Twinfinity: Quest for the Prim Pockets (3)

Chapter 3
Divulging her True Intent
∞

The shadows closed in.

Jo-Laina had been right about the Tso Tsa Min shadow. She hadn’t been able to see it for herself, but she was seeing it now, and it was closing in. Jo-Laina had seen two Tso Tsa Min shadows, but she was only seeing one. Their troubles didn’t stop there. The two Prim that had quelled Fang’s shadow weren’t far behind it.

And Jo-Laina had also been right about their chances of fighting off two Prim. Even with the combined forces of all ten of them, they had no chance against two Prim. One maybe, but not two. With the added threat of at least one Prim harvester the possibility of them surviving that was about as good as the chances of a newborn surviving without being fed.

Jo-Vanna connected with her bolainin and awoke the others. She started with Jerifai. He was the only one, other than she and Jo-Laina, that wasn’t human. He was herakim (tree walker) and the arrows he used were tipped with correllium. He was the only member of the group that had any correllium weaponry, a distinction which gave him an advantage against some of their foe, but even correllium-tipped arrows only worked if they hit your target. The Prim were extremely difficult to hit and the Tso Tsa Min could create force fields around them if they knew an attack was coming. .

“Wake up,” Jo-Vanna ordered as she shook Jerifai’s shoulder. His eyes snapped open, as he obeyed his training, sleeping light like a feather, and he snatched his bah as he sprang to his feet. “Stand guard at the entrance while I wake the others.”

Jerifai slung his quiver over his shoulders and headed for the only entrance and exit to their camp. Jo-Vanna made her rounds and woke the others, starting with Jo-Laina, and continued until everyone was on their feet.

“They’re definitely closer,” Jo-Laina commented. “Last night they were upon the ridge looking down on us. Today they have circled around. They could be here in less time than it took us to cook the bengoi.”

“You see both shadows then?” Jo-Vanna asked her sister. Jo-Laina was threading her bolainin, which meant that she wasn’t completely in its head, but allowing the information from its sights and sounds to penetrate her consciousness. It was a skill that she herself had yet to learn. Most Prim could do it, but some could not and so far she fell into the latter category. “I only saw one shadow.”

Jo-Laina didn’t answer right away. She stood in her place like a statue. Jo-Vanna waited.

“No. I see only one Min shadow, but if there is one then the other must be masked. The Prim know we are awake and hasten their approach.