Chapter 2
Mox
I sniffed in annoyance as I made my way through the wetlands. This stretch of our territory had been taken over recently by a couple of Rakworms and they had driven off any of the bigger prey. That meant that the hunting here was both much more dangerous than usual and had become slim pickings.
As far as I knew, we’d decided as hunters not to hunt this section until the Rakworms had moved on.
It was not an issue as our territories were vast and to avoid overhunting we often left sections untouched.
Except, the queen herself had demanded I hunt this section exclusively and by myself today.
So, not only was I in dangerous territory, for little to no gain, but I was also without backup from one of my brothers.
Somehow, I’d pissed her off, and royally, or I wouldn’t be sent on such a fool’s errand. Well, I’d show her, I was Copper Tooth Clan’s best hunter. Some Rakworms wouldn’t get me, and I’d come back with some good hunting, even if it took me all day.
I made my way through the tall reeds, my direction steadily towards the towering peaks of the mountains.
That was Bitter Storm Clan territory in the far distance, they were our enemies, much like they were enemies to any of the other tribes on Serant.
Getting near their territory meant risking an obsidian spear blade in my back, but for this hunt, I wouldn’t need to get that close.
Something was different about the mountains today, a great plume of smoke wafting from its flank.
I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it wouldn’t surprise me if another skyship had come crashing down during the early morning hours.
Skyships were rare, but we saw them fall often enough to know how to scavenge their wrecks for anything useful.
Like the red-light blade I had hanging from my belt, or the metal box our Shaman used to tell us which new foods were safe to eat.
My scales itched with awareness, so I adjusted my grip on my spear.
I had never failed to trust my instincts and they had never led me wrong.
I dipped my body into a low crawl, hiding completely between the tall purple reeds.
My scales blended perfectly against the deep purple and lighter violet of the plant life around me.
Years of training made my approach silent, my nerves steady.
Then a scream rent the air, high pitched, and filled with panic.
It was not a sound I’d ever heard before, not the kind of sound any of the prey animals made.
The roaring noise that followed was deep; rumbling in from beyond my range of hearing.
It pulled forth that atavistic, primal response, urging me to flee.
I was better than that though, I wasn’t going to let a Rakworm scare me, and if it was distracted with some kind of prey, this was the perfect time to strike.
Pinpointing its location with my advanced sense of smell and my well-developed hearing only took a moment, and a flick of my split tongue to test the air.
I was off like a shot, sliding my long body through the channels that zigzagged between the reeds.
My approach was not as quiet as I would be when I hunted prey, but this predator was thoroughly distracted when I reached it.
The Rakworm was a long, scaled snake easily twice my size. Its maw was gaping open wide to display the long fangs it had at the top and bottom, each fang was as long as my arm. They’d make a good prize to return home with, Rakworm teeth made for excellent spear blades or knives.
This particular worm was rearing up, leaning threateningly over its prey, which had collapsed in front of it.
The rattle at the tip of its tail was shaking with its death rattle.
The large, lidless red eyes were completely focused in front of it, on the pale shape sprawled into the shallow water.
It was so focused, and so used to being an apex predator, that it never noticed my approach.
I coiled my body in a deadly strike, my spear slamming home through the back of the Rakworm’s thick skull.
The momentum pushed the beast over, toppling it down into the muck half on top and half next to its prey.
I whooped in victory, assuming that I’d just caught two in one strike.
Now I really had something to bring home.
Maybe the queen had sent me, her best hunter, for this very reason.
Maybe I hadn’t angered her, maybe this was because she had faith in my skills.
Then I realized just what an odd thing the Rakworm had pinned into the mud.
Scaleless, it had pale pink skin and a slender delicate body.
It was tiny, but shaped much like a Naga female from the waist up, except this female had two legs pinned beneath the Rakworm.
She was also curiously voluptuous, her teats had to be engorged because she was feeding a youngling though there was no sign of one.
My eyes raked over her face, taking in its round shape, the soft cheeks, and the long, wet hair that clung to her head and down against her shoulders.
It was a female, but it was nothing like a Naga female.
Yet, somehow my body responded, my cock swelling in my pouch until it pressed painfully against the slit, eager to extrude. What was wrong with me?
She stared at me with large, velvety brown eyes.
They were huge in her face and round, with rounded pupils.
I found them oddly appealing, they called to me, making me feel like I ought to protect her, give her things.
Oh, was that her defense mechanism? If so, it clearly hadn’t worked on the Rakworm.
“Easy there,” I said, casting a look around to make sure we were alone before I slid my spear free from the head of the Rakworm.
She made a pained, squeaking sound but didn’t move, staring at me with those huge eyes.
I needed her to stay put and not make another of those awful screaming sounds.
It was going to draw more Rakworms to our position.
I was pretty confident I could come out on top against another one, but if we attracted two?
I wouldn’t have the element of surprise on my side.
“I’ll help you alright? But you need to stay quiet,” I said to the female with the deep brown eyes.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do now, this female resembled a Naga female far too much for it to be the kind of prey I wanted to eat.
Immediately my brain leaped to other ways of eating the female and I was a little horrified at the thought.
Seriously, what was wrong with me? Why was I having these kinds of thoughts about a female of a completely different species?
With my spear freed, I cleaned it up with practiced, efficient moves, and tucked it back into its loop on my weapon harness. Rakworms were inedible, but their fangs and certain portions of scales were very useful. So I pulled free my red-light knife and made quick work of liberating those parts.
I didn’t like how frightened the female remained, and how she kept looking at me with those huge brown eyes. I was starting to feel bad about leaving her pinned beneath the Rakworm, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t just run off.
I should have known this strange creature wasn’t going to be amendable to that particular plan.
Just as I cut free the last section of tough, hard scales from the back of the Rakworm, there was a wet squelching sound.
I looked up just in time to see the small female stagger to her feet.
Her legs were covered in muck, all the way up to her waist, and only one foot had managed to retain a covering of some kind.
She gave me a look that was less sad, wide brown-eyed, and more angry defiance.
She spun on her long slender legs and raced off into the wetlands with no sense of self-preservation.
I hissed in annoyance, was I really going to go after her?
We couldn’t eat her, what was the point?
My cock disagreed, it definitely thought I should chase her.
Disgusted with myself, I made sure I had all my things and wasn’t leaving any valuable parts on the Rakworm behind.
On impulse, I pushed over the Rakworm corpse and dug out the strange foot-wrapping the odd little female had left behind.
I splashed it through some clear water to get rid of the muck before tying it to my bag.
She was on two legs, she couldn’t have gotten far in this terrain. It wouldn’t take long to find her.