Dark Blood

Chapter 25

The entryway was barren and dark, with a red piece of fabric acting as a divider between it and the rest of the home. Pushing the curtain aside and passing through the threshold, Kara was surprised to find that room they entered was a stark contrast to the entryway they had just left. It was bright, warm, and full of color. The entire building was constructed from a bright bluish silver alloy, but it wasn't shiny, creating the illusion that the walls were very sleek drywall with faint horizontal grooves carved into it. Unlike the cold tube lights at the temple, those that lit this room were a yellowish hue. They were mounted at even intervals around the rectangular space, one in each corner and one in the middle of each solid wall. A long, oval wooden table with eight high-backed chairs was placed just a few feet away from the entrance, and behind it was a large sitting room. There was a woven rug made of brown and dark green fiber covering a majority of the metal floor, three lounge-style chairs and two tuxedo-style sofas comprised of both wooden and metal frames and tan cushions placed, metal cube-shaped end tables some with cubbies and some without, and a combination of brown and white furs thrown across some of the chairs and sofas. On the left wall hung a giant tapestry made of russet fabric embroidered with black, gold, and garnet thread. The design was similar to a jagged mandala, with the garnet comprising the larger exterior design and the black filling in the more minor details stretched from the top right to the bottom left corner. The rest of the empty space was crowded with golden symbols and triangular tribal patterns, some of which were emphasized by a black outline.

Contrary to its outward appearance, a majority of the illumination in the room actually came from natural light. The walls next to the entryway had rectangular cutouts filled with a thick one-way pane of glass about four feet tall that stretched all the way to the corners of the room. The wall directly across from them was nearly a complete floor-to-ceiling window, save for about three feet of metal at the very bottom. The foliage on the other side was so thick and so close that it was almost as if the jungle was inside with them. There were two halls on either side of them. The one on the right was slightly dimmer than the room and stretched off further than Kara's eyes could see, and the one on the left was short and led into a tiny circular space that she couldn't see much of but could tell that it was lit by a cutout window that wrapped the whole length of the room. There were little statues and pretty rocks set up on the end tables, and a rectangular wooden slab with the eye symbol and a phrase burned onto its surface placed to the left of a massive skull hung on the right wall above a sofa. The creature had big eye sockets, four fangs framing a small mouth, and four large pincers with extra teeth along the bone that looked vaguely similar to the alien's mandibles. Although this was the residence of vicious extraterrestrial hunters, Kara thought it was rather homey. She meandered cautiously around the table, taking it all in as the two aliens settled themselves.

Dhi'ki-de picked up his busted helm from the transportation slab and cradled it in the crook of his arm, running his fingers along the edge of it anxiously. His father released a heavy sigh and propped his spear up against the table, unclasping his cloak and flourishing it off of his shoulders. As he draped it over the back of the chair and moved to sit, Dhi'ki-de extended his arm to pull out another chair to sit beside him.

"No." His father's voice made him freeze on the spot. "You stand."

His arm quickly dropped to his side, and he stood stiff, waiting for whatever was to come. With a sense of leisure, the old hunter settled himself in the chair, folded his hands on the table in front of him, and slowly turned his intense, calculating gaze upon his son. Dhi'ki-de was doing all that he could to ignore the anxious shiver growing in his spine, keeping his eyes fixated on his father's hands.

"Well," he said expectantly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Dhi'ki-de steeled himself and cleared his throat. "I have good reason for returning with an Ooman and her kiande amedha pup."