This was not going as planned. I just wanted to get the meeting over with. I should have been on my way back by now. Why all the drama?
"Lieutenant! What in stars name is going on?"
I bark at him louder than intended. The baby he holds in one arm and the small child in the other snap their heads up towards me.
What in the blazing stars! He was supposed to confirm a meeting time, not bring back the stranger's offspring.
"Sorry, Marshal. They said they would meet now as requested, but I had to agree to carry their Healer's kids." The word 'healer' is said with obvious derision. "She has to attend the meeting apparently, and she wouldn't come if she couldn't bring her kids."
The poor young man looks annoyed and scared at the same time. Granted, I probably look ready to rip him apart, and he is just trying to do as I have told him. It isn't him really that has me on edge. I don't want to be here. And I had said, "Get them here as fast as possible. Get it done, Lieutenant!"
Ugghhh.
"That doesn't explain why you're carrying them." My face pinches into what feels like a permanent scowl.
"Ummm ya. Well, they are carrying some, really, old human. He is their leader."
Seriously? OK, this surprises me. Honestly, it probably shouldn't, but it does. I expected the Human radicals to have a leader that held their position by sheer intimidation and power. Not loyalty or respect for their elderly.
"So if I understand you, there is to be a baby, a toddler and an old disabled person at this meeting?" the scowl I am wearing starts to hurt.
This planet makes my head hurt in ways I didn't know it could.
"I - I guess so."
I glare at him. He can do better than that. No need to stammer out the truth like you are afraid of it. If that's how it was, then that's how it was. Just say it.
"Yes or no will do, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Marshal."
He is going to spread rumours later about this. I can hear him now warning everyone, "It's one of those days. She's in one of her moods..." I feel my eyes roll heavenward.
I turn to see four people struggling to carry what looks like a pile of bones on a rickety makeshift bed, made of several sticks crisscrossed, from the tree line. On top of the sticks, roughly sewn rags barely keep dry grass in, and it was hard to imagine it held much comfort.
This isn't looking good. The people carrying the bed don't have much more meat on their bones than the old person. I still can't tell if it is a man or woman. Out of curiosity, I continue to watch them, not caring if my staring makes them nervous.
There is a young woman in the front left corner, and she seems the strongest. Maybe her youth or the fact she gets larger rations to nurse her offspring?
The man on the right looks middle-aged for a Human and almost as skinny as the old Human, which I can see now is a man. The other two bringing up the rear, each holding a corner, don't look too skinny, but neither man seems healthy.
They all have dark circles under their eyes, and the hollow of their cheeks showed the sharp bones of their skull.
Damn. It looks like starving it is then.
I look back to the small child and baby as they awkwardly lower the bed near my cooking fire. They at least look healthy. I find comfort that they still have some food for the kids.
"Welcome." I give a military nod towards them.
In hopes of an early meeting and getting this over with, I had set up camp last night, just outside the borders of the compounds. Not too far, though. Just far enough that these people would agree to meet.
For some reason, they are dead set against coming within the boundaries of the compounds. Perhaps they think it looks like a prison. It sort of does. But it keeps us safe. That's what is important.
As it was, all we had out here to scare away the wild predators lurking in the trees is my pathetic fire. It is too hot to make it very big. We used it mainly for cooking and smoke to keep animals at bay. But starving animals don't care about a fire. So, we are also well-armed.
"Hello." The woman speaks first, hesitantly, as she quickly moves to reclaim her offspring. She looks utterly mortified about something. "Sorry, I had to bring them. Some are not well at camp. They may have..."
"Nadia!"
The old guy has a strong voice for looking three short breaths from dead. He is sitting half propped up in the makeshift bed. Old patched-up stained blankets piled on him.
It is bloody hot here, and I honestly can't fathom how he can be cold, but then again, I have never been a walking skeleton before either.
He has wrinkles on wrinkles, old yellowish-grey skin, white hair long to his shoulders, a beard down to his waist, and beaded sunken, pale grey eyes. If he wasn't so fascinating to look at, he would be terrifying looking.
"Welcome. I am Marshal Zea. May I ask your names?" I welcome them again, but this time instead of addressing them as a group, I address the old guy. I get the feeling this will go faster if I do.
"I am Tomthas. That's all you should need to know for now." His creepy little eyes narrow at me.
OK. So that's how it is, then. Fine.
"Why are you outside our borders?" I look into his eyes, feeling like I am challenging him to a deathmatch, using the in-charge voice that I usually save for my men. My eyes are daring the scary old creep to try and intimidate me. Hopefully, he isn't stupid.
The crotchety old bugger smirks instead. Well damn.
"We need supplies." His clipped tone held an air of indifference.
"You mean you wanted to steal our stuff?"
Yes, I have heard the term, you get more flies with honey, from the Humans here. I understand the concept. However, I don't like this old dusty bastard. Something about him is seriously off.
And if they are lying thieves, I am not above imprisoning their asses. We will save them as per our orders, keep them from starving, but it will be in confinement in Compound 1, where I can personally keep an eye on them. So I want to see how he reacts to my blunt question.
His eyes turn cold. He is looking even paler if possible. I see his jaw work for a moment before he answers.
"We don't steal. However, I will concede, some amongst us are less honourable than others, and they may have." He bites out the words with visible disgust in his voice. "Not that it is your business, but I do not condone such behaviour in my people, and if we find someone has stolen from you, they will be punished." His head bobs once in affirmation of his claim.
Whatever that meant. I sit down on a log by the fire, across from Tomthas, stretching out my legs. I regard him closely for a moment, but I sense no falsehood or fake pretences from him. I have no idea what his idea of "punishment" is, but he is sincere in his statement—okay, moving on.
"Trade then? But if that's the case, why chase off our scouts?"
"Yes, we can trade. We weren't sure if your scouts were the Others." He sounds annoyed at this. Or maybe disturbed?
It means they have met the Zu'Lar. How the hell are they even here then? But I can understand how meeting the Zu'Lar would make them over-cautious.
We have a fair number of Zukrog in our ranks, and they look identical to the Zu'Lar except in skin tone and body mass. I don't think humans can differentiate the species, though. Humans come in all colours and sizes.
And if I am honest, it is hard to tell Zukrog and Zu'Lar apart through uniforms. The Zukrog are direct descendants of the Zu'Lar, after all.
"Others?"
"They looked like him, maybe a little darker." his crooked, wrinkled finger jabs towards the Lieutenant. A Zukrog. "They raided our village. Killed everyone that tried to fight. We assume they took everyone else. What's left of us are two hunting parties that were eighty kilometres north at the time and a small group of us that had gone to a nearby village in hopes of trading." His bony shoulders shake once in what must be a shrug.
I still can't figure out how the hell we missed them? And if we missed their village, who else did we miss?
Fuck! And how are they alive if they saw the Zu'Lar?
"What happened to the village you went to trade with?"
"It was deserted. No one there." He waves a shaky wrinkled hand in dismissal. He doesn't think that this is important.
I wonder if they are in one of the compounds or if the Zu'Lar has them. It is a 50/50 at this point.
"Did you see the attackers then?" What bothers me, though, is how they know what Zu'Lar look like. Was this a trap? But I shake the thought away. Zu'Lar wouldn't stoop to using humans. They have too much pride and arrogance.
Yet anyone who sees the Zu'Lar either dies or becomes captive. It makes no sense to meet people who have seen Zu'Lar and live to tell.
The old man gives a slight nod towards the woman. So he hadn't faced them. Interesting.
"So why finally agree to meet us if you are so scared of these others?"
"Mostly hunger. And our fears are somewhat appeased after no one attacked us when we chased off your men the other night." He does the weird thing with his bottom jaw again.
It moves around like he is chewing on something, looking disjointed and somewhat disturbing, but I ignore it as he continues, "However, we decided we need to be sure you aren't the Others before we bring all our people closer. Nadia?"
Tomthas looks over to the woman expectantly, giving her a nod to proceed. I raise an eyebrow questioningly. What the hell is this now? And does he think he can stop us if we choose to simply collect him and his people instead of being polite? I have to force myself not to snort. Humans!
"It only takes a moment. It's the only way for us to be completely sure." He smirks. It's a look that holds no warmth.
As if being cryptic and weird gives him some sort of advantage over me. Whatever makes him feel safer, I suppose. I let out a sigh. I want this done with.
"What is she suppose to do?" I eye the woman with growing interest as she hands her offspring to one of the men and approaches me.
"I see auras, people's energy signatures." The woman speaks softly, seeming unsure of herself and waits a moment, possibly waiting for a reaction from me.
I feel it is essential to keep the shock off my face. I try to keep a blank expression and bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying anything.
She misunderstands and explains further, "I saw the... Others, kill my husband before I was able to run to safety with my kids. It was from a distance, but I will never forget it. It... It felt vile and looked like a colour I had never seen before."
Her face shows her internal anguish. I am stunned. Humans, well, apparently some Humans, can see auras? I may have underestimated them. But I will hold my judgement for now.
It does explain a lot. If she hadn't gotten a close look at the Zu'Lar's physical features, she might have been far enough away to run. Maybe.
It still doesn't feel right. Or maybe she has more metaphysical ability than she is even aware of? Cloaking her escape on instinct under duress? I have seen weirder things.
Looking into her stunning aqua eyes, I feel my curiosity peak further. What else don't we know about Humans? I search her eyes, and out of curiosity and sheer need to know, I open myself to her.
I am so busy analyzing her I don't realize she too has opened her Seeing Eye and is looking at me. Well, I'll be damned! A Human who can see beyond the three-dimensional.
My instinct gets the best of me with my Seeing Eye open for the first time in so long, and I feel my energy reach out to test hers. Checking for friend or foe.
It isn't much. I keep my K'ai in lockdown, so it is a tiny amount. Yet she still gasps in shock and instantly closes her Eye. Effectively shutting off our connection.
I blink a few times but keep mine open. She has a dominantly green and white aura. A true healer. Also interesting. My mind is reeling from this discovery. I finally notice she is shaking, visibly upset. I shut my Eye but keep looking at her.
"Nadia!? What's wrong?" One of the men behind Tomthas speaks, quickly coming to her and gently helps her sit before she falls.
Did my inquisitive energy probe hurt her? I find myself utterly fascinated.
Still staring, my face is blank, and my eyes are unblinking. Perhaps I had just surprised her.
I have so many questions, but I can't ask them without giving too much of myself away. No one knows my secret, and I am not about to start sharing. So I keep staring. Rude, I know. But as I said, I am nothing but classy.
"I am ... I am OK. I just..." She trails off, looking at me questioningly. I don't have an answer for her. I feel her open her Eye again. My senses tickle at her energy collecting around her. However, I keep mine closed this time, no need to upset her further.
I need them to join one of the compounds willingly. It would make my life a lot easier. I don't want to have to call out men to round them up forcibly.
She takes a moment to look at each one of my men before stopping at me once more. We are only a small party of five, including myself, so it takes her only a minute to come full circle. Her breathing calms, and I feel her Eye close.
"I must be tired," she says. Looking down at her hands now, she gives her head a slight shake. The baby had gone willingly to the man who helped her sit, and the slightly older offspring stands clinging to her legs.
She sends me one more glance full of doubt, her forehead deeply creased with concern. Shaking her head and letting her muscles relax, she absent-mindedly scoops up the child at her knees and turns to Tomthas. "They are not the Others."
And if we had been? I struggle to control my eye roll. What could they have done? Sacrifice themselves, I suppose. Maybe get a warning signal off to their friends to run? This is nonsense.
"Are you sure?" He sounds annoyed and impatient. He doesn't notice her distress from just a moment ago. I am aware that he holds no regard for her wellbeing, or her in general, other than the purpose she serves for him. I don't like him. But that doesn't matter. I have orders to follow.
"Yes, Tomthas!" She snaps right back at him.
Regardless of the reason for her sudden mood change, I am glad she isn't taking his flack sitting down. Good for her.
His eyes narrow in an unsaid warning. Her jaw clenches tight, teeth grinding, nostrils flaring, but she doesn't hold his gaze. Moving her eyes to focus on her offspring, I feel her defeat.
Fuck that. Take the old bugger down!
It woke the warrior in me. She earned my respect when we opened to each other and saw one another, my energy probe opening me to her most recent emotions and memories.
I have no respect for him.
But I can't get involved. Not my problem. Not my problem! I can't afford any more right now.