Colonies of U'u'kata

***I had this set for auto-publish last sunday and it didn't publish. Sorry about that! Don't know why I didn't notice until now.***

Ezra came to with a pounding headache and a throbbing in his cheek and jaw. He groaned and opened his eyes, squinting against the brightness that stabbed into his skull. Squeezing them shut again, he licked his dry lips and took a slow breath.

He flinched when gentle fingers played through his hair, eyes snapping open once more and focusing on...

"Dakota?" he rasped.

"You wake," she said in her shy voice.

"Did I... didn't fall asleep?" he asked in confusion, trying to raise his head.

"No. You were knocked unconscious by the Uu'k'asht warrior you tried to fight. You were... very brave," she said.

Ezra huffed, everything coming back to him. The camp, the pile of crates, the huge Uu'k'asht he ran into in the trees...

He'd thought he was a dead man.

"You don't have to say that," he said around a lump left self-loathing that lodged in his throat. "I wasn't brave. I was helpless, harmless, and terrified."

Dakota cupped his cheek and something in his chest did a little flip as he looked up into her golden eyes. "You were afraid, and still you fought. Isn't that what brave is?"

He frowned and opened his mouth, but Rhythm was suddenly standing over him, looking down with a broad smile on his face.

"You live!" he exclaimed, wings ruffling.

"Yay," Ezra said unenthusiastically.

The smile melted and his expression became more genuine. "I am glad," he said. "When I saw the warrior with you in his grasp, when I saw how hard he hit you... I thought he'd broken your neck. Watching out for you is my responsibility and I failed you."

Touched, Ezra said, "Rhythm... I'm alive and not a prisoner. That doesn't seem much like failure to me."

"You forgive me then?" the Tilith asked, stuffing one set of hands into his pockets while he tapped his thighs in uncertainty with the others.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ezra said, "There's nothing to forgive. If anyone failed, it was me. I didn't find out if Cali was there, I found the crates and was only able to... the container! Did you get the container?" he asked, dropping his hand and trying again to sit up.

Rhythm dropped to his knees and placed a massive hand in the middle of Ezra's chest and eased him back down. "We got it," he said. "That and so much more. The Uu'k'asth who attacked you... we took him alive."

"Oh... oh! What... what are you going to do with him?"

"He's being questioned as we speak."

Once again, Ezra tried to push himself up. "I need to know if he'd seen Cali," he said.

"You can ask him after you've rested more, Ezra. Please, stay down. Your head took a knock. We were all worried we'd lost you. Don't worry. We won't execute him until you've had your turn with him," Rhythm said, pushing him back down once more.

The way he said it, so casual, had Ezra nodding his head before the words clicked and he frowned hard. "Execute... you're going to kill him?"

"Of course we're going to kill him. We can't have him run back and report our position. We can't take on an army of Uu'k'asht warriors. Now, rest. I'll come back for you in a few hours. There's a package of soup there, and some water. This," he added, digging into his pocket and coming up with a little red tab, "is a pain killer that registered as safe for your biology."