Page 69 of Infala: Bonded to the Enemy
The man’s chiseled-jaw came into focus, a relieved grin firmly upon it. A few other men were standing nearby, Adzus, the lead hunter of the Oraku among them.
“You are safe now, Shalia,” the warrior said with a satisfied nod. “You have proven yourself a very resourceful woman.”
Zepharos nodded his agreement. “Adzus told me what youdid. I’m so relieved you are okay. I feared you were dead or worse.” A dark look crossed his face. “I’m sorry for what happened. I failed you. I didn’t react quickly, and by the time I did, it was?—”
“You don’t have to say that, Zepharos. Neither of us expected the Dohrag to have another shuttle like that. That’s why they call it a surprise. We couldn’t have seen it coming.”
He nodded his understanding, but a look of shame still clung to his face. There were dark bags under his eyes, she noted. It seemed he had been quite torn up by her capture. Shalia looked around, taking in her surroundings with refreshed clarity of mind and vision. It was a lodging hut, she realized.Hers, to be precise. She was back at the Oraku village. A village that was still a long trek from where she’d encountered the Raxxians, from what she knew of the landscape.
“But we’re back in… I… how did I get here?”
Adzus puffed his chest slightly and stepped forward. “My hunters carried you.”
It made sense. For the stout men it would be no big deal hauling her over even a long distance. They were used to carrying game. So far as they were concerned, she was just another load to bring home, albeit not strung up on a pole hanging over someone’s shoulder. But that didn’t explain her head. They’d killed the Raxxians, so what had happened?
She touched her head again, wincing at the sting.
“Ah, that. My apologies,” Adzus said. “We came upon the carnage and saw movement in the brush. You impress me. To take on not one but three Raxxians on your own? And to emerge triumphant and unharmed? It is unheard of.”
She barely heard his words, the bump on her head throbbing beneath her fingertips. “What hit me?”
“A stun ball,” he said, handing her a softball-sized orb.
She squeezed it in her hand. It was actually quite soft and not terribly heavy. There was a faint hum coming from it. Apparently, the tech-shy Oraku weren’t so averse to using technology after all.
“You feel the stun unit,” he said, nodding his approval. “You have impressive senses. Most fail to note its presence. It is what makes the stun balls so effective. By the time a target attunes to its charge, it is already too late.”
“You stunned me?”
“He meant you no harm,” Zepharos pointed out. “It was intended to stun a Raxxian. But as you are a less robust race, it knocked you out cold for quite a bit longer than usual.”
The fight with the Raxxians came flooding back into her memories. The slaughter of the brutal creatures, their gore covering her in the process. She touched her body, noting she had been bathed and was now clothed in clean attire. But who?—
“Don’t you worry, child. No man has laid hands on you,” a soothing voice said from the area behind her head. Shalia didn’t need to turn to know its owner even as the woman moved around into her line of sight.
Warm relief flooded her body for some reason. This village elder put her at ease with her presence in an almost parental sort of way. “Rohanna. Thank you.”
“Of course. You were quite filthy when you arrived. Covered in Raxxian blood and muck. It took a fair bit of work scrubbing it out of your hair, I’ll have you know. But you are all fine now. And, I see, your runes have healed nicely.”
“Yes, they have at that,” Shalia replied, a flash of panic hitting her body hard. She’d been groggy, somewhat in a daze, but it was all returning to her in a flood of memories and emotions. “Where’s Valin?”
Rohanna looked at Adzus questioningly, but he just shrugged
“Who?” she asked.
“Valin. He was with me.”
Rohanna flashed a shockingly fierce look at Adzus then turned her attention back to her human guest. “The Dohrag commander was present?”
“Yes, he was with me.”
“There was no sign of any Dohrag, nor of a Dohrag ship.”
“We took an escape pod but ditched it in a ravine near the old Dohrag camp.”
Zepharos knew the area well. He’d fled on foot, after all, and the ravine was an obstacle he’d been forced to traverse. He looked at the others.
Adzus’s back had stiffened at the mention of Valin’s presence. “An escape pod? I highly doubt that. That sort of dishonor is one no Dohrag would willingly endure. And a commander, no less? He would be banished from his own people for such an act. But if he arrived by shuttle, that would explain her access to the Dohrag weapon we found destroyed at the site of the battle. There was no sign of him where we found you. Did you manage to kill that brute before encountering the Raxxians?”
