Chapter 26 Wild Berries
TWENTY-SIX
WILD BERRIES
Julia
Nestled in the large arms of someone I can’t quite remember, I’m aware that I’m being carried but not of much else.
I only know that shadows and shapes are passing me by and I feel like I’m higher than the sky.
My world tumbles in and out, and as the minutes slink onward they weave in with the hours, muddying my sense of time.
Gradually my awareness extends to the terrible pain in my mouth and throat, to the burning sensation in the back of my nose and to the tips of my limbs where a prickling has taken over the numbness. My head lolls to the side and I try to open my eyes only to wince.
“Do not try to move. We are almost there.”
Almost there?
Almost where?
I don’t recognize the voice, just that I’ve heard it before. Peeking my eyes open, my sight blurs with tears, mixing with the shifting darkness all around. I quickly shut them again, losing myself briefly, feeling like I’m spinning away.
I wake up again when I’m suddenly submerged in cold water. Though I thrash wildly, two strong arms hold me tight as they push me further under. I open my mouth to scream and end up sucking it down too.
Abruptly pulled out, I sputter and cough, shouting out a curse as I struggle against the large body keeping me captive. “Calm down. It issss over.”
That voice again.
The Boa!
Feeling the water slosh across my skin, I peel my eyelids open and look around frantically, finding it’s very much nighttime and I’m still in motion. Water extends to either side of me. I must be in the river. The Boa is kidnapping me!
“Let me go!” I shout and immediately flinch, regretting the words as my throat erupts with fire. Clutching the front of my neck with one hand while pushing at the Boa with the other, I try screaming again anyway.
He dunks me under the surface with a growl.
When I come back up, it’s with an angry gasp. I reach for my rifle but of course it’s gone. I fling my fists at the Boa’s chest and push at him harder. “Release me!”
He barely reacts. Instead he shifts me in his hold and throws me over his shoulder. Suddenly dangling upside down, I pound at his backside with my fists while kicking my feet. “Let me go!”
“Enough, female, you will not escape.”
“You… don’t… know that…” I croak, hitting him harder.
“I am much bigger than you.”
I don’t grace him with a response, instead kicking out my legs until I’m half-unconscious and out of breath. Giving up, I can’t help but begin to agree with him. He is much bigger than me.
But he’s taking me away, farther from the encampment… Farther from Krellix.
Trying not to panic, I peer around me to see where we are. My eyes burn as I squint at the moonlit shapes passing us by, but I can tell we’re still within or at least traveling along the river. I hear its watery flow between my ragged breaths.
The longer I’m upside down, the more light-headed I become, until blackness comes for me once more.
When I wake next, we’re no longer by the river but I can still hear it somewhere nearby.
I force my eyes open, crusty and just as achy as before but clearer, and less filled with tears.
It’s also no longer nighttime. Tensing, I quickly take stock of my body and its other pains, relieved to discover my mouth, throat, nose, and eyes are the only parts of me that are hurt. I haven’t sustained any new injuries.
Blinking back the grit in my eyes, I look around me, my gaze immediately landing on the Boa and his long tail draped on either side of me.
Going still and hoping my wakefulness hasn’t garnered his notice yet, I determine I’m leaning up against a tree within a thicket of large berry bushes. They enclose me from every side.
I return my attention to the Boa. He’s bent low to the ground in front of me, picking the berries and gathering them in the fist of his left hand.
Along his side and towards his back are the bullet wounds I inflicted on him days ago.
They’re red but appear like they’re already in the process of healing.
I’m torn between wanting to attack him and wanting to immediately try escaping, but I do neither. I’m not going to get far with either course of action. My gun is gone. My pack is missing. And my lungs are shot to shit. The moment I take my first deep breath, it’s all going to be over.
So instead I watch him, trying to figure out what I’m going to do—and realizing after a few minutes that I’m not wearing a mask.
My breath hitches and the Boa stiffens, glancing over at me.
Caught, I slowly bring my knees up to my chest and sit upright. I stare at him, knowing, if he wanted to, he could hurt me. Really hurt me. I’m enclosed from every side by unknown forest; I’m trapped with him and I can’t even scream, not without pain.
“I am not going to hurt you,” he says like he’s reading my mind, while mine goes wild with the inevitability that, for now, I’m stuck.
Turning fully to face me, he reaches out and I jerk back, watching him stop just before touching me.
He opens his fingers, unveiling the berries he has clutched in his palm.
“No thanks,” I croak. I shouldn’t be saying no to food but I don’t think I could eat if I tried.
He moves his hand slightly closer. “You should eat.”
I nearly sigh, narrowing my eyes on him instead.
I’ve seen him from afar, obscured by branches and brush, but I’ve never seen him so up close and with so much light before.
It’s souring… how handsome the nagas can be…
because the Boa, despite my wariness of him, is a looker.
And it isn’t just his nice facial features or his soft-looking muscles that make him alluring, it’s his coloring.
I can’t get over it. Like Vagan with his blue and orange, the Boa is just as striking with his pale yellow and cream hues.
I must seem entirely boring in comparison. Scratch that, I probably appear terrible. My hair is tangled and my filthy clothes are stiff around me. I’m in desperate need of an outfit change, conditioner, soap, and a brush.
But the Boa… With his vibrant blue eyes and his yellow patterning making white-ringed designs all up and down his tail, he’s almost mesmerizing to gaze at.
Especially when it all comes together with his softly serpentine facial features and short, tousled blond hair.
He’s packed with muscle but isn’t as toned as most of the other nagas I’ve seen.
There’s a cushiness to him. My gaze trails back to his face and my lips flatten when the amusement in his bright gazes gives away that I’ve been caught staring.
I look away and swallow. He leans back and slowly sets the berries on the ground by my feet.
I shake my head and touch my throat, croaking once more, “I can’t.
” The words are brittle and taste like sour ash.
I cringe and swallow again, wincing once more.
“Water,” I manage. “I need water.” Whether or not I can drink it will have to wait to be seen.
But if he’s willing to feed me and get me water, he can’t be all bad. Right?
Until he breeds you to make babies…
He reaches for me and I recoil, bringing up my hands and knees, but he gathers me in his arms anyway. I thrash against him and push him off. “I can walk! I can… hear the… river. My… legs are fine.”
He hauls me over his shoulder nevertheless and once again I’m beating his backside with my fists. After a ways, he gently drops me at the edge of the river onto a dry patch of grass, pebbles, and moss.
At least I think it’s the river he’s taken me to. The water is wide and deep here, but clearly flowing.
That’s a good thing. If it’s the same one, I can follow it back to the lake and figure out where I am.
First, I have to escape him.
I eye the water wearily, positioning onto my knees when the Boa fully releases me. I crawl through the grassy bank a few feet to the river’s edge and until the water moistens the dirt under me. When I’m close enough, I reach my hands out and submerge them, shifting some high grasses aside as I do.
The Boa positions his long tail in a half-circle around me, blocking off every path to escape.
Bringing my cupped hands to my lips, I try not to pay him any mind as I lean my head back and take my first swallow.
But he watches me all the same. Over the next several minutes, I drink my fill, nearly moaning from the cool water sliding down my raw throat.
I also wash my hands and face and wrangle my hair back, combing my fingers through the knots that have formed. At some point, I lost my hair tie.
Without my mask, I try to take most of my heavier breaths facing away.
When I’m done fixing myself until I feel almost human again, I slowly straighten and peer back at the Boa I’ve only been half ignoring. His eyes collide with mine and he tilts his head in the direction of the berry thicket. “Now it is time for you to eat.”
I don’t think I can but I follow him away from the water all the same.
Back at my spot by the berries, I settle against the tree while the Boa repositions himself to collect more of them. “You sssshould eat,” he warns again, adding more to the pile we previously left behind. “We will be leaving soon and we will not stop again unless it is necessary.”
“Where… are you… taking me?” I ask, my voice still harsh but easier to use after the water.
“To my clan.”
Clan. That means there’s more than just him. I reach for one of the berries and bring it to my mouth.
He stops picking more and turns to watch me.
I inwardly sigh, no longer wholly afraid of him, though being the object of scrutiny is never fun.
I slowly open my lips and plop the berry in my mouth, trying not to cringe from the overly sweet and tart juice hitting my tongue and throat.
It stings. Still, I try not to let on, but when the Boa continues to stare after I pick my second berry, my eyes narrow on him. “What?”
“I wassss not sure you were going to eat. I am glad you are. You are hurt, I can tell from your voice.”
I manage to swallow down the second berry, bringing my knees back up to my chest at the same time. I lean down and rest my chin on them, wishing more than anything I had my rifle. I might not be as afraid of the Boa now that he’s shown concern for me but I still don’t know his intentions.
His face suddenly contorts into one of anger. “You should not have gone down there.”
I huff. Are all the naga males alike? “If it means… getting away from… you, I’d go back down…” Actually… I’m not so certain about that.
What happened down there… The last thing I remember are the explosions and the vats draining and opening. Smoke and chemicals had filled the space and I had run up the stairs. After that, things get a little murky. I must have breathed in too much of the toxic air.
I remember the Boa taking me and then passing out. Recalling the worst of my falls, I rub the undersides of my arms where they’ve been bruised. My knees are likely in rough shape as well.
“I will not hurt you unless you force it on me, female.”
I glare up at him. “I will… most definitely force it upon… you.”
His lips draw back, revealing fangs. “Foolish.”
“What… are you going… to do to me once you… bring me back to your… clan?” I ask.
His eyes roam over me only to drift away like the question makes him uncomfortable. “You will be safe there.”
“That is not what I asked…”
Suddenly he lifts his head and looks back towards the water. Shortly after, I hear the crackling sound of twigs being snapped. Something big is moving through the forest.
I sit upright, my eyes widening with hope. At the same time, he reaches for me.
“No!” I draw my hands up to fend him off but he yanks me into his arms and throws me back over his shoulder.
With me in tow, he takes off with speed through the forest.
I try to scream but all that comes out is a garbled cry. “Krellix!”
If he takes me away from the river, I may never find my way back.