Page 10 of Flower of Seshana (Tales from the Darvel Exploratory Systems #1)

Chapter

Ten

Q uillen followed his female overhead from the trees, his wings helping him glide from one to the next with ease. She had been quiet lately, and he did not like it. Nor did he like that she had snuck away from their nest and the nara at such an early hour to venture so close to the edge of the mountain. It was both out of worry for her safety and how Therxian and his hunters might perceive her activities that sent him after her the moment she was gone. Therxian was just waiting for some small sign of duplicity, and if he thought she was trying to communicate with her alien nara from the mountain in order to betray their position, he would not hesitate to retaliate.

Although he was not certain to what lengths the lead hunter would go to when it came to Alexandra, he was certain that he did not wish to find out. So he maintained a steady pace above her, watching with reluctant amusement as she fought against the brush and trees below.

“What is she doing?” a voice hissed from a branch just above them, startling Quillen enough that he nearly fell out of the tree.

His wings stretching wide, he managed to stabilize himself before delivering a sharp look to his contrite nest brother grimacing apologetically above him.

“I do not know,” he replied, “but she appears to be heading toward Terishal’s Lament.”

He left unspoken any reminder that the cliffside was not only named for ill-fated mates but was the same place where he had discovered his mother. He did not wish to speak of it and summon the sense of dread from the pit of his stomach, but he knew that Kethan recalled judging by the way the male’s gavo flattened uncomfortably.

“Why did you let her get this far?” Kethan quietly called down to him, and Quillen’s gavo snapped irritably.

“As if I have control over her,” he hissed in return. “I am more concerned about Therxian discovering her out here, but I do not wish to frighten her.”

Kethan peered at him in disbelief. “And you think that hovering above her like a gorshiga is not going to do it?”

Quillen quietly groaned. He had not considered that part. Thankfully she had not caught sight of him or else she would have alerted every predator and Vahel nearby with her scream. Although humans did not have vocalizations as powerful as the Vahel, he was certain that it would still attract plenty of attention.

“Our ashlava is a strong female,” he replied confidently instead.

Kethan snorted. “Strong or not, it is better to approach her from the ground where she can hear us coming. Either way, this is not a good place, and I do not think she realizes that it is directly within sight of the path most of the hunters take when they leave the nara.”

That was a good point and one he had not thought out thoroughly. Snapping his gavo in agreement, Quillen dropped from the tree, spreading his wings only to slow his descent just enough that he did not land hard. He could not keep his drop entirely quiet, however, and when his coils hit land, he sank low on them with his hands pressed to the ground on either side of him and he waited with bated breath for any sound of alarm. When it did not come, he relaxed and straightened only to snap his wings open with surprise when Kethan appeared suddenly at his side.

“Where did you come from?” he quietly demanded.

Kethan gestured to an open grassy spot a short distance behind them, and Quillen gritted his teeth. Of course.

“You could have said something,” Quillen grumbled.

“You appeared determined to drop exactly where you were,” Kethan pointed out. “I figured that you had the matter handled. I am not the most silent hunter and so I selected a spot to compensate for my shortcoming.”

Quillen sighed, but he did not attempt to fight back his smile at the other male’s logic. As if anyone would ever believe that Kethan would have any kind of shortcoming aside from his unfortunate bond with a cursed male such as Quillen.

“Come on,” he grumbled. “We need to fetch Alexandra before she is spotted, or worse, kills herself on those rocks.”

Kethan murmured his agreement and together they darted forward, their wings fanning the air to increase their speed as they glided over the mountainous forest floor. Small rocks bit into his flesh and some of the tiniest pebbles became lodged between his scales but Quillen did not reduce his speed, nor did he pause to rest. He raced forward, spurred by a heightening urgency. Something was itching beneath his scales, warning him to go faster. He had to go faster to save her. He had been unable to save his mother, but by the gods, he would save his mate!

His breath rushed in and out of him as he pushed his body to its limit. He did not know what he expected to find but he felt a sense of relief the moment he spotted Alexandra at the edge of the cliff, the short yellow fur on her head billowing with the wind. She was there. She was safe. There was no grisly corpse rattling as it hung from the limbs of the tree overhanging the cliff. Those limbs did not even reach the top of her head as she busily worked with her head down, oblivious to her surroundings.

He intended to call out and alert her to their presence, but his words became lodged in his throat when he saw her lift her hands, holding a strange metal object. A whirling part at its top began to move and it started to rise up from her grasp and into the air, carrying with it a number of Alexandra’s priced specimen boxes. Clarity rushed to him in that moment. She was sending the samples down the mountain! Right under the nose of Therxian. His gavo standing high with his alarm, Quillen wound on his tail, giving him a clear view of the cursed thing. Therxian would certainly condemn her for this. He hissed vehemently, scooping up a rock in his hand as he did so, and tossed the projectile at the strange metal carrier with all of his strength.

The crack of impact rocketed through the air, and Alexandra cried out in dismay as the carrier tipped wildly to the side and plummeted. She was still staring down at it aghast when he arrived, and he could not help but join her in peering down at the bits of metal scattered over rocks where it crashed. Alexandra’s mouth moved silently in shock, but he was relieved that the look she directed was simply one of confusion.

“Why did you do that? My samples?—”

“I will return to collect them later,” he quickly assured her. “But you cannot be caught with this. Not here. You are directly within the flight path of the hunt!”

Alexandra’s mouth parted with horror as comprehension surfaced within her bright alien eyes. “Oh no. Oh my gods,” she whispered as she quickly unattached several little metal things and dropped them over the cliff. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just wanted to help the colony, I swear it. I had programmed the flyer to just take the samples there. But I didn’t program its return path. I have enough mini flyers to make several more deliveries—well, had,” she amended as she glanced down the cliffside.

“I will fetch them too,” he quickly promised. “Therxian?—”

“Quillen! They are coming!” Kethan hissed as he elected to fly the remaining distance and dropped to the ground at their side with a whip of his pale tail.

The alarm in his tone made Quillen’s gavo stand starkly upright in panic. Their wings rattled as they snapped them open to shield their ashlava as a shriek filled the air from above.

They observed a formation of three hunters flying overhead. Therxian broke away from his position at the lead and dropped to the ground, his tail looping protectively as it slid against the ground. Quillen froze as the male peered at them. Had he seen something to condemn Alexandra? If he had, would Quillen and Kethan be able to carry their mate to safety in time? His tail coiled, the muscles tightening as he mentally prepared to take flight, and he gamely met the male’s gaze with a bored tip of his head.

“Therxian? To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?”

The lead hunter’s gaze scanned the cliffside but when he returned Quillen’s regard there was no accusation within the depths of the male’s red gaze, just mild curiosity.

“I was heading out to hunt and noted your presence at this cliff of all places with your Alexandra,” he rumbled. “Is something amiss?”

Quillen blinked in surprise. Therxian was… concerned. Did he believe that Quillen was planning to throw his ashlava over the cliffside to appease his mother’s gorshiga? It was absurd. He knew what the entire nara believed, but he never imagined that Therxian would also believe that he was tainted and haunted by a female he tried to not even think about. But then the male cast a worried look in Alexandra’s direction and everything clicked into place. Quillen chuffed softly to himself, drawing the male’s attention back to him.

“There is nothing to worry about,” he assured the hunter. “I felt it was time to speak to Alexandra of certain events. And introduce her to Mother,” he added, tipping his head toward the tree into which his mother’s remains had been buried in a hollowed-out portion that had long since been resealed.

The outright lie sounded ludicrous to his own ears as Gamay was the only mother he recognized after being abandoned. That the act had resulted in his mother’s death had been unfortunate—even more so that he had been the one to discover her remains—but she chose to leave him and it was Gamay who had raised him with her own son as if there was no difference between them. And she had both met and quickly come to love Alexandra. So all that was necessary had already been accomplished as far as he was concerned. However, Therxian appeared to accept the excuse, and the male inclined his head in acknowledgment.

“That is right for you to do as a son,” the male said gruffly. “And a good step that you take with the female so that all things may proceed in the correct direction. No doubt it was difficult, but I congratulate you,” he added stiffly before withdrawing with a backward roll of his coils.

Quillen wanted to laugh but he tightened his lips, grateful that expressions of sorrow and restrained mirth could look so similar, and bowed his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kethan looking studiously away as if to take in the grim scenery of Terishal’s Lament. No doubt to keep his own emotions under control as he wrapped one wing around their ashlava’s shoulders.

“Now get your nest in order with your ashlava,” Therxian grumbled in parting, but he suddenly hesitated to peer speculatively at them. “Is it both of you?”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kethan stiffen. He knew that this question was one that his nest brother feared. “And if it is?” he queried.

To his surprise, Therxian merely snapped his gavo as if that were exactly what he expected. “Given your nesting habit, there has been much speculation around the nara whether she would choose one of you or bond with you both. All signs have pointed to the latter, but I was not certain which path you would choose.”

“We are both bonding,” he agreed, “and we both accept it.”

The male inclined his head in a short, respectful salute before giving him a tired look. “Good. Now finish this so that the nara can be at ease.” He gave one final glance toward the cliffs, his mouth tightening. “Do not linger here too long. This is a place of misfortune. It is not a good place for blessings.”

“Thank you, Therxian. That means more to me than I can say,” Quillen replied solemnly. “We will be leaving momentarily.”

The hunter inclined his head again. “Do not forget to notify the nara where you wish for the blessings to be held. I will be waiting for your word.”

He saw only the shadow of the male shift as he dipped his head once more. Therxian, fortunately, was not a male to waste words. Without farewell, the male sprung into the air with a powerful beat of his wings, another shriek vibrating through the air to communicate with the other hunters as he took to the skies, leaving them far behind.

“You are insane,” Kethan said, drawing up to his side. “What would you have done if he refused to believe your ridiculous story?”

“I was improvising,” Quillen hissed in turn, but the other male merely shrugged his wings, unconvinced.

“I think he did well,” Alexandra said, her eyes sparkling behind her glass lenses. “Especially considering that he had to think quickly to cover my mistake. I’m really sorry for causing so much trouble. I didn’t intend for any of this to happen. I suppose that I thought that I could just consider what I was doing as merely some sort of adventure if I had failed. I didn’t think enough about the risks.”

“You ought to have notified us of your intent and we would have explained to you why you could not,” Kethan replied in a low voice. He fell silent for a long moment, and Quillen’s softhearted nest brother sighed at the unhappy look on her face. “We know that you wish to help your people. It is admirable. But we have to consider the safety of the Vahel dwelling on the Zir. Although we would protect you from Therxian to the best of our abilities, his actions are not without reason.”

Quillen snapped his gavo in agreement as he gave Alexandra a solemn look. “Think of it beyond your desire to help the people of your colony, ashlava, and see it from the perspective of the Vahel. If your people realized that there were these resources here, but they also learned that the Vahel dwelled here as well, would they treat us as respectfully as you and seek to live in harmony with us and learn from us?”

He watched her eyes go round as she suddenly grew frightfully pale. Worried, he considered reaching over to offer her comfort, but she bit her bottom lip and shook her head as she made a sound of frustration. “Fuck! No. Corp would see you as an obstacle to needed resources and order your removal. I… I thought it was enough that the return path wasn’t recorded into the flyers. But you’re right. There hasn’t been any interest in exploring the mountains due to the dangerous conditions caused by the fog. Darvel considers unnecessary exploration of the planet a waste of resources. But if they knew what was in the Zir, they would eventually send teams into the mountains, and if you presented any kind of danger or obstacle to what they wish to acquire… it wouldn’t be good.”

“With the way they are invading the caverns, I am surprised that they have not yet encountered the Seshanamitesh,” Quillen observed with a dark chuckle.

That would be quite a meeting that would not pose well for this Corp. He promptly quieted his laughter, however, when Kethan glared over at him. Right. This was still their mate’s people.

“I assure you that this is something that Therxian has likely considered, and likely others on the council. And regardless of any sentimentality, he would have sought to prevent it. It is fortunate that Quillen discovered your absence and followed you,” Kethan replied in a low voice. “If we had not come in time… I do not wish to even think of what could have happened.”

A small frown marred her brow as she peered at them. “I didn’t realize that you felt so strongly. You speak as if you would have been devastated.”

“We would have been destroyed,” Kethan admitted, and Quillen nodded solemnly, his heart constricting painfully in his chest.

“Oh,” she whispered, and her hand rested in a fist against her heart. “I… I didn’t realize. I don’t know… I….”

Quillen smiled at the color rising to her cheeks. Ah, he understood. Straightening, he languidly stretched his wings. They had not been clear enough as to where their immediate intentions lay, and she was nervous about taking what she wanted. He had an idea of how to deal with it. “As you are adventurous enough to chance your life at Terishal’s Lament, how do you feel about another adventure?” He paused and thought his words over. “No, more of an experiment.”

Intrigue lit her eyes, and she smiled as she peered back at him. “What did you have in mind?”

“Pure carnality,” he rasped and then trilled when the sweet scent of her arousal washed over him.