“Hasah is not the ruler of Xaxax,” Rusa explained. “He’s the military leader for this nest, so he directs all of their defenses. The Nest of Aexea is the largest of this hemisphere and he secured the area around it when their enemies attacked. He is celebrated for his tactics and for his bravery.”
“And why exactly are we planning to kill this Hasah?” Pultine asked. “Sounds like a xaxew hero and killing a hero should make it more difficult to get off Xaxax, no?”
“The military leader of Aexea commands the respect of everyone in the area,” Rusa said, “but there is no real love for the leader. Hasah has decided the fate of Aexea xaxews for a long time now. And the only reason he still has his job is because no one else wants to do it.”
“So they hate him, but they can’t get rid of him because someone has to do his job? How will killing him make the xaxews happy, though? Wouldn’t we be forcing someone to take his job?”
“Yes, which is why we will murder his children as well,” Rusa said. “By murdering his family, all the xaxews will understand the risk involved so no one volunteering to replace him will force the xaxews to eliminate the position altogether.”
Pultine was confused. “How do you know your logic is sound? The few moons that you’ve spent in this realm is enough for you to deduce all this?”
“It’s not my plan,” Rusa said.
The two were high in a tree that wasn’t as large as Aexea with its enormous xaxew nest, but it was still large and was located on a spot that was inundated by light from Xaxax’s star. They were at the north pole of Xaxax that was the hottest place on the planet and the sun rarely ever set there.
Two xaxews emerged through the large leaves of the tree and Pultine recognized one of them even though both were covered in large cloaks that covered their bodies and hid their long legs as they walked. Xaxews could not tolerate direct light from the star of Xaxax for very long, despite their coating of fur. The xaxews of Aexea rarely ventured above the canopy of the forest where their nest was located.
“Deep Red,” she said, glaring at him and producing one of her axes instinctively.
“I guess you were right about us talking,” he said.
“One exchange is barely a conversation,” Pultine said and it was clear that she meant to throw her ax at him. “Too bad for you I’m not interested anymore.”
“Are you so ill tempered that you can’t see I’m here by invitation of your friend? And that I’m the reason the two of you were able to escape your sack on Aexea?”
“You couldn’t have kept me…”
“Of course not, Pristine,” Rusa said. “And Cic, or Deep Red as you call him, understands that as well. Which is why he agreed to free us so that we could escape undetected, without causing the xaxews of Aexea to be on guard for our attack against Hasah and his family.”
“I recognized what you were when I laid eyes on you,” Cic said to Pultine. “Before we caught you, Rusa warned that you would incinerate the nest to find him, and I knew that he was no ordinary jeris. You are no jeris at all are you?”
“What do you want, Deep Red,” Pultine asked, “and what did you promise Rusa in exchange for it?”
“I know Seraphiel’s top secret flight paths from Endla to Wiis and to Druont. You won’t find him on Endla, no one finds him there unless he wants them to and I imagine he’s not eager to see you. If you want him, you’ll have to intercept him arriving to or leaving Endla, and it is my job to know secrets others want buried.”
“Seemed to me you were just a perimeter guard,” Pultine said.
“Hasah has a large contingent out waging war. I was training newbies when we found you.”
“And so in return for killing Hasah, you will share this intel on Seraphiel? How can I trust you to deliver?”
“He has already proven himself to be honest,” Rusa said and he pulled what looked like a scroll from behind his chest armor. He unfurled it, revealing a high-tech computer screen that showed a map of the galaxy with travel routes between Endla and Wiis, Endla and Druont, and even Endla and Xaxax.
“I got this the last time Seraphiel landed on Xaxax. Of course the aerphim are not welcome on Xaxax and his trip here was clandestine. He’d hoped to make alliances but the xaxew leaders eat dainty wings for breakfast, they don’t make pacts with them.”
“Which brings us to the difficulty I’m facing right now,” Pultine said.
“An outsider killing Hasah and his family will cause a great tumult on Aexea. We will be forced to rethink the position and the solution is an obvious one; a council in place of one man. You will be bringing a lasting peace to Aexea.”
“And even if he’s lying,” Rusa said, “we will have Seraphiel’s travel routes.”
“I don’t care if he’s lying about Aexea, I care if he’s working with Seraphiel and trying to set us up,” Pultine said, glaring at Cic. “You met him when he came to Xaxax.”
“I did, but there was no amicability between us. There is also surveillance footage on that device to show you the extent of my interactions with him. I threatened to eat him and his guards tried to attack me. Xaxax has no love for the Venerated Aerphim Empire, and the Aerphim are our enemies just like you.”
“If you’re worried about killing innocents…” Rusa started.
“I am not,” Pultine interrupted. “I was prepared to incinerate that entire nest. I sense no innocence in this realm. But Deep Red will make killing Seraphiel possible, if his intel is correct…”
“It is,” Cic said.
“Fine,” Pultine said. “We will murder your military leader and his children. But we reserve the right to turn your nest to ash should we catch a whiff of treachery.”
“I expected no less from one as ruthless as you,” Cic said.
“Hasah is on his way back to Aexea and should arrive there in a few moons,” Rusa said. “Cic wants a show, something grand that the xaxews will be up in arms about.”
“Hasah will convene his family for a gathering shortly after his return,” Cic said. “You can take care of them all then.”
“How long is ‘shortly after’ exactly?” Pultine asked. “I don’t want to be on this planet for much longer.”
“Maybe ten moons?” Cic estimated.
“That’s too long,” Pultine shook her head. “Do we know where they all are currently?”
“The scroll has their locations,” Cic said. “There’s also information about their movements that Hasah’s guard uses to keep them all safe.”
“Then we will take a moon to observe and plan, execute our plan, and then be gone from this place. Are we stuck up in this tree or is there somewhere we can sit?”
Cic used his silk to spin a primitive structure in the treetops and left Pultine and Rusa to their planning.
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