Page 20 of Ngozii's Plight

She nods, huffing a breath before she gulps the water, handing off the empty cup to a villager who asks to take it back. Turning, I pull Willa into my arms, brushing some hair from her face as she clears her throat. “Are you okay, Kitten? Do you need more water?”

She smiles at me and cuddles into my chest, squeezing me tight. “I’m fine. I’m just glad we’re all okay.”

I hold her tightly to me, kicking myself for not going to her first. My mate was in danger, and I fled like a scared puppy, running away until I was safe. Next time, she comes first. I kiss her forehead, letting my lips linger against her skin as she rubs a hand over my chest, mumbling that it’s okay, we’re safe, and she’s fine.

I sigh, telling myself that her outlook is best right now. Focus on the positives. For the moment, we’re alive and safe. Now we plan our next steps. What they are, that’s the trick question.

Tonya’s voice begins to sing out, and I’m glad I keep the translator in my ear at all times in case I bump into them. Without it, I’d be absolutely lost on what they’re saying to us.

“We have some shields on our ship that we could use to surround the village. They’re meant to protect against weapons and other physical threats, but it’s something.”

I nod, turning to see what Kari thinks. Her eyes lose focus as she stares at the ground, her lips moving in silent thoughts before she speaks. “If we could get some sort of shield system designed for more than just physical threats, maybe something that could actually keep out people with malicious intent or something, we could better protect the village.”

Tonya's eyes squint as if in confusion. “I don’t think I can program them for that. Even if I could, I don’t know how.”

Kari grins. “That’s okay, I know someone who does. Let me make a call.” Pulling the pocket watch comm from her pants, she turns and marches away to get some privacy. Vahru follows her, his eyes scanning their surroundings as he keeps her within touching distance. My gaze turns back to the group gathered around me. All eyes are on me as they await my orders, and I’m not entirely sure what we can even do.

Tavionna’s threat is that she’s coming to take the village by force, meaning that she may not send magical attacks against us, but there’s no way to be sure. That woman is clearly unhinged. To top that off, is the threat of someone on this world watching us in order to stop us from mending this ridiculous divide in the people. We have no idea who the threat is or what they’re capable of, so we don’t know what to protect against. At this point, it’s all a watch-and-see-what-happens game.

Sighing, I decide the best course of action is to assign official guards to all of us under direct threat. It’s all we can do. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do for now. I want each of you hunters guarding one of us at all times, whether in groups or alone. We’re the ones under direct threat, if we go down, the whole village is at risk. Get the other hunting parties up to speed and have them tighten the guard rotations around the village.

“Terax, you being the leader, I want you here in the central part of the village to keep an eye on everything. You do a great job handling the shifts and being backup for anyone who needs it.” He nods at my command and pounds a fist to his heart in salute.

“Atsatsa, I’d like you to watch over the girls and their people. They trust you, so keep your eyes out for them. Nakarra, stay with the chief. If you want to set some traps around his home to make sure no one gets in without being checked, do it. You know what you’re doing. He’s in direct threat from Tavionna, so don’t let your guard down.”

Saluting me, he nods as well and steps over by the chief, making sure he’s in place as he needs to be. “One of you will need to be with Kari and Vahru at all times.”

“Ooh! I volunteer! Me!” Kosiiba’s hand flies into the air as he bounces on the balls of his feet. I chuckle as Cruzig rolls his eyes and huffs. “Of course, you would.”

“Fine, Kosiiba is with Kari, leaving Cruzig with Willa and me. Everyone okay with those arrangements?”

Nods all around fill me with confidence as my team steps up to the task once more. I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment, letting it soothe my nerves. The panic and fear running rampant through my veins settles ever so slightly now that I have some sort of small plan in place, and the confidence the others have in me fills me with a bit of pride. I picked them by chance, but I couldn’t be more proud with the results from having them at my back. “Okay, Terax, go ahead and take care of the others while we figure out next steps. Keep your comms on you at all times in case we need to reach out for anything.”

Terax jogs off into the village to begin organizing the other hunters for us while Kari and Vahru finally step back over to our little huddle. “So, I got an order in for a protective shield for the village. Charlie was already working on one for his own home and the kids due to some dangerous advancements in their little underground railroad operation, so he’ll be bringing it by tomorrow once it’s finished and tested.”

“That’s great! Terax is getting the other hunting parties organized to take on more rounds of guard duty for the village, and I’ve assigned each person of my personal team to one of us so we’re constantly under guard.” I grin at her, proud of my decision making, and the confident smile she gives me tells me she’s happy with that choice as well. One thing I don’t want to do is disappoint her in trying to follow in her footsteps. I can’t be a good second if I don’t prepare and take action when it’s available.

“That’s perfect, we’re going to need more guards since Charlie is bringing the kids who are moving here with him tomorrow.” She smiles brightly, excitement lacing her tone as my eyebrows rise.

“Is this really the best time for that? We just started on the builds for new cabins, we aren’t ready. Not to mention the new threats that have arisen, each one with a target painted over this village! We don’t have the ability to protect them properly.” My tone is harsher than I intended it to be, but my fear for these kids who are already scared and alone pushes forward.

“It’s part of the deal working with him, Jeff. I made a promise, end of story.” Her tone is just as stern as her green eyes pierce mine, her spine straightening as she glares up at me. Aside from being irritated by the timing of all of this, the stress eating at me as our safety dwindles, I’m also proud to see the captain I know and love standing before me. She’s not going to bow down to pressure or let anyone scare her away, not even me. That’s why I’ve always loved working with her.

“Was it a pinky promise?” I ask the question in total seriousness, raising a brow at her as she huffs at me, disbelief in her gaze. She shakes her head slightly, but she fails to keep the grin off her lips.

I huff a laugh and give her shoulder a light punch. “A promise is a promise. I know. We’ll figure something out. Maybe some of these new kids can be trained to help out as guards and hunters, who knows.” Shrugging, I can’t help but laugh when she punches me in the arm, muttering that I’m a jerk. I am, just a tad. Although I was genuinely concerned for all of us, I also teased her for being honorable, so I deserve that.

“We can help with building the cabins. Sautiitions don’t need sleep the same way you do, we can stay up all night working to get everything ready. Don’t you worry. Come, Atsatsa, there’s work to do!” Tonya sings out in a high pitched, teasing tone, and we all laugh as she wraps a tentacle around his hand and pulls him away. He glances back at me with a help me expression, his purple eyes wide, the scar on his arm on full display, and I can’t stop the chuckle from bubbling up. He’s on his own with that one.

As our laughter dies down, there’s a heavy sigh from Criido, and all eyes turn to him as he stares at his cabin, wisps of smoke still lingering in the open doorway. “I wish I could have spoken to her, explained that none of this was my fault. Had her mother told me…” another sigh escapes him before he mutters, “I’d love to get to know her.”

Vahru steps over and hugs his father, not a single word muttered from him. What is there to say? We’ve all only just discovered this missing daughter of his, only to find out she hates him for something he had no control over and wants to essentially destroy everything he’s built. We can’t exactly tell him that time will come for them to meet properly and talk this out because that would be a blatant lie. Hell would have to freeze over before that woman would sit down and chat with him over tea.

“Why does she even want to take over the village anyway? She’s High Priestess of her own fucking planet, what could she possibly gain from taking this little village? And why move her people? That’s a long way for revenge against an absent parent…” Kari muses aloud as she taps a finger against her lips. Kosiiba watches her closely, and it’s then I notice that he’s moved around us to stand closer to her as well. His shoulders are pulled back and lifted, his chin high as he tries to stare down his nose at her. He’s attempting to look bigger and more prepared than he is. Poor kid, she’ll never see him the way he wants her to.

“We need to do some digging, more research. Vahru, we need to go to the lab.” She gives him an apologetic smile as he turns from his father to face her, giving her a small nod.

“You’ll be taking Kosiiba with you, he’s now your personal guard.” I grin at her, winking to mess with her, and she narrows her eyes at me, a playful smile on her face.

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