Lana nodded as she got out the second piece of cake.
"Where did you get those?"
Lana chuckled, "the Earth station where we stopped to think about where we were going. I had just found out I was pregnant and chocolate sounded good." She closed her eyes and savored the bite of chocolate.
"Nate, I appreciate your friendship with Quinn, I do. How tight are you with leadership? I have another tool in my toolbox that I want to use out here as long as no one else is around. I have not even shown it to my team except Shalt yet."
Nate looked her in the eye, "I'm not going to share your secrets. They are secrets for a reason. I would never endanger a pretty girl."
Lana nodded and didn't even smile at the compliment. "After dinner, I'll let everyone know and we can formulate a game plan for tomorrow."
About 5 minutes later, Lana heard Kattie announce dinner was served. With eight people to feed and six chairs, Lana and Shalt sat on the counter. She didn't mind. She sat next to the stove and didn't need to move to get more food. Nate beat her though in the number of times he went back for a refill.
"You guys really travel in style, you know that? You have a shelter, fresh-grown food, fresh water, so many travelers would love to live like this. Why don't you use this during the day, like at the hypocen hunting grounds?"
"Too many people. We are not high ranking and I don't want to fight anyone over it, for one. But really, it gives off the impression you just mentioned. It tells everyone they should rob us. I don't want to have to kill anyone from attacking me and mine."
Nate smiled. This girl is smart.
After food was stored and dishes cleaned, Lana was surprised Nate didn't dirty them just so he could watch then get washed again as flashbacks of the toilet danced through her head. They retired to the living room. Logan had made the adjustment that the chairs could be moved around so they were able to sit in chairs instead of on the floor.
Lana looked at everyone trying to figure out how she was going to explain this without mentioning vampires or the vampire world. "As you guys know, over the summer Caser and I did some traveling with some friends. One day we were out on a hunting trip, Caser, Vorden and myself. We went into a cave looking for some lizards of some sort. We were trying to figure out what he liked. We disturbed a bunch of bats. Next thing I knew, I was being talked to by the biggest bat I had ever seen. He said he wanted to travel but he was unable to do so by himself. He is something called a Familiar. These beings are beasts but also need the energy of others to survive. In exchange for their own desires, such as traveling with you and using your energy to survive, they promise things, such as to protect you. They are rare and meetings are always by chance. These beings can appear as a tattoo or an item worn by the person they contract with."
"That's crazy!" Alto stated.
Lana smiled, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Max."
A black smoke emerged from her stomach and formed in the air above but of to the side because of Max's size and available room in the dome. "Hello Mistress!"
Lana heard several gasps as she smiled, "Hello Max. Sorry, I have not been able to bring you out. I wanted you to meet my friends." She then introduced everyone, including Nate. She had instructed him before summoning him to not mention vampires or the vampire home world. Those who had familiars could communicate in their minds so they had gotten to know each other quite well. She desummoned Max.
To the group, "What I was hoping for was to summon him and have him echo-locate the bugs on the ground and we could practice some stealth techniques. We did not get that opportunity today. We can hope for that at some later time. Nate has offered to bring us to another spot tomorrow. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions for the group as a whole?"
Kattie said, "yeah, I can't believe you didn't tell us you were pregnant of all things. You need to trust us, Lana."
"This wasn't an issue of trust. You don't understand the level of monsters in this world that wear human bodies and clothing. We need to not mention the babies until we get to our own planet. Does everyone understand that?"
Lana saw nods but not all were clear. She sighed and looked down. "I need to step outside and call Quinn. Shalt, Nate, would you two like to accompany me? Caser, stay in here." She wasn't going to like this. Quinn was not going to be happy.
She didn't. He wasn't. But Nate assured Quinn he was there and would protect her. Nate also explained where they were going in the morning so they could meet there.
They went back inside the dome, she showered and laid down on the couch cuddling with Caser. Before long she was sound asleep and stayed that way until breakfast was served. They ate a hearty meal. Lana didn't eat seconds. Instead, she had dessert of two more pieces of cake. She offered her last one so there would be room in her bag for leftovers. Lana had barely touched the snacks she brought with her from the shelter. Kattie and Almin shared the cake using the same fork. She smiled when she saw them then made sure everything was packed up.
Everyone had everything so Lana hit the clean everything and pack button. Caser aggravated bugs for everyone to fight and Lana withered her venus fly traps then collected crystals from their overnight meals.
Ten more were killed while waiting for the dome to pack itself up and six were killed overnight.
After about 30 minutes of walking. Nate led the group to a field of panther-looking beasts that had hooves called zaykala. On the way there, Nate explained these had panther bodies but fought like a zebra and had a zebra pattern on their fur but the texture of the fur was that of a cat, nice and soft while a zebra's was not so nice to touch. They had deadly hoof attacks and their bites hurt a great deal. They were known to take off fingers, arms and legs with those teeth. Their back hooves could kill in one hit. They traveled in packs of five to ten.
Lana was frustrated when her brother told her to stand aside while he went to attack one with the others, leaving Nate and Shalt there to protect her. She decided to make the most of it.
"Nate, can you watch Duff and tell me what weapon he should be using? I feel the sword is not a good match."
"Gladly."
Watching the fighting, she had to surrender herself to the realization that she could easily kill these beasts. They had some speed and their hits looked painful but she was far faster and better at targeting the lethal spots thanks to Raten's training. She would be just as bored out there as she was standing there watching. At least she could monitor and look for areas of improvement. The problem in her head was it was less crystals. They needed that rank up.
"Shalt, get in there. Split into two teams. Let's go Almin, Kattie, and Duff. Dobin, you and Alto. Caser, go with Shalt. You may eat one if you kill it by yourself."
Shalt nodded and carried her instructions to the team. Caser raced in there and threw out some roots at a zaykala that was off to the side. He then wrapped his tentacles around it to hold the upper body still. A moment later, Caser ripped its throat out.
Nate looked at her. "Don't you want to get in there?"
"Of course. But watching this, there's not much point. If I jump in, they will try to keep me safe because of the babies. I need the fight to be a bigger challenge so they will focus more on the fight than me. Let them train. I'd have all of them dead by now. They would learn nothing from that."
Nate smiled, "spoken like a true leader."