Chapter 10 #2
“Stop! You can’t leave!” he yelled, “Zathar is escaping with the prisoners!” That was going to draw them to us in a heartbeat, we had to be over the wall before they reached us.
I spun for Reid, intending to pick them both up in one go.
Corin’s tail had just coiled down the wall, the pilot already cradled in it.
Reid turned worried eyes to me but then he charged for the wall himself, leaping up and climbing the palisade.
I was thoroughly impressed, the male had skills if he could climb that without claws.
Corin was already down on the other side by the time I got back onto the wall, using my backpack as a shield to fend off at least three spears thrown our way. They were not playing around, which meant the group of hunters chasing after us had been instructed by my mother to aim to kill the humans.
I didn’t worry about Reid this time, certain he’d make his own way down.
Eye contact was enough with Corin to convey the plan and I picked up Vera and threw her down at him, certain he’d catch her.
She screamed as she plummeted, then glared furiously at me once her feet were safely on the ground.
I didn’t wait, just grabbed Cosima, and repeated the same thing.
The next spear thrown was aimed my way, landing in my shoulder when I was too slow to turn.
Hissing in pain, I threw myself over the palisade, slowing my descent with one set of claws as I raked them through the rough bark on the outside of the wall.
They would be up on that palisade behind us in seconds, we had to race for cover or we’d be dead.
Yanking the spear from my shoulder with no patience, I already had Vera up over my other shoulder. Then I caught a screaming Cosima and started racing for the woods up ahead. Corin and Reid were right behind me carrying the pilot. We were going to make it, the woods weren’t far.
Once I reached the treeline I zigzagged behind them, not bothering to hide my trail or to be quiet.
The shouts of my former Clansmen made it clear they were following us and we only had a small head start.
My burdens were slowing me down a little but I had some tricks that were going to help us get out of here.
Hitting the stream, Corin and I swerved into it, racing against the gentle water, Reid cursing behind us as he followed our lead.
“Zathar! Damn it, you are bleeding!” my mate said near my ear where she hung over my shoulder.
I was, but the wound wasn’t deep, and currently most of Cosima’s weight was on it which stemmed the flow.
The female that leaked from her eyes so much was quiet again, just panting in fear.
Like Vera, she could see behind us, see how close the hunters were on our tail.
“It’s nothing. Can you still see them?” If they could, we’d have to make sure they lost sight of us in the warren of trees up ahead, it was a thick overgrowth that limited movement and sight.
It would slow us down but we’d make sure to make some strange twists and turns to confuse and misdirect, and then we’d head for the Ancestor Caves and make our escape.
“Yes, but they seem to be slowing down. I think that Naga that came to the caves first is in the lead…” Vera told me and I drew in a relieved breath. Khawla was the best scout and tracker there was, but I had the sense that he wouldn’t actually want to hurt the humans or me. He’d let us escape.
The thicket loomed to our left and Corin and I dashed inside it.
Now it was just a matter of keeping track of our own location and where we actually wanted to go, without losing sight of one another.
Corin and I had done this a million times, a game we loved to play as younglings.
It came naturally to us to race through the dense growth.
But our scales were tough, we weren’t bothered by the slap and brush of the branches that we passed.
That wasn’t the case for Vera or Cosima.
“Quiet, Cosima! We need to shake them and hide,” my mate urged the other female when she yelped in pain.
Doubling down on my speed, my breathing rapid from the exertion, Corin and I flew through the thicket.
I was once again impressed with how Reid kept up, his legs much longer than my mate’s as he pelted across the forest floor without fear.
His breathing the loudest noise, sounding like an angry Vakarsa bull ready to charge.
Breaking free from the trees, the mountains were to our left and we turned in that direction.
Slowing down our pace we made sure to cover our tracks and make our passage quieter.
“I think we’re in the clear,” Vera whispered.
I thought so too, but none of us spoke as we made our way back to our temporary hideout.
After we’d crossed a few miles I paused to let the females down so they could walk, and Corin briefly lifted his healing device to my wound to patch me up.
Vera hovered at my side the entire time he worked, and then she held my hand as we resumed our trek.
I felt elated, even if I was tired and sore.
We’d escaped, my mate was unharmed, and she was holding my hand like she didn’t want to be separated.
I was really starting to believe that we’d made it when the trees started to open up and the Ancestor’s cave loomed in the distance. Then I spotted the female Naga and the handful of males with her and my heart sank; Astrexa.