Page 44 of Orange Lake
He dropped a hand on my shoulder as I continued to track Coone making his way to the porch. There, he sat on the railing and looked busy on his handheld.
“It never ceases to amaze me you can piss people off just by a few words.”
I punched him lightly at the stomach and left him touching his torso. I walked towards the trio.
“Jigen will stay with them,” Crix announced when I reached them. Probably it’s Jigen’s turn to stay behind. He doesn’t look happy but as mates with responsibilities, one of them has to be left behind.
I just nodded.
Taking a last look at the porch, I boarded the Winox. This one is more sophisticated, bigger but sleeker than the one we took to arrive here. Plus, it has a roof and side panelings. The shields around it when activated serves a camouflage as we fly through the sky. Making us invisible to the naked eye.
At last, Coone and Brin took a glance our way when we’re seated inside the ship. Roqs ribbed me about it until we reached our first destination. Roqs and I never had the chance to have our talk last night. We were too busy fine tuning our plan. They finally agreed, to the very end, that the best person to confront the Shura is me. Not Roqs, not Crix, not all of us. We will be at their mercy if we are all caught frozen when it hits us.
Kilo and his gang are known for their cunning. However, since they travel with their slaves, they have grown bigger. And we consider that as the gang’s weakness. They are also active in the night, being a gang, we think that is a prerequisite and that puts a strain in our tribes’ resources. Otherwise, the tribes and those with far reaching members, will be at their mercy.
I felt the moment we went into hyperdrive. This winox is faster because we are now in our destination in less than 10 minutes. We disembarked from the ship. Volks took care to camouflage it again.
The intel given by Coone, even though he is a foreigner on this planet, is valuable and he said he is in contact with some of the slaves that will help us. He makes for a great ambassador. Except he likes mayhem And dealing with deranged people.
I turn back and saw Crix and Volks prepping and checking each of the warriors who joined us today. We are only a group of 15 males. I look forward. Based on Coone’s intel, near the river basin, where the forest and the desert outskirts meet, there are about 500 gang members. Kilo and 3 squad leaders will be there. Roqs was looking forward to meet again with Roan but he is not present. What we know is that the biggest tent below will house the Shura. That is our target and that is where we will concentrate our efforts.
“All set?” Crix asked softly behind me.
I turned and nodded. We are all dressed in black. It’s a sharp contrast to see Crix and Volks in this color.
This is why me and Roqs like working with Crix. He is very thorough. Even though I nodded, he glanced down at me, visually checking if I have enough weapons to subdue an army. He did the same with Roqs. Roqs is looking sleek as always. I will not be surprised if he ends up the same way after the fight. The way he moves is like liquid. He can deflect and anticipate his enemies’ intention before they strike so he ends up with less bruises and holes in his body. Unlike me, of course.
He looked at me as if reading my mind. Yes, I know. I don’t know how to be subtle. That is why I will be at the rear. Roqs will be at the front with Crix. Volks will be the distraction while we are on the offense.
I looked at the eleven warriors with us today. They have properly said goodbyes to their loved ones. Elyat, one of the older warriors, is looking forward to this fight. He lost many relatives to Kilo’s gang. A raid similar to what happened in Contrero. He is at peace. His mate, Sonis, by his side. Sonis looked up and saw me looking. He had the gall to wink at me. Some things never change.
I felt I never did a proper goodbye to Brin and Coone. Because I knew I will return back. Dying is not an option. I squeezed Roqs’ shoulder. He looked and nodded at me before I walked away to the rear.
Volks stopped me and said, “Sure you can control Silver?”
Ah, the pet name for my beast. Also, only Volks has the audacity to ask me this question. The area become quiet, even the wind turned quiet. Good thing Volks is my friend. I can’t hurt him.
I nodded. And walked away, feeling their eyes on me. Almost everyone is afraid of my beast. There are very few, like Volks, who are fascinated by my beast. I’m glad Brin and Roqs like my beast. Even when I mated with Coone, my beast went feral for a while. It’s like my beast is telling me I still need to find my manasty mate. He will not settle for any foreign mate. My silver Beast knows our mate is alive and out there.
He is near.
That is new. Usually my beast will tell me find my mate. I just turn a deaf ear to him. Roqs is it.
Speaking of, out of everyone, Roqs can help calm down my beast. They have heard of what happened by now when Brin got kidnapped. It usually takes a few months for someone to be out again and fight if their beast went on a rampage. I, on the other hand, have great control of my beast.
Even now, as Volks’ small team separated from us, my beast is in control. I try to deny it, but I knew it’s also because of Brin. My beast is a slave to her and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Me and my beast are aligned on this. I can’t help but compare how I feel about this with Roqs. My beast always try to outwit Roq’s beast. Khuczen, the name of Roqs beast, is known for a deadly predator. He is a silent stalker. But very few knew of the dangers and Roqs really have better control of his beast. But if unleashed, it is more dangerous, more fatal, than Silver. He is the Alpha of the Silver Tribe, after all. And the only way to calm him down is to either make him sleep or kill him. Or keep him talking. We know each other that is why we both have a sleeping dart in our arsenal in case we need to take down each other when we lose control of our beast. I’m sure Crix, Volks, and some of their men carry a sleeping dart as well.
Crix and Volks can communicate with telepathy. It’s not known even to their tribesmen. A well-guarded secret among close friends only. I signaled Crix to move forward. The scout he sent earlier, a male younger than us, looks very eager at his side. I know him. He comes from the Purple Tribe. I will not be surprised if the juvenile came from royalty. Most likely Crix’s uncles asked him to guard him or use him because he has lots of energy.
At a designated spot, we paused and our team separated. I was with Elyat and Sonis. Our team will meet again as soon as distraction starts.
You know the tents are made of slaves. They are run down and dirty. Some tried to keep it clean but you know the tents are not thick enough to control the elements. It will be very cold to stay in those tents as they move closer to this region. Winter is coming.
We passed some tents, others waking up from the noise, but when they saw us, they pretend to sleep. A manasty have very good hearing. Coone advised that the group of slaves in this group are willing to risk their lives to defeat Kilo and his officers.
“Shh,” one of the slaves said from inside the tent. It was loud enough that we all paused and looked. I noted the bracelet stuck to the left hand of the manasty in front of the tent. There are young manasties in this camp!
I felt anger and the other warriors as well. We have heard stories of this. The young is about 4 years old. They cannot control their outburst yet so the older slave with him has no choice but to cover his mouth with his frail and bloodied hand.
