Page 41 of Tharn's Hunt
I told myself the diversion was necessary. That we needed the firebloom to heal. That the extra sol or two it would add to our journey was a small price for our survival.
These are true thoughts. Good, hunter’s thoughts.
But under them, something else moves. A truth I do not wish to see.
I do not want to reach Rok.
I do not want to give Jah-kee back.
My gaze drops to my claws, to the faint golden glow that pulses beneath my skin even now. It is always there since finding her, but stronger when she is near. Stronger still when we touch. I flex my claw, watching the light follow the movement, tracing the path of veins and muscle beneath my skin.
What is this connection? This light that binds us?
A soft sound from the cave's depths pulls my attention back to Jah-kee. She shifts in her rest, brow furrowing slightly before smoothing again. Even unconscious, she makes noises. Strange, soft vocalizations that should irritate my sensitive ears but now somehow... don't.
When did her noise stop being noise? When did it become… necessary? Like the warmth of Ain after a cold dark. Like the taste of blood after a long hunt.
Like something necessary.
My chest tightens at the thought, an echo of the pain I felt earlier when she walked away from me across the sands. That had been... unexpected. Alarming. A physical agony that went beyond the shadowmaw's poison or the fatigue of our journey. It felt as if she were pulling my very dra-kir from my chest with each step she took away from me.
The pain had eased only when she returned, firebloom clutched in her hide covering, determination in those water-blue eyes. The relief had been so intense it momentarily overwhelmed my alarm at the sandfin pursuing her.
Even now, with barely the length of the cave between us, I feel a faint tugging sensation. A pull toward her that makes my skin hum with awareness.
We are tethered somehow, bound by whatever strange force creates this light between us.
And I do not know how to break free.
Or if I want to.
The sandfin I killed earlier lies just outside the cave entrance, its corpse already stiffening in the cool night air. I should prepare it now, while Jah-kee rests. The meat will restore our strength, and we can save portions for the journey ahead.
I rise silently, moving outside to where the creature lies. Its scales gleam in the light of my glow as I crouch beside it, unsheathing my claws to begin the careful work of separating meat from bone. The flesh parts easily under my touch, pale and rich with nutrients. But even over the scent of fresh blood, I can smell her. She is close. Awake.
A soft shuffling confirms it. The whisper of feet on stone.
I stiffen, glow brightening as I turn to find Jah-kee standing in the cave entrance. Her head fur is mussed from sleep, her eyes heavy-lidded but alert. She sways slightly, still not fully recovered, but there is determination in the set of her jaw.
"Jah-kee," I project, forgetting for a moment that she can no longer hear me. The frustration of our severed connection burns anew. "You should be resting."
She vocalizes something, the sounds soft and slurred with sleep. Her small hand gestures vaguely toward the darkness beyond the cave, then down at herself. I tilt my head, trying to decipher her meaning.
She sighs, then repeats the gesture more emphatically, adding a squeezing motion with her thighs.
What is she trying to tell me?
Oh. Dust. Is this what I think it is? A request for me to present myself? My dra-kir thrums hopefully?—
But no.
Jah-kee turns toward the darkness beyond the cave, and my claws extend on reflex. The dark belongs to shadowmaws and dust stalkers. Even a healthy hunter would hesitate to venture out alone.
When I move to accompany her, her face heats with color. The pale skin of her cheeks flushes deep pink, almost red. Is she ill again? Has the fire returned?
I reach for her brow, but she steps back, making that strange squeaking sound she emits when startled. The color deepens. Not the fire then. Something else.
She gestures more urgently now, pointing to herself, then the darkness, then making a shooing motion at me. Her meaning is clear: she wants privacy.
