Unlikely Bonds

Chapter 14: Not What I Expected...

***AUTHORS NOTE***

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT. 18+

***END AUTHORS NOTE***

I was given some of my gear back. Though Volok had said I wouldn't need my armor, he did permit me to have my bow and wrist blades since fighting wasn't on the agenda. At least I could still cloak and hey, they even fixed my mask!

He didn't wear more than his usual attire, not that much out there was much of a threat to him anyway. The only addition to his attire was the bladder skin sack we'd be using to transport the milk in and he have that clipped to his loin cloth.

My father had been pissed that I was going off alone with Volok, but I had calmed him down by reminding him that Volok clearly talked easier to me than him. If he went, we'd not uncover any information we could use to our advantage. It was the only reason he begrudgingly agreed to stay behind.

The Keet cub was left in the corner of our room and he huddled into the skin on his mother for comfort. He was still shaking, but by the time we left for our journey, he had stopped growling at me entirely.

The sun's were setting low by the time we started and it got dark very soon after. I quickly understood why he allowed me to have my mask. Tonight, there were no moons in the sky to give us any light and it was so dark that without my night vision, I would have fallen out of the treetops long ago.

Night time here on Jinitymer flourished with animals. And some of the fiercest I'd ever seen. At one point Volok signaled for us to stop moving. We waited for a good ten minutes before I understood why. A monstrous reptilian predator with two powerful legs and the largest set of jaws I'd ever seen slowly made its way under us. It was so large that it could easily gobble up Volok and me in one bite if it tried. The monster shook the trees with every slow step, but no doubt it could move if it needed to. Eventually it vanished and we continued forward.

There were other predators out that I noticed as we ventured. These were pack hunters. They stood on two legs like the massive reptile, but they were covered in glossy black feathers. They had two enormous thick talons on their toes and razor sharp spiked tails that stretched out as long as they were tall. Though I figured they stood a little over 5ft, I knew I wouldn't underestimate them.

Volok halted us as we came up to the massive waterfall that I had passed before with Baaul. The thought of him made my heart constrict with pain. Did he have to die?

"There." Volok said softly and nodded his head at the swirling lake. I could see a type of jerd animal. One that was large and fat. It had a bulbous head that had a skeletal dome but otherwise it had mere skin. I couldn't tell what color it was with the night vision, but it looked white to me. I watched one yawn and was impressed with a massive set of tusks jutting from it's lower jaw. "The females are always lactating."

"Okay, how do we get the milk from one?" I whispered back.

I watched him pull a skin sack off his utility belt and he wiggled it at me before tossing it. "Simple. I cause a distraction that will urge them to form a defensive circle and you'll sneak under them and milk one."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it. "Oh, is that all?"

Volok grinned. "You're small. You'll go by unnoticed."

"And if I don't?"

He shrugged. "You will if you don't want to die."

Great. Just. Great.

I let out a slow breath as Volok leapt over toward their rear, closer to the edge of the lake where they were drinking. That prompted me to cloak and climb down the trunk of the tree so I could go around the other side. He said they'd circle their young which led me to believe they'd likely choose to stand their ground outside of the water. Their body types were too heavily muscled for proper swimming. This would give me the chance to swim around and get inside. However, once in the water, my cloaking would fault out until it properly dried. So I'd only get one shot.