by Naomi Lucas
My lack of finesse is unbecoming.
I scared her. Because another male hurt her. Because I am a male to be feared
She’s crying.
Again.
My mouth fills with venom.
I tell the robots to take care of her—to not let her leave—as I head outside.
The sun is ascending above the mountains, and a soft pink glow is bleeding into the waning blue night when I leave. An early morning chill breezes across my scales. I hate dawn for this reason. I prefer direct sunlight.
I descend the mountain path with speed.
This is the first day Daisy is in my den. I should be with her, coiled around her. Instead, I am hunting. If I can’t have her, I can at least have my bloodlust.
Only the Python’s head, his spine splayed out, his fangs ripped from his skull, will sate me now.
His head will be the first of many gifts I give my female.
She will see it and worship me. She will know that I will destroy her admirers and her enemies.
Morning vanishes into noon. I know these lands like the pattern of my scales. And without a delicate, scaleless human to protect, I am unhindered. The chill of dawn fades in favor of a hot, summer day. Invigorated, I snatch a rabbit as it flees. It struggles for a moment before I snap its neck and cut my fangs through its fur, stripping it off to devour the meat.
If the Python lives, I’ll need my strength to finish him off. We are hard to kill. We regenerate if we’re not adequately destroyed. It’s annoying.
Fury fills me for leaving him—and the rest of the nagas—alive. I won’t make that mistake again. Perhaps I should have obliterated all of them. If I had, they would not be the nuisances they are now.
Passing through the gorge, I angle in the direction of the lake. I climb up a ledge and scan the treetops, locating the general area I last saw the Python. If he hasn’t slithered away or been eaten by bears, pigs, or worse, he’ll still be in the area.
There are worse things in my forest than animals. Creatures like me that I used to spend a great deal of time hunting so they would not take over my land. When I was a young serpent, there were more monsters than nagas. Now, they are rare.
But if any monsters show up…
I will kill them like I always have.
The sun is lowering when I find the very spot I captured Daisy. Stopping at the shore, my member shoots from my tail, imagining her bare legs.
Hissing, I grab it and stuff it back in, following my old trail. When snake blood fills my nostrils, I pick up speed.
Bursting through the trees, I come upon ground soaked with it, but no male. The Python’s gone. Slamming my tail against the nearest tree, I crack the trunk. In the light, my eyes take in the area.
Picking up a piece of cloth the same color as Daisy’s ruined pants, I grip it in my fist and bring it to my nose, inhaling her scent. I glimpse more shreds of cloth nearby.
He tore her clothes.
He left her practically naked in the cold night. She is scaleless and small!
I roar. This male forced himself upon my female, tore her clothes. I gather up everything I can, making sure nothing of Daisy’s is left behind. Everything of hers, is mine. I will cherish every piece of her. I tie the cloth together, using the shirt to band everything around my arm, as I glare at the bloody spot on the ground.
It is good he did not make her bleed. My breath wheezes through my teeth. I needed to see this.
Eyeing the blood, I notice a trail leading away, in the opposite direction of the lake, and back up toward the mountain slopes. Checking the sun’s position, I realize I won’t make it back to Daisy tonight.
He will pay for that as well.
Once again, I must make a choice… I hiss furiously.
I go after the Python.
Ten
A Head for a Head
Zaku
I follow the trail until I lose it in the darkness.
The Python continues to bleed. His wound is deep. Daisy nicked a vein, and thanks to that I’m able to track his path. By staying low to the ground, his blood is enough to lead me, even in the dark.
My female is fierce and direct. I will remember this. But I am certain I’ll never give her a reason to stab me. That is a mess I wouldn’t like to clean. Though my member is another story entirely. It wants to stab repeatedly.
I groan as it falls out of my tail again, too big to stay within comfortably, and absently tug it as I continue. At least the darkness is good for something. It hides my shame.
The scent of the blood builds, and I lift, narrowing my eyes. I spill my seed and shove my shaft away. There’s too much blood to be distracted. I slow my pace and listen. Chirps of insects sound in my ears but nothing else. I continue on until I realize it’s a different scent that’s now leading me.
It’s not just the Python’s blood in the air anymore… I taste the air. Pig.
Coming across a pig’s corpse soon after, I pause to check it out. Mangled and broken, it’s twisted into two halves. Chunks of flesh have been torn from the main part of the body—and it’s still bleeding. A fresh kill. A recent one. From the way the body has been left behind, the Python caught it up in its tail and choked the life out of it. His clan wasn’t blessed with venom, only strength.
If there’s one pig, there’s more.
Slipping into the shadows, I move on.
I come across several more in the next clearing. The branches are broken; the ground is flattened. There was a struggle here. One of the pigs wheezes, and I smash its head in with my tail. Tearing off its back leg, I don’t let the fresh meat go to waste.
He’s close.
I scan the shadows.
I scent him in the breeze, his sweat, his musk. There’s also dirt and… rot? His scent is strange, like mine, and it churns my stomach.
Good. He’s intact and alive.
I get to make him suffer. He needs to suffer. He’s caused me much strife these last two days, and for that alone, deserves death. For hurting my mate, he will endure tremendous pain during his last moments in this world. Devastating, shameful pain.
Leaving my mate behind has to be worth something. She will forgive me if I bring her back the Python’s head. She will look at it and smile, seeing the torment I caused in his dead eyes. And once her fear has been abated, she will embrace me and take all I have to offer. She will know.
I finish off the pig leg, flicking my tongue through my fingers to lap the blood.
Daisy won’t have any choice but to accept me if I give her the head of the one who hurt her. Hissing, I slink forward. If she fears my kind, I will gift her all their heads.
Another clearing is ahead of me, and the sounds of slurping, cracking, and thumping reach my ears. Something moves, a dark shape amongst the leaves. It’s bowed over another form, a twitching one.
The Python. I lick my fangs, readying for my vengeance.
Blood shoots into the air, and then it’s gone.
I slither forward, careful not to make a sound as I slip my tailtip toward him through the overgrowth. He’s had days to regenerate, his strength may have returned.
I hear an oink to the right of me, and a pig crashes through the trees. I still as the Python jerks back and snarls. Rabid and angry, the pig attacks him head-on. Dumb creature. The Python snags its back leg and yanks the hog into the air. It squeals and writhes. Its leg snaps, tearing from taut tendons.
The Python holds it there for a moment, watching the pig’s misery before he slams it onto the ground and coils his tail around its body. Another crack, a squeal and a crunch, and it’s dead.
The Python returns to his meal.
Feral, savage male.
My fangs drip as I approach, snaking my tail slowly through the moss.
I grab his tail and yank it hard away from him. He startles and reacts, jerking his tail back, but not before I shoot forward and throw my body atop it. My weight is enough to hold it down. He is weak from his wounds.
&nb
sp; Our eyes meet, and his bloody scowl greets me in the moonlight. He undulates to dislodge me, but there’s no strength behind it.
“We meet again,” I say, clawing my fingers into the stab wound on his neck. He screams and rakes at my chest as blood gushes over my claws. His tail thrashes and thumps futilely under me.
I curl my limbs around his, sinking my fingers deeper into him.
“Cobra,” the Python croaks as I obliterate his larynx. He claws at my chest, his nails biting into my scales. Eyes wide, dark slits move from my face to stare up at the night sky as I drape the rest of the way over him, keeping him beneath me.
He does not get to see the sky again. He will see me when his heart stops.
I watch him die. It’s slow and agonizing, twisting my claws under his flesh, mushing his insides, prolonging it as long as I am able. He grabs my hand weakly and tries to pull it out.
“You know your crime,” I say as his gaze hoods.
I wait several more minutes, ensuring his pulse doesn’t start beating again and his body doesn’t try regenerating. When I’m sure he’s dead, I climb off him, tug my hand from his neck, and get to work.
I tear off his head first, twisting it the way he twisted the dead pigs. As I set his head aside, atop a branch in a tree nearby, I listen for more pigs or other predators that may be nearby. This much blood will attract something. The subtle breeze across my scales assures me that the scent is potent in the air, and there are creatures with much better senses than I.
Even after I take care of the Python’s head, my fury is only partially sated. I dig my hand into the stump of his neck again and yank out the Python’s spine. His tail twitches and coils until it’s gone from his body. I lay my prize on the ground next to me. Grabbing it, I roll it around a nearby tree so any naga who comes across it will know that this male broke our one law. Now that females are back within my lands, the old icon will be a good reminder.
None have challenged me and won.
I am undefeated.
When I am done, I turn back to the Python’s mangled body. It is because of him that I am not with Daisy right now, that she cries when I try leading her into a mating coil.
Knowing something will come along and eat the male brings me some comfort. As I think this, my mouth waters.
I never understood, for so many years, why I hungered for the flesh of other nagas and forest snakes over all else. My father had too, and he even shared a tail or two with me when I was young. I knew it was wrong, except my body said otherwise. It wasn’t until I came across an ancient book about Earth’s reptiles that I began to understand why.
There was once a reptile on this planet that resembled me. How? I don’t know, but as a king, I did not like seeing a base creature in my likeness. I vowed to not be anything like these other King Cobras, those that do not have any human in them. It was from that book I learned of our cannibalistic nature.
That book is gone now, cracked and withered into dust after my many read-throughs. There are not enough robots in this world to preserve everything from the past.
I grab the Python under his arms and lean him up against a tree, facing his spine. For a final trophy, I carve out some of his scales, tucking them in Daisy’s ruined clothes on my arm. Afterward, I retrieve his head, just as I hear the snorts of pigs.
They can have their vengeance too.
I am benevolent.
Eleven
Gilded Cage
Daisy
I slip my fingers across black silk, comforted by the feel of it. I’ve been awake for hours but haven’t moved from my spot in the corner. I’m exhausted, my body hurts, I’m hungry, stressed, and sleep threatens to pull me under. I don’t let it because I can’t be so unguarded. Not with an alien male nearby who I don’t know.
Zaku will be able to sneak up on me if I sleep.
He’s not here, I remind myself.
My fingers snag on the silk—silk someone like me shouldn’t be touching—and groan, knowing my exhaustion will catch up with me eventually, and then I’ll truly be vulnerable. I scrub my face with my hands. I’d been trained for situations like these. All women in the military are. It’s not fair, but war isn’t fair. I should’ve been able to compartmentalize. I shiver, and I can’t help it.
Zaku kissed me.
I raise my fingers to touch my lips. It was shocking… like everything else that’s happened.
I reach down and clutch my new clothes—soft clothes—closing my eyes.
Zaku isn’t like the other one.
Hours have gone by and despite my circumstance, I’m warm and sheltered and clean. Wrapping my mind around this has been hard. Maybe… maybe I actually am safe. He didn’t have to help me. He could have hurt me instead, but he has helped me, and I need to remember this.
I open my eyes and I push upright, realizing it’s no longer night. Endless blue skies and a bright, big sun are visible through the window, making the strange room bright and airy and open. I wince.
My gaze cuts to the door. It’s still shut tight.
I glimpse the corners of the room. Stretching, I groan again. My bladder is full, and I’m going to have to get up and relieve it soon.
I eye the other closed doors. The ones I haven’t been inside of yet.
He said one of them is a bathroom.
Standing, I keep my eyes on the main door. There are three doors in total. Two line the walls on either side of the window, and I assume they lead to more rooms with a view. The third door is beside Zaku’s… nest. Though almost in the center of the room, the nest is still closest to the left wall. Between me and the nest, is the third door.
To the right side of the room is the human cage. Or an alien cage. I hope I never find out. There are people out there who like to fuck alien species, even if they’re not compatible—as long as they’re sentient—humans find a way. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.
Alien species have never been compatible with humans. I raise my fingers to my lips.
I haven’t been kissed since I was in the officer’s academy. Boys wanted to kiss me back then, hoping to steal the affection of someone who could help them rise in their careers. I stick out my tongue, remembering them. Once it was clear the military wasn’t my calling—that I was too emotional, that I had no knack for violence—the boys vanished.
That was maybe… ten years ago? I took up piloting. It was a salvation I didn’t know I needed at the time. I didn’t have to interact one-on-one with anyone. And piloting didn’t leave a lot of room for lovers. At the end of a shift in the sky, I was too tired for anything but bed, too worn down by death to want to do anything else except hide under my blanket and pretend the universe was a better place, a different place. One I could be proud of.
Petting my lips, they’re dry now and nothing like Zaku’s warm, full ones. It’s strange being kissed again. It’s been a long time.
I shake my head and walk to the door beside the bed. Testing the handle, it gives easily. Lights turn on when I stand on the threshold.
I gape.
Lucky me. It’s the bathroom, but it’s not like the one upstairs.
Leather brown, warm grey, and cream, one entire wall is a shower unit, with four large square spouts coming off the wall. There’s no door on either side of the unit, making it easy for someone to slip in and out from either direction. Across from the shower is a long mirror with a table and sink beneath it. Upon the table are what could only be soaps, toiletries, and candles. Lots and lots of unused candles. In the back is a seating area with a sleek leather sofa, covered in silk black pillows, with a black glass table before it.
To relax and gaze upon people showering? I tilt my head. Why else would there be a sofa in a bathroom?
Like the bedroom, the bathroom’s huge. I guess it has to be if a male like Zaku uses it. His tail would fill up the whole of this space. It would run up the walls and curl over itself.
I head for the toilet, which is in a mirrored alcove directly t
o my left. Seeing myself pee is something I never thought I’d do.
Whoever—whatever—once lived in this mountain palace was a strange fellow. It makes me curious about the original inhabitants and what their life was like. It’s obviously nothing like mine.
I explore the bathroom for a weapon and find a nail file. Pocketing it, I wash my hands once again in wonder from the endless water. I shoot the shower a longing glance. There’s no way I’m going to risk showering right now. There’s also no bath. I decide I like the bathroom upstairs more. I re-enter the bedroom to find one of the robots.
It picks up the blanket from my makeshift nest in the corner, lasers it, and then positions it nicely on Zaku’s bed.
Heading for the exit, I yank the handle. It doesn’t give.
I yank it harder; the door holds. I search for a lock and find none. I slam my fist against the door, and it barely makes a thud. Trying the handle again, I call out for Zaku. Nothing. I pivot to the robot.
“Open the door,” I say.
It doesn’t respond.
I try again. “House, open the door for me.”
The robot stops, scans me once over, and continues whatever it’s doing.
“Hey, wait—” I follow it, waving my hand “—house, let me out!”
It ignores me.
When it enters the bathroom and begins lasering the toilet, I sigh and go back into the bedroom.
I wander to the window. There’s not a cloud in the sky. I’ve never seen such open, clear skies in all my life. Flying toward Earth, looking down from orbit, most of the landscape was brown, beige, and dead. Though here, in this spot within the mountains, it’s like the Lurkers had never touched it.
I can almost forget the dead wastes. The endless desert of dust and ruins I saw flying down from The Dreadnaut.
The lake is in the distance, a blue glint among the scattered mountains. It seems close, but it took an entire day of travel to get from there to here. That’s a long time for me, considering I’m used to flying everywhere. I search for ships in the skies, exhaust tracks, and end with my gaze in the direction of where I’m certain the facility is in.
