Page 2 of Ragoru

Tossing her rucksack over her shoulder, Evie opened the door to the thick tangle of the forest that existed just beyond. Insects hummed, and one of the avians that inhabited the world broke out in a series of shrill whoops. It was beautiful but dangerous—strangely that had become familiar and comfortable over the years—and she felt a strong appreciation for the area. Unfortunately, no one had prepared her for how the isolation would begin to wear on her after just a few short years.

Stepping outside, she closed the outpost door firmly and engaged the locks. Her replacement would have no unpleasant surprises when she arrived. Satisfied that the outpost was secured, Evie adjusted the weight of her pack and strode into the forest, humming a popular melody as she struck out for the northern route.

CHAPTER2

Thral grimaced and turned away, the bulk of his large body shifting to give his back to the males rutting their female nearby. With so few females among their dying species, a triad successfully locating and bonding with a female was a rarity, one that he couldn’t help but envy. Right now, the primary male of the triad was mounting her from behind, his cocks rutting into her breeding slits hard enough that her pitchy whines filled the room along with the thick musk of mating. It was practically inescapable in the containment area in which they were held. The Feriknikal, the Shining Ones as they called themselves in their tongue, insisted that they remain confined there.

To what purpose? Ragoru were territorial, and the long journey from their world to this new one had been difficult enough, but to remain confined within a small sectioned off area rankled him. Thral was tired of the smell, the noise… all the males intruding into his space, much of it due to males trying to attract the attention of the few females among them.

As if on cue, a younger male nearly stumbled into him as he and his triad circled their female in an attempt to entice her into mating. Snapping his teeth in warning, Thral wandered toward the shadowed edge of the erected walls. The walls themselves were of no consequence. Though tall and made of stone, it was easy enough to scale if he chose to. He hadn’t, though. Not yet. He was patiently waiting because the Shining Ones had impressed upon them the importance of remaining within the confinements of the walled-off territory.

“For now,” they had said.

It was only to be for a short time until the Shining Ones could arrange for their release. And, through the female Varnika, the eldest of them, speaking on their behalf, the Ragoru had agreed. But that had been five turns of the moon ago—the only reliable method available to Thral to keep track of the passing time—and they were still confined, released only to work in hunting units, the spoils of which were rationed out to them. And always with that promise that it wouldn’t be much longer.

But there was always a delay and Thral’s patience was waning. He had no hope for a mate as there was only one unmated female at the beginning of their journey and she was mated shortly thereafter, but he had been promised a wide territory to roam and call his own and plentiful food that had no longer existed on their homeworld. Scraps and walls to confine him did not set well with him. He had no interest in the promises of the Shining Ones.

He did not care that they were having difficulties establishing communication with the species of people who dwelled there—humans. The territory of the Shining Ones, their “city,” as they called it, in which the Ragoru were confined, was far from the humans. It was explained that, unlike Ragoru, humans lived in large groups in cities like the Shining Ones did and that their territories were vast. That although there was no human directly close by to whom the territory would belong, there was someone who possessed control of it. And it was that specific human whom they needed to locate and with whom they needed to speak. Andthatwas the source of their unending delays.

Thral gnashed his teeth in annoyance as he paced closer to the wall. He did not understand how anyone could claim a stretch so large that they could not travel from one end of their territory to the other within a matter of a few days. What being required so much territory? It was absurd. For that matter, he did not understand why the Shining Ones did not just travel in their air vessel to the human cities and demand to meet with the female who held the territory as her own. That would be more sensible than staying in a place so far from any location that humans inhabited. And why did the desires of these humans matter if they did not live within the lands?

It did not seem fair that he had to suffer being confined, not when it was unlikely that the humans would even notice their presence there. They could have their freedom now, and he desperately wanted it. He was tired of waiting and did not wish to wait even a moment longer when the crisp air was full of good things that beckoned Thral. It was because of that desire that he was closer to the perimeter of the wall than he had ever dared to be before, keeping to the shadows out of sight of the Shining One’s lone guard.

That guard and the wall were his only obstacles. Tipping his head back, he peered up the side of the wall, marking the distance.

“What are you doing?” a deep voice queried.

Thral flinched at the sudden raspy words, his fur prickling as he gradually turned himself to face the male. The male possessed significant mass, outweighing Thral by a good measure and a head taller in heights. Deep cuts scored through the right side of his face, blinding his peripheral eye so that of the four eyes that narrowed on him, only three were a luminous yellow. The fourth was pale and blind. The male was fortunate. Although the loss of an eye was considered a vulnerability, it would have been so much worse for him if it was in one of his two primary eyes.

“Walking,” Thral grunted as he moved away, pretending to peruse the wall with nothing more than a casual interest.

The other male’s eyes narrowed, and Thral suspected that he was being called out, but he didn’t care. He continued to walk, leaving the other behind him. Or so he thought. His ear twitched at the light padding of the male’s paws on the hard ground behind him.

“I will walk with you then,” the other rumbled.

Thral stifled a sound of annoyance. Although he was confident that he would win an altercation with the male following him, he knew that it would not be injury-free. He couldn’t afford to waste energy and health tangling with the male, and so he ignored him to the best of his ability as he made a show of admiring the flowering trees with their purple blooms bordering the wall. The silence was short-lived, however, as the male sniffed the air loudly and growled.

“You are alone. You do not even scent of another male. Where is the rest of your triad?”

“I don’t have one,” Thral replied as he picked up his pace, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

Unfortunately, the male refused to be deterred.

“Why?”

Thral gritted his teeth. What was with all the questions? “I see no point in having one. There are no available females left, so I require no males to help me attract and care for one. I am better on my own.”

The other male grunted. “I have none either. No forming triad would have me, because of this.” Thral slowed and glanced over at him as the male gestured to his face. To his blind eye. “A male whose face is scarred is undesirable, and a male who lacks an eye is a weakness for a triad. Now I just seek to escape this place.”

Thral murmured in agreement, his eyes skimming over the wall, looking for the perfect spot to climb free. There! Two trees hung low with weeping branches clustered thickly with flowers. They would be easy enough to grab but wouldn’t be good hand holds. But just beneath him he saw the stones of the wall jutting at odd angles from root systems that seemed to have crept up and disturbed the placement of the wall. It wasn’t enough to break it, but it was enough to provide clear holds for a male who knew what to look for—a male accustomed to roaming windswept cliffs before the Shining Ones lured him from his abode with false promises.

Dropping down to all six limbs, he raced toward the wall, keeping to the shadows. He was aware that the other male followed him, but as long as he had the sense to not draw attention to them Thral didn’t care. He sped forward in a ground-eating lope and scaled the wall so quickly that he was over it before he needed to take another breath. The forest on the other side was thick with thorny bushes clustered close to the flowering trees, and they snagged his fur the moment he landed. But it was a minor inconvenience as he tugged himself free and rose to his feet, putting the wall behind him as he headed deeper into the forest. It smelled sweet, and he paused for only a moment to drag in a deep breath, appreciating the scent.

The crash and snarl of a Ragoru falling into the same thorny bush moments later brought a smile to his face. It seemed that the other male had made it. He had no idea what the other male intended to do from there, but he didn’t intend to wait around, and risk being found. His tail flicking through the air behind him, he broke into a run, heading deeper into the unbroken forest without slowing his pace until he could no longer scent the city of the Shining Ones in the air behind them. Only then did he allow himself to rest.

Gulping in air as his sides heaved, unaccustomed to such exertion after so many cycles confined by the Shining Ones on their ship and then in their city, he drew to a stop beside a churning river that sprayed up water where it crashed upon red and pink rocks. He breathed the fresh air there, cleansed by the spray of water, and crouched down to enjoy the way it cooled his skin as it soaked through his fur. It had taken him all day, and the sun was beginning its descent, but he felt safe and confident that he was not being pursued. Not by any of the Shining Ones.

He glanced wryly as his unwanted companion broke through the trees, his own sides heaving with his labored breathing. The male nodded in acknowledgment and noted appreciatively that they were stopping and dropped to his haunches to drink greedily from the river, uncaring that his facial fur was soaked entirely. Shaking his head that he hadn’t been able to lose the male despite how far they ran, he acknowledged that he was stuck with him for the time being.

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