Page 84 of The Hunter

“I am Nes’Kahn Shir. I stand with Kohl’Kar Sahn”—she gestured to the elder vrix, and then to the red-eyed male—“and Kin’Jahl Jehk. We serve as council, and thus, speak with the voice of our Nedrayas.”

“I am called Garahk ki’Tuun, Slayer of the Golden Walker.” Garahk thumped his chest. He introduced his companions one by one, including Telok, Lacey, and Cole, before continuing. “I do not lead Kaldarak, but our daiya is my mate. In her absence, I speak for Kaldarak. Mine offer peace and share your hope for friendship, Nes’Kahn Shir.”

“It is true under sun and sky,” Elharat said solemnly.

The council eased down onto their cushions. Sahn moved a bit slower than the other two, a slight trembling visible in his legs.

“Never have I thought I would see such a gathering,” the elder vrix said. His voice was thin, yet steady. “Thornskulls, a shadowstalker…and more humans. All here.”

“And in peace.” Jehk narrowed his crimson eyes, running them over Telok’s group. “But knowing what we do, why should we accept your word, Garahk ki’Tuun? Thornskulls and shadowstalkers have long made war on each other and many other vrix. Peace is ever fleeting with yours.”

Garahk grunted. “Ours are warriors. Our shar’thai blazes for all to see, and we give much honor to those who fall in battle. We have given war. We have been given war. But always we fight to once more claim peace. Years ago, we offered friendship to the Blooddrinker Queen of Takarahl. She answered with death. And mine fought.

“Scarhide fought also,” Garahk continued, pointing at Telok. “He and his brothers carry scars left by mine, as many of mine carry scars left by theirs. We gave war to protect ours.”

“And we gave war to protect ourselves, convinced by the queen that the thornskulls would slaughter us otherwise,” Telok said. “But long before we knew that Zurvashi’s greed was the true reason we were fighting, we questioned her war. We could not understand why such blood was being shed.”

Sahn hummed, leaning forward. “Yet you fought on.”

“With so much shar’thai ablaze, war is not easy to end. Blood demands blood while hearts beat with fire.” Garahk’s shoulders slumped, and his mandibles fell. “The Blooddrinker Queen gave war to broodlings and elders. The mire devoured many shadowstalkers, and many more thornskulls. When she turned back to Takarahl with hers, many of mine thought to follow. To slay her even if we would not return.

“But my mate, Nalaki, who became daiya when her broodmother fell in battle, gave her command. Remain in Kaldarak. Mourn. And see what remained after the Blooddrinker’s war. Our fury was slow to cool, but soon I saw, and I knew. More war would not bring back the dead or help the living rest easier. So many of ours had fallen, and if more strode to meet death, it would not help Kaldarak.”

Telok’s hearts constricted. He and his friends had been young and willing to die for Takarahl when they’d first joined the war. He’d not had the same thirst for glory as the others, but he’d refused to let his friends, his brothers, go and fight without him at their sides. He’d been unable to bear the thought of losing them, the thought of being separated by untold distance and not knowing they were safe.

“Many of us who fought for Takarahl realized it had all been a lie when we returned,” he said. “We knew the thornskulls had made no threats. But Zurvashi punished those who were not loyal, and she used her power to keep our kind suffering and weak so her Fangs and Claws could control us. Many of our friends and kin had died for her vanity, while the rest of us were left to suffer beneath her reign with little we could do about it.”

Garahk emitted a low buzz. “Much and many were lost. Mine watched the shadowstalkers for years after the war. Sometimes they would come to fight. To remind us that we had lost. We learned to hide, to see with all eight eyes. To fight only when there was no choice. I was leading our warriors in the mire when a group of shadowstalkers came near Kaldarak, striding with strange creatures.

“Mine watched. And we wondered. But soon we saw that ours were not the only ones watching and following. The Blooddrinker Queen’s warriors had chased them. We saw Ketahn, Spear in Shadows, and his human Ivy battle the queen’s warriors and kill them. And mine made sure none of the queen’s warriors escaped.

“I knew in full my daiya’s wisdom then. Thornskull and shadowstalker could be friends, and such strong shar’thai as theirs could only be a boon to Kaldarak. So I shared words with them in their camp and welcomed them to Kaldarak. When the queen came to hunt them, mine stood with theirs. Not to give war, but to protect ours. And these shadowstalkers and their humans had fast become ours.

“With all eight eyes, mine watched Ivy Foster slay the Blooddrinker Queen in a challenge. We watched her declare Ahnset tes Ishuun’ani Ir’okari new queen of Takarahl. Ahnset, who had denned in Kaldarak, who had befriended ours. And now there is true peace between Takarahl and Kaldarak, and friendship.”

“Takarahl has long made war,” Sahn said. “Before your thornskulls, they battled the fireeyes.”

“When will they make war upon us?” Jehk demanded, clenching his fists. “You say Kaldarak stood against Takarahl, but the cost was great. Our Nedrayas could not endure such a war.”

Garahk straightened. “The new queen of Takarahl is a mighty warrior. She fought mine with the Blooddrinker Queen, and to slay her would have brought much glory to any of ours. But she does not seek war.”

Shir tilted her head, regarding Garahk with contemplative eyes. “Even after all that has happened between yours and theirs, you would still speak in Takarahl’s favor?”

The white thornskull pounded his fist against his chest. “On my honor, on my blood and bone. I have given trust to Queen Ahnset because it has been earned.”

“Queen Ahnset has never sought war,” Telok said. “She joined the Queen’s Fang long ago not because she craved glory, but because she wanted to protect Takarahl. It took her long to see with all eight eyes that nothing in service of Zurvashi was in service to our kind, but she is dedicated to atoning for the wrongs that have been done in Takarahl’s name. Were she to learn of your Nedrayas, she would seek only peace.”

Shir’s gaze turned to Telok. “You speak as though you are quite familiar with her.”

“I am. I have known Queen Ahnset since we were broodlings. We do not share blood, but she is my sister all the same. And her hearts have always been filled with kindness and warmth. She does not use her strength to hold others down, but to raise them from the darkness. Since she has become queen, Takarahl has thrived. There is new life in the tunnels, and joy in the voices that echo along them. And her warriors have worked to find and destroy all those who remain loyal to Zurvashi and threaten both Takarahl and Kaldarak.”

The members of the council leaned toward one another and conversed in low whispers. Telok fought his urge to tighten his hold on Lacey, forcing back the tension threatening to resurge throughout his body.

When the council ceased their conversation and straightened, it was Sahn who spoke first. “Our Nedrayas has passed down stories from many years past. Before the time of my sire’s sire, and his sire, and on. They tell of a friendship between vrix of many kinds. They tell of a place where all would come together to exchange food and supplies, to share stories, songs, and dance. Long have we stridden the Tangle alone. We winddancers would see those friendships rekindled.”

“As would mine,” Garahk replied solemnly.

Though Telok did not know what had torn the vrix apart all those years ago, he knew greed and war had kept that rift wide. Shadowstalkers and thornskulls had forgotten those old friendships. Whatever relations their kinds once shared had long since been devoured by the Tangle.