Page 30 of The Naga Warlord’s Virgin Mate

“Cut some strips from that leather skin, please,” I said, jabbing the tip of my tail at the corner of one sticking out from beneath our backpack with the tent and bedding. It wasn’t far, and I didn’t like it at all that she just her hands to scoot herself along the ground. Rocks and pebbles made it a rough surface, along with the gnarly roots from the trees that stuck out in random places. On top of that, we were on a mild slope, she had to pull herself uphill, not that she appeared to have any trouble doing so.

“I am going to be fine. The Shaman is only a few hours in that direction,” I said calmly, and I pointed down the mountain slope. Toward the wetlands and the spine of another branch of the mountain. Artek’s home was in the tunnels that pierced that flank, but his were filled with crystal lights, his entrance shielded by a garden inside a dome. A technological wonder that had often been the debate among the Clan, was it for healing or was it for something else? Was it just frivolous, dangerous use of technology the Shaman should not be tampering with?

Now I really didn’t care one way or another, I just wanted to get the both of us there. Kiwi too. The little Sleara had landed not far away and I could scent his blood in the air. He kept his wings tucked tightly around his body so I had no chance to see how bad it was but I was pretty sure that he’d let Naomi take a look.

As soon as she was back and had helped me tie the improvised bandage in place I snagged her up in my arms and pulled her close. “My brave heart,” I said, tipping her chin up so I could kiss her. “You are amazing and you are worth a little bit of blood and pain. A lot, if it was asked of me, don’t you know that?”

She curled her arms around my neck and just leaned there, a hug that grew tight as she clutched me with her deceptively strong arms. “Doesn’t mean I don’t hate to see it. Are you sure you’re going to be alright? No macho posturing big guy, I need to know you’ll make it down that mountain alright. It’s not like I can carry you.”

No, she could not. My eyes went back to the toppled wheelchair or hover chair as she’d also called it. “I’m sure. Now go check on Kiwi, he is definitely more hurt than he’s letting on.” She made a worried little squeak and immediately pushed away from my chest, pain shooting through me where the dribbling, open spear wound across my pectoral was located.

I held back my groan, trying not to make her worry even more. She fussed over the little Sleara, who as I had predicted let her touch him wherever she wanted, showing her the cut across his ribs without hesitation. That one definitely thought my mate was his mate too, but I could share with the little beastie, he’d saved our lives after all.

With my worst wound taken care of, I untangled the rest of my coils and tested out my strength and range of motion. Seemed alright, I felt sluggish, but I was no longer bleeding out so I’d call that a win. We needed to hurry away from here before the Queen managed to convince some more lowlifes from the Clan to return and finish us off.

Her hover chair was upright with a little pushing, but the damage that was revealed below it made my stomach drop. The wrap of leather in which I’d tightly bound the packages with Naomi’s possible cure had borne the brunt of the blow. Many of the cases lay like cracked eggshells in their nest of fur and leather. I picked through them with growing dismay; only three remained whole.

“It’s okay, Krashe,” Naomi said quietly. She was cradling Kiwi in her arms, the little fellow draped in a pitiful sprawl against her chest. She’d tied leaves and a strip of leather around his wounded chest, just like she’d done for me. “I’m okay like this too.”

I huffed, “Of course you are! You are perfect. I just wanted…” I didn’t know how to put it all into words and there was no time to start digging for the right ones. So I finished, “I just wanted to make you happy.” Then I collected the three remaining boxes and carefully packaged them in whatever fur and leather I could find. These were not breaking, even if the chances were slim that these were the right ones, I was getting them to Artek. Any chance was better than none.

“I know,” she said quietly. She didn’t need help to climb back into the righted chair, it wasn’t hovering, and she handily used the bottom tray to leverage herself up. “The battery is nearly empty, and I am pretty sure the ride will be really rough, but we’ll get this thing as far down the mountain as it will go.”

Those were fighting words, I liked them. Cupping her cheek, I kissed her, this time lingering longer than I probably should. Then I went to retrieve my precious bag of books and scrolls, and dug the box of my mother’s things out of our backpack of supplies. It hurt, and I felt a new gush of blood down my side when I stretched. I still soldiered on, slinging the pack over my shoulder, the precious boxes cradled in my arm. Then I followed my mate down the mountain in the direction I’d already pointed her.

*

Naomi

I was going over plan after plan in my head the entire time we were going down the mountain slope. The purple coniferous trees weren’t super densely packed, but they did obscure much of the mountain flank, making it impossible for me to tell exactly where we were going.

To make sure I could keep going if he did pass out, I kept asking Krashe to point out our heading. He was behind me, silently following and it freaked me out just how quiet he was. I kept glancing back, worried that he’d passed out and I hadn’t noticed. If he did, I’d have to somehow try and pull him onto the chair and hope the damn battery lasted us to Shaman.

I didn’t have high hopes of that happening, it was listing to one side and kept lurching up and down. There were tons of red blinking lights on the control panel and scrolling text that I couldn’t read. They were growing dimmer and then brightening when we hit a sunny spot, which made me hope that it was solar-powered. If we could hide somewhere and the chair could charge, maybe we could make it… But much rather, I hoped he wouldn’t pass out at all.

The other option was that the chair was a total loss, it would break down at some point. Then Krashe would try to carry me the rest of the way, that didn’t seem like a smart choice. But sending him on ahead to get help? Was that any smarter? If he passed out, I wouldn’t know what had happened.

Glancing back for the hundredth time, my heart lurched in my chest when I realized that Krashe had paused a few feet back. He was upright but no longer moving, staring into the distance with a fierce frown on his face, his jaw tightly set.

“Hey! Need a hand?” a voice called out cheerfully. I spun in my seat to face the front and that’s when the chair gave a final spluttering effort to keep me hovering before it crashed with a thud to the ground. The smell of burned electronics and melting plastics filled the air; not good.

A pale figure came around a tree, a Naga as white as snow. He was such a jolting, different sight from all the Naga I’d seen so far that I just stared. He was different in many ways, from the fact that he wore a robe around his shoulders in pale blue, to the sash around his middle. He wore glimmering jewels around his arms, throat, and in bands around his tail. His scales might be white but when he slithered out from behind the tree, they caught the sunlight in a shimmering wave of color like an opal.

“Artek! How did you find us?” Krashe rumbled, he was no longer frozen in place. He’d silently gotten right next to me, and now he pushed his body between me and the stranger. I thought he’d said Artek would help us, that the Shaman would be the one who knew how to use those chips we’d found. Clearly, Krashe wasn’t feeling quite so trusting right now.

“I was just out for my morning stroll when I caught the scent of blood. How bad is it, my friend?” The Shaman moved closer without a care for Krashe’s threatening posture. He kept right on going until he could lean around my mate and peer at the bloody bandage on his back. It wasn’t until the Shaman had his face right there that he even acknowledged my presence, winking at me with one golden eye.

He straightened after that glance, “Deep one. Why don’t you let me do some quick field dressing before you carry your mate to my home? I don’t think her hover chair is going to move another inch.” I could see his face better now, he had refined, almost androgynous features and long pale gold hair. I could also see that his cheeks were a little sunken, and red veins shot through the whites of his eyes. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days.

“How did you?” Krashe started to say but he was also shrugging off his precious bag of books, readily presenting the worst of his wound to the pale Naga. He was trusting him with his own body, though he still kept himself between me and the male.

“Ah, she’s not the first human I’ve met,” the Shaman responded while he pulled a very strange-looking device from a satchel at his hip, he slipped it over his hand like it was more jewelry but then a piece in the center started to glow as soon as he held it over Krashe’s injury. My heart was racing from the news and the sight of such a helpful medical device. Krashe was in good hands and if this male had seen other humans, did that mean Vera and her group had come through here?

“I’m Artek, nice to meet you by the way.” The Shaman clearly knew that I could understand every word that he said and he also seemed to know exactly how much contact he could make without making Krashe feel like he had to intervene. This was the strangest Naga I had met so far, and I kind of liked it. It was refreshing to be met with curiosity and friendliness instead of hostility.

Krashe wordlessly held out his arm to me. I thought he meant for me to grab his hand, but when Kiwi clambered up his fingers, I understood. He wanted the Shaman to have a look at our little friend too. The tiny green dragon looked even tinier in Krashe’s large hand, I couldn’t believe he’d managed to lift that sword and drop it on the unsuspecting Naga like like he had, but I was very grateful he’d managed somehow.

“Ah, a Sleara. Are you injured little fellow?” The Shaman said warmly when Krashe sort of just shoved Kiwi in his face. I was starting to get the feeling that Krashe wasn’t much of a talker when it came to this Shaman, or maybe others too. Maybe I was just the exception and that thought practically made me glow.