Asema remained naked between the unnaturally large red trees of the forest. The soft call of the birds and the rushing of the river behind her seemed to augment the sight of her tanned, slender body in an unusual way.

  Heat struck my face like a furnace, and I turned my head in shame. Peering up, Vekrem looked absolutely smitten to the point where his brain had ceased working—I helped my friend.

  “Turn away!” I whispered, grabbing him, and pulling him to the side, away from Asema’s path.

  Finally realizing what was happening, not daring to look back, Vekrem stammered, “I-I-I’m… so sorry! Truly sorry.”

  “Why does he cower so?” Dragon asked.

  “What do you mean?” I replied.

  Then, as if realization dawned on the creature, Dragon replied, “Ah… he wishes to mate. Curious, I’ve never seen such a ritual. If they were to do so, could we watch and—”

  “Mate!” Vekrem yelled, and then he clapped his mouth shut.

  All was silent until I heard the sounds of Asema donning clothing, the soft rustling of the fabric against her skin. After a time, her voice carried over the soft winds of the forest as she said, “You can turn back around. And what was that about mating—”

  “Nothing!” Vekrem and I said in unison.

  Reluctantly, Vekrem and I eyed each other first, nodded, and then turned at the same time. Asema was still wearing the same clothing she had been the previous day, but now they appeared to have been washed in the river, the stains that adorned the fabric before lost to the ever-flow. She had placed the clothing back on herself still damp, and her hair, short and twisted, circled around her face, strands clinging to the glowing rot scar on her cheek.

  Looking up towards Vekrem, his face looked so red that I thought he was having an allergic reaction.

  “Are you going to keep staring?” Asema asked, wringing water out of her hair and throwing it back. She strode forward, walking past us. “We’re losing the day; shouldn’t we meet with Saise to discuss what the plan is going forward?”

  “Yes…” Vekrem replied breathlessly. “And Asema… sorry again.”

  She waved him off with her hand, striding away with a nonchalant attitude.

  “Well, that was something,” I said, shoving Vekrem as I smiled. “Fuck me, not everyday you get a sight like that. And did you see the size of—”

  Vekrem turned a baneful eye on me, and I had the wherewithal at the moment to shut up. Having spoken too emphatically, Asema turned back to address both of us with the look of a teacher scolding two adolescent boys.

  “Men are all the same,” she said. “Human, rodrant, chitik… even lycan—you all think with exactly one body part.” She made a crude gesture towards her genitals, causing both Vekrem and me to break eye contact. “However, you, Vekrem… somehow I expected more class out of you.”

  “Me?” Vekrem replied incredulously, but she had heard enough as she turned and walked away without sparing us another backward glance. He turned to me, whispering, “What does she mean?”

  Staring forward and seeing the flagrantly exaggerated movement of Asema’s hips, I think I knew what was going on.

  I leaned in. “Be careful with that one,” I warned. “She’s not all she appears to be.”

  Angry lines appeared on Vekrem’s brow for a moment before he masked it with a veil of neutrality. Like Asema, he walked away without staring back at me.

  I silently hoped that he would heed my warning.

  ***

  We trekked back to the abandoned stone tower in an awkward silence. Knowing my light-hearted gesture had pissed Vekrem off, I decided to let him silently fume about it for a time before even trying to address it. When we arrived, Asema and Saise sat around the fire pit in the middle of the room, each holding a stick with a blackened piece of meat at the end of it.

  When Saise saw us, she scowled, saying in an even tone, “Eat you two. You’ll need your energy.”

  I saw two sticks set over the open flame of the fire. Saise, between eating her own meal, turned the sticks at regular intervals. On those sticks was the same meat that Asema was now having trouble eating as she tried, and failed, to rip a piece off with her teeth. In the end, she swallowed the entire piece of meat whole, putting a hand to her stomach to prevent herself from retching it back up.

  Gulping nervously, I reached out and took the stick. The meat smelt… gamey; not something a ‘city boy’ like myself would be used to. Never would I have thought in a million years that I’d miss even the cheapest of burgers, but seeing this blackened mess of a meal made me appreciate modern food in a new light.

  My stomach growled angrily, and I felt Dragon studying me curiously at the back of my mind. Bringing the meat to my mouth, I had to hold back the bile that burned up my throat—

  It smelled even worse than I had originally thought.

  Taking the same technique as Asema, I put the entire thing in my mouth and swallowed before even tasting it. Good thing too, for when my taste buds eventually caught up with my actions, the taste that radiated through my mouth reminded me of a burned shoe that still had caked mud on it. Checking on Vekrem, he fared little better, his ears twitching unpleasantly at the taste. Not even needing to ask, I knew he agreed with my assessment of the ‘food.’

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Saise once again doused the fire with a handful of dirt, bellows of black smoke evaporating into the air as it flew upwards, eventually being carried off by the wind through a break in the stone at the top of the tower.

  “Ahem,” she said, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She stood, the muscles of her slender red-furred body taut, as if she were ready to fight. “Now that we are rested and fed, I don’t want to hear any complaints. Our goal is the Primordial—“

  “And who put you in charge?” Asema countered, standing as if she would challenge her directly.

  Between the two, I had my money on Saise, but that glare—the look in Asema’s eyes—made me question what I thought I knew.

  “May the True One’s take my soul if you think I’ll follow subservient to a chitik,” she said.

  “Ah, so the human has a preference in masters?” Saise replied, forcing a fake laugh. “I suppose you are more comfortable with your rat friends. But here, you will listen to what I have to say or—“

  “Fuck that!”

  The two walked towards each other, violence and tension so thick in the air that you could cut it with a knife. My hand instinctively went to the hilt of my dagger, and I wondered at what point I had become the type of person whose first answer to any problem was violence?

  Vekrem, ever the gentleman, stepped forward between the two, holding out a gentle hand towards both.

  “This is no way to solve our differences,” he said. Turning, he continued, “Asema, you are subservient to nobody in this group—but you will respect all. Chitik, rodrant, and human; you came of your own accord, so you may follow of your own accord or leave of it—if you choose.”

  Asema went red in the face, crossing her arms as she stood dumbfounded by Vekrem’s sudden taking of control.

  Saise was undeterred. “Now who made you lead—“

  “I did,” Vekrem replied, turning a cool eye and cutting her off. “Like it or not, I am the leader of this modest group. If we hope to prevail, then you will need to fall in line with that truth. Will that be a problem for you?”

  Saise looked embarrassed, her eyes shifting to the floor. After a while, she made a sucking sound with her tongue as she replied, “No, that won’t be a problem.”

  Vekrem sighed. “Good, good.”

  I noticed Vekrem’s muscles, surprisingly taut for a scientist type, eased. He didn’t make a show of it, but the man could fight… I just knew it. I found myself staring awestruck. Where had this Vekrem come from? Looking at Asema, she eyed him just as curiously as well. It looked like there were far more layers to my friend than I had given him credit for.

  “So, now that everything is squared away.” I put a hand on Vekrem’s shoulder. “When are we leaving, dear leader?”

  Vekrem smiled, moving away to the edge of the stone tower. He reached down, hefting two bags onto his shoulder. “Now. We leave now.”

  ***

  “Again!” Dragon roared in my mind, sending a blinding headache coursing through my head.

  Dragon really needed to stop doing that.

  Wishing for an aspirin, I replied, “Haven’t we done this enough for now?”

  “No!”

  “Fine!” I set my shoulders, staring forward, the blindfold across my eyes tight and uncomfortable as it rubbed irritably against my eyelids. “Well, come on, hurry up.”

  I heard Vekrem flip a rock in the air—

  Flip

  Flip

  Flip

  Smack!

  The rock struck me right on the forehead. Pulling the blindfold off, I kneeled, rubbing at the sore spot with the back of my hand. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  “Sorry, Ike!” Vekrem said, his face going red as he held his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh. “I didn’t intend to hit you in the face.”

  I threw the rag that I’d used as a blindfold to the ground in a fit. “Why do I even need to do this, Dragon? My spider-sense works just fine when I need it to. Why fix what ain’t broken?”

  Dragon smoldered, indicating to me he was fed up with my attitude.

  “It works when you need it, but not when you want it,” Dragon explained. “That is the difference between living and dying—the throw of a simple rock. An arrow. A spear. Your flesh is squishy and soft, prone to disease and age. It is truly a gift that the power you have received can protect you so. And protect others as well, if you honed it. The power is a gift that you squander with arrogance, apathy, and… trust.”

  “Tsh… and is this the only skill you can give to me? The ability to dodge? You’re a Dragon—an all-powerful being. Isn’t there something more… useful?”

  “Ungrateful shite—”

  “Maybe we should rest for a while,” Vekrem offered, throwing another rock he carried towards a small stream that followed the bend of the small dirt-strewn path we followed. “Perhaps some tea while we rest?”

  “Oh, no, no, no,” Saise said irritably, her red-fur bunching is agitation. “When the sun sets, we need to have found shelter for the night. No more wasting time with these silly games about a being that I can neither see nor hear.”

  Surprisingly, Asema nodded her head at the chitik’s comments. As Saise noticed, she threw her hands in the air. “Bah, what use is it? Two humans and a rodrant… what was I thinking coming with you?”

  “You were thinking that you wanted to save Kech,” Vekrem replied, not realizing her sarcasm.

  She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “But,” he continued, “I suppose I see your logic. It is true that I do not know the manner of being that speaks to Ike and myself, but I can assure you, it exists. However, for the moment, I agree we should keep moving. Is that agreeable to all?”

  Dragon rumbled furiously as I nodded my own agreement.

  “Wait,” Asema said, drawing us to her.

  When I turned to look, she was pointing to the top of a nearby hill. At the peak of it were two hooded figures dressed in dark-gray.

  Whispering, Asema asked, “Enemy or foe?”

  Saise fingered the wrapped metal chain around her waist. “There are naught but foes in these lands. Savage human bandits roam and kill merchants; stealing their goods and leaving the birds to pick at the bones. I’ve lost many kin to their savagery.”

  Asema turned to her. “Goods that one of your kind, the hybrids, forced them to farm at the end of a chain. Goods that are rightfully theirs.”

  I stepped forward between them. “Let it go—”

  “Enough!” Vekrem’s voice carried over all. Turning to Saise, he added, “Try to remember that humans are here trying to help you now. To help everyone.”

  Saise made a sucking noise, but offered no further complaint.

  Unbothered by our disagreement, the hooded figures descended the hill, approaching us in a cool and calm manner. When they arrived, they kept hidden in their shrouds. They were short; far shorter than they appeared at a distance.

  Before any of us could speak, one stepped forward, saying, “Give us everything you have, or die.”