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Tyg laughed with delight. “You scared a little Skrahak off a cliff and they call you ‘Jack the Skrahak killer for that?” Jack just grinned at him and the Queen smiled with relief.
Gee returned with a tall Shreen male Tyg immediately recognized. With a cry of happiness he leapt to his feet to rush over to him. Jack and the Queen looked at each other and left the pit to meet a male that could elicit such a response in the King.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Tyg pressed his forehead to the large, strong looking male. He turned back to his wife. “This is Oleg! He’s our champion Ridger! He and his team kept the village safe and cleared the region during the big migration two years back!” He turned back to Oleg hero worship plain on his face and the champion smiled back at him in grateful appreciation.
Then Oleg’s eyes went to Jack and rose to his horns. The smile slipped from his face to be replace with… something else. Actually It looked a little like the expression on Tyg’s face.
“I- I’ve come to return your property to you,” Oleg said to Jack and Tyg looked at him expectantly. The male raised his hand and he had Jack’s goggles. They looked no worse for wear until Jack saw the strap was in tatters, eaten away by the saliva probably.
Tyg looked at the goggles and smiled back at Jack. “You dropped your goggles out in the snow?”
Oleg turned to Tyg with a serious expression. “No, King. They were in the mouth of the huge beast.”
“Mouth? Huge?” Tyg muttered in confusion. He turned back to Jack. “How did your goggles get into a Skrahak’s mouth? Just how large was this beast?”
Jack fidgeted. “The goggles fell off after I crashed through the side of its face into its mouth,” he said pointing to his horns.
The Queen cried out in shock, her legs giving out to drop her to her butt on the floor. Gee was immediately at her side to help her up and back into the living room pit to sit down.
“King, this was a Dynast Class Skrahak,” Oleg clarified. Tyg’s eyes flashed to the champion’s face.
“But… they don’t come down from the high mountain slopes!”
“No, they rarely come down. We believe they do during their own migration cycles. Being very territorial, this one may well be the same one that took your great grandfather but there’s no real way to be certain,” Oleg explained.
“How big?” Tyg asked.
“Nine metres, end to end,” Oleg answered.
Tyg’s face whipped around to look at Jack. “Are you insane? You attacked a nine metre Skrahak?!?”
“Hey! I couldn’t really see how big it was at first and it wouldn’t have mattered. It was going to eat Bal! Nobody, not even a big Skrahak, hurts my friends!” Jack barked back then looked around. He looked to Gee. “Where is Bal?”
She walked up to him and hugged him tightly. “I gave her some painkillers for her broken rib. She is resting under your coat. Let her rest,” she finished when she felt him try to move to the bedroom. She released him and went to sit with the Queen.
Tyg was looking dazed.
Oleg cleared his throat and Jack looked back at him. “What would you like to do with the carcass?
“What?”
“You killed it. Its resources belong to you,” Oleg explained.
“Oh! Uh, tell you what. I’ll take one steak’s worth of meat from it and the rest can go to Asha. She deserves the closure for her grandfather in case this is the same one.” Jack said and the champion smiled at the poetic justice in this.
“You’re going to eat the Skrahak?” the Queen gasped.
Jack smirked at her. “Not the whole thing! Just one meal as a symbolic act of defiance.” He couldn’t keep a straight face. “Actually just because I’m really hungry and Skrahak steak tastes amazing!”
Gee just shook her head as she rolled her eyes. Jack touched his forehead to Oleg’s in thanks then walked over and sat next to the agent in the pit. He slumped back to relax against the cushions. There was a tearing sound and all eyes went to his horns which were embedded in the large pillow. Jack sat back up and looked back with a pout. He faced the others. “I’m sorry about that. I lost my caps out in the snow.”
Gee went up on her knees on the cushions next to Jack and took his head between her hands. He looked at her in surprise thinking she was going for a kiss but she tilted his head down with a look of exasperation and examined his horns much closer.
“You’ve lost the GowGow coating. Likely it shattered in the impact. More worrying, you have multiple stress fractures on the front surfaces of your horns. We should return to Altaria for your doctor to look at these,” Gee recommended.
Jack sighed as he heard the tone in her voice that told him it was more of an order, one he would regret ignoring once it got back to Queen Elissa.
“Tomorrow?” he asked and Gee smiled as she nodded.
Tyg was speaking quietly to Oleg and they touched foreheads once more before the champion nodded to the others and left.
“Well, you have an interesting story for your audience tonight!” Tyg said with a smile.
“I live in interesting times,” Jack sighed.
>>>>>
Jack woke with a terrible headache. He moaned and tried to lift his hands to his head but discovered he couldn’t move his arms. His eyes flew open in a panicked response but he saw he was just buried in furry bodies once more. He tried to relax back against the pillows in the living room pit once more but the throbbing in his head wouldn’t subside. He thought back to the night before to recall if he’d had anything to drink or eat which might explain the pain he was in now.
Ghen and Asha’s broadcast dinner had been a lot of fun. The Queen and King had joined them at the table as had Gee and Bal, who had been feeling a little better. Oleg was also at their table but left part ways through the night to go on a patrol. They’d talked and laughed until the restaurant closed and afterwards made their way to Jack’s suite with a bottle of Nii. The Queen promised it tasted lovely, generated a light feeling of euphoria, and most importantly had none of the seemingly random side effects of Lussht. It was another beverage you drank in small increments and the seven of them lounged in the pit taking sips as they continued to talk and laugh. This morning Jack had to admit the Queen was right. He’d felt wonderful last night and could still recall every moment until the time he nodded off in the pit. Obviously this had been seen as an invitation to get some shut eye with him. This was a genuine Shreen experience.
The pain spiked and he couldn’t stop another moan from leaking out. Seconds later he felt a gentle touch on his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw Gee’s concerned expression.
“I think we must take you home now,” she said.
“What is wrong with Jack?” the Queen asked as she woke up and stretched luxuriantly over his body.
“Something is wrong with Jack?” Tyg blurted as he woke with a start. His parents were a little slower to wake.
“I slept so well last night!” Asha grinned with her husband then they lost those smiles when they picked up on the tension.
Gee pressed her lips to Jack’s horns.
Jack looked at her oddly. “It’s just a headache.”
She frowned at him. “No Jack, it’s not. Your horns are hot. We must take you to see Jinnae.” She looked at the Mayor. “Could we catch a ride on the train that transports your produce to Elleltris?”
Ghen’s eyebrows rose. “Uh, I suppose you could…” The idea was obviously disturbing for him.
“Haste is required,” Gee said as her partner joined her. They did that thing where they talked with gestures and Bal’s eyes widened in concern. She moved away to begin packing.
“We will leave our skis here if you don’t mind. I’m sure Jack will wish to return to use them again soon.”
“You are all welcome to come back any time!” Ghen said as his wife nodded.
“I apologize for us sleeping on you last night,” Tyg said sheepishly.
“No, it’s fine. A… genuine… Shreen experience I will treasure,” he said through the pounding pain. “I have the fondest memories, those the Lussht didn’t steal away, of Chrystan and its people. Thank… you for making me feel… so welcome!”
The couples tried to smile at him but they could see the pain he was in.
Ghen used his com to hold the next train and add a car to the end for the passengers. He instructed them to bolt down three spare bus seats into the extra car which shocked the people at the other end of the com until they learned it was a medical emergency for Ambassador Danner and his two Altarian companions. Then they jumped to it.
Tyg ran out the door to bring a cart up the corridor as the rest got Jack up and dressed. His muscles ached badly and he was beginning to realize that maybe this was more than a headache. He insisted in saying goodbye properly before boarding the cart. Tyg drove like a mad man, hand on the cart horn at every corner but he got them to the train station without killing them or anyone else. He helped them on board and told them Tanz would pick them up at the other end.