Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders
Chapter 27
An angry shriek bounced off the cavern walls. Crouching low, Slengral hissed, his tail coiling tighter beneath him. His wings spread wide as he prepared to defend himself if necessary. He was cut off from the main shaft, the rich, earthy scent of the breeding female filling the tunnel around him. He had not expected there to be another Seshanamitesh, much less a female, lurking so close to the mouth of the Aglatha.
The moment he dove inside the cave he had scented her, and a perusal of his surroundings revealed her glistening body coiled in the main vent leading down into the shaft. He had recognized her right away and groaned. He had known this was coming. Kehtal had warned him.
Vekatha had finally come for him.
There was plenty of reasons to be concerned about this. Although, she wasn’t the largest or even the strongest of the females, she had possessed a vicious cunning that had made him cautiously avoid her for seasons. She had a habit of using males, restraining them with her in her nest until she was through with them. Still, he had not been worried when he descended, sailing through the mouth, because never in their known history had a female attacked a male they could not lure or coerce.
That he had been arrogantly unconcerned was his mistake. He had assumed that the only threat he had to worry about from the shinara was that which could harm his female. Males never had anything to fear from the females as long as they did not try to enter their abode. It was for that reason that he, in a rush to return to his mate, had flown by the female, indifferent to her presence there.
He had underestimated her anger and her determination. She had attacked him, her tail snapping around his in an attempt to engage a mating lock. It was only by luck that their collision sent them spiraling toward a stalagmite. The impact as they hit forced them apart just enough that Slengral had been able to claw his way free and duck into one of the nearby tunnels. He realized too late that the tunnel had been a poor choice. Although his hiding place possessed many interconnected offshoots, not one vein connected to the rest of the system. He was thoroughly cut off by the female hunting him.
“Come out!” Vekatha shrieked, the sound rattling loose stone from the walls.
Her tail thwacked against the ground, emphasizing her demand. With a furious whip of her tail, she slid further, her pink eyes gleaming in the half light of the mouth. She breathed in, scenting the air, a pleased hiss rattling from her. When she spoke again, she hummed, her voice soft and entreating.
“Come to me, I know you are here. I can scent you. It has been long since I have tasted you on the air. You no longer come to the shinara. Why?” she hissed as she swept into view, her gavo standing out aggressively. Her tail cracked again when he ducked around a rock, keeping himself hidden. He just needed to get around her.
“Why?” she shrieked again. “Why do you have the filthy scent of the violators clinging to you? A female at that. It is light, but it is there. You are unclaimed as of yet, your scent has not changed, but her touch on you… it is maddening. You are mine! Now come out! You will not hide from me any longer, male!”
That scent was exactly why he had not made an appearance at the shinara, certain that someone would notice it.
Slengral slunk low, his wings quivering around him. Peering out from his hiding place, his vision narrowed to the gap of space just behind Vekatha. There was enough space to slide through, but not without chancing capture.
He eased forward, sizing up the space when his tail brushed against a weak part of the wall beside him. The clatter of pebbles breaking free and falling to the cave floor echoed loudly, drawing the attention of the female. Her head whipped around to his position, her body following the motion as she snapped around, her tail sliding behind her to propel her forward.
“There you are,” she hummed.
The sound of her song vibrated into his ears, seducing him and encouraging his obedience. His body quivered, and disgust surged through him at his reaction. He had to chance it, even if he had to defend himself aggressively. He would not allow himself to be capture-mated by the female. It was a special sort of irony that he even had to worry about such a thing—and that was not lost upon him. Injuring a female was potentially tantamount to a death sentence, but he drove the thought from his mind. It did not matter.
All that mattered was returning to Lori, safely ensconced in his nest.
His tail coiling even tighter beneath him, Slengral sprung forward, filling his air sacks as rapidly as he could, his wings beating the air. Vekatha shrieked in triumph, shooting up on her coils and turning into him, her claws outstretched to snare him. Slengral bellowed as her arms closed around him, her tail ensnaring him as her hum grew louder, twisting through him even as her breeding pheromones overwhelmed his scent receptors. He beat his wings furiously, hissing and twisting in her grasp.
A flicker of movement just behind her was all the warning provided before a large stone crashed down on Vekatha’s head, driving her hard against Slengral. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed, dragging him to the floor. Kehtal, eyes widened in horror, stared down at them, the rock still gripped tightly in hands.
“Kehtal?” he rasped, clawing his way from beneath the female. “What have you done?”
The male’s eyes dropped to the rock in his hands, and his color dulled as if all the blood drained from beneath his scales. He flung it away from him as if there were a danger of it biting him.
“You were gone so long, and Lori was becoming more and more anxious. I did not know that I would find you… find her. When I saw it, I had to,” Kehtal replied, dazed, his wings quivering anxiously. “She was… I saw…” He met Slengral’s eyes, his eyes slightly glazed with a shock that Slengral could also feel in his stomach. “I saw her grab you and attempt to force mating. Never has this been done,” he whispered sickly. “Mate capture is one thing, but this…” He fell silent, staring down at the unconscious female.
Drawing up to his friend’s side, Slengral clasped his arm in a comforting gesture and turned just enough to look down dispassionately at Vekatha. He knew that what happened would have ever wider impact on the events to come. She was alive—he could tell from the stirring of her breath in her chest—but she would not hesitate to retaliate.
“You defended me,” he assured his friend. “What you did was honorable. I am indebted to you.”
The male chuffed a miserable, humorless laugh. “The shinara will not see it that way. If she discovers it was me, I will be at their mercy for attacking them.”
“They will never know. Vekatha will be unconscious for spans. By the time she wakes, our scent trail will have dissipated. All she will know is that I somehow escaped her.”
As he stared down at her, a dark thought awoke within him. It was tempting to just end her now and not give her the opportunity. It would, in fact, be the wisest thing to do. Despite the wild desperation of the female’s attack against him, he could not stomach the idea of killing her as she lay helpless on the ground. She would not stop coming after him, and as long as he remained unmated, the shinara would view her pursuit as legal. There were no laws that truly protected the males, mostly because what happened was unfathomable.
Males were the aggressors. They were the ones who females needed protection against. All their laws said so. A female’s aggression during mating was considered powerful and erotic, something that males should enjoy. She was only prohibited when her interests extended toward mated males. If he accused her before the shinara council, he would have no legal protection.
He drew in a long breath, his resolve hardening. There was only way that he could be sure that there would not be a repeat performance.
Growling, he spread his wings wide, filling his air sacks as he snapped forward through the air. He could feel Kehtal following close behind him as they emerged together from the tunnel and dove into the shaft. On a normal occasion, he might have folded his wings and allowed himself to drop or glide down, but his heart pounded against his chest, his wings flapping with every bit of strength and speed he possessed.
He needed his mate. He needed Lori, now more than ever before. He hoped that she was ready for him because there was no turning back now.