BREAKING RULES, Combining two worlds (Part 3)

REUNITED

Mohr'kad scanned the dark sky with squinted eyes. The ominous silence displeased him, and just as he was about to turn and make his way to the bunker, a small light in the sky on the opposite side of a destroyed building caught his attention. Quickly, he crouched down in the shadow of the wall and pointed his weapon in the direction of the glow.

Looking through the visor of his weapon, he tried to get a better view of the small light.

"Can you see what it is, Ikat?" Even though he was looking the other way, Mohr'kad's strange action had not escaped Du'gan's notice, and he had also seen the soft glow of the blue light.

He turned his visor to get a clearer view of the object in the sky, and at the sight of the drone, his muscles tightened instinctively. How was it possible for Latarji to fly drones over here? After all, all the signals were scrambled... Suddenly, a green symbol on the side of the drone caught his eye and a wave of hope washed over him.... Reh'tec! It was the symbol of his own clan!

Stunned, he lowered the barrel.

"What is it, Ikat?" The young warrior looked at him with a tense expression.

"It's one of our own drones..." Mohr'kad saw surprise cross Du'gan's face, followed immediately by excitement.

"How could Reh'tec have known we'd run into trouble? I mean, troops often have no contact with the command centre for several days..."

Mohr'kad had wondered the same thing and shrugged. "I have no idea, but I don't give a damn! Frankly, I'm just glad that he's sending forces this way, although I have to admit that I'm curious how they're able to control those drones..."

An explosion nearby caught their attention and both men pointed their weapons in the direction of the sound.

The muffled sound of running feet in the snow came closer and closer, and the two warriors prepared to fight again, when suddenly an all too familiar whistle sounded, and a feeling of hope washed over Mohr'kad.

"Koba!? Is that you?" The fact that only he and Koba usually used this particular whistle did not mean that the Ikat immediately assumed it was his friend. So he remained seated, his weapon aimed at the sound.

"In the flesh, friend!" The familiar raspy voice was interrupted by a volley of shots from the enemy side.

Mohr'kad and Du'gan joined in the firefight, and pretty soon the enemy gave up and things quietened down again.

"Ayé, ugly! I'm coming around the corner! If you shoot me, I'll personally see to it that you get some more scars!"

Snickering, the Ikat lowered his weapon. "Well then, get your sorry ass over here, Roh'kadi, this ugly mug has more to do than listen to your bullshit!"

Groaning in pain, but with a relieved grin, Mohr'kad rose to his feet at the sight of his friend coming around the corner.

The two men grabbed each other's upper arms in greeting. "I see you have been busy, old friend."

The Ikat saw his old mate's eyes slide over his shoulder towards the bunker and nodded wearily. "You don't know how busy I've been. There are many wounded women inside who need help." He gave his friend a wry look. "How did you even know we were in trouble?"

A chuckle escaped Koba's lips. "Well, it's quite simple. A small, headstrong female was captured by our border patrol, along with another sharp-tongued female... And one of these two females escaped from you not so long ago..."

Surprised, Mohr'kad looked at his friend. What was he talking about? Wende and Marit had been taken by Gunnar to a safe place somewhere nearby. Koba wasn't talking about them, now... was he? "What two women are you talking about? Wende and Marit..."

"Yes...? Wende and Marit what?" An all too familiar female voice sounded from behind the building Koba had come from.

Mohr'kad's eyes flew open, while Koba, in frustration, slapped his flat hand on his forehead and turned his head a quarter turn to look over his shoulder.

"I thought I told you to stay hidden until I signalled 'safe', didn't I?"

Rolling his eyes, he looked at an out of place Mohr'kad. "You have hooked an incredibly stubborn woman, old friend. Not even the Tároc could keep her away from here!"

Mohr'kad's breath stopped at the sight of the small woman emerging from behind the building. "I don't like being told what I can and cannot do, or rather, frankly, I'm a bit allergic to it! I'm not a...UHHMMMM!"

Her eyes widened as a tree-high warrior stomped towards her, smothering her flow of words by planting his mouth firmly on hers.

Wende felt his sharp teeth pierce her lips, but she didn't care. Seeing and feeling him alive and well had been worth everything to her, and she felt tears prickle behind her eyelids with relief.

Suddenly, her shoulders were pushed back roughly. Startled, she looked into the flaming eyes of the creature she had lost her heart to.

"WHAT IN FATE'S NAME MADE YOU COME OUT FROM HIDING??YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!! WHAT GOT INTO YOU?!"

His roaring voice had a sobering effect on Wende, but instead of feeling guilty, a rage welled up inside her and she planted her hands firmly on her hips to retort. But at the sight of the pained expression and weariness on his face, and the dull skin covered in blood and dirt, her anger immediately subsided. Instead of scolding him, she raised both hands, grabbed his horns and pulled him towards her. "Ohh, just shut up and kiss me!"

With a raised eyebrow, Koba watched the interaction between the two lovers, but slowly a smile formed around his mouth. He'd experienced Yh'ghul nah seiy himself, twice in fact. The first time back home, on Vallah, the second time with a human woman. Unfortunately, the human woman hadn't wanted to accept him, a memory that still hurt him from time to time, but he was genuinely happy for his friend that this woman had, to be honest, quite obviously accepted him.

An explosion a few hundred metres away reminded everyone that they were in a war zone.

Joined by some of the newcomers and Wende, Mohr'kad headed for the bunker, leaving Du'gan and a few other warriors to defend the place.

To her surprise, Wende saw dozens of injured women sitting inside, scattered in small groups. Worried, she looked around in search of her daughter when her eyes fell on Rane who had a dirty look on her face.

"Filthy traitor!!! This is all your fault!!!" It was only because her mother's wrists were chained to the wall, otherwise her hands would have been around Wende's throat by now.

Startled, she stepped back. That her mother despised her was no surprise to her, but the hatred in the woman's eyes was new and terrifying.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, RANE! LEAVE WENDE ALONE! NONE OF THIS IS HER FAULT BUT YOURS!!!"

Open-mouthed, everyone looked at the woman who had been sitting quietly next to the old clan leader, but had suddenly jumped to her feet. For the first time in her life, Wende saw an anger in the woman's eyes that she had never seen before, at least not directed at her best friend.

There was a deathly silence in the bunker as both men and women looked in amazement at the tall woman who was glaring at the old clan leader with both fists clenched.

"From the moment Wende was born, you blamed her for what happened to you! All these years, every time you did her wrong, I turned a blind eye. But no more! Enough is enough! I am no fan of the Shri'Traccal, but these men, the men we abused, are now the ones who have come to help us. Thanks to your daughter! Thanks to her we are alive today!!!" After her tirade, Margit finally turned to Wende and looked at her with a tired expression.

"I am sorry girl, I didn't stand up for you before, I should have a long time ago..."