Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders
Chapter 40
Daskh adjusted his grip on Hashal as he glided down the northeastern shaft, his eyes trained on the ledge jutting out just below him. He let out a series of barks to announce his presence as he dropped lower, giving Ehsash plenty of time to meet him. It was a courtesy only, to prevent any hostile feelings from developing if he had to break the male’s bones for attacking him. Surprise guests were not welcome among most hunters, and so everyone observed the courtesy no matter how much of a hurry they were in.
And he was in a hurry. Kehtal had failed to appear before the suns rose. Daskh had tried to waylay his concerns and tell himself that he might have to burrow into the sands to avoid the sun if he was caught outside of the caves, but when he had still not arrived after the sleeping cycle, Daskh knew that he could not wait any longer. He was at least fortunate that Ehsash’s nest was not too far away from the connecting tunnel.
A little tension drained from him when he saw the male he sought emerge from his tunnel, stripes glowing softly, marking his presence. His expression was wary until his eyes fell on Daskh and the nestling he was carrying. At the male’s gesture to approach, Daskh descended gratefully to the ledge and exchanged greetings.
Ehsash’s flicked toward Hashal curiously. “What brings you among the rejects in the northeastern shaft?”
“I need you to watch the nestling while I search for Kehtal. I was told to bring him to you if he did not return,” Daskh grunted as he offered up the small male, trying to ignore the way Hashal’s tail twisted around his wrist.
“Kehtal has a nestling?” Ehsash inquired, his brows rising.
“I do not need it!” Hashal squeaked furiously. “I can stay in the nest alone.”
Daskh gave a snort of disbelief. “You tell me that again when Slengral carves into your tail for knocking over the stack of baskets and ruining more than one in the process.”
“He will not,” Hashal countered, his eyes gleaming with all the confidence of a nestling with a mother.
The kapan knew that Lori would protect him. Not that Slengral would truly harm the tiny male. Daskh suspected that his friend was becoming equally as soft with the little one as he was. Hashal’s jaw jutted out with a silent hiss that made him roll his eyes skyward, praying to Higthar for patience.
“Now Slengral has a nestling? Whose nestling is this?” Ehsash interrupted.
Daskh cocked his head, considering the question.
“He is ours. A foundling. Slengral’s mate took him in and now, because of that, we all care for him.”
“This is so confusing,” the male sighed, his eyes slitting as he regarded Hashal. Not with any sort of threat, but an expression that Daskh found unusual on a Seshanamitesh. “I did not know that any female of the shinara would take in another female’s offspring. For that matter, this does not explain, if the male has so many caretakers, why you require me.”
Daskh shifted uneasily. “Slengral’s mate is not Seshanamitesh,” he admitted.
At the male’s flinch, he then hurriedly explained how Slengral found his mate, and the possible threat she now faced in addition to the absence of Slengral, and now Kehtal. As he talked, he watched the male’s expression become grave, his crests flattening.
Ehsash snarled quietly, his head shaking in a distinctly human way that gave Daskh pause. When had the male encountered a human?
“The colony,” Ehsash spat. “They are fools of the worse kind. Not only for the damage that they are doing to Seshana, but for the danger they place their own females in.”
The vehemence in the male’s voice took Daskh by surprise. Although most Seshanamitesh viewed humans simply as violators, and little more than labor beasts, that sort of familiarity with the human nest was not something many among their people would have.
“How do you know all of this?” Daskh asked, wary that the male he was dealing with could easily be one of those killing and stealing humans.
Ehsash barked an angry laugh. “I know because half of the males who now occupy the northeastern shaft are hiding human females. And before you get indignant, no, they are not the ones who stole them.” He paused. “One stole his female,” he amended. “But it was from a male who was abusing her. He killed the human and stole the female so that he could better protect her. The others have taken the females from their Seshanamitesh captors.”
That made it clear how the male came into contact with the human gestures. If the mates of the females were doing it as much as Daskh was, it was reasonable that it would eventually pass along to other males. Especially a protector who had regular contact with the males of his cave.
The male scraped his claws along one crest and huffed, meeting Daskh’s eye. “The females have told their mates many things of the colony, and these have gradually come down to me as protector of this shaft. I can tell you right now, from the things I have heard, that if they have your friends, you will not be able to get them out of there alone. You will require assistance.” He stretched his wings, his head tipping back to look up the shaft. “We will need to fly into the northeastern upper tunnels and then…”
“I hate to interrupt,” Daskh growled, his limited patience fleeing as he thrust out the nestling again. “But who will watch Hashal when we are doing this?”
Ehsash paused and blinked once again at the nestling as if he had completely forgotten about the small male.
“I will ask my mother,” he muttered reluctantly. “Come with me.”
Daskh’s brows rose, but he followed after the male, his tail whispering over floors that were remarkably smooth. Ehsash must have put considerable work in to have even his tunnels so pleasant.
“I would rather not take him to the shinara,” he growled, clutching the nestling closer.
The females had already rejected the nestling once after his mother’s death. Even the slightest scent of a human female on him could be enough to drive them to kill him in the current state of things. He would not risk it.
Ehsash shook his head. “I prefer not to return to the shinara at all if that were feasible. It is no matter. My mother is not there. She… would not be welcomed in the shinara.” His expression grew wary. “My father knew that and hid her here. He protected her until the shinara grew insulted when he refused to attend them. Eventually, their males killed him. She only survived because my father had the forethought to build his nest among the rejected males. They took turns hunting for her and feeding her, and me as well.”
Daskh nearly dropped the small male he was carrying. “She remains with you? A Seshanamitesh female?”
The male laughed again. “My mother is… unique. You will see.” As they traveled through the tunnel, Ehsash’s voice echoed slightly as he spoke. “My father carved this nest just for her. It is unique because it is the only place in this part of the Aglatha where there are great pools of water. Like I said, my father was very intentional with where he built his nest. My mother loved my father, her hithana, and so never chose another mate from among the males who watched her in his absence. When I became a juvenile, my mother chose to remain with me in our family nest rather than see me leave and live isolated. Now she keeps her own level here below mine as in the ways of her people.” He hesitated. “They live in tight clans still, as once the Seshanamitesh did. She will be pleased to have a nestling in her arms again.”
From the tunnel, they entered the main room that was easily three times larger than any Daskh had ever seen before, and a third of it flooded with a deep pool filled with aquatic species of galthie. It was due to those that he could see the underwater tunnel leading out. Ehsash caught the direction of his gaze and nodded, his crests flicking.
“There are pools in most of the cells of the nest for my mother’s comfort.” His ear ridges shifted nervously before he let out a strange crooning vocalization that rose to a bark at the end.
Nothing happened at first, and Daskh stared at the male, unable to make any sense out of what was happening, but then he saw it. A flicker of light appeared at the mouth of the underwater tunnel, brightening for a moment as a graceful pale form slipped through.
Although no female could rival the beauty of his Lori, this female was like something he had never seen before and only ever heard whispers of. Even Hashal stilled in his arms despite the fact that he could not have possibly known what he was seeing.
“An Uralial,” he whispered.
“Yes, this is my mother, Ahanial.”
He suddenly understood the precautions Ehsash’s father took. If the shinara knew that she was there, they would not rest until she was expelled from the Aglatha or killed. Uralial were an aquatic species related to theirs. Daskh’s father believed that they were the same species as the Seshanamitesh who adapted to the deep cavern seas far to the west of the Aglatha. They had almost turned into something of a legend among their people, how they would eat Seshanamitesh and steal males as mates and nestlings for their own brood. How had she ended up there?
He stared as she emerged, her pale gray body striped with glowing marks down its length. Even her fins that ran down her tail glowed as brightly as any gavo. Glowing white eyes, darkened only by the slit of her pupil, blinked up at him. She smiled—and then that smile widened when her eyes landed on Hashal. Daskh’s hands tightened on the nestling, ridiculous superstitions charging to the fore with the worry that she was considering stealing the little male. His wings fanned out in surprise when her laughter filled the room, bright and sweet.
“Relax, hunter. I will not harm or steal your nestling,” she soothed in a sweet voice.
Shame flooded through him, and he glanced helplessly at Ehsash. The male smirked in amusement and shook his head before addressing his mother.
“Mother, I need to go. We suspect that the humans have acted toward one of their females. They are keeping her separated from her mates. I will be helping Daskh. We need to rally the males to mount an offense against the colony, so he can find her and his nest brothers, but it will be dangerous, and he needs someone to watch his nestling.”
The female tipped her head before slowly dragging it in imitation of his nod. “We have known this would happen. I like the human females, though their stories of their people make me sad. I will help,” she agreed, rising from the water to sit on a stone ledge, her arms outstretched.
Daskh was speechless, barely able to coherently mumble his thanks as he handed Hashal over. Surprisingly, it took little work to convince the small male to go. His tiny wings spread, flipping as he attempted to fly in his eagerness to get to her. The delight on Ahanial’s face as she curled the nestling close to her chest wore away the rest of the resistance against leaving the tiny male with her.
Ehsash gripped his arm in a friendly manner. Nothing more needed to be said as the female turned her full attention to playing with the nestling, leaving them free to depart. As they neared the ledge, however, Daskh glanced over at the male curiously.
“What did you mean when you said nest brothers? And mates?” he queried.
Ehsash laughed, his eyes shining with humor. “Is that not what you are? Many of the males who have acquired a human mate have fallen into a similar pattern at my mother’s suggestion. That is the way the Uralial live. The far western caves of Seshana are treacherous, and so they live in small family groups with several males caring for a single female. With the male population larger, it makes sense,” he added with a flash of a smile. “That you are already jointly caring for your female, you are already on your way in that direction.”
Daskh barked out a laugh. “Slengral would never allow other males to share his mate. He barely tolerates us in his nest.”
“Ah, but he does tolerate you,” Ehsash said with a sly look as they emerged from the tunnel. “If you are bonding with her, then it is not right for him to keep you from fulfilling your bond. You are all protecting and caring for her. You are all acting as her mates and as nest brothers. You merely need to insist that he see it.”
“I am sure he will appreciate that,” Daskh muttered, spreading his wings wide.
The male laughed and took off up into the shaft, his dark wings carrying him up high quickly, leaving Daskh to follow after him.
As expected, the upper northeastern caves were dreary at best, few having more than a scant amount of galthie growing within their terrible conditions. The eyes that stared out him at Ehsash’s summons were wary and some near hostile until the male explained their cause.
It took a little time and much discussion, but before the suns rose, Daskh had at his side a force of Seshanamitesh, two hundred and twenty males strong who churned and hissed with promised violence against the humans that had done their mates wrong. Even in the caves, they were an impressive sight. Outside, above ground, they would blot out the moons when they descended upon the human nest. Daskh could not wait.