Salene's Secrets (35 page)

“Do you remember Wolef from earlier this morning?  The golden dragon over the fire?”

“Yes,” Mali said, nodding.

“He loaned me his dragon magic so I could use it against bad things like that creature,” Salene said.  “I’m sorry you had to see it.”

“I’m not,” Mali said.  “I’m glad you can do that.”

“So am I, honey,” Salene said.  “So am I.”

Mali hugged her once more, then indicated she wanted to get down.  Salene set her on her feet, watching carefully to be sure she was steady.  Then she glanced behind her to the place where the hybrid’s body had landed, surprised to find nothing but snow.  “Where’d it go?” she asked Kar.

“Jinjie moved it away from the cave just in case someone might want to use it again without the stench.”

She turned to where Tonka stood with Jinjie on his back.  “Thanks Jinjie.”  He nodded.  She had a few questions she wanted to ask him, but they’d have to wait since she didn’t want to discuss it in front of the children.  When Jinjie caught her eye and gave her a slow nod, she knew he was thinking along the same lines.

Salene hadn’t doubted Tonka when he said there were hybrids that looked like her.  But knowing about them hadn’t prepared her for seeing her hair, and a rude parody of her face on a creature that looked as though it had been torn from a nightmare.  The thing’s blue green eyes confirmed her suspicion that the genetic material had come from Rayne, but it was a confirmation she would have gladly gone without if she’d been given a choice.  She was glad that the children’s backs had been to it the entire time so they’d never gotten a look at its face, but that was a small comfort.  She had no doubt at all that if the Doftles had created one such creature, they’d created more.

“After all that, I’m tempted to stay here for the day, but I don’t think we can spare the time,” she said.  She really wanted to talk to her men, but the children had heard and seen enough.

“I’m not sure it’s safe, either,” Talus said as he lightly rubbed Tab’s back in a soothing motion.  “One of us will walk beside Tonka to guard the children at all times, one behind you, Salene, and one of us will break the trail in front of Tonka.  We’ll rotate.”  Salene reached down to stroke Mali’s hair when she heard her soft sigh of relief at Talus’s words.

“I can walk beside the children,” Salene said, but Talus was shaking his head before she’d finished speaking. 

“No,
Zerura
, you can’t,” he said.  “The snow is too deep for you to break a trail.  You need to stay directly behind Tonka.  If there’s no snow when we reach the bottom of this mountain, then you can rotate positions with us.  All right?”

“All right,” Salene agreed, knowing he was right.  She started to turn away, then noticed a worried look in Talus’s eyes.  “What?”

“I’m trying to decide if this thing expected us to be here, or if it just got lucky.  I’m also wondering if one of us should shift and patrol the skies, or if that would draw attention.”

“The hybrid do be surprised to see us same as we do be seeing it,” Jinjie said. 

“Thanks, Jinjie, that helps,” Talus said, not questioning the Jotunn’s somewhat confusing, but understandable, statement.  “What about us patrolling the sky?”

“That do be not good.  If there do be one, there do be more.”

“I agree with Jinjie,”
Tonka said. 
“There are no indigenous people left on this world.  The Doftles killed them all centuries ago.  There’s far too much ground for one hybrid to search so there is certain to be not just another one, but in all likelihood, several more.”

“Tonka, is there a reason that thing seemed to be going…,” she paused, suddenly realizing what she had been about to say.  “I mean um, do you think it was aiming for anything in particular?”

“I think it was after me.”

“You?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Why?”

“I know far too much about the silos,”
he said.  “
During the raid yesterday one of the Nomen agreed not to kill Oberto if I let him break my legs.  He did not keep his word, of course, but he did decide to leave me alive to suffer.  One of the Nomen wanted me dead, and was certain it would go badly for them if they left me alive.  His rank was lower than the others, so he was ignored.”

“You think they went back to the settlement to kill you.”

“Yes,”
Tonka said.
  “If they did, I suspect we left enough of a trail behind us for them to follow, even with the heavy snow fall.  It’s easy enough to find out.  We’re going down the mountain anyway.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Salene said after a moment.  “If they did go back to the settlement, it’ll be watched now for certain.  It’s too big of a risk.”

“I agree,” Talus said.  “I say we assume it was after Tonka, keep a close watch, and make sure the children are protected at all times.  Going to the settlement won’t provide us with enough information to make it worth the risk.”

“If the cloud cover wasn’t so heavy we could turn on the camo units in Mali and Tab’s suits,” Salene said.  “As it is, we need to conserve the batteries until we really need them.”

“Did you show Mali and Tab how to turn on the camo units?” Kar asked.

“Yes, I did,” Salene replied, then looked down at Mali who still stood close beside her.  “You remember that, right honey?”

“Yes, I remember,” Mali said, one hand going to the pocket on the front of her suit. 

“If I tell you to hide, you turn yours on and make sure Tab’s is on, too, all right?”

“All right, Mom,” Mali said, blushing again, though her eyes sparkled.  “I won’t forget, I promise.”

Salene blinked back tears.  “That’s my girl.”  

“Who do be in rear?” Jinjie asked.

“I’ll take that position,” Kar replied.

“If do be not mind, Jinjie do be ride shoulder to hide tracks.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Kar said.  “That should help a great deal.” 

Salene took Mali’s hand and walked her over to Tonka, then lifted her up onto his back.  When she was settled, Salene patted Tonka on the side of his neck.  “If you need a break just let us know.  We can take turns carrying the children.”

“I thank you, Salene, but the children’s weight is not enough to hinder me.  My only request is that someone take them off of my back if we’re attacked again, which Talus has already agreed to.  I cannot have them come to harm again because of me.”

“It wasn’t because of you, Tonka,” Salene said.  “But don’t worry.  We’ll all be more careful to watch the sky from now on.”

Talus took Tab over to where Tonka stood and set him on the Brun’s back in front of Mali.  Tab looked up at Talus, then over to Jon and Kar, smiling at each of them and sealing himself into their hearts forever.  Mali didn’t quite smile at the men, but the wariness in her eyes had changed to curiosity, which Salene thought was a big step in the right direction.  Talus remained beside Tonka, Jon walked in front to break the trail, and Kar took up the rear with Jinjie on his shoulder.

The snow was several feet deep between the stretch of boulders and the tree line, and it took a lot of effort on Jinjie’s part to hide the mess they’d made and make the snow look pristine again.  The deeper into the forest they went, the less snow they had to deal with, often just over a foot or so, but even a foot of snow is exhausting to walk through.  After the first mile, Kar moved up in front of Tonka and took a turn at breaking the trail.  Talus took up the rear, and Jon moved back to walk beside Tonka and the children.  Another mile along and Jon took Talus’s place, and a mile after that they rotated again.  They continued in that way for a couple of hours until Salene suggested it was time to take a break.

They took a few minutes to rest, drink some water, and eat the nutrient bars that she handed out.  Mali and Tab just ate them without any argument or comment.  Food wasn’t something there’d been an abundance of for them, so whenever they were given something to eat, they didn’t even consider whether or not they liked it, or even if they were hungry or not.  It was food, so they ate it.  Tonka, on the other hand, wasn’t much interested in the strange little bars, but ate one anyway at Salene’s insistence.  Later, he admitted that it helped him to regain his energy after the long morning of slogging through the snow.  If he’d been on his own he’d have bounded through it at a much faster pace, using the webbing between his toes and his enormous strength and speed to keep him from sinking too deeply, but he couldn’t do that with the children on his back.

When they resumed their trek, Jinjie leapt onto Salene’s shoulder and after a few minutes, she dropped back a bit from Tonka to be sure they could talk without being overheard.  “You didn’t feel it, did you?” she asked in a low voice.

“No, do be not knowing why, too,” Jinjie said. 

“It was different from the ones we saw yesterday morning,” Salene said.  “It had a humanoid head.”  Jinjie thought about that for a few moments. 

“Do be wonder if do be having Controller.”

“If it was being controlled, then it wouldn’t be acting on its own will.  Would that make it not evil?”

“Do be thinking yes,” Jinjie said.  “Still evil, but not its
own
evil.”

“Too bad we didn’t think of this sooner so we could have checked it, but it still helps to understand.  We have to be more vigilant, that’s for sure.”

“Me do be agreeing,” Jinjie said.  “Jinjie do be sorry, Princess Salene.  Me do be failing you and children.”

“No, Jinjie, you didn’t fail,” Salene assured him.  “We just learned something new is all.”

“You do be heart soft,” he said with a smile.  “You do be good mother for Mali and Tab.  They do be need you.  Nobody do be love and protect better for them than you.”

“Thank you, Jinjie,” she said softly, touched by his words.  They walked quietly for a while before Salene remembered something.  “Jinjie, I’d like to ask you a question, but please know that I won’t be offended if you choose not to answer.”

“Do be wanting to know of
tiklee
cub?” Jinjie guessed.

“Yes, but not if you’re uncomfortable telling me.”

“Me do be trust you, Salene,” Jinjie said.  “There do be no reason for secret now since Jotunn do be dead many centuries.  But me do be want Doftles to not know truth.”

“Don’t worry, whatever you tell me stays with me.  If anyone wants to know anything about you, they’ll have to ask you.”

“Me do be thanking you,” Jinjie said.  “You do be seeing
tiklee
this morning.”

“That’s what your alter form is called? 
Tiklee
?”

“
Tiklee
yes, alter form, no,” Jinjie said.  “Jotunn do be world of…what do be word?  Difference?”  He shook his head.  “Close but not.”  Salene didn’t know what he meant so she remained silent, not wanting to confuse him with random guesses.  After a moment he said, “Big to small, dark to light?”

“Oh, opposites, is that what you mean?”

“Yes, do be thanking,” he said.  “Jotunn do be having opposites from Clan Jasani.”

Salene ran that through her mind for a moment but came up empty.  “I think I need more information.”

“This Jinjie,” he said, placing one finger on his chest and tapping, “do be alter form.”

Salene’s eyes widened.  “Opposites indeed,” she said.  Jinjie waited while she thought about that for a few moments.  “So, Clan Jasani are humanoid, but shift into much larger animal forms.  Jotunn are animal in form, but shift into much smaller humanoids.  Is that right.”

“Jinjie do be think Princess Salene be too smart.  Lucky Doftles do be not so easy to change believing.”

Once again Salene’s eyes widened.  “I see,” she said softly.  “They thought there were some animals, and some humanoids, but never knew they were one and the same.  You were captured in your
tiklee
form when you were young, still a cub, but they didn’t know you had an alter form.”  Salene paused, thinking for a moment before she smiled.  “When you escaped from your cell on the space station, it never occurred to them to look for a humanoid instead of the
tiklee
.  Is that close?”

“Do be not close, do be right,” Jinjie said ruefully. 

“They must have known the humanoids had magic, otherwise the Xanti wouldn’t have been interested in Jotunn in the first place.  But why did they want the
tiklee
?”

“Doftles do be thinking
tiklee
dumb animals what they do be training for guard, like they do be with Brun.  Do be want cubs to grow.”

“Why would they want to do that?” Salene asked.  “I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with your tiklee form, but it isn’t really all that big, even now.”

“
Tiklee
do be poison, Highness,” Jinjie said seriously.  “If Jinjie do be shift to
tiklee
, do be not touching, do be not let children touching.  Even do be cure found, it do be not help.  Poison do be kill in three or four seconds.  Even Doftle.  That do be how me escaping.”

“I won’t forget, Jinjie, and I swear I’ll never tell anyone your business,” Salene said solemnly.  “That’s a choice for you to make.”