Stolen by the Zandian - Renee Rose Page 0,33

swallows and turns her head. “I don’t know. They were all sold before I was.” Her voice cracks, and she wipes her eyes. “Now it’s just me.” Whatever happened to the other humans, she’s clearly in pain.

“Kailani.” I hold her closer. “I’m sorry.”

“But I’m away from the Kraa.” She sounds surprised, still, at this new twist of fate. “And alive. I’m grateful.”

Outside the cave, the hail is gone, and the rain has lessened to a drizzle. The newly formed river below us still roils like it’s alive, a thick, silver-gray serpent angrily twisting along the landscape. An entire uprooted tree bobs along like a branch in the furious waters.

“That river is impassable. But at least the sky is calm enough that we could leave the cave.” She leans forward and looks up at the gray sky. The two suns are hidden behind thick clouds, but a single wan ray tentatively shoots out.

“And that’s a problem. Because if we can venture out, so can the locals. And you can be sure they’re coming for us.”

Chapter 8

Kailani

I crawl out of the cave and peer left and right; there are no signs of life at all—no antlex, no natives. Just the roaring water, and beyond it, the fields. And somewhere far in the distance, I assume, our bags of flowers. The sky is still gray, but little patches of silver and pink peek through, making that solitary beam of sun seem friendly. Like nature is on our side.

“We need to get across that water first.” Khrys stands beside me, tall and powerful. “We’ll find the narrowest part of the wash and lay something across it. Perhaps I can find a tree trunk as a bridge.”

But even as he speaks, the water slows down. “Or not. It is seeping into the ground that quickly?” He sounds surprised. “The soil here is different from Zandia.”

“That’s good for us.” I stretch out my calves as the water recedes, almost as quickly as it came. “Khrys, please, can we go back and check for the flowers?”

The supplication in my voice is painful to hear, but without them, I don’t know how I’ll make it. He looks into my eyes for a long second, clearly trying to make some kind of decision. All I can do is hope he’ll choose the path that leads to less pain for me.

He sighs. “All right. But any signs of trouble, and we turn back instantly. Clear?”

I nod immediately. “Yes, Master.”

Where did that come from?

He seems as surprised as I, but a slow smile spreads across his face. “I like the sound of that on your pretty lips,” he murmurs, leaning in closer.

For a split second, I think he’s going to kiss me—and I lean in, dying for the contact, but the sound of a cracking branch has us both whirling.

“Just a falling rock.” Khrys points as some boulders loosened by the storm rattle down the hillside into a swatch of broken branches.

His shoulders straighten, and he looks focused. “Let’s go.”

To my utter joy, we find the tan bags untouched, right where we dropped them. There are no antlex around now, and the unpicked flowers are shredded to a pulp. The once-full field is now a vast marshy wasteland of broken stems and crushed petals, and all of the pollen has been washed away.

“Thank stars these are here.” I grab the two sacks I filled as Khrys takes his own. The waterproofing seems to have held, and that makes me almost gleeful with relief.

There’s a strange squeak beneath my boot. I scream and jump. “What is it?”

I step backward, ready to attack, heart racing, but it’s only a small creature. About the length of my forearm, it’s got blueish fur and large golden eyes. It stares up at me from the muck and moves its littles paws upward as if begging for food. Squeak.

“Khrys? What is this?” I’m entranced and on guard at the same time. “It’s so… cute.”

He bends down. “I’ll be sword-sliced. It’s a whimmit.” he laughs. “Master Seke’s information didn’t say those lived here.”

“Is it toxic?” I ask although from his demeanor, I can guess that it’s not.

“Not to Zandians or humans. They’re a kind of rodent. Not the smartest. Look.” He reaches down and touches the thing on its back. “They have no sense of danger.”

It immediately arches upward into his hand and makes a loud rumbling noise. “Stupid. I could kill it or eat it at once.”

He taps it a little harder. It growls at him as