Southern Discontent (Free Trader Series Book 7) Read online

  Southern Discontent

  Free Trader Series

  Book 7

  By Craig Martelle

  Copyright © 2018 Craig Martelle

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 10:

  ISBN 13:

  ASIN: B

  Cover Illustration © Tom Edwards

  www.Tom EdwardsDesign.com

  Typography & formatting by James Baldwin - www.jamesosiris.com

  Editing services provided by Mia Darien – www.miadarien.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  The Raid on Livestel

  The President’s Warriors

  The Chase Begins

  A Party Divided

  A Mountain Pass

  Southport

  The Aurochs

  Trials

  Delay

  Tomorrow

  Transitions

  The Spaceship Traveler

  The Fury Rises

  Fight Fire with Fire

  Feel the Burn

  Recovery

  Parting Ways

  Bonus Content!

  Cygnus Rising Bonus Content (First Chapter)

  Postscript

  Author Notes

  Humans and the Intelligent Creatures

  The Hillcats (‘cat)

  The Golden Warrior – also called G, G-War, and Prince Axial De’atesh, can share his mindlink with others

  Shauna & Klytus – G-War’s children, bonded with Braden & Micah’s twins

  Fealona – from G-War’s home village and his mate

  Treetis – A young ‘cat, very much like G-War

  The Humans

  Braden – The Free Trader

  Micah – The Warrior, Partnered with Braden

  Axial & De’atesh – Braden and Micah’s twin children

  Bronwyn – Gifted child, able to speak with all creatures

  Dr. Johns – a clone, leader of the survivors from Cygnus VI

  Zeller – a Free Trader, from Trent, the same village as Micah

  Young Tom – a blacksmith from Whitehorse, Zeller’s partner

  Mattie & Caleb – Micah’s parents

  Chrysalis & Patti May – scientists on board the Warden

  The Wolfoids

  Bounder & Gray Strider – the alpha and his mate, leaders of the pack

  Cygnus Standing – the first Wolfoid born on Cygnus VII

  The Hawkoids

  Skirill – also called Ess

  Zyena – Skirill’s mate, born on the RV Traveler, also called Zee

  Zeeka – Skirill and Zyena’s daughter, first Hawkoid born in the south

  The Tortoid

  Aadi – First Master of the Tortoise Consortium

  Daksha – Aadi’s first born

  The Aurochs

  Brandt Earthshaker – King of the Aurochs

  Arnie – Zeller’s partner in trade, pulls her wagon

  The Queen – Brandt’s queen that he rescued from Toromont’s Run

  Cragmore – the Aurochs that Bronwyn rides

  The Lizard Men (Amazonians)

  Pik Ha’ar – Lizard Man from the ship RV Traveler and friend

  The Rabbits

  Heloysius and Luciana – a Rabbit couple living at New Sanctuary

  The Dolphins

  Chlora & Rhodi – genetically engineered creatures of the sea

  The Whale

  Rexalita – engineered from a Sperm Whale, the largest creature on Vii

  The Raid on Livestel

  An arrow thudded into the Wolfoid’s shoulder. Her cry of pain pierced the cool, morning calm.

  Farthest afield from Livestel, she turned to call for help, but the town was too far away. Her head spun as she started to fall. The livestock grazed, oblivious to her anguish. Her eyes rolled back in her head, leaving the shadow of a pack of humans in the back of her mind.

  Humans, carrying bows and arrows, running toward Livestel, her home.

  ***

  The chill morning air affected the old and young alike. The pups and younger Wolfoids were more energetic while the oldsters were less so, shuffling about as the blood flowed sluggishly through old veins.

  The day was clear and the animals grazed. Domesticated pork, raised for two purposes—to feed the Wolfoids and to trade for goods that the town needed.

  “Get down!” White Mountain cried from her padded seat. She remained on the rounded cushion lying on the ground, having no inclination to chase after the errant pup. To a human ear, her words would have sounded like yips and growls.

  To the pup, they sounded like a general’s command. The pup hung its head as it slowly climbed from the roof of a storage shed. He had intended to jump onto the roof and pounce on his playmates, but White Mountain was having none of it.

  A new plan was in order. When he hit the ground, he bolted around the side of the nearest building.

  White Mountain shook her head. Where do they find the energy, she thought.

  Was that movement? White Mountain turned her graying muzzle toward it. Just the herd grazing. Where was Running Stream? She was on duty that morning. Probably on the far side, chasing a stray. Nothing else caught her eye. She turned back, in time to catch another one of the pups just before he got into trouble.

  ***

  Running Stream winced, remembering the arrow but not how she ended up on the ground. How long have I been out? she wondered, but the men were there, not far ahead, crouched low and running toward Livestel. She levered onto her side and forced herself to stand shakily on three legs. She looked for her walking stick, but couldn’t see it. Waves of red swept across her vision.

  “To arms! To arms!” she called weakly. The herd continued to graze, unfazed by the emergency, unmoved by the near-whispered shout. She started to lope, using the ungainly three-legged gait of an injured Wolfoid. She abandoned the herd as she made it to two legs and started to run, waving her good foreleg as she sought the attention of her people.

  The running men closed on the town, increasing the distance between them and Running Stream. She was falling behind.

  She was failing her town, failing her people.

  One of the men turned back. Spotting her, he quickly nocked an arrow and fired. Running Stream dove to the ground, grunting with the impact. She stayed down, until an arrow dug into the ground by her side. She jumped to her feet with renewed vigor and ran to the side, dodging as she went. Stream never knew if they fired more arrows at her.

  Her breath came in ragged gasps. She saw only escape and was running toward it, informing the town of the danger disappeared in her blind panic.

  ***

  White Mountain clapped her hands to get the attention of two furballs rolling in the dirt. They stopped and looked at her.

  “Enough of that. I swear, you pups will be the life of me!” she cursed. They started to walk away before one darted and the other took off after him.

  An arrow thudded into the framework of the building behind her. She looked at it dumbly, not understanding what she was seeing. She cocked her head one way, then the other. A squeal ripped from her as a second arrow dug deeply into her chest. She gasped and panted, unable to catch her breath. She reached for the pups to protect them and fell on her face.

  Men ran into town, shouting at any Wolfoid they saw. The pups fled from the onslaught, while arrows flew at their rapidly retreating forms. The men kicked in doors and pulled olds
ters out, propelling them toward the center of town. They let those go who were fleeing into the field.

  The morning’s crisp air settled in an uneasy calm over Livestel. The yelling stopped, leaving only the sound of whimpers and the breeze in the nearby trees.

  “Can we help White Mountain?” one of the older Wolfoids asked in her native tongue.

  “Shut up, you,” the man replied. To him, the Wolfoid hadn’t used language, but had only made dog noises. He growled at the creature, pointing an arrow nocked to his bowstring. “You understand this, don’t you?”

  He laughed with a crooked smile and some of his gruff fellows joined him.

  They didn’t search all the buildings, only the ones around the town square. Just enough to be sure that they wouldn’t get a nasty surprise.

  “What are you waiting for?” the old Wolfoid asked, quickly holding up his hands and looking away when the man pulled back and prepared to unleash an arrow.

  ***

  Time crawled as the pups gathered themselves. The oldest of the bunch, Cygnus Standing, the first born on Vii, rallied the pups.

  “What are we doing? We’re not cowards!” Cygnus barked. “White Mountain needs our help. They all need our help. They can’t shoot us all, so we’ll run as fast as we can, right at them. Can you run fast like the wind?”

  The other pups nodded, but their eyes were wide, the whites showing their fear. No choice, Cygnus thought.

  A large hunting party had left the town the day before and gone into the rainforest. They wouldn’t return until nightfall. The pups were the town’s only hope, unless they wanted to live their lives in shame. That thought raised Cygnus Standing’s hackles. “We’re all our oldsters have. Follow me, spread out behind me. I’ll act as a shield so they can’t see you. They have bows, so when we get within range, you must run like you’re chasing a rabbit that doesn’t wish to be caught.”

  The others nodded hesitantly. Cygnus stayed where he was as he fought with his courage. Running to certain death didn’t appeal to him. He had not yet lived. He had not yet been blooded. His lips quivered. He roared his dismay and without looking back at the others, he turned and raced toward the village.

  His heart threatened to pound out of his chest. He saw starbursts before his eyes, but he didn’t slow. He focused on pounding ahead, running on all fours. He heard the others and that relief cleared the way before him. He bared his canines as the town came into sharp focus. He tore around the corner and into the square, running past the nearest man and leaping for the one aiming an arrow into the assembled pack.

  The man jerked as he tried to bring the arrow around. Cygnus hit the man with the full weight of his half-grown Wolfoid body. The two slammed into the wall behind them. Cygnus sunk his teeth into the man’s shoulder. The warm blood drove him into a frenzy. He snarled and tried shaking his head, as he would to kill prey, but the man drove a knife across Cygnus Standing’s ribcage.

  When he pulled back for another attempt to stab the Wolfoid, Cygnus jumped away. The man’s bow lie on the ground, dropped with the impact.

  “You toad waffle. I’ll kill you for this!” the man screamed, tipping his chin toward his shoulder. He tossed his knife from hand to hand as if trying to draw the Wolfoid’s attention away. Cygnus stood on all fours, snarling. His hand-like paw found a small rock. In a move too fast to follow, he launched the rock at the man’s face.

  The rock flew true, hitting the man in the forehead with a sickening thud. He staggered, but didn’t fall.

  Cygnus Standing looked down to see his own blood dripping on the ground. His vision swam. He tried to focus, but his vigor drained with his blood. The pain burned through his ribs. His adrenaline surge faded.

  Cygnus stumbled and fell.

  The other pups were engaged with the men, the speed and surprise of the Wolfoid attack winning the moment. None of the pups had been shot. The oldsters in the pack surged from the town square, flowing over the men like a wave. But the oldest and the youngest couldn’t stand long before trained and motivated warriors.

  “Why?” one of the oldsters cried in the Wolfoid tongue as the tide of battle turned in the men’s favor. Using their bows as clubs, they sent the Wolfoids scattering.

  The men faced the Wolfoids as they backed from the town square. Many of the attackers were bleeding, but they held their bows firmly. They could have fired, but didn’t. Confusion gripped the young Wolfoids as they growled and snapped at the retreating forms. The oldsters made them hold their ground and not go after the men.

  ***

  “We can’t let Cygnus Standing’s sacrifice be in vain!” Blackest Pitch, the oldest pup, told the others.

  “I’m going to be okay,” Cygnus mumbled with the relief that numbweed brought.

  “We shall avenge you!” Pitch continued, working the younger pups into a chest-beating frenzy.

  “What’s that?” Wind Runner, another pup, asked.

  They squinted into the distance to see the vile creatures known as men jogging through their field, scattering their livestock as if it was a game.

  “No.” Runner waved at them and pointed with his canine forearm at a hard angle away from where they were looking. “There!” Far to the side, hunched and trying to move stealthily through a low ditch, a number of men hurried away from the village. They were carrying bundles of Wolfoid spears.

  Lightning spears.

  And they were getting away.

  “Check the armory,” an oldster said coldly. Pitch dropped to all fours and launched his brown body through the square and to the far end of the town. Three of the older pups joined him.

  The door was waving in the light breeze. He didn’t need to go in to know, but he stuck his snout inside to confirm his suspicions. The lightning spears were gone.

  All of them.

  Rainy Forest, Wind Runner, and Low Crawler forced their muzzles into the gap between Pitch and the door frame.

  “They got our spears!” Runner exclaimed.

  “We can’t let them get away with it!” Forest cried, starting to bounce as his agitation increased.

  “We have to,” Crawler said matter-of-factly. “We have to go after them. There is no one else, and the humans must not be allowed to keep our spears.”

  Pitch didn’t want to lead the expedition, but he was the next oldest to Cygnus Standing, having been born of the same litter. “It’s up to us,” he growled. And the four started to run.

  ***

  Bounder and Strider carried one of many field-stripped carcasses. The hunters laughed and joked as the path from the rainforest led into the gentle fields that surrounded their town. Flowing green grasses waved as if welcoming them home. No need to remain quiet. The hunt was finished.

  “We will eat well tonight!” Bounder yipped and barked.

  “For the next week, my mate,” Strider replied proudly. Eight warriors, plying their trade for the good of the town, returning home with the bounty, a reward for their skill.

  The wailing lilted toward them, unmistakable in its grief. Bounder nodded to Strider, and they started to run, the spear between them bouncing with the heavy carcass of a fat boar.

  The others rushed after them, two by two, staying in step to improve their speed. Leaving trampled grass in their wake, they ran into town, dumping their kills in the central square.

  Bounder looked at the carnage, blood splatters across the ground and White Mountain and Cygnus Standing being tended to by the oldsters. Bounder saw four pups running into the fields.

  “Get back here!” he howled.

  Tail over nose, they rolled in their rush to stop. They stood, torn between going after the raiders or returning as their alpha commanded. Pitch tipped his nose toward Livestel. Casting glances behind him, he led the way back to town. His head and tail drooped as he trudged home.

  His failure to protect his people or avenge them weighed heavily on his soul. The other whipped pups followed.

  “What happened?” Strider asked.

/>   Endless Sky hovered over a pale White Mountain. “Be ready with a patch of numbweed,” he told one of the newly returned hunters. The Wolfoid opened the pouch on his hip and pulled out a moist handful. Sky turned his attention to the alpha. “We were attacked…” He paused. “…by men! They raided Livestel for the fun of it.”

  “Men? But that’s not possible. They didn’t take anything?” Bounder crouched close to Mountain, holding her hand as Sky braced himself to pull the arrow from her chest. He yanked the arrow free. She grunted, cried, and passed out. Sky threw the arrow to the side and packed the wound with numbweed.

  “We can only pray it is enough and that her years aren’t working against her.”

  Bounder nodded as he draped Mountain’s limp forearm over her chest. One of the hunters rushed in, nearly tripping over Cygnus Standing. Bounder leapt to his feet as if a new intruder had appeared. Bounder’s lip curled upward, exposing a single canine.

  “My apologies,” the hunter stammered. “The lightning spears! They are all gone.”

  “Oh no,” Strider whispered.

  “Were you going after them?” Bounder asked the pups as they loped into town.

  “Yes, my alpha!” Blackest Pitch shouted. His tail instantly perked up.

  “In due time,” Bounder cautioned. “You aren’t even armed and they now have lightning spears. You will protect the village while Strider and I run to New Sanctuary. We must tell Micah and Braden about this.”

  “More humans?” Sky scoffed.

  Bounder grabbed the oldster by the back of his neck as if he was an offending pup. “They saved our people,” he snarled. “Gave us a future where we can hunt like we were meant to. The Wolfoids do not want a war with humanity. You will find how small this world would become if we started killing humans. You would also find that we would not long survive such a conflict.”