The huge bug appeared nightmarishly dim through the fronds as it jumped-and landed on her hurt leg.
Acorna had not cried out for help, mentally or aloud, because she did not wish for Maati to run to the rescue and try to fight the Khieevi. But the sudden pain was so intense she let out a piercing scream.
“Hey you! Big old bug!” Maati sang out, followed by Thariinye yelling, “I’m over here, you slimy hulk of a feces machine!”
The Khieevi stepped back for a moment, uncertain. Then Acorna could swear it bared what passed for teeth in that gaping maw, and deliberately brought its foot down again on, well, on the area where her leg had been, because she had pulled the broken limb out of the way.
“Maati, you silly child, run!” Acorna cried.
“Don’t you hurt her again, you dung-eating pile of-of dung!” Maati yelled. Footsteps ran in closer.
“Maati, no,” Acorna screamed. And so did Maati. Acorna Gouldn’t see what happened, but she heard a crunch and a yelp, wen a sound as if the air was being let out of something.
‘You pick on little girls, you bag of excrement!” Thariinye hollered. “Why not tie me to a tree with your slimy trail again!” He profited by Maati’s example because his voice grew a bit fainter and Acorna heard the sound of his feet crushing brush as he retreated. The Khieevi gave a hop-and she was free. At least for a moment.
Bending from the waist she rubbed her horn against her leg once she had the bone properly aligned. The pain eased at once, but she was forced to concentrate on the healing of the limb rather than on anything around her. She had no idea, for a precious few moments, whether or not Maati was living -whether Thariinye had escaped capture while leading the Khieevi from her, or even if the Khieevi was about to step on her head this time.
As soon as the pain stopped and the bone had knitted, Acorna raised herself up to see the Khieevi grab for the dancing Thariinye with its front pincers. Thariinye screamed, and Acorna grabbed the nearest object-a rock from the ground beneath her-and threw it at the Khieevi.
The big insectoid was not so quickly fooled this time. It grabbed Thariinye and began slashing at him with its razorsharp pincers, leaving gruesome wounds on Thariinye’s upraised hands and arms. Acorna leaped across the fallen trunk of the tree and pounded on the carapace of the creature with her fists -while her old shipmate’s heart-rending cries rang in her ears.
“Let go, let go, let go!” she bawled.
The Khieevi did let go, and Thariinye, bleeding from many wounds, fell like a limp doll very close to Maati’s still form. Acorna turned and ran.
The Khieevi rounded on Acorna, its pincers snapping. Only a single tree hung between them. Then, with a chomp and a noisome burst of gas, the tree -was gone. Acorna turned and ran, leaping over the fallen tree this time, putting it between herself and the Khieevi. She dashed past frond after frond, only to have them vanish down the Khieevi’s maw to reappear behind the creature as another smelly bit of trail.
The Khieevi seemed to smile as it took its last bite from the tree trunk, taunting her with its deliberate progress as it ate away her only barrier. She kept moving, mentally calling to Maati and Thariinye, hoping to hear a response but urging them to lie still.
The Khieevi finished the tree trunk. Acorna backed up against another tree. It followed her slowly, taking first one chomp and then another from fronds she thrust between them. It was clearly enjoying the game.
She shrieked as a pincer came within a centimeter of her face. The Khieevi snapped at her, then brought its pincers up again, close to her horn. She dodged and tried to dive between its lower legs.
All at once, from the corner of her eye, she saw a white blur. The Khieevi fell over backward, a Linyaari form bearing it to the ground, surrounded by its flailing legs and pincers.
(Khornya, run!) Aari’s voice was mental, but far from a whisper. (Get Joh. Get weapon. I will keep it here as long as I can, but you must save yourself and my sister.) (You can’t fight it alone, Aari.) (No, but I can Delay it. Go!) (It will kill you!) (I am carrion already.)