Page 55 of Alien's Eternal Mate

“Blame? We are far past the point of casting blame, stripling.” Zey’s eyes narrowed as they ran up and down my body. “You are indeed a mighty warrior, but Jark’s forces outnumber us ten to one.”

“He won’t be able to bring his entire force.” I locked gazes with Pageus for a moment and he nodded. “War Chief Pageus and I have been going over maps of Jark’s holdings, and he will need to leave a substantial force in each province in order to maintain his hold over the local populace. We estimate that--”

“Do not seek to befuddle me with your Sage’s jargon, boy. Your thoughtless actions have doomed Starlost village and everyone in it. Our only choice is to flee, and abandon our ancestral home.”

The idea filled me with dread. Later, I would wonder why my dread didn’t center around losing my way to get back to my human body.

Instead, I dreaded losing my home.

“With all respect, Chief Zey, that’s not the only choice. We have the advantage of being the defenders. That means we can prepare for the inevitable assault.”

“We can barely field a hundred warriors, stripling.” Zey sighed, looking quite worn and tired. “Jark can bring thousands.”

“But he likely will not bring more than several hundred. And there’s a way to triple our forces.”

“Triple?” He scoffed, looking over at Pageus as if to ask why do you allow this madman to speak for you? “What lunacy is this?”

“It’s simple. We conscript defenders from amongst the Shunned to help us.”

His jaw fell open, and a big vein throbbed on the side of his neck.

He looks like I just asked him to castrate himself with a rusty spoon.

“The…Shunned? They have no Caste, they are not permitted to wield weapons. Jark’s warriors will refuse to fight them.”

“Good,” I said with a big grin. “Then the Shunned can just kill them without resistance.”

I spoke in jest. I knew that once the battle started, it wouldn’t matter what caste the guy trying to kill you happened to be born into.

But if it discombobulated Jark’s forces to face off against the Masari equivalent of untouchables, then I would gladly take that advantage.

“You are insane.”

“Maybe. But I'm also right. With the Shunned fighting on our side, and the Engineers finally cooperating with the Sages, we can mount an effective defense.”

“We will never defeat his entire force.”

I shrugged.

“Who ever said that we had to defeat his entire force? All we have to do is make it too costly for Jark to continue his attack. This plan can work, Zey. But not without your support. You’re right. I'm a stripling, and not a chieftain. I certainly wouldn’t want your job. No one is going to follow me without your endorsement.”

“You already have the warriors under your thrall,” Zey said bitterly.

“I need the support of everyone in the village. Everyone who is physically able, whether they be warrior or artisan or physicker will have to contribute their sweat to the defense, but if we all pull together, I know we can win.”

Zey covered his face with a gnarled hand, seeming diminished.

“This is not the Masari Way.”

I’d prepared for this conversation for some time. In truth, my original motives had been to prevent interference from anyone who might try and stop my vital research on how to get home to my own body.

Now, though, I felt quite differently. Now I wanted to save Starlost Village, and everyone in it.

Most of all, Arael.

“Chief Zey, is it not true that, not so long ago, you struggled to get blue stalk beans to grow on the island? And that you learned a new farming technique from the Stormchaser tribe?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes suspicious and crafty. He clearly wondered where I was heading with this.

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