Page 46 of Alien's Eternal Mate

She withdrew. I waited. Lo paced back and forth, chewing on his nails. His tail shot back and forth so erratically it kept smacking me in the leg.

“Get some control of yourself, Lo. What could be taking him so long?”

“I hate to say it, but he may be disrespecting you on purpose. It’s a common tactic for those who wish to hold onto their power?—”

The door opened, and an elderly Masari clumped out on a set of crutches. His left leg was simply gone from the knee down, and a bandage covered most of his face, leaving only one eye and his mouth visible.

“Gro. You come when I am at my weakest to challenge for the mantle of War Chief? I will answer your challenge, but the Story Singers will only write melodies of your cowardice until the end of time.”

“I’m not here to challenge you. I want your help.”

Paegus stared at me with his good eye for a long moment before responding.

“My help? With what? Look at me, Gro. Look at what Jark and his raiders have done. They have made me half a man.”

His words rang in the air. Lo turned away, unable to deal with the pathos. I sneered.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to speak with War Chief Paegus, not this whining excuse for a warrior before me.”

Paegus’ eyes widened. Lo looked at me as if I’d grown a second head.

“You mock me?”

“I challenge you,” I corrected. “Not for the chieftainship. I challenge you to overcome this minor setback and fulfill your duty as War Chief.”

“Minor setback? My leg has been cut off!”

“Then you should fly a little faster through the air thanks to the reduced weight and drag.”

He closed his mouth, opened it, and then bellowed with laughter.

“You, Gro…you have not lost your warrior’s blood. You know just what to say. Very well, I pledge to help you however I can, for all that it is worth.”

“Excellent. Tell the Warriors to gather at sundown.”

Paegus nodded, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. He didn’t think I would be able to convince the warriors to go into battle against a vastly superior foe.

For that matter, I didn’t know if I could, either. I knew I had to try. I raced back to the Sage's tower, with Lo in tow.

“Slow down, Gro. Give yourself a moment to rest.”

“I can’t. If I slow down, if I stop working, I’ll think about Arael. I—I couldn’t protect her, Lo. They took her away from me.”

My voice broke. We reached the tower and I shoved the door open without ceremony. Ignis looked up from his notes on the flywheel, his gaze filled with surprise.

“Gro? You are up and moving already? The whole village saw you crash.”

“I am well enough, my friend. I need your help with the flywheel.”

He blinked in confusion.

“Of course, but what is the urgency?”

“We’re going to use it to take down Grohma Jark’s army.”

He looked from the flywheel to me and back again.

“Gro, I thought we determined that this was not some sort of weapon.”

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