by Lucas, Naomi
And for me… I delved into the darkness for Haime. I return to the light mated and… pregnant. So much has changed.
Glancing down at my flat stomach, a tendril of excitement rushes through me.
Please give me a daughter. I would love a son, but I always dreamed of a daughter. I want both—many—if possible, but I never considered having a son until now. There are so few males that it just never occurred to me that I may be lucky enough to have one. Or given the opportunity to have one.
My heart thrums at the prospect. I’m still reeling from Drazak’s announcement that we conceived. I do not doubt him, the other dragon men knew immediately when their mates conceived. I sink my teeth into my lower lip. He would know too.
I’m with child.
If I didn’t already want to get back to the tribe, I want to sprint there now—even in spite of the ever-present gloom for Haime shadowing over my heart.
But something is wrong with my mate, and I can’t shake my worry.
“Drazak,” I say softly, reaching out to take his hand. His fingers tangle with mine.
He stops and tilts his face up. “I smell it.”
I look at him, confused. “Smell what?”
“The ocean.”
He pulls me after him, rushing through the foliage. The run is a relief. Drazak is fast, and the effort distracts me from my concerns. We race, playful as children, and soon, the jungle opens up and long grasses take over the ground. Glimpses of turquoise blue appear between the last of the trees. When his feet strike the sand, his body under the direct rays of the sun, Drazak stops. Panting, I gaze at him. His eyes are wide.
His purple scales twinkle like the rarest jewels.
“Beautiful,” he whispers, glancing at me after a long moment. “Beautiful like you. I forgot it.”
I blush from the compliment. No one has called me beautiful before. “You forgot the ocean?”
“Yes.” He hums. “A body of water envisioned in my mind is nothing compared to the real thing. I forgot its color, its song, its vastness. I remember soaring over it until there was no land in sight.”
I round my arms around his middle and embrace him. Pressing my face to his back, I wrench my eyes closed. His words sadden me.
“What is wrong, Milaye?” he asks.
“We can take our time. We can take all the time you need,” I say.
His arm rounds over mine. “I do not understand?”
“I know there’s something wrong. I can feel it.” I nuzzle his back. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so soon. Not only have you just transformed, but you recently recovered from a sickness I can’t comprehend. You may still be recovering.”
He turns in my hold and catches my eyes. “I still do not understand. You have not pushed me. I am well now. The poison and its effects are gone… Any time I need now is for selfish reasons. This time, any time with you, it is everything to me.”
I lick my lips. “Then why are you unhappy?”
His gaze goes distant, his lips flatten. But it’s fleeting, and the Drazak I know is staring back at me soon after. He drops his stick and cups my cheeks. “Unhappiness is not what plagues me. Nor is it poison.”
“Then what is?”
“I believe… it is change.”
My brow furrows but my confusion doesn’t last long. He continues.
“Change from what I was to what I am now, from what I believed was my fate, to what possibilities exist now. Everything has changed, and those changes have been good, but…”
“But?”
“But I do not want this to change, us to change.”
My chest squeezes. “It won’t—I won’t let it. I like this and what we are.”
“Though you wish to go back to your tribe? Where there are others?”
“The others will not bother us. They will help us, protect us,” I tell him. “That’s what tribes do—what a family does.”
“I do not need help,” he grunts, straightening. “I will protect us.”
“You will.” I smile. “And they will do so as well… each in their own way.” I pull my hand from his grasp, give him back his stick, and step around him towards the ocean. The sun is descending towards the horizon. “They will make our food when all I want to do is to keep you close and in my cot. They will light our hut’s fire so our home is warm when we’re late from hunting. They will lead me through this pregnancy and take care of us when neither of us can bear to part from our baby. They will make sure we have what we need when we cannot provide it for ourselves, when our need is something they are more suited to provide. You will see. This is also a good change.”
He steps up next to me. “And if I do not want any of that? If all I want is you, and our younglings, and nothing else? If I want to take that entire burden and care for us completely?”
“Then we will leave. If this does not suit you, we will find a new home away from them.”
“You are willing to do that for me? You will keep your promise, and follow me? Always?”
“Always, Drazak. I’ll never leave you.”
“Milaye, my huntress, I will never leave you either.”
At the sound of my name on his lips without prompting, I am relieved.
Though sadness still lingers in my heart, I can sense a lightness coming from Drazak now. I do not want to leave my tribe nor the honor they bring me, but I will. For Drazak, I will do so gladly. My thoughts before about my honor and retaining it were selfish. There is honor in many things, and in many choices.
I head in the direction of home.
“But you will give the tribe a try?” I ask and, reaching down to remove my sandals, I squeeze the sand between my toes. “And I mean it, if you’re not ready, we can find a different place until you are.” I can wait for my answers. “What are a few more days when we’ve already lost so many?”
“No. We will go. I will face this head on.”
I glance at him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, little human. The sooner this business is done, the sooner I will get to have you again. This human cock of mine does not want to give me a break,” he grumbles.
I cough. “Be happy you did not find me during the red comet’s heat.”
“Hrrmm.”
We walk in silence for a time, enjoying each other’s company during this quiet moment. The sun sinks toward the ocean on my left, while Drazak flanks my right. Only the sounds of the lapping waves follow us as we travel. Birds fly overhead.
It’s peaceful. Golden dusky twilight paints the land, and the jungle falls deeper and deeper into shadows. I know this terrain, this area. We are close to home. I take it all in, breathing it in slowly, because what’s ahead may not be entirely good.
My tribe probably thinks I’m dead. And Haime?
Are they out searching for me? Us?
And Drazak. I love him.
Smoke rises in the distance, we walk around a rocky bend, and in a few yards, the giant rocks rise from the sand and come into view. It is land that long ago broke from the cliffs that led into the jungle, where Sand’s Hunters now make their home.
“There it is,” I whisper, my belly tightening.
Drazak grunts. “Your tribe is unsafely exposed. Any dragon could come along and rain fire down upon you.”
“Dragon’s never bother us.”
“Except me. What will your people say when they see me?”
I purse my lips. What have I told him about the other dragon men?
I forgot. I didn’t mean to forget.
“About that…”
Figures appear on the beach ahead of us, holding spears, stepping out of the jungle. I recognize them immediately. My two sisters, and… Zaeyr. My belly tightens further. I stop and grab Drazak’s hand. “You’re not the only one,” I say.
“What?” Drazak asks.
One of them spots us and stops. The others turn to face us soon after. For a long minute, all we do is stare at each other.
“Milaye?” Ola, my eldest siste
r shouts. “Milaye! Is that you?”
Drazak tenses beside me.
“It’s me!” I shout back, suddenly dreading facing Zaeyr. He is only soft toward Aida and his children… If Haime didn’t make it…
I just realized he may kill me.
He may kill me. My heart thunders.
My sisters run towards us, and I step forward. They cry out and wrap me in their embrace. I hug them back—too absently—all too aware two alpha males about to clash. Waters! This is all happening faster than I expected. Two ancient predators are about to meet…
My misgivings are founded.
“A dragon dares approach my female!?” I hear Drazak blare. A roar erupts, and the sound of flesh meeting flesh follows soon after. One of my sisters screams, and I jerk myself out of their embrace.
Drazak is on top of Zaeyr, slicing him with his claws.
“Stop!” I shriek.
Zaeyr flips Drazak over, streaks his nails down Drazak’s chest, and bends one of his tails between his hands. There’s a cracking. The sound sends dread down my spine, and I dive between them. “Don’t hurt each other!”
“Milaye, stay back!” Drazak bellows.
I’m shoved away, a hand shunts against my chest, sending me backwards. I don’t know who’s. Limbs, tails, everything is flailing, obstructing my view. Ola catches me and helps me rise.
Zaeyr slams his fist into Drazak’s face—but Drazak jerks his horns forward at the last second. He spears Zaeyr’s hand. A harrowing, deep scream shakes me. My dread skyrockets when blood gushes between them.
“You have to stop! Zaeyr, he’s my mate!”
I want to lunge forward, to step in between again, but my sister holds me back. “Don’t!” she warns. “You’ll get hurt.”
“I don’t care. Drazak, he’s part of my tribe! No!” They’re tearing into each other, not even hearing me. I struggle in Ola’s grip.
Drazak throws Zaeyr onto the sand as the water dragon pulls his gored hand back. Zaeyr cocks his long, sharp white and blue horns forward.
They stop Drazak before he surges, preventing Zaeyr from spearing him with his own horns. An animalistic, horrid sound emanates from both of them as Drazak rises into a crouch, looking for an opening.
“Drazak, stop!” I implore. “Zaeyr isn’t an enemy.”
“He approached you!”
“He is already mated!”
Zaeyr growls. “You are rabid, dragon male.”
Smoke oozes from Drazak’s jewel at the taunt. Zaeyr’s eyes go to it. They narrow, and he bares his teeth.
The light around Drazak vanishes. His form wavers. “A male coming near my female is rabid. I will keep her! You have chosen death, snake.” He snarls and jabs his horns into Zaeyr’s.
Finally, I slip away, tearing out of Ola’s hold and pouncing on Drazak’s back. He tries to knock me off him, but I hold on.
“Milaye!” he growls, shooting to his feet when he realizes I won’t let go willingly. He thrusts us away from Zaeyr’s vicinity. “I will keep you!” he yells. “I will destroy him!” He tries to pull me into his arms, but I bring my legs up, wrapping them around his waist. He will not attack Zaeyr with me on him.
“Listen to me. Listen to me! He doesn’t want me. He has a mate, like you and me. He is human now too, see? We are not dragons. You are not a dragon anymore, Drazak. He is Haime’s father!”
I hear a scream, and Drazak spins around. Aida is running out of the jungle, and to my surprise—my relief—Haime is right behind her. Zaeyr rises and catches Aida in his arms. She lets out a sob that shreds me when she sees Zaeyr’s hand.
Drazak is tense under me, and I squeeze him tighter. He backs up, but I know he’s confused. Still, his form fades in and out of the darkness he continues to create.
“Milaye!” Haime shouts, seeing me. I want to run to her, to catch her in my arms the way Zaeyr caught Aida, to hold her close. But I’m afraid for Drazak.
“Stay back, little one!” I yell as she makes her way to me.
Zaeyr reaches out and pulls Haime into his arms, tucking her between him and Aida. I’m thankful and sad all at once.
Drazak snarls at Zaeyr, and the other dragon male snarls back.
“See, Drazak?” I lower my voice to his ear. “He has a mate, and children. He wants nothing from you or me.”
Drazak remains tense. So very tense.
Everyone is staring at us.
Another dragon male, I get it. They are rare, beautiful, and deadly beyond belief. They are everything to our tribe of females.
Zaeyr’s eyes sharpen on us. “You are right. I want nothing from either you, and especially a strange male of my kind,” he barks.
We have no relationship, but I’ve trained his daughter. Despite predicting it, his rejection stings.
“I told you we found a dragon, Father!” Haime quips, and I treasure the sound of her voice.
“So you did…” Aida inhales, staring at us, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. There’s awe and something else in her gaze… Concern? Uncertainty? Fear? It worries me.
Drazak’s chest rises and falls, his breaths growing rapid. This time, when he tries to tug me into his arms, I drop my legs and let him. It allows me to get between him and my tribemates. That barrier might help him also.
“Drazak, please,” I whisper, cupping his cheeks to bring his face to mine. “No more fighting.”
“You didn’t tell me there were others like me,” he says, his gaze still locked with Zaeyr’s.
“I forgot. I truly forgot.”
Drazak’s eyes finally find mine. “I will not live with another dragon male,” he says.
I can see that now. It was idiotic to hope.
“Nor will I,” Zaeyr mutters. “He has proven he cannot hold his ground. I will not have an unknown alpha in my midst, one so near my offspring. My alliance with Kaos tries me enough.”
Drazak stiffens.
“We won’t stay,” I say, placing my hand on his chest and turning toward the others. “We came for Haime.” I look at my ward and smile sadly. “To make sure she made it out of the cave—”
“You touched him in a cave with my daughter in it?” Zaeyr snaps.
I flinch. “It was a mistake.”
“So, you risked my daughter and yourself. I had hoped that what Haime said wasn’t true.”
“She risked everything for your youngling,” Drazak barks.
“Zaeyr, this is Milaye. She would never risk Haime,” Aida warns, but Zaeyr speaks over her.
“I do not care! You have found your answers. My daughter is safe. Now you will go.”
Aida protests. “Zaeyr! The tribe is her home.”
I step forward. “No, Aida. I will go. This is all my fault.” I glance back at Drazak. “We weren’t going to stay anyway. I just needed to know… know that Haime was safe.” The half-lies come easily, but now that I’ve seen Zaeyr with Drazak, I know this is our best way forward.
But Ola interjects, “How did you get out of the cave? We went to the entrance but it was gone.” Her voice grows heavy. “We’ve been searching for you for days.”
“I—we—Drazak and I were hurt. The cave didn’t fully collapse, and once we recovered, we found another way out,” I tell her.
“Hurt?” Ola asks.
I shake my head, suddenly exhausted. “It’s a long story.”
“Did the boy make it out?” Haime pulls from her father’s grasp.
Aida and Zaeyr turn to their daughter. “What boy?”
“A naga boy.” I’m thankful for the change of subject. For good news, at least for Haime. But in the corner of my eye I see the sun hit the horizon line, a reminder of the coming night. “He made it out.” I manage another smile for her. “We left the cave together.”
Haime smiles back. “Where is he?”
“That’s enough,” Zaeyr orders. “We all have our answers now, and darkness is near. Haime!” He is stern. “Boy or not, it is time to tell the elders the news.”
I turn to Drazak.
“Milaye and—and her dragon will join us,” Aida states.
“They will not!” Zaeyr sneers.
“You are not the leader of us. The elders are. And as future matriarch, I will not turn my tribe’s sister away before nightfall, not when she has no supplies, has recently gone through a traumatic experience, and is hurt!”
“Female,” Zaeyr warns.
“Aida, it’s okay—” I begin.
“Enough! We have much to catch up on.” She scans me and Drazak from head to toe. “And I know you would never harm Haime. We all know how precarious she is. You will speak to the elders and tell us how you found each other.” She waves at us. “And have a cooked meal. A raw meal for you,” she says to Drazak. “When you are both rested, tomorrow we will decide what comes next.” When she is done, she turns to her mate. “She will need her belongings if she chooses to leave. I will not deny her all that is hers. This is Milaye’s home as much as it is ours.”
“Come, Haime, let’s head home,” Ola says and takes Haime’s hand. Aida, my sisters, and Haime start for the tribe. Zaeyr lingers.
I don’t know how I feel anymore. I press my brow to Drazak’s chest. There are claw marks all over it, and some of his glittering scales are broken. I’m pained all over at seeing him hurt.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“We will not live together,” he says. I know he speaks of Zaeyr. “You should have told me.”
“It did not cross my mind until right before. Please believe me.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you want to find a place to camp for the night? There’s a cave nearby that is stocked—”
Zaeyr rumbles. “My mate has opened up the tribe’s borders to both of you tonight—to him.” He snarls again. “You will honor her wishes. It is the least you can do. I sense, Milaye, that you are with child. His, I presume?”
He holds up his wounded hand and begins to lick the blood from it, watching us, waiting for my reply.
Drazak growls.
Ignoring Zaeyr, I continue, “We can stay in the cave tonight, and then I will visit the tribe come morning to collect my things, say my goodbyes.” What Drazak wants is all that matters to me now. Not what Aida or Zaeyr wants. Not even what the elders want.
