Grace of An Elder

Chapter 17

The sun was now setting and Toree walked with Dahdtoudi out to the fire pit where the humans had been gathered when she and the other hunters had first arrived. A large group was already gathered around the open flame, and a steady drumbeat was being projected from a large, rectangular device that was placed on a nearby log. Malcom turned to face the two women as they approached, and he took a few steps in their direction.

"Everyone," he called out loudly, "the cause for our celebration had arrived!" The group began to clap, and a few let out excited whoops and howls. Once they had quietened down, Malcom continued. "Today marks eighteen years of Sarah's glorious life! She is now an adult in the eyes of our wonderful community..." The man looked around the group before motioning for the girl to approach and stand beside him. Hesitantly, she did as requested and moved through the crowd of bodies to stand alongside their leader. When she came to a stop, he placed both of his hands firmly on her bare shoulders. "Sarah Macintosh, daughter of James and Laura Macintosh...when you were only a young child, the great gods of the stars saved you from a terrible fate. Now they see that you are ready to return home and take your rightful place among your people."

The crowd clapped again, and several men of various ages began to move toward the front of the mass. Dahdtoudi glanced over either shoulder, noticing the change in her surroundings, and Malcom's grip tightened as a broad smile crossed his features.

"Sarah, as the successor of the original settlement of Loriette, it is your given birthright to join our bloodlines once more!" Two of the larger men moved to grab her by the arms and ushered her to the nearby log where the rectangular device rested. She began to pull against their restraint, but they held on tightly. She clicked in frustration as she repeatedly tried to free herself from the burly men, but once they got her to the log, they collapsed her knees and slammed her torso against the slab of wood. Dahdtoudi coughed as the air was knocked out of her, her grey eyes looking around desperately. "All of the unwed men, step forward. As my son is the heir to our bloodline, he will go first."

Jason stepped to the front of the group, and Dahdtoudi spit in his direction, earning a hard slap to the face by one of her captors. "You will pay respect to the future leader of Hildross, you Loriette slut!" Dahdtoudi's ears burned with rage as she adjusted her position against the man's side.

"I am Dahdtoudi of the Dark Blade Clan...and you're beginning to piss me off!!" She clenched her right fist tightly, activating the gauntlet blades with a sickening metallic sound. The man on her right lurched as he coughed up blood, and his hold on her body loosened enough that she was able to break free, pulling the blades through his side as she went. Blood gushed onto the sand as he fell limp on the ground, and she turned her attention to the second man. He tried to jump out of the way, but her blades caught his throat and send a spray of crimson arching through the night air.

Women and children screamed and ran for the group home while the men began to surround Dahdtoudi on the shoreline. Pressing a button on the gauntlet, she fired two small, bladed darts from the contraption and embedded them into Jason's heaving chest before he fell limp against the ground. A plasma burner went off in the distance, and an orb of blue energy flew past Dahdtoudi to explode the skull of one of the men. Only seven more, she thought.

Before she knew what was happening, T'ahrou phased into view beside her and handed her a retracted combistick. She gratefully accepted the weapon before extending the spiked tips and jabbing it through a man's heart. Within moments, shots from the plasma burner coming from the tree-line paired with attacks from the two young bloods left Malcom as the only surviving male from the group.

She turned to the aged man, crimson staining both her dress and her bare skin. "T-this wasn't supposed to happen..! You are meant to unite the bloodlines of our people! Once you gave us an heir to the colony, we were going to cut the child from your belly and send your spirit back to the gods..!"

T'ahrou looked to Dahdtoudi in silent confusion, and she raised her gauntlet blades to the human's trembling throat, tears now streaming down his face as he sobbed on his knees. "If there is one thing that I despise more than a cult," she began, earning a pleading gaze from Malcom, "it is a sniveling fool. You bring dishonor to your clan, Malcom Stevenson of Loriette..." Before he could plead for his life, Dahdtoudi turned the blades upward against his chin and forced them through until they broke through the top of his skull. His pupils dilated and a trickle of blood began to fall from each nostril. She took in the sight of his dead form for a moment, and finally pulled her dah'kte from his leaking skull.

T'ahrou clicked in satisfaction at the scene before him, and called to Zaiyu over the comm system. "It is done. We're heading to the ship now."

"I need my gear first." The mate shook his head and motioned toward the cruiser.

"Aichu has already retrieved it. Come on, we should leave now."

With one last glance at the area that was once her home, Dahdtoudi turned to walk alongside T'ahrou as they made their way to the ship. She kicked Jason's corpse in the head, earning a satisfying CRACK. "I told you to bow, heathen."