Dzar-Ghan (Alien Barbarians of Vandruk #3)

28. Chapter 28

DZAR-GHAN

I listened to Jenna prattle all day and stopped her from lifting a ghanzu—turtle-like creature—thinking it was a rock, and enjoyed every moment. The weather was mild, not too hot, not too cold, and by midday, we reached a clearing with a lake where we were able to clean up.

Jenna insisted on fussing over my injury again despite the water washing off the crusted blood and only a few drops making their way through the invisible seams. Those seams fascinated me the most. She hadn’t made any stitches like our healers would; instead, she put a burning paste on it that sealed the wound. The pain was different from the tugging and poking of a needle and looked like it wouldn’t leave a scar to brag about, but I could see the allure of this technique.

During Jenna’s endless stream of words, I began to pick up more of their meanings, happy to learn her language and loving listening to the sound of her voice. Her nuances always gave it away when she was about to run head-on into danger. It usually moved a little higher as excitement grabbed her, warning me to make sure she didn’t run into trouble.

We discovered a pit of firerocks, and I used the opportunity to stock up on them. They burned longer than wood, with less smoke, and once lit, they didn’t require as much air as wood to keep burning. They were ideal for cooking.

Predictably, Jenna was fascinated by them. Even more so once she realized what they were for. Out came the microscope , and I nearly had to bodily carry her away. We still had a long way to go, and she would have plenty of time to play with her new find once we made camp for the night.

Now and then, worry crept up in me for my warriors, but I was certain they had not only survived the storm but were like us on the way to the Rodruk Mountains. They would reach them sooner than us, that much was clear, and I hoped Grehn-Bzag would keep a clear enough head to wait a few days for us before sending warriors out to search the wildlands.

Thinking of the Rodruk Mountains created a dark cloud hovering inside my chest. The guilt for not having set my family’s souls free yet was deep and heavy. Sending a glance at Jenna, stumbling over a branch she had missed in her excitement over a puddle of glanzor—oil—made me question how she would be able to accomplish what nobody else ever had. How would she get into the cave?

“Dzar-Ghan, Dzar-Ghan, hold up,” she yelled, rushing to me, falling into my arms when her left foot hit a rock. “Ouch!”

Over the days, I had learned that ouch only meant a minor discomfort, not any kind of serious injury, so I swallowed my question of are you all right because I would have been asking it nearly nonstop.

She freed herself from my embrace, acknowledging the fact that I had caught her with one of her brilliant smiles before she attacked one of the backpacks I was carrying. Out came a small container, and I let out an annoyed sigh, recognizing a lost battle when I saw one. I gave her the time she needed to collect as much glanzor as her heart desired before putting it back into the backpack. Tonight, I would show her what it was used for, hoping to impress her.

We walked on without any further incidents, nearing the Rodruk Mountains so close now that I could make out the plateau that housed the tomb of my loved ones.

I didn’t like the idea of making camp out in the open, but there was no place for us to hide away as we had with the boulders. The narran trees had thinned as well, but at least there were enough for me to cut a few leaves off that would keep us comfortable.

After I lit a fire, I took out the meat and realized this was our last chance to eat it before it spoiled, meaning I needed to make a fresh kill tomorrow. I hated wasting it, but we didn’t have the time to hang it to dry. On a positive note, we had made better time than I had anticipated. I figured after two more nights out in the open, we would reach the mountains, and with some luck, even the plateau.

I used one of the thick leaves of a dzukaki brush, shaped it into a bowl, holding it together with a piece of string, and asked Jenna for the glanzor she had collected. It was amusing to watch her expressions. She was clearly unhappy about parting with one of her treasures but equally intrigued by what I was about to show her. I poured a generous amount of the thick liquid into the leaf bowl, watching her fret, and quietly chuckled. Next, I searched through her things until I found the moondust and scraped a few shavings off into the bowl. Jenna’s squeal when the liquid inside turned bright silver, like her hair, emanating a low glow, was one of the most intriguing sounds I had ever heard.

She was as easily intrigued as one of the smaller younglings in our world, and I loved every moment of it. Out of nowhere, an image of a small Vandruk gallis with red skin and silver hair popped into my mind, laughing and running through the forests of Catterground. Jenna and my daughter. It hit me like a lightning strike, but I liked that idea very much, hoping it was a premonition granted by Vorag.

I threw a surreptitious glance at Jenna, wondering how she would feel about having children with me, amazing myself that I was even asking this question. She was my mate, and matings were done to ensure offspring. Still, I knew Jenna well enough not to be taking anything for granted.

Instead, I busied myself trying to figure out how I could impress her next. It shouldn’t be too hard as she was the most easily pleased gallis I had ever known, even over something as mundane as one of our main light sources. We didn’t bother taking them with us when we traveled. The dzukaki was too hard to transport, but at home, every household used them at night.

The small amount I used to show off to Jenna was enough to last all night until the moondust wore off unless I added more to make it brighter. After dinner, we had sex on the narran leaves, and I wondered how I had ever lived these many years without the pleasure of the body.

I stopped Jenna before she ran into the firepit that had burned out a while ago and helped her find a spot to pee, turning my back like she still demanded. When she was done, we snuggled up on the narran leaves, but I stayed awake that night. We were exposed to all kinds of nightly predators roaming Vandruk, and I would not allow any harm to come to my Jenna.