Knowing there was no longer aide to find, Nala rushed back to Indel’s burial site.

She broke through the brush top speed and came to a silent halt in time to find Smith digging at a second hole.

The Earther, strange suit and all, worked sluggishly against the heat. He was only two holes away from Dilen. Three before he reached Indel.

Nala stepped back and crouched down. It wasn’t enough to hope the Earther found Dilen first and stopped at that.

Smith’s tools were better. He was still slower than a Summoner at digging, but he’d manage it in time.

Glancing back confirmed Nala’s fears; the Levelers weren’t coming.

Short of attacking the man, Nala could think of no other outcome. If she injured an Earther, other Earth-men would come. Or worse yet, she’d have to try and tend to him. And Smith would take retribution. And what of the caves?

“Alpha Walker one. Come in. Do you read? Any signs of hostiles?”

Smith slammed down the shovel. “Negative,” he screeched back. “It’s like they all up and left. Make a note of it, but not of my location.”

“Copy that.”

“Oh, and Jones. This’ll be our biggest fucking payday yet. You shoulda seen the size of this thing. It’s fucking massive. The longest tail ever. Maybe even bigger than the fabled Level King.”

A screech came with a chuckle. “Hot damn. It’ll be whores and booze. Be safe out there. You never know what you’ll get with a red one. Better off sticking to the blues. Easier to round up.”

“Not on your life. Reds are more potent. This is one we can’t pass up. It’ll make up for having to live through this fucking Shakespearean nightmare. Oh, Earther, oh Earther, don’t take my fucking tail, Earther.”

“Well, I heard that the ones on the other side of the planet got the hip-hop tutorial when we first landed. Can you imagine it?”

Smith dug another empty hole, his voice muffled by the white suit as he cursed, “Fuck!”

Swallowing down her rampant hearts, Nala stood and charged. She tucked her head down, striking Smith in the back.

The Earther dropped the shovel at least, but he drew something else—one of his strange fire pistols.

Nala froze, her hands extended. “Mr. Smith....”

Unable to see Smith’s face behind the helmet, Nala held her ground.

“I’m sorry, sir...I didn’t know it was you,” Nala lied.

Smith stepped to the right. Nala matched him, going opposite him—all the better if he’d shift away from Indel’s hiding place.

“I...I have the Leveler, sir. He’s...he’s at the barn. Is that why you’ve come?”

The Earther’s dark eyes held suspicion.

“What are you doing here?” Smith demanded.

“I...” Nala struggled for an answer. “I....”

A strange scratching noise came from the ground. And then Nala saw why. The reeds to help the Levelers breathe were gone. Smith must have pulled them all up.

One hand struck through the soil, then another. Little by little, Dilen’s mangled head came into view. The Leveler had dug his way out.

All was quiet until he used the last of his strength to free himself, turning onto his back to rest.

“My specimen!”

Nala looked between them then darted for Smith and that weapon. She caught hold only once before it went off.

Right away, Nala let go, her hands raised again.

“Oh no. Mr. Smith...no,” Nala pleaded, stepping back. Faced with her own end, Nala thought of Indel, the Leveler King resting below the soil, his now frail body crouched up like that of an infant. She hoped she herself could be put to rest as gently. “Mr. Smith...” Nala tried again. “I can explain.”

A rumble from the soil was the first sign that something else was coming.

Smith stepped back and Nala risked looking behind her to see what was such a fright. Levelers, at least ten or more surrounded them.

That wasn’t what caused the rumble and Nala considered that maybe it was her own fear instead. The Levelers weren’t attacking, they only watched.

A stage two Leveler emerged from the fray, a pleasant yet weary smile fixed in place.

“Earther, peace be to you. Have you lost your way?” He pointed to himself and then the Levelers at the ready. “We can help you navigate again. It is not wise to tarry so close to this area as predators are abundant. Let us guide you back to your kind, as is our agreement.”

Smith raised the weapon and the Leveler stepped back.

“I have business here,” Smith said.

The stage two Leveler glanced at Nala, then down at Dilen and said, “I can see that. The Summoner is yours, of course, but we thank you for our Leveler brother. We will care for him.”

“Don’t you fucking move. I’m not leaving without it!”

The Leveler took a shaky step forward and Smith fired on the ground.

Shrieks and clicks hummed as Levelers scurried. In the confusion, Nala did something she regretted, she ran. She kept running, stumbling without falling, pumping her legs without gaining much speed, but she ran.

Her steps slowed when she saw no one and nothing. She looked back to the commotion and confusion she’d left behind. There was nothing there for her. Her sloth had no doubt returned home. The Levelers had Smith. Smith had his specimen, and Indel...he could not last long as he was without air.

Nala told herself to run on. No one pursued her. She could have said something. She should have shouted that Indel lay buried, even in the old tongue. There the Levelers all stood, gathered around their half-dead king, and Nala...had run.

She began to walk toward the noise. Her feet fell faster.

“Hold your ground,” the stage two Leveler warned. “We cannot spill Earther blood, and not here. Tell the others to prepare to retreat to another cave.”

Two Warrior Levelers disappeared into the brush, missing Nala by fractions. She dropped down, hiding herself but she could see the clearing.

The diplomat gave Smith a weak smile.

“Peace, Earther. We only send for our king so that he may wax an agreement with you, of course.” He bowed his head. “Your Summoner has left but we can help you find her again, so that you may carry on your business with her. How does that sound?”

Smith let out a cry as he lost footing and toppled to the ground.

His wry body covered in dirt, Indel broke through the rest of the soil, robes in hand. He caught Smith around the throat and dragged him down.

The diplomat gasped. “No! We cannot afford a dead Earther! Get him out!”

A flood of Levelers rushed to the last of Smith’s boots before they disappeared underground.

“And the pistol,” someone asked.

“Blast the pistol. It is our heads if the warmachines return!”

Working together, the Levelers dug far enough to snatch Smith out of the dirt, and someone else with him.

“Moon for which we rise, it is our king!”

The diplomat rushed to see. “The king?”

“Blast you, let me stand on my own!” Naked and bolder than the day he and Nala had met, Indel stepped from the hole, his body no longer frail.

Nala fell back to sit on the ground.

Indel. He lived.

Though the king’s legs seemed unsteady, he stood his ground as he gestured to Dilen. “Get him inside.”

Excited chatter died down when the diplomat raised his hands. “We cannot force a shift without—”

“No. No shift. His clan is no longer of us. Keep him for the newborns to feast upon. They should taste the flesh of their enemy early.”

The diplomat had no response but in time he nodded. “If you are certain.”

“I am.” Indel tossed the robes down as Levelers gathered around him. “Do not touch me. I will walk.”

“In your condition—”

“My condition is fine. I will walk,” Indel repeated though his body trembled.

This was what it meant to look like a king. The Leveler King nearly hunched from the pain, but he was determined to show his might.

Nala watched, frozen in awe at Indel’s body strength. It seemed impossible that he could endure the pain enough to stand, but there he stood.

“What of this Earther here?” the diplomat asked.

Indel didn’t look back. “He still lives. Bring the Earther back to the city. Have the others sink this blasted machine.” He started for the Warrior Levelers but paused. “Was there something else?”

“Something else?” the diplomat repeated.

“Yes. A...Betty?”

“No. No sloth. There is nothing. Come, we must get you cleaned.”

Indel’s strides slow and laborious, he disappeared with the setting suns leaving Nala staring after them.