Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 28 - The Morning After

***Note: This chapter includes explicit content***

Ahnekk awoke to the howl of the wind as it jerked at the thick, leather walls of the tent. Pushing them in and snapping them back out. He didn't hear any thunder though, and the rain had stopped.

Frowning, he looked to the entrance to see Gondroll stepping out of his boots. He looked exhausted.

Ahnekk looked down. Charlotte slept in the circle of his arms, stretched out along his body. The sight of her filled his belly with flutters.

Carefully, he smoothed a lock of golden hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.

Her eyebrows pulled together in a cute frown and she made a sleepy, pleased little moan that made his chest clench.

He looked up as Gondroll approached, shoulders slumped.

"Echnar?" Ahnekk asked in a whisper.

"He's okay," Gondroll whispered back, pulling his shirt off over his head. "He won't be able to use that leg for a few weeks. And he'll have a limp for a while, but he'll fight again. If shodara will let him."

Gondroll stopped by the tent pole and frowned down at Charlotte's empty pallet. He bent over and picked up the fur.

"Ahnekk... Ahnekk she's gone!" he said, panic in his rising tone.

"Shhhh, Gondroll. She's not gone. She's here. With me," Ahnekk said, lifting the fur covering Charlotte so Gondroll could see her lithe body, pressed against his.

Gondroll gasped, his eyes bouncing from Charlotte to him and back again.

"Did you... Did you?" he asked, his tone disbelieving and hopeful.

Ahnekk splayed a hand over her hip and caressed her pale, smooth skin with his thumb.

"Yes," he said, though he almost couldn't believe it.

"Is she... Okay?" Gondroll asked.

Ahnekk looked her up and down. Oh, but he liked the sight of her against him.

He nodded and said, "I think so. I was careful, but she will be sore. She was very tight."

Gondroll knelt reverently on the pallet and gazed lovingly at her. He'd fallen in love with her hard and fast and looked like he was about to weep with joy.

"Gondroll," Ahnekk said, drawing his eyes. "Why did you look so sad when you came in?"

Gondroll's face fell and his shoulders slumped.

"It's Tasha" he said. "He's gone."

Ahnekk felt his face darken as his heart gave a pang of sorrow.

"I'm... sure he died a warrior's death," he said, voice suddenly raw.

Gondroll shook his head. "No, I mean he's gone. He never returned from battle and his body wasn't recovered."

Ahnekk frowned hard. Tasha wasn't among the teams that entered the structure so he couldn't have been inside when it collapsed. And for all that the humans were vicious killers on the battlefield, they'd always let the Uu'k'asht collect their dead so if Tasha had died, there would be a body.

He was going to offer us his spear...

The thought hurt. He had been excited to add Tasha to his clan and shelen. He would have made a fine mate.

"He's not the only one," Gondroll continued. "His entire quad never returned. It's like they vanished."

"Or were taken," Ahnekk said.