31. Barter and Trade
THIRTY-ONE
BARTER AND TRADE
Lukys
Scarlet light streaks across the earth as I return to the forest, keeping my ears pricked to the movements behind me, listening to the drones follow as I go.
Leaving Elena is not what my instincts tell me to do but my vow forces me.
I vowed I would help search for her sister, and if we must part for a short time to do so, then I will overcome them.
All I have been doing has been denying my instincts…
I am exhausted. Now that she is out here, in the world, and outside my territory while also being aroused and in heat…
I am beyond my restraint.
But I promised…
She promised too. I release a raspy hiss. She will come back. She told me herself. She will not leave her ship behind.
Which means she will return to my territory with me, and… possibly alone.
But that will not happen until she knows whether or not her sister is here.
Slipping into the shadows of the woods, I pick the largest tree to stake out my prey, leaning against its side where I have a clear view of the tent she is in.
On either side of me, humans and their machines appear from the forest. Some haul animal carcasses with them, soldiers and non-soldier alike.
I watch as they drag their game back to the camp, returning to various ships, tents, and bonfires.
I hear a rustling, cracking noise behind me as something large moves through the forest. As it swiftly closes in, I turn toward the sound and brace for whatever is going to appear, not certain what to expect.
A massive, light gray-blue naga breaks through the foliage in front of me. I jerk back, bearing my fangs as his icy blue eyes meet mine. Under both arms hangs a deer, limp and dead.
He stops when he sees me, bearing his own fangs. Massive in his size, and bald, I have never encountered a naga so large in my life.
“What clan are you?” I practically hiss in wary awe. I note the hint of disbelief in my voice. Still, I pull my venom forth, ready to defend myself. If I even can.
“Titanoboa,” the naga rumbles, his tone deep. “Are you going to let me by or do I have to make you?”
I glance over my shoulder at the camp, scanning the area outside the central tent for Elena. When I do not see her, I face the Titanoboa. “I will not stop you.” I pull my tail underneath me tightly. “I have no interest in fighting.”
“Good. I do not care to fight either. Not so close to humans.” The naga hefts both deer under his arms. “It has been a long but fruitful day.” Cracking his neck, he slips closer and to my left. He pauses at the threshold of the forest, next to me. For a moment we both gaze over the encampment.
How life has changed…
The Titanoboa turns toward me and I face him, still unnerved by how large he is. It is rare for me to feel intimidated. He could crush me if he wanted to.
“Are you seeking favor with the humanssss?” He eyes me closely, his gaze narrowing. “Why are you here?”
I debate whether or not I want to answer him, but curious about his deer, I decide I must if I want my own questions answered. “I am here because my bride wishes to be here.”
The naga’s eyes widen and then an expression of understanding veils his face. “Ah. Since I have not seen you before, I assume you just arrived with her? Are you waiting for her now?”
“Yessss.”
He nods. “You trust her alone?”
I understand what he is asking. And for a moment, I dwell on it thinking back on all my recent interactions with Elena. “I believe I do.”
She will return to me.
“What about you?” I narrow my eyes in turn and flick them to the deer. “Why are you here?”
He drops his kills and they flop at his sides.
With a groan, he faces the camp, stretching out his arms. He bends his elbows and arches his back, groaning once more.
“Since you are not just here to seek a mate from within, and are here for your bride, I will share with you that I am also here because of my bride.”
I eye him, almost shocked, wondering how a human woman could be with a naga as large as him.
“She is within the encampment, and you have left her?”
He chuckles. “No, she is not within the encampment. She is within our own camp out here. She has been with me all day as I tracked these deer.” He waves at the corpses beside him. “I have only left her to deliver these to the humans.”
“I am confused.”
The naga runs a hand over his bald head. “Confused? Why?”
I wave my own hand at the camp. “Why would you bring the humans the deer when your bride is with you out here? You would feed them over her?”
“My bride is well fed and with what she desiressss best.” His eyes hood.
“I bring the meat to the humans to gain their entitlements and favor with them. I do that because Sabrina and I wish to build a nest together near this camp. Being in good favor with them is what she says is best. So far, we have gotten what we have needed from them.”
“Which issss?” What could he need from the humans that he cannot provide from the wilderness?
“Tools, medicine, blankets, clothing and makeup for her, and suppliessss. It is not everything my Sabrina wants but it is enough for me. There are several large ships stocked with all sorts of things she often seeks or needs. She is good at bartering.”
“So you provide them meat in exchange for these items?”
“Yessss. The camp has much but it does not have a steady source of food, not for the people outside the barricade. With the meat I bring, they can keep the people fed. In return, they will allow me and my bride to openly trade with those outside the walls.”
Trading. Bartering. These are things I have never thought of before.
Scanning the central tent, several spotlights turn on to fend off the encroaching darkness.
Brightening the walkway areas between the tents and along the pathway to the barricaded encampment farther in, only the field remains encompassed in shadows.
There are no lights past the outer ships.
Soon, smoke trails fill the sky as bonfires are lit.
The Titanoboa picks up his deer, scooping one under each arm.
“Sabrina will be wondering where I am.” He rises on his tail.
“You can gain much by bringing the soldiers food. If you and your bride plan on staying here or near the camp, it is not a bad idea. She can get things she needs that are not easily available otherwise. You will find that I am not the only one who hunts for these humans…” He leaves the shadows and enters the field.
“I may see you again, naga, and if I do, you may call me Darolussss.”
“I am Lukyssss.”
Darolus, meeting several soldiers as he approaches the camp, is escorted inside one of the smaller tents.
Right then, Elena appears in the spotlight. I jerk from where I am waiting and slip into the field. I approach swiftly, despite the shouts of several soldiers. Watching as she looks around, she turns and scans the field in my direction. There is a bag under her arm.
She stiffens when she sees me and I stop.
Emotions war in her eyes.
A soldier yells out to me, trying to steal my attention. I ignore him.
Instead, I coil my tail under me, planning to go to her when she takes a step in my direction. Several soldiers warn her against it, but she continues, hastening her pace as she enters the hilly field. I reach for her as she stumbles to me, offering my hand.
Her eyes wide, she looks at it. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You held it earlier,” I remind her, smelling her arousal even now. “At least give me the bag you are holding and your pack. You will be tired now that it is dark. Did you pack any of your human rationssss? It is too late to hunt for you.”
Darolus suddenly appears behind her. Without stopping, he races past.
Elena, noticing only when he is next to her, startles and jumps into my arms. Gripping her to me, I watch Darolus vanish into the forest.
“What was that?” She grasps onto me tighter. “Another naga?”
“Another naga,” I agree, turning us to the forest ourselves. “You do not need to be afraid of him.” Soon we enter its deepening darkness just like Darolus had. I sniff out his scent and take us in a different direction.
When she stumbles, I pick her up.
“Lukys! Let me go,” Elena gasps, going stiff. After a few paces, she reaches up and grabs my shoulder. “You don’t need to carry me… I can walk.”
“It’s too dark now and dangerous. And I want to carry you. I always want to carry you. I like being close to you, female.”
She goes silent as the lights of the encampment fade behind us.
For a time, I travel aimlessly, needing to get as far away from the others as I can.
Eventually she presses into me, lured by the heat of my body.
As the darkness chills the air, she leans in closer, shifting her bag in her arms. “Lukys…” she whispers. “Lukys… Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe. Somewhere we are entirely alone.”
“Alone…”
Where that place is? I have not found it yet.
I continue until I no longer hear the hum of machines or scent the presence of other humans. Reaching a moonlit grove where the trees are spaced out, I slowly lower Elena’s trembling form and release her. “Here,” I say.
“Here?” She breathes the word, looking around. She lifts her chin to the moonlight. Momentarily awed by her beauty, her silky hair falling just past her shoulders, my tail goes taut. I busy myself by sweeping it outward and flattening the grasses and small plants to make a place for us among them.
“Yessss. Here. We are far from the noises and smells of the others here. Stay, wait, and I will build us a small fire as we settle for the night.”
“I… Okay. A fire would be nice.” Half turning from me, and partially shielding her eyes in shyness, she pulls her arm out of her pack and lowers it to the ground after she drops the second bag she was holding.
With speed, I make the firepit, collecting kindling from around the area I clear.
Snapping one, long, thick branch into several smaller pieces, I build the wood pile higher as she gathers twigs.
She reaches into her pack and pulls out the firestarter.
Afterwards, she shuffles to my side and kneels, turning it on and holding its electric flame under the kindling in her hand.
The twigs sprout with flickers as she gently lays them into the pile.
I add more kindling while the sparks catch and grow.
Even with woodsmoke and sap now scenting the air, I can smell her sweet essence. She has not been unaffected by me…
I lean toward the fire, shifting the wood pieces as she settles beside her pack. When I catch her staring at me, she promptly faces away. Despite how hard she tries, which I wonder if it is as hard as I am trying, she peers back at me.
I slide my tailtip over her leg, curling it around her knee possessively. She tries to move it away, but I hold on to her firmly.
“Lukys.” Her eyes hood as she leans back and straightens her leg. “We have to be… smart…”
I close the distance and press over her, slipping my tail behind and around her.
“Smart? You are aroused,” I growl, digging my fingers into the moss. “I smell it. I have smelled it for dayssss. I have been tempted to take you constantly, restraining myself from doing so. Not anymore.” I bare my fangs as I press her shoulders into the ground. “You are mine.”