Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“What was that all about?” my mate asks, curious.
“I said I would gut any of them if they looked at you for too long,” I admit. “Perhaps he wanted to make sure I was not angered.”
“You what?” She gives me a horrified laugh and then shakes her head. Scooping up one of the pouches inside the chest, she opens it and then sniffs the contents. “Mmmm, noodles. Part of me thinks we should save these for when we get back to camp, but we’re out of food at the moment.”
I shake my head and bend down to pluck one of the bags out of the package so I can sniff it for myself. “The food was left with these people. If they are hungry, we should let them eat it.” The scent of it is like…nothing. I sniff the package again. Perhaps like dried seaweed. “This is good?”
“I mean, it is to me? But I was a latchkey kid. Grew up on ramen.” She sighs happily. “It’s not gourmet, but I think we can feed a fair amount of people with one of these bags. We just need some water to boil over the fire. How big is your cooking pouch?”
“Not big,” I admit. “But if we are hunting for khuis, we can eat animal flesh as well.”
She hugs one of the bags to her chest and gets to her feet. “So we’re not hunting a sa-kohtsk then.”
“I am a mighty hunter, but even I cannot bring down one of those on my own.” Though it is flattering that she would think so. I resist the urge to flex my arms and show off my strength. I will show her later, in the furs. “Something large and fierce will do.”
“So like…what? A snowcat?”
I consider this. “Yes. Or perhaps sky-claw.”
F’lor looks at me as if I have lost all reasoning. “You are not hunting sky-claw. Absolutely not. I forbid it. That’s too dangerous and I don’t want to be a widow before I have a wedding feast, thank you very much.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Have you seen the size of those things?”
K’th, the gray male, considers us. “We need a strong animal?”
I nod.
“What about that one?” He points up at the sky, just as a massive shadow crosses overhead.
A’tar, the drakoni.
“He is a friend,” I tell the male. “And a fellow tater.”
F’lor tilts her head at me. “A what?”
“A fighting tater,” I explain. “Like T’rand and V’dis.”
Her shoulders shake and I do not understand why her face gets red.
Chapter
Twenty-One
I’REC
A’tar looks shocked at the sight of all the pods and the strange people clustered near the fire. I can imagine the newcomers feel the same, as they stare at the naked golden male with equal astonishment. I am used to him shifting forms, though. It no longer startles me like it once did.
I do get annoyed when F’lor hugs A’tar and exclaims over him. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she gushes. “We can absolutely use more hands to help out. Me and I’rec are absolutely swamped.”
“I can see that.” He rubs his chin, a dappled hint of scales on his skin. I compare him to the scaly newcomer, but they are very different. The other male’s scales are raised along his arms and back, and he has a long, scaly tail. A’tar has no tail, and he is not the green of the other male. He is golden all over, and I have seen him breathe fire. I do not think the newcomer can, or else he would not have been shoving his way so close to the fire pit last night, his hands outstretched.
“O’jek and Daisy are meeting us back here in the next day or so,” F’lor continues. “But until then, we need to start getting these people khuis, and we need shelters and supplies. Clothing, shoes…” She snaps her fingers. “And we need to make sure there are no stragglers hiding out in the snow somewhere. We have more pods than people. I’m almost positive someone has wandered off.”
“These are all indeed problems,” A’tar says, but then shakes his head, his golden mane drifting in the breeze. “But they are not problems I can help with. I cannot stay. I came to ask if you had seen R’jaal and Tia. They have gone missing.”
F’lor gives me an uneasy look, her expression falling. “Gone…missing?”
A’tar nods, hands on his hips as he surveys our newcomers. “Indeed. We were at the fruit cave…or should we call it the leaf cave, since there is no longer any fruit. Anyhow, we were there and when we awoke the next morning, both Tia and R’jaal were gone.”
“Tia?” F’lor exclaims. “I thought women weren’t supposed to go?”
A’tar nods. “She snuck away and joined us. R’jaal allowed it. I think she cried a lot.” He does not look in my direction, but I know why she cried. “It was a mistake. We thought it would be harmless after all since the cave was empty.”