Here's chapter 9! A more exciting chapter I must say. We thank you for all of the reviews and hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 9: To Anger the Gods
The Yautja were at a loss for words. They knew that they had made the inevitable mistake. Now what to do?
Du'gret glanced around seeing the confused and grim faces of his fellows. The game was up.
Du'gret took a breath to explain to the oomans that they were not their gods when Ani'de interrupted him.
"We bleed because we are mortal!" The clan turned and stared at the young Yautja, unsure of where he was taking this, "Should we have taken our immortal forms among you, it would have caused disastrous results. We took these mortal forms to prevent anything from happening to our… subjects."
The oomans paused for a moment, then they bowed their heads, "Of coarse, we understand, my lords," Neferti said, "please to not misjudge us for our lack of faith."
The whole group of Yautja sighed in relief. Ani'de and his quick thinking saved a potentially disastrous situation. Du'gret knew that his father would reward Ani'de greatly for this.
The Yautja were then led out of the stadium. The young prince Ramses approached Du'gret with his head down.
"My lord, forgive me."
Du'gret tilted his head, confused, "Forgive you for what?"
"Had I been smart enough to realize that you were in a mortal guise, I would not have committed the dangerous actions I had out upon the race track. I now understand you anger at the time."
Du'gret placed his hand on Ramses' shoulder, "There is no forgiveness needed. The race was a good one; I had lost my temper and tried to ram you back if you have not forgotten. And I knew that you were mortal at the time." Ramses smiled and his mood seemed to pick up.
"Great Pharaoh Seti! Pharaoh Seti!"
A merchant ran towards the group, shouting Seti's name. Coming to the Pharaoh's feet, the merchant kneeled and spoke, "Great Pharaoh! There is trouble!"
"What is it?" Seti asked, surprised at the merchant's urgent tone.
"A raid great king! The Hittites from across the sea attack!"
The Yautja were taken aback when they heard the unfamiliar human's words. A battle? Between humans? This should be interesting.
"My Lords," the leader Seti spoke, "I must go and assist my army. My queen Tuya and Neferti will lead you back to the palace. Ramses, come with me." With that, the Pharaoh pulled out his sword and ran off in the direction the merchant told him.
"Leader," Du'gret whispered to his father, "should we assist them?" Grentou'se seemed unsure at first so Du'gret pressed, "We could see their skills in battle. Also we could hunt the humans that have invaded, rather than these."
Grentou'se considered Du'gret's words. Maybe assisting these humans would be a good idea; they would be able to hunt without giving their true identities to the humans they stayed with. Grentou'se nodded and began to lead the group after The Pharaoh and prince.
"Neferti," Du'gret spoke, "We are going to assist you king and prince in the coming battle. Stay with your queen and get to a safe place."
Neferti nodded, taking Queen Tuya's hand and leading her away. Du'gret turned and ran with his clan towards the battle.
The Hunt was on.
Grentou'se felt his smile broaden behind the glinting alloy of his mask, quite pleased with the current sway of things.
There were so many of them. Thousands, like dark, moving grains of desert sand and dust blown across the landscape.
Literally. There movements were slow, drawling, clusters of muck. Swarming over the barren ground. Now they were perhaps a few yards from the army of Seti, ready to collide savagely. Their weapons shot sun-glints at their foes' eyes. Body temperatures were pinnacles of vivid reds and yellows.
The leader of the yautja hunting party watched the ooman king, who had so cluelessly assumed the role of host to his people's "gods". He could be seen clearly amongst his own men, adorned as befit his title.
His stance alone would have sufficed.
What? A deep gurgle echoed in the Predator's throat, a snit of a chuckle. Was that a tint of respect directed at the primitive creature?
Pharaoh Seti's shouts echoed across his ranks.
"Father, do we join the battle?"
Grentou'se returned his attention to his son with a snort. He let his gaze roam over his party, making a note of their body language. Not one of them looked upset with the concept of brawling. His perception was that of the opposite spectrum, actually.
He shot his age-comrade a questioning look.
Ru'shan shrugged in pretense nonchalance. It was his silent way of asking "suggesting something oddball again, are you?"
The two elders chuckled, and the students gave each other knowing looks.
This was going to be fun.
Du'gret lopped off the head of another of the invaders, watching the fine, long hair become riddled with the sand and blood that already pooled beneath his feet. There was really no use in trying to snag all of his trophies. There seemed to be an endless mass of these short brutes, a supply undaunted despite the duration of the battle thus far.
Not that I mind, the young yautja mused, watching many of the intruders back away at the sight of him.
Gek'lete spun holding his spear and, like some lethal ballerina, diced over a dozen humans that either got too close, or could not get out of the way fast enough. With a victorious laugh, he finished the spin, "Now, that would be well over a few dozen kills for myself!"
"Only, a few dozen?" Du'gret asked, easily parrying a blunt strike from a human with a badly made sword.
"I lost count over an hour ago", Ani'de laughed in his friend's ear. He swung his spear around full-circle, half-heartedly. More bodies fell to the littered dirt, leaving a bloody arc around him.
"Are they trying at all?" Ani'de made a sweeping gesture at the men fumbling away from them in a hurry.
"Ha! Sadly, I think so."
Du'gret and Ani'de looked over at Hun'ette and laughed. He was swinging an ooman around by the legs, laughing loudly. He let go, sending the frightened creature flying into a wall of lookie-loo Hittites, too frightened to move.
Sen'tre ducked as the wailing creature sailed over his head and shot Hun'ette an amused glare. Without turning, the wiser of the two comrades flung a razor-edged discus into the crowd, decapitating the lot of them.
He caught the sleek weapon in a fluid motion and bent to pull one of the Pharaoh's men to his feet.
"Oh, that's impressive! Imagine it killing them all. It's not like it was sharp or anything." Hun'ette made a pretend angry gesture at his friend, and proceeded to engage the enemy with his bare hands.
Sen'tre chuckled and pushed the young human he had just helped up out of the way of a swinging club. He elbowed the attacking human in the face and turned to Hun'ette.
"Who's showing off? You're just more likely to get killed, is all."
"By these puny things? I was taller even before puberty."
"And you're still short. How sad, Hun'ette." Kat'rin smirked. She let a carcass slide off her wrist blades to his right.
Hun'ette made a dismissive sound, although it was in good humor.
Sen'tre started to speak, "Perhaps, then we…"
Shk..
Shk.
Grentou'se turned at the unfamiliar clang of his planet's alloy colliding with the dirt. A loud cry from Hun'ette filled his ears, and before he even turned around, fear shone in his eyes.
No.
That wasn't possible.
These creatures were inferior in all aspects!
Yet, he knew what had taken place before he witnessed it, visually. Before he saw the prone form being lifted into the other student's arms; before he watched the backing away of the primitives, and the loud cry pierced the air.
There were two of them.
The shafts protruded from the student's back, one piercing his heart, neon blood oozing around their circumference and trickling down his back, onto Hun'ette's arms.
With a bellow, the grieving student wrenched them from their place, arms braced against the wounds to prevent more of the liquid from being lost. He called his friend's name repeatedly.
There was no answer.
And never would be again.
Du'gret looked up at his father, utter loss and surprise hidden behind his mask. Kat'rin, An'ide, and Gek'lete merely stared at shock at their fallen companion they had been sharing laughs with only moments before.
Without a word, Grentou'se raised his gaze from his kneeling son, beside the fallen Sen'tre and his grieving companion. He looked over the mass of oomans, invaders and natives alike frozen around the fallen warrior.
The slightest murmur of a cheer rose from a section of the crowd, a man with a primitive bow raised his arms in triumph. He let out a loud shriek of victory.
His head was rolling past his feet before he finished.
Ru'shan retracted his wrist blades rapidly, and kicked the headless body into the crowd. He turned to his old friend, eyes raised angrily across the battlefield. They spoke a silent accusation.
Grentou'se nodded curtly, and bellowed a command to his hunting party.
The soft meat had committed the ultimate crime. They had killed one of the yautja hunters, dishonorably, by using an advanced, projectile weapon and cowardly attacking from behind while the Yautja used only close combat weapons and gave warning to their prey.
This fight was no longer for their primitive hosts.
It was for their friend.
And there would be revenge.
Looks like somebody's in major league trouble! Well, we'll try to update soon again and please review! More reviews, faster the update!