BREAKING RULES, Combining two worlds (Part 3)

MAKING PLANS

"How many guards are there?" Gh'ara's voice sounded strained. During a fight less than five minutes ago, one of his opponents had made a desperate attempt to literally and figuratively knock Gh'ara out with the hilt of his weapon. The weapon had landed hard against the Ikat's throat, and Gh'ara had needed a few moments to catch his breath. For his opponent, those few seconds had been enough to throw the warrior off him, hoping to gain enough space to aim his weapon at the Ikat and kill him. But alas... Gh'ara's windpipe may have temporarily failed, but his instinct, his training and his hatred had not, and before Latarji's warrior even had a chance, the Ikat's lemet had slid down his throat.

With a furrowed brow, Varsa looked at his comrade. Gh'ara's opponent had hit him well, but his friend behaved as if nothing had happened, though the thickening at his throat suggested otherwise.

"Varsa?"

Varsa shook his head inwardly. Worrying about Gh'ara would get him nowhere. The man did what he wanted anyway.

"There are five guards at the west entrance, five on the east side and another seven on the roof of the main building. I also suspect they have placed explosives along the outer walls."

Gh'ara nodded. So far he had expected all this. What did surprise him, though, was that there seemed to be so few guards standing around. Either Latarji thought himself safe, or this was not his hideout, or - and this was what Gh'ara actually expected - it was a trap....

"Have Turrak and Beh'ra watch the east side, then Ra'kil and Mico can watch the west side. You and Vik'keh rotate with them, I'll see where the weak points are. We meet back here at 00.30."

Varsa nodded. He grabbed his weapon with one hand and pulled the hood of his coat over his head with the other, revealing only his large, ivory-coloured horns. Leaning low so as not to rise above the rocks, he disappeared from sight.

Tired, Gh'ara closed her eyes for a few moments. Kayla's face appeared before him and a small smile played around his lips. How he would have loved to see her again, to tell her how much he loved her.

If he was lucky, within a few days he would be relieved of the dull pain he had felt in his chest since her death, he wouldn't feel anything anymore at all...

A few hundred kilometres away, outside the entrance to the bunker, two Shri'Traccal warriors sat with their backs against a rock wall, gazing intently at a small screen.

"There... See that red dot?" Koba pointed with the tip of his sharp claw at the moving red dot on the small screen attached to the glove on his forearm.

"That's the largest group. If we eliminate them, the rest will be a piece of cake..."

Mohr'kad looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow. Had his friend really said it would be 'a piece of cake'?

"What?!" Surprised, Koba looked at his friend but couldn't hide a grin.

"I thought it sounded appropriate... Didn't you? After all, we're here to help women. A human expression seemed appropriate!"

Laughing, the Ikat shook his head. "We've adopted a lot of human habits in recent years. Don't you think?"

The other man looked at him with a grin. "Ah, well, some human habits are just fun and others are... how shall I put it... practical. Even if these human women are hard to get, if they want you, at least you don't have to overcome a horde of worshippers. If she likes you, she'll just want you to woo her. Wonderfully simple, if you ask me!"

Grinning, Mohr'kad smacked Koba's arm. "Partly you're right, but don't let the ladies hear you, I wouldn't be surprised if they threw out the whole wooing thing just to adopt ours!"

"You look like a couple of gossiping old women!"

Laughing, Mohr'kad looked over his shoulder at Wende, who stood at the entrance to the bunker with her hands on her hips, watching the two men with a feigned angry face.

"Don't be angry, eyséah! We were just fooling around. Come here!" He held out his hand invitingly.

For the past few hours, the Shri'Traccal warriors had been clearing the area around the bunker of hostiles. Drones hovered nearby, keeping an eye on things from above. This allowed the women to get some fresh air from time to time.

Together with Koba, Mohr'kad had crouched down behind one of the barricades to enjoy the last rays of the sun. Even though the snow was several metres deep and the temperature was at least ten degrees below zero, it was still pleasant to enjoy the sunshine for a while after days of being cooped up in a dark cell.

A warm feeling crept through his chest at the sight of the smile on the tired face of the woman he had fallen so hard for. He was a lucky man to have met a woman from a clan that hated his kind, who had an open mind.

The warm sensation spread through his body as her fingers touched his and she gripped his hand tightly.

"What are you doing?" With a slanting eye she looked at the small screen on which small moving dots could be seen.

With the tip of a claw, Koba pointed at one of the red dots again. Unlike many of his peers, he enjoyed talking to women about combat, and he could even appreciate that many of them liked to pick up and use weapons themselves, he liked tough ladies.

"We want to graze this group... Once they are eliminated, the rest will be easy."

Irritated, Mohr'kad looked at his friend. "Koba... Don't..." Seeing Wende's confused face, he gave her a gentle squeeze.

"You've been through enough, this is not something you need to worry about..."

Wende rolled her eyes. Mohr'kad's leader, Reh'tec, had already made it clear enough to her that the Shri'Traccal did not want women in combat positions.

"Fortunately for you, I do indeed have much to do, but..." She nods in the direction of a woman who had just emerged from the bunker.

"I know there are some tunnels on this side, Jada can point you in the right direction."

As Koba and Mohr'kad look in the direction of the designated woman, they see the mother of one of the two little girls, Koba's eyséah.

"Jada! Can you come here for a moment?" Without consultation with the men, she waves the woman over.

The woman cautiously approaches, keeping a close eye on the two men.

When the woman is close, Wende takes her hand and pulls her a little closer. She points to the screen with her finger. "A large group is hiding there, and if I am not mistaken it is near the old iron store. There are some old tunnels running underground, right?"

She looks at the woman inquiringly.

Before answering, Jada glances from one warrior to the other, her gaze lingering on Koba for a moment before nodding.

"Yes. There are five tunnels in all, two of which are partially collapsed and one that was about to collapse. After the last bombings, I think that one will be unusable as well. But there is a good chance that the ones here and here..." And she taps gently on the screen with her finger.

"...will still be intact..."

Deep in thought, Mohr'kad runs his big claw over his mouth. If this corridor system is as labyrinthine as the one in the south, they are in trouble. Well, he has no other option...

"Jada, would you be able to guide us through the tunnels?"

Mohr'kad sees her look up at him in shock, her eyes immediately sliding to his friend, who, to his amazement, is pretending that something incredibly important is happening on the screen that needs his attention.

"I can keep Kikki with me if you want?" Wende noticed Jada's doubt.

With a doubtful look, Jada looked at Wende, but then a small smile appeared on the woman's lips. "All right then... let's do it."