The larger male straightens with a hiss, catching my attention. “We chasssed them off. They are stronger because…” His short, partially-grown tail coils under him. I note a familiar pattern but then his tail twists back in on itself and I can no longer get a clear view of it. “They are eating each other.”
Locking my eyes with his, I realize it is not merely his patterning that is familiar, but also the golden color of his eyes. “I need to stop them before they attack the human encampment.” Before they reach Julia… I look around at the rest of the nagas, meeting their gazes too. “I could use your help.”
The nagas hiss but only the male closest to me ends up shifting forward. “I… will help.”
Ignoring the pain radiating through me, I scan him once more, this time in assessment, judging whether or not he is strong enough to potentially take into a fight. Narrowing my eyes, I wave my hand at him. “Move into the sunlight,” I demand more than ask.
He scowls but does what I say, sliding between a patch of trees to an opening in the canopy. Several nagas move out of his way and slip back into the forest.
As the sunlight beams over him, his features light up to my view and the coloring along his tail, and the scales just beginning to form there, deepens. It is then I realize why he looks so familiar.
“Copperhead,” I say, sucking in a breath, suddenly overwhelmed.
He tilts his head.
“You are a Copperhead, like me, and I will gladly accept your help,” I announce, looking toward the others that remain, wondering if any of them will be Copperheads too. But there will be time for that later, once the dangerous nagas are taken care of.
I will have to come back…
The male hisses again, puffing out his chest.
I grab his shoulder and squeeze it. “Do you have a name?” I search his face and the almost idiotic expression in his eyes.
He glances at the orb hovering near his head. “What issss a name?”
“A moniker one gives oneself,” the orb quickly responds. “Used to identify you as a unique individual.”
The male shakes his head, confused. “Moniker?”
“I will call you Kodyx,” I interrupt him before he descends into a discussion with his orb. “A Copperhead name. Would that please you?”
He tilts his head again, his eyes roaming my face as he tests the name out himself, his forked tongue tasting the air before doing so. “Kodyx. It pleasessss me.”
Releasing his shoulder, I turn away. “Follow me. Stay close. And try to be quiet.” Surveying the forest ahead, I take my best guess as to the correct direction and begin my trek back to the encampment, praying that I am not too late.
I barely move past the first few nagas and into the next thicket when the ground beneath me trembles. All at once, a distant humming fills my ears, sounding like one of the human’s spaceships. Stiffening, my ears prick as I wait for the noise to end.
The humming builds until there is a roar. The nagas around me hiss and flee up into the trees. Only Kodyx, mimicking what I am doing, remains bravely by my side, despite the gleam of unease that flashes across his face.
“You will be fine,” I assure him.
A booming blast follows the roar, making the branches shake overhead and sending birds squawking into the sky. Then the noise slowly fades as it gets farther and farther away. Above, something flashes bright and silver in the sky, but I quickly lose sight of it through the branches. For a brief moment I imagine Julia being on the spaceship and flying away from me. A pain grips my chest like no other.
At least I now know which way I need to go to get back to the encampment.To her.
I check to make sure Kodyx is still with me before I head in the direction that the noise of the spaceship’s takeoff came from, already searching the ground for tracks leading towards my destination.
I will end the other nagas before they have a chance at taking away Julia’s safety. Before they have a chance of harming anyone else… and before they have a chance at ruining my relationship with the humans, when it is already a weak one at best.
If there is nothing else I can do for my female, I can at least do this.
THIRTY-EIGHT
A HARD CHOICE
Julia
The ground shakes around us.I stop where I’m pacing around Graft’s room, and glance at Olivia and the others. They’re sitting upright or standing, peering around as the walls shudder and the cleaning robot’s metalclacksagainst the floor.
