Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
It laughed at me. The little asshole understood me.
“Which part of that was funny?”
The creature reached for the marble and squeezed it. A beam of light protruded from the sphere, expanding into an image. A fluffy Pomeranian, followed by a Golden Retriever, and then an English Bulldog.
How the hell did it have these recordings?
“Yes, all of those are dogs. Dogs like Bear.”
The fox pointed at the device and let out a tiny woof. Then it pointed at Bear and shook its head. Its paws came up, claws out, and he let out a quiet, menacing rawr.
Bear was not a dog. Bear was something scary.
“Don’t listen to it, Bear. You are the best dog ever.”
The fox laughed, then leaned forward. It put one paw on its chest. A quiet voice came from its mouth. If it were human, I would have said it was male and a tenor.
“Kiar Jovo.”
That had to be a name. I put my hand on my chest. “Ada Moore.”
Kiar Jovo squeezed the marble again. An image of a man and a woman appeared. The man blurred and turned into Kiar Jovo. Male. He was male.
I nodded.
The marble flashed again. An old fox couple, their fur grey, stood side by side, wearing jeweled sashes over one shoulder. Golden hoop earrings flashed in their ears. Behind them a multitude of fox creatures appeared, similarly dressed, most grey or black, their fur like dense smoke.
Kiar Jovo waved his arm over the image. “Kiar.” He touched his chest again. “Jovo.”
Kiar was the family or tribe. He was Jovo of the Kiar.
I touched my hand to my chest. “Ada.”
I didn’t have a marble. I looked around, grabbed a rock, and scratched a stick figure drawing into the floor: Me, Tia, Noah, Bear, and our cat. I circled the drawing with a rock. “Moore.”
Jovo nodded.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask. How did he know about us, where did he come from, how did he end up in this breach, who made the breaches and why? But right now, I had to stick to the most important one.
I pointed at his ears and the wound on his chest. “Who?”
Jovo bared his teeth in an ugly snarl. The marble flashed, and a familiar figure appeared, wrapped in a grey tattered robe with four arms, each holding a blade. A second figure stood next to it, much smaller, slimmer, its face hidden by a veil of chains. If Jovo put them in the same order as the human pair, the larger creature was male and the smaller was female. That would mean there were only male attackers at the mining site. The head and shoulders of the male matched the outline of the creature that stalked us. Our hunter was one of these. Made sense.
Jovo’s voice was a ragged snarl. “Kael'gress.”
“I know those. I have seen them.” I pointed at myself. “Moore.” I pointed at Jovo. “Kiar.” I pointed at the four-armed assassin.
Jovo shook his head. He put his hand on his chest again. “Lees.” He pointed at me. “Hoo-man.” He pointed at the image of the creature. “Gress.” He raised his hand as if stabbing and pierced the air with an imaginary knife, mincing an invisible enemy with a flurry of stabs. “Kael.”
Gress was the species name. Kael’gress was a gress who killed. Killer gress.
Jovo raked his claws across the image, his fangs bared. He tried to rip the projection, pulling it apart, and looked at me.
“You want to kill this Kael’gress?”
I drew my finger across Kael’gress’s throat.
Jovo nodded several times, his eyes bright.
The four-armed fighters were incredibly dangerous. A memory of them spinning through the cavern flashed before me. I still remembered how one of those grey shrouds stretched, trying to kill me after its owner was dead.
“Dangerous,” I said.
Jovo frowned at me. Must not have been a word he was familiar with.
I raised my hands, fingers apart, imitating him when he talked about Bear, and made a snarly noise.
Jovo nodded, then raked the image again. Right, we were still stuck on the killing.
“He almost killed you. You were chained.” I pointed to Jovo’s neck and trailed my finger indicating an imaginary cord. I pointed at the gress and drew a line across Jovo’s neck and then mine. He would kill us both.
Jovo put his hands together and bowed to me.
I shook my head. No.
Jovo bowed again, then again.
I shook my head. “No. Dangerous.”
Despair shone in Jovo’s eyes. He took a deep breath and offered the metal marble to me.
I shook my head. “No.”
Jovo shrank from me, clutching his marble with both hands. The marble was his most prized possession, his only possession. He offered me everything he had, and I said no. If he was human, I would have guessed he was close to tears. This seemed more important than just revenge.