Chapter 14
Griselda’s scream surged ice through Thrasik’s veins. He lifted his head, frantically sniffing the air as a dreadful scent wafted toward him. A scent of ichor and bile.
Grunting in frustration, he wiped his stained hands back and forth in the grass. He’d have to deal with his own shame another time. And try to get over himself considering how hard he felt for her, despite the reasons and situation.
He charged through the grass back toward where he left her.
The putrid scent made him go blind briefly.
It was underlying. Something that most others wouldn’t be able to pickup on unless they had the olfactory senses made for it.
Hissing, he entered the clearing. The sight before him made his lips snarl.
Two disfigured beasts stood before him. Disgusting, horrendous, vile beasts. Ones he’d scented and had avoided months prior. A mated pair. An unfortunate pair that became tainted by the very plague that was suffocating the lands.
The Strangle? Is that what she—
“Griselda!” The sound of her name ripped through his throat with raw fear.
His amber eyes snapped to her limp body hanging from the maw of one of the gryphons. The muscles in his body reacted before he could think. Suddenly, he went from observing to slamming his entire being against the monstrous figure clinging to his woman.
Wrapping his tail around the belly of the beast, he squeezed with all his might. The scales along his hide puffed and shuddered. His spines stood on end, shaking like a beast possessed. Each tighter squeeze resulted in the horrid scent permeating his sense.
The beast dropped Griselda with a twisted squeal. It writhed and hit the ground, attempting to rotate and wrap its front claws around any part of his body.
Thrasik was just barely big enough to do damage to the creature, but that didn’t stop his instinct from kicking in.
His maw opened wide, hood flaring, as an envenomed hiss spat from his lips into the face of the beast. Acidic sizzles burned through the air.
Wild shrieks tore from the beast. A deep growl bellowed from his core as he placed both hands around its throat and roared into its face.
They would regret hurting her, even if its the last thing he did.
A disfigured beak tried to snap at his face from the other side. Snarling, he released the beast writhing in pain and launched himself at the other one. This one was larger, sturdier, and didn’t seem to have been exposed to as much of the plague.
A gnawing fear trickled in the back of his mind over worry regarding their own exposure.
Griselda’s limp body was too close to their tussle for comfort.
Thrasik rounded onto the back of the beast and wrapped his thick arms around its neck, tugging the direction opposite of where she laid.
His eyes were wild. Tonguing his fangs, an inkling of hope dissipated as he realized he’d used all his venom on the other beast.
He tightened his arms, hoping to knock the gryphon out long enough to catch a breath.
As if it read his mind, the gryphon buckled to its knees.
Its shambling body shifted with a sickening huff.
The fiery eyes rolled back, trying to catch a glimpse of Thrasik before he shoved its head forward.
He didn’t want to witness the disease in its face.
His stomach was already sickened enough.
In just a few more breaths, the beast slumped to the ground. Thrasik uncurled himself just in time to not get caught under its oozing body.
Air burned his lungs as he gasped for a full breath. Shoving himself off the gryphon, he crawled over to Griselda, launching clods of dirt up as he dragged his body. Her eyes were half hooded as though she was stuck in some limbo.
Grabbing her shoulders, Thrasik gently shook her. “Griselda? Griselda, please. I need you to wake up.”
A coughing breath shook through her. He noted the vile ooze around the waist of her dress. She could get mad at him later, but in the moment he shoved his scaled hand under the hem and rushed to her waist. A harsh swallow ran down his throat as he shoved away how lewd the action could be perceived.
Rubbing his fingertips just under the oozed stain, a sigh snorted through his nose when nothing but her intact warm flesh pushed back.
He withdrew his hand and started to lift their bodies together so he could try to get them away from the beasts.
Griselda stirred in his arms, grabbing his biceps and pushing herself slightly away.
Glancing down at her, confusion invaded his mind.
Her eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them, those white lashes haloing such a vivid green that entranced him.
They weren’t staring at him, though. Her lips parted just in time for him to hear the first half of his name before she was dropping from his arms.
He reached out for her, not realizing in time he was being dragged back by his tail. A weight slammed into his back and forced him to the ground. All air knocked from his lungs as a yelp huffed from him. Just as he tried to raise himself, he was yanked back.
Again.
And again.
The vision of the world around him began to fuzz as his head repeatedly bounced off the grassy terrain. It all happened so fast he could barely comprehend who had him, let alone how he ended up in the losing situation.
Gasping for air between bashes, he frantically thrashed his tail around in attempt to land around whatever could be on top of him. His only assumption was somehow one of the gryphons came to quicker than he’d hope.
The end of his tail suddenly made contact with a leg and he quickly coiled around it, wrapping his entire being as tight as he could allow in the moment. Anyone witnessing from the outside would have compared him to a thrashing eel with how frantic and violent he threw himself around.
He was determined to get the upper hand and survive. A kernel in his mind no longer cared about anything but himself.
He had to survive.
He had to win.
Nothing else mattered.
His vision went red as a clawed foot reached around his throat and squeezed.
The claws dug in harder than he’d ever experienced.
No fight with other nagas, even in bouts of civil disputes, ever managed to dig through the scales on his neck.
Each point somehow dug directly under his scales and seared pain up the back of his skull.
Using the utmost last of his strength, Thrasik boosted himself up high enough to turn and wrap his jaws around the throat of the beast that held him.
A putrid liquid blasted into his gums as he dug his fangs in deep, wiggling his head to lock them in place.
He must have hit an unfortunate artery. Fully determined to crush the windpipe of the beast that dared to stand back up after facing him and losing, he bit down harder. A shriek cried around his maw.
A disturbing crunch sounded from both of them.
His last ditch effort.
The beast’s claws went limp around his throat.
A vile laugh began to bubble up from him, shoulders shaking as he unwrapped his tail and tried to unlatch his jaw.
Victorious! As a prince should be.
Slithering into his upright position after successfully detaching, he turned to face Griselda. She stood a few feet away, hands clenched to her mouth and gorgeous eyes wide with palpable fear.
Thrasik reached a hand out toward her, palm up to receive her own.
However, as soon as he attempted to move forward he realized something was gravely wrong. His scales puffed. Rapid heartbeats pounded in his throat. A shiver ran down his spine as dark fingers caressed the back of his brain.
The world swirled.
His vision went black.
* * *
Nothing made sense. Not these creatures, not this situation, not their adventure.
One moment she was being thrown around like a weak doll, the next trying to regain her bearings in the middle of his arms. On top of that, witnessing the decaying beast rip Thrasik away from her and proceed to damn near kill him had the worst emotions running through her.
Griselda watched in blatant horror as Thrasik held a hand out to her.
A disturbing liquid spilled from his mouth, dripping down his throat and broad chest as it mixed with his own blood. He had a stupidly happy grin on his face. Then, the next he was hurtling toward the ground in a limp pile of obsidian scales.
Gasping, she rushed, diving to try and catch his poor head before it became even more concussed.
Griselda wrapped her arms around Thrasik’s angular face, rubbing his spines away and carefully poking around his maw.
His gums and tongue had paled vastly. She lifted his thick eyelid, just now noticing the sharp spike on his eyebrow.
His once vivid amber eyes were now a straw yellow and didn’t look right.
His pupil was blasted wide and didn’t retract at the sudden light.
She moved a hand to his chest and felt for his breathing, admiring the large scales that plated down from his throat.
His small gasps were shallow and nowhere near enough to catch a full breath.
The rapid beat of his heart fluttered under her palm. This was all wrong.
A harsh wind blew against them. The scent of petrichor peppered the air. She had to try and get him somewhere safe. Glancing at the slumped gryphons from the corner of her eye, fear still trickled down her spine.
Panic clenched her heart.
He was going to be okay.
He had to be okay.
She had to focus.
Hugging his limp head to her body, dark thoughts raced further through her mind. She should have just allowed him to rush their travel like he wanted. This situation wouldn’t have happened had she just not been so damn stubborn!
No, you’re stronger than that. You can fix this.
Shaking her head, she reached for the satchel he still had wrapped around his torso.
Of which, she was surprised hadn’t been ripped off in the process of everything.
She managed to safely remove it and began digging.
Certainly there was some type of medicine she’d stashed away in here.
Though, she wasn’t even sure what it was she was trying to cure.
There was no way The Strangle could infect this quickly.
Even the fruit bearing plants took weeks to show signs.
Tears began to well over in her eyes and freely stream down her flushed cheeks. Nothing she found would help such a situation. Her heart clenched again. The thought of losing this ridiculous snake man made her feel closer to the edge of the world than she ever had.
How dare he barge into her life just to make such a swift leave?
How dare he make her feel as though she was always connected to him somehow?
How dare he make her feel special!
Without thinking, Griselda slammed her bawled up fists against his chest. A wracking cry spilled from her lungs in sync with the pain that jolted through her wrists.
I don’t want to be alone!
“Please… don’t leave me alone.” Curling up against him, she wrapped her arms around his wounded throat and sobbed.
She didn’t care about the horrid ooze and stench. All she wanted was for him to be okay and come back. To not leave her out in this world by herself.
Her entire life revolved around trying to find a family to call her own.
She didn’t know where she came from nor who her parents were.
Oglen was the closest she had to a father, and even then he was a pretty shitty one.
From the stories she’d been told, the High Priest had dropped her off at the village when she was a baby.
All she’d known was isolation for being different. Pointed ears. Snow white hair. Bright green eyes.
And yet, everything she was made to feel disdain for were things this strange naga adored. Even if she somehow had possession of one of his scales. Such a scale that she was clinging to in this moment. One that she had always rubbed in fashion of a worry stone.
A scale that she held up to the notched mark at the base of his collarbone, watching as it would have fit perfectly into place right before the large plates of his chest formed.
He truly had always been with her in some fashion.
The wind blew stronger into their bodies. A static singing through the air as dark clouds loomed along the horizon.
Griselda stared at the bodies of the beasts around them. Enough waiting. She had to get them somewhere safe. Hesitation built in her. Could she even pull Thrasik with how large he was?
Hooking her arms under his, she tried to yank him a couple feet and failed. The drag of his tail added so much extra weight that there was no way she’d be able to safely pull him anywhere.
She grabbed the hem of her dress and bent to wipe her eyes.
There had to be a solution.
Moving to dig through her bag, all she could find was the thin blanket she’d used the other night. It would have to work somehow.
After multiple attempts to fold, twist, and wrap the blanket around Thrasik in differing ways, she curled back up against him with an exhausted sigh. Her eyes burned and her hands were raw from tugging so much.
She would just have to stay here with him until he either became better… or worse.
As a final effort, she reached over and took a small vial of medicine out of the bag.
One used to cover wounds so they wouldn’t be exposed to the elements.
It was a simple tincture and smelled vaguely of ginger.
Gently pouring some onto her hand, she started rubbing it into his throat.
The punctures in his scales weeped a disturbingly thick liquid.
Delicately wrapping his throat with the blanket, she nosed her face under his jaw and into his spines. Griselda took a deep breath. A pang twisted in her as she noticed he smelled just like blood and oolong from when he first caught her against the boulder.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. At least if it rained, it would wash away all the blood and ichor from the beasts.
At some point, Thrasik’s plated arm wrapped around her. His tail curled over them in a protective circle. Despite the momentary horrors, she enjoyed being this close to him and feeling his heartbeat pulse under her palm.
Memories of their initial interactions flickered behind her eyelids as his pulse began to lull her to sleep. As much as she wanted to explore her feelings for this strange beast, she couldn’t help but worry about where she would go from here if he didn’t heal.
Her heart clenched tight. She couldn’t — no, shouldn’t — think about that right now. Rubbing her face deeper into his spines, she bit back a sob.
The scales beneath her palms sparkled in a way that would have drawn the attention of any had there been a witness around. Griselda was blind to her own body as her mind crumbled in upon itself.
A rumble reverberated from Thrasik before he curled completely into her, tail fully covering her back and sheltering them from the outside world. This was a special cuddle. One that exuded warmth and safety.
A cuddle that Griselda didn’t realize she’d crave from now until time ended.