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"I meant it. We need to keep moving and not stop this time until we reach the camp and then the ship."
"Who made you the commander?"
He peered at me from the corner of his eye. "A king is supposed to look out for others."
"So is a medic."
"Are you saying a medic takes command during a mission?"
"If we need to." I laughed as he made it clear he was considering this at a deep level. "All I'm saying is, you and I need to work together, like carpenter ants or bees and flower pollen."
"Bees and pollen?"
“Sure. The flower can’t make new flowers if the bee doesn’t take the pollen to make it spread. Bees can’t make honey without pollen."
His stomach gave a very loud rumble. "Your talk of honey is making me hungry."
I rummaged through a section of my utility belt and found one of my rations. "Turkey jerky?"
He accepted it, stuck it in his mouth, and chewed. "Honey is better."
I shrugged. "I don’t have anything sweet."
As he walked and ate, he grumbled aloud. "I think you put microscopic bees in the serum. It stings."
“You’re hangry.” I gave him another stick of jerky. He quieted while he munched.
Judging by the progression of daylight, another hour passed before we reached the river. The smell of damp earth and running water reached my nose, along with the smell of lingering smoke. I saw a thin trail of it across the river, leftover from Varus’s fire yesterday.
Varus stopped and cast his gaze over the river. He stood as though listening and sensing. "I don’t hear sounds of life coming from over there."
My hope sank. It was the last thing I wanted to hear him say. "There might be a chance, right? I should still go and look for survivors from my squad."
"I can fly us across now." Varus tested his wings before extending his hand to me. "You know I'm going with you, stubborn as you are."
"How gracious of His Majesty." I launched a look at him before putting my arms around his neck.
He lifted me and took flight over the water. I told myself not to look down, but I did, anyway. Our shadows skimmed the water’s surface.
As we drew closer to the Quarek camp, my chest constricted when I heard no sounds coming from there. I saw the last of the smoke curl in the air above the trees.
Varus set me down once we crossed the river. "Stay close to me and keep your guard up."
We combed through the tufts of tall grass and twisting, low-hanging tree limbs. I avoided a branch that swung close to my face in the breeze. I made a face at the clear, gelatinous goo coating the branch. "What is that, some kind of tree sap?"
Varus pointed to a spot at the base of the branch. "Lizards. The hatchlings leave their secretions behind."
"Gross." I watched it drip from the branch onto the ground. "That giant lizard you took out has babies?"
"There’s more than one giant lizard on this planet. Careful, the secretion’s venomous."
"Toxic, like everything else on this planet." I retreated from the goo once I saw the grass on the ground wither. "The adult lizard wasn’t venomous, not that it needed to be with those big teeth and claws."
"There’s a similar lizard that lives in the volcanic southlands of Racopia. Its hatchlings secrete venom like this until they reach the age where they can defend themselves."
I was less excited to visit his home planet now. "Do the lizards on Racopia get this big?"
"No. The biggest is about half your height."
