Page 29 of The Weaver

Of course, there remained the problem of her being dressed in another vrix’s inferior silk. His lower hands twitched back toward his bag as a primal urge flared inside him, pushing him to tear that fabric off her here and now so he could replace it with his own.

“We are to watch, weaver,” said one of the nearby thornskulls, a green-hided hunter named Okkor.

Rekosh clicked his mandibles. “I am watching.”

Okkor chittered. “Watch for danger, not forhyu-nanz.”

Rekosh waved him off with a huff and continued onward,making more of an effort to keep his eyes moving, to remain alert.

The sun crept steadily higher, and the air warmed, though the occasional breezes that swept through the jungle bore the slightest chill. Thick clouds drifted across the blue patches of sky overhead. The Tangle was fragrant and alive, and Ahmya was here.

The unexpected journey, the thornskulls all around, the unfamiliar land…none of it mattered because he was with her.

At midday, they reached a lush, relatively level area full of all manner of plants, where Garahk called a halt.

“The Rootsinger has left her blessing here,” Garahk said. “When the river swells, it makes this ground rich. All things grow fast. All things grow large and full of taste. It is true under sun and sky.”

When Rekosh translated for the humans, they said there had been places like that on their world, where their people had taken advantage of thefurtledirt to grow many plants to eat. Vrix in both Kaldarak and Takarahl did grow some of their food, but they still relied upon foraging and hunting in the bountiful jungle.

Given the humans’ efforts in Kaldarak thus far, Rekosh imagined that growing plants for food and other purposes would become far more commonplace in the moon cycles to come.

Garahk pressed his upper hands together and then spread them. “We will part. Onevekirto stay and gather plants, onevekirto hunt. Ourshar’thaiwill burn bright, and we will feast well in honor of the new broodling.”

The thornskulls thumped the blunt ends of their spears on the ground in response, creating a brief, rhythmic noise, before splitting into two groups. Eight of them joined Garahk, while the remaining four joined Rekosh and the humans.

“Here will be our wild den, weaver,” Garahk said to Rekosh. “If ourvekirdoes not return by next suncrest, go to Kaldarak. We will follow when we carry meat enough for all.”

Bowing his head, Rekosh tapped a knuckle to his headcrest. “I will watch over ours, Garahk.”

“You give many words, Rekosh. Yet the best are when you give words like a thornskull.”

Rekosh chittered. “It is true under sun and sky.”

The white thornskull trilled, extended a foreleg, and bumped it against Rekosh’s. “You must join the hunt another day. I would witness yourshar’thaiby my own eyes, weaver.”

“Another day, Garahk. I weave my words into a bond.”

Chittering, Garahk turned and strode away. The others in his group followed. Soon, they were all out of sight, though their cheerful voices carried back to Rekosh for a bit longer.

“They will find nothing while their voices are so big,” said Okkor, who was amongst the remaining thornskulls.

“Big voice, bigshar’thai. Is it not so?” Rekosh asked.

A thoughtful hum rumbled from Okkor. “When giving war, yes.”

“But for a hunt it is big voice, empty belly,” added a yellow thornskull called Elharat.

“Ah, that is why the weaver does not hunt this day,” said another thornskull. “His voice is too big.”

Rekosh chittered along with the other vrix. “Not too big. Too tireless. Words fall out like rain from the sky, making a flood.”

“A flood that will make ours pray for dry season to come early.” Okkor sketched the sign of the Eight with his arms.

Mandibles lifting into a grin, Rekosh replied, “Perhaps I will make my voice big then, so the Eight cannot hear you.”

Okkor thumped a foreleg against Rekosh’s with a chitter. The thornskull’s scent—stone and wood with the merest hint of the mire—was at once familiar and foreign. He and the otherthornskulls set down the baskets and bags they’d brought and quickly set up a camp.

Lacey stepped up beside Rekosh. “This the spot?”

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