Barbarian's Touch

Chapter One

Rokan

I am the only one not in a foul mood as we approach the strange cave that carried new humans to our world. Raahosh and Haeden walk in front, both surly and unpleasant because of the long journey. They wish to be home with their mates, curled up beside the fire and sharing furs. My brother Aehako walks behind them, his arm around his mate, Kira. They miss their kit and do not want to be here, either, but Kira feels obligated.

Near me, Hassen, Taushen, and Bek bicker over the human females we are traveling to retrieve. Bek and Hassen are both convinced that the females will take one look at them and resonate, like Vektal did to Shorshie. Their snappish retorts have made Taushen unhappy; if they will both get a mate, will there be one left for him? He does not like the odds.

Me? I walk silently, listening to their conversations with amusement. The day is cold but pleasant, and we are healthy, so I have no complaint. My brother is here if I am lonely and need company-but I do not. My younger brother Sessah is home with my father and mother. I have no mate waiting for me. I am content.

But my mood is light because my body is humming with anticipation.

Something big is coming. I do not think it is resonance, but my strange "knowing" feeling is prickling over my skin. I feel it when a large storm is rolling in, or when someone in the tribe is in danger. My brother's mate, Kira, calls it een-too-itchen. Humans have many words, and I do not grasp most of them. To me, it is just knowing. Like I can look at Bek and know that he will not find a mate here. Not here, not now. The time is not right. I know that in my heart as much as I know something life-changing is down in that strange human cave.

What, I do not know. But I am eager to see it.

I do not share this, though. Bek is still struggling to find his pride after Claire left his furs for Ereven. It has been a long journey here, and will be a long journey home. It will be that much longer if he is filled with anger the entire time. I study the others as they bicker to see if I get a similar feeling from them, but there is nothing. I shrug. It does not always work.

"What about you, Rokan?" Taushen asks, rousing me from my reverie. "What color mate would you want? Red like Har-loh or brown like Tee-fah-nee? Or yellow like Leezh?"

I shrug. "If there is a mate for me, I do not care what color she is." Humans have many strange features, but when I see Aehako looking at Kira's flat, smooth face with adoration, I know it does not matter. She can have three noses, and if I resonate to her, I will cherish all three of them.

Hassen makes a hissing sound of irritation. "Why do you bother to ask him, Taushen? He refuses to play this game. He does not care if he mates. That means the females are for us that care."

"That is not how it works and you know that," I add, amused at Hassen's possessiveness. "Just ask Haeden."

Haeden simply snorts, but his response has no real ire behind it. He misses his mate too much.

I increase the pace of my steps, pulling away from the others. If they wish to argue and ruin the day, they will do so without me. I pull out my bow and nock an arrow, scanning the skies. Raahosh and Leezh have been giving me lessons and now I am as good with this weapon as with my spear, if not better. It will give me more leverage against a sky-claw if one should appear. There are many in the area, which is concerning, especially to Aehako. We are big enough to be ignored, but my brother's mate is just small enough to be carried off. He keeps a rope tied at his waist, linking them together in case of attack, and Kira walks in the center of our party. So far the sky-claws have avoided our band, but it never hurts to be vigilant.

I have good reason to be cautious. Half-eaten dvisti litter the landscape, blood spattering the white hills. The sky-claws found a herd here recently and shredded their kills. They are messy eaters, and I frown as we pass another carcass with the belly torn out and not much else eaten. The creature's body is frozen, the blood forming icicles on the rib cage, but all I can think is how much meat has been wasted. My tribe would make use of all of the animal, right down to the bones and hooves. On the next crest is a metlak carcass, freshly dead. The stench of its filthy fur makes Taushen complain.

A peaceful journey, this is not. But it is a necessary one.

At least two humans have been found in the remains of one of the strange caves that Kira and her people swear fly through the stars. They sleep, unaware that they are on our world, and Kira is determined to rescue them. As the tribe still has several unmated males-myself included in those numbers-the thought of more mate-able females is an exciting one. Sometimes I cannot grasp how much our tribe has changed in a handful of seasons. Before, there were four females and three kits. Now there are sixteen females and the caves swarm with newly born kits.

I have not resonated, but this is not surprising to me. I know each human female, and though they were attractive enough in their human way, they did not set off my knowing feeling. Now they are all mated, so it does not matter. Maybe I shall never mate.

"There," says Raahosh, pausing ahead. He gestures in the distance. "The ship is below, in the valley. I see the red flame, just like you said, Haeden."

Haeden nods, staring off in the same direction. I move to their sides and gaze down, getting my first look at the flying cave. I remember the one that Shorshie and the other humans arrived in, with its strange square shape and odd black-stone walls. This one is of a similar shape, though the cave mouth looks more like a backpack that has been torn open to spill its contents.

Near the entrance, a strange red "flame" blinks and then goes black. A scarce breath later, it blinks into brilliant light again. Strange. Around it, the snow has melted and a semicircle of sky-claw carcasses surround it.

"Is that fire?" I ask, watching it blink out and return again. "How does it remain burning after so long?"

"It is a light like the ones in the ancestors' cave," Haeden explains. "It-"

A sky-claw screams overhead, the shadow of wings falling over us. I aim my bow even as Aehako shouts and dives to cover his mate. I squint, aim my arrow, and then instinctively move it ahead of the target and let it fly. A moment later, it connects in the exact spot my knowing tells me it will be, and it sinks deep into the creature's gut. Blood splatters onto the snow like rain, but the creature doesn't circle back to us. Rather, it flaps harder, continuing into the valley, heading right for the flame, which blinks back into existence once more.

As I ready another arrow, Raahosh makes a sound of disbelief. My gaze rips back to the cave, and as I watch, the sky-claw dives. Its maw opens, and a moment later, there's a terrible cracking noise that rips through the valley as it slams into the light and then crumples, wings spread, to the ground, piling on top of the others.

"It just broke its neck," Haeden says in a low voice, and rubs his own throat, staring down into the valley.

I lower my arrow slowly. "Is that what is killing the sky-claws? They do not like the flame?"

Raahosh snorts. "We need one of those fires in front of our cave."

Haeden gives him a surly look. "What, and draw every sky-claw on this side of the mountains to us?"

The two exchange irritated glances and then Raahosh stomps farther along the trail, heading for the valley. I follow close behind. This place is strange. I have hunted here before, but never has it felt as eerie and unwelcoming as now. Even the mountains seem uneasy with the new landscape.

"Let us get the females and leave this place," Haeden says, gripping his spear and moving forward. "The sooner they are retrieved, the sooner we are homeward bound."

I glance back at my brother. Aehako has helped his snow-covered mate back to her feet. She nods as Taushen approaches and offers a hand. "I'm good. Let's just go. Haeden's right-the sooner we're done here, the sooner we're home."

They are right. The sooner we leave this place, the better. I do not need my "knowing" to tell me that. Even without the threat of sky-claws and the strange alien cave, this is deep into metlak territory, and they do not like sa-khui.

We make our way down through the valley, sidestepping the sky-claw corpses, and enter the cave. It's a large, dark room, as big as the enormous central cave of the tribal home. The floor is covered with a fine sheen of snow, which melts as we step on it, but there are no tracks and no dead animals. Traces of Haeden and his mate Jo-see's days spent here remain, and we start a fire in the abandoned pit, because Kira is shivering.

The bickering does not stop now that we have arrived, though. Taushen and Bek make fire, squabbling the entire time. Hassen guards the entrance, casting looks back at Kira as she sits by the fire to warm herself. Raahosh and Haeden work on sweeping out the cave and I work on carving up the frozen quill-beast carcass I have carried slung at my belt for the morning, thanks to a lucky arrow near dawn. It will make a warm meal for Kira, who cannot handle the cold as well as we sa-khui.

Kira and the new humans, I remind myself. I glance over at Hassen, who has his arms crossed over his chest, scowling. Impatience vibrates through his body and it does not take my "knowing" to see that he's soon to explode. I slice chunks of tender meat off the hide and drop them into the hanging pouch for stewing. Tension fills the cave, broken only by the chatter of Kira's square little human teeth. Nearby, Bek stokes the fire higher while Aehako shakes out furs, freeing them of ice.

I drop the last bit of meat into the stew pouch and open my drinking skin, adding water and a bit of my mother Sevvah's favorite spices. I stir it with a long thigh bone and then drop it into the broth to add flavor.

"Well?" Hassen explodes. I look up as he stalks away from the entrance, spear forgotten. He is vibrating with frustration. "We are here! Free the females! Where are they?"

Aehako jumps to his feet, a snarl on my brother's normally laughing face. "Let my mate thaw her fingers before you demand-"

"It's okay," Kira says in her soft voice, interrupting before the argument gets ugly. She blows on her fingers to warm them and then gets to her feet, a faint smile on her face. "Everyone's excited. I get that."

Aehako growls. "Sit by the fire-"

She shakes her head. "I can do it." Ignoring her mate's protests, she pats his arm and then wanders to the back of the strange cave, her gaze fixed on the wall. "It's just finding the releez hatsh."

"The what?" Hassen charges forward, and Aehako steps between him and Kira, glaring. I get to my feet; if we choose sides, of course I will choose my brother. Raahosh moves to Aehako's side as well, glaring at Hassen's impatience. Haeden moves to the entrance, picking up the guard post that Hassen has abandoned.

I look over just as Kira touches the strange, bubbled wall of the cave. A moment later, a hissing noise cuts through the air, and steam fills the air. Haeden hesitates, and Aehako turns to his mate, rushing to her side.

Something pale and human-sized falls out of the wall and into Kira's arms. It is a female, all snow-colored limbs and a mane of dark, wet hair, which clings to her soft skin like vines. Her thin clothing is damp and sticks to her body, outlining high breasts and a curving waist.

A groan escapes me before I realize it. I did not realize that the female would be so perfect. I touch my chest. My khui is silent but I cannot deny that the sight of the new human female has hit me like a thunderbolt.

Haeden glares at me, grabbing a discarded fur wrap from the flooring and moving forward to cover the female up. He takes her from Kira's and Aehako's grasp and settles her gently on the ground.

Her eyes flutter open-pale white with a glassy green center. Her strange eyes blink, and I take a step back. I do not wish to scare her.

Chapter Two

Lila

My first waking thought? How cold everything is. So damn cold. Like frost in my veins. It's like I've been dumped in a freezer with nothing but a wet nightie on. No panties, no shoes, no nothing. Just my nightshirt, which clings to my prickling, shivering skin.

Then I wonder why I'm nearly naked, wet, and freezing my butt off. What's happening? Why am I here instead of back home in the apartment I share with my sister, Maddie?

Dizzy, I vaguely realize someone's helping me sit up. My eyes are having trouble focusing, and my mouth feels like I chewed on a dirty sock. I blink repeatedly, even as something soft and fuzzy is wrapped around me, and the worst of the bone-chilling cold dampens a bit. It's quiet, unnervingly so. Is everyone waiting for me to say something? Like why I'm here? Wherever here is?

Something blue moves in and out of my blurry vision. Things are slowly coming into view; it's dark wherever I'm at, and there's a faint scent of smoke in the air. Was there a fire? I rub my forehead, and everything aches. It's like I've got a fever of some kind. Maybe that's why I'm so cold. I try to remember what I did before I went to bed, but vague memories of television and working on the computer waft through my mind, completely unmemorable. The blue thing moves again, and my gaze crystallizes and focuses in.