The Broken Kingdom (45 page)

Vann looked at her and let out a breath he
felt like he’d been holding a long time. He let go of the
uncertainty he’d been worrying at for so long. He would never know
unless they tried, and they’d never have a chance if he was so
caught up in worrying about his feelings changing. Vann smiled at
her, ‘that sounds good.’ and he pulled her back into his arms.

They did not stay that way for long though
before Riley started moving away.

‘Hmm?’ Vann stood quickly as Riley got to
her feet. ‘Is something wrong?’

Riley was blushing, her eyes bright, but she
took his hand. ‘No. I just think… um, want to go somewhere
else?’

Vann managed to shrug nonchalantly. It was
an effort. ‘Sure.’

Slowly they began walking back to the camp
in tense silence.

‘Do you want to know where we’re going?’
Riley finally asked.

‘Mmhmm.’ Vann mumbled. He didn’t trust
himself to say anything.

‘W-we don’t have too-’

Vann quickly cut her off, ‘Where do you want
to go?’

She smiled nervously, he had never seen her
so nervous. ‘M-my tent?’

Vann didn’t how he did it, but he managed to
merely say, ‘sure. Let’s go.’

Not a few days later Karesh spotted Vann, a
silly grin plastered on his face, carrying all his worldly
possessions out of his tent.

‘Vann?’ Karesh asked carefully.

‘Hi, Karesh. Let me finish moving my stuff,
then you can have this tent.’

‘Why?’ he asked.

Vann just smiled and continued walking. ‘You
know how you like to pretend Riley and I are together?’

Karesh nodded.

‘Well,’ Vann said as he dumped his stuff
inside Riley’s tent. ‘Now you don’t have to pretend.’

Chapter 57

T
he decision about what
to do about the humans was soon taken out of their hands.

Riley quickly made her way over to Aerlid.
Vann was not far behind.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘There’s a Predator. Up there.’ Aerlid
pointed.

Riley looked up. She and Vann exchanged a
glance, her expression softened quickly and the glance turned into
a wide smile. It was hard to believe, after so long, that they were
finally together. It still brought a silly smile to her face
whenever she thought about it.

Aerlid cleared his throat.

She looked back at him, the smile gone. ‘How
many?’

‘I think there’s just one, but now that I’m
looking I think there’s one further away.’

‘Alright. Bring it down.’

‘What?’

‘I want that Predator to crash. Not right
here, out away from the camp. And I want the pilot alive.’

Aerlid stared at her. His eyes flicked to
Vann. ‘I… alright.’

‘Do you think they were just scouting or
were they looking for us?’

‘They’re far out to be just scouting.’ Vann
replied. ‘I don’t know if they usually bother coming out over the
forest. They could be here for another reason, or maybe the pilot
just got lost.’

‘I wonder if they sent anyone out looking
for you.’ Riley mused.

‘I would think so, but they wouldn’t have
realized I came here, would they?’

Riley shook her head slowly. ‘Well, we’re
only a few days walk from the Plains.’ she turned her attention
back to Aerlid. He had gone very pale. He was sweaty and
trembling.

And then suddenly he relaxed. ‘It’s done.’
he pointed. ‘It’s over there.’

‘Hello there.’ Riley greeted the man
stumbling from the wreckage.

He looked up at her, his eyes glazed with
pain and shock, then fear as recognition slowly hit him.

Riley smiled. It was a sharp, dangerous
smile. ‘What are you doing so far from home, human?’

He staggered to his feet. His eyes flicked
to Vann, back again. He coughed.

‘Here. Have some water.’ Vann said and threw
him a waterskin.

The man took it, unsure.

‘I already crashed your little plane,’ Riley
said, ‘do you want to see what I’ll do if you keep me waiting?’

The man stiffened. He swallowed. ‘Scouting.’
he said hoarsely. ‘I’m supposed to be looking for signs of life,
ehlkrid, gemeng, human. Finding the nests.’

‘Were you looking for me?’ Vann asked
curiously.

‘Are you Vann Hilyard?’

‘I am.’

‘I’m supposed to be looking for you too.’
his eyes flicked back to Riley.

‘You know, I don’t like people entering my
airspace uninvited, especially people who have tried to kill
me.’

The man blanched.

‘Do you have any friends up there?’

The man shook his head.

‘Really? Because that’s not what I heard. I
don’t like it when people lie to me.’

The man swallowed. ‘I-I have back up.’

‘I know.’ she smiled. ‘I’m going to let that
backup come pick you up. And then you’re going to fly straight back
to Astar and tell them the good news about me. And then I’m going
to let Astar send some more people out here, and we’re going to
have a nice long talk. Are we clear?’

The man nodded.

‘Good. We’re going to walk away now. I
suggest you don’t stray far. This forest is full of all sorts of
things.’

Riley and Vann left the man there. When they
were far enough away, Riley asked Vann, ‘what do you think?’

‘I think you terrified him.’

‘Will it be enough?’

‘We’ll just have to wait and see.’

Chapter 58

‘
I
would like to go,
Master.’ Karesh said.

‘Karesh, if the only way to talk to these
people is by flying, how are you supposed to get them here?’

‘I’m not sure, Master.’

Riley glanced over at Adila. She had heard
from the sun of another group of people, but they were in an
isolated and inaccessible location. So inaccessible she thought
only Karesh could get to them easily. Riley looked back at Karesh.
‘Alright, Karesh. You can go.’

‘Thank you, Master.’ He hesitated. ‘I would
like to leave Kalgen in charge of the group, it’s his turn to go
out. I will watch, and see how he performs.’

Riley raised an eyebrow as she considered
that suggestion. As per Karesh’s recommendation, Shiressa and
Kalgen had been given command of a group of warriors. They
switched; Kalgen leading the warriors to search for survivors, and
then Shiressa and another group heading out while Kalgen and his
warriors rested. They’d both been very proud to be recommended to
the position by Karesh.

‘Alright.’ She said, and smiled. It was
probably a good idea for Karesh to have a break from the camp for a
while anyway. He avoided Avega, and was civil whenever they ran
into each other, but he was still clearly uncomfortable around her.
Maybe with some space, the memory will fade. At least he hasn’t
let it interfere with his work, still I don’t like to see him so
upset.
‘I’m sure he’ll be happy to have his superior along to
judge him!’

‘He’ll be very uncomfortable.’ Karesh
agreed.

Riley laughed at Karesh’s lack of concern.
‘Alright, go get him for me.’

Karesh left to do her bidding. Riley was
relieved at the brief distraction the situation presented. The
Predator had only crashed yesterday. It could be days to weeks or
even longer before the humans showed up. She and Vann had already
talked at length about all the possible ways the humans might act,
and possible countermeasures. There was no point going over that
again, yet still, options whirled ceaselessly around her mind.

Karesh returned ten minutes later with
Kalgen and his warriors. They’d already been organized to leave, as
it was their turn to look for survivors.

‘Master?’ Kalgen approached Riley, Karesh at
his side. ‘We are prepared to leave at your command.’

‘It’s going to be a bit different this time,
Kalgen. The people you’re going to find are located at the base of
a cliff. Adila thinks they will be difficult to access, so Karesh
is going to go with you to help.’

‘Very well, we are ready to follow your
orders.’ He said to Karesh, without a moment’s hesitation.

‘Not quite.’ Riley said, a smile curving up
her lips. ‘You will command the group, as per usual. Karesh will
just be another warrior in your group for this assignment.’

Kalgen was taken aback. He recovered quickly
though, and with no small amount of pride in his voice said, ‘very
well! We are ready to leave if you are! We will wait outside the
shield for you.’

Riley and Karesh watched him leave.

‘Looks like he’s ready to prove himself to
you, Karesh.’

Karesh shrugged, vaguely. ‘They were happy
to be given command.’

‘They were happy you recommended them. Look
how proud he is. Now, off you go. Try not to cause too much
confusion with the chain of command, hmm?’

It took the tribe a while to realise what
was going on.

The creature stepped over the flames that
signified the extent of the shield and kept walking. For a moment
he was ignored, or merely watched by those who did not quite
understand. And then everyone seemed to spring into action all at
once. Some fled to find Riley, while others advanced on the
creature.