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―Not exactly Big Boy seemed to put a stop to it Now they only eat after they let one of us go and hunt us down," Dasc whispered back His scraggly white beard was caked with dust and blood His eyes glassy and red Brien wondered if they had been feeding the captives raw hu Boy? That one?" He pointed discreetly to the one who had knocked hi Boy isn‘t around Maybe still hunting," the nized as a fa

Itaround thisthe beasts as if they were on the verge of doing soraying, black-furred one, the one with a clean-shaven face, who had been surveying the captives and had treated Brien to a foul saliva offering He seeood control of the lot Brien iht wind of the whispering and turned back toward them All three men adjusted themselves aardly As he made his way closer, Dasc was quickly overrun with some of the

deepest fear Brien had ever seen Fear was never in Brien‘s blood He was usually ready for any end that iant beast luht

Six stopped right in front of the cringing Dasc His nostrils flared as he looked closer, grabbing at Dasc‘s arrunt that was obviously a

su or a name Two other Brutes made their way over; one tan that Brien dubbed Butch, and the huge, rich brown one he‘d thought was Big Boy He quickly referred to hiure out why He wondered if any a them were female It was impossible to tell In all of his research, he‘d never positively identified one

Six grabbed Dasc in one big rip with his right hand, but when Hague leaped back startled, his eyes must‘ve ue out and tossed him toward the other Brutes Dasc‘s body lay li from the smell he‘d lost control of his bowels

Brien and the other captives watched fearfully as Six let out a roar and a hand ather around Hague wobbled hi to be as brave and defiant as one could when surrounded by nine-foot-tall hairy beasts, all able to crush you in a blink and drooling in anticipation of a freshthe fifteen Brutes surrounding Hague, one of the and held hihter The old saying always held true; laughter was the saled to rise, trying desperately to wiggle hioaded therabbed an arm, and that‘s when Brien couldn‘t look anymore He

watched as Six suddenly see back beyond the crowd, to the edge of the forest He couldn‘t quite place why the beast would incite such a spectacle and walk away, unless it was to ih Brien‘s bones and he shut his eyes Then the screams

stopped with a chorus of crunches and yells fro Brutes slowly gave way to silence and Brien opened his eyes again The crowd had

dispersed, and standing aue was undoubtedly the one Dasc had referred to as Big Boy Clad in a few strokes of array-brown hair unke leader definitely was one of the biggest Brutes Brien had ever seen He stood there silently Brien looked around for Six; he was nowhere to be found

CERETUS WATCHEDfrom the darkness as Chieftain Parabum stood silent with his hammer over

his shoulder Behind hiht hand, Brunus Two of the dumbest Jiralhanae Ceretus had ever encountered They each had dragged in a human corpse behind them Parabum took in his pack with disappointnaling the human remains with his ha of rowled ―A plua their heads in respect

Ceretus knew no one would confess; it was too risky Parabu

He chose aard battles to fight, found disrespect where none was intended He was one of the worst Chieftains Ceretus had the displeasure of serving He watched hungrily as the head of the hu forward to feasting on this one, but noould certainly spoil Brother Golubus had co the fatter ones taste like Thorn Beast, and he missed that delicacy as much as he missed the brothels back on Teash The hu to such pleasures Parabu to a Chieftain who couldn‘t even properly sermon the pack There was a lot of hate in Ceretus‘s heart, mostly for the humans who put him here--but he was happy to focus all his hatred on this ancient clan eneraced his brother He couldn‘t hold the hatred in er He‘d rather die than rot in the shadows of this coward

―It was me, ed boldly fro restless in their hunger, and I feared you‘d be late in returning" He quickly hid his bravery, taking on a much humbler tone as a shred of fear took over

―Ceretus, do you not have faith that your Chieftain is the greatest of hunters, a fierce and keen tracker, especially of these si to test him The Chieftain walked toward him with no fear

―I have no such doubt, Chieftain," Ceretus said as he approached, bowing before hith ―This was a kill froet it prepared while it was still fresh" He bowed before hiround in front of hirabbed his throat; his nails, digging through Ceretus‘s fur, piercing his skin ―Not one of these pathetic creatures is to be touched without your Chieftain to sanction it Not one" Ceretus struggled to keep his eyes averted, his sha off, the Chieftain released his grip, his attention diverted to the human pen

―What is this!" Parabu for air ―A new hued?!"

Ceretus looked over toward Ha in excitement

Hammadus shouted proudly, ―We found him up in a tree, round in fear before I could even reach hiods, Chieftain

Perhaps there are ht hi able to climb so well and all"

Parabum looked annoyed Ceretus watched as the Chieftain wandered over to where the hulking young warrior stood, his head returning to a humble and fearful bow

―A find indeed," Parabuhtened Hammadus, who stood almost a

foot taller and wider than his Chieftain Paraburound Ceretus knew that once Parabu in deep, just as he had just done to him

Ceretus watched as Parabu warrior was

getting stronger, and this was his another attempt to scare him into servitude Perhaps the smartest move Parabum had yet to pull off Ceretus would have to be smarter

Once Parabum felt Hammadus was sufficiently cowed, his tone took a celebratory note and he

addressed the rest of the pack ―Tonight we feast on three of the pathetic creatures May we consuods Enjoy, s"

Parabuly Ceretus, clutching his pierced throat, gave the vainglorious Parabum‘s back a secret, hateful stare as he walked away; he loathed his Chieftain‘s awful benedictionsThey were eful A facade of faith There was no way he was going to endure another pathetic atte at them He could eat his shame But he hoped Haathered for theirserved, let alone enjoyed, was toothis Even if he had enough time to establish some kind of communication with the Brutes, it would be in vain

He had to escape By his count he had less than forty-eight hours until the exfiltration craft would arrive He felt a hand on his hunched back

―You never get used to it," Dasc said quietly ―You just hope soet here soon before they pull your cardThought you were the first of a cavalry, but I guess not"

―I‘ather so the Brute dinner party with his head, ―but thisthis is" Brien couldn‘t even coht

The two shook hands ―I‘mFrancis"

―So this is transcendence?" Brien used his eyes and bushy brows to co sure his tone called out the man‘s lie The s used to He jerked his head back slightly to keep a good distance

―Huise It was, for quite some timeSo you came in here alone?"

―I was supposed to be here for just a short time, assess the situation Communications with the port AI were destroyed ale No one knew if there were any survivors"

He turned to watch what appeared to be a cere majestically above the pack

A woray hair flowed down her shoulders, her body so thin her raggedy clothes swam on her She would‘ve been pretty under better circu

―Are you here to save us?" The look in her eyes was enough to break Brien‘s heart She was

holding on to any hope she could find

Brien couldn‘t answer ―Has anyone tried to escape?"

―Almost every daysomeone makes a run for it" This came from another prisoner, a

brown-skinned man with the remains of an athletic build ―But look at those round in one step than we do in three"

Brien suddenly becairth He was the only one of the re prisoners who had any meat on his bones He knew his ti else, besideswell, us?"

―They did eat the little frog-looking aliens they brought with theaestured a thumb over to the feast ―They seem to like us the best"

Brien watched in silence as the Brutes gnawed meat off human bone He‘d studied cannibals

before, but he always knew they had so flesh Not that it made it any better, but he understood it These ani those who shared their faith and alliance Brien wondered if this was

representative of the whole Brute ardless, these beasts were natural human predators, even beyond the war