The Hunter's Song II: Lost Blood

Ch 15: Adjutant (Lost Coyote)

I made it out of my parent's ranch house well before sunrise but not before my younger father coerced me into making an early morning delivery.

"Tell your mother we need more Whip Cakes!" The tall male restaurant owner called out to me from the doorway.

"I'll let her know," I waved back at him then made an unnecessary turn at the next corner in a last-ditch effort to get the hell out of there.

What is it about male razkurs over two hundred and their love of chatting endlessly about nothing?

"Finally..." I puffed out a sigh of relief to myself. The day was mine again, all family obligations were completed.

Fidge & Timbles wasn't the largest candy shop in Karwarak's Confectionary District or even the most famous but my family guarded a recipe for homemade Krinkle Sticks that could make grizzled soldiers weep for their long-lost youngling days sitting on their parent's laps lazily gnawing the afternoon away.

The winding dirt streets were still quiet and only populated with other couriers getting an early start on a day that promised to be extra busy.

The Red Veil was in town along with his entire diplomatic entourage, myself included.

Zhaguai didn't particularly have a sweet tooth, but many of the warriors liked to sample and stock up on sugary items to use as bait or to throw their adversaries off balance.

Up the street, I spotted a familiar face from my primary school days. Her name was Summer Petal and while I didn't carry any animosity toward her, I wasn't particularly interested in discussing the numerous vectors on where our lives diverged. She had a triad and three younglings. I had neither. She took over the operations of her family's restaurant. I joined the city guard, then retired early to take a job off-world.

I nodded friendly and walked by while she set up the lighting over the tables. She smiled, and that was where we left it.

It's not that I didn't like Karwarak, or candy, or even Menthla. On the contrary, I was ready to die to ensure it all continued thriving.

I simply wanted more.

The city guard gave me a place to prove my worth and, up until the Zhaguai arrived, I hoped the rank would open doors in city-states far and away.

Turns out I was way off... and for the better.

I've seen countless moons, hiked through lush green jungles, ridden on the backs of creatures my parents still didn't believe were real, and now I was officially moving to an alien planet!

Plus, it didn't hurt that the people of Sahei treated me like an adult and never called me LoLo.

Just a few more days until the anniversary party...

And there was the issue with Dran.

Even with the countless recordings I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

He sang for me?!?

Why?!!!

What neurological dysfunction crawled up in his brain and compelled him to do that out of nowhere?

And the lyrics...

...the sound was disastrous but...

The words weren't arbitrary.

My cheeks flushed hot, and I had to shake out the image of his blue streaked scales flexing all shiny under his armor.

He couldn't be serious...