Chapter 12: Gutshot

Lindsay woke up and untangled her arms and legs from Donil's, careful not to wake her as she put on her armor. She headed to the door.

"You're going to fight them," Donil's voice said from behind her.

Lindsay turned to where Donil still lay in the bed and nodded. "Yes. If something happens to Nol or Sirix... they'll need me there."

"What if something happens to you?"

Lindsay sat down next to Donil and took her hand. "Donil, they're going to target me anyway. They know I'm here. If they don't see me, they might break off and then some might escape. It has to be clean. We have to get them all."

"I understand..." Donil looked at their hands. "But I still don't want you to go."

"I know. But I'll be ok. I promise."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

"Good thing I will. I have to see what you look like when the braids come out. Now give me a hug before I go for good luck." The two embraced, Donil squeezing her so tightly she could hardly breathe. "I'll see you in a few hours," she said, separating herself.

"In a few hours," Donil repeated, pensively.

"And not from a stretcher." This made Donil smile and Lindsay waved goodbye as she pulled the flap up and slipped out.

She removed Donil's braids from her hair as she walked. They had been weird and haphazard, there were five of them with most being a hybrid of a French braid and a regular one, though she'd seemed to get it by the end. She shook out her hair, feeling the curls wrap about her fingers and bounce around her face. She'd have to rely on her natural texture to hide the inconsistencies in the waves.

But it was ok. It had made Donil smile and that was really all that mattered when the poor doctor was about to be facing a field of death and gore. A field Lindsay was going to be responsible for giving her.

"Glad you made it, Earth girl," Nol said from where she stood next to Sirix. "For a moment there I thought you weren't coming."

"Of course I was! After all that work? I can't let you and Sirix take all the credit." She shot a smirk in Sirix's direction.

Sirix made a point of not looking at her but surveying the main clearing instead. She was expecting at least some comment on her hair. "They'll want to take you alive."

"That's what we're counting on," Lindsay replied, stonily. "Alright, no sense in waiting any longer. Unit 1!" she shouted. "Into the trench!" Unit 1 ducked into the circular trench they had dug around the border of the clearing as Unit 2 covered them up with woven mats and brush.

"Unit 2!" Nol called out. "Into the trees!" She flashed a wide grin at Lindsay as she effortlessly swung a large harpoon launcher onto her blue shoulder. "I can't wait to try this thing out on those freaks." She climbed halfway up a tree and waited.

"Now it's my turn," Lindsay said, picking up a torch and lighting it. "Where are you going to be, Sirix?"

"I'm staying here. I can't very well let you face a dozen mutants with one of my subordinates, can I? What kind of Bona Serat Corsar would I be?"

"A living one."

"That sounds awfully boring." He flashed her that wide grin, showing off the over-wide canines.

"Then get yourself killed, see if I care." She bounced on the balls of her feet, legs ready to run in whatever direction she might suddenly need to, the way she'd always done before the first serve of a match. She glanced over to where her own harpoon was buried under a layer of dirt. Once they arrived, she'd have seconds to get to it.

"You do," he said, clearly eyeing the place a harpoon launcher was buried.

"You're damn right I do," she said.

He appeared slightly stunned.

"Way more than I should for someone as frustrating as you!" She threw the torch into the large bonfire. Instantly, it was ablaze with thick black smoke pouring up into the sky.

She watched the expanse, Sirix standing next to her, doing the same, both not speaking, breathing heavily as they waited in anticipation. She snaked her hand around his, feeling the rough calluses of his palm and fingers against her softer skin. He gripped her hand tightly.

In the sky, the first m-shaped black slit appeared against the sun. Seconds later, a dozen more rose up. "Here we go!" Lindsay whispered to herself.

Suddenly, Sirix was wrapped around her, a knife to her throat. She pulled at his arm, screaming loudly as she fought the knife away. She hadn't truly realized how powerful he was, his hold was as strong as steel as she clawed at it. She felt as helpless as a three-year-old trying to fight against a full-grown adult. If this were real, she'd have been dead in a second.

The Nobillo crested the trees, seeing the struggle for the clearly human girl's life, they dove. A spear from that range would risk killing her as well, they wouldn't want to take the chance. Not when The Immortal was at stake.

The Nobillo landed. He was as horrible as the first she'd seen. His huge white eyes pulsed with pink behind them, around them hung the fleshy eyelids that had failed to form properly, instead curling up around them. This one didn't even have the vestiges of a nose, just two slits where one might have been. Its skin was grey like the one in her memory, but this time striped with pale pink strips. Its mouth was just as horrible: lipless, oversized, with long, sharp fangs.

Around them the others landed, encircling them. There had to be at least fifty all together, a full raiding party, which meant they had been on their way to attack a Bonat village. Lindsay could see some of them carried pouches of that foul smelling substance they used to rain fire down.

"Release the human, Bonat," the creature hissed through sharp teeth. It could talk? Lindsay was momentarily stunned even though she'd seen the one speak before. They just seemed so monstrous she was unable to believe speech was something they all might possess.

With the force of her resistance suddenly disappearing, Sirix's knife slipped, cutting her. She screamed. If they hadn't been sure of her peril, they were now. "Release her!" it demanded, clearly concerned that its quarry was at risk.

"No! She's mine!" Sirix said, now being more careful with the placement of the knife.

"If you kill her... we'll make sure you are alive when we devour you. Leave her to us and we'll let you walk away, Bonat."

"No, you won't. If I let her go, you'll be on me in a second." He began to edge towards the woods. "I believe she and I are going to take a little walk."

"You're not going anywhere!" The creature lunged at them.

Lindsay slipped out from under Sirix's arms and rolled to where her harpoon was. The mutant changed direction, sliding after her, sending a spray of loose dirt behind.

"Unit 1! Go!" she shouted as she grabbed her harpoon and thrust it into the creature's chest. Its large mouth hung open in a silent scream as she yanked the harpoon out.

The concealed Bonat popped out from behind the circle of Nobillo. Strangled screams echoed through the air as the Bonat soldiers attacked. Sirix leapt into the fray, jumping on the back of a distracted Nobillo soldier and slitting its throat.

"Fly!" A Nobillo with a green, beakish face shouted. The remaining Nobillo attempted to take flight.

"Unit 2! Attack!" Lindsay shouted.

A hooting war cry of, "OOOO-EEEE!" rang through the clearing as Bonat soldiers rained down from above onto the Nobillo who were trying to fly away. Nol landed squarely on the back of one and stabbed it cleanly through its heart. Then she yanked out the harpoon and shot it into the chest of another above her, jumping from the first to let the second slow her landing. She pulled the rope hard, bringing the hooked Nobillo down. She grabbed its neck and snapped it. Pulling out her harpoon she reloaded it and fired again.

Lindsay speared another Nobillo who attacked her from the left, shoving the butt of her harpoon into another on her right. She spun the weapon, stabbing the stunned monster before it could attack again.

There was a flash and a foul-smelling black smoke filled the air. She felt herself lifted from the ground, strong bony arms around her chest. She slammed the harpoon against them but the green-beaked beast just laughed. "You think you're getting away that easy?" it squawked, swatting the harpoon out of her hands.

Suddenly, it screeched and listed right. She felt it jerk backward. She felt a taut rope at her side. Its wings flapped furiously. She looked down. Through the heavy smoke she could just make out Sirix, harpoon launcher slung on his back, hands moving end over end as he pulled the rope in.

"Sirix!" she cried.

Another dull thunk. The wings flapped even faster as the creature was pulled lower and lower as Nol joined in. Its arms loosened. Lindsay grabbed the knife at her hip and turned over. She plunged the knife into its chest, dragging it down through the ribs using both hands until the sangria-colored blood caused them to slip off the handle.

The creature's arms became limp, she was falling. She grabbed the bough of a tree, letting it swing her into the trunk where her boots hooked in with a thunk. She felt her teeth clatter together at the sudden, jarring impact.

She looked out onto the scene, dozens of Nobillo lay dead or dying as the Bonat finished the last ones off. Nol was grinning as she fought to reel in one of the last flyers; it was clearly on the losing end. As Lindsay started down the tree there was a screech and silence. A moment later, a cheer went up.

"Yeah!" Nol shouted with a bloody fist in the air as she was lifted by a half dozen of the soldiers. "We did it!" She grabbed Sirix and lifted him up with one arm so he was next to her. "Where's Lindsay?" She glanced around.

"Ooo-eee!" Lindsay shouted, raising her hand with two fingers held aloft.

"Ooo-eee!" the others called back to her. The soldiers of Unit 1 rushed to her and lifted her up to join the others.

"Well, that's one raiding party that will never darken our skies again," Nol said, hooking an arm around Lindsay's shoulders.

"Sirix, we did it!" Lindsay cried.

"Yeah, you should have seen the Bona Serat Corsar when that Nobillo caught you!" Nol said. "He just like-" She pantomimed grabbing the harpoon launcher and shooting it. "I've never seen him look that way in my entire life, like he'd take on an entire army and probably win."

Sirix suddenly looked less happy.

"Yeah, thanks for the save, both of you," Lindsay said

"How is your neck?" Sirix asked, his tone subdued.

"Oh!" Lindsay touched the spot where his knife cut her. Her fingertips came back scarlet. "I forgot all about it. It'll be fine, it doesn't even hurt."

"That's good."

Why was Sirix acting so weird? Lindsay wondered. They'd won! They'd beaten the Nobillo decisively between his plans, her training, and Nol's skills. Why was he acting like they'd lost?

News of the success scorched through the camp. By the time the Nobillo corpses were disposed of, a feast was being served by the soldiers with Nol and Lindsay as the guests of honor. They'd even caught three wild losa, which looked like some sort of combination between a boar and a goose, for the occasion.

Lindsay and Nol ate and laughed and talked of their victory well into the evening, and the festivities only seemed to be getting started! Lindsay caught sight of Sirix talking to Donil. Excusing herself, she went over to them.

"Hey, Sirix, why don't you join us?" Lindsay said.

"I'll eat later. Donil was about to update me on the casualties. You're welcome to hear."

Donil paled slightly but managed an unsteady smile as she ran her fingers through the gentle curls in her hair. Lindsay forgot how to talk for a moment, fortunately, her silence was interpreted as assent. "We lost Cagula an hour ago and Fersix is still touch and go, but otherwise only minor injuries and sprains. I was hoping to have better news."

Sirix rested a hand on her shoulder. "You did everything you could. To have only lost one to their fifty-three is nothing short of a miracle. I won't keep you any longer, I know you'll want to get back to Fersix."

"Thank you, Bona Serat Corsar." She gave a bow, her hair flipping slightly as she came back up.

Lindsay couldn't help but stare. She was like one of those girls in pop songs who inexplicably don't know they're beautiful. But, then, she'd have no reason to know, Lindsay thought. It wasn't like there were many men around and it seemed the Bonat saw women like Nol as the standard of beauty, not that Nol wasn't amazing, but in a sporty way. If Donil were in America, she'd probably have the entire male and half the female population eating out of her hand.

She took Lindsay's hand, gripping it tightly. "Thank you, Lindsay. If it wasn't for you, who knows how many we would have lost to them."

"You're welcome," she managed to say. Donil squeezed her hand again and then left. Lindsay noticed Sirix regarding her with a renewed mirth in his eyes. "What?"

"It's nothing." He was clearly trying to hide a smile.

"Tell me!"

"Just thinking how much you two like each other."

"Not as much as I like you." The words slipped out. Of course they had. She was tired. It had been a long day. She'd nearly died. And she was tired of this endless flirting when the only way she wanted this day to end was with her legs spread and him between them.

His eyes widened but he betrayed no other emotion, instead saying, "That was a large raiding party. They must have found one of our bigger camps. We'll have to send word out to the others to be at the ready. Who are your best soldiers, ones you think could lead?"

"Nol, obviously. Veralosa, Mardi, Pamma, Jaralo, and Kadax."

"I can't spare Nol or Veralosa."

"I can't spare any of them," Lindsay said, suspecting what was coming.

"You'll have to. I need all my soldiers trained and ready if we want to have any hope of surviving this war."

"You mean winning," Lindsay said. "We're going to win this war."

"We won a battle. Let's not start declaring victory yet. Fifty-three Nobillo is just a tree falling in the forest."

"Wow, Sirix. You sure know how to take the fun out of a party."

"I'm sorry, I have a lot on my mind at the moment. I should get back to my tent; I have letters to write to my Corsars. We can talk more tomorrow, if you like."

"Sirix-" Her hand moved reflexively toward his as he passed, but she managed to stop herself. She felt their little fingers entwine for a moment as though he'd reached to bridge the gap but stopped himself, then the moment was broken as he walked off.