The Lord of the Plains (98 page)

Riley watched. It got into a fight with
another ehlkrid. She saw how its legs moved, how sharp and fast
they were. And the other creature was falling. The centipede
started to feed. Riley moved in.

The centipede sensed her approach, it
turned, its meal forgotten. Its legs whirred, slicing the air. She
moved through them, untouched. She had seen the pattern.

For tense minutes she stabbed at the tough
carapace above her head. She dodged the knife like legs, the bug
like head bent down as it tried to reach her. Perhaps she could
have killed it quicker, but she couldn’t afford to get injured.
While the gemengs changed shifts, Riley stayed out on the
mountainside. Every night she fought, all night. Besides, Aerlid
had enough people to tend to without healing her as well.

Then it was done. The creature crashed to
the ground with a squeal. Riley quickly escaped, just avoiding
being squashed.

She chose her next target. And on she went.
The shift changed. New, fresh gemengs were fighting. And it changed
again. Still she stayed.

And then the black of the sky began changing
to dark blue, grey. The ehlkrid broke off, scattered. Some hauled
the carcasses of other ehlkrid with them. Riley quickly chased
after- she did not want these creatures getting any stronger! But
she did not venture into the Plains. Alone, it could quickly become
dangerous for her if the ehlkrid ganged up on her.

And so for now her job was mostly done. She
still had reports to listen to and decisions to make. Only after
could she bathe and rest. And start again tomorrow night.

The decisions were not as easy today as
usual, and thus Riley’s rest was delayed.

Riley crossed her arms over her chest, her
eyebrows narrowing. Karesh’s speech did not falter, though perhaps
he paled a little.

Riley could smell the burning of the ehlkrid
flesh. It was a sickly, oily scent that made her feel ill.
Everything needed to be burnt before the next night, still, it was
unusual for smoke to get into the caves; great care was taken to
avoid that.

She held up a hand for Karesh to pause and
called to a nearby gemeng. ‘Go check on the burning.’ She ordered,
in a tone she had been gradually perfecting. The gemeng hurried off
without a word. She turned her attention back to Karesh.

‘And… Gatak killed the other gemeng, Master.
It was nearly instant, there wasn’t enough time for Aerlid to be
found.’

Riley frowned. Karesh was silent, but his
big, dark eyes and cautious gaze seemed to say… something.

‘So he’s a murderer.’ Riley stated.

Karesh hesitated and nodded.

‘The punishment is clear, Karesh. If he is a
murderer he must be executed.’ Riley did not allow her voice to
waver, did not allow her stare to be anything other than
forbidding. This was the first case since her announcement, this
would be the first time she would have to execute someone. It felt
surreal.

‘Call the council together.’ She could not
show mercy. The gemengs knew she was stronger than them, but her
experience with Gakra’s tribe had all too clearly shown her that
merely being stronger was not enough. They needed to respect and
fear her strength, not just know it existed.

In that cautious way he had, Karesh nodded
and quickly moved off. He moved with more confidence now though,
his back straighter, his wings no longer hidden by a heavy
cloak.

A moment later the gemeng she had sent to
check on the smoke returned, ‘it was a gust of wind, Master. The
burners send their apologies.’

What Karesh had told her was not the outcome
of a formal trial, just what he had heard from witnesses. And so a
proper trial needed to be held. The council would determine whether
a crime had been committed and if so, what punishment would be
meted out.

The gemengs who formed the council stood
before Gatak in a loose semi-circle. There was Riley herself,
Karesh, Gakra, Adlak and a number of others. Behind Gatak were also
a number of other gemengs, those related to Gatak and the victim.
Some witnesses were also present.

Explanations had been given. Gatak did not
deny what he had done, and even if he had, he had killed the other
gemeng in public.

Gatak stood waiting. He did not look too
concerned. There was an easy confidence about him. Riley knew he
was considered a great warrior. On his arm, she noted, was one of
her armbands.

‘Do you have a decision?’ Riley asked of her
council as the cave fell silent.

There was a round of nodding. They were all
looking at her as if they weren’t quite sure what she would do.
Gakra spoke first. ‘He is a murderer.’ He growled. The other
council members agreed with nods or voices.

‘So you are all agreed?’ she asked.

The nodding was more assertive this
time.

‘Very well.’ She turned her eyes to Gatak.
Every other eye was on her. She felt as if this wasn’t real. If she
faltered she would lose control of the gemengs. The only way to
maintain her command of them was to carry out her own laws. She
could back down. Leave this place, leave the tribe.

‘You will be executed.’ She stated in a tone
of finality. Her face was a cold mask.

He smirked. ‘We will fight. It will be
honourable.’

‘No. This is not a fight or a challenge.
There is no honour in it. Aerlid,’ she turned to him, ‘restrain
him.’

He sung. Gatak’s eyes widened.

Riley strode over to him. She ripped the
armband from his unmoving body. Her eyes moved to those standing
behind, his family. Or what passed for a family among gemengs. ‘Do
you wish to have a moment alone with him?’

They shook their heads.

‘Do you want to leave?’

Again, they shook their heads.

Inside, Riley felt ill. None of that showed
on her face. It could not. Her weapons were gone, she had to do
this with her bare hands.

And so without further ado, her body moving
as if in a dream, she broke his neck. His body stayed upright for a
moment. And then it crumpled to the ground. All was quiet.

‘Have the body burned. And the armband. The
ashes are to be scattered to the wind.’

Riley did not look at anyone. She strode
from the cave, her back straight. She felt dirty, sick. Her head
was throbbing. She did not want to think, did not want to wonder if
there had been any other option, did not want to worry if it was
enough to sustain the fear that kept the gemengs obeying her.

And so she bathed and slept. And when night
came she fought. And then, after hacking ehlkrid apart all night,
then she worried and doubted and regretted not so much her action,
but that it had been her only real choice.

Chapter 83

It was not long after the execution that the
humans visited. Vann was not among them, Riley had not really
expected him to be allowed on this mission, though she was
surprised Messenger was absent.

The visitors were curt, stone faced Astarian
soldiers. They were led by a woman who was only slightly more
talkative than her subordinates. They were not so much interested
in forging an alliance as having a chance to examine the ehlkrid up
close.

‘You cannot catch one?’ the woman was asking
Riley.

‘No.’ Riley replied, her tone brooking no
argument. ‘I will not risk the lives of my people for that. If you
can follow instructions, you may observe the fighting from inside
the caves.’

The woman nodded sharply. ‘Very well. We
wish to test the energy weapons on them. Will that be
acceptable?’

Riley was silent for a moment. She was not
thinking about whether it was possible, but what the implications
might be. What if they didn’t work? What if they did? If they did
that would imply they would be even more effective on her gemengs.
Would that knowledge encourage the humans to start a fight with
her? She needed time, time to let the humans see the gemengs as
something other than enemies, before she could allow them to know
how easily they could defeat the gemengs. Thinking in such a way
was new to her, but she was starting to see how very necessary it
was; had started to see ever since the humans had visited the
Plains.

But the humans also had to fight the
ehlkrid.

‘Very well.’ She struggled to keep
reluctance from her voice. ‘I’ll set something up.’

‘Is it possible to be shown around the
caves?’

Again, Riley paused. If she wanted them to
trust her, she also needed to trust them. ‘Yes. I’ll show you
myself.’

The next evening the humans set up at the
cave entrance, their energy weapons ready. Riley saw they were
using a mounted energy weapon, a MEW. They were much more powerful
than the personal energy weapons carried by the Astarian infantry.
Riley made sure they weren’t getting in the way of her warriors or
blocking the entrance to where Aerlid worked, in a cave close to
the entrance.

The sky was quickly darkening.

She turned to the humans. ‘While you are
here you will need to follow the same rules as the gemengs. Be
careful where you aim.’

‘We’re always careful.’ The woman
stated.

Riley turned her attention back to the
Plains.

It was not long before the ehlkrid were upon
them. While the first few were slithering and flying and racing up
the mountain slopes Riley stayed out of the way.

Now the humans would have a chance to
experiment, while the fighting was lightest.

A flash of brilliant light lit the night. A
horrible scream came from one of the ehlkrid. The smell of burning
meat. But the ehlkrid was not down, the humans had only hit one of
its legs. Riley blinked, trying to clear her eyes. The flash had
ruined her night vision.

The creature turned its head in the
direction of the attack. It bounded up the slope, the humans fired
again. Again, the creature was struck. But it kept coming, once
again they had missed any vital spots. This time Riley was more
careful about where she was looking.