Page 72 of Venomous Lust
“Yes.” Yalko’s tone was hollow, pain suffusing everything he said. “Many tribes live by this river, deep in the Medina Forest, and have done ever since we were pushed out of the grassland.”
“You cannot stay hidden in your forest anymore.” Khal spoke without mercy as Yalko stared at the great death below them. “Death is out there, and it’s coming to get you. Your only chance is to help us stop Knut.”
Yalko turned his yellow eyes to Hazel, then to Khal. “You get your wish, Eok. We will attack this Knut together and destroy him, once and for all.”
Hazel stared at them, allies despite all that pitted them against each other.
“How many Muharee warriors can you summon, and how fast?” Khal asked.
“A thousand warriors.” Yalko shook his head as Khal cursed. “But we will not need more. The Medina is our Mother and she will fight for us—what is left of her, anyway.”
Khal stayed silent as both he and Hazel frowned.
“But the Medina is dying, how can she help?” Hazel finally asked.
“With great sacrifice,” Yalko answered softly. He turned to exchange a long, meaningful look with his warriors, who all nodded somberly.
There was so much they didn’t know about the Muharee, so much they didn’t understand.
Finally, Khal nodded, his face grim. Hazel had no idea if he knew what sacrifice Yalko was talking about, but it didn’t matter. They had to act.
“I will stay here to keep track of Knut. Send Hazel back to your village, she cannot stay for the fight.”
Hazel opened her mouth to protest, but Khal shook his head. With dread in her soul, she remained silent. She was no warrior, she couldn’t fight.
Still, leaving Khal behind to risk his life seemed impossible.
“We have to act fast,” Khal interrupted her thoughts. “Or there will be no more Muharee or Medina on Muhar.”
A series of small scuttling noises had them all turning around. Hazel’s stomach filled with horror as she stared at two pale blue eyes.
“That’s exactly the plan.” Gerkin’s mouth stretched into a wide, devious grin. At his side, four more Eoks stood, stone faced and dead eyed, pointing the barrels of ionic guns straight at them. “And it looks like you’re following it perfectly.”
“You!” Yalko spat the word.
“We meet again, snake.” Gerkin chuckled, the sound as evil as anything Hazel had ever heard. “You’re hard to kill, I’ll give you that, but I’m going to try my best.”
Yalko moved, faster than Hazel’s eyes could focus. His Muharee warriors followed suit and the sound of ionic detonations filled the dead forest.
Then the world faded into a blur of violence and death.
* * *
Khal
Khal’s training took over. His body moved in fluid motions as his mind analyzed the tiniest bit of information. The first ionic detonation came from his right as one of Gerkin’s warriors took a shot at a Muharee.
“Down!” Khal barked the order as his own body reacted, moving in front of Hazel as she screamed in fear. She fell behind him on the forest ground, her weight crushing the decomposing tree trunk, spreading a deeply penetrating fog of rotten vegetation as the soft tissues of the Medina stalk broke apart.
A quick glance to his side confirmed what Khal already knew. The Muharee warrior was dead, his yellow eyes staring at the red sun without seeing, his chest torn apart in the middle.
More ionic detonations filled the air, the smell of iodine momentarily overpowering the decomposition of the Medina. Khal covered Hazel with his body, turning to meet Gerkin with his talons at the ready, his fangs out in a furious hiss.
“Don’t.” Gerkin’s face had lost all traces of a smile. The barrel of his ionic gun was trained straight on Khal’s chest as the commander of Garana took a step closer. “Knut wants you alive, but I won’t hesitate to shoot you if I have to.”
Khal hissed at Gerkin but retracted his talons. The traitor wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him, and he was of no use to anyone if he was dead.
“That’s better,” Gerkin sneered, a perverse joy showing briefly in his too-pale eyes. “I have waited a long time to put your family in its place. Your brothers, your father, you all think you’re so high above the rest of us. So honorable, so selfless. So weak. Now you will all see what an Eok does when he is not afraid to wield power, true power. When all this is over, I will be the new chief—not only of the Erynian tribe, but of all the Eoks. I will bring back the old ways, and our nation will once again be the feared warriors we were in the past.”
