Page 42 of Soliv Four
“Probably for the death fights in the arena. McKaro wouldn’t want the best fighters killing each other,” said Tomak. “That means we must be extra vigilant with our women. They must go nowhere alone outside our quarters.”
“This is no fucking place for them,” Coraz grumbled.
“And that’s why we are getting out of here ASAP,” Tomak asserted. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Tomak and Angie jogged a couple more laps with his team, then they broke off and went back to their quarters. They spent the rest of the day resting for the hunt rotation after next.
TWENTY-FIVE
Angie and Tomak reported to the starting area for the hunt at the appointed span. The host introduced them to the viewers then the hunters a few meters away. Austyn Frost was a well-known adversary, and one of three that were mostly human hybrids, and the other three were humanoids, a reptilian, and two purple Neanderthals.
The couple had seen them around but had no direct encounters with any of them. Tomak suspected the three hybrids might team up and attempt to take Angie from him.
They all looked mean to Angie. She so wished they didn’t have to do this as she and Tomak stepped up to the starting line together. They bolted from the spot together as the starting blast sounded.
Tomak measured his strides so Angie could keep up with him. They didn’t stop running until they reached the massive jungle where the fence used to be. Following the path north along that boundary, they entered the thick foliage going west, tramping through and leaving a trail a child could follow.
Emon had mapped it out for them to lead the hunters on a chase between the hidden shipwrecks they were salvaging. They meandered through until they would emerge on the south side path of the old maze just as the starting blast for the hunters sounded. That left Angie and Tomak six spans to evade the pack.
They still had time to cross over into the thick jungle between the paths of the maze. Tomak’s strategy was to stay hidden as much as possible. The other option was to lay in wait and pick them off one by one. He could even confront them and fight them one or two at a time.
Although he knew they would kill him if they could, he hoped he wouldn’t need to kill them for this stupid game. But he would if there were no alternative. No one was taking Angie from him.
Once inside the thicket, Tomak found a tree with a trunk crisscrossed with thick woody vines. He sent Angie climbing up first then followed. The tree seemed to have a symbiotic relationship with the vine. Once they climbed the trunk up into the branches, they found a cave-like opening into a nest.
As Tomak followed her, he noticed four tiny drone cameras hovering around him. He expected that, though, he wasn’t worried yet because they were hidden from the path. None of the hunters were likely to find them through the six spans they were allotted.
What Tomak didn’t count on was that his strategy yielded little entertainment value to the viewers. A fifth drone approached and projected a holographic image of the moderator and hunt referee in the air before their hiding spot in the tree.
“Inmate Tomak Bah’rin, you and your mate, must engage the hunters in this challenge, or you will be disqualified. You will forfeit your mated status and your female. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Tomak growled, muttering a string of derogatory epithets regarding the ref’s intelligence and anatomy. He would have taken it better had they threatened him with execution than to forfeit his mate.
They weren’t going to let him hide and wait out the clock with Angie to win the challenge. If the viewers wanted bloody fights, he would give them bloody fights. Nobody was taking Angie!
“Let’s go,me’ara,”said Tomak as he moved to climb down. At least they had a brief respite, having some water, and sharing a food bar. “I was hoping we could get through this without killing them,” he murmured as they descended the vine ladder around the tree trunk. “They are not allowed to harm you.”
He took her into his arms when she reached the ground. But that didn’t include “claiming” her, which didn’t rule out rape. They held each other for a time, then Tomak cupped her cheek with his hand and tilted up her face. He gave her a long, slow, tender kiss, dipping his tongue into her mouth to caress hers.
When he finally lifted his mouth from hers, he stared into her eyes with fierce determination. He didn’t have to say anything as she held his gaze and nodded.
Tomak released her and headed back through the jungle, making a new path perpendicular to the one they made to get there. He stopped a few feet in from where he spotted one of the maze trails. From there, he parted the plants and bushes carefully to keep them intact.
They stopped close to the edge to listen and for Tomak to check for scent of his adversaries. “Two of them coming. You know what to do.” He whispered.
Angie had trained hard most days since they’d been together. She had more stamina and was stronger than she had ever been. While she was no expert in self-defense, she had learned skills to support him and defend herself.
Tomak parted the rest of the flora and stepped out on the dirt path to face the two Neanderthals heading toward them. He and Angie both took out their long hunting knives. The two males approaching stopped when they saw the couple. Although they could have run, Tomak figured it would be better to face them, or they could face adversaries on both sides.
Apparently, the Neanderthals were acting as a team. There had been others who won and shared females. Tomak was not that kind of man. He didn’t want to kill them, but he would keep Angie out of their hands.
The males looked at each other then took out their identical hunting knives. One of them looked like a gladiator he had bested in the arena. He had no enmity for either of them, but the two against him was almost a fair fight… For them.
He stood his ground as they came toward him. Angie hung back to warn him if more hunters came from behind. The two males danced around him, trying to get one behind and in front. Tomak lunged at the one directly in front of him, and half turned, kicking the other one in the midsection.
Tomak regained his balance to parry attempts to stab him by the other male. He was so fast the Neanderthal couldn’t get an edge on him. Prickling hairs on the back of his neck told him the other male was going to make his next move.
Angie’s gasp alerted him to the danger. Tomak parried the male’s thrust of the knife with his forearm and drove his knife into the other man’s abdomen four times in rapid succession. He pivoted and did the same to the man behind him while Angie drove her knife into the Neanderthal’s lower back beside his spine.
