Thurfrit stared up at the monstrous shaar, certain that this was it.

He wondered who would take over his role as the Tribe’s chronicler, and what they’d say of his death. Would he be just a line? A brief mention? “Thurfrit the Chronicler died this day.” And…what more would they say? What had he done to merit more than that?

“Great Spirit,” he prayed, as the shaar began to wind up for another blow, “give me a chance to extend my story. To make it worthy of telling. Please.”

The shaar paused, as if it heard something.

Thurfrit watched it cock its head, and then he heard what it had heard.

The bark of a kipp.

Quendra was on a dead sprint, long knife drawn, cursing her decision not to bring a bow and arrows. She had to save Thurfrit from the shaar, though – there was no way she could possibly kill him herself if she didn’t.

Luke pelted after her, amazed at how fast he was able to move with each push. They bounded through the field until Quendra landed and barked again; Luke more tumbled to a stop, but he righted himself quickly.

The shaar turned to look at Quendra, quizzically, as if wondering where the damn kipp was. It growled menacingly, trying to decide which potential meal to focus on.

“Are you okay, Thurfrit, you idiot?” Quendra growled back, not moving her eyes off the monster.

“Yes, Quendra, but….”

“Shut up. Luke, you and Thurfrit need to get out of here.”

“And leave you alone with the shaar?” Luke said, incredulously. “Not a chance.”

The shaar brought its tail down near Quendra, who leaped out of the way at just the last moment. “I’m serious, Luke!” she said.

“So’m I,” Luke said, moving over toward the chronicler, who was getting up slowly. “You have any weapons, Thurfrit?”

“Just…just a knife,” Thurfrit stammered. “But it’s a shaar….”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Luke said. “It’s better than nothing.”

Quendra dove again, as the shaar swiped at her; it had turned its focus to her. It moved in close and started to maneuver to use its tail again, when it yelped, and turned.

Luke backed up, holding the bloody knife he’d stabbed into the creature’s leg. “Yeah, there are two of us, you bastard. Come on! Get some!”

“Luke, don’t be stupid!” Quendra said.

“I’m not. Brilliant as you are, you can’t take this thing out on your….”

Luke didn’t finish the thought, because he had to dive out of the way of the creature’s tail whip, which gave Quendra the opportunity to leap on its back.

Quendra dug the long knife into the shaar’s back, cutting a ragged gash that had it howling in pain. It broke off its attack on Luke, and rolled, tossing Quendra off like a rag doll. She fell to the ground, and barely had a chance to right herself when it was upon her.

It was bleeding, and angry, and it turned on her, eyes ablaze. It raised up a mammoth paw, and swiped.

Quendra was aware of something – a shove sideways that she thought must be the shaar’s paw itself. But it wasn’t. It was something else, pushing her out of the way and under the beast, which hit that thing with malevolent intent, sending it flying.

“Luke!” she cried, and she raised her knife into the shaar’s belly and cut, and cut, and cut.

She was barely aware that the shaar eventually leapt off and raced away at top speed, mortally wounded but still alive enough to retreat. She was covered in its blood and viscera, and breathing heavily, when she finally turned.

Thurfrit was kneeling, his face grave. Quendra ran over as quickly as she could, and she saw why; Luke lay on the ground, not moving, a puncture wound in his side bleeding profusely, two more gashes running across his chest.

Quendra didn’t think. She reacted. She had a few glowberries, which she squeezed over the wound; then she took her cloak from her pack and lay it atop it, carefully. “Give me your shirt” she said, not even looking at Thurfrit; when he did, she tied it around Luke’s belly, holding the cloak in place as an improvised bandage.

She looked toward the house. For one insane second, she considered running for the monsters, asking for their help. But she shook that off, and looked at Thurfrit. “All right, we’ll carry him,” she said. “Together. As fast as we can.”

“Quendra, I….”

“Shut up!” she shouted, and looked up at Thurfrit; he saw for the first time the tears in her eyes. “I don’t care why you put us in mortal danger. Right now, we have to get him to Wolan. That’s all that matters.”

Thurfrit nodded, and lifted Luke’s torso, careful not to touch the bandage; Quendra lifted his legs. It would take them hours to get back to the Great Tree like this, but they didn’t have a choice.

Quendra looked around quickly, checking to see if anything of them had been left behind; satisfied, she lifted, and carried. There was no time for despair. There was only time to act.

—

“Hey, look at that,” Aezhay said, as she and her sisters headed back to the house, a few hours later.

“Hmm?” Aisell asked.

“Looks like blood,” Aezhay said.

Aisell paused, but Aezhay continued forward. “Probably a shaar,” she said.

“Not a human?” Aisell barely whispered.

“What? No, no – it’s too dark to be human or Titan blood. Shaar or a kipp, maybe both. Looks fresh.”

“Maybe that fraking kipp got killed,” Lezah growled. “Serves it right.”

“I feel bad for whatever it was,” Aisell said, finally. Then her pad chirped. She looked it over, and tilted her head, just slightly.

“What is it, pup?” Lezah asked.

“It’s Bedra. She wants to know if I want to go up to Rutger tonight, visit her and her roommate, meet her new human.”

“Well, if you want me to tell her you’re busy….”

“No,” Aisell said, nodding slightly. “Actually…if it’s okay, I think I will.”

Aezhay and Lezah shot each other a surprised look. “You feel up to it?” Lezah asked.

“Not necessarily,” Aisell said. “But…I mean, at some point…I have to anyway.”

Aisell looked back at the spot of the fight. A week ago, she would have been tearing it apart for one clue that could point her to Luke. But she couldn’t keep holding on to false hope. She had to let him go, and start to move on.

She started up toward the house. “I’d better get ready,” she said, not looking back.

—

In the healer’s ward in the Great Tree, Quendra the Huntress, Screams Like Kipp, sat by the side of Luke’s bed, watching him breathe.

Wolan had told her that he had done everything he could do – closed the wound, treated it with herbs and glowberry salves, set his broken leg, poured water and broth down his throat to sustain him – but that it would be up to Luke to recover.

He had saved her. He didn’t have to. They could see the house from where they were. All he had to do was turn and run, and he would have been back with the monsters.

But he hadn’t. He’d stayed and fought by her side, and took a killing blow from a shaar that was meant for her.

He’d taken that blow for her, and she could hardly bear it.

“Do you mind telling me what in the name of the Great Spirit you were thinking?”

She squeezed Luke’s hand, and got up. “I was going to take him home, Drugar. To the monsters.”

Drugar shook his head. “Well, that’s more than Thurfrit would say. He wouldn’t tell me what you three were doing on the path by their house. Did you want to destroy us, Quendra?”

Quendra looked at him evenly; she was too tired to be furious. “Drugar, if anyone but you had asked that, I would demand a chance at justice. No, of course not. I had promised him…if he would not use his position as the Man from Earth to harm your rule, I would take him to the monsters if he wanted to go.”

Drugar’s eyebrows moved up, slightly. “And you didn’t think to consult me?”

“No, Leader,” Quendra said, looking down. “And I should have.”

“Damn right you should have! So Thurfrit was going with you?”

“I think he followed us – Luke had left without getting a chance to say goodbye. Anyhow, he got cornered by the shaar, I went in to save him…and Luke stayed with us and fought.”

Drugar looked at the man lying in the bed. “So he did,” Drugar said.

Drugar turned back to Quendra. “Quendra the Huntress, Screams Like Kipp, if you were anyone else, I would be confining you to your room indefinitely right about now.”

“If you wish to, I will go,” Quendra said, softly.

“No,” Drugar said. His eyes moved to Luke again. “This man saved your life, and Thurfrit’s. You are both to help the healer with anything he needs, until he recovers – and then you are to help him.”

“Help me with what?”

Quendra wheeled around; Luke was eyeing the Leader and her closely; he looked awful, weak and ghostly pale. But though he looked much like he felt, his eyes were full of fire.

“With your recovery,” Quendra said. “Wolan….”

“I will get the healer,” Drugar said, taking his leave.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked, blinking. “Last I remember, I was fighting a shaar with you.”

“Yeah,” Quendra said, sitting down next to him. “You pushed me out of the way when it was about to swat me.”

“Did I? Remind me not to do that again,” Luke said, then gave a half-smile, half-grimace. “Actually, don’t; just let’s try not to have me have to do it. Thurfrit….”

“He’s okay too,” Quendra said.

“Good,” said Luke, as Wolan reached his side.

“Awake! Well! This is a good sign, Luke of Earth,” Wolan said, checking his dressing, which was still seeping, but not much blood. “Had you not awoken soon, I would have grown concerned.”

“Glad I could make you feel better,” Luke said, grimacing. He was starting to realize how much pain he was in. “So what all did it do to me?”

“Well, you have a wound in your side, cuts on your chest, and a broken leg; you lost a fair amount of blood, but if you’re awake, you have a good chance of surviving.”

“Well. Good,” Luke said. “Is there anything you can do for the pain?”

“Not much,” Wolan said. “I have given you some palmarisa, it will help, but I dare not give you too much yet. Not until you have begun to recover.”

“Okay,” Luke said. “All right.”

“I will get you some more broth around; I will be back soon,” Wolan said.

Quendra looked down at him. He lay with his eyes closed, frowning from the pain that he was now starting to process fully.

“Luke,” she said, quietly, grabbing his hand, “if we were ever able to visit Earth…what would we do?”

“Mmm?”

“I just…you’ve told me a lot about it. But…if you could take us to Earth…where would we go?”

Luke frowned; he didn’t want to think about Earth. Or much else, other than the pain. Thinking required effort, and he was putting all his effort into feeling pain. But somehow, slowly, he began to talk.

“I’d take you up to the mountains,” Luke said. “I think you’d like the mountains. They’re enormous. Make even the Titans look tiny next to them.” He took a deep breath. “You’d probably like tracking some of the animals there,” Luke chuckled. “Pronghorn – they’re fast. Second-fastest land animal on Earth. That’d be a good challenge.”

He smiled, just a bit. “But I’d really like to show you Boulder. Take you home, have my mom make some peach cobbler.”

“Peach cobbler?” Quendra asked, unfamiliar with the language Luke had slipped into just then.

“Yeah. Kinda like a cake, with fruit in it – my mom has the best recipe for it. Simple, can’t miss, always better the next day. Heat it up, have it with some ice cream – as good as it gets.”

“If you could get home, would you stay there?”

Luke smiled, though his eyes stayed closed. “I’d love to build a cabin up in the mountains, then. But you’d have to promise to visit. I think I’d miss you if you didn’t stop by my home once in a while.”

Luke breathed in and out, and gave Quendra’s hand a squeeze. “You need to get some rest,” he said.

“What?”

“You. You look tired, Quendra. How long has it been since we fought?”

“The sun has gone down, but….”

“That’s thirty-some hours, Quendra. Go get some sleep. I’ll still be here tomorrow.”

“But…Luke….”

Luke opened his eyes, and gave her a smile. “Quendra…I feel better. Really. Thanks for distracting me. Go get some sleep, now. You fought a shaar, too.”

Quendra smiled back at him, and squeezed his hand one last time. “Okay,” she said. “But you don’t go leaving on me.”

“It’s a deal,” Luke said, laying back. Truth is, he still hurt, something fierce, but Quendra had distracted him enough that he could feel the weariness behind the pain. He dozed off, still dreaming about Colorado.

—

“Sounds like you had fun,” Lezah said, as Aisell dipped her flatbread into her stew.

“I did. Bunches. You really do need to meet Eyrn – I think you’ll like her.”

Lezah smiled, and poured a bit more juice for her sister. Aisell was in a decidedly better mood than she’d been in, not just since before Luke disappeared, but since she’d returned from Titan Station. It was as if she had a weight lifted off her. Well, not exactly – it was just that she was aware, finally, that others were helping her with it.

“I can’t believe a girl raised on Earth by humans would be so…so….”

“So normal, Zhay?” Aisell chuckled. “Yeah, you wouldn’t say that if you’d met Luke. It’s funny. She’s a Titan, but she’s got this human side, too – it’s hard to explain. But yeah, it’s like Darren…the humans from Earth are just people. A bit small, but people.”

“Darren’s her pet, right?” Aezhay asked.

Aisell laughed out loud, something that almost startled Lezah, it had come so rarely of late. “You try telling him that. Seriously. But do it when I’m around. I want to see his reaction.”

Aisell sobered, just a bit. “I…I wish I could have introduced Luke to him. They’re very different people, but I think it would have been nice for him to talk to a person from Earth. Both of them to, really.” She sighed. “But at least…I mean, Darren’s gonna be facing the same stuff Luke would have if he hadn’t…you know. I worry about him. I worry about all of ‘em. Tapp. Even Degu. Something…something’s gotta change for them.”

“You sound like you’re planning something,” Lezah said.

“Not yet,” Aisell said. “But I’m starting to think on it. I screwed up so bad with Luke, but…I don’t want that to be the end of it. He’s gone, I can’t make it up to him, much as I wish I could. But maybe, if I can figure out a way to help other humans….”

Aisell looked down, and for a second, the grief she still was bearing flashed across her face. But it moved on, and she found her smile again. “Anyhow, I know Eyrn said we all should come up sometime, and Bedra will be back speaking to me in another few weeks, so I think we should maybe go up to Rutger, all three of us, sometime next month.”

Lezah thought that was probably an irresponsible waste of money that they didn’t really have, but then, she thought that at this point, one weekend trip wasn’t going to be the difference between losing the farm and saving it. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what would be.

“I think that sounds good, pup. You’ve definitely got me interested in meeting Eyrn. And Tapp, for that matter. Now,” she said, clearing her bowl, “probably time to get back out there. If we’re gonna miss a couple days next month, best we get ahead of the game now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Aisell said with a grin and feigned salute. Her big sister laughed, and returned it. If visits to Rutger were going to help Aisell’s mood like this, Lezah thought, she’d sell the farm next week to finance them.