Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 4 - Blood and Dirt

The human didn't struggle as he marched her through his war camp with Echnar following close behind. She seemed exhausted and beaten and he was sure her injuries were wearing on her. He'd also learned that the air on Telling was poisonous to her and she'd tried to use it to end her life before he could get her through the portal. He'd likewise learned the air on his home world, Uu'kata was breathable to humans.

He looked forward to learning so much more about her tiny, vicious kind.

Now and then she made pained little sounds as she struggled for purchase and it tugged at his heart in a way he didn't like. Creatures so monsterous shouldn't be able to make cute sounds.

Glaring down at her, he wondered why she was covered in slime that was drying and disgustingly flaking off. If it was something humans secreted he was not keeping her in his tent. He'd have a kennel constructed close to his dwellings so he could keep an eye on her.

On that note, he turned from his path to his tent and headed for the river. He put a hand over his prisoner's face to keep her from taking too much in of the camp and it's layout. He didn't need her knowing her way around if she tried to escape. She didn't protest or struggle. Her little hand just held tightly to his wrist, trying to offer herself support. She felt so fragile in his hands that he considered throwing her over his shoulder, but he wanted a clear view of her hands. It was hard to look at the disgusting little creature in his grasp and think of it as dangerous. She was a blooded warrior. She'd even gone so far as to sacrifice herself for a fellow warrior and their cause, then attempted to end her own life twice to keep herself out of his hands. He couldn't forget that.

The river was wide, albeit shallow. He could walk across it and the deepest point brought the water up to his chest. The banks were dotted with females and a few young as they washed clothing and gathered water. If he hadn't still been feeling the effects of battlelust and conquest, he would have realized what a bad idea it was to let them see his new prisoner, but the thought didn't cross his mind as he waded into the river under the surprised eyes of the surrounding females.

"Come, Echnar, she might get slippery," he said to his friend who was already splashing in behind him.

When her feet touched the water, she jerked them up and gasped, her arm tightening around his wrist. Did humans have water on their planet? What if it was poisonous to them?

With a grunt, he figured he was about to find out and shoved her under.

"I have a hold of her. Echnar, rub her down quickly to get that slime off her," he said as she thrashed and struggled in his grasp. Her little fingernails, which looked useless, actually managed to scrape furrows in his skin that beaded with blood.

Echnar got down before him and started rubbing the little female down and received a couple kicks in the chest and face for his efforts. The human twisted in Ahnekk's grasp and sunk her teeth into his forearm and he winced, surprised at the strength in the little creature's jaw.

"Ahnekk!" someone yelled over the burbling of the river and the splashing. "What in the blazing storms are you doing to that poor creature?"

With a groan, he rolled his head to the shore where Shodara stood with her hands on her hips. Shodara was a beauty with dark gray skin and a lacework of golden veins. Even her eyes were gold. Her hair was long and white, braided with bone beads and her tusks were thin and dainty. She'd known Ahnekk since they were young, but that didn't give her the right to interfere with his prisoner.

"This is not some poor creature, Shodara. It is a human warrior who has killed many of our kind. Stay back," he added when she put a foot in the water.

Her eyes widened and she withdrew her foot, folding her arms under her breasts.

"That... is a human?" she asked. Along the shore, the other females picked up their laundry and young and rushed away, glancing back fearfully.

"Yes. And make no mistake. It is as dangerous as they come."

"Well it's about to be as dead as they come if you don't let it up to breathe, you big brute!" she said, pointing to where the human had stopped thrashing.

With a curse, he yanked her out of the water and she gasped loudly, then coughed wetly, trying to get her feet under her. Then she made a pitiful little sound that tugged at his chest and he frowned down at her and almost gasped in surprise.

Covered in crusting slime, blood, and dirt, the human had been repulsive. But now, cleaned and soaking wet, her flaxen hair slicked back, her little round ears sticking out...

"She's beautiful," Echnar breathed, voicing Ahnekk's thoughts.

As though he couldn't resist the temptation, he reached out and touched her hair. Ahnekk would have stopped him, but he was too stunned and he had to admit, he wanted to do the same thing.

Her eyes were wide and so, so green. Her lips were rosy pink and shaped like a bow and he could tell she was clenching her jaw to keep the bottom lip from quivering. Water droplets shimmered on her golden eyelashes and she had pale little spots covering her nose and high on her cheeks.

She was breathing hard and trembling harder, looking up into his face, holding onto his arm, and for the first time, he realized how terrified she was. As he gazed down at her, she made a frightened little sound that jerked at his chest again. By the tightening in Echnar's shoulders, he could tell it affected him as well.

Ahnekk reached down and scooped her up out of the water, cradling her in his arms like a child. She weighed about as much as one and instead of fighting, she huddled, shivering against him. He could hear her teeth chattering as he made his way to shore.

Shodara met him with her shawl in her hands, draping it over the human like a doting mother.

"Her wrist is swollen, Ahnekk. And she's wounded. It is a she, right? I heard you say she?"

"Yes, it's a she, and back off, female! This creature is dangerous!"

Shodara snorted indelicately. "You expect me to believe this fragile, terrified, pretty little thing is a warrior? Really?" she said

"It's true," Echnar said. "She was inside one of the metal suits. We only got her because she exited her suit to save a fallen warrior, sacrificing herself for them. Even then, she killed one of ours. Wounded and without her metal suit protecting her. So do not be taken in with her beauty. This creature is deadly."

Shodara swallowed and licked her lips, looking nervously down at the human, whose keen eyes were moving from face to face as they spoke.

"Echnar, fetch Gondroll. Shodara, will you clear the females from the bathing tent? We will need to have her examined."

"What are you planning on doing with her?" Shodara asked.

"I'm going to learn as much as I can from her," he said, looking down into those wide, green eyes.

He didn't care how beautiful this creature was at all, if he had to teach her his language just so he could rip her fingernails out to get what he wanted from her, he would do it.