Sacrifice

Rated: M

Chapter: Twelve

"Oh my God," Lucas moaned, bracing on hand on his knee while the other wiped at his mouth. He couldn't help looking back at the gory head still clutched in Lex's hands. Dark red blood still seeped from the cleanly severed head, soaking the long sleeves of the stunned woman's under shirt. For a long while, she stared silently into the wide, horrified eyes of their deceased companion.

Guilt ensnared Lucas like a thorny restraint coiling around his gut. It pierced and tore until he couldn't look anymore. His gaze dropped heavily to the ground. He clenched his fists, disgust with himself churning in his stomach.

Ignorant of the man's inner turmoil, Lex clenched her teeth. Clumsy, ignorant, innocent Melvin stared icily back at her. Blue eyes still wide in terror, his mouth hung open in an endless silent scream. Only a few hours ago, he'd been pestering her about exploring the campsite. He'd been childish; annoying. He'd made her want to rip her hair out!

However, he didn't deserve this. She knew she could never erase the frozen look of pure terror on his dead face.

Closing her eyes, Lex clutched the head, very aware of the wetness soaking her hands. She could hear the typical sounds of the cave: water dripping; rocks falling. Behind her, Lucas's breathing was ragged and erratic. He was obviously terrified.

A ways in front of her, the queen was furious. She screamed and clawed the ground in a vain attempt to disentangle herself from the great web of resin that suspended her and the ovipositor.

A series of clicking made Lex open her eyes.

Titan had not advanced on her. He stood several feet away, hands flexing and head tilted slightly in a rather cocky pose that seemed to say: And just what are you going to do, now?

The other worldly sounds he made were soft, but nothing like the soothing chitter Scar used when seeming to address her. No, Titan seemed to almost goading; like he wanted her to attack. For what purpose, she couldn't really find a reason to care.

Fury began to boil in her stomach, spreading like wildfire through her veins, but she willed herself to remain calm.

Some of the fiercest and most skilled predators on the planet were said to be able to hear their prey's heart beat. Judging the way Titan seemed to be practically rubbing his hands together in delight, Lex had no doubt that he could hear her own heart galloping away.

Hands shaking with adrenaline, she shifted the head and handed it to Lucas. The man squeaked in horror, but took the gory weight instinctively. She ignored the disgruntled groan from the male and carefully stepped around alien corpses towards Titan.

The massive predator seemed to be practically trembling with excitement as he sank into a defensive pose and started to slowly circle. He made sure to face her and seemed to watch every move she made while throwing small, taunting purrs her way. They would have sounded low and sweet, almost enticing if he hadn't just thrust her companion's head to her chest.

Lex's heart rate accelerated and she swallowed thickly as she prepared to launch herself at him. She could see how these creatures could be so lethal, but at the moment she couldn't care less. She tried to focus on what move would most efficiently bring him down. If she missed on her first strike, this fight would be over.

...

The young yautja across the room stood in a sea of acidic blood. Broken, torn, and mutilated bodies of the black spidery creatures littered the cave floors and he was thankful for the protection of the uncomfortable boots that were custom Hunt armor. They were bulky, heavy, and not very easy to maneuver in. Hard meat blood ate through the advanced metal, but very slowly. He could just hear the nearly inaudible hissing sound. Kah'Li-Khra would not need to worry about contact with his flesh for a few hours yet.

Danger! Instinct screamed in the back of Kah'Li-Khra's mind.

The sweet scent of Ooman blood contrasted sharply with the burning stench of hard meat blood scorching the temple. Kah'Li-Khra's skin prickled. Instantly an image of the smooth alien face of the female called Lex flashed in his mind and he was flooded with horror. Quickly snapping the neck of the last hard meat in his hands, he hardly noticed the light sprinkle of stray blood burning his skin as he whirled, teeth bared and fingers spread; ready to rip the heart out of the first creature he saw.

His eyes sought the woman and found her in the back of the room, underneath the biggest queen they'd come across so far. She looked a little worse for wear, but was in one piece. Her face was contorted in an expression Kah'Li-Khra had never seen before. It didn't take long for him to decipher what the expression meant when he took in the cackling form of his older brother and bleeding head of the weak Ooman male in Lex's arms.

She clutched the head tightly to her chest and bared her teeth at Eh'Pik'Tis. In his studies, Kah'Li-Khra had discovered that teeth baring was largely a sign of happiness in the Ooman culture, but her furrowed brows, trembling form, and narrow emotion filled eyes made him suddenly feel that it was also an expression of barely controlled fury. She looked ready to spring an attack at any moment.

Several feet in front of her, Eh'Pik'Tis continued to mock her openly. His large armored form towered over hers, though she stood straight and stared boldly back. His taunts, though slurred badly from Eh'Pik'Tis's bad study habits, were spoken in one of the Ooman languages and it didn't take Kah'Li-Khra long to understand that Eh'Pik'Tis was luring her into attacking him so he could kill her. He was forbidden to attack unless she attacked first.

Balling his hands into fists and ignoring the little voice warning him to keep his distance from the larger and more experienced male, Kah'Li-Khra stomped forward to stand between the two. He held a hand up, but didn't dare touch his brother; he was the type to take advantage of even the smallest gestures.

"Stop this. We still have much work to do here," Kah'Li-Khra gestured the angry queen struggling to free herself from her restraints. Dust fell from the resin holding her in place; it wouldn't be long before she freed herself and attacked them all. There wasn't time to let Eh'Pik'Tis play his sick little games, especially not with this particular Ooman.

For a moment it seemed as though Eh'Pik'Tis was going to predictably ignore him and do whatever he pleased, because he only stared with a predator-like expression on his face at Lex, but then, after a considerable amount of time, his eyes finally snapped to him and he growled. Kah'Li-Khra grit his teeth and struggled to slow his hammering heart. He was really sticking his neck out here. His brother had all ready demonstrated many times before then that he was more powerful than him; usually publicly. He wasn't afraid to put him in his place.

He inwardly felt relieved for a moment. However, his older brother suddenly seemed thoughtful as he surveyed him.

"What is this, little brother?" Eh'Pik'Tis asked, though it was hardly a question. He seemed to all ready know the answer and was sifting through ways to torture him all ready. Kah'Li-Khra didn't like the malicious look on his face and formed his response quickly, trying to hide the defensive tone from his voice.

"She is a member of our clan, now. She has proven herself all ready and deserves your respect."

"A member of our clan?" Eh'Pik'Tis asked, looking at the woman and laughing," IT is prey. Weak."

He spat the last word in an Ooman language, staring solidly at the female.

Kah'Li-Khra wasn't quite fluent in the Ooman language, English, but certain words were used quite often when describing the Oomans of this region and this was one he understood.

Eh'Pik'Tis smirked as he sensed the discomfort he caused his little brother," Dainty one, this soft meat is a simple trinket. It is beautiful trophy whose story would attract many females."

Kah'Li-Khra flushed and bit back a growl. He was not so much concerned about the offensive nickname he'd earned from a young age, but the picture of Lex's naked skull on his wall sickened him.

"Or perhaps you'd like this female to be a different sort of trophy," Eh'Pik'Tis continued to taunt, growing only more pleased with himself.

"You don't know what you're talking about, brother," The smaller predator responded, but the elder shook his head in disdain, all while grinning with glee.

"Think of father. What a disappointment you have become for him. I am doing you a favor here."

Kah'Li-Khra clenched his teeth and balled his fists. He wouldn't be able to hold himself back much longer and he wouldn't have to.

Though Kah'Li-Khra's intrusion had made her falter for a moment, a small, pup-like snarl erupted from Lex and she launched herself at Eh'Pik'Tis. Behind her, the queen screamed and clawed fruitlessly as she passed. Eh'Pik'Tis was still chuckling at his little brother as he thumbed the release to his wrist blades.

The weapons, masterfully sharpened and oiled, slip forth silently. In her rage, the woman would die before even knowing what had happened. It didn't matter that Eh'Pik'Tis was technically fully within the law, morally this was the wrong way to call out a battle. That, and Huntsmaster Ah'Kha-Ki had put his trust into Kah'Li-Khra to keep things moving and under control. This mission had to be completed quickly, masterfully, and with as little native interference and death as possible. Thanks to his brother, control was beginning to slip from his fingertips.

At least, Kah'Li-Khra was happy to let himself believe that this was his reason to protect Lex. It was partially so, but in the back of his mind, he knew he also had the urge to intervene for selfish reasons, too. He'd watched others and even killed a few Oomans himself, but the thought of this particular female dying before his eyes, at the hands of his brother no less, caused him great displeasure.

In a move that was a deliberate step over the law, Kah'Li-Khra moved forward just as Lex was to reach his brother. He flung an arm out to stop the woman. Her abdomen slammed against the crook of his elbow and he swung her away from the lurched counterattack. The twin blades sliced through thin air and Lex was a safe distance from the other yautja.

Eh'Pik'Tis's grin slowly faded as he realized that he was not being showered in warm red blood. When he saw that there was no body twitching in agony on the ground, his expression contorted into one of anger. He whirled on his little brother.

Holding the woman close to his body, Kah'Li-Khra took a step back, taking her with him. She was tiny in comparison. He felt the need to be gentle for fear that he'd shatter her bones. The impact seemed to have knocked the air from her lungs and she moved without a fight as she coughed and gasped. Her back against his chest, she shook as she fought to catch her breath, but she was quickly assessing her position and tensing.

"Scar…" He looked down as her delicate Ooman voice spoke the name she'd given him. She stared ahead, brown eyes wide as she watched his brother advance and he saw that, though his brother was so deadly, she was not afraid. His eyes darted back to the larger yautja.

Kah'Li-Khra knew he had trouble understanding different Ooman facial expressions. He hoped Lex hadn't learn to read theirs, because Eh'Pik'Tis looked ready to kill them both. What was more frightening was that he probably could, too.

Thankfully, a resounding crash pulled all three fervent gazes back to the queen. The Ooman male was screaming, ducking, and covering his head as the remaining resin structure cracked and collapsed.

The queen was free.

...

Lex heard the unearthly green walls crumbling ahead of them and didn't need to look to know that the massive queen was preparing to devour them. She vaguely heard Lucas Hernandez yelling from within the clouds of resin dust. The dust crawled toward them as it dissipated and she could all ready make out the shadowy form of the queen picking herself up off the ground.

Mere feet in front of her, Titan turned and snarled ferociously, mandibles flared wider than three widths of her head and sharp inner teeth bared. He pointed in a rumbling threat at her and then at Scar and she become uncomfortably aware of the protective way his arm tightened across her chest. A rumbled shook her body as Scar growled back and she swallowed. The fire that fueled her to blindly attack Titan had gone out completely as she remembered the other dangers she still had to focus on.

Titan's teeth clicked as he snapped his mouth shut. He chuffed and whirled, grabbing a lifeless insect-being and throwing its limp body across the room in what seemed to be a tantrum as he stalked dutifully to fight the queen.

Behind her, Scar sprung into action just a second before she did. He sprinted towards the infuriated queen. The thick layer of dust hid her massive form, but the thunderous sounds of destructive crashes continued.

Lex checked her wrist blades and found that the edges had been eroded somewhat, but as they were her only weapon, they would have to do. As she took a step toward the battle ahead, however, she faltered to a stop.

She could just see the shadowy form of Lucas stumbling from the cloudy battle. The sound of the queen's angry scream was met by the hostile roars of the two predators battling her. Everyone was so distracted that she might have a chance to snatch Lucas and escape. She was confident that she could find her way back.

She hesitated because she wondered if Scar would follow her. The thought was not entirely unpleasant, but her hair stood on end as she pictured the blood thirsty face of Titan. He would certainly pursue her, even if Scar did not. He'd had an expression of obsession on his face as he stared at her only moments before. He wanted to kill her more than he'd wanted to kill anything in his life.

Lex looked back at Lucas. He coughed and rubbed dust from his eyes. His life was her responsibility.

She looked back to where she knew the battle was still raging and bit her lip. After his little episode, Scar wasn't on Titan's golden list, either. Could she really live with herself knowing she set a monster on one of her friends?

Was Scar a friend?