Page 31 of The Weaver

“You know what I’m thankful for?” Lacey asked.

Ahmya grazed her fingertip over a large, broad leaf, making dewdrops trickle down its smooth surface. “What?”

“That there seem to be notiks.” Lacey turned and walked backward, sweeping her arms outward, dangling her basket from her forearm. “All this time we’ve spent in the jungle, and not a singletikdelving its beady little head into my skin.”

Ahmya shuddered. “Ugh. I can be thankful for that. They were bad inkali fornyuh. I remember hiking in the woods as ateenayjurand coming home withthreeof them on my legs. I don’t remember ever screaming so loud in my life. My dad burst into my room with a gun thinking there was anintrooduronly to find me freaking out in my underwear.”

“Oh God. I bet that was embarrassing.”

“I didn’t even care. But my dad could barely look at me. All I could think about was that I had bugs in my skin, and he just awkwardly covered his eyes before leaving and closing the door behind him.”

Lacey laughed and faced forward.

“It’s not funny!”

“It’s not. Sorry. Well, maybe it is a little.”

Ahmya glared at Lacey. “I found no humor in it. I still don’t. I had bugs in my skin, Lacey.Bugs.”

Rekosh’s eyes widened, his mandibles flared, and his attentiondragged once more over her skin—that thin, delicate skin, easily broken, easily damaged. The last thing he’d seen break her skin had been the firevine…and it could’ve been deadly.

Chuckling, Lacey stopped next to a tree, crouched, and started collecting the goldcrest mushrooms growing near its base. “I agree, it’s gross. I guess growing up inmaynand spending most of my time outdoors I was pretty used totiks. Checking for them was routine.”

“Thesetiks… They do harm to you?” Rekosh asked. “They must, to go into your skin.”

Ahmya kicked at some foliage as she looked at the ground. “They carrydizeezesthat can make people really sick, but we’ve developed medicines to cure them.”

At first glance, what vrix would have believed that these small, odd looking creatures called humans were capable of so much? Far beyond their strength of will and capacity for learning, humans demonstrated astounding cleverness and innovation.

Their descriptions of their home world, Earth, were beyond Rekosh’s imagination. They’d dwelt in structures taller than any tree in the Tangle, made entirely of metal and glass. They had traveled in things they calledkarz,playnz, and ships, which carried them all around their world and into the stars beyond.

Rekosh had seen enough of these human creations with his own eight eyes to believe even the wildest stories. He’d walked in their ship, had seen the pods that had kept them asleep but alive for one hundred and sixty-eight years. He’d witnessed their tools—a device that could instantly seal wounds, metal knives sharper than any blackrock blade, lights that shone without a flame. He himself had used human fire starters to ignite campfires with startling ease. And he’d watched Ivy use a gun, which had hurled fire into Zurvashi’s face.

The lives they’d described leaving behind surpassed Rekosh’s comprehension in many ways. But for all theiradvancements, for all their tools, these humans were here now. Without the human trappings, they were little different from the vrix—small creatures in a large world doing their best to survive.

He did not understand the lives the humans had led before, but he understood the humans. Their pain and sorrow, their contentment and joy. He understood that they had needs and wants, that they loved and hated, that they carried everything within their hearts. And that their will to push onward was just as strong and fierce as that of any vrix.

And he admired them for all of it. Admired all of them…but it was more with Ahmya. Much, much more. For even amongst these humans, she was different. She was special.

It was in the way she carried herself, in the way she spoke, in how quiet and unintrusive she so often behaved. In the way she observed through sharp eyes what others often missed. It was in her size, and in the way she didn’t let it hold her back.

He recognized something in her that he’d experienced himself—a silent strength forged by being dismissed, by being underestimated, by being ignored. By being seen as the smallest and the weakest.

Her heart and spirit were so much larger than her body belied. While she often seemed to prefer not being seen by the others, Rekosh saw her. And he needed to make her his so he could remind her every day that she was strong, she was fierce, she was worthy. She was…loved.

The three of them continued their search, talking as they gathered what herbs, fruit, mushrooms, and roots they came across. Occasionally, the thornskulls called out from nearby, ensuring that the groups did not stray too far from each other.

Rekosh kept watch and helped when the females found things they could not reach. Each time Ahmya requested such aid, he had the urge to put his hands on her flaring hips and lift her off the ground so she could gather the jungle’s bounty withher own hands. He didn’t succumb to those urges; he would not have Lacey ruin such moments.

The Tangle was hot, but the day remained pleasant despite the increasing dampness in the air. His fine hairs sensed coming rain on the breeze. When Ahmya took a moment to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow, Rekosh watched her, head tilted and mandibles twitching.

He’d been at her side through many of the hardships she’d faced since she’d awoken on the crashed ship. He’d seen her struggle and stumble, had seen her fall, had seen her shoulders sag and her lips turn down. He’d seen the sheen of tears in her eyes. But he’d never seen her give up, had never heard her complain.

When she stumbled, she righted herself. When she fell, she picked herself up. When the weight of despair crushed down on her, she clenched her jaw, drew in a deep breath, and lifted her head. If there was another step to be taken, Ahmya took it without fail.

The thornskulls spoke ofshar’thai, the fiery spirit at the heart of every warrior. Ifshar’thaiwas real, Ahmya’s was blindingly bright.

The other vrix might not have seen it, but Rekosh did.

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