deny others the same feeling?
Because they didn’t abuse the power, that was who they were. Strider poked the woman with the butt of her spear. She groaned and rolled over. Strider knew what it was like to get hit by a stun weapon. On the island, she found out the hard way. It was a singularly unpleasant experience. She almost felt sorry for the two.
Almost.
“What were you doing on our ship?” Micah demanded, speaking firmly as she stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the woman.
“Looking around, seeing what there was to see. It’s a unique ship, and we only wanted to look,” the woman mumbled, her eyes rolling back in her head.
“Why didn’t you wait for us? Do you always go into other people’s houses when you’re curious?”
“Not anymore,” the woman replied, blinking and trying to focus on the figure looming over her. “We are sorry. What hit us?”
“An electrical charge.” Micah stepped back. “Since you survived, you’ll be fine.” Micah offered the woman a hand and pulled her to her feet.
She stood, woozy and unsteady. Strider jabbed her male companion. He groaned, long and low.
“Men,” Micah muttered, shaking her head. She kicked his foot. “Wake up!”
He rolled his stomach and pushed up until he was kneeling. “My head…”
Micah waited.
He stayed where he was.
“Your head is going to feel the toe of my boot if you don’t stand up.” Micah gestured toward him with her chin and guided the woman that way. Micah resisted the urge to throw the intruder into him.
The woman helped her partner in crime to his feet.
“Names,” Micah demanded.
“I’m Blithering and he’s Idiot,” the woman said.
Micah did a double-take before starting to laugh. Strider chuckled in the Wolfoid way. The pups followed suit.
“What are your real names?” Micah asked softly.
“I’m Hope and this is Chester.”
Micah started to laugh. “I thought you were going to say his name was Les. I’m sorry.”
“That would be funny and well-deserved,” Hope agreed. “I want to make it up to you, for boarding your beautiful ship without permission. We wouldn’t have touched anything.”
“I’m sure you would not have, but those two—” Micah pointed to the pups. “—might have hit you with a bolt of lightning for your troubles. You were better off with what happened.”
“I don’t feel better off, but I’ll take your word for it,” the man said, trying to stretch out his muscles. “I feel like a house fell on me.”
“Stretch it out. Follow us so we can sit, drink water, and eat a little. We can tell you about us, the Wolfoids, the Rabbits, the ‘cats, all of it. We may be strangers to Southport, but we’re not strange, only different.”
Delay
Braden stomped through the puddles and huffed his dismay at the days that they’d been waiting for Forest to heal enough to continue on.
G-War, Bounder, Skirill, and Zyena were somewhere on the mountainside hunting deer that the ‘cat had sensed and the Hawkoids had seen. The group needed to maintain its strength. That meant meat and vegetables. The natural hunters headed out.
Braden had hurried away from New Sanctuary, comfortably carrying his two blasters but had forgotten his bow. He would have set snares, but he didn’t pack those either.
The Wolfoid and Hillcat were efficient hunters without needing a weapon beyond their fangs or claws.
Braden scowled. Cygnus was getting better, even though less than a week had passed since the raid on Livestel. Cygnus held his side as he rose and joined Braden.
“I hear that the ladies like scars,” Braden said, pulling his shirt back to reveal a sample of the wounds he’d sustained over the years. The ragged tear from the Lizard Man’s trident was the worst of the bunch.
‘I can grow hair over mine,’ Cygnus answered using his thought voice, compliments of G-War, wherever he was. ‘But it’ll always be there, no matter what.’
Braden put his hand gently on the Wolfoid’s shoulder. “Scars define us only in telling the world that we survived what it threw at us. We stitched ourselves back together and went about our business. If we tried to live any other way, then we’d let fear rule us, and I refuse to live that way. What about you?”
‘As the first born of Cygnus, I am a symbol of perseverance through the past and the promise of a better future. I don’t have the choice to be afraid.’
“But you are. It’s natural. The thought of the Bat-Ravens makes my skin crawl. I know that the Golden Warrior’s emotions rage when he thinks of those foul creatures. He thinks I don’t know, but I do. That’s where courage comes in. Even though we don’t want to, we do what we have to—break out the blaster or the spear and stand in the open while they’re on their way.
“It’s easy because I know that Micah has my back. And Aadi, G-War, Brandt, Skirill, all of them. They know that I have their backs, too. Bounder and Strider ask for our help and of course we come running. That’s what friends do. It doesn’t matter if you’re afraid, because we’re ready to go over the cliff together. I’m sure Bounder would tell a joke on the way down. G-War would look for a way to scratch me one last time. With friends like that? What’s there to be afraid of?”
‘I can still feel the knife scraping across my ribs.’ Cygnus winced as he said it.
“So?” Braden replied, sounding more heartless than he felt. He held his shirt open to show the vicious trident wound. “Don’t live your life in fear. I suspect you’ll feel better when you have something in your stomach. It’s much easier to
be brave when you have a gut full of venison.”
Braden laughed and slapped the Wolfoid on the shoulder.
“And if we haven’t found some greens or vegetables, Bounder will not be very happy. G-War won’t care because he’ll have already eaten the disgusting choice bits.”
Braden waved for Cygnus to follow. Normalcy. We’ll give him the mundane until the pain lessens. It will always be there, my friend. Always, Braden thought as he tried not to flinch while buttoning his shirt.
***
‘Thanks, Holly,’ Micah said, sitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge. She’d taken the Warden back out to sea while waiting for the verdict from Southport about whether they would help or not. She had talked with Braden to find out that his group was stymied by the deluge and injuries to Rainy Forest.
Holly continued to track the power signatures of the Wolfoid spears using the network of satellites that the ancients had put in orbit around Vii. They allowed Holly to guide Braden and his group to the raiders. They’d cleared the pass through the mountains and had made good time when they hit the other side, a long valley oriented north and south.
The distance between Braden and the raiders was significant and growing with each heartbeat that the pursuers remained static. Micah knew that it had to be tearing at every fiber of Braden’s being, but he was safe and healthy. She secretly hoped that the raiders would fall into a bottomless crevasse, they and the spears lost forever.
She could always hope, but she knew reality, and it would end in fire and lightning.
***
Twenty Aurochs ran like the wind while Zeller and Young Tom hung on tightly. Arnie bounced the wagon over the rough terrain of the plains leading from the sea to the western edge of the Amazon rainforest.
Bronwyn cheered and yelled, her light brown hair flapping like a flag behind her. Cragmore playfully dashed left and right, as young Aurochs bulls are wont to do. The small group was easy to convince. They said good-bye to their fellows and that was that.
In less than a day, Zeller and Tom would take the ancients’ road east, while Bronwyn would continue south. Eight days, bah!
Southern Discontent (Free Trader Series Book 7) Page 7
