Where the landscape had become rocky during winter, colorful saplings were sprouting from cracks in rocks and even seemed to grow from thin air.
The seasons shifted rapidly on this planet, and one that approximated spring had awoken.
What I’d thought were the airborne seeds of something analogous to dandelions became distinctly different when I attempted to brush one away from my face. The thing flexed, fluttered, and worked hard to escape. It curled and twisted through the air before it was captured by a breeze and vanished from sight.
The same breeze brought dozens more across my path. I didn’t see any fangs, stingers, or other indication they might be a threat, but they were new to me, as were the strange flowers. Some flowers hummed when I got close. Others curled into woody spheres and rolled a few inches before sprouting again as they tried to avoid being stepped on.
A few moments later, when another swarm of the fluffy not-seed things drifted past, Yaltu made it clear they weren’t a threat by batting them away from her face. Skrew confirmed it by picking them out of the air and eating them. He ate a lot of things I wasn’t interested in trying.
Beatrix, Reaver, and I had no problem with the altitude, but Yaltu and Skrew struggled. Both were unable to keep up with our rapid pace, so we slowed a bit. We ate what Reaver and I killed, but our diet was mostly seeds, bird eggs, and wrinkled animals Yaltu called shiggits.
Shiggits weren’t much to look at. They resembled rabbits, if you crossed them with an old man’s saggy ass, added fur, an extra eye on one side, and fangs where cute carrot-nibbling teeth should have been. On top of that, they didn’t have much meat. But what they did have tasted good. Skrew, never the picky eater, gobbled them up like he’d been eating them all his life. He ate the parts the rest of us rejected, too.
Their fur was soft and smelled of fresh hay. Yaltu spoiled Reaver’s dreams of turning the furs into clothing, though, by informing her that it was far too thin and went bad too quickly to make anything out of it.
As we progressed through the spring landscape, I thought of Enra and her people. The last time I’d visited them, my first impression was of power. They had caught a fish the size of a Marine barracks back home on Mars. If properly preserved, I was certain it would last the village a year, probably longer.
“I didn’t know there were humans here until I was forced into the arena,” Reaver said as we marched north. “I’ve never heard of the Ish-Nul. How many are there?”
“I’m not sure, and not just because some of them have been taken. I’d say at least 60, though. It’s a small village, but they’re efficient. You have to be when you live on rocky ground that’s difficult to farm. The ground up here is probably frozen most of the year and though there’s plenty of meat, vegetables are in short supply.”
“You seem to know a lot about them.”
“The first kind face I met on Druma was an Ish-Nul woman. She brought me back to her people and showed me their ways.”
“Skrew first kind face,” Skrew interjected.
“Like I said, the woman I saved was the first kind face I encountered.” I gave Skrew a playful shove, and he skittered along the ground before glaring at me.
“They don’t see the outside world much,” I continued. “They trade when they need to but pretty much keep to themselves. I think if they had a choice, they’d rather live where the ground is better for farming. But up here, they get their privacy, they aren’t as easy to attack, and bandits have a hard time reaching them.”
The landscape began to look more familiar. I wasn’t completely certain we were heading directly for the Ish-Nul, but I knew we were on the right path. I also knew that if we had to, we could walk along the beach and be sure not to miss the village.
“Took you long enough,” a deep voice suddenly said from the darkness of the woods to our right.
I drew Ebon, cursing myself for allowing an opponent to get so close unnoticed. Beatrix took a position behind me, while Reaver pulled Yaltu and Skrew into the center of our defensive formation.
A movement to my right drew my attention, and I watched carefully as a tall, hairy shape emerged into the moonlight. It resembled a bear, but its fur was multi-colored and appeared to be multi-textured as well.
I sheathed Ebon and grinned. The women surrounding me didn’t put away their weapons until I gripped the man’s hand and hugged him.
“Timo-Ran,” I said after we parted. “It’s good to see you. You do realize you didn’t surprise me.”
The hairy man laughed. “You were surprised,” he said from somewhere deep within the fur.
“Nope,” I said as the women looked on with confused expressions. “But if you took a bath once in a while, maybe you could sneak up on something, like a rock… or a tree, maybe.”
I paused while the big man roared with laughter.
“How are you, friend?” I asked.
Enra’s large cousin leaned back, a stern look in his eye. “I think what you really want to know is how Enra’s doing.”
A hint of a smile showed itself through his long beard. His furs made him look as large as a bear, but even while wearing nothing but a leather tunic, he dwarfed every other man I’d ever seen.
I smiled. “Well? Is she here?”
My heart stopped for a moment when I considered what answer he might give. Had she been taken again?
Thankfully, Timo-Ran nodded. “She’s good.” He frowned. “But not all of us are.”
His gaze darted to several spots behind me. I turned
