Page 42 of Gentle Giant

But first… there was a battle to win.

My muscles ached as I remained crouched in the tree, one arm wrapped around a branch, a jug of water in each hand. I prayed our enemies passed directly under the trees as the scouts believed they would.

The breeze suddenly stilled and the chattering of birds and tiny animals in the forest ceased. All was quiet as the ground started quaking, and I struggled to remain in the tree as the scent of strange Montikaans reached me. There was another scent in the air, one that burned my nostrils. The Feshhallian beast.

I glanced to the north and spotted Mastorr and Gorran, barely visible and high up in their trees. I recognized Gorran by his fur, as it was a darker shade than most Montikaans in our tribe, and I recognized Mastorr by the scar on his hand, an injury he’d sustained as a child while fighting a bear.

Great Spirit, guide us and protect us. Keep my brothers safe. Keep my tribesmen safe. Keep our females and children safe. And please, please keep Hailey safe. Help us to defeat our enemies.

The scent of the Volmatt males grew stronger. So did the ashy scent that burned my nostrils and throat. Footsteps sounded in the distance, a steady march of at least one hundred Montikaans.

I tightened my hold on the water jugs and held my breath, knowing my tribesmen were doing the same. None of us dared to make a noise as the enemy army approached.

At last, the Volmatt tribe took the path leading through the trees where my brethren remained hidden. They walked directly underneath us, but we didn’t make our move. Not yet. Not until we glimpsed the Feshhallian.

Impatience gnawed at me. What if the Feshhallian was taking another path nearby? We needed to kill him before we went to battle against the Volmatt tribe. Remembering what had happened to the Lonnis tribe, I knew taking out the dark alien was our only chance at defeating our enemies.

Another quake rocked the mountainside, and I glimpsed a tall, slender, dark body with red eyes traipsing through the forest. He laughed wickedly as he bounced a ball of fire from one hand to the other. Shock filled me to behold such a creature.

A being who could wield fire.

Hailey had mentioned Feshhallians liked fire and could walk through it, but she hadn’t told us they could wield it. Perhaps she hadn’t known. But the information she’d given us was valuable.

Water. Water would melt the evil alien’s flesh and shatter his bones. We simply couldn’t miss. We had one chance. If he noticed us before we made our move, he might run out of range and escape the trap we’d set.

Finally, the Feshhallian reached the spot we’d decided would give us the best advantage for attack—a tiny clearing surrounded by the trees where we’d hidden ourselves in the high branches.

I released a low growl, the signal to my people.

And then it was chaos. Multiple streams of water poured onto the red-eyed beast. He screeched and I watched in fascination as his flesh truly did sizzle. The Starblessed who’d finished tossing water on him were already climbing down to the forest floor, ready to battle the Volmatt males.

I hurled the contents of one jug over the creature’s head, and those terrifying eyes of his dissolved with a sickening hiss. I climbed halfway down the tree, then tossed the contents of the other jug directly against his chest. There was a popping noise, and it clutched its chest, and I realized its bones were indeed shattering. How extraordinary. Hope filled me as I raced down to join my brethren in fighting the Volmatt males.

We were outnumbered, but I hoped the element of surprise, as well as the shock of losing their alien pet, would weaken their resolve to fight. I took my first opponent out easily, as well as the next five. All around me, the Starblessed were winning.

“He’s trying to steal our lifeforce to recover from his injuries!” one of the Volmatt’s shouted to his comrade, and then it all made sense.

The Feshhallian was taking a long time to die, trying desperately to steal the energies of the Volmatt males. But the more enemy Montikaans we killed, the faster the beast began to melt. He was now half his former size, and his face was sunken in.

Another loud popping noise filled the clearing, and after I finished ending the two Volmatt males who’d just attacked me, I turned to glance at the Feshhallian.

He no longer possessed a head. It must have exploded, his skull shattering like the bones in his chest already had. His body slumped to the ground and became a puddle of black and red.

I released a triumphant roar, and so did several of my tribesmen.

Then we finished killing the Volmatt males, who were still left weak in the aftermath of the Feshhallian’s attempt to steal their energies.

I didn’t relish killing the enemy Montikaans, but I knew it was necessary to maintain peace in my domain and keep my people safe. Just as I’d had to kill human hunters over the years who’d posed a threat to my tribe, I had no choice in killing the Volmatt males. Their tribe was the only tribe that regularly invaded other Montikaan territories, and if we allowed them to flee, they might pose a threat to us in the future.

When it was over, all the Volmatt males slain, Mastorr, Gorran, and Axxon approached me. “I have an idea about how to quickly dispose of the bodies,” Mastorr said, his face grim. “We pile them up here in the clearing, then burn them. We’ll monitor the blaze and use our healing energies to keep the fire from spreading.”

“I approve of your idea, brother,” I said, relieved that we wouldn’t have to drag all one hundred plus bodies through the forest to the nearest ravine, which was a half day’s journey from our present location.

We immediately got to work.

Chapter 32

HAILEY

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