The Hunter's Song II: Lost Blood

Ch 4: Disconnect (Lost Coyote)

"Is she there?" A familiar voice rang out when the hololink blinked on.

"Hi Dad," I strained a smile while watching my older father's forehead and ears bob around in the background. "Step closer to the scanner."

"Hello, LoLo!" My mother, Ever Oak, waved, wedging her short spiky hair and the upper half of her torso into the conal view of the holo scanner. She greeted me with the ridiculous nickname everyone in my family insisted on calling me since I was a cooing youngling. "Hammer Paw, stand here. You're too far back."

"Can she hear us?" The voice of my younger father, Curly Turtle, roamed around the background with his mohawked likeness completely out of view.

"Dad," My sixteen-year-old brother, Snow Wren, sighed as he shoved Curly Turtle into the correct position. "Like this."

Then he lined up my three parents so all our holograms were visible to everyone.

"Are you eating well?" Hammer Paw kicked things off with the usual litany of questions. "You look skinny. Don't let those big lizards hog all the bones for their armor."

"Yes, Dad. There's plenty to eat here," If anything, I'd increased my muscle mass by a small percentage since moving to Sahei. The Zhaguai train relentlessly and there's no escaping their invites to join them during their skirmishes.

"We've got your room all ready," my mom, Ever Oak, chimed in. "And your dad has all the ingredients to make Goldie-puffs.

"Extra whippy-chips," Curly Turtle raised his tattooed ears. "Just the way you like it."

"I can't wait," I snickered. "Less than a week to go."

Shale and Eh'kt were scheduled to oversee several notable events occurring on Menthla. I was Menthla's official emissary to Jahaa, but my presence wasn't essential. However, it coincided with my parent's one-hundredth bonding anniversary and Eh'kt insisted that I join them on the dreadnought.

Though, I suspected he made the offer mostly to enlist my assistance in severing his adjutantship to Shale.

"When's that dreadnought set sail?" Hammer Paw interjected. "We saw on the daily broadcast droves of soldiers being dispatched to Sahei ready to ship out with Jahaa."

"They leave the day before us."

A powerful portion of me wanted to join the mission facing the Graven minions at the monastery and stand side–by–side with Mourning Crow on the battlefield.

I sparred with the woman several times these last five years and each encounter was a profound lesson in humiliation.

It wasn't surprising that the Oru wanted her to lead their army, but I didn't envy whatever madness the Zhaguai had prepared for her in the ritual to become an Elder.

I respected Jahaa but I was quite content not being a member and that it wasn't my body about to be permanently branded.

"When do you start your new job?" My mother, Ever Oak, spoke up.

Abura below...

I had no idea where to begin or how to even approach answering that question.

"Soon," I rubbed my temple in agitation. "Eh'kt is confident we'll start when return to Sahei."

"I don't understand, "Curly Turtle griped with his arms crossed in the background. "Why can't they just leave the Abura alone?"

"It's not the Abura, Dad," Snow Wren angled his ears and rolled his eyes. "Razkurs and interspecies kids can't fight U'la'ke. It's a big deal. The pride Eh'kt and LoLo make won't be Abura at all. They'll probably be bred to hate singing."

"I don't know about that," I chuckled, trying to withhold a smile. "But he's right. Whatever the final results are, it won't be anything like the Abura."

"Well, we're very proud of y-"

Hammer Paw lunged forward and interrupted my mother.

"When do we get to meet Dran?" He blurted.

Oh, for... Not this again.

I told them there was nothing going on between us, but my parents refused to drop it.

"He's not-"

"Can't keep putting it off!" Curley Turtle sang jeeringly through the hololink.

It was bad enough Dran inserted himself into Eh'kt's primary diplomatic staff, which in what deranged version of the multiverse did that make sense?

Dran, a diplomat?

The guy was huge and rugged, and unnervingly cordial with big valiant orange eyes that made you want to scream in exasperation whenever they stared directly at you.

ALSO!!!

It had been five years since I killed his mom and Oru's lifemate.

I couldn't fathom how either of them withstood my presence for even a fraction of a millisecond.

"Don't mind them, LoLo," Ever Oak waved her hand to shush her overly eager husbands. "You used to talk about him every day and we simply want to put a face to the stories. We'd like to invite him to the party."

NOOOO!!!

My ears stiffened.

All I could picture were those thick marbled scars mutilating half of Dran's face and body.

A constant reminder of the day he protected me.

And how did I repay his sacrifice? By cutting E'pire's head off in front of him.

"Mom," I tried to maintain my calm. "Dran and I are-"

The holo-link blinked temporarily.

"-not-"

I tapped the comm box to reestablish a stable connection.

"- in a relationship!"

"What was that?" Ever Oak quirked her ears.

"We blipped out," Curly Turtle peered into the lens of the scanner.

"Oh, that's so good the hear!" Hammer Paw jumped on the chance to hear exactly what he wanted.

"That's not what she said," Snow Wren sniped at our dad.

"Never mind," I mumbled to myself.

I'll sort this out directly when I get to Menthla.

"I have to get ready to head out," I let out a defeated sigh. "I have a meeting with Eh'kt in forty-five minutes."

"Ok," Ever Oak blew me kisses. "We're counting down the minutes until you get here."

"See you soon, LoLo," Hammer Paw waved goodbye.

"Oh," Curly Turtle clamored to the front. "Tell Bitter Scale she needs to hololink with her parents!"

"I'll let her know."

Then the connection cut out.

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TRANSLATIONS:

U'la'ke/Abura = alien cat species that are mortal enemies of the Zhaguai. Have stinger tails with paralytic venom. Known as "The Felija" to humans. They live in large Prides. Lieges are the biggest, are both sexes, have large manes, and thirteen tails. AlSO: a sacred predatory species that shares a symbiotic relationship with the Razkurs.

Abura = a sacred alien cat species that is a specific strain of U'la'ke born on Menthla that shares a symbiotic relationship with the Razkurs  

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