Veral let out a roar of frustration, his mandibles stretching wide and his vibrissae, which seemed to be in moving in a highly agitated state since they stepped out onto the planet, whipped faster. Craning her head around, she watched as his eyes narrowed on Azan before he spun around and sprung forward.
Terri didn’t know what unspoken message passed between them, or what he saw in the Blaithari female in that moment, but whatever it was, he had decided to trust the female to get Terri away.
Flopped helplessly over Azan’s shoulder, Terri dropped her head. Her neck ached from the angle at which she had held it. It had the unfortunate side effect of providing her with an unhampered view of the creatures hunting them.
Their long bodies seemed slowed down a little as they whipped themselves in a rapid glide over the top of the mossy surface. Their mouths, full of sharp teeth, opened wide. Webbing fanned from both sides of their head in intricate, boney fins as they neared, preparing to strike. Terri did scream that time when one shot forward to snatch a Blaithari, a male she didn’t recognize, off his feet. His scream joined hers, but was cut off as the serpent slipped back into the water.
Her scream didn’t have time to quiet when the second serpent snapped up a squealing Turogo, ripping him away from his companions. They tried to fight the creature for him, each with one of their hands gripping him tightly while the other hand fired their blaster upon the monster until the very last moment when the creature yanked him away, breaking their grasp on him. The serpent didn’t waste time. Its body careened back, splashing into the water, the male’s shocked gaze burning into Terri’s mind as he disappeared with it, his torso caught in its mouth.
The other males of his group did not even try to catch up after that. Even as they shrank in the distance, Terri watched as the three other males of his group dropped to the ground in grief. The anguished cries of the males continued long after he vanished into the water. They were nearly out of sight when they cried out again as the ground of the floating plant matter near them pushed up and away once more, and she was able to make out more serpents rising to put the grieving males out of their misery.
She didn’t even realize she was crying until Azan’s voice met her ear.
“Save your grief. The Turogos are spawned in symbiotic packs. They would not have lasted long without their brother. They waited for their souls to be carried to rejoin him. This is their way,” Azan whispered fiercely. “If you must, direct your emotion to the male who leads them and let it burn. Many will die in this place, between the creatures of this world and your mate’s vengeance. I am certain of it. But not me.”
The assurance in the female’s voice reminded Terri of just how much of a survivor Azan was. Everything could burn down around her, and regardless of what she might feel for the plight of the others, she wouldn’t allow herself to go down with it. Terri understood. She had been there herself. If not for Veral, she would still be looking out only for herself. But she had more to worry about now.
They had to survive. There was no other option.
At least there were no further sounds of pursuit. Whatever those snake creatures were, they had given up the chase to consume their prey. It made her ill to consider that it could have been any of them who ended up in the bellies of the creatures. It sickened her further that her belly growled now, of all times.
To her surprise, Azan’s body shook with her quiet chuckle.
Of coursethatwould amuse the pirate.
Eventually, Azan came to a stop, depositing Terri and Garswal on the small stretch of firm ground that the crew was clustered nervously upon. Terri wanted nothing more than to push her way through everyone and find Veral, but the warning look in Azan’s eyes kept her in place. The female was drawing deep, ragged breaths and shook her head. Terri understood why as she turned and met the cold gaze of the captain fixed on her.
Egbor was always watching and could retaliate on anyone for the smallest infraction to his rules.
Giving the captain her back, she settled for peering among the crew, searching for a glimpse of her mate’s dark head. A gasp of relief left her lips when she caught sight of him. Just beyond the milling bodies, Veral, standing nearly a head taller than everyone else, was also scanning the small crowd, scowling until he caught sight of her. His glowing blue eyes flared, and he pushed through the bodies separating them, his gaze moving over her anxiously.
Once assured that she wasn’t injured, he calmed as he stood the few feet that he was allowed near her. His fingers stretched out before fisting tightly at his side, his mandibles clicking at a distressed tempo. His eyes cut to the captain, who tapped his blaster meaningfully. Veral growled but turned his attention back to Terri, his gaze piercing her with such intensity that she knew without a doubt that he would slaughter every one of them if he had any assurance that he would be able to escape with her.
Somehow, their restrained proximity to each other created an invisible barrier between them that everyone seemed to feel and acknowledge. The crew gave them their berth. Everyone except an upper crew Blaithari, who attempted to shove him out of the way with the intent to approach the captain, but he was unsuccessful. Veral’s arme snapped out and with one fast move pushed the male into the loose sediment of the bog. The Blaithari’s bellow had everyone on dry land scrambling to pull him out, but Veral barely shifted an inch the entire time that the crew hastened to save their own, his eyes fixed on her as if he couldn’t bear to move them away for even a moment.
“Looks like everyone is here. We will keep moving until sundown,” Egbor called out, his flinty stare sweeping over his crew. Wisely, no one protested. “Mind where you step so that you do not end up like the fools who were eaten, and stay away from the Argurma unless you want to take an unexpected bath.”
Several weary chuckles rose in response to the captain’s remark as eyes turned on the soggy Blaithari male. He snarled at them all before directing a look full of hate at Veral. Her mate, as usual, did not appear concerned with the threat issued. Just the opposite. His lips curled in a chilling smile of anticipation. Casting one more glance full of promise to Terri, Veral strode over and leaped to the next dry mass.
A small group of Turogos watched him with blank stares but nodded their wide heads in a sort of silent agreement among themselves as they proceeded to navigate together over the ground a short distance away. They kept close, moving as a team in a practiced manner that suggested that they were perhaps more familiar with this sort of environment than any of them.
As they followed after Veral, the rest of the crew trickled forward. The captain was surrounded the entire time by his personal guards and no others, though the crew moved like a wall as they crossed the bog nearby. Terri felt a small hand slip into hers as she stared after them. Startled, she looked down and met the concerned gaze of Garswal. She squeezed his hand reassuringly as Azan stepped up to his opposite side. The female handed both of them a hydration pod. Terri gratefully placed it in her mouth and bit down it. Bursting with a small pop, it immediately dissolved, leaking cool liquid down her throat.
“Stick close by my side,” Azan said quietly. “I don’t trust any of this.”
Terri nodded, her jaw tightening, as they kept pace with the crew. Nothing about this place could be trusted. Ultimately, she knew that included Azan as well.
11
High in the branches, Veral watched the crew slump with exhaustion in whatever small hollow or groove they could find among the tight network of roots. Though they stumbled around, half-blind, led by the handheld lights they carried, Veral’s vision was unhampered, eyes glowing with perfect night vision. From his vantage point, he knew that the roots were perhaps the safest place to rest that they could hope for without constructing a shelter.
The massive trees grew so close together that their long branches would block out most of any rain that might fall overnight. The roots themselves offered further shelter. At some point, they had forced each other up from where they were anchored in wet earth, creating natural beds amid the dips and hollows they formed above the wet ground. Everyone was all the more eager to seek shelter among the roots as they scoured the area for any sign of predators.
His eyes slid over them all, coming to rest on the form of his mate as she stretched out the kinks in her back. She tilted her head back as if sensing him lurking above her, smiling as she met his gaze. Discreetly, she pressed her fingers to her lips—blowing him a kiss, she called it.
The corners of his mouth quirked in response, his heart warming at the gesture. He touched his own lips, fingertips sliding between the gap between his mandibles in silent communication of his returned love. Her smile widened, but then she ducked her head, her attention turning abruptly to the female at her side.
He understood why, but he ached with disappointment. It was ironic for a male who spent so long ignoring every emotion that reminded him of how flawed he was in the eyes of his species. Yet now he acknowledged the need that boiled inside of him to be joined with her again.