Chapter 3 #2
This fight needed to end two minutes ago, and I couldn’t let it get anywhere near her.
With my tail pinned I was limited in my movements and he wasn’t, but that didn’t matter.
I was the superior fighter, and I was extremely motivated.
My blades soon found a home and I’d only caught a small cut on my bicep for the effort.
Heaving with breath, I rose above my downed opponents, grinning victoriously.
Glancing at my mate, I hoped she appreciated what I’d just done.
I hoped she could tell what a good catch I was.
She was still standing, her hands clasped over her mouth, her pretty eyes huge in her face.
The first Naga was lying dead at her feet and I really didn’t like how close that one had gotten to her.
Corin was close behind her, his arms full of the bleeding, unconscious female.
But he was holding his crossbow one-handed as if he had intended to come to my aid if I needed it.
“Very stuck,” I told him wryly, while I gazed back at my half-buried tail.
I was not as much in a rush now as before, because the rock slide had accomplished two things.
Separating us from Iave and the two females, but also blocking Bitter Storm from reaching us.
“I can see that,” he confirmed. He didn’t move to put down his burden, just watched the rocks piled on my tail with a smile flirting at the edges of his mouth. I knew Corin had a wicked sense of humor, and normally I enjoyed it, but this wasn’t the time for that.
It was the human male that brushed past him, carefully skirting the dead Naga and started to dig me out.
Up close, I realized he wasn’t as small as I first thought, his chest probably rivaled my own, and his shoulders were just as wide.
He was strong too, seeming to have no trouble shifting the big rocks pinning me.
He talked as he worked, his brown eyes flitting to me several times.
He only briefly flinched when I curled around so I could help dig myself out, my blades hissing as I sheathed them on my back. I couldn’t understand what he was saying in his low bass. It still sounded musical and song-like to my ears, even spoken in those much lower tones.
Reaching out a hand, I laid my fingers on my mate’s shoulders, gently squeezing her because I just couldn’t resist how soft she was. “Translate, please,” I asked her, jerking my head toward the crouching male.
“He’s saying he’s glad you’re on our side, and he’s wondering if the others are okay,” she promptly responded, “His name is Reid.” I didn’t care what the male was called one way or another but I was grateful that he was digging me out.
Between the two of us the job was done much more quickly and I knew that we needed to leave this place sooner rather than later.
The rock slide was only going to delay a determined Bitter Storm warrior for so long.
I didn’t want to contemplate the fact that they might be more focused on chasing after Iave and his two refugees.
Iave was a very resourceful warrior, and he was a huge male.
Having always towered over all the others; he was very adept at using his giant size to his advantage. I had to have faith in his survival.
I couldn’t keep holding my mate while I dug myself out and I hated that I couldn’t understand what she was saying to the others as I worked.
Was she saying something good or bad? Was she expressing fear over the Bitter Storm warriors?
Her expression when I glanced her way seemed to indicate she wasn’t worried, but the sight of the blood drying on her temple made my scales rattle with unease.
The male huffed out a short laugh, his brown eyes glittering with amusement.
It was shocking how familiar their faces were, despite their lack of scales, chin horns, or even a functional nictitating membrane.
I ignored him, and the fact that he seemed to find my interest in my mate funny.
He was tailless, I could take him if he decided he wanted to make a move on her; I wasn’t threatened.
With a final heave, the two of us rolled a rather large block off my poor tail and I hissed in relief as blood flow was restored and nerves unpinched.
Everything started tingling but I relished the feeling, it meant my tail was undamaged, my tough scales had protected it from real harm, and we’d freed it in time.
I listened carefully for the sound of the Bitter Storm warriors on the other side of the blocked crevice but I could no longer hear their shouting.
That meant they’d moved on, either to forge a better path in our direction, or they’d refocused and were now chasing Iave exclusively.
I didn’t intend to stick around and find out.
“Let’s go,” I growled, picking up my mate and cradling her carefully in my arms. Moving past Corin cradling the wounded female, and then the weepy one who’d sat down on the narrow sandy path, her arms curled tightly around her body.
From the safety of my arms, my female repeated what I’d said, leaning over to offer a reassuring smile.
“Damn right, let’s get out of here,” the male, Reid concurred, “As soon as you give me a weapon. I can help if those scaly red fuckers show up again.” I tilted my head to look at him over my shoulder, raising myself a little higher on my tail so I was definitely towering over him.
Then I shared a look with Corin, who nodded.
Fine, the male could have a knife, it wasn’t like he could sneak up on me on those big clumsy feet.