“No.” He approached me, and I did not step back. “Even by submitting to them, even by allowing them to be dominant, our cultural roots are being poisoned, appropriated. That cannot happen, no matter the cost.”
I showed Krung my patchwork of scars. “It would be so easy to hate the humans for what they did to me. So, so easy. And it would just bring more bloodshed. Do you really believe your ego is worth all that pain?” I folded my arms, the way Julia would. “The war is over, Krung.”
“No.” Krung’s hands fell heavy on my shoulders. Where his touch had once been reassuring, it now burned like the electrapoles the humans had used on me. “Not as long as humans and Kichi exist in the same space. We owe the humans nothing.” His hands softened, embraced, imparted brotherhood. “You can help me, so
