Hattenel shivered but was thankful Voron was more warrior than poltroon. <I think we best remain silent. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to read their thoughts without expending too much energy. Have you heard the language before?>
Voron shook his head before he coughed.
Two dog-headed creatures with mottled olive and dark green skin trudged into sight. They stood upright on stumpy legs, revealing white bellies. Both creatures wore gray kilts with gold belts. The elder wore a narrow jeweled collar over his bare, caved-in torso. The pup’s ribs stuck out like spokes in a fish weir even though his chest was twice as wide as hers. The air in the cavern turned fetid as if the creatures had never bathed in their lives.
Voron’s jaw tightened. <Masks and paint?>
The newcomers’ jaws hung open with their curled tongues hanging to one side of their brownish fangs. Hattenel’s shields popped up. The creatures didn’t wear masks. Without asking, Voron reinforced her power, giving her the strength to stretch her mind and pick images from their brains. A queasy feeling hit her stomach, but Hattenel pushed forward until she sensed what they thought.
“Aren't we blessed. The trap caught something sentient this time.” The smaller one yipped a language filled with many different pitches. “What kind of demon are they? Have you ever seen such ugly, flat faces in your life?”
“Quiet. Let me think.”
The young one cringed back a step. The older creature considered the Half-Elven, his tongue moving in time with his breathing. His long-nailed hands sketched patterns in the air. The gems in his rings blinked in rhythm with the crystals in the ceiling. Hattenel ducked her head, closing her mind off from the creatures as she pulled Voron’s head towards his knees.
<Why did you do that? You hurt my neck.>
<Big Stuff tried to spell us. We need to be close so we don’t leak energy.>
Voron tried to lift her to his lap. She slid from his fingers to drop between his legs. Hattenel wondered if he realized how much personal information she had absorbed from his contact. His fear was as great as hers. She resigned herself to Voron reading her thoughts as well.
No pretending false battle courage this time.
His mindspeak was a whisper as he wrapped his arms around her. <Sorry. Didn’t mean to drop you.>
Once started, Hattenel couldn’t close down the rapport flowing between them. Trickles of personal information leaked back and forth between the two underneath the impressions she relayed about their captors.
Hattenel squirmed to one side, almost closed her mind when she caught the image of her stripling self in Voron’s mind. Her muscles clenched. She had thought she’d buried the image of herself cowering with fear just before the Suthron sword gave her the long scar disfiguring her face.
Voron's memories were pleasant. Filled with memories of tricking port officials. Hattenel cringed at her dark memories leaking between them until she discovered the stuttering, gap-toothed boy-Voron being berated by the camp’s sergeants. He flicked a booger at them as soon as their backs were turned.
<Such a submissive cadet, you were!>
Voron wrapped his arms around her and steadied her on his lap.
The young creature exclaimed. “Look at the monkeys copulate!”
“Don’t be sillier than you are. I said quiet. If you can’t keep your mouth closed, leave.” The creature’s eyes narrowed as his hands waved again. Nothing happened. His hands clapped three times. “Monkey demons, I command you speak.” His voice thundered against the walls of the chamber.
When they didn’t answer, the older dog-face’s index finger sketched another series of flaming designs in the air. Both of them jerked their attention away to avoid the mental binding he tried to weave.
<How different is his magic from ours?>
“Don’t use mindspeak,” Hattenel whispered. “He might pick up the energy. Worse, he might seize it.”
Hattenel shrunk closer to his chest. Voron wrapped his arms tighter around her. While she nestled close to him in a submissive posture, she sent tightly focused probes from behind their shield to read deep into the creatures’ minds. Shared with Voron as he nuzzled her neck and stroked her arms.
“We need help. The monkeys only think of copulating.”
When the creatures left the room, Voron continued nuzzling beneath her ear. Licked the length of her throat and kissed the length of her jaw.
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