Chapter 22
Farah
The wall of gray tree trunks was tall and impressive; a daunting protective measure against any invaders.
It had a large gate at the center, and beyond it, a slope of purple grass rose to an entrance into the mountain.
That entrance was flanked by two tall stone statues of Naga that each held a glowing lantern aloft.
A dome of glass sat in the distance too, a fully intact greenhouse by the looks of it.
There were more wooden buildings, and what looked like a little village sat in front of the gate — a house, some tents, and a central campfire.
But there were no Naga there, no people at all.
That might have been the only reason why my helpful stag strode into that camp like he owned it, no nerves, no reservations about coming so close to civilization.
I feared he would not halt, that he would just keep running and take me straight past where I needed.
I tried to pull him back by his fur; it had worked to steer him here, but I didn’t know if it would make him stop.
He snorted and suddenly skidded, kicking up dirt as he ended his run, right at the center of the camp.
I could see through the gate now to what lay directly beyond it and my heart seemed to come to a stop altogether.
The stag shivered and snorted, his front hoof pawing at the ground.
He was very close to bolting and I had to get off right now or I’d be taken along for the ride.
The dismount was going to suck but there was no other option, I didn’t even hesitate as I threw my leg over his wide back and started sliding to the ground.
The stag bolted as soon as I did so and I found myself dropping the last two feet with force, thudding on my ass so hard I saw stars.
Then I was alone, save for Buzz still clinging to my shoulder, and face to face with a creature that I should have known existed and yet somehow really hadn’t imagined in even my wildest dream.
It was a cousin of Buzz, but this one was as big as a freaking house and covered in shimmering gold.
A real dragon, the kind of dragon you read about in fantasy books.
No wonder the stag had braked as hard as he had.
He lay just inside the gate, with his head angled toward it.
His snout was as long as I was, and an eye that was easily the size of a dinner plate blinked open lazily.
He could swallow me in one piece without chewing…
How was I going to get past him? Despair struck me then, weighing me down until I felt heavy as stone.
My stomach was a dark pit of pain and fear as I stood there, confronted by something so massive and powerful that I might as well be a tiny little ant.
Then Buzz made a “Chirp-kee-kee” noise and threw himself from my shoulder into the air.
He circled around my head with a cheerful cry and that cry made the full-sized dragon raise his massive head and yawn.
For long, terrifying seconds I was not staring through a gate, but into a massive maw of death and fangs and darkness.
Then Buzz landed on that golden snout with eager chirps and the dragon rumbled something that sounded like a shuttle engine but was probably a purr.
“Hey, who’s your buddy, Ses?” a male voice demanded and a Naga slithered out from behind one massive paw.
He was as golden as the dragon, with long black hair and a black horn on his chin.
His eyes were bright and cheerful as he reached up a hand to pat that big snout and then stroke a still happily chirping Buzz along his back.
Maybe not all was lost just yet, he looked friendly.
Was this one of the outcasts that lived here? Only one way to find out.
Swallowing my nerves roughly, I stepped forward and grasped hold of the one job I had, my purpose for coming here.
I raised my hand and waved to catch his attention, “That’s Buzz.
Are you part of Outcast Haven? Can you help me?
” His gaze darted from the dragon and my purple pet buddy to me and widened in surprise, and then his mouth tilted into a friendly, open smile.
“Sure, what do you need, female?” he said, and then he shook his head and started talking rapidly.
“Wait, do you understand what I say? I should fetch my pretty Cosima, that would be better! Another human… Fancy that!” He started to turn away as if he intended to go fetch this Cosima right then and there and I felt a strike of panic, there was no time for that!
“No! I need help now. Medical aid for my mate. He is dying!” I pointed back the way I had come and gasped at how high and far that cliff face seemed to travel into the distance.
There was no way that we could go back that way on foot and be on time.
How would they even get Zeidon back to a healing device?
“Ah, fuck,” this golden Naga male exclaimed.
“You’re Zeidon’s female?” He started shouting back over his shoulder, more rapid-fire words about a Shaman and a person called Zathar.
He was yelling for Cosima too and making a massive ruckus as he went about it, but I appreciated all of that when people started racing out of the cave entrance not long after.
Catching sight of my first human was like seeing a unicorn, or maybe that dragon for the first time.
It felt just as rare and as fantastical when I saw several of them race down the slope to where my golden greeters were waiting with me.
A redhead, and a taller blonde who was cradling a big, pregnant belly just like Zeidon had told me about.
They were with other Naga males, ones with blue scales in varying shades, and even a purple one, and one of pure white.
Those white scales took me back to the robot, to Vrash and his terrible experiments and machinations.
The very being that might have caused Zeidon’s death.
First fear, then anger struck me. I balled my fists, ready to battle Vrash right here, right now.
I wanted to make him pay for what he’d put us through.
Then our eyes met and I knew it wasn’t Vrash, this one had eyes as blue as a summer sky back in Phoenix.
They were nothing like Vrash’s, this was not him.
I’d been distracted by the white Naga but now that I glanced away from him, I noticed that the golden one had leaped into action.
He was crawling all over the dragon like it was nothing, and now I saw that he was checking buckles and clasps, black leather straps that harnessed the beast. Buzz winged back my way after a last cuddle with that big dragon snout, and then he was on my shoulder, cuddling with me.
“Are you alright?” the blonde woman asked as she charged through the gate, her big belly leading the way.
An azure-scaled male was hot on her heels, his arm flung protectively around her shoulders as he surveyed the woods around the abandoned camp with sharp eyes.
The woman reached me first and with zero reservations pulled me into a big hug. “You must be so scared!”
“Never mind that!” I said, disentangling myself from her tight grip to look at the dragon and his harness again.
If we flew, we could make it. Was that why the golden Naga was checking his straps?
To prepare for flight? I really, really hoped so.
“Zeidon could be dying right now, please! He needs help. He got crushed beneath a metal door, I think he’s bleeding internally. ”
People crowded around me, several of them human women, more of them than I could have hoped to find.
Voices asked questions, demanded answers, but it was the blue guy, who was holding the heavily pregnant lady by her shoulders, that seemed to take charge.
Orders were shouted, words were exchanged with that white male and a silvery blue one, and then those two were climbing onto the dragon with bags of things that had rapidly been brought outside.
I thought they were going to fly off without me but the blonde shrugged out of her mate’s grasp and started to tug me toward the gate.
“I’m Vera. We’ll talk later. You must be Farah!
Ses is big, but he’ll take you to where your mate is in the blink of an eye.
Artek and Corin are amazing healers, they will save him. It’ll be alright.”
If she thought I was scared to climb onto that big dragon’s back, she was sorely mistaken.
Nothing was going to stop me from flying back to Zeidon; I could worry about how dangerous a dragon was later.
They seemed to trust it; that was good enough for me.
Heck, Buzz liked him; that was the best vote of confidence a dragon could get.
But nonetheless, I appreciated her kind words, her attempt to reassure me.
It was her mate, who must be this Zathar, the leader, that lifted me up to pass me to the three males now clinging to the beast’s back.
Old me would have been pretty uncomfortable to be touched and manhandled like that by complete strangers, let alone aliens that looked part snake.
The Farah of today couldn’t give a darn, whatever it took to save Zeidon, and this was definitely faster than making the climb myself.
The pale blue one sat close behind me and was working to secure some kind of belt around my middle.
The golden one was at the front, right at the base of the dragon’s thick neck, and he made a clacking noise before I was even secured.
The dragon leaped into the air with the powerful beating of his wings and I nearly toppled over, my hands slipping from the spike I was wedged against. I did not even squeak or yell.
It was scary, sure, but I was glad that they were making such haste.