Lysera let out a low grunt of acknowledgement, “I am. Though I think you’ll find I’m not yet in my prime.” She let a small smile touch her lips then, “Wait until I return with a broodmare worthy of a hundred Isiri daughters thrown over my shoulder.”
Aezera let out a laugh and nodded once in concession, holding out her Lancer, a double-bladed spear, each end a duel tip of the same pale blue material that was now interwoven throughout Lysera’s outfit, “I look forward to seeing that, Better. Is there anything you would like done in your stead?”
Lysera thought for a moment before answering, remembering the cowardice that the curiously built redhead had shown, “Take a turn with the red-haired one’s ass, I want to be able to fuck her myself should the urge arise.”
“As you say, Lysera.” Aezera said formally, though Lysera could sense her eagerness, “And be wary of the sands.”
Lysera nodded once, accepting her advice and the two traded a strong warriors grip before parting ways, Aezera going to see to the running of the camp, Lysera letting her bare feet carry her towards the site of their ambush.
She walked with purpose, feeling the sand blowing around her ankles as she retread her steps, finding the blind from where they had launched their ambush on the unsuspecting unit of marines.
They had been, as the red-haired one had said, scouting out a potential colony site, but their dropship had been picked up by the Isiri’s NCS sensor network and the nearest contestable force, Lysera’s, dispatched.
As she stepped down to the road on which the humans had travelled she became extremely cautious with the placement of her feet, careful not to scuff any of the multiple tracks that crisscrossed the area as she started to look around, just in case they turned out to be relevant.
The going was difficult at first since many of the original tracks had been disturbed in the aftermath as wounded and dead humans both had been dragged clear, but it didn’t take long until she came across what she was hoping to find, Isiri blood.
Despite how little Isiri blood lay on the battlefield compared to what had been spilt from their foe, her sense of smell and keen eyes had helped to find a distinctive too-deep crimson streak soaked into the sand and partially covered. She recognised the pattern the droplets had left as being from a particularly strong bladed slash, Cut-cheek, she thought.
As she stared at the sand around the blood, taking in each indentations size, shape and location, the picture of what had happened began to form in her mind’s eye.
She identified and followed the actions of a set of boot prints, walk, walk, pause, kneel, twist, shell casings, jump back, drop weapon, Isiri footprints, blood. The marine had knelt likely the instant the order to charge had been given and had discharged a burst of fire. Counting the shell casings Lysera could see how little she had managed to get off before she had been rushed by cut-cheek.
A few details of the fight had been obscured by the obvious drag marks of a male humans corpse, but one set of tracks were clear enough, leading away from the stricken cut-cheek and further off into the rocks.
Lysera followed with a slow deliberate pace, ensuring she never lost the set of footprints as they began to separate from the chaos of the fight, becoming more distinct and less cluttered. Lysera was impressed with how the human had stuck to natural cover, slipping away from the fight unhindered and unnoticed by Isiri.
As she took each step with care, feeling the coarse sand as it pressed between her clawed toes, she turned her mind to that of her prey, trying to see thing from her point of view, but the more she tried to make sense of it the less it did.
If the stories she had heard of these unique marines were to be believed they were fierce warriors, fanatic to the human cause and fearless. Yet this one had fled. If a coward then a strong, intelligent one, but that notion didn’t feel right. It felt like she was missing something critical, some information that would make everything just fall into place.
As time passed and the distance grew the non-ambient scents in the air from the battleground and the camp grew thinner and thinner leaving only one. The smell of human sweat and metal, no matter how faint, was like a beacon to Lysera’s senses and it allowed her to pick up her pace, gaining confidence until she was as a steady run, her feet pounding the sand as she no longer had to follow the prints in the sand, having only to stop on occasion to re-scent her prey.
The human had travelled fast but had so far made easy game in the hunt, her tracks easy to follow and Lysera, though moving fast herself, relying on the fire burning within to provide her with strength and stamina she didn’t yet push herself to her limits. She was unsure at which point she would catch up with the human and it wouldn’t do to arrive out of breath and off guard.
As the shadows of the planets long twilight began to set in, casting the world in an eerie red light haze the planets duel moons began to rise and Lysera found herself slowing. Over the last couple of kilometres the ground to either side of her had begun to rise and close in, what had been a low valley when she had entered was fast becoming an increasingly narrow gulch, the cliff walls stretching out above her in what for her would be a challenging climb and for a human an impossibility.
Lysera came to a stop at a point where the gulch narrowed further, her breathing controlled despite the lengths at which she had been running, her instincts giving her pause. The human’s scent was thick here, recent and alluring in its baseness, no perfumes or masks, just her prey, tired from a long run, seeking shelter from the sands as night approached.
Taking a step forward Lysera put a hand on the Lancer strapped to her back and she remembered her Seconds words, to be wary of the sands. She had no doubt her Second had been cautioning her not to forget about the planets unpredictable sandstorms, but even though none were in the air that she could sense, she hesitated, feeling uncharacteristically uncertain.
The smell and sense of her prey so close fed the fire in her and it commanded she finish the chase, take the human while she was tired and unprepared, find a quiet spot sheltered away from the world and claim her prize.
The fire drove her forward another few steps but again something in her mind held her back.
Frustrated and eager to claim her spoils it took a conscious effort of willpower to force the fire to subside, something many others, even of her rank would struggle to do when the climax of the hunt felt so close at hand.
As the fire subsided Lysera felt a little weariness settle into her limbs. It had been a long run and a long day even before that. She turned her mind from thoughts of taking what was hers and instead tried to figure out what had put her senses on edge.
With a hand still on her Lancer she looked from the rock faces guiding her along to the cliff tops above, then down to the winding passage vanishing off before her and lastly to the sands at her feet where her eyes focused and a frown formed on her plush cherry lips.
The human’s tracks were deep and uniform, as easy to follow as the scent in her wake, so obvious in fact that even a Fifth could’ve followed with ease.
Lysera blinked, her breath catching in her throat as all the pieces seemed to at once fall neatly into place, the entire day’s events culminating into a single all-encompassing realisation that burned through her mind and body, giving her life. Lysera grinned and let her fingers release the Lancer. She knew where the human was and she would have to be quick and quiet.
The climb wasn’t as difficult as she had first assumed, though it was a good test of her control, relying on her fires incredible strength and endurance to heave her own massive bulk up while keeping her cool and calm, placing each hand and foot with caution, knowing that any loud noise could prove to be her downfall in the critical moments that followed.
Step by step, inch by inch, Lysera rose, her skin gaining a thin sheen of sweat as much from the mental restraint as her physical exertion and as she reached the top she kept her body low, her teeth bared as she peered over the lip of the gulch and at the jagged, rocky landscape that awaited her.
The sand-laced winds licked at her face as she crawled forward, sticking to cover and doing her best to ignore where the pointed rocks bit into her bare flesh, momentarily frustrated with her otherwise adored bust.
She came to a large rock outcropping on the edge of the gulch and froze, tempering her fire to slow her heart rate. She inhaled slowly through her nose but caught nothing, the wind up here too erratic to give her a scent and she prepared to continue forward.
As she breathed out something minute tickled her attention, something so small she had almost missed it. Pausing where she was on the exhale, not even willing to risk her own breath she shut her eyes and felt her pointed ears twitch as she exerted effort.
It was a skill to listen like she was, but having six ears was not without its advantages. On the edge of hearing, locked away where her conscious mind always chose to ignore it, Lysera could hear the quickened thumping of her own heart deep within her chest, but it wasn’t alone. Another heartbeat echoed in her ears and once she had made the distinction between the two beats, she could hear it racing.
When the marine came around the rock, rifle raised and shell casing flying free Lysera’s Lancer was already arcing through the air. The first few rounds pinged off the rock, the marine having pre-fired and another struck Lysera in the shoulder guard, virtually the only armour she wore.
With a blue flash of power the Lancer’s blue blade glanced off the barrel of the marine’s rifle, the force of the impact levied by the spears length and Lysera’s strength sent the compact little thing spinning from the marines now numbed hands, leaving it to skitter away across the rocks as the marine dove and rolled backwards, landing nimbly on her feet with knife in hand, the silver blade stained red with dried Isiri blood.
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