Page 21

Chapter

Seventeen

T heir mate was a bundle of nerves. Something had put her on edge, and it was not the Ragoru, of that much Gehj was certain.

Nor was she concerned over a frightened nestling since Lily was currently climbing all over Zemb with rampant curiosity.

Not only did she greet him with the excitement of a curious nestling, but the young male had an eager-to-please personality and overall genial bearing that seemed to both welcome and encourage her immediate fascination.

At least that had worked in their favor.

He was certain that if Lily had been awakened by the fight and had been frightened, Agrel would have insisted on removing the Ragoru from their midst. It was not that his ahaku was unsympathetic, but he tended to be led by strong emotions.

What made him a loving and genial ahaku and mate was risky toward anything or anyone that potentially threatened those he considered his family.

And Agrel was still twitchy as he was coming down from his state of heightened aggression that had been triggered in protecting their mate.

A frightened nestling would have likely pushed him too far despite Zemb’s innocence and pitiable situation.

He doubted even Delilah would have been able to talk reason into him before he chased the male off.

“Lily, Zemb is not a tree. I’m sure he doesn’t enjoy being climbed on,” Delilah gently chided.

Lily’s little face peeked from around the male’s ruff to pout at her mother. “But he’s so fluffy. Even more than Nimh!”

Gehj chuckled quietly under his breath and discreetly refocused on his cooking. The Ragoru was definitely that.

“I do not see what is so great about fur,” Agrel commented as he dropped an armful of firewood beside him. “My crests are far more impressive.”

Gehj smirked up at his ahaku but offered no comment. It was such a silly thing to be jealous over. “You know Lily loves your feathers… and more importantly, our mate appears to prefer them,” he casually replied as he turned the spits over the fire.

“You do not have to always be so reasonable,” Agrel replied, but it was said without heat and an easy smile slipped across the male’s face.

“Very well, you are correct. And he is useful. He does not shirk from anything asked of him and is even happy to keep Lily entertained. Few males his age are so affable.”

Nodding in agreement, Gehj glanced toward their mate. Her gaze was attentively trained on the Ragoru, her expression thoughtful. He doubted that it was because of the male’s geniality.

“What are your plans now, Zemb?” Delilah asked.

Zemb glanced up with a mild expression of surprise and shrugged as he gave her a lopsided smile, his left ear lowering ever so slightly with his good humor.

“I was thinking about heading to Ragoru territory in the northlands. My parents chose not to settle there as they did not wish to set aside the life they were accustomed to in order to live closely among others, but it does not sound so bad to me. I did not have any siblings and with my mother and fathers gone, it would be nice to have some kind of family.”

Delilah’s brows knitted in confusion, and even Gehj paused to glance over at the male.

They had traveled south for a great many days before even encountering their mate’s village and since then have traveled many days more.

And this was without ever setting eyes on the northlands of the Ragoru territory.

It was much further north, further beyond where they had started before heading south.

“Zemb… do you know how far that is?” she gently queried.

He shrugged again but looked away, distracted, as Lily tumbled over his shoulder, dropping into his lap.

Agrel started forward, but Gehj thumped him on the leg with his tail feathers.

His ahaku gave him a questioning look, but Gehj shook his head in silent warning to cease hovering over their nestling.

Agrel frowned back at him, ruffling his wings briefly before joining Delilah and dropping to the ground to sit at her side.

His wing curled around reflexively, his eyes never straying far from Lily as if afraid to let her out of his sight in case she might bruise.

Gehj snorted quietly to himself. Gods forbid that happen, the male would probably lose his mind.

He would be a nightmare to live with if they ever had any more.

Now why did that make his heart squeeze with longing?

Glancing over at Zemb, he smiled as the male released a rough chuff of laughter and carefully set her back on her feet again.

“The northlands are many weeks’ journey through thick forests and mountain passes,” Delilah continued. “The huntsman won’t let you get that far.”

“I have outrun him this long,” Zemb cheerfully reminded her, but Gehj saw the shadow of doubt in his eyes.

Evading anything that hunted one was often more a matter of luck than anything else, and with a cunning predator, that luck would never last long before one was forced into a confrontation.

It was better to take control of the situation and turn the hunt back around on the hunter, but Zemb was young and inexperienced.

And given how thin he appeared, he was likely not a successful hunter himself to even make it that far, much less fend off an attack.

He did not wish to hurt the male’s pride, though.

“Can you hunt?” he inquired casually

Zemb hesitated. “Some,” he reluctantly admitted, his eyes drifting longingly toward their meal. He swallowed thickly, betraying his hunger. “I had only recently become old enough to begin hunting with my fathers when the huntsman came. But I have managed to catch some game, small animals mostly.”

Delilah expelled a sharp breath and shook her head. “I imagine that they haven’t taught you how to protect yourself, either.”

“They taught me some,” Zemb replied with equal reluctance. “I just need to get to the northlands and then?—”

Agrel snapped his wings impatiently, startling the young male enough that he drew his attention to him completely.

Agrel met his gaze firmly. “You cannot defend yourself, not from predators or these huntsmen… whatever they are. You are not only very vulnerable, but you cannot even feed yourself. How do you imagine that you will evade the huntsman long enough to even try? And if you, by chance, get lucky, do you imagine that you will get far before you starve to death?”

The Ragoru wilted and Gehj’s heart ached for him. Such truths were not uncomfortable to face, but it was better for him to confront it than be taken by surprise by the reality of the situation.

“That was harsh, Agrel,” Delilah chided with a sharp shove at his wing to emphasize her point.

His ahaku grunted in assent, but he offered no apology. He stood by his words, and the direct look he gave the young male conveyed as much. Their mate sighed and shook her head at his stubborn silence before addressing the Ragoru again.

“While Agrel just possessed the tact of a rolling boulder, he is not wrong. Huntsmen are tenacious and are trained to follow their prey over vast tracts of land. You will have to evade him, escape the dangers that the woods offer, and then must be concerned with feeding yourself on top of that. Even if you escape the attention of the huntsman, winter will come before you even arrive in the northlands, and the game doesn’t get any easier to hunt and the things that can kill you become substantially bigger and far more numerous.

In fact, the further north you go, your situation will become even deadlier if you weren’t taught how to defend yourself. ”

Peering over at their mate, Gehj cupped his wings around the fire to protect it from the shifting breezes as he considered his question. “What exactly is a huntsman?”

“Death,” Zemb said sorrowfully.

Delilah nodded. Drawing in a deep breath, she rocked back slightly until she was enclosed in more of Agrel’s wing.

“Death is about the sum of it,” she quietly agreed.

She glanced worriedly toward their nestling, but Lily had curled up against Zemb’s chest, her eyes closed in slumber.

A look of relief passed over her phase before she looked once more toward Gehj.

Dropping her voice to a quiet volume, she confided in them.

“Lily’s father was a huntsman, a member of an order of trained hunters.

He was trained to be a merciless killer of anything at all that the council determined was a threat to human safety.

I know that he was in more frequent contact with the leaders of the Order after word spread regarding the arrival of the Ragoru to our world.

He was secretive, and suspicious of everything.

Almost paranoid. And then one day he simply went into the woods and never returned.

We all believed that he was killed by something in the woods, it was easier to believe that, but the truth is that no one ever truly knew what happened.

What we do know is that communication with the Order ceased and they abandoned the village to die within the woods…

but as for her father, I… I don’t believe he is dead.

A huntsman is notoriously difficult to kill, and they live for the chase.

And if the Order sanctioned the killing of Ragoru—even if illegally, without the permission of the High Council—there would be no greater prize. ”

A chill worked up Gehj’s spine, and he ruffled his wings uneasily as he exchanged a look with ahaku.

“That is going to give me nightmares,” Agrel replied drily. “Thank you, Gehj. I could have lived many years in bliss without knowing that there is an entire clan of humans actively killing anyone they arbitrarily decide needs to be destroyed.”

“My fathers once told me that some males can turn rogue,” Zemb admitted.

“And they are dangerous, so I was to stay away from them. But, although we are territorial, Ragoru would not actively seek to harm anyone. We would just wish to live peacefully within our own territories. My mother and fathers were never a threat to anyone.” He glanced toward Delilah, his expression pleading.

Delilah sighed and nodded gravely. “The Order has done a good job frightening the populace against the Ragoru. I am sure they will do the same to the Atlavan, if given enough time. It is possible that word is already spreading and will make our journey south difficult if we get near any populated areas. But this is not what worries me the most.”

Gehj felt a prickling among his feathers, and he eyed his mate warily. “What worries you, swiya? ” Was a murderous clan of humans not enough?

She grimaced. “What worries me most is that if Zemb has been heading north this entire time, then that means that there are huntsmen further south than I ever believed. It is unlikely that this is just coincidentally a lone huntsman. They are far too organized to spread themselves out far for long-term hunts without a reliable regional network of outposts. This means that this huntsman may pose a danger to all of us.”

Agrel hissed quietly, his eyes shifting to Zemb. “And if he catches the Ragoru alone—which he will—he will certainly learn of our presence and come for us quickly.”

Zemb balked, his eyes widening fearfully. “I would not betray your presence in the southlands. You have been kind to me, I would never?—”

“Calm yourself,” Agrel cooed, his expression gentling. “I know you would not do so intentionally. And setting aside the matter of our safety, I would not rest well knowing a helpless juvenile was starving in the woods. It is a cruel death compared to our fires.”

“Agrel, what you are saying?” Delilah whispered, a look of alarm crossing her face as the Ragoru stiffened fearfully.

Gehj laughed softly as he peered humorously at their mate for a moment before allowing his gaze to drift over to his ahaku.

“Do not be afraid. He is suggesting that we take him with us. We would never leave a juvenile alone to starve, but nor would we offer a merciful death unless we had no other choice. Zemb is young and deserves every chance of survival.”

Tension drained from the stiff set of Delilah’s shoulders, and she half turned to sharply thump the male beside her. “Learn how to phrase things better so that you are not taking years off my life,” she huffed.

Zemb laughed with relief as Agrel wrapped his wings around their mate in an attempt to ingratiate himself to the annoyed female beside him.

All the while Lily dosed and Gehj chuckled quietly to himself as he returned his attention back to their meal.

Soon enough, it would be time to wake Lily to eat.

She would have a full belly before they began traveling once again.

If the huntsman was working his way north, then it was more imperative than ever that they strike for the south quickly, before he noticed that his prey had begun to move in a different direction.

Once they got to the mountains, all would be well.

Once they were in the mountains, nothing would be able to get near their family without their notice.