“Savages,” one growls to the other. “We will kill them. Every one of them. We will take them apart, and we will make the others watch as we destroy them one by one by o…. ARGH!”
The scream is the sound he makes when the blade on the back of my forearm makes contact with his throat, slicing at the sinewy material which keeps his head attached to the rest of his body. I understand their desire to destroy humans, but that cannot happen. The timeline is already polluted. They must be destroyed as swiftly and mercifully as possible.
The first one is easy to wound, but the second one sees me coming, and is ready to defend himself.
“NO!” He cries the word at me with desperate rage. “NO!”
The word hits me in the gut. I stop.
The warboy and I stare at one another, and I feel something like guilt. The one I attacked is now lying on the ground with blood seeping from his neck. I haven’t killed him, but he is not long for this world if he does not receive aid.
“Scythkin!” The warboy on the ground gasps as his friend kneels beside him, putting pressure on the wound which should have been fatal but for the fact that I did not put enough aggression into it. I know how to kill. Why did I not kill? In this moment, there should be three warboy corpses and no witnesses.
I have felt, over time, as if I am not always in control of myself. Sometimes I am as confused by my actions as Krave is. I came all the way out to the battle zone against his orders, because I felt compelled to be there. I didn’t have a choice to refuse. Now I have let two enemies live, at least for another moment or two, and I do not know why.
“Truce,” the last warboy says. “Let me tend my man. I have lost one brother today. I do not want to lose another. Nor do I want to slay you.”
I say nothing, but I do not stop him as he does his best to tend to his brother’s wound. The warboy clotting factors are powerful, and the furred pelt of their bodies creates a thick matting of natural bandage. I watch as the unharmed warboy bends down and licks at the slash, and more swiftly than I could imagine being possible, the bleeding slows.
“Thank you,” he says, looking up at me with those deep eyes.
I remain silent, ashamed of myself. They should be dead. I should not be suffering them to live.
“My name is Zell,” the unharmed warboy says. “Were you stranded on this planet too?”
I’m not ready to converse with what should be my prey.
I would never have given quarter in any other time, or any other place, but something inside me has been in the process of changing. I felt it from the moment I met Tres, but it never manifested until this moment, where I find myself standing back and letting the warboy save his brother’s life. What is happening to me? Is it the effect of the planet? Or is it the woman who has changed me… did mating with her destroy some fundamental part of me? I am confused, and I do not like being confused. It usually makes me angry, and therefore aggressive.
“You are my enemies.”
“We were deployed by Galactor,” Zell says. “That’s true, but we are not your enemies, Scythkin. Not now. We’re trying to survive this planet. And you can see, that is not easy. Flenders was a strong warrior, and look what these humans have done to him. Join with us. Defeat the humans…”
“Stop,” I growl. “We may be stranded here, but that is not the fault of the humans. They kill because it is their nature to kill. You are intruders here, as am I. If we die at their hands, it is because we are weak and we deserve it.”
Zell’s eyes flash with rage. I know he wants to attack me for having said that. I am calling the honor of his fallen brother into question. But it is also the truth. We are the ones who do not belong, and the consequences of our presence cannot be borne by the humans.
“I will not kill you if you agree to leave the planet with me when the time comes, and if you agree to stay clear of the humans, even the ones who did this terrible thing. I will allow you to live if you agree to follow my command. You will do what I say, and only what I say.”
“We outnumber you,” Zell says.
“You wish to give me a reason to kill you both? Or are you suggesting that I finish your brother off and enlist you under my command?”