Chapter 6
Cosima
Nobody told me that going to the Shaman meant riding the dragon.
We’d planned the trip for days. Krashe and I had worked together to sketch out the remaining structure on cured leather skins with charcoal.
While Zsekhet, Corin, and a whole herd of aspirants had tackled removing all the plants from it.
Revealing the base and the edges of stone basins that laid out plant beds inside the structure, some of those had needed to be dug out with primitive bone shovels.
Zsekhet was currently fitting Krashe and Naomi into a flying harness so the two could sit safely behind him on Sesethul’s back.
Corin was staying behind, which left the last spot on the dragon for me.
A group of interested aspirants, Aks, Xorare, Min-Ji, and Reid were going to travel on foot to the Shaman’s home, which should take them about a week.
Meanwhile, a ride on the dragon meant we’d be there in a few hours.
It was a sensible idea, it would save a lot of time.
Time we needed to restore this building before the cold season started.
I just hated the idea of flying on the back of a dragon because it meant I had to sit up close and personal with Zsekhet, no buffer between us.
What if our skin touched and I discovered he was my mate?
What if I found out that he was not? Both options seemed to make me feel equally stressed out.
Maybe I worried for nothing, because it wasn’t Zsekhet who helped me strap a leather and rope harness about my body, it was Naomi.
And when it was time to ‘board’ Sesethul, I was placed behind Krashe, all the way at the back and right at the wing joint.
It was a really safe spot, I was very stuck between the huge Naga, the powerful wing muscles, and the sharp spikes along the beast’s spine.
There was also absolutely no way I could accidentally touch Zsekhet.
“Good luck,” Vera said with a smile from the ground while eagerly waving at me.
“Try to just have fun!” I hoped I could.
Rollercoasters were fun, this was going to be similar to that, I hoped.
I hadn’t even considered how cold it might be high up in the air, but when Zsekhet didn’t just climb on with us, I had some inclination.
He was handing out thick furs to Krashe so the male could bundle up his mate even more warmly.
I felt a pang of sadness but it wasn’t quite so pronounced.
Caleb would have gotten a kick out of riding a dragon, and he definitely would have tenderly bundled me up like Krashe was doing with Naomi.
When Zsekhet started to carefully pull a fur around my shoulders that sadness eased a little.
He and I might not get along, but that gesture definitely was exactly like I pictured Caleb would do it.
I expected that to hurt more, but it didn’t, it made me feel better.
Like my fiance was still there in little things, watching out for me.
Like he might actually approve of the things Zsekhet did, but that was crazy talk.
Naomi whooped with laughter as we shot into the air, her laughter ringing out clear as a bell.
Kiwi darted into the sky with us, a little green blur that coasted on the giant dragon’s slipstream.
I wasn’t as vocal but when my stomach swooped with our lift-off, and then dropped again; yeah that felt awesome!
Flying wasn’t so bad, I might get used to it.
Two hours later I was pretty sure I hated it.
My butt ached from sitting on the hard dragon scales.
I was chattering my teeth and shaking from the cold, I couldn’t feel my fingers from how numb they were, and no amount of wriggling my toes seemed to warm them up.
Then all my aches and pains, all the coldness faded to the back of my mind when I saw Artek’s home.
The dome was intact and the interior was filled up with purple foliage.
A perfect example of what our structure could look like once we restored it.
Excitement coursed through me, a million ideas on how to get this to work back at Haven filling my brain.
If we could find the right parts, I could absolutely fix that building!
And then it was up to Corin to figure out how to heat the structure.
***
Zsekhet
When I landed with Ses on the flower field next to this Shaman’s domed building, I finally understood what Cosima had seen right from the start.
This was what the building had looked like to her, she hadn’t seen Artek’s functioning building, but still, she had pictured it in her mind.
I was thrilled with her ability to do this and with her excitement to put her plan into motion.
It made me feel like my mate was drifting closer to me, finding herself again.
“Everyone alright?” I asked, aware that the only one whose answer truly mattered to me could not understand. Not for long though, if the Shaman could somehow find a way to make us understand each other without the mate bond… I could not wait to do so.
I also knew that the Shamans who lived like neutral parties throughout our world had ways to speak to each other, even over vast distances.
I hoped that I could ask this Artek to reach out to the Shaman Levant near Serqethos for me.
I wanted to know what was happening in the lands of my Clan.
Were they still waiting patiently for my report, or had the Queen given up on me, considering how long I’d already been gone?
As Krashe unhooked himself and helped his mate, I moved to Cosima to assist her.
I felt how my heart started racing in her proximity, I was so eager to touch her skin.
To show her that she was meant to be mine, but I couldn’t, just a little longer.
I had to be patient if I wanted to win this battle, the battle for her trust.
Banking all my desires for now was a struggle, but I made sure she didn’t see the heat in my eyes when I reached her.
I just flung more of the furs around her before I scooped her up and plunked her back on the ground.
I lingered just long enough, listening to her melodic but clearly angry ranting, to make sure she was steady on her feet.
Then I turned my back on her and went to see to Sesethul instead.
“Arryouserioussrightnow?” she demanded from behind me.
Which caused Naomi to giggle, much to my mate’s frustration.
She spun on the other female and the two started rapidly talking, my mate gestured wildly with her hands as she did so, and her spotted cheeks turned this deep red that started to climb all the way up to her hairline.
I tugged on my left horn with my own frustration, she was so pretty and I wanted to know so badly what she was saying. How could I convince her to be my mate when we couldn’t even hold a single conversation and she seemed to think the worst of me?
“Brother,” Krashe rumbled next to me with a scowl, “You have a talent for angering that particular female. What do you think that will achieve?” He flicked the tip of his long tail up and casually used it to pick several flowers, I stared at the action with a hint of confusion.
Why was he doing that? Then, without even looking, he extended his tail back toward Naomi, with flawless aim holding them out in front of her face.
She squealed, clasping the flowers to her chest, and started gushing words at him.
Krashe shot me a sharp but pleased look that said it all.
See, this is how you do it, he was implying with just that glance.
That was all the advice he was willing to offer, turning to his mate to grab her up in his arms and receive many ‘kisses’ these humans liked to give.
Presses of their lips against their mate’s flesh or mouth.
I was dying to find out what that felt like, but just a glance at Cosima’s angry, set face, told me I’d be waiting for a long time.
“Hello friends!” a male suddenly called out cheerfully.
Krashe and I spun around, my hands going to the knives strapped in holsters along my chest. The former Warlord relaxed at the sight of the male exiting the bizarre, domed building, but I wasn’t so easily put at ease.
This was an unfamiliar male to me, on top of that, he lacked any color at all, which was shocking to see.
The Shaman at Serqethos had black scales, which made him stand out, but this male was white.
It was strange, stranger than the sky-beings looked to me.
“Artek!” Naomi called out, enthusiastically waving her flowers at this Shaman.
His long pale body wasn’t entirely colorless I realized, in the Serant sunlight, his scales picked up a whole kaleidoscope of rainbows, like the opals we dug up in the desert.
He was dressed in a blue robe that hung open around his chest, but a sash covered his waist. Dozens of golden jewels clung to his neck, his arms, and tail.
Jewels I instantly recognized as the artistic work of some of my Clan members.
“Welcome. Corin told me to expect you. Right this way,” the male said, gesturing to the doorway into his plant-filled home.
He had no weapons on him as far as I could see, but I still made sure I was between him and my mate at all times as we followed him into his strange and oddly humid and warm building.
As I was about to duck inside, I glanced over my shoulder and gave Ses a nod.
The dragon winked at me with one golden eye before he settled in the meadow for a good, long nap.
I braced myself as I stepped inside, finding the strange humidity, and the overabundance of plant life a baffling sight.
Then I spotted Cosima’s radiant expression as she tilted her head left and right to take everything in.
My heart felt full and warm at the sight, she was in her element, and she was awed by what she was seeing.