Chapter 91: Guardian Angel?
His pet was in danger.
Au’dtair was more than willing to let his pet have her kills. He could think of no greater insult than interfering in a hunt that you were not invited to. But he hoped that his pet would make an exception for this.
Her voragyvis was too competent at driving prey towards her, and now she was in trouble. Putting on a burst of speed, he quickly dispatched one of the zmaj using the technique he observed her using. It worked beautifully. Even he was surprised at how easily he managed to cut through the scales and straight into the brain.
But then he saw a zmaj crashing into her, sending her flying into the nearby trees.
Enraged, he charged at the creature once again, killing it in a single strike. How were so many of his brethren killed by these things when it was just a matter of hitting the correct spot? And how did a fragile creature that needed all of its comforts catered to managed to do something like that?
Ye’tab’s information was definitely wrong, especially when it was applied to his pet.
Out of the corner of his vision, he saw his pet shakily stand up straight, her anti-gravitational setting keeping her in the air. She shook her head and stretched out her upper torso. With another tilt of her head, she rolled her shoulders and jumped back into the fray.
Seeing that she was better and able to kill the remaining two zmaj, Au’dtair backed off and let her finish the remaining kills.
------
I managed to kill the remaining two snakes quickly and then looked around at the carnage. For the first time, I saw the two kills that I didn’t make. Walking over to them, I inspected the wounds like I would in any other forensic investigation.
The kill shot appeared to be the exact same as the ones that I made previously.
If I wasn’t so certain that I only killed three of the five creatures lying on the ground, I might have assumed that I had managed to kill them myself and had just forgotten about it. But I don’t forget things.
I climbed up onto the dead serpent’s head to take a closer look at the wounds. There it is. This one was made from only two blades. They appeared to be very similar to mine in terms of their ability to cut and the resulting wounds. And if they were very similar to mine, that left me with only one option. There was at least one Saalistaja nearby, probably the same one that had made me feel stalked not too long ago.
My brain sped through all of the possibilities. Without knowing the actual circumstances, I could only assume that it had started following me when I fell into its net yesterday. However, it didn’t attack, and I could feel no malice. Not like I would actually know what that felt like.
This brought me to a single conclusion: it was only curious and was not following me around to cause me harm. Hell, maybe it left the food for me this morning as a gesture to let me know that it was hunting in the same area. I didn’t know the Saalistaja traditions when it came to hunting. For all I know, it had assumed that I was one of the many subspecies that was connected to the Saalistaja, which was why I had the armor.
"Thank you," I called out, not knowing if the being was actually around or not. At the end of the day, it had probably saved my life by taking out the two snakes. And, seeing as I was going to make money off of its kills, I might as well say thanks.
Mind you; there was something a little reassuring to know that I had a guardian angel watching over me.
I placed the tracking device onto the remaining four snakes and let Jun Li know that I was there. "Do you want me to send down the X94 now or wait until tomorrow?" he asked.
"Might as well wait until tomorrow. One more night here isn’t going to kill me," I said with a smile. Especially if I had a guardian angel in the form of a Saalistaja hunter.
I jumped down from the snake right before Jun Li took it away. Asshole.
"I am leaving tomorrow," I called out, feeling kind of like an idiot. But my curiosity wouldn’t let me do anything else. "Thanks for your help... and the food."
I started walking down the path, Night trotting after me. I needed to find a clear area where the X94 could land. The only one that I could really think of was the area that I had cleared dealing with those fucking chimps.
Maybe I could find a spot near there to set up my hammock and get some sleep. I was officially done my task two days early and I didn’t need to stress about anything. Well, maybe lack of water and food. But I could make do for one night.
-----
"Translation: Appreciate you. Will no longer be at this location the next time the brightest star rises. Appreciate aide and food." Au’dtair listened to the recording of his pet’s voice as well as the Saaja equivalent. He liked her soft flowing words more than the harsh clicks and snarls of his own. Would it be possible to learn her language? Without a translator? Well, he had a long time to try.
What his pet didn’t know was that he would be going with her tomorrow.
He didn’t know how he would be able to follow her if she went by tractor beam, but he would figure it out.
Watching her set up camp, once again high up in the trees, Au’dtair turned around and went hunting. His pet needed to eat and possibly hydrate. He would prove that he could be a good owner, much better than any ship. His outer mandibles clicked his pleasure at the idea of proving himself.
He just had no idea why.
