ery nice of you. Also, the backrub was pretty good. Thank you for that.” The man still doesn’t speak and I still don’t know his name, so I nod at him, turn around, and start walking.
I’ve only gone a few feet when I feel his hand on my shoulder. I jump because I didn’t even hear him. He moves that quietly.
“What?” I ask, turning back. “What is it?”
“You’re going to die out here, Dagger.”
Chapter 5
Ezra
She’s going to get herself killed and I’m not okay with that. Perhaps I should be, but I’m not. The human has no idea where she is or where she’s going, so the real question is, how did she get here?
“What?” She asks, her jaw dropping. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that night is coming,” I point to the sky. “Soon it will be dark, and that’s when the monsters come out to play. Unless you have a way to keep yourself safe in the darkness, which it doesn’t look like you do, then you’re going to die in just a few hours.”
Dagger bites her bottom lip. She doesn’t look like she’s pouting. She looks scared, worried. She looks like she’s lost in the world and for some reason, I want to be the one who saves her.
“Do you have somewhere you’re going?” I ask quietly, and this time, she shakes her head. It’s as I thought. She’s running from something, not to something. She’s scared and afraid and she needs protection.
I will protect her.
“My name is Ezra,” I tell her. “You come with me.”
“I…what? I can’t come with you. You’re a stranger,” she seems so serious, and I laugh.
“Come on, human. Try to keep up.” I start walking quietly away from the creek. I don’t turn around to look at her and I don’t slow down. If my instincts are right, she’ll hesitate for a moment and then run to catch up.
Sure enough, before I count to “ten,” I hear her crashing through the brush. She’s loud and untrained. It’ll be difficult to do any hunting with her here, so I’ll need to start teaching her to be quiet. Surviving is difficult even for the most experienced of hunters. That’s why there aren’t many of us.
Most Sapphirans don’t want to take the risk.
Dagger walks beside me, but doesn’t speak. There’s a comfortable silence as we walk along. Every so often, I check my communications bracelet to make sure we’re going in the right direction. She stays close as we duck under low-hanging branches and every once in awhile she’ll jump at a strange sound or sight.
Dagger fascinates me. She’s so curious and cautious in some ways, but so wild and reckless in others. She’s a complete contradiction unlike anything or anyone I’ve ever seen.
“We’ll stay here,” I say when we reach a small clearing. There are several large oliaoneve trees surrounding it. They’re more than big enough for a sleeping nest.
“Where?” Dagger stops walking and looks around the clearing. She shrugs, then motions strangely with her hands. Humans are an extraordinary species, I think. There’s so much to learn about them. Even though I’ve spent several hours walking with Dagger, she’s still so intriguing.
“What are you doing?”
“What?”
“With your hands. What are you doing?”
She looks at her tiny palms and then back at me. “Nothing. I was motioning. You know, because there’s nowhere to sleep. Unless you mean…” She looks up at the trees and her face goes pale. “Oh, no.”
“We’ll sleep in the oliaoneve trees,” I tell her simply. They’re the safest and sturdiest of the trees. Nothing will hurt us in the nest.”
“The nest?” She raises an eyebrow. Does she not know what I mean or is she being sarcastic? Her body language is too confusing for me, especially when I’m tired. Right now, I wish Dagger would just say what she means because I say what I mean, and what I mean is that we need to get in our nest before night falls.
“Woman,” I’m frustrated. “What are you trying to ask me?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Ezra?” She motions around again, and my head is starting to ache. “What do you mean we’re going to sleep in a nest? Like a bird’s nest?” She squats down and moves her arms so her hands are toward her chest and her elbows are pointing out. She vaguely resembles some sort of air-born creature and I can’t help myself.
I laugh.