Chapter 18 #2
The smaller parked vessels had tents set up against their sides, some open-sided, others closed.
They were colorful, with their purple hides, often painted with pretty geometric or serpentine designs.
At the center of the parked ships, a large tent had been set up which housed some sort of seating area, complete with benches and a floating viewscreen.
At least a dozen Naga younglings were industriously at work, with their colorful heads bent over their desks.
And they were colorful: pink, purple, yellow, green, and blue.
I saw scales in colors I hadn’t even realized might exist—proof that there were Naga Clans that my friends back at Haven had probably never even heard of.
Their teacher was a Naga with a shimmering black hide, glittering with a sprinkling of gold and green flecks.
He stood in front of the classroom and indicated things on the screen, his back to us.
Ah, no, it was a woman—a Naga female. My breath faltered as I saw her in profile, her sleek breasts hidden beneath a fall of pale pink silk and dozens of glittering gold and silver necklaces.
“I see that Avrish is still teaching,” Corin murmured, a hushed quality to his voice.
His tail planted me more firmly on the ground, and I hurriedly stood up so he could have his appendage back.
Nobody had seen us yet, as if there were no guards about or perimeter alerts, which was surprising given the wilds that surrounded it.
There had been Rakworm sightings; shouldn’t someone be watching for them?
The little classroom of kids and the Naga female weren’t the only Naga out and about.
I saw two white-haired Naga in front of a shuttle with a tent.
They sat on pillows and played a game with stones on a cloth gaming board.
Another group huddled around an outdoor table, all as colorful as their students and decked out in so many different styles of dress.
The ones I was looking for were nowhere to be found, though: the Queen and her daughter, Sazzie. They should be in this camp, unless we’d just missed them. A girl could hope, but I doubted we’d be that lucky; they had to be inside one of the ships.
“I didn’t know there were female Shamans…
” I whispered, a bit scared to be the one to draw attention to us.
Corin kept his voice hushed too, and he still wasn’t moving.
We hovered on the edge of the camp, looking in but not crossing the boundary to enter.
Maybe Corin knew exactly where the perimeter was that would get us noticed; it wouldn’t surprise me.
“They are rare, and often they remain as teachers. Avrish was very kind to me when I was here as a youngling. She’s…
” He hesitated, his silver eyes flicking from the Naga female, who was talking with expansive hand gestures, to me.
“She’s not like a normal Naga female. And don’t comment on her lack of a horn.
” He tapped the ivory horn that jutted from his chin in a sharp point. “She’s sensitive about it.”
It was a soft moan from Reid that spurred us into motion.
We left the shade of the trees and started crossing the short, purple moss that covered the clearing between a larger cargo ship and a small shuttle without an attached tent.
As we walked, Corin softly pointed out things I could see.
“That’s a storage ship. It houses supplies and can only be accessed by those with authorization: the head cook, the elders. ”
He nodded toward the smaller shuttle. “I think that’s Altare’s home. He likes his privacy, so he always parks on the edge of the grounds.” He recognized more of the small ships and spoke of them in wistful tones. Even if he hadn’t stayed here long, it was clear that he’d felt at home in this place.
When we reached the edge of the inner circle, our welcoming committee came from around the side of one of the bigger ships: three Naga males, each a different jewel color but all crowned with hair as white as snow.
I realized that I’d never really seen an old Naga before.
Everyone at Haven was young, in their prime.
Aks was the oldest of us, and he was barely middle-aged, so it didn’t count.
Naga didn’t get wrinkles, so to me, he looked the same as the younger males.
These Naga looked old, though, from their white hair to the diminished sheen of their scales. They weren’t as bulky either, having lost some of their muscle mass, either by lack of training or age. One had milky eyes that made me think he was blind, or maybe he had cataracts.
The blue one wore long, fluttery robes in dark blue that contrasted beautifully with his azure scales—a male once from Thunder Rock, perhaps. The one in the lead was a shimmering white, like Artek, while the third, blind one, was yellow with orange spots.
“Corin, you made good time. Artek informed us you would be visiting,” the blue elder said, spreading his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
He was smiling, and his eyes crinkled at the corners in a familiar way, like he smiled a lot, the way my mom’s eyes would crinkle when she laughed.
Seeing that expression made me feel a bit of worry slide away.
Maybe they weren’t going to revoke Corin’s right to be here when we were done.
“Shaman Chen,” Corin answered. He dipped his head respectfully, the way Naga males did to show submission, by jabbing their sharp horn toward their vulnerable throats.
Not stabbing themselves, but clearly showing that they could.
“Yes, we hitched a ride on a Serqethos dragon. Please, could you look at my friend Reid? It might be conflicting nanobots?” He glanced quickly my way for confirmation, and I felt warm inside to realize that he’d taken my assessment that seriously.
“Of course, we will,” said the orange-and-yellow male with the white eyes.
He sounded affronted at the suggestion that they might not care for a patient, and I saw how that made a smile flash across Corin’s face.
When the Naga spun around and imperiously gestured for us to follow, we fell in behind the three elders as they led us to the ship I’d pegged as a medical vessel.
It was no surprise to discover that I was right.
“Thank you, Shaman Erish,” Corin mumbled at the male’s orange-spotted back.
That made the Shaman flick his yellow tail at Corin in a gesture that read, “Don’t worry about it.
” I thought they’d talk more, say something about how Corin had brought humans to their Sacred Training Grounds, or demand to know who I was.
Their focus seemed to be their new patient, guiding us into the brightly lit and beautifully maintained ship to a med bay decked out in advanced technology that went beyond even what the UAR was capable of.
I gaped and stared—I couldn’t help it. This went far beyond my expectations, and I’d already seen the med bay at Haven, which was already advanced and beautiful, kitted out beyond anything I’d seen aboard the Praetor or other battleships I’d been stationed on.
This was even better. And it was also laid out like the one medical ship I’d been on during my time as a Space Marine.
This was a ship made to serve as a flying hospital at a time of war…
What that meant made my head hurt to think about. What had happened to Serant?
From roaming war machines that the locals called Revenants to what was essentially a doomsday prepper town in a remote mountain, and now the sight of a medical ship meant to service the front lines—something really bad had happened, but what?
Was the calamity that had struck this planet what had caused it to be a shipwreck magnet, or had that always been a trait of this planet?
We stepped into a brightly lit med bay after a few turns through silver corridors painted with serpentine, twisting lines.
Inside, several more Naga waited, including a distinctly feminine shape lying on one of the nest-shaped medical cots.
A medical arm hovered over her chest as it worked. Ah fuck, was that the Queen?