Her face was flushed with sleep, but she gave him a drowsy smile until she woke enough to recall where she was and straightened, her seat sliding back into its primary position. She glanced down wryly at Harahna, who didn’t seem to be inclined to release her breast anytime soon, but had merely at some point switched to the other one. A gentle pat at their daughter’s back, however, had the tendrils of their offspring’s symbiont retracting promptly. Harahna shivered slightly as they withdrew back into her skin, but she did not otherwise wake.
The minor household did not have a secured, hidden docking bay such as the primary household possessed, but it was still in a well-sheltered position between the household and a long artificial wall that shielded one side of the compound to keep the dunes from encroaching. There the flyer and any other vessels were not readily visible, and the area around it was constantly monitored.
It took them only a few minutes to gain the necessary clearance and land. The alert had been raised upon their departure and the entire eastern holding was on alert and readied for them. Veral was not surprised when he and his mate were greeted by Hitani and Vand the moment they exited the flyer. Although the pair wore steely expressions, they inclined their head in formal acknowledgment before their gaze strayed to Terri and finally landed on Harahna.
“So it is true,” Hitani murmured, a fleeting look of wonder on her face. “A daughter of the line was born to the Ahanvala and his alien mate, and successfully survived her first tiani days.”
Her eyes turned to Veral, her expression easing into one of respect and something like warmth—something he never would have recognized if not for his mate-bonding with Terri.
“What are tiani days?” Terri whispered at his side.
Hitani regarded Terri with an inscrutable look, and Veral bit back a growl. Terri would not know such things and should not be judged for it. The female did not comment on the lack of knowledge but answered the question in Veral’s stead.
“Tiani days are those in which our offspring, while more advanced than weaker and less developed species, are most vulnerable. The tiani, whom we call the spirits of fate, may take them during that time and so we call the days after them and ask their mercy that they do not steal our young to replace their own that they lost to eons of time.”
The female’s attention snapped back to Veral. “We have prepared a convoy as directed, including the special instructions you requested,” she said. Her head tilted at a very slight angle. “It seemed unnecessary at the time, but it is evident that your female can use the rest and time to re-establish necessary bonding with her mate after such trauma that we were only recently made aware of. This I understand and approve of.”
Veral did not really care if she understood or approved of his plans or not, but he inclined his head all the same in acknowledgment of her words.
“And our transport?”
The first hint of a smile appeared on the stern female’s face.
“The sand dragnar are being readied as we speak.”
29
“Flyers and other vessels do not operate well in the Galithilan,” Hitani said as they approached several animals gathered in front of the entrance gates of the compound. “To travel deep into the Galithilan, we do as our ancestors before us have done. The sand dragnar carry us safely to and from the abode of our far-kin, and so they will carry you.”
Terri swallowed nervously as she stared at the creatures that were supposedly going to carry them across the sand.
Thatwas a sand dragnar?
It didn’t look like a tame mount, but almost like images of mythical dragons she had seen, except that it was smaller. It had a single thick pad set just above its first pair of legs that was just barely big enough for two people to ride it. Unlike any dragon she had ever seen illustrated, its body was longer, like a snake, with eight short legs and a head pointed like a wolf or a fox, though with mouths filled with rows of small teeth that made its entire jaw look like a serrated weapon.
Despite is ferocious appearance, the dragnar closest to her made a bassy crooning sound as it dropped its head to eye-level. The blue slitted pupil expanded in its flame-red iris as a billow of its warm breath swept over her. Terri gasped when the dragnar nudged his huge nose toward her, ignoring the anxious growls from Krono. With a soft chuckle, Terri pushed its nose back so she could admire it.
Like many lifeforms on Argurumal, it seemed, the dragnar was covered in scales and shockingly fine vibrissae that crowned its head and ran down its body. They were very thin and seemed to be constantly moving about it. At the tail, the vibrissae were thicker and longer, forming what looked like a fanned fin. That tail rose, the vibrissae expanding outward for a moment before it slapped back down to the sand with a soft thud.
“Sankal likes you,” Hitani observed, a faint smile of approval pulling at her lips. “She will serve as a good mount for you and your male.” The female gave the sleek neck a pat before addressing the rest of them as she made her way around to the largest of the beasts. “You will ride in pairs. Mount and hold on. The dragnar are trained to follow their alpha female, Girshwin. They move fast, so be prepared.”
At a dual octave chirp from the Argurma, the dragnar lowered flat against the sand, providing an easy mount for Hitani and her mate as they slid onto the padded seat. The moment they were secure, the dragnar rose to her feet at another one of the chirps, her proud neck curving.
“Mount up,” Hitani ordered. “We have far to go to make it to shelter before sundown. You do not want to be caught on the Galithilan after nightfall.”
The sound was apparently an Argurma thing because everyone around her effortlessly made it. Larth called out to one, chirping at it so that it lowered for him to mount. He offered a hand to Malraha, and the female looked like she would rather chew nails than ride with him, but she ignored his hand and vaulted up onto the dragnar’s back behind him. From the stiff way she sat behind the male, Terri was certain that there was no love lost between the two and wondered if there was a story there, but she was promptly distracted from her musings when Sankal dropped in front of them in response to Veral’s command.
The big eye watched her, a resonant croon echoing from the female dragnar’s throat as they walked down the line of her neck to the padded seat. Veral lifted Terri easily, setting her in the front before launching himself into the spot just behind her. The contact sent a delicious thrill through her, which only grew in intensity as his arms wrapped around her to grip the vibrissae fluttering just in front of them. Moments later, the padding shifted again as Krono scrambled up, his retractable claws digging into the padding just behind Veral, his whip-like tail coiling around her mate’s waist. Terri could feel it between them, and as strange as it felt, it put her at ease knowing that her entire family was securely together.
Sankal surged to her feet then as he gave another chirp, and the startling shift beneath her might have been concerning to Terri if she hadn’t felt so secure in her mate’s arms. Even Harahna rested quietly in the sling across Terri’s chest that served to hold her daughter close even when the baby’s symbiont was inactive. No doubt the slight ease of weight from one foot to another as the dragnar tested her passengers was a soothing motion to their offspring.
With one of his free hands, Veral drew the light blanket completely over their daughter, fastening it to the strap of the sling. His hand then lifted inside Terri’s hood and drew out a stretch of fabric from the layered material there within the shafna. This he wrapped around her lower face, tucking and pinning it in place before doing the same for himself.
Despite Argurma’s vents and high tolerance for sand, apparently the Galithilan was troublesome even for them without some extra protection. His eyes fastened on her, dulled by his secondary membranous eyelid with a look of affection as he tugged a visor over her eyes. It was not unlike her goggles back on Earth but made of metal and had a technical enhancement that brought their surroundings into sharp relief. Enjoying the novelty of not having to squint against the grit, Terri sat up straighter, winding her hands in the dragnar’s vibrissae with Veral’s.
Her neck curving, Sankal’s scaled head turned back to watch them carefully with an intelligent gleam in her eyes. Two enormous vents at either side of her jaw blew, spraying a light dusting of sand as she continued the process. Vibrissae fluttering like mad, she made tiny adjustments to her balance until finally she stopped moving for the span of a breath before the dragnar leaped forward, her body sliding lightning fast across the sand.
Hitani hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that the dragnar were fast. It was easily beyond what many people back home had called “hold onto your ass” speed, except that rather than barreling down empty streets in barely running pickups and beat-up cars, Terri was practically flying across the desert on the back of a creature that seemed straight out of a fantasy novel. If she had anyone to wager with, she would have bet that Sankal could beat most basic flyers out there. She couldn’t imagine why his people would have stopped riding them, and she might have asked if she was certain that she could breathe and talk at the same time.