The Alien's Revenge - Ella Maven Page 0,5

side of me. “Wait, why is he coming with us?”

“Crius is a good tracker,” Gar said. “Almost as good as Ward.”

I held back a groan. “But—”

“He can show you tracking better than I can.” His black eyes speared me, leaving no room for argument. “You wanted to learn, so you’re going to learn.”

He looked away and signaled for the gates to open.

Crius shot me a smug grin.

Ugh, the bastard.

I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the gates to open. The only option was to suck it up. I could deal with Crius’s presence as long as he actually taught me something. My bid for a bit of freedom just became a whole hell of a lot less fun.

After leaving the gates, we entered a dense area of forest which covered a large section of the continent where the Drixonians made their home. Occasionally we saw remnants of their war with the Uldani.

Charred stone walls of what once had been Uldani dwellings were hidden among the dense foliage. In fact, the Night Kings barracks where most of the males now lived had once been some sort of Uldani resort along the coast.

I stepped as lightly and quietly behind Gar and Crius as I could. They didn’t talk much, but when Crius would point out some tracks, I’d stoop down to peer under his arm. I couldn’t see that great, so I’d wait until he moved on before I would study it closer.

For a being with such a large mass, Gar was stealthy. Twigs didn’t even crack beneath his big boots.

How did he do that?

He carried a weapon in one giant fist which resembled a crossbow. While the Drixonians owned solar guns, they didn’t use them to hunt since they burned too much flesh and fur. Gross, but fact. Seeing as antella meat made up a large part of the warrior’s diet, they didn’t want to waste anything. From the tongue to the tail, every bit of the animal was used for something.

We came across some salibri tracks. I hadn’t seen a live one yet, even though I slept under one of their furs every night, but Val had seen one. She said it looked a lot like a saber-toothed tiger.

While Gar walked ahead, I watched very closely as Crius pointed out the tracks in the dirt and marks on the nearby tree trunk. “They mark their territory with their fangs.”

The indentations were wet. I went to touch it when Gar’s deep voice cut through the air. I immediately stilled, only to find he was about ten feet away, glaring. “Salibri saliva won’t kill you, but it’ll burn.”

“Ew.” I took a step back. “Good to know. Thanks Gar.”

He gave me a sharp nod, then shot Crius an indecipherable look. Was he wondering why Crius hadn’t informed me of this? Because I sure was.

“Don’t touch it,” he said to me with a shrug.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yeah, thanks to Gar I know that now.”

He only gave me a lazy blink like he couldn’t have cared less.

I so didn’t like this guy.

We continued walking, and I learned how to spot nests where hunners lived. I also got an unwelcome lesson on pivar droppings, so I could avoid a herd of those meat-eating hippo-like bastards.

Finally, we found some antella tracks, and as much as I hated seeing these animals killed—they were kind of cute—the Drixonians only killed what they needed for meat, and only mature adults. Babies and fertile females were left alone.

Crius, finally realizing he had a purpose on this excursion, showed me the difference between antella rub marks from their antlers and the more aggressive marking of the salibri fangs.

Up head, Gar held up a hand, silencing Crius. I crouched but couldn’t see a damned thing. I assumed up ahead was an antella, but all I could make out was a blur of blue foliage.

Gar lifted his crossbow, notched an arrow, and shot.

I only heard a solid thunk and then a thud as the animal fell.

I silently mourned the loss of the animal while also thanking it for the food it would provide us. The warriors had more mouths to feed now, with the addition of us humans, especially because three of those humans were growing babies.

Gar motioned for us to stay where we were and then turned to retrieve the animal. I stood up slowly and returned my attention to the antella rubbings seeing as I had no intention of engaging in small talk with Crius.

He, however,