Page 15 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

I still hadn’t forgotten about it when I could no longer see the pup from the trail.

“The bird won’t come back and eat the pup, will it?” I asked.

“The youngling will remain quiet most of the time.”

“It was peeping.”

“It was calling its mother.”

“So it’ll keep peeping,” I said sadly.

“It’s the only way it can tell its family where it waits. She’ll scent it and find it soon.”

“You’re sure?”

“It will be safe until tomorrow.” He pressed his fist against his chest again. “I promise.”

Alright. I couldn’t shake my frown, but my heart lightened a tiny bit.

It wasn’t like I could go back and scoop the baby up to adopt it myself. I didn’t even know where I was going to sleep tonight, let alone what I’d eat for my next meal other than maybe another hunk of root. There was no way I could take on the responsibility of a tiny creature like that.

“You said you live in a village?” I asked to distract myself from the pup.

“Yes, there are fourteen of us.”

“A small group.”

He nodded. “Too small. We hope others will come live with us, but our traedor . . .”

“Traedor?”

“Our leader is not very welcoming.”

“Maybe it’s time to elect someone new, then, someone who’ll be more welcoming.”

“He battled for this position, and no one has challenged him since,” he said.

“I’m sorry about that.”

He shrugged.

“Do you live in wooden houses?” I kept my voice low in case the big bird or one of its friends decided it was time to hunt us for breakfast. “On Earth, we build homes from stone and metal too. With all the enormous trees in the forest, you must use wood like some of my people do.”

“We live in shrooms.”

“Psilocybin mushrooms?” My chuckle rang out, though his face remained stoic. “Okay, maybe you don’t mean psilocybin mushrooms.”

“You’ll see. The Ulistar Clan is the plant clan, so we live in plant homes. We have one god, that of vegetation.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“Each clan worships a different god. Ours is the god of plants.”

I’d always enjoyed learning about other cultures. I tried to picture his people praying to a plant but wasn’t sure I could. What if the plant died? “What do other clans worship?”

“Multiple gods of crystal and wood. There are even gods of stone.”

I couldn’t imagine such a thing, but I wasn’t a highly religious person myself. People needed something, though, and his had found this. I hoped it brought them comfort.

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