With fresh mud caked in my wounds and peeled scales floating downstream, I sank below the surface the water lapping beneath my flared nostrils.
I had buried my egg below the heat of the leaves behind me at the support of one of the wooden pillars for the boardwalk above.
Peeking back to make sure it was still protected and concealed, I slowly waded towards the bird standing at the bank opposite.
I hadn't properly eaten since the giant toads and their spawn. Between now and then had been dribbles of tea, soft drinks, and water.
It had been six days. I hadn't actively hunted anything for myself since I left home. I didn't have to eat filthy pet shop rats anymore. I could have that whole damn bird just standing there.
It certainly was tall. With silvery feathers and bright yellow masking it's eyes, I started to doubt if I was stalking a statue until it moved its head.
The silver feathers parted at the front like a curtain to show white ones that were stained brown. The wings were stark black at the tips, matching the black bottom of the belly, and legs.
It was as if it had walked through tar. Even black feathers pulled up from the back of its head like some crown made of twigs.
It reminded me of Avery. Slender, glamorous, and just a bit too naive to the danger approaching it.....
"Please don't kill her."
Huh?
Frowning as I looked around, I saw no-one else in the water with me. The bird was alone opposite me, still just standing there dumbly.
Was I hearing things? Missing someone in my heat signatures?
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't eat my sister."
It was coming from above. Tilting my head, I saw another bird perched on one of the branches leaning over the water, radiating heat and a steady heartbeat.
It wasn't scared of me. Even Avery had moments when his hitched a little or his breath caught nervously at the sight of me.
This one wasn't the same as the flashy one just a few metres away. It was a drab brown thing with stumpy copper wings. The head was a dark grey compared to the body; slender and far too small.
The only interesting feature was the long wispy white tail feathers it had. Two were thicker than the rest; half white, half copper, with thick golden stripes running horizontally along the length before ending in a black circle at the top.
This one certainly was a hybrid. The average bird didn't have a broken silver beak like this one that disturbingly shifted the plates whenever it talked. This one was also larger in the grey legs and curled bird feet.
"She's dumb, but she doesn't deserve to be eaten" the bird spoke, fluttering.
Well, there went my element of surprise. The tall bird heard the noise and promptly strutted off further into bushland.
Maybe I should eat this one instead?
The bird made a sawing noise, sliding along the branch to lift further from me. The sound of hammers and drills accompanied it, to its own fluttering amusement.
"What exactly are you?" I turned around to follow from below, staying submerged.
I didn't know if it was alone yet. A bigger threat could be watching me and I wouldn't know.
"A lyrebird" it smiled down at me, mimicking a baby crying "and you are a snake."
"So observant" I scoffed.
"We have snakes" it chattered, promptly copying dripping water "four of them. You aren't one of them. You aren't supposed to be here."
It wailed like an alarm, the beak snapping open and closed. It echoed off the trees and had me stepping back in panic.
"Hey, hey!" I hissed to it "I'm only here for the mud! I'll be gone in a few days!"
I wanted to be within my home fields by the time Saah decided to hatch. Anywhere else wouldn't do. I just needed time to get the temperature regulated again and hunt down some prey before the next stretch where it would be scarce.
"Days?" It peered down, jumping onto the boardwalk railing right above where my egg was, sawing again "and you came for mud, not the show?"
Right. They had 'famous' ones here too. The pamphlet was lying right under the leaves beside the cups and Saah. I still hadn't opened it.
The lyrebird fluttered to lower branches in a nearby tree. The tail hung down a few metres, making the drab thing almost remarkable.
Still, it was getting too close to my area. It was making me far too nervous to be so far away now.
Lifting myself from the water that poured from me, I walked towards the bird who quickly kept upwards out of reach. It watched me approach the pole and peel away the blanket of trapped warmth to check on the shell underneath sapping the heat for itself.
I wouldn't huddle around it like I wanted to so I didn't drop the temperature again. Instead, I buried myself beneath the leaves beside my precious egg, keeping eyes lifted to the lyrebird.
The ground was cold and damp, but the leaves radiated. I had settled the egg on a bed of the dead leaves to avoid it freezing in one spot.
The lyrebird promptly cried, fluttering back to the lower branch again.
"You have eggs, like females" it stated "poached, fried, scrambled, runny; Nolan has his with pepper."
The sound of a grinder breaking whole peppers. What else could this bird mimic?
"Who is Nolan?"
Eating eggs with pepper? He sounded like a human. One that ran the entrance, or led the shows?
"He's the volunteer" the lyrebird fluffed up "he lets us into the lunchroom every morning to warm up with food and drinks before the shows. He has a loud voice."
He didn't sound like he'd be a problem then. I felt safer knowing that he wouldn't be climbing down to this level any time soon. He wasn't paid to risk his life for this place.
He hasn't found me when I slept below my layer of leaves last night.
The lyrebird clicked like a switch being flicked. There was a humming that accompanied it. It squeaked, thumping harshly.
Was it really copying the sound of an old heater trying to draw power? And that had to be the sound of a door being propped open. The ones at Paragon leading into the dark hall struggled the same way.
This bird really was something. I wouldn't eat it just yet.
"You said the other one was your sister?" I looked over the water now "you aren't even the same species."
"Mother adopted her when the trucks tipped years ago" the lyrebird fluttered down further so it was comfortably within eyesight "she likes to kick snakes, and sticks that look like snakes. It's Aari's favourite."
The bird pointed its toes and tapped the branch it was on to show me. It didn't look like it would even cause much damage.
Dumb and weak. The flashy bird, Aari was very alluring indeed. It didn't sound like it was native here either. Maybe on the way to a conservation when it became loose?
"There were three, but Ishar ate one, and Laiwin got the other. Sahria and Sev missed out."
Snake names. Laiwin and Sev were not Heshian names. Perhaps Laiwin was Lai, like Luke? Could Sev be Sivessian, like Levi's mother?
Did they speak other languages too? I was intrigued how they communicated if two were possibly isolated in their own dialect.
"Sahria tries to eat me all the time" the lyrebird spoke "but she hasn't yet."
"Unfortunately" I mumbled with a smile to myself.
The lyrebird screeched with a woman's laughter, lowering closer.
"Fuck you" it spoke "I hear you, black snake."
"Tsawilaun" I grumbled back, turning from the bird so I could try and sap in some heat while remaining close to Saah "that's my name."
"Lawn, lawn" it chimed "sar-nip, sar-nip the lawn. Cut the grass."
I tried to remain irritated, but the stupid bird had me biting own a laugh at how silly it sounded.
Was it always like this?
The same sawing and hammering sound came. Now it was bordering irritating.
The clicking of the heater sounded, followed by that squeaky door. Grumbling that it was rolling through the same sounds now while I was trying to rest, I pulled my head up through the leaves to scowl at the branch it at on.
It wasn't there. Looking across, the lyrebird sat further down the walk at where the entrance was. It copied the squeaking door, fluttering when a young man walked out to toss it a chunk of muesli from the cup he held.
His blonde hair was messed under the brown cap he wore. There was a brown shirt too with some sort of logo on a breast. Green pants came down to black shoes that we're resting up on the lower portion of the wooden railing.
"Snip the lawn" the lyrebird chimed, pacing the branch and producing an actually impressive hissing noise "new guy; new snake."
Pointing a wing in my direction, I burrowed back down under the leaves. The guy already saw me though and had the snitch start to flutter back towards me, jumping from branch to branch.
I retreated to beside Saah, flaring. It was still warm, but my movement had shifted some of the leaves around it.
If that guy came down here, I was fully prepared to strike. Nothing was taking my egg from me again or even coming close enough to hurt it.
I heard the boots on the wood thumping closer. The bird's wings cut through the air, creating an odd flipping noise. Branches groaned and I heard a sigh.
The boots stopped directly above me. I made sure all I could see were the multitude of leaves around me as i didn't dare move a muscle.
"You can't be in here" the voice came. The guy was certainly young, but hardened.
I didn't move. A boot stomped on the wood above to make my noise crinkle in irritation.
"It's illegal to dump hybrids in here, so if you've been du...."
I just hissed. I wasn't talking if he didn't know facts. As far as he was concerned, he barely glimpsed my face. I could be anything under here.
"Black snake" the lyrebird chimed, crying "snip the lawn. Snip snip."
Fuck off already.
"So, you're named?" the man breathed; the wood creaking "well, I'd appreciate it if you move along. There a lot of species in here that absolutely cannot be eaten. Why don't you come to the room? Grab some coffee, have somewhere to warm up? If not, I guess I'll just have to call the handler to move you along..."
"That's fucking bullshit!" I snapped up at the wooden barrier, glaring through the leaves at the man smiling down me through the gap "I'm not doing anything wrong!"
I heard the little laugh. The moron had broken my silence through anger.
The lyrebird did its mimicked laugh, clicking like the heater.
"Come to the room then."
"Drop fucking dead" I growled back, retreating again "both of you."
Saah was still safe. It would be safer if I relocated away from the boardwalk. I hated the human being right above me. He could do anything and I would be too slow to react.
"I'll just have to send Sev down, maybe Ishar?" he pondered "perhaps you can join the others, since you are alike. Do you want to group with the other snakes?"
I didn't answer him. Of course not. I was fine by myself. I couldn't trust that the others wouldn't try to kill my baby as well since it wasn't from their circle.
"Speak of the devil..."
The man rose, the wood squeaking again. I heard two sets of footsteps approaching from the right, accompanied by a sandpaper scraping noise. There was more just behind it, pausing every few seconds.
The boots moved aside. The footsteps slowed but didn't stop.
"Good morning, Sahria."
"Morning, Nolan" a smiling voice replied. I poked my head through the leaves to see shining white scales, patched brown, dancing their way over a humanoid body. With every little movement, slithers of black peered through to line the scales.
The segmented scales were her only hybrid feature. She possessed legs, like I did, and two slitted pupils that stared back from dark brown eyes when she glanced.
She wasn't wearing clothing. Unlike wilder counterparts, this woman also had scaled breasts and vagina. I saw it briefly as it flashed over me.
"Heater?" the lyrebird asked Sahria, promptly following her from its branch as it clicked away to annoy her instead.
"Good morning, Laiwin" Nolan nodded to the man just behind her.
"Nolan" he greeted the human briefly.
My heart seized a little when I saw how similar to Levi he looked, from the brown scales and their darker outlines, to the way it also ran down human arms and legs.
He kept himself covered with the same pants I purchased, in black. The top half was bare, showing the shiny new scales that were freshly formed around his shoulders.
"Good morning, Ishar."
"Cold this morning, Nol" the next commented.
It was a male Naga. With a scaled human face and torso, it wasn't as wild as I initially thought from seeing the same brown edged scales as the other man. The tail scraped the wood when it moved the Naga after the other two now entering the building further down. The lyrebird didn't dare to venture inside with them.
The last was also a male Naga. Baring a snake head and less defined torso, it certainly was wilder than the first. Also matching brown scales with the other three, it was the only one who actually stopped.
They must have been related, those three. The woman was their shared mate. If not, it was strange they weren't killing each other for her devotion. My father did that to keep my mother exclusively to himself.
"Sev!" Nolan grinned.
"Noli!" the Naga clapped his hand and pulled him into a hug "what's going on?"
I saw Nolan tilt his head down to me. Sev brushed across the wood to lean out and make eye contact with me.
He didn't harden or grow defensive. The sight of me just made him smile, turning back to the human.
"Oh, I'd leave that alone" he patted his shoulder "that's venomous as shit."
At least someone understood. I smirked at seeing the disappointment on Nolan's face looking between the boards again.
"And so are you" Nolan spoke up when Sev moved past him "can't you go down and move him?"
Sev peered another time, further to my left. I stiffened, raising my hood in warning. It saw the patterns and promptly looked away.
"Hmm, no" the Naga decided "I'm going to grab some of that heat if you want to join?"
"I've got to move it!" Nolan flung a hand to gesture at the wood above me "and I've got a show to run in a few hours! People will be coming through here!"
"Ah, that's a shame" Sev shrugged, moving along "wish I could help..."
"You literally can!" Nolan gasped and stormed after him.
Grinning at how flustered the human was with the nonchalant Naga, I buried back down in satisfaction that the threat was now moving further from me.
We were safe again. With snakes nearby, I wouldn't risk moving and scraping out a pit elsewhere until I could properly see where their grounds were. Through the leaves, everything was smothered in a light orange glow. For now, this warmth would do. I wasn't trespassing on territory at the moment, other then the human's.
"I've got to call the handler" Nolan held his head in his hand, shaking it "oh my God."
Sev glanced at where I was. Suddenly, he looked nervous.
I didn't want to be moved, and Nolan didn't want to call it in.Maybe giving in for a stupid heated room was my only option to keep the peace? It was a much simpler one than trying to fight back like yesterday.
Saah would be unprotected beneath the leaves. I didn't want to leave it alone.
Nolan began to trudge after Sev who waited for him. I remained hidden, fighting the conflicting emotions to remain hidden or follow him.
I could explain my situation to him and have them leave me alone as I recovered. But, in doing that, the lyrebird may return to try and crack my egg for itself. It already said the various ways one could be eaten.
That fucking bird. I could see it in the tree opposite the open door. I could hear it still clicking away and chattering to the snakes inside.
Piling leaves over Saah, I pushed through the ocean after the two still walking overhead. Without bringing attention to myself at my temporary nest, I decided to do it further away to keep it safe.
The leaves were so loud when I kicked through them. Like a continuously breaking wave, there was no stealthy way I could go about this.
"I'll come to your stupid room" I spoke up at the boardwalk when I caught up to both of them.
Sev elbowed Nolan, making him approach the railing and look down at me in surprise at seeing the extent of my damaged body.
"What?"
Of course he hadn't heard me over the leaves. I hadn't really heard myself.
"I'll come to the room" I huffed "if you don't call the guy. I've dealt with enough humans for now."
He thought about it and slowly nodded.
"There's a ladder o..."
"I know" I cut him off "at the edge as soon as you leave the front. I took it to get down here."
He realised the fact and kept walking with Sev while I cut my own path below.
The lyrebird saw me approaching and lit up instantly. It fell to a lower branch, grinning.
"You have legs, black snake" it twittered away "barely a snake at all; scaly person? Muddy, scaly person. Wash, wash."
It did the water dripping noise a few times. Each new one was more grating than the last.
"Shut the fuck up!" I jabbed a finger towards the bird as I moved past it for the edge of the brick building, gripping the old wooden planks there that served as a ladder "just... go annoy someone else before I do us all a favour."
"Better listen, Roo Roo" Sev spoke with amusement in his voice while I started to climb "why don't you go and find where Aari is?"
"She's across the creek" it pointed a wing.
"Yes, but where? I don't see her."
I reached the top and saw the Lyrebird immediately take flight on the hunt for the other one. The sound of laughter trailer behind it.
"Obnoxious thing" I commented.
"Roo isn't too bad" Sev replied "she's just a little fixated on her talents."
She? I thought the voice was too gravely to be a female?
"Mm hmm."
"The room is in here" Sev started to lead the way inside, pausing to the left where a door was opened behind the desk.
I saw the woman sitting on top of a table pressed to the wall. She had her legs crossed, one laying over the other. The man leant beside her. I couldn't see the other Naga from here but could sense its signature was leaning against the brick wall opposite them.
The whole room was starting to glow from the box sitting on the floor in the middle of the wall.
"Ok" I heard Nolan behind us at the clothing he fixed "looks like we are all set."
Sweeping an arm to the open door, I hesitated when Sahria looked directly at me.
Turning to check on Saah instead, I couldn't see the flow of it from under the leaves.
It should be fine. The bird wasn't near it and no-one else knew we're it was.
"Thank you for joining us" Nolan followed me into the room to instantly close his eyes and then divert them upwards at the sight before him.
"Jesus, Ria" he spoke up nervously "the table is for putting things on, not for you to...."
He flicked his finger wildly while averting his eyes, gesturing for her to move.
"Sorry" she grinned, watching him keep his back turned to her as he poured hot water from the unit at the other side of the table "there's just nowhere else to go."
Chairs were stacked in the corner. There were even some pushed under the table. She was taking pleasure in seeing the human squirm.
Her eyes found me. I chose to remain by the door since the whole room would only leave me in sight of Sahria and her genitals. I set my sights on Nolan instead so I wouldn't have three angry snakes to deal with if I was caught eying their mate.
"This is..." Nolan swirled a finger now to me to answer.
"Tsawilaun."
"Sar; Sahria, Laiwin, Ishar, Sev" he pointed out each one in the room, Sev hanging just outside the room.
"Our names are very similar, Sah" Sahria noted.
I nodded, forcing myself just to look at her eyes.
Her breasts were in my peripherals. The nipples were brown, like the eyes I was trying to remain locked to.
"You've been through the ringer" Ishar commented.
"How come you are here?" Laiwin interrupted the Naga's curiosity abruptly with a glance across the room "these woods belong to us."
"Not the whole woods" Nolan pointed out over the coffee grounds he stirred through.
I lowered my head, trying not to appear too forward.
"I just needed the mud to help patch myself up" I explained "it's better when it's from a clean source. This was the best one on my way home."
"Home?" Sahria leant a little "you're from out there?"
Laiwin looked to the others in disbelief.
"There's still places that aren't concrete and road?"
"Well...." I shrugged "some. Not a lot."
They glanced to each other, interested. It only confused me.
"Are you not from here either?" I looked from one to the other.
"We are" Laiwin pointed to himself and the three others "she's not."
"Travelled" she held up her hand slightly "then settled here."
I eyed Nolan, who noticed my pointed stare.
"Rules changed since then" he explained "there were too many coming in, so we had to make it so no-one could just move in. It was disrupting the wildlife here."
"As long as they don't talk or have names, you can eat them" Sahria smiled to me "Roo and Aari are off the table."
"I've already contemplated it" I joked.
She snickered, nodding.
"Same."
At least someone else felt the same way. I felt a smile rise before I saw Laiwin's hard scowl. Instantly, it dropped.
"Where are you from, Sah?" he folded his arms across his chest.
I checked the walls again, flickering as I grew nervous. Laiwin's heat was burning a little brighter in the middle. People at Paragon usually did that when they wee agitated. His heart remained steady."
"Wheat fields" I kept it simple "my whole family was there, before...."
I didn't want to think about it. That was a memory I didn't want to share with strangers. I didn't even share it with Elgress.
It was too late to take I back now. Everyone was waiting for me to finish my sentence.
"Before what?" Nolan spoke up now.
"I've got to go" I decided, pushing off from the wall and sliding around Sev to march for the open doors and swing myself over the railing for the ladder.
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Being swallowed up by the leaves didn't give me the comfort it should have. It just reminded me of that day and the way the wheat that once blocked out the sky was laying around my hips.
"Sah" Sev called from above "are you going back to the same place?"
He already knew. Even with the leaves concealing my egg, he probably could smell the difference or notice the way the rest of the leaves were piled unusually in one area.
I lowered my head and kept going. Sev didn't follow, retreating back inside.
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I could feel the temperature change now that I had gone from the heated room to back out here.
The leaves didn't burn as bright now under the blanket of sleat created from the coldness. I could feel the slickness when I kicked through them, some gluing to my legs and pants to soak through.
My toes were gunked with cold mud when I brushed off the leaves to see Saah still glowing brightly. The dark edges were creeping back, concerning me as I looked it over.
Tilting my head up, I was now in full shade. Across the water was the same. I could see little rings of light escaping the canopy of leaves, but nothing substantial to keep warm.
Fuck. What was I going to do now?
I had to move. But without tracking down another area, I was exposing my baby to the cold and allowing it to darken more.
I couldn't wrap myself around it, since I was also starting to freeze without the warmth. Panic pricked tears and had me looking wildly for something to help.
How did the other snakes do it? Did they keep a warm-blooded animal between them to draw the heat from?
Were they in a naturally sunny area?
Pacing outwards, I rushed to the nearest ring of light to stand beneath it. There was no warmth here. It was a cruel trick, made to give me hope when there was none.
Returning to the wooden beam, I carved through the leaves to see if the dirt had retained heat. The layer here was completely dark and damp. My hand tested the slimy top, trying to find something my senses could not, but I couldn't lie myself into believing something that wasn't there.
I'd take it to the heated room. Nolan would have to let me stay when he saw Saah. He wouldn't be cruel enough to let it freeze over.
Ok. The room. I had this.
"I'm going to move you somewhere better" I spoke to the shell when I pressed it to my body and lifted it from the leaves still clinging tightly "you'll be warm in no time."
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My arms were black belts across the shell. The leaves patterned irregular shapes around the bottom. The egg was fading fast.
This was the second drastic drop in warmth. What if this killed it? What if it never hatched, like the ones Mama mournfully buried during a cold snap, beside the bodies that curled so.....
Hmm, no. No, don't think about that now. Get to the room.
I heard the familiar creaking of the door from above that had been repeated to me many times already. I didn't even check to see if it was Roo and her noises, I had my sights set on the simmering glow of the building.
Murmered voices grew louder. There was laughter that sliced through my tender heart, prickling more tears.
How could they be so happy when I was struggling?
"Thanks for the gifts, Nolan" Sahria chuckled "I'll make sure to decorate the place with them."
I kept trudging for the side as they talked.
"No, they're for..."
"I know what they are for" she laughed "I'm a snake; I don't need clothes."
Reaching the ladder, I realised I had no way of getting up it with the egg. I paced, whimpering as I tried to find a solution.
"You're also human too" he replied "and humans don't expose their bits to others. I'm only looking out for you."
"Well, thank you" her voice tightened "real sweet."
Scales sawed across wood. Footsteps pattered over the noise.
"Same time tomorrow!" Nolan called "and don't be late for the show!"
"Wouldn't miss it!" Sahria retorted sarcastically.
Rushing from the side of the building, I looked up to see the backs of the snakes as they wandered the boardwalk. There was chatter amongst themselves, laughter rising up again.
I had to get them to help me. Saah was barely glowing and the blazing room was dangling just out of reach.
"H-ey!" I called, hearing how shaken and choked my voice was "HE-Y!"
Laiwin was the first to turn, despite being up the front with Sahria. The two Nagas were next, halting the group.
Nolan leant over to glance in confusion at me. His head turned to the others before dipping back down.
"Help" I whimpered to them, sobbing "h-he-help me."
Sahria saw the egg. Instantly, her smile dropped into something serious.
"Ishar" she spoke.
Immediately, Ishar launched himself from the edge of the boardwalk to grapple the tree opposite. With his human hands tearing into the wood for grip, his snake half curled its way down the trunk so he could fall safely into the leaves.
He powered towards me, digging his hands around mine for the egg.
"N-no" I pulled back, my voice heightening to a squeak "what a-are you d-doing?!"
He was going to steal it! I just wanted his help, not for him to take it away!
"I'm warmer" he dug again, forcing me to release it so he could press the shell to his glowing skin.
"Here" Sev dipped over the edge with his arms open.
Ishar lifted to close the gap. Saah was transfered and Sev charged down the boardwalk.
Where was he taking my baby?!
"Hey!" I panicked, pacing as I tried to find a quicker way up "hey! Do-don't take i-it!"
Sniffling and sobbing, I tried to swipe the tears away that blinded me. My whole frozen body shook, threatening to steal the strength from my burning legs.
"It'll be safe" Ishar spoke as his body curved in the leaves around me "hey, you should have told us you had one."
"I-i-i..." I tried to speak, choking instead.
He understood, tilting his head to the side.
"Can you climb?"
I nodded, trying to see again as I whined.
"Meet us up there."
Pushing through to the side again and almost tripping, my hands felt weaker when they gripped the cold wood.
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As I climbed, the boardwalk shook from the force of Ishar returning to it. I heard the scraping and saw him watching me struggle up those few planks that had been so easy only moments earlier.
I shouldn't have left it. I should have stayed and kept it warm. Now, my baby was probably dead because of me.
Choking again, I gripped my face as my heart tried to carve its way from my chest.
My eyes burned like fire had been poured into them again. My skin was cold and of no comfort to myself. I was struggling to have the energy to worry about my baby.
"I don't want.... it to die" I breathed to Ishar, lip trembling "not like the others."
Nolan moved to let us pass. He simply watched as Ishar kept by my side on the way back to Laiwin and Sharia.
She was holding a small shirt and shorts on her hand. If it wasn't for the agony tearing through me, that would have been funny.
"I don't want it to die" I choked out, whimpering.
"It won't" Sahria soothed "we've got a good spot. It'll be fine. Here, wipe your eyes. You look like you've got a disease."
Taking the shirt she held out to me, I rubbed the soft fabric across my scales that peeled off onto it. Nolan expressed his annoyance with how his gift was being used, but didn't intervene. He chose to close the door and leave us.
"We'll take you to it."
I nodded, blindly following the group now lined up behind me.
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"Have you lost some before?" Sahria asked, stepping back beside me "it's a horrible feeling."
"N-no" I frowned, thinking "ye-s. They w-ern't b-born."
My babies with Elgress were not the ones I was referring to when I said I didn't want them to die.
Sahria was confused. I saw her head lift past mine to the others for some sort of explanation.
"F-family" I tried to explain "my f-family d-d..."
I couldn't finish it. Another whimper choked me up.
Curled bodies in the pit. The way they suffered so horribly, trying to scratch way their own skin, even when it was already bleeding. I had never seen scales dissolve and bubble like that. There were holes....
Squeezing my eyes shut, I wiped again with the shirt I was strangling in my hands.
"I have to go home."
"When the egg is fine" Ishar spoke up "you aren't going to make it anywhere with it like that."
Who knew if I could continue the journey at all? Maybe home really was meant to always be out of reach?
Mama. Papa. I wanted to see them again; comfort me and tell me everything was going to be alright.
"Stay with us" Sahria decided "you need the warmth."
"But, Sahria..." Ishar began to protest before she locked eyes on him.
"He's not part of our group" Laiwin added.
"And you want him to freeze?" Sahria stopped so she could face her mates "we help him. You were in the same position once, Laiwin; remember?"
He grumbled, sighing in annoyance.
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The sound of loud squealing had us lifting our heads. Sahria didn't look fazed by the intruding noise, mainly irritated. She began to lead again. We picked up behind her. I was forced back as Laiwin squeezed to the position behind Sahria now.
"Attention, attention, the doors are open" Nolan's voice boomed through the trees "doors are open."
"Show time" Ishar snorted behind me.
"Like P-Paragon?" I asked.
"The weird sexy circus stuff?" he smiled at my turned head "no. It's more of an information walk-through of the animals and trees. People seem to like it."
Did they have leaflets here for Paragon? How else would he know about it?
"Only because we get to listen to Roo make the same five sounds over and over" Laiwin grumbled "they love it. We hate it."
They all agreed glumly. I felt a smile tremble up.
"Should we send Sev up today?" Laiwin asked Sahria "or Ishar?"
"Ish?" Sahria threw the question back to him.
"Sev got last time, so I'll go" he shrugged back "take one for the team."
"You only want Nolan to say how impressive and strong you are again" Laiwin scoffed, compressing this voice into a horrible imitation "the big Eastern Brown male."
I smiled, wiping my eyes again.
"The same as Levi" I mumbled.
"Who's Levi?" Ishar asked a little too harshly. I blinked back, staying silent.
I really needed to check in on those boys. Had they returned home yet? They would ring me if they were.
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"Here we are" Sahria stopped at the edge of the boardwalk that accommodated another ladder down the other side "this is our section."
The creek ran beneath the boardwalk and curved through the trees ahead. The area on the other side had been mostly cleared by the snakes crushing the leaves down with their bodies.
A massive tree had fallen long ago, serving as a hollow home in the bottom of the sprawled roots. Sev's snake head peered from the middle to check on us.
The canopy wasn't shielding the sun here. Because of the large tree falling, most of the surrounding ones had been broken to let in more light. I noticed others in the circular area around the tree had been deliberately cut at the trunk.
Warmth seeped into the ground here. It even danced across the surface of the water. It baked the top of the hollow Sev was resting within. It looked like that was the optimal basking area. His eyes closed when he saw it was just his family up here.
I saw small writhing figures beside Sev's curved tail. With the larger round shape not as bright beside the burning source of the figure, I realized my egg was nestled beside a nest of babies.
Turning to Sahria in surprise, she just grinned, swinging a leg over the railing so she could climb down the ladder.
I averted my eyes too late.
"I'll stay up here" Ishar spoke down to her "get this over with when Nolan comes through."
Sahria giggled, promptly wading across the thin creek.
I climbed over the railing and carefully felt my way down to the ladder. Clutching the shirt as I lowered myself to the leaves, I saw Ishar's expression turn cold when I looked back up at him.
Laiwin was the same, lowering over the railing next and stopping beside me to box me in.
"The tree is off-limits" he spoke to me in a lowered voice as Sahria climbed into it, his back to her "you'll stay away from Sahria when you don't need to be around her."
"Which is ever" Ishar added.
They were only being nice out of necessity. Now their true colours showed. Having me here was throwing out their balance.
"I'm only here for what is mine" i told him.
"And nothing more" Laiwin warned.
My eyes flicked across to the log to check on my egg. Sahria was there, leaning up as she breastfed two babies. Another was being fed something she tore up from the burning pile.
I heard the faint wail of the hungry mouths. Suckling also smacked into the air.
Laiwin and Ishar turned their head towards it. Laiwin immediately left me to stomp across the creek and hoist up into the trunk himself, lowering his body beside the pile to mask it with his body heat.
I could of had that if Elgress didn't take them from me all those years. Despite her persistence not to raise a family, she would have settled and made a good mother. Sahria had what I wanted.
Saah was being cared for amongst them. I could only wade across and lean against the log to soak in the sunlight beaming onto it.
I heard the babies squeaking for the food being fed to them. The others still guzzled, letting out little noises at being disturbed.
It made me uncomfortable how much I wanted to be the one in the log with her right now.
"You seem sad" Sev commented.
I looked across to see his dark eyes now open, watching me. I placed down the tear-stained shirt beside me and laid my arms across my drawn knees, flopping my hands.
"I never had that" I leant my head back "I wanted to, more than anything. When I thought it was going to finally work out and we could settle down, I was forced to leave. That egg is all I have of the years I spent trying."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault" I forced a smile "I should have listened. I could have seen what was going to happen if I just believed she was really only in it for what was more valuable."
"So, you'll go back to your grounds?" Sev asked "settle with a new mate?"
"If I can find one" I grimaced "they....aren't exactly good grounds, even though it is home."
Sev's head lifted in interest.
"How come?"
My gut clenched. Somewhere under the hunger and stress was that sinking feeling of despair.
"Uh, it got cleared out" I forced myself to push through the visions of seeing new cars pull up to the fields as more humans got out to inspect it "the last who owned the land needed something smaller. She had acres, and they wanted to clear them of the wheat; start fresh."
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My Mama kept us close as the humans became brave and trampled our fields. With Papa at a distance, they mapped out what they would clear, since it was 'no good' and a 'waste of time'. Nothing else would go in there to replenish our home. We were being driven out, even if I didn't know it at the time.
When a truck rolled in a few days later, it veered off the gravel road the cars were usually only constricted to. Water rained from the round tank on the back, onto the wheat we rubbed against, breathed through, and hid within. Hiding behind Mama, who was gathering children further away, is what saved me from the worst of it. If I didn't venture up the hill, I would have been sprayed.
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As days passed, the wheat blackened and withered. Tall stalks snapped and bent to the ground. The shelter was now piling up around my torso, leaving us exposed. It was hard to move through, even with legs. Unlike the leaves here that rolled aside when pushed, the wheat grouped together in masses and only dragged over the loose soil.
We started getting sick. Pir was the first. He had been rained on when the truck passed. He went from such a lively person to one who couldn't lift his head from the ground in the span of a week. I bought him food he couldn't even chew. It piled beside him instead.
The chemicals that seeped into the earth also were washed into the pit where Mama curled around her eggs, trying to shield them from the unknown. It was the first time I had seen one hatch out something so deformed. It barely gasped in three shaking breaths before dying. The nostrils weren't even formed properly. The mouth looked like it had been broken and recast with clay. There was a pit in the chest and webbed split up the middle where a tail should have been.
Papa was torn as to what was happening. He was use to physical threats he could see, not biological ones that poisoned the land. It was our home. We had nowhere else to go when nests were still waiting to be hatched and children were growing weaker by the hour.
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Pir died after an agonizing two weeks of trying desperately to get him to eat. Maria hid her illness, but was also affected. Her head was always dipped low when she struggled to move. She drank more water from the contaminated pond to try and flush it away. Her breath rattled through her between the short words she spoke. The scratching came after, if they lasted that long.
They always curled up when they died, as if they were fighting horrible pain. Pir's body sank, like the spirit itself had left when his open eyes glazed over. He was pushed into the pit Mama sobbed over, along with many more of my curled and contorted siblings. Blood smeared across their throats and chest from where they had been scratching themselves. If they couldn't reach, they used the rough bark of the trees to hunt for relief. I remember this trees around the pit bleeding red. They had all sorts of coloured scales shredded across them, littering the dead ground in their agony.
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Mama buried her nests with most of my siblings. The poison leeched into her skin from the bodies she cradled. Papa also scraped together his babies, dumping them down so dirt could be slapped back over for a proper burial.
Both were contaminated from loving their children. The bleeding trees turned black over the days, and the dead wheat pulled into piles that rolled away in the breeze.
Those who remained; twenty one, including my clutch-mates, Seerali and Maria, were ushered across the river and to the other side for fresh grounds.
We were all infected. I struggled for breath through burning coughs like Seerali did. Maria barely held her head up and had to lean on Seerali just to stop it dipping into the water. With the others dying around us, we knew the stages of the poison. We were in the first stages, Maria was pushing past the one before the final paralysis.
Some were too weak to even fight the calm waters. Three drowned just trying to cross. Another collapsed from exhaustion beneath the surface. Four more couldn't even move from the poisoned lands. They had to be abandoned; it was too dangerous to return for a soil that would pass in a few days anyway.
Thirteen of us were left; a dismal number compared to the hundreds that used to fill the wheat fields. Out of the thirteen, two were female; Maria and Haesha.
Girls outweighed boys. They had priority to be saved, but it was clear to see Maria wouldn't be able to come back from the disease killing her. Haesha was considerably worse. She crumpled to the ground when we struggled onto the grassy fields. Papa carried her curling body as she wailed in pain; sobbing turning to gasping that rattled into a whisper.
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Haesha was the first to die in our new lands across the river. We couldn't risk her infecting the soil, so she was placed into the river to sink below the surface as her body was dragged away.
Papa and Mama dug a new pit in the upper portion of the new field, deep enough to house all their remaining sick children, but also perfectly contained to make a mass burial easier for them both. The pile of dirt always sat next to the pit, acting as a buffer for shade, but also reminding me that at any time I could be abandoned and buried alive if we were deemed too far gone.
With one pit dug, they scraped another up near the river, a few metres from us.
Papa would soak himself in the upper portion the river and return to wrap himself amongst us. The weaker ones would lick the dirty water from his scales to try and remain hydrated. It encouraged the stronger ones to push themselves into the river to wash the poison away. In a way, it felt like it worked. Seerali soaked beside me, both of us too hot or confused to speak as our heavy heads rested on the bank behind us.
Maria couldn't make it. She licked Papa's scales for three more long days until she choked loudly on her breath, curling in Papa's arms as she cried that she didn't want to die.
We could always see the bodies of the others rotting away on the other side of the river we soaked in. We knew that was going to be her fate, but couldn't accept it. We did everything to try and help her fight it, but it wasn't enough.
Papa's last daughter was gone. Our sister was gone. Any hope to extend the bloodline beyond us was wiped in an instant.
The other weak ones were buried with Maria to save the suffering; six in total. We had five remaining; Tsawilaun, Seerali, Toisa, Aisha, and Shashari.
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Papa coiled around Mama to fill their new nest now that he didn't need to constantly care for us. For days, he squeezed life into her, and she rolled it into that pit.
Six became twelve, twelve turned into twenty, and twenty easily became thirty three.
I had never heard her cry like that during matings before. She was in pain, emotionally and physically from how badly they needed this to work.
Mama couldn't hold herself up when days dyed the shells red, so Papa did. He kept going until he no longer could. With the pit completely filled, Mama was finally released to collapse into sleep.
She was so weak. Papa too. We had to hunt for our own food, which left us starving because we hadn't been taught what was edible. Seerali tried to eat fallen bark once, trying so hard to make me believe it was some dried deer skin.
I thought Mama had died. Her body temperature said she was fine, but her behaviour said he was on her last legs. Papa was barely stronger, sinking into the river to try and regain strength to hunt. Mama joined him after two days of laying motionless around the pit.
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Because our lands were poisoned, we became the neighbour's problem. The river acted as a divider of land; our old grounds on one side, stretching all the way to the home in the distance, while this side touched our new grounds to the neighbour's yard over the other side of the hill.
The neighbour didn't want us there, but couldn't move us. Once they saw the state of the field opposite theirs, the feud started between both sides, mainly over the chemicals running into the water. We were left by the river, since our family only bordered the edge of the new property. It wasn't because they wanted to; only our of obligation not to dump the next people with the problem of hundreds of snakes now growing in the scraped pit.
They even planted wheat in a nearby clearing and fenced off the massive area. By having us out of sight, we weren't such a nuisance anymore.
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Things got better. They weren't easy without Pir or Maria most of all, and there were many times I wished I hadn't of hidden behind Mama and had looked for them when the poison came through, but I had survived it with Seerali. We were the last of seven from our clutch. We were hatched out together but had all gone on to live different lives. Maria, Pir and Seerali were the ones that formed a group with me. We may have fought and bickered, but we also discovered new things and created stronger bonds together.
With our siblings not yet hatched, Papa spent the energy teaching us how to properly hunt. He took us through the lands and showed us what to look for and what to avoid, like the roads and the humans. We could use our senses to track path and rely on our normal sights to help hone in. We could throttle things with our hands, or tails if we had them. Venom was precious and was seen as a last resort due to the time it took to replenish.
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One month bought new life.
Unlike the poisoned shells, these siblings were strong and fully developed. Most were born Naga; a likely survival tactic to make sure they were faster than our last batches.
I had sisters again, and far too many brothers to outweigh them. Five hundred and twenty one to be exact. Another eighteen were sisters. Just like that, the field was full again. Mama was happy and Papa stood proudly beside her. When they mated, it was out of love and not grief. For them, the pit would always have eggs to care for and children to cradle.
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Sev listened in silence as I recounted my loss in the fields; how I wanted to return to them to set grounds like my parents had done on the other side of the river.
"I need it to work" I breathed "more than anything. That one egg is all I have to show for years of torture. I don't want it to experience the things I did."
He nodded. From the silence inside the log, I could tell the others had been listening too. Even Ishar had been listening from the boardwalk while waiting for Nolan to come through.
"Tsawilaun?"
I turned, seeing Sahria leaning over Sev so she could see me.
"Stay as long as you need. I'll look after this one like it's one of my own; you have my word."
Tears boiled that I blinked through. She really didn't have to do that or feel obligated to because of what had happened to me.
She was the best chance of Saah's survival. Her body temperature ran higher than the males, and her devotion was already to the nest. It would never freeze again while with her.
"Thank you."
"Did you want to go kill something together?" she asked "maybe track down that secretary bird for fun?"
"Is that what it is?" I giggled "only if you want to?"
"I'm due to eat" she slid across Sev and hosted herself out of the log while I turned away to give her privacy "and you are too."
I wasn't going to deny it. I was starting to get hungry again.
Would the others be ok with me hunting beside Sahria? I guess they didn't have a choice in the matter. She was going to do it anyway.
Ishar definitely was not ok with it. His folded arms and peeled lip spoke volumes. Laiwin left the log to drop down beside us.
He wasn't going to leave Sahria alone with me. Even if the intentions were innocent, I was still a rival male.
"Let's go kill something" he tilted his head towards the boardwalk, keeping eyes on me.
Sahria led the way, followed by Laiwin, then me. Sahria glanced back, smiling when she saw I was keeping up.
It was like I was back with Seerali and Maria again, boldly venturing to new places from the safety of home. Our legs all crushed over the flattened leaves as our hunting party grouped up to stalk onwards into the sea ahead.
Things were getting better, as they did before.
I just had to make sure I kept thriving for the sake of my family.
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