Page 236 of Monsters in Love

The words tumble from my lips, though I know we haven’t truly spoken about what happened last night.

Echo nods, another fake smile on her lips showing a tiny fraction of her teeth. “I know you’ll take care of me.”

With one final squeeze to my hand, we go inside the tent. I have to bend my head down to fit, pulling my wings closer to my body so there is space.

Everything inside is in disarray. Several large, shiny objects are broken and smoking, and tables have been flipped on end. Echo takes small steps as she walks through the wreckage, finally letting our hands drop between us.

“This was where the commander slept. He was a great man,” she says somberly.

Her shoulders slump down for a brief moment, but then she straightens back up as though she cannot possibly show me her despair.

It is not weakness to show your sadness, though I do not tell her that. I allow her to grieve in the way she needs.

“How will you communicate with your leaders?” I follow her as she begins to peel through metal wreckage on the floor near an upturned cot.

Echo stops a moment, her nose wrinkling upward. “Well, there’s tech here that I can contact them with if it’s not broken.”

I hear a tapping then, strong and steady as if something is creating a rhythm in the earth. My head swivels to the sound as it continues a rapid pounding tempo. I know that sound; it is the beginning of a warriors’ cant.

“Echo, hide. Now.” I turn on my heel, grabbing my sword from the sheath on my side.

She looks at me wide-eyed. “What? Why?”

“Now!” I grit through my teeth before holding the flap of the tent upward and heading out into the open where I know a Krel will be waiting.

As soon as I am outside, I see thelampfyreglimmering from a solitary spear. Why would one be alone?

I should have searched for my hunting party before coming here alone. Echo has made me so irresponsible, but I would do it again and again for her.

I rise to the air, and as I do, I see why this Krel was left alone. One of its legs is broken, and it has been hiding in one of the tents to save itself. They care very little for wounded brothers and typically leave them behind if their injury is too great and may cause them to lag behind. Once he heals, he would be able to return on his own.

He stands proudly, however, holding his spear, pounding it into the earth as though he intends to scare us off. This Krel is a large red beast with long, matted, ink-colored hair. Bits of his exo are torn, showing the flesh underneath. His left arm is bruised, while the leg on the back side is splintered very poorly with twine on a limb.

“I will show you no mercy, Nocris!” He beats at his chest with a roar.

No matter how injured he is, it will be a difficult fight to win. I will have to be very clever in how I attack. “You are wounded. You cannot last.”

He charges immediately, likely angry that I exposed him as weakened. His tail goes upright and his spear outward, but I dive at just the right time to slice him along his bare back. There is no scream of pain. Instead his tail flicks toward me, nearly missing me by a hair’s breadth.

Its poison would render me unconscious immediately, so their tail is the most dangerous part of them.

He points the spear upward, and a flash of blue flies from it as he casts some form of magick from its end. The flame hits the tip of my shoulder and part of my wing. I scream, twirling in the air. The flames do not catch entirely, only scalding the skin, but it’s enough to have me off-guard.

The warrior takes this instance to stab with his tail toward me, and I force myself to roll out of the way. “I smell a female with you, Nocris, and when I find her, I will make you watch as I eat her.”

Rage burns inside my body until I am consumed by it. I charge at his head, immediately swinging at his broad neck. He’s faster on his feet than I give him credit for as his spear comes out to stab before I can get at his neck with my sword.

“Why are you here? This is not your land!” I scream as I twirl away.

The warrior’s booming laugh does nothing to temper my growing rage. “We will take this land as ours! The badlands are unfertile, and we desire to thrive without your measlyKugitauri’said!”

Ah, so it’s like that. They do not wish to be under our thumb any longer. We have kept them in the badlands since the last war, only giving them minor aid during the harsher months. But their leader has grown older, and perhaps with this show of strength has passed down his leadership to someone new.

“We will never allow you take this land!” I scream as I rise into the air. I look down upon him and weak, inferior warriors of his kind.

He already has sweat on his brow, and he’s done nothing but defensive maneuvers now. The warrior will eventually wear down.

The tail lashes one more time upward as he casts another fire ball my direction, but it’s too slow. I dive when I see the muscles in his neck twitch. With a scream, I come down with a backhanded swing. Nocris are stronger than Krel because we are faster, more agile and have the high ground. Though they have a greater affinity for magick than we do now, this one is far too weak to cast properly.

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