Page 28 of Tharn's Hunt
The thought hits me harder than the shadowmaw’s teeth. The sandfin was a good kill. Its meat is rich with strength. I hunted itfor her. And she did not like it.
A sharp ache, one I have never felt before, tightens my chest. Not anger. Not pride. It is the feeling of… failure. I have failed to provide her with something that brings her pleasure.
"You did not like the sandfin?"My thought is soft, laced with this strange new ache.
"Don’t get me wrong. It was great considering. But I'd kill for a burger. Or pizza. Or chocolate..." Her thoughts fade, then return sharper. "Do you have chocolate here?"
"I do not know this cho-co-late."
"It's sweet. Dark. Melts on your tongue. Makes everything better."
I cannot picture this strange food, but the way her thoughts warm at the memory of it makes my chest tighten. I want to give her this cho-co-late. I want to give her anything that would make her eyes brighten the way they did when I handed her the crystal-trapped creature.
But I have only myself to offer. My strength. My determination. My will that she shall not die.
"We will find water soon," I promise, adjusting my grip on her small form. "And shelter from the dark."
Her response is a weak pulse of gratitude that brushes against my mind like a sand moth's wing. Too gentle. Too fragile.
I tighten my hold on her, careful not to press against the wound on her calf. The skin around it is still an angry red.
"I know it hurts," I tell her, my thoughts gentler than I knew they could be. "But you must fight it."
I feel her trying. I feel the struggle in her mind. The way she pulls herself back from the darkness that threatens to swallow her.
"That's it," I encourage. "Strong female. Fight."
She vocalizes something, her head lolling against my chest. The firebloom paste I gave her earlier should have helped more than this. But her body is different. Foreign to this world. Perhaps it fights the very medicine meant to heal it.
My wound throbs where the shadowmaw's teeth tore into my shoulder, the lifeblood dried to a tacky mess along my arm. I ignore it. The pain is nothing compared to the fear gripping my dra-kir.
I have never feared death. Not my own. It is the way of things on Xiraxis. We hunt. We kill. One day, we fall. Our bodies return to the dust, and the clan brings us to the Giving Stone, so Ain may welcome us into the next cycle.
But the thought of Jah-kee's death...
It tears at me like nothing I have known.
"Live," I project, forcing the thought through our flickering connection. "Your sister-female awaits. Jus-teen needs you."
Her consciousness flares at the mention of her sister.
"Justine..." The thought is like a faint murmur. "I need to find her."
"Yes. And you will. But first, you must live."
Ain hangs low on the horizon now, her light bleeding into the sky in shades of red and gold. Soon, darkness will claim the land, and with it will come the predators that hunt in the dark.
I must find shelter before then. A cave. A rock formation. Anything to keep us safe while Jah-kee recovers enough strength to continue.
I scan the horizon, searching for somewhere to take her. The dunes stretching out before us? None offer the protection we need.
Ahead, barely visible, a dark line breaks the monotony of sand. Rock formations.
Shelter.
I quicken my pace, ignoring the burning in my muscles, the throbbing of my wound. Jah-kee's breathing has grown more labored, her small form still limp in my arms. Her mind flickers against mine, faint and erratic.
"I see shelter ahead," I tell her, hoping she can still hear me. "Hold on, precious one."
