Barbarian Alien(38)

“Dvisti,” Raahosh says.

“Okey-doke. Looks like good eating.” I pull up my bow and nock an arrow, then aim. The wind is against me, and we’re pretty far away. I’m still not used to the pull on the bow and my needle-like bone arrows are iffy at best. “I don’t think I can hit him from here. How do we get down there?”

“Wait here,” he tells me, straightening. “I’ll find a path down.” Raahosh saunters away, spear in hand, and I might ogle his ass a bit.

Just a bit.

I relax my arrow and glance down at the creature, watching it to see if it leaves. I’m so intent on watching it, that I almost miss the chirrup I hear from behind me. But then it happens again.

I glance over my shoulder.

There’s a friggin’ Ewok. Ohmigod.

Okay, so it’s not really an Ewok. It’s a fuzzy thing that looks more like an overgrown Furby with long arms and legs, but the round eyes blinking at me are adorable. It chirrups again and then dashes forward a step or two, then moves back. It blinks at me, then repeats the motion and runs in a circle.

Is this a game? For all of its hair and beaky face, it looks young. Maybe it’s the big, liquid eyes. When it chirrups at me again, the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

This might be bad. Like, finding a happy, roly-poly bear cub bad, only to realize that Mommy bear is a few feet away. “Raahosh? You still here?”

It cocks its head and scampers away, and I slowly replace my arrow back into firing position. The chirrup sounds again—

And then is repeated by another, deeper creature’s voice. And another. And another. As I gaze out at the snowy ridges behind me, they seem to emerge from everywhere. More of the tall, furry creatures with dirty, matted hair and bulging eyes.

I was right. This one’s a baby. The others don’t look nearly as friendly.

“Raahosh?” I call again, raising my arrow as one of the biggest ones moves toward me. “Help?”

“Liz,” Raahosh says in a low voice, off to my side. I look over at him, heart pounding, and see he’s several feet away, spear at the ready. He’s in a stare-down with three big, nasty versions of the things. He doesn’t look over at me, and his stance is one of battle. He’s ready to attack the moment anyone moves a muscle.

“What are these?” I hiss. One takes another step forward, and I step backward, only to remember that I’m on the edge of a cliff. Shit. Shit. Shit.

“They are metlaks. And where there is one, there is a hundred.”

“Well, I see a hundred,” I say, exaggerating a bit. Just a bit. There’s probably only two dozen or so. Gee. That’s all.

“My mate,” Raahosh says in a low voice. “When I say run, you must run. Do not argue.”

What is he talking about? Is he going to distract them so I can run away? “What? No! I—“

“Liz,” he says again, warningly. I look over and his hand clenches on his spear. “Do not argue with me. Now — go!” With that, he gives a battle cry and surges forward.

Fuck that noise. I aim my first arrow and let it fly just as the first creature opens its mouth and lunges at me with a snarl.





Part Four




RAAHOSH



The scene before me is something out of my worst nightmares. Liz’s small form stands on the edge of the cliff, her strange weapon clenched in her hands. Metlaks – the wild, unpredictable creatures – surround her. I have seen them tear a hunter limb from limb in a matter of seconds, and I have seen them walk past another as if he did not exist. They are impossible to understand, and savage when provoked.

And a cub stands near Liz’s leg, which definitely counts as provoking.

“Run,” I command her again, but the stubborn woman doesn’t listen. Instead, she raises one of her bone-sliver arrows and aims, waiting. A protective fury comes over me when one of the metlaks bares its big, yellow teeth in my direction. They think to hurt my mate? To take her from me after waiting for so long? I will snap their bones and crush their filthy pelts under my boot before I let them touch her. A feral snarl escapes my throat and I pull one of my deadly bone knives free from its casing, my spear in my other hand.

Liz takes another step backward, ever closer to the edge of the cliff. My heart hammers in my breast, and a wave of pure fear moves over me.

“Liz,” I bark out as one of the metlaks prowls toward her. “Run past me. Go now. I will distract them. Quickly!”

“I’m not leaving you,” she calls out, not looking away from the metlak closest to her.

“Don’t be foolish,” I growl as it paces ever closer to her. Two more steps and he’ll be able to reach her with his long arms. She needs to move fast. “Come, Liz—“