I cannot breed her, though I imagine a life where I could. Where I could keep her here and full of my litters until the end of our days. In these imaginings, I never see our young, only her naked and taking care of our nest, our family, eager to always have my cock driving deep inside of her. It is becoming a struggle not to take control of our matings.
I give her one last look, and she smiles at me before I push the last boulder in place to seal the tunnel. I am intent now, more than ever, that she stays put where she is safest. I might not be back until this evening, and I will not be able to focus if I do not know she is entirely secure.
Because of her, it is also more important than ever that I return to my guard duties and make sure no one is trespassing into my territory. There is still the fact that I have not caught the naga who hurt her. Worse yet, it has been three days since I last made an offering to the deep door. If they were to find out I had broken my vow…
After scouting the underground spaces and tunnels around my nest, I move farther out to the streets and buildings, taking a brief moment to make sure the ship Sabrina came on is still gone. Coming upon nothing out of the ordinary, I leave the city behind and wander into the plains between here and the forest.
Today, thankfully, it does not take me long to hunt down a pack of pigs and kill three of them.
After devouring the first one, I am on my way back with the other two when the distant thrum of a skyship reaches my ears. The sound comes from the direction of the forest, and I turn to see a flash of light as a single small vessel ascends into the sky.
Then it flies toward me.
Remembering what Sabrina said about nagas being taken, I scowl at the ship and dive behind a collapsed cement wall. Glaring, I watch it speed away over Rickton City and off into the distance.
Unsettled, I return home, knowing the day will be darkening soon and Sabrina will be hungry. As I near the city, the smell of ship exhaust grows in the breeze, and I wonder if it is because the ship that just passed was much closer to the ground than the others.
Eager to be back with Sabrina, I head down into the tunnels and haul the bodies of the two pigs to the door deep within.
My last offering is gone, but the door is cracked ajar again. I peer through the opening, finding the tunnel entrance on the other side dark and empty. Dropping one of the pigs inside, I rip the leg off the smaller one before leaving that one too. With the limb in hand for Sabrina, I close the door and turn away.
Eyeing the water that connects the buildings together, I slide into it, letting the cool liquid clean the stink and pig blood off of me. Knowing Sabrina does not like the water and will not join me within it, I slip under the building’s foundation and into the dark path beneath, coming up on the other side to my nest.
Poking my head out of the water, and finding her with her back partially turned to me and near the edge, she’s drawing something into the dust on the floor, gliding her finger through the chalky powder. Seeing an image of a male with a long tail emerge from her finger, I know it is me.
I place the pig leg on a rock and stretch out with my other hand to pet the back of my wet fingers down her cheek.
She startles, reaches for her knife and launches it at me.
With it sliding straight into my chest, I flinch, jerk back, and look down.
“Darolus!?” she shrieks, lunging toward me. “Oh my god. Oh my god! I threw my knife at you! I stabbed you! I didn’t mean to stab you.”
I take the small hilt of her weapon and pull it out. Blood gushes and I cover the wound with my hand. “It issss my mistake.”
“Your mistake! I threw my knife at you! I’m the one who messed up here.” She grabs a small hide cloth and wets it, placing her free hand on my arm as she kneels close tome over the edge. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were an attacker. I reacted.”
“I caught you by surprise when I knew better. I would have done the same.” I reach out once more to pet her cheek, enjoying the way she has shaped her eyes today. She tries to push my hand aside and cover the wound with her cloth. I take it from her and do it myself. “Do not get my blood on you. I do not want you to get messy.”
“Darolus! You’re bleeding out of your chest! We need to apply pressure and close the wound before you bleed out further. Who cares if it gets on me?”
“I will not bleed out.” I huff, a little insulted. “Your weapon is much too small to cause me significant damage. I will heal from this within hourssss, especially since I have recently eaten.” I indicate the pig leg resting at my side.
She leans back. “I’m glad you’re so chill about this because a wound like that could easily kill a human! Now let me see it. If I had a needle and string or some glue, I could close it.”
I pet her hair back behind her ear, and looking down at her darkly colored eyes and red lips, I have never found her so beautiful before. “I am not so easily hurt or killed,” I assure her.
She pouts and peers up at me, still hovering over the hand I have on the wound.
When a tear forms in her eyes, I frown.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you. I thought you were gone. How did you get in the water without me noticing?” She shakes her head, glancing at the tunnel over her shoulder and the boulders still in place.
“I came through another path under the water. It issss sometimes faster. I did not want to waste any time getting back to you.”
She’s silent as she looks from the tunnel and back to the water, her eyes squinting to the dark section I swam out of. “I didn’t know.” She shivers as her gaze comes back to me.
I tilt my head, lowering back down into the water to bleed my wound into it rather than on the floor. At least in the water, the blood will be swept away. “I would not attempt swimming through it, female, if you ever think about doing it,” I growl in warning, in case she gets any ideas. “I trust you not to put your life at risk.” I know she does not know how to swim nor likes the water.
