“Stay very still,” she ordered curtly. “They see movement better than they see anything else.”


    I recognized Kana’s voice and did as she asked.


    Rose and I maintained our pose back to back as transports swooped in and the men started to fight creatures that dotted the hall. The thing I’d shot at had been one of very many lying in wait. Kana stayed with Rose and me, seemingly acting as a guardian.


    “Use your weapons if you need to humans,” shemanded. “Aim for the ce where the arms meet the body, they are weakest there.”


    I took several shots at creatures attacking the men and I heard Rose do the same thing. We did what we could from our position to help. Kana had been right, the best ce to shoot was where the body and arms connected. If your aim was good, that type of shot dropped the creatures almost immediately. My aim was remarkably good.


    The men on the transports fought the snake like things with ferocious intensity. I watched amazed as they swarmed down the halls seeking out the hiding spots the invaders had found. The men moved with an odd synchrony. No words passed between them, but all of them seemed to be working as one unit.


    The hunt was strikingly quiet, organized, and ruthless. Kana, Rose and I stood rooted to our spots as the men removed the danger from the halls. Suddenly a transport dropped down beside us. I stared nkly at the men on the transport who weren’t even looking at us.


    “Get on, women!” Thom growled suddenly.


    He turned to face us and looked thoroughly disgruntled. I got the impression he had been waiting for us to follow the same invisiblemands the other men were. Unfortunately we had no idea what signals they were using tomunicate.


    Rose and I leapt on and Thom continued to stare at Kana.


    “Get on,” he ordered.


    “I will fly myself,” she told him cooly spreading her wings.


    “Follow closely,” he demanded facing forward again, “do not get in our way.”


    The transports were zipping around us in the interior of the camp. They were spreading out in a very organized fashion. The men seemed to be searching every nook and cranny for the attackers. The entire hunt was absolutely silent and utterly efficient. I’d never seen anything like it.


    It was like watching beesin a hive or fish in a school. The men seemed to be responding to something outside themselves that was guiding them. I looked back and saw Kana flying very close behind us. She did as she’d been asked and stayed out of the way as the men took care of their camp.


    Rose and I were delivered back to therge cave used for healing. Men were stationed at the opening to the infirmary now, looking alert. They separated long enough to allow us to enter and then took up positions in front of the opening. They formed a literal wall of flesh between the injured and the aggressors.


    “You are carrying a child,” Thom said bluntly once we were inside. “The other women in your circumstance are staying in safe ces, you must do the same. Do not leave this room. I will let you know when the danger has passed.”


    Kana had followed us in and she watched Thom with the oddest expression on her face.


    “Your eye is not well enough to send you out, but you can help us defend the injured in here, should ite to that,” he said bluntly.


    Thom spoke with an authority I’d only ever heard from Gunth. He looked as firm and resolute as the old man usually did, too. His decisiveness seemed to surprise Kana.


    She agreed to stay and Thom was gone. The men at the entrance to our hall stood attentively, ready to fend off an attack. They seemed oblivious to the activity in the infirmary, their attention was focused outward.


    The Sister that had lost her wing walked slowly over to stand next to Kana. The men had wrapped and dressed the stump on her left side. They had tied it so she would not inadvertently move it while they tried to heal the flesh.


    “It is The Great Harmonious Spirit. They are answering to The Spirit,” Kana said simply and the other women seemed taken aback.


    “That does not exist anymore,” she said gruffly.


    “I have seen it,” Kana said quietly. “The Great Harmonious Spirit is here. It is real and the men have embraced it again. It was not permanently lost to us when we put them on thepounds. They have found their essence again. This is where they belong.”


    The woman with one wing made a bitter sound and Kana ignored her. She settled behind the men at the doorway awaiting attack. I’d never seen a woman without beads take orders from a man, but that’s certainly what she was doing.


    Rose got my attention and I went to help the Healers. We worked relentlessly for the longest time. When we had a moment to rest, Rose and I watched the men in the room.


    The Healers seemed as tuned in as the men in the hall had been. They worked with seamless efficiency on the wounded. None of the beaded women seemed the least surprised, but I saw the eyes of the unbeaded follow the men.


    Kana’s sister sat on a warm stone as I carried dirty towels by. She called out softly and I stepped closer to her. I watched her war with herself before she bent her head to speak quietly to me.


    “Have you seen them this way before, human? Are they like this all the time?”


    It was easy to see what she meant. The concentration the men seemed to have was amazing. Their focus was unbreakable. Even the injured seemed to be following the internalmands and epted whatever needed to be done.


    “No,” I answered looking around, “never like this.”


    The woman looked down at me and I sensed she just wanted to talk to someone about what she saw. Kana was busy and her Sister with the stomach wound was too gravely injured to talk much. Evidently, I was a suitable set of ears.


    “The men used to be this way in times of great stress,” she said slowly. “We called it The Great Harmonious Spirit. It bound them together and they became one. Their strength was in their perfect cooperation and numbers. My female breeder and her line have not seen this since we put them on thepounds.”


    I could connect faintly to Damien and his Brothers and I felt the calm buzz of their thoughts. It didn’t feel markedly different from usual, but then to the men, I guessed it wouldn’t. This organization would feel right.


    “It must be a defensive instinct,” I said watching the woman. “When the men are free, happy, and connected; it seems they can help each other.”


    The woman settled on her stone and looked around. “It used to be their strength, but it was not enough. They died and they made choices we did not…”


    Therge woman stopped talking and just looked around.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.