Kevos glanced at her, noted Jotahan’s low growl, then took another step away from her. “What is wrong with this disguise?”
Sarah tapped her bottom lip with one finger, eyeing Kevos up and down, which made Jotahan want to drag him into the arena to beat him into the dust. “Let’s see… a seven-foot tall man-mountain with the body of Mr. Olympia and a face that could have come off the cover of a romance novel? I can’t imagine why that would attract attention from humans. Nope. Not at all.”
“Then what is the problem?” Kevos asked, clearly unfamiliar with human sarcasm. He still had much to learn before entering the human world.
Still, Jotahan was more focused on Sarah’s words. “You find Kevos attractive in his disguise,” he said, his spines bristling as his tail lashed back and forth.
Sarah patted his chest, smoothing her hand down his shirt as she gave him a long, promising look. “Settle down, my caveman. I only have eyes for you, but I guarantee there will be plenty of people who will find Kevos attractive. He’s going to have a hard enough time blending in at that size anyway, but if he wants to avoid getting swarmed by admirers everywhere he goes, he needs to look a little less…,” she waved in the sentil’s direction, clearly searching for a descriptive word that wouldn’t raise Jotahan’s spines higher, “like this.”
She tapped her bottom lip again, but she didn’t turn her gaze back to Kevos, showing Jotahan she was being considerate of his jealousy. “He needs to have less hair. A bald spot in the middle of his head. Maybe a nose that looks like it’s been broken a time or two. Some crooked teeth. A spare tire. I’m sure we can come up with something less appealing than his current appearance.”
“There won’t be a ‘we’ for that task.” Jotahan stepped between Sarah and Kevos so he completely blocked her view of the other male.
To his credit, Kevos was not smirking at Jotahan’s obvious irritation. Instead he was frowning thoughtfully, his expression strange on a human face.
“Your drahi might have a point.” Kevos ran his clawless hand over his thick shock of hair. “The last thing I want is to draw human attention, especially while I am hunting.”
“I’m sorry but you’re still gonna to draw attention, dude,” Sarah said to Kevos, though she hugged Jotahan from the back, wrapping her arms around his waist so her affection for her mate was unmistakable to the sentil. “You’re seven freaking feet tall and built like a terminator. That’s pretty damned rare in the human world. Even some extra fat in the face and body will only increase your startling size. Still, changing your appearance to look less appealing and more intimidating would help keep people away from you, instead of falling all over themselves to talk to you.”
“What is a ‘dood’?” Jotahan growled, hoping it wasn’t some human term of endearment.
Kevos huffed. “Human slang, according to the chanu zayul.” Before Jotahan could demand a further explanation from either of them, Kevos spoke again. “I will discuss your drahi’s suggestions with Elder Arokiv, and get his input.” He nodded his head at Jotahan. “You have my congratulations, Jotahan, on the news of your nestling. I wish you and your drahi the best, since I doubt I will be here to see its arrival.”
Jotahan clapped a hand on Kevos’ shoulder. “Stay safe, Sentil Kevos.” He glanced down at Kevos’ groin area, concealed by an odd human garment Elder Arokiv must have brought for him that reminded him of Sarah’s clothing when she’d first arrived in the urvaka. “Your seal… it clearly hasn’t activated yet, or you would not be leaving without a sata-drahi’at.”
“No, thank the Ajda. It was a mistake to get it, and at least this is one bright spot in Elder Arokiv’s plan to drag me out among the humans. I won’t have to worry about bumping into my drahi.”
“Um…,” Sarah said from behind Jotahan.
He reached behind him to cover Sarah’s mouth, cutting off any more words from her.
“Good luck to you, Kevos.”
“And you, Jotahan.”
They both nodded farewell, then Kevos spun on his heel and returned to the horn tower, no doubt to speak to the elder about Sarah’s words.
Jotahan turned around to see Sarah glaring up at him, tapping her foot again. “You do realize his ‘drahi’ is probably human, right? Why else wouldn’t his seal activate, even though he’s gone all around the skilev sniffing at every single female?”
Jotahan crossed his arms over his chest. “How do you know this?”
Sarah chuckled. “Hey, my circle talks, and there are plenty of single females in it who were disappointed his seal didn’t spark up at their scent.” Her eyes widened as she noted his smirk. “Jotahan! You didn’t warn him on purpose!”
“He might have refused to travel to Gaia if I put that concern in his mind.”
She shook her head, a smile playing around her lips. “You are diabolical, my love.”
“So is Seta Zul, at times,” Jotahan said with a huff. “It will be good to see Kevos finally mated. Many males will breathe easier when he is sealed to one female.”
“You do know he isn’t a fan of humans, right?”
He ran his claws through her hair, dislodging the golden comb she always wore that was worth a fortune in kivan, without a single care for where it fell as he leaned down to kiss her, cutting off her protest for his treatment of the harzek.
When he lifted his head again, his drahi’s eyes were glazed and a broad human smile spread her lips. “I did not like humans either, until I met the other half of my soul and discovered she was one. It changed me. In the best possible way. Made me happier than I have ever been. I have no regrets.”
Epilogue
Ranaxe stood within the skull center of Draku Rin, that sacred place where the mighty Ajda’s mind had once dwelled. She sought his wisdom. As one of the first of the female elders to ever serve the people of this skilev, she often found herself in this place, praying to a god that was long gone. She still found some comfort in the silence of the shrine, and the peace of it gave her time to think. Perhaps that in itself was the wisdom of Draku Rin—to give her space to find her own center and listen to her own thoughts.
Those thoughts were in turmoil on this cycle, as were all the citizens in every skilev crossing Theia. What was being asked of them might be too much for the yan-kanat to accept.
But Ranaxe could not help but try to convince her people that this must be allowed.
Seta Zul herself had left her mountain, roaring into the sky as her shadow swept over all the skilevs. She had let the people know that a storm was coming. One that could not be stopped by ignoring it.
Uncoupling their world from Gaia was unavoidable, and some of the elders had always known this decision would need to be made at some point. Humanity was doomed, and Gaia would soon fall to a new enemy that could only be stopped by the urvaka for so long before its forces found a way to counteract the machine-killing magic of the cave labyrinth.
They could not risk losing this world as they had lost Gaia. There was nowhere left for the yan-kanat to go, even as some of the humans managed to flee to the stars.