Since Indel fell asleep earlier that day, Nala wrestled with a feeling of dread. Dread should Indel go; dread should he stay.

The Leveler looked nice when he slept. Using Indel’s own robes, Nala covered him from head to toe. Everything was lovely about the surly Leveler when he was at rest; from the two toes on either foot, to the three fingers on his hands. Nala traced the second digit, her own rough fingers gliding along the plush skin of Indel’s would-be grip. Once the mating spells ended, Indel would no doubt return to his usual form. This second digit which was a finger smaller than Nala’s own second, would bear a talon sharp enough to rip out someone’s throat.

Nala wondered for a moment if that throat might be hers.

Living in the wilderness alone, it seemed unlikely that Nala would ever live to reach her third stage, a fact for which she was thankful. She would be so much smaller than Indel was now.

Visions flashed of a short-tempered Indel snapping Nala’s neck for moving too slowly when fetching water. It was perhaps a gross exaggeration, but the thought lingered in the back of her mind nonetheless.

She studied Indel for some time.

“Mana.” She chuckled at letting the word slip. As her eyes scanned the small barn, she let out a sigh. “Beloved. You are incapable of such a thing as true affection. But for a moment, you let me make pretend.”

Using Indel’s robe, she covered the Leveler’s face and scooped him up.

Now it was time to think realistically. When Smith returned, Nala had to make certain she had a proper hiding place. Short of seeing her grave, it was doubtful the Earther would leave her in peace. So long as Smith didn’t kill the sloth—Nala’s only beast of burden now—there was hope.

The double suns greeted her as soon as she stepped out. Daytime, despite the bitter heat, was safe if no one knew of her cargo. In these piercing suns, even Earthers wouldn’t dare venture out in large numbers. She could travel unopposed.

She should have left earlier. It was foolish to put it off. No doubt she’d only hear another complaint once they arrived at the cave. Indel was seldom pleasant for long.

“You are temptation made flesh. It’ll be good riddance,” Nala muttered.

Much like before, she affixed the surly Leveler to the sloth’s hide, several gunnysacks stuffed under the rope to hide the fancy robes. Fortunately Indel crouched up, making him appear more like stuffs than a body.

“Na’am...” came a groan.

The word gave Nala pause. A title like that was useless after the first mating. Perhaps Indel was still recovering from the effects of the raw pods and that was why he’d said it.

“Na’am...Na’am, where have you gone? Will you return? Will you pull me to you again?”

Each groan came softer and softer still until only the name lingered.

A cooing sound accompanied Indel’s quiet voice. “Na’am...please do not go from me. Bring the darkness with you.”

Staring at the gunnysack, Nala wondered what it all meant. No doubt Indel was feeling the madness of waiting too long to change form.

“Bring the darkness with you...?” Nala feared for him enough to loosen the rope. A third stage being was no easy charge. They required moisture lest their bodies dry out and they lose their senses. Nala had been careful. As her fingers loosened the knot, she feared she hadn’t been careful enough.

“Oh! Heave. Move, you miserable bitch.”

At the voice—a voice Nala would know in even the blackest pit—Nala paused in her task.

Her eyes stayed affixed to that of the most important Leveler of them all, Indel.

Smith was coming.

“Move!”

Another cracking of the whip called Nala’s focus. Down the hill, almost at the very bottom, Smith’s figure came into view. His sloth, orange in color because it was poorly cared for, whined and screeched as it lumbered up the soft morning marsh.

Too stunned to move, Nala surveyed her small farm, panic sending her brain working. She had to hide. More importantly, she had to hide Indel. Should she leave Indel inside, Smith might bust in as he often did without warning. And leaving Indel hidden perhaps in the dirt might keep his skin moist for a time, but not an entire day, especially when those two suns were high up.

By the time Nala’d decided to risk putting Indel back inside, Smith came into view. The Earther spotted them.

“Na’am...” Indel groaned.

Nala struck him, hopefully on the head. “Shush!”

“Na’am....”

At the next groan, Nala was gentler, whispering as Smith neared, “Mana. Do you hear me, Mana?”

Indel’s deep moan meant that he had.

“Good.” Nala stepped closer, her eyes fixed on Smith’s robed form and the miserable beast at his side. “Good. Mana, you must be quiet. You must not move.”

“My loins ache, Na’am.”

Damn you and your loins. Are we to die for the sake of your member? A thought occurred to her.

Smith neared but Nala held the gunnysack.

Stroking it and crooning, she said, “Hear me, Mana. Do you enjoy my affection?” A deep groan answered her as the sack stirred. “Listen, Mana, you shall have me again. Would you enjoy that?”

“Only if you secrete more, you were too snug,” Indel muttered. “But it was lovely with you the other way.”

Nala wasn’t certain what he meant by the other way. She didn’t have time to give it much thought as Smith came so close that they almost met eyes.

Something behind Smith’s sloth took up his focus.

“The other way then,” Nala whispered. “You shall have me the other way. Any way you can claim me. You shall have me forever, but you must do me one boon?”

Several clicks and moans sounded as Indel shifted in his cramped space.

“Yes.”

“Remain still,” Nala said, her hearts beating frantic. “Remain still, Mana. Keep quiet and remain still! I beg you.”

“Summoner,” Smith called but Nala was reluctant to leave Indel’s side. The next shout came as a bellow, “Summoner!”

Despite her fears, Nala hurried to the Earther. “Yes, Mr. Smith.”

“Here. Look at this. Found it close by.”

A robe leading from the sloth’s harness was affixed to a red foot. It was a Leveler, a badly injured one. Purple blood oozed from the patches where its exoskeleton took damage.

“There was another one there, too, well, parts of it. This one’s still alive. Can you doctor it back to health?”

A Leveler. A stage one Leveler lay before her and all thoughts rushed to Indel. No doubt this was one of his fighters from that blast.

Nala looked from Smith’s twisted up dark face, down to the ailing being on the ground. The Earther had dragged it a long way. An inspection of the Leveler’s back confirmed her fears. The scales were nearly gone, leaving the back and the hump of its behind badly bruised.

Pity was all Nala felt for Indel’s friend because now that Smith knew of his presence, he’d no doubt take him for research. No one ever returned from research. And this, too, was the Earther’s vice. No doubt he wanted this Leveler’s tail. Somehow Earthers discovered that drying it and consuming it would bring on their own Earther mating spell, however brief.

“Can you help it or not?” Smith demanded.

Nala nodded, reasoning she could perhaps convince Smith he died or ran away.

“Yes. I’ll take him.” She looked up to the Earther and pleaded, trying to sound sincere, “But he’s a stage one Leveler. What if he awakens and attacks me?”

Smith’s dark brown eyes squinted. “That’s not my fucking problem. He’s got a pretty good size tail on him and everything. If he dies before I come back, make sure and save his body. The boys could do with the new parts, especially that tail.”

Robbed of speech, Nala only nodded.

“Good. Make sure it doesn’t die. It looks cute with that fake mustache.” Smith mounted his sloth with a deep laugh. When the beast protested, he tightened the reins. “Damn these fucking things. I’ll walk then.”

Nala thought to tell him that the harness was too narrow, or that riding a sloth bare was best. Earthers had their own way of thinking.

She waited until Smith was out of view before she put both hands under the Leveler’s chest scales and dragged him inside.

Indel would be pleased to see his friend. Deep down, Nala could admit that despite her worries, having the bitter king share her bed of hay for another night filled her with warmth. Indel still called her Na’am. It was foolish to use that word now; they were no longer new lovers. They weren’t lovers at all.