She edged behind, wondering if she dared defy it. It could tear her leg right off. Eyeing the mess her spear had made, Tiaan felt nauseated. Besides, it seemed to have done little harm, though a lesser creature, a human, would have been dead. Tiaan took hold of the spear. Dare she give it one hard thrust? The lyrinx crushed her ankle, a warning. Pulling the blade out, she tossed the spear on the floor.
‘Take out … bolt!’
She put her fingers around the bloody bolt and pulled. She could not get a grip.
‘It’s buried too deep,’ she said, repulsed by the gory wound.
‘Use … spear.’
Her tentative efforts to lever out the bolt only made a bigger mess. The operation was horrible, not to mention the lyrinx’s stifled groans. It must be in agony. She wished it would die, though maybe not even that would relax the manacle around her ankle.
‘Keep trying!’ It choked on blood. ‘If I die – you too.’
She believed it. ‘I have a tool in my pack that might help.’
‘Show me.’ It did not let go of her ankle.
She had to take everything out to get at her toolkit. Inside the folded canvas was a pair of pincers.
‘Yes,’ said the lyrinx. ‘Use!’
Tiaan probed into the wound, gripped the base of the bolt and gave a mighty heave. It did not budge.
Taking a firmer grip, she put her boot on the back of the creature’s massive neck and pulled with all her strength. The lyrinx screamed. Waves of colour pulsed from one end of its body to the other. It tossed its head, Tiaan kept pulling, and slowly the length of steel slid free. Purple blood pulsed from the hole, replaced by a clear fluid that congealed like the skin on boiled milk. The bleeding stopped.
She dropped the bolt and bloody pincers on the floor. The lyrinx convulsed from crest to claw, gave a retching heave that deposited a bucketful of bloody, foaming mucus on the floor, then rolled over to face Tiaan. What had she done? She had helped the enemy and now it would eat her anyway.
It opened its eyes. They stared at each other. It would be six, eight, maybe ten times her weight, and all muscle, bone and armour. Even with one injured hand it could tear her in half.
‘Well, are you going to eat me, or what?’ Her voice squeaked.
‘What is your name?’ The sound, formed deep in its throat, had a raspy, reverberating echo that was clearer than before, though it seemed to have difficulty shaping the words. Was it the injury, or the strange sounds in her language?
‘I am called Tiaan Liise-Mar.’
‘My name is … Ryll. What is your work?’
‘I have none.’
‘Everyone works, small human. You carry mechanic’s tools.’
‘I was an artisan.’
‘Artisan? Of controllers?’ It made a purring sound in its throat.
Why had she mentioned that? Alarmed, she tried to distract the creature. ‘To my people I am good for nothing but breeding!’
Ryll looked uncomprehending. He gagged, swallowed and spoke more clearly. ‘My mother has bred four little ones. She still takes her place in the battle line.’
‘Some of our people say females should breed, and only men work and fight.’ It felt wrong to be admitting it to this monster.
‘No wonder we defeat you so easily,’ said the lyrinx. ‘You waste the talents of half your people. Your species is flawed.’ His voice grew stronger, more confident, and Tiaan realised that he spoke her language rather well. Moreover, his accent was similar to her own. She wondered who had taught him.
‘Females are too precious to risk. If we lose too many, our entire species is at risk. We must breed to survive.’ Tiaan found herself mouthing arguments used to justify the breeding factory, arguments that even at the time had outraged her.
‘As must we, human. What if we struck at your homes, where your defenceless women live with their offspring? Better they be armed and trained to defend their children. Better still, we will feed on you all. We are fittest.’
‘You’re nothing but barbarians!’
‘How so?’ Ryll said mildly.
‘You eat us!’
‘And you don’t eat other animals?’ said the lyrinx. Surely it was just pretending astonishment.
‘They’re just animals. We’re intelligent. We’re human!’
He gave a sniff. ‘You smell like an animal to me, little Tiaan. That you are sentient does not make you better than other animals, or more worthy. Why should I not eat you, if I be hungry? Why should you not eat me?’
She shuddered at the thought. ‘I couldn’t! It would not be right. Besides …’
‘Yes?’
‘You would probably taste disgusting.’
‘How did your unworthy kind come to dominate this world?’ said the lyrinx. ‘There are a hundred sentient creatures in the void, little Tiaan. We all ate each other as the need arose.’
‘Are you going to eat me?’ Her voice rose to the very edge of a shriek.
‘No!’
‘Why not?’
‘I’m not hungry. Besides …’
The unfinished sentence hung in the air between them. Was it a threat of worse? Torture, to extract secrets vital to the war? Or … She’d heard horrible stories of what the other side did to prisoners. ‘What?’ she snapped. ‘How will you use me?’
The lyrinx drew itself up and its rubber lip curled into what she interpreted as a sneer. Tiaan had to remind herself that this creature’s facial gestures would probably have entirely different meanings.
‘I cannot understand your kind. Why do you insult me?’
‘Why do you make war on us?’ said Tiaan.
‘Because you have attacked us from the moment we came out of the void.’
‘You started it!’
‘We would say that you began it.’
‘But it’s our world. You’re trying to take it from us.’
‘You’ve turned Santhenar into a sewer. A ruined world. And it’s not yours anyway.’
‘It’s our right …’
‘How so?’ said the lyrinx. ‘Who gave such a right to humankind?’
‘We are the top –’
‘In our philosophy no species can confer rights on themselves. The very concept is derisory. How dare you put yourselves above other creatures! Humanity destroys for the sake of destruction. Your kind deserves to be eaten.’
‘Why must we fight and die?’ said Tiaan. ‘Why can’t we live together?’
‘That is not nature’s way.’
Ryll licked his lips. Was he licking his chops? Had the conversation made him hungry? Tiaan moved back a pace.
He gave a gurgling chuckle. ‘If I was going to eat you, nothing could save you.’
‘Why aren’t you?’
‘You saved my life. A debt of honour.’
Tiaan almost made a sneering reference to lyrinx honour but thought better of it. What did she know about them, apart from the propaganda that came up the mountain?
‘You forced me,’ she said weakly. ‘I was going to kill you.’
‘But you did not, and thus I owe you.’
It was all too much. She could hardly stand up for hunger. She tried, her head spun, and Tiaan collapsed.
When she roused, the creature was looming over her. ‘Are you injured?’
‘I’m starving. I haven’t eaten for days.’
‘I often go a week without eating,’ said Ryll. His knee wobbled and he sat down hurriedly. ‘But then, I might consume a whole antelope, or a small …’ He broke off. ‘Your tiny belly would only hold one mouthful.’ He gripped her thigh, the fingers curling all the way round. ‘There’s nothing of you. Eat! I won’t harm you.’
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, taking out one of the ration packets with many an uncomfortable glance at the creature that, even sitting, was taller than she. He was holding out his injured hand, staring at it. Previously, pieces of ragged bone had protruded from the severed ends of his fingers. No bone was visible now. The stumps were covered with smooth skin, pinkish grey.