Alex.J.Cobalt

Ia looked down on the smoking remains of their village. Even from up here, in the safety of the mountains, she could taste the ash on the air. The anger inside her was deep, she had warned the council that the humans were advancing across their borders and yet they did nothing.

And still did nothing.

“Mummy,” Salea asked, tugging on her hand, “why do the humans hate us?”

Ia looked down at her daughter, her scales still green with youth, and tried to keep her anger from showing in her voice.

“Sometimes people don’t like others,” Ia said, “and no matter how hard you try they will not change their minds.”

Salea looked down on the remains of the village, her yellow eyes flickering over the destruction. It was hard enough for the adults to understand the depth of the hatred the humans had against the Tevai, let alone the cubs of the group.

“Will we ever go back?” Salea asked.

“I hope so,” Ia replied. Tev be dammed, they had to go back. There was no way that they could safely inhabit their planet, let alone their system, without fighting back against the humans’ warpath of destruction. But without the council’s support, there was no way that they were going to start a warring campaign against the humans.

And certainly not whilst Yei is in charge, Ia thought. Yei might have been a good leader during peace time, but this was a time of war. And no peace talks or deals had stopped the humans ripping up the rule book and decimating their home and killing their kind in droves.But one day we will have our revenge, Ia thought looking at her daughter, and it shall be the sweet nectar of death.

This flashfiction was first posted in 2018

Featured Image by Alice Hampson on Unsplash

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