Tooth and Claw - Doranna Durgin [45]
“Of course,” Riker said, and handed it over. He’d get a better look at another one later. For now, he didn’t have the time to waste. He left the rest of the darts to Takan and Gavare, and joined Rakal, Ketan, and Akaar in their search for defensible ground … and plenty of firewood.
“Over here!” Rakal called, excitement in his voice. Too far from the others for Riker’s taste, but if they had a window of safety within which to operate, it would be now, in the aftermath of the sholjagg’s presence. Cautiously, he left Takan and made his way to second group, watching the ground with distinct attention for any tubular threats.
Rakal, he discovered, had ample reason for the triumph in his voice. He and the others were crouched before a steep bank, a cliff that seemed equal parts clay and rock with striations of darkly rich soil layered throughout. The ground directly before the cliff was tangled with foliage, but free of any large-girthed, towering trees; there would be room to build a bonfire or two. Defensively, it looked to be about as good as this area was likely to offer—better, in fact, than Riker had ever expected to find, because for all the challenges of the footing, the actual terrain had been fairly mild. Not only did the spot put a wall at their backs, but it curved around,
enhancing the shallow indentation which—if one were very generous—might be called a cave formation.
Riker was inclined to be generous.
“You see?” Akarr said, noting his arrival. “We don’t need your shuttle.”
“Regen might feel differently,” Riker said dryly. “If he were still able to feel anything at all.”
“And,” Akarr said, as though Riker hadn’t spoken at all, “we’re significantly closer to the portal.”
Riker wasn’t so sure about that, either. But instead of saying so, he added his armful contribution of wood. Not dry… nothing was. But the incendiary tablet would take care of that.
It had better.
“We’ll need more wood.” Akarr poked the small pile with his foot. “Enough wood to keep the fire high all night. That should keep them away.”
If I were a sholjagg, would I be afraid of a little fire? Riker recalled the size of the beast and wasn’t entirely convinced. But it was definitely a first step. “I’ll get more,” he said. He thought again of the tranks, hanging ineffectively in the sholjagg’s thick, coarse hair. Lots more.
“Now that we’ve found a defensible spot, we’ll all look,” Akarr declared. He lifted his head and bellowed, “Gavare! Takan! Join up!”
They set to gathering wood with intensity, combing the woods near the cave while the ambient light slowly dimmed and the bird and insect noise cranked up to the point where it was hard to hear anything else—even the sound of Riker’s own movement through the jungle. He found himself on alert, freezing each time the increasingly active insects sounded off nearby. A small, froggy creature that might or might not have had beetle-like wings poinged off his temple, dropped down to his
beard, and got its sticky feet tangled there so thoroughly that Riker had formed a distinct image of himself striding through the Enterprise corridors with a small winged frog stuck to his face before he finally freed the thing and sent it off into the brush.
But nothing tried to eat him, and he had at least two of the Tsorans in his sight at all times. Very cozy, just a nice roaring bonfire for a pleasant little camp out…. When he returned to the cave, he could barely see the dark hollow behind the stack of wood piled before it.
Riker began sorting through it, moving the main bulk of the wood—fallen branches ranging from green to punk-wood rotten—to the side so there was room to build the actual fire. He picked out the driest pieces for the fire-starting process, hefting anything that came into his hand that felt like it might serve as a club. Something with a longer reach than a bat’leth.
Besides, Akarr’s men had not yet thought past the firewood to the extra weapons they would need—even if the tranks worked on the next creature to come after them, they’d already severely depleted