A Girl From Nowhere (The Firewall Trilogy #1) - James Maxwell Page 0,43

enough for a rest period.

He squinted and finally saw a tall, muscular figure approaching the column, silhouetted by the rising sun. The figure was too upright for a bax, and too tall and broad to be a skalen, or even a human. Taimin blinked, and realized that there was a much slighter, stick-like figure trailing behind. A cord trailed from the hand of the bigger figure, dragging the creature along by its neck.

The two shapes moved past the sun and now he could see them clearly. He heard Lars mutter under his breath.

“Just what we need. A trull.”

“A trull with a captive mantorean?” Taimin frowned.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen it. The mantorean is a female, of course. He’ll have her eggs.”

Although he was alone, the trull approached the column without fear. He was more than six feet tall, but it was his frame that caught Taimin’s attention. His body looked like it was entirely made of muscle, without an ounce of wasted flesh on him. His broad face was dominated by a snubbed nose, flattened against his face, and his upper jaw was larger than his lower, leaving long, yellowed incisors to curve halfway down his chin. His head was covered in lank hair that hung to his broad shoulders, and his dark eyes, while large, looked surprisingly human. He wore an animal-skin vest and frayed leather trousers.

The mantorean that the trull dragged behind him was clearly weak. The trull remorselessly yanked her along and occasionally turned his head to snarl something back at her. She was slighter than the mantorean that Taimin and Selena had rescued, but had the same triangular head, beady black eyes, and pair of antennae.

As Taimin continued to examine the approaching trull he remembered the things his father and Abi had told him. Trulls were aggressive. They didn’t get along well with the other races, nor each other, and were rarely seen in groups. Most often they traveled the wasteland, stealing and raiding.

Taimin watched an old skalen leave the column to meet the trull and his captive. Her neckpiece was steel and similar to Rees’s, but with an additional circle of tiny green shards around the perimeter. Where Rees had a handful of dark feathers sprouting from his scalp, the older skalen’s feathers were white, and age had weathered her reptilian skin. Nonetheless, her clothing was well-made and she held her back straight.

“You’ve heard them mention Rees’s mother, Group Leader Vail?” Lars glanced at Taimin. “My guess is that’s her. She’s the one in charge of this column.”

“Group Leader,” the trull said in a harsh, barking voice. “I claim trade rights.”

“Why would I trade with you?” Group Leader Vail came to a halt and scowled. The trull looked strong enough to crush her neck with one hand, but she wasn’t intimidated.

“I am in need,” the trull growled. He held up a satchel. “I risked much to capture this mantorean. I have her eggs with me, but I have no food.” He jerked his chin at the mantorean, who stood with her shoulders slumped just behind him. “She is a mystic.”

Lars gave Taimin a worried look.

“What does it mean?” Taimin asked.

“Vail will trade for her,” Lars said. “The mantorean will do anything to protect her eggs. She’ll cast in any way the group leader wants her to.”

Out in front of the column, Group Leader Vail shook her head. “I already have mystics.”

The trull pointed at the mantorean. “She has cast a firestorm ahead. You skalen are heading straight for it.” He lifted his chin. “Tell me, have your own mystics seen the danger?”

“A firestorm?” Vail rubbed her chin. “Where?”

The trull snarled. “She will never tell you, not unless I give you her eggs.”

Group Leader Vail addressed the insect-like creature. “Is this true?” she asked.

The mantorean gave a weary nod. Taimin saw that she had a gash as long as his finger on the side of her face. “There is a firestorm. I do not have permission to tell you anything more.”

Vail frowned. “If you have her eggs, why drag her by a cord?” she asked the trull.

“She is weak,” the trull grunted, “but I am sure you can remedy that.”

“How much food do you want?”

“I want skins too,” the trull said.

As the bargaining began, Taimin turned to Lars. “What does this mean for us?”

Lars’s lips thinned. “It can’t be anything good. Selena is not as useful as she once was.”

The column had halted without explanation. Selena tried to see through the lizard-like figures ahead