Page 2 of On A Rift's Edge
He gave the elders a sullen nod in response, which was rude, but no one expected much politeness from him. Brushing by them, he walked down a hallway of living rock that expanded and contracted like a calcified lung. Glow crabs moved over the surface, providing light as well as being in symbiotic harmony with the rock.
The door to the onsen was ajar, and he pushed his way into a wall of humid heat that rose from the large volcanic pool in the center of the room. Gremory was also in her human alterform, an excellent likeness of a middle-aged woman with short silver hair. She sat naked at the edge of the pool, perusing what looked like an antique circuit board, and ignored him entirely. Human inventions fascinated Lyall’s birth mother. She had often commented that Earth technology, as unnatural and destructive as it was, was quite an achievement for such a weak and quarrelsome species.
Lyall felt a sting of homesickness as he stood in front of the steaming water. Gremory wasn’t attentive to anyone, not him as her only child or even her wife while she was working, but he had missed her. After so many years, even a glance up from her would have been nice.
The pool surface rippled, and an enormous hellhound rose up, water sloshing off her gold fur. Cesmak was close to Lyall’s size in her true form and was one of the pack’s best mercenary assassins. Her name had struck fear throughout the Riftworld prior to the Sundering, and she had all of her usual lack of subtlety as she roared in fury at the sight of him.
Lyall couldn’t adopt a formal position of submission in this form, and transforming would be mistaken for a challenge, so he bared his neck and removed the box containing his tribute from his living leathers. In addition to serving as armor, the organism could store objects in a type of interdimensional pocket. The space was limited, but it was useful for important items—like weapons.
“Now you return to us, after years of serving our ratkind enemies due to your foolishness.” Cesmak’s words in their native language were punctuated by an aggressive body stance, and Lyall could smell the anger and dominance that rolled off of her. “Bring us this tribute you spoke of in your message.”
Lyall opened the box. Inside, nestled in golden jelly, lay a bloody heart.
He gave the box a shake, and a network of electrical currents activated in the gel. The heart jerked into motion, contracting and relaxing as it had during life.
Careful to keep his gaze on the floor, he walked forward and placed the offering on the side of onsen before retreating to his original position.
Cesmak gave the heart a sniff, then crunched down on it with her massive jaws. Half of the heart went into her mouth, and she tossed the other half toward her wife with a flick of her snout. Gremory caught it easily, her reflexes quick even in her hominid form.
“Your pathetic offering of an Earth animal heart is more insult than apology.” Cesmak licked the blood off her muzzle as she spoke.
Lyall’s tribute had been excessively formal, even if the heart in question had been bought from a Portland butcher specializing in venison and other game meats. All products had been guaranteed to be wild-caught and from overpopulated species only.
Kat might even have approved.
“It’s rather tasty, though.” Gremory ate her portion in small, precise bites. She addressed Lyall in English, one of the many Earth languages she had mastered. Her quicksilver eyes contrasted with the dark skin she had in this form. She sounded more reasonable than Cesmak, but then again, that wasn’t saying much. “Our son couldn’t drop in for casual visits when Arimanius had him trapped in an indenture contract.”
The ratkind were hardly the pack’s most dangerous adversaries, but Lyall’s humiliation at their hands had enraged Cesmak more than if a worthy opponent, like a drakone, had bested her son. Lyall knew that Cesmak had made her own deals with Arimanius, but this wasn’t the time to throw that in her fanged face.
“Lyall should have returned with the leader of the Colony in his clutches, then ripped that deceitful rat’s heart out of his chest in front of us.” Cesmak’s scent communicated enough fury that Lyall felt like curling in a ball at her feet.
He didn’t and instead raised his head and addressed both of his mothers. “I take full responsibility for falling under Arimanius’s control, and I will endeavor to avenge the insult to our pack’s honor. But I came back to relay important information, not to seek forgiveness.”
That might be too blunt, but it wasn’t like Cesmak appreciated mincing words, and Gremory approached everything with an engineer’s love for precise detail.
“You could have brought back a different ratkind heart with your overdue briefing.” Cesmak’s words sent a chill through Lyall, and his suspicions were confirmed when she added, “Arimanius’s half-human son was with you when you escaped your indenture. Close to six months ago.”
Lyall had spent that time gathering intelligence for his mothers about a threat to theclan,but it would be useless to argue the point. Instead, he focused on explaining why he hadn’t murdered one of his few friends.
“Remi helped me nullify the contract.” Lyall didn’t go into more detail since he had tricked the half-ratkind spy into taking off his indenture collar. “I’m not here to focus on the past, and I don’t expect to be welcomed back into the clan. The Saguaro Rift drakones have created an object that can control their rift, and that means there’s a risk they could expand or shrink others. Like ours, for example.”
Cesmak fell silent, her eyes glowing gold with anger and perhaps surprise.
“That’s interesting information, Lyall.” Gremory perked up at the mention of deadly and unstable Riftworld technology. “You must tell us more.”
“Yes.” Cesmak’s voice came out as a modulated growl. “He will tell us everything he knows regarding this control object.”
“Not before he has something to eat, of course.” Gremory smiled at Lyall, her focus now truly on him and him alone. That was what he had always wanted when he was young, but her sudden interest now made him uneasy. “And not before our son tells us his other news.”
Lyall felt his mouth go dry. There was no possible way either of his mothers could know. Yet somehow Gremory had figured it out.
“What are you going on about, Gre?” Cesmak stalked her way through the water to get closer to Lyall, as if he might try to escape.
If one of his mothers had discovered his secret, Lyall was seriously considering making a run for it.
“He has shamed our clan twice, both with his humiliation by our enemy Arimanius and by not inflicting vengeance on the one ratkind who was easy prey.” Cesmak came even closer, nostrils flaring as she did.
“Now can you smell it?” Gremory grinned, her fangs showing. It was the only part of her transformation that was off. “I noticed it right away, and I’m not even in my true form.”
