but I can hear the occasional clang of Brank’ox’s sword. Oh my God, he’s still fighting them! But he’d be much safer here.
“Brank’ooox!” I yell up through the hole. “Down heeeeere!”
The screeching and the metallic noises slowly get closer.
“Come down heeeere! Brank’oooooox!”
There’s suddenly a huge shadow, and I scramble to get out of the way as several hundred pounds of caveman come crashing down. He lands on his feet, but slips and falls over backwards.
Above, there’s a wild chorus of frustrated screeches. Brank’ox gets up and unceremoniously shoves me further into the cave as a whole bunch of toothed dactyl beaks spear through the hole.
But I don’t think they can get down here. Even Brank’ox only barely fit through.
He pushes me behind him so he’s between me and the hole. The dactyls sound more and more frustrated, and I start to think that maybe we made it.
After a little while I only hear flapping of wings that becomes more distant, and the screeching is gone.
“Is this the cave you meant?” I ask.
I have enough headroom to stand up in here, but Brank’ox has to bend his neck.
“It is,” he says, looking around. “I more smelled it than saw it when we passed going the other way.”
I scrunch up my nose. “Yeah, what is that smell?” It vaguely reminds me of something, something from chemistry class way back.
“Bigs lived here,” Brank’ox explains, peering into the darkness. “Or Smalls. For a very long time. Their droppings make the smell.”
I draw closer to him. “Do you think they still live here?”
“If so, they would be here right now to chase us out.”
“They moved out. Probably, it smells too bad for them, too.” I look up at him. “You took on the irox and won— oh, you’re bleeding!”
He has a gash up along his left arm and one on the abdomen. His thick, pink stripes prevented the last one from getting too deep, but the first one is dripping dark blood.
“I’m not sure who won,” he admits, looking at his wounds without any great interest. “I don’t think I killed any of them.”
“Those wounds must be cleaned,” I decide and take my backpack off. The wild run has shaken the contents, but the little medpack is well tied together, and the herbal paste still smells fresh. “Sit down on the ground.”
He looks at me. “These are small wounds. Probably no cleaning is needed. The irox are dirty, but not venomous.”
I put one fist at my hip and stare right back. “But I can be plenty venomous when someone refuses to see common sense. If those wounds become infected, how will you protect me on the way back to the village?”
The huge caveman sighs and slowly sits down so I can reach his injuries.
“That’s better,” I coo, still feeling the rousing effects of the not-tequila and the relief of the dactyls being gone. “Good warrior. I’ll just spread this on the gashes so no bad bacteria can harm you. It will sting a little.”
Smearing the green paste onto his skin and around the cuts, I marvel at the firmness of his muscles and the soft, suede-like texture of his stripes. They must act like some kind of natural armor.
Being this close to a male specimen like this makes me dizzy. His fresh, manly scent overpowers the stench in the cave when I go up close. His dirty-blond hair has an inner sheen to it, and his alien face is actually quite attractive. More striking than model-like, maybe, but I never liked too delicate features on a man.
Tending to the injury on his stomach, I can’t ignore the definite bulge in the kilt-slash-loincloth he’s wearing. I know that these guys are different from Earth guys in that area, but the married girls aren’t too specific about it. They will only say that it’s ‘very nice’.
“I can’t believe you chased them away,” I say while I work. “There must have been a hundred of them.”
He chuckles. “There were thirteen. But they can seem like many more than they are. I didn’t actually chase them away. If we didn’t have this cave to hide in, we would both be dead by now.”
“Killed by irox.” I shudder. “I was very nearly killed by one when we girls first came to Xren.”
“You were?”
“It took me in its claws and flew away with me. Then it dumped me and never came back.”
“It was saving you for later,” Brank’ox rumbles. “It knew where you could be found.”