33. The Hunted

"CATO!"

Nikos lunged to catch Avocato as he crumbled to the ground. He was only partially successful, but between them, he and Kedi managed to ease Avocato down and straighten his limbs. Through the layers of his snow suit, they could feel Avocato trembling and quaking as the venom coursed through his system and shock set in.

"Kedi, what do we do?" demanded Nikos.

"Get his rifle," ordered Kedi, lifting Avocato enough for Nikos to untangle the gun.

"Priorities, Kotik," snapped Nikos, but he obeyed nonetheless and transferred the weapon to his back. It was the only one with a full charge.

"Priorities," agreed Kedi. "Get your med kit. You need to stop the bleeding." As he spoke, Kedi took off his pack and Avocato's, using them to prop his friend up slightly as Nikos pulled out a medical kit.

"What are you doing?"

"We need to keep his heart above the cuts. It will slow the spread of venom. Keep him still. Frost lizards have anti-coagulants in their venom, so it may be difficult to stop the bleeding."

"What about medgel?" asked Nikos, opening his small emergency kit and digging through it. He displayed a small tube of the gel.

Kedi shook his head. "It's too cold out here. It will just evaporate. We need to get him someplace warmer to use it."

"Damn," muttered Nikos, getting to work. He did not have much experience treating such traumatic injuries, but he was about to get a crash course. He was familiar with venomous bites, however, and he recognized the effects on his unconscious friend.

Kedi rose to his feet and scanned the immediate area down the barrel of his rifle. "Turn off your head light, Nikos. And Cato's."

Nikos froze for a moment, remembering Kiev's warning about stalking frost lizards. "Are there more of them?" he asked softly, switching off the lights before putting pressure on Avocato's side. It was frightening how quickly one dressing, then the next became soaked. The air was so cold and his temperature was spiking so sharply that that steam rose off Avocato's exposed side.

Kedi turned in a slow circle, intent on their surroundings. The only sound was the wind, but he knew the creatures hunting them could move silently. "Frost lizards only come out this time of year when their warren gets overcrowded. Immature males are the first to be driven out. Until they're older, they keep together in packs."

"So there's more of them."

"Good chance. What did Kotikat say?"

"Uh . . . he said to stay right where we are and estimated half an hour to get here." Nikos took a moment to glance up at the increasingly overcast sky. "And he said weather is moving in."

Kedi nodded, well aware of the pending storm. Just as Nikos' family had done, they lived by the weather here in the north. In fact, Avocato was the first person he had ever met who looked at the sky to admire and not read it. He didn't need to. The novelty and indolence of it had fascinated Kedi, and for months he had studied Avocato and all his quirkiness as much as the weather in Ventrexia's southern hemisphere.

Ideally, they would have moved away from the carcass of the first frost lizard. That much blood and fresh meat would attract other predators, some of which were more dangerous than frost lizards. The tang of blood both hot and cold filled the air and was carried away by the wind. But they did not dare move Avocato.

They should have been safely home at this point. He had intended to bring Nikos and Avocato on a circuit that would have had them back in the Far Reaches long before the storm hit. Finding frost lizards this close to the settlement was unexpected and a dangerous sign. There had to be a warren close by.

Tense minutes passed. The wind kicked up, carrying snow and ice crystals that built up on their clothing and equipment, and the temperature drew noticeably colder. Avocato let out a little cry of pain, twisting but staying mercifully insensible. Nikos quietly struggled to slow Avocato's bleeding, forced to open another emergency kit when the dressings again proved inadequate. Kedi scanned the rocky outcroppings and snowy dunes. Then he felt it. A higher-pitched thrum than what he'd felt earlier. Painful to the inner ear. Another, sharper hum joined it, jarring to the teeth. There were two other frost lizards out there. Younger. Smaller. Working in tandem. Trying to panic them. They would be inexperienced hunters, unsophisticated in their tactics, but their venom was far more potent than what had downed Avocato.

"Stand up, Nikos," whispered Kedi. "Rifle at the ready."

Already on high alert but focused on Avocato and not the northern megafauna, Nikos started, coming back to the here-and-now. He obeyed wordlessly, setting the rifle against his shoulder as he'd been trained and keeping his back to Kedi. He stepped forward to put Avocato between them, and released a long, slow breath as he tried to steady himself as he scanned the shadowy drifts.

Adapted as Ventrexians were to seeing well in the dark, the lack of moonlight and starlight made vision difficult. The screens in their helmets were not designed for hunting anything cold-blooded, and so they had to rely on movement and sound to spot the lizards.

Sound . . .

Kedi heard a faint scratch behind him and knew instinctively where one of them was hiding. He also knew Nikos would not recognize the sound for what it was.

Suddenly Kedi took a deep step back, swinging his rifle around and shooting towards the ground just past Nikos' hip. The frost lizard hidden in the snowbank let out an almighty shriek of pain, erupting out of its cover in a plume of snow and thrashing about wildly. Nikos let loose his own scream and opened fire. Kedi was already turning back to shoot at the lizard rushing him from behind. In its inexperience and hunger, the young frost lizard came straight at him, howling. Kedi sent three laser bolts right down its open maw, killing it almost instantly. The frost lizard skidded to a halt, its bulk and momentum plowing snow up to Kedi's knees and partially covering Avocato.

He was already moving to back up his friend, lunging through the snow to add his fire to Nikos'. The third lizard, too young to have developed a thick hide or dense feathers, did not last long under the dual onslaught.

"Keep away from it!" ordered Kedi, stopping Nikos from approaching the frost lizard. It was a little larger than the one Kedi had killed, though each was less than half the size of the first one. "They can still bite. Give me your knife."

Nikos handed over the heavy hunting knife from his boot. Kedi dispatched the two lizards like the first, by planting the blade into the back of their necks with one savage thrust.

"Are you hurt at all? Did it scratch you? Bite you?" demanded Kedi, hurrying back to where Nikos stood. His friend was rattled, and his hands shook as he took back the borrowed knife.

"No – no. You?"

"I'm fine." He looked around for more of the pack, then retrieved his knife from the first frost lizard. He grimaced as he checked his rifle's battery. It was almost empty. "Where the hell is Kotikat?"

"Do you think there are more?" Nikos was clearly forcing himself to ask that dreaded question.

He replied honestly. "No way to know until they announce themselves. Get back to Cato. I'll guard."

Nikos hastily swept the snow off of Avocato. Luckily, nothing worse had happened to him in the melee. His pulse was elevated and his breathing was short and shallow, but he stirred at Nikos' touch.

"Nik . . . what?" Avocato asked weakly, opening his eyes a crack. He made a face, hopelessly confused. "S'cold."

"I know. I'll explain later," promised Nikos impatiently. "Just pass out again for now, Cato."

Soldier to the core, Avocato obeyed the direct order.

Snow started falling, adding to the stuff already blowing about and building up around the corpses. Kedi strained to hear anything beyond the wind as it picked up, be it transport or frost lizards. Soon, the storm would hit in earnest. Without shelter, they would not survive the night. He could call them, but he knew and his brothers knew radio chatter would interfere with his ability to sense the lizards' presence. So, like the creatures stalking them, House Kotik would have to announce themselves when they arrived.

"Will you stop bleeding, you idiot?" growled Nikos at his unconscious roommate. Kedi spared them a quick glance. Nikos didn't realize it, but they were fortunate the cuts to Avocato's side were relatively short. Kedi had never seen it happen, but his father and uncles had stories of hunters who had bled out from frost lizard venom. They were fortunate the pack was young and stupid. Had they hunted in unison, the three cadets would be dead by now.

Suddenly Kedi's ears were aching. A deep hum seemed to pass through his whole body. Another frost lizard. He grit his teeth, winging a prayer to Ventrexia for his brothers to arrive, rather than indulging in a complaint. Recognizing the sensation, Nikos looked up with a frown, defiant despite his fear.

"Behind Avocato's," whispered Nikos, standing and raising his weapon.

"Go for the eyes," said Kedi. It was their only chance. By the deep pitch of the thrum, he could tell that this frost lizard was older, at least as large as Avocato's kill, possibly even part of the warren that had cast out the younger ones. Probably the smell of blood had drawn it.

A motion atop the bulky carcass drew their eyes as the newcomer broke cover and surged over the dead lizard with an ear-shattering howl, feathers and fangs on display. Kedi and Nikos opened fire just as a burst of static came over their radios, followed by a familiar voice.

"Down! Down! Down!" cried Keya.

Nikos twisted and dove, covering Avocato as best he could. Kedi threw himself to the ground beside them as laser fire, shot horizontally and just above their heads, tore across the plain. A barrage of red-orange bolts smacked hard into the frost lizard, knocking it back. The creature screamed and writhed, thrashing wildly, even more dangerous in a frenzy than when in control. Kedi and Nikos tried to make themselves as small and flat as possible as another barrage spat overhead, silencing the lizard.

"Stay down!"

More shots from the transport rang out as two more frost lizards were flushed out and driven off.

Six frost lizards. They never would have survived.

"Don't move," called Keya. "Stay right where you are. We're almost there."

A seeming eternity passed before two ground transports pulled up to where they lay, their headlights illuminating the scene of carnage. There was a brief pause, and Kedi and Nikos slowly stirred as people poured out of the vehicles. Voices rose up, hands reached out to help and reassure them, and finally, they were saved.

Nikos let out a long sigh, suddenly and completely exhausted. He rolled to his back. "We're counting this as our first battle against an enemy, Kotic."

From where he lay in the snow beside him, Kedi turned his head to look at his friend. In the irregular light, he could see the fierce determination in Nikos' eyes as he stated, in a tone that allowed for no argument,

"We won."

Slowly, Kedi smiled, relieved to hear no blame in his friend's voice. Then he closed his eyes and echoed like a prayer,

"We won."