Page 93 of Emerald

“But why?” I ask, not fully understanding, but knowing enough about systems to know that doesn’t make sense. “Wouldn’t the process be the same?”

“No,” Thivoll rumbles out, distracted by piling canisters into Ree’s pack. “Manticorid design is superior.”

I blink, not quite sure how that explains it.

Kira chuckles. “No need for clothes when you have fur and scales, right? You let the ‘inferior’ species design those?”

“Exactly,” Thivoll says, purring as he starts filling another pack. “Now let’s get out of here.”

***

“He won’t do it,” Eli explains, her tentacles drooping.

She doesn’t need to translate for the group, but I can tell she’s stuck in the habit. Everyone in the clearing, with the exception of Wroahk, agreed to use the translation nanites if they didn’t already have them.

We can all understand his whale calls as he slaps the water in the stream. “Don’t want to hear. Don’t want to know all of the endless, endless words. This water is terrible. Even worse than the lake. Terrible.”

“We get it, big guy,” Kira sings out to him in whale voice. “You’ll be back in your favorite muddy-ass water as soon as possible.”

He lets out a series of clicks and hits the water even harder, but at least he stops complaining.

“What kind of water does he want?” I ask, suddenly putting it together that Kira is goading him.

Judging by how deadly he seems and pissed off he is, it seems crazy.

“Salt water,” Eli says. “Fresh water just feels… wrong, somehow.”

Rin stirs, flipping long white braids over her shoulder and stepping away from the argila, all three of them staring at Wroahk like they don’t know what to make of him. “There’s a dock,” Rin exclaims, voice excited. “I forgot all about it in all of the commotion of finding Olivia. It’s up north and, from what I gathered, I think that’s where the hunters come from.”

Drasuk nods, the motion oddly stilted. “That would make sense, yes. There is usually an island in between two large continents on a hunting ground, though it was impossible to tell if we were on the northern or the southern one. We must be southern.”

Ree lets out a long breath. “That sounds like an important objective, then, but first we need to get back to the island. There are more women to gather before we take that sort of risk. For now, let’s gather up anything of use here.”

Ree looks up at the purple sky. “We’ll head out at dark. Tell Wroahk, Eli. Hopefully he’ll be in a better mood before we need to truss him up again or Drasuk might bite one of his tentacles off for real this time.”

Kira snorts. “He should. It’ll just grow back and even I’m getting fed up with the tantrums.”

“He’s working on it,” Eli says in a cheerful tone. “It’s getting better every day.”

I look over at her huge smile, then at the murderous bared teeth behind her, tentacles wrapped around her like he can’t let her take one step away from him. Even I can see the mismatch between them… but it must work for them.

Somehow.

Everyone starts to move away and I crane my neck, looking for Kroaicho. Once we got back and zha allowed Thivoll to use the nanites, zha hustled off, likely to check zha’s hoard although zha wouldn’t admit it. My shoulders slump as I slowly make my way back to the little cave, then make a detour, wanting to take advantage of the peace and open air while I can.

31

Kroaicho

BythetimeImake it back to Olivia, exhaustion is pulling at my limbs. I step inside, shaking off the dust and dirt that's clung to my skin, but the moment I enter, I notice something off.

I glance around, my eyes scanning the dark corners, but there's no sign of Olivia.

Zha is gone.

I feel my body tense, a wave of irritation crashing over me as my glow darkens to purple. Of course, zha didn't stay somewhere I expect.

For a moment, I stand still, letting the dark purple glow pulse from my body in time with my rising frustration. I will always be dark purple as long as I'm with zha. As long as zha is part of my hoard…

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