“Alexander!” Nel’s annoyed voice said inches from my face. I blinked and focused on her just in time to swat the finger she was about to jab at my forehead.

‘What?”

“Glen’s house was empty. Even his Bees are gone and when I came back I saw you standing there staring off into the distance, drooling. I’ve been calling your name for the last minute.”

“I wasn’t drooling,” I said, wiping at my chin just in case. “And I was trying to contact your idiot brother if you must know. Using the gift of Unity.”

Her eyes lit up then and she leaned forward, a strand of black hair falling across her face. “Did it work?”

“I doubt it. I tried thinking at him really hard, but I’m not sure how much got through…if that makes sense?”

“Yes, that explains the drooling. Continue.”

I narrowed my eyes at her in mock anger and she smiled. Giving up on intimidating the short woman I went back to explaining my failure. “It’s really hard. Like trying to describe color to a man born blind...I’m going to blame the distance and say that I was doing everything perfectly.”

“But you can still sense him?”

“Yup. General direction and health, at least. He’s fine, by the way.” I focused on the extra sense I had that was like an itch at the back of my mind. “A little tired. But fine.”

I opened my mouth to ask what she wanted to do next. We had spent most of the day looking through the homes and come up with zip other than the rotting fruits and vegetables. Glen’s house had been the last on the dirt road, closest to the forest and furthest from where we had entered. It was a modest log building with a neat front yard. Instead of fruits and vegetables, he had planted flowers, large yellow things with bright white centers that spilled out of the beds and across the grass lawn. Outback was the beehives and the famous honey. I’d taken a quick peek, out of curiosity more than anything, and thought the rows of wooden boxes looked like elaborate birdhouses.

I never got to ask the question. I saw movement through the trees behind Nel’s shoulder and focused on it as my body tensed. The figure stepped out from the shade and into the sun and I frowned as more joined the first.

“I’m going to guess that those aren't Dryads?” I asked Nel, indicating the group of men behind her with my eyes. She spun around and took a step back at the same time I took one forward. It brought me between her and the men and I stopped my advance to study them.

There were four of them, dressed in a range of wools, hemp, and leathers. For the most part, they had tanned skin that spoke of long hours in the sun and bushy beards that spoke of no mirrors. One man near the back drew my attention and not just because he was holding a bow and had an arrow knocked and aimed at Nel but also because he looked on edge.

Dark circles ringed his eyes, the pupils were red and bloodshot. The hand holding the bow was shaking slightly. He also looked the most dangerous. The leather he wore was form-fitting and looked padded across the chest and shoulders. His belt had several loops that carried an assortment of knives and pieces of metal I couldn’t even begin to identify. Slung across his back was a quiver of arrows, the grey fletching poking out by his right ear. Sensing my eyes on him he looked at me before his dark pupils sprung back to Nel. That was a mistake, I was the much larger threat.

While I studied the men they had studied us in turn. A man in the middle, dressed in dark browns and with a shaven head stepped forward, not much, but just enough to put him ahead of the group and I marked him as the leader. He carried a spear in his hand, the shaft was thicker than Rima’s (ew ew ew) and there was a metal cross guard near the spearhead. He wore a simple pair of leather pants and a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to show off impressively muscled forearms and stretching tight across a rotund middle.

“Greetings. Who might ya be?” He called out, his voice even faint due to the distance was rough, his accent strong.

“Rima,” I called back, pointing at myself before pointing at Nel. “Kitty.”

“What are you doing?” Nel hissed from behind me.

I shrugged back. “Relax, I know what I’m doing.”

And surprisingly I did. I had been off my game from the beginning since coming to this planet, surrounded by strange new…everythings. But this, talking to other humans under a stressful situation with weapons drawn? This was a regular Monday in Dockside.

“Where are ya from, Rima?” The man called out. “Ya’s is a face I ain't seen round these parts before.

“Dockside.” I replied with a small smile.

There was muttering amongst the men, I noticed the twitchy bowman wasn’t getting involved, he kept right on staring at Nel. I could understand, she was beautiful, but his wasn’t that sort of look. He looked…angry…and lost.

“That that little fishing village down south, trades with all them Denvii?” The man yelled again, sounding uncertain.

“That's the one!” I smiled wide so he could see. “What are you doing here, friend?”

He came towards me but one of the group pulled him back, muttering and pointing around at the deserted village. I was just about to boost my hearing and evesdrop when the leader waved the other’s concern away and walked towards me.

“Stay close,” I muttered to Nel. “And keep me between you and the man near the back with the bow.”

“We ain’t friends,” The man said at a more reasonable volume once we stood facing each other. His spear was pointing straight up and the knife on his thick leather belt was sheathed so I left the axe on my back. ‘Not yet at least.”

I nodded, slipping back into Dockside slang easily enough. “Aye, ya can say that again. I don’t know ya from the next bloke but I ain’t looking for no enemies and we ain’t family so for now…I’ll call ya friend.”

Bushy eyebrows rose as the man thought over my words before his beard twitched, the corners of his mouth lifting as he smiled. The smile turned into a full belly laugh. Still chuckling to himself the man leaned forward, his arm outstretched and we clasped forearms.

“Ain’t never heard a man have such a good reasons to call another friend so quick. Ya can call me Tam.”

“So whatcha doing round these parts, Tam?” I asked.

“Could ask ya the same, ya being from further off than us,” He pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “We out of Trade Town.”

“Truth in that,” I let my shoulders slump and graced him with an easy smile. The very appearance of indifference. “I’m up from Dockside, sent by the family to check to these folk bout some honey they promised us. Might quiet though, ya ask me. They move on?” I asked the last innocently, indicating the ghost Grove.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other men slowly drift towards us as well, one of them sheathed the knife he held and the other slung the bow he had been carrying. The twitchy one, he didn’t drop his weapon but he did move closer. I was pleased to notice that Nel shifted subtly to put me between them.

“Oi! Tam!” One of the men called, the one that had the dagger. “Everything okay?”

“Aye, come over and introduce ya’self.”

The man with the dagger was called Niel, the one who had lowered the bow introduced himself as Brin in a high, light voice that didn’t suit the burly woodsman vibe he gave off.

“That there’s Titus,” Tam said, indicating the last man. The twitchy one who, I noticed, still hadn’t dropped his bow and was now trying to get an unobstructed view of Nel. It was pissing me off a little. “Titus! Put ya bow down will ya! they aint no threat to us. Rima here is up from Dockside looking to purchase some honey.”

“Already purchased,” I interjected. “That's why I’m here, these folk aint delivered to me what's mine and I came to collect, maybe work out a better deal for the future, ya catch my drift.”

“Where’s their stuff!” Titus barked, his eyes darting around, his hand shaking like crazy. He had the arrow at half draw and I had no clue how much longer he could keep aiming but the second he went to pull that string I was going to put my fist through his face.

“Watcha talking bout?” Tam said in exasperation. “Their stuff is…where is ya stuff?”

Under his suspicious gaze, I simply looked him in the eye and raised an eyebrow. “Removed it when we came into the Grove, didn’t know what ta expect. I could ask ya the same question, I ain’t seeing no packs on no backs nor any sacks.”

Tam smiled again, showing teeth that weren’t quite straight. “See, Titus. They just traveling folk, put ya bow away.” He turned back to me and gave a small shrug, his eyes drifting to Nel for a moment before dismissing her. “Sorry bout him, he’s a little on edge. All are, ta be honest.”

“Why?”

‘Ya don’t know?” He shook his head. “Of course ya don’t. Don’t suppose ya would have the problem, what with them all coming up our way.”

‘Them who?”

“The Dryads and the Pack o’course.” Tam’s face darkened and he spat off to the side. “Aint never seen something so wrong ‘fore. Ain’t never had a problem with them Denvii till now. Now they be all twisted and dark, kidnapping our peoples and raiding our lands.”

“They wouldn’t do that!” Nel said, pushing me aside at the same time the nervous archer yelled.

“Where’s my son!” Titus roared, spittle flying from his lips as he jabbed his bow towards me. The only thing that kept him alive was the fact that he hadn’t pulled the string back.

“They took Titus’s boy,” Tam whispered to Nel and I as he tried to get between the crazed bowman and us. “He was out hunting, wanting to make his pa proud, ’n’ just never came back.”

“Tell me where my boy is!” Titus yelled again, but his voice broke into a sob at the end.

“They don’t know!” Tam roared back. “They just got here, ya fucking crazed idiot! We promised ta help ya look for him, didn’t promise to attack no folk! Put ya weapon down ‘fore ya go doin something ya can’t take back!”

“She knows!” Titus whispered before growling “She knows! Look at her legs, she ain't human! She’s a Denvii! Same as them others that took my boy!”

Tam looked back at us, taking in the extra legs Nel was sporting. She looked back wide-eyed, I thought I saw tears in her eyes and I just knew they were for the idiot waving the bow in her face. She probably wanted to help him and all he was thinking about was hurting her. That pissed me off. A lot.

“I suggest you get your man to put down his bow before I do something he’ll regret,” I growled. Tam took a step back at the change in tone, his spear drifted low.

That was the last straw apparently. Titus’s hand blurred as he lifted, pulled and released the arrow aimed at Nel. I was overclocking before he moved though and to my sped up processors the arrow floated through the air and it was easy enough for me to match its speed and pluck the projectile from the air. What I wasn’t prepared for was the second arrow, fired so quickly after the first that it was inhumane.

Right, skills and gifts. Duh.

The second arrow was aimed at me, center mass. I let it hit. The head was simple steel, not that Bores tusk crap, and only penetrated about two centimeters.

Breaking off the tip from the arrow in my hand I turned, fully intending to throw it through Titus’s eye, when Nel’s touch on my bicep stopped me.

That's when Tam lunged forward with his spear. He was strong and had solid footing and the blade pushed through my abdomen slowly, my synthetic skin and muscle putting up an admiral fight but failing in the end.

Nel was looking into my eyes and saw what was coming before anyone else. Her eyes widened as she saw the simmering rage break free and all she could do was watch as I tossed the arrowhead in my hand to the side, the movement almost casual and would have been if I hadn’t been overclocking. There was a whistling shriek of wind as the metal head passed through space and tore through the shoulder of Titus in an explosion of blood and bone.

He screamed and fell back, the bow dropping to the ground beside him. Tam’s yell mixed with the other men’s as he pushed on the spear, trying to force me off balance and the men behind him drew weapons.

They had tried to hurt Nel and they had hurt me. I was too pissed off to go easy on them. Reaching down I placed one hand beneath the spear shaft and the other a little further down and on top. The thick wooden shaft cracked and broke as I pushed up and down simultaneously.

Tam staggered forward, off-balance, and I used his momentum along with the shaft still in his hand to help him along. One vicious tug and he stood in front of me, almost nose to nose, and I realized I was slightly taller. Perfect. His eyes widened as he figured out what I was going to do but that didn’t mean he could stop it.

I snapped my head forward, driving my forehead into his nose. There was the snap of breaking cartilage followed by the sharper crack of bone and I wondered briefly if I had broken his cheekbone. Probably.

He opened his mouth to yowl in pain but his blood was getting everywhere and he choked on it. Over his shoulder I could see the guy with the dagger, Niel I think it was, moving around us while Brin took aim with his bow, the only reason he hadn’t shot me yet was that Tam was in the way. That wasn’t very sporing so I pushed Tams head to the side, his body going with it to crumple on the ground. I kept hold of the spear shaft and used it to swat the arrow out of the air. Brin’s eyes went wide when he saw that and he reached for the quiver at his back.

I threw the shaft through the air in a lazy arc where it hit the dude on the forehead and he dropped to the ground with the rest. Niel was looking very unsure of himself by now and I bared my teeth in a smile, pulling the spearhead from my guts and gripping it like a dagger. I didn’t even need my axe, which was a shame…I wanted to try it out.

A soft hand on my bicep brought me back and I glanced down into the soft red eyes of Nel.

“Enough, Alexander.” She said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

I looked at Niel, shaking in fear. Brin sprawled out on the ground, a welt already forming on his forehead. Tam, curled up at my feet, his face ruined. And Titus, looking pale as he held onto his mangled shoulder.

“That one tried to kill you,” I growled, my voice low and cold.

“He is grieving and lost and looking for someone to blame. I do not hold that against him and as you can see I am fine. The others only acted to help their friends. They are good men and do not deserve your wrath. Come back to me, Champion.” She placed a warm palm against my jaw and I felt the old rage slowly ebb away. “Come back to me and leave them be. We fight the same enemy I think.”

Not quite ready to let it all go I stomped over to Titus and crouched down next to him. His bloodshot eyes watched me and he flinched when I reached out to grip his chin.

“You are alive only because the woman you tried to kill just saved you,” I whispered so only he could hear. “You attacked her out of fear for your son. I attacked you out of fear for her. The difference between us is that I won.”

I leaned forward and held his gaze with my own, my face settled into the hard angles and sharp planes that marked my street face back in Dockside.

“She will want to help you. I cannot stop that. But if you try anything like this again…I will tear you apart slowly. That I promise.”