Page 16 of Alien Healer's Touch

Three of the creatures slunk into the clearing, their wedge-shaped heads low to the ground, filled with backward-curving teeth designed to grip prey. Their bodies blurred at the edges, the camouflage making them difficult to track even when I knew where to look.

One turned its head in our direction, nostrils flaring.

"They've caught our scent," I whispered. "When I move, run perpendicular to them, then circle back to the stream we passed. I'll meet you there."

"No," she said firmly, reaching into her medical pouch. "I'm not leaving you."

SELENE

The first kradax stalked from the undergrowth, its wedge-shaped head swinging side to side. Six legs carried its sinuous body forward with predatory grace, each limb tipped with hooked claws that could disembowel prey with a single swipe. Five more followed, their scales shifting like liquid shadows across their rippling bodies, blurring their edges and making their true size and position impossible to track. Their jaws opened to reveal not just one, but three rows of serrated teeth designed to shred and hold struggling prey.

My markings pulsed silver up my arms, sending unfamiliar danger signals through my skin. I didn't hesitate. My hand found the surgical blade in my pack, the metal cool against my fingers.

"Don't move," Kavan whispered, positioning himself slightly ahead of me. His tail had gone rigid—a warning sign I'd never seen from him before.

He spoke in quick, measured tones. "They hunt by movement patterns. Quick darting draws attack. They target weakness first." His golden eyes never left the approaching predators. "They're not just hunting us. They're herding us."

I followed his gaze and saw it too—more shapes moving through the trees to our left and right. The kradax weren't simply attacking; they were executing a coordinated strategy to drive us toward something worse.

"What's behind us?" I breathed, the translation stone at my throat warming with my whispered words.

"Their nest," Kavan replied grimly. "Where the juveniles wait to feed."

I nodded, calculating our options. "Vulnerabilities?"

"Sensory nodes behind skull plate. Sensitive to scents and vibrations." His voice dropped lower. "But they adapt quickly. If one approach fails, they'll change tactics."

Our eyes met, understanding passing between us without words. His tail flicked once—acknowledgment I'd learned to recognize during our time together.

"I'll draw them left," he murmured. "Circle right. Target the lead stalker's neck nodes."

"That might trigger the others to flee?"

"If we're fortunate."

The scalpel felt reassuring in my grip. "On your mark."

Kavan moved first, stepping with deliberate slowness before darting toward purple-leafed shrubs. The lead kradax swiveled instantly, its packmates following suit. The moment their attention fixed on him, I slipped around a boulder, my bare feet silent on the forest floor.

The plan should have worked. I closed half the distance to the lead stalker, scalpel ready to strike the vulnerable nerve cluster.

A branch snapped to my right.

I turned slowly toward the sound.

Three more kradax emerged from the forest—a second hunting party converging on us. Their scales rippled from forest shadows to dull greens, perfectly matching the undergrowth. The nearest one hissed, revealing rows of backward-curving teeth, saliva dripping from its jaws in viscous strands that sizzled when they hit the ground.

"Selene!" Kavan shouted. "Behind you!"

I spun as a kradax from the first pack lunged. Its teeth missed my leg by inches, raking deep furrows in the earth where I'd stood a heartbeat before. I stumbled backward into a defensive stance.

Something transformed in Kavan. The careful healer vanished, replaced by something primal and lethal. He moved with fluid efficiency, his tail whipping out to strike the nearest predator's sensitive eye membranes. The creature shrieked—a sound that raised the hair on my neck—and recoiled. Without pausing, Kavan spun, caught another mid-leap and slammed it into the ground with enough force to shatter its armored scales.

The nearest kradax lunged, not at me but at Kavan, who had positioned himself protectively between me and the threat. Its jaws clamped onto his shoulder with sickening force before he could fully evade. Blue-black blood spilled as Kavan staggered, his face contorting in pain.

"Kavan!" I screamed, medical training and emotional response colliding in a surge of fear.

He wrenched himself free, leaving torn flesh in the creature's jaws, and still managed to strike a counterblow that sent the predator reeling. But the damage was done—the other kradax sensed blood, their hunting behaviors intensifying at the scent of wounded prey.

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