Page 15 of Primal Vow

Taryn came to a halt, his brow furrowing in confusion as he took in the scene. A cursory glance revealed the truth — the humans had been here, for sure. The cave was riddled with many small signs showing that the humans had slept here.

But they'd already fled. Taryn and his boys were too late.

"Spread out," he commanded, his tone clipped with displeasure. "Search for any signs of where they went."

The warriors obeyed without question, fanning out to scour the area. Taryn watched them work, his sharp gaze sweeping over every potential clue as his mind raced.

His gut told him their departure had been a hasty one. Why had they abandoned their hiding place so abruptly? Why weren't they going back to their ship?

What was their plan?

"Taryn." Jorah's urgent call drew the warrior's attention. "Over here. I've found something."

Taryn strode over to where the young Borraq crouched, his expression pinched with distaste. The humans had left a container behind, presumably needing to ditch the weight as they left in a hurry. Taryn recognized it; the same containers had been at the mine site. As he neared, a sharp, acrid scent assaulted his senses — one that even he, with his vast experience of Vasz's wilds, didn't recognize.

"What is it?" Soren asked, peering down at the scattered containers. "It reeks."

Taryn didn't know what that scent was, but he knew someone who would.

It was the work of a moment to collect Rhys. The human had been trying to escape, busy furiously working on his bonds. Taryn gave the cord a vicious yank, pulling Rhys off-balance, and led him into the cave.

"What is this?" Taryn demanded, gesturing towards the abandoned container as the human regained his footing. "This scent. What filth have you and your kind been leaving on our world?"

To his surprise, Rhys didn't cower or attempt to deny involvement. The human simply cocked his head. "It's the stuff we were mining."

Taryn's lip curled. "And what was that?" he demanded through gritted teeth. "What bounty of Vasz's was so precious that it justified such violation?"

Rhys didn't look happy, but he didn't hold out. "Do I look like a geologist? I don't know, just some shiny green mineral. They were going to pay me big bucks to help them mine it. I figured it must be really damn valuable if they were willing to risk coming here."

Shiny and green. A sliver of cold dread lanced through Taryn's gut. Surely the human couldn't be referring to...?

"This mineral," he pressed, struggling to keep his tone even. "Did it have a name?"

"Again: not a geologist, big guy. I don't know… Z-something?"

The word struck Taryn like a blow to the chest. His warriors went still, the sudden tension in the air thick enough to choke on.

Zin-kor. The volatile, high-energy mineral. Extremely rare, and highly unstable — especially when combined with any sort of explosive catalyst.

Which meant those foolish, reckless humans had essentially been stockpiling the components for...

The realization hit Taryn like a force of nature, a sickening wave of horror crashing over him. His mind raced, putting together the pieces with sinking dread.

The humans' hasty departure. The way that they'd shown greater skill in bushcraft than Taryn had expected, navigating boldly and covering their tracks.

This had been no simple mining operation, and the runaway humans were no simple miners.

They were out for violence, and they'd come to Vasz with a plan in mind.

Why try to sneak bombs through Vasz's unstable atmosphere, when you could build your own when you got there?

"No," he breathed as the full, terrible picture came into focus. "How much did you mine?"

"A dozen pounds?" Rhys was watching him, now wary. But Taryn had no time to explain, no patience for the human's ignorance.

With a few curt hand gestures, he signalled for his warriors to fall into position. "We give chase immediately," Taryn growled, his words edged with grim determination. "The humans have been mining explosives. And if my suspicions are correct... they're headed towards the nearest city."

His gaze bored into Rhys, emerald eyes blazing with a combination of fury and dread.

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