Page 11 of Sy

“Her daughter,” Sy growled. “Did you speak to her?”

“No.” The denial was immediate, a flush burning across Kal’s cheeks like a bright banner. Then he paused, clearly wrestling with something before blurting out, “It’s strange though. Seeing a female our age, even if she’s human.”

“Watch your thoughts.” The warning came without real heat. They were young, and this situation was new… unprecedented. “They’re here to work. Nothing more. Lila is off limits.”

“Of course.” Kal nodded so fast Sy thought his head might fall off. “I wouldn’t…Wewouldn’t?—”

“I believe you,” Sy cut him off. Kal had always shown good judgment, even when shit hit the fan. “Just remember, humans are different to us. They’re smaller and more delicate, and they’re under our protection. That means from curiosity as much as danger.”

“Understood.” Some of the tension bled from Kal’s shoulders at Sy’s acceptance. “Should I avoid speaking with her entirely?”

Sy considered the question, weighing the implications. “No. Conversation is acceptable. Expected even, given how longthey’ll be here. Just be careful what you reveal. Now, be on with you. Those dishes won’t do themselves.”

Sy watched as Kal hurried down the corridor to where Tor waited, his shoulders hunched as he leaned back against the wall. Tor’s red eyes met his, and he gave a slight nod. The gesture confirmed what Sy already suspected. Tor had heard every word. Since turning feral, the young warrior spoke less, but his awareness remained sharp. The rage that had initially consumed him after the change had settled into something manageable. It had been weeks since Sy had needed to intervene in one of Tor’s “episodes”… something his body thanked him for. He was strong and fast, an experienced warrior, but going up against Tor when he was raged out was something else entirely.

He is one of the oldest of our kind,the voice in his blood said unexpectedly.

Who? Tor?Sy asked, the sound of his steps echoing back from the stone walls of the corridor as he made his way toward the outer wall.

No. Not the body.

Sy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Izaean could be literal, but his Rage voice took it to the extreme at times.I mean his passenger, like you are with me.

More than a passenger,the voice hissed back and, as if to prove a point, lifted his hand to brush against the wall as he headed up to the stairs to the battlements. It was local stone, rough-hewn and solid, surrounding him on all sides as he climbed.

Yes, yes, but you know what I mean. Tor’s Rage is old?

Yes. One of the oldest awake.

Awake? What do you mean awake?

But the voice had retreated in his mind, just “static” where he’d felt its intelligence. He wouldn’t get any more out of it for the moment. But “awake”… that was new information. Didthat mean that potentially all the Izaean could go feral? Was the mechanism for turning something to do with the symbionts themselves rather than, as had been assumed before, the Izaean losing the battle against madness?

He shook his head as he reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the heavy door.

Cool night air hit his face as he stepped out onto the battlements. From this height, he could see clear across the valley. The original builders had known what they were doing when they’d anchored the structure into the cliff face. Four levels stretched below his feet, burrowing deep into the rock where they kept their most sensitive operations. Above, two more levels rose into the air, topped by the defensive wall he now approached.

His boots were soundless against the stone as he began his circuit of the wall. The four watch towers rose at each corner, their shadows stretching long in the moonlight. He’d walked this path countless times, but tonight his thoughts churned with new concerns. Bringing humans here was a calculated risk. The Latharian empire remained unaware of the ferals’ existence, a secret the Izaean had maintained for generations. These humans, with their curiosity and technology, could pose a threat to that secrecy. It would only take one of them to say the wrong thing, and for that comm call to be intercepted, and the empire would find out what the Izaean had been keeping from them for years.

He sighed and picked a spot along the wall between two of the other four guards on watch tonight. He didn’t need to worry about communications. He knew that. Somewhere below him, the garrison’s communication hub was active, monitoring every transmission that entered or left the planet’s atmosphere. Any attempt to spread word about the ferals would be intercepted before it could get off planet.

He scanned the darkened valley below. The moons cast enough light to see by, though he didn’t need it. His enhanced vision picked out details in the shadows that would be invisible to others. Movement caught his eye—a herd of grazers picking their way through the scrubland to the south, their elongated necks swaying as they moved.

Footsteps approached from his left, measured and familiar. He didn’t need to turn to know it was Kraath making his nightly rounds. The garrison commander’s scent reached him before the man did—a mix of leather, weapon oil, and something else Sy could never quite place.

“Quiet night,” Kraath murmured, coming to stand beside him at the wall.

“So far.” Sy kept his voice neutral, though his senses sharpened automatically. Something about Kraath had set him on edge since he’d met the male.

The legion knew him, but when questioned, he hadn’t been able to explain why. And then he’d given some excuse about how he knew that the enemy who had attacked them at the southern fortress were Tanel because he’d been a lab assistant before he’d been sent to Parac’Norr. Which was uttertrall. He’d have to have been an adult to have worked in a lab, and the standardized testing would have picked him upwaybefore that. He’d have to be at least a couple hundred years old not to have been tested as a child.

But whatever Sy’s suspicions about him, the commanderhadled the garrison for years without incident, keeping the ferals in line with practiced ease.

“The humans are settled?” he asked.

“Yes. Their quarters should suffice.” Kraath nodded. “Though bringing the child was unexpected.”

“I believe she was listed on the incoming manifest.”

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