Amidst Rising Chaos Pt.2

Naldak finally turned to face Strelitzia. "You shouldn't have come out. You should've let him die. Out here is dangerous and you've put me in danger of being tracked once again." The finlike design that lined his spine along with odd spikes and shimmering scales, flared upwards like an angered or scared feline.

She stood up, brushing snow and dirt from herself. "I couldn't let him die. He saved me before just as you've saved me now." The line across her back stung but it could have been worse. Without his sudden appearance she would have been skewered to the mountain with no one the wiser. "I'm sorry for putting you at risk." The back of her gown had been split open leaving her to shiver in the cold.

"You can be mad at me once we're inside and you're hidden away from sight." As long as that didn't include taking a drip down his gullet.

His eyelids blinked horizontally as he stared at her. He moved closer, one eye in her face. "He reeks of blood. AND not his own." Naldak moved back, picked her up by the back of her shirt and flew up the mountain where others couldn't see and sat her down beside Baeron. One swoosh of his tail and Baeron was flying across the area.

"Don't send her out again." He pointed one claw at where the burly man landed. "I'll get the herbs." Then he was gone with a bat of his wings.

Baeron groaned. "Learn ta stop snoopin' and hitting people with that godly strength."

Strelitzia ran over to help Baeron up. "He's grumpy because of all the people and the fighting but I think he cares. It's kind of heartwarming actually. He said not to send me out again." She offered a hand to the Ogosian despite the sting in her back. "The King's men are here. They tried to..to well..unpleasant things."

"He didn't have to go out there, he could've told me someway like he was wavin' around his claw." Baeron stood up and his back popped in eight different place. "I'm gettin' old. And if the kings men are here, I don't think they were specifically lookin for you were they? They lucky it wasn't me who caught them. They'd be still chasin their hinds."

"One of them said they was looking for me." She knelt over by the water bowl, using just a handful to scrub at her face and neck. The feeling of the soldier's tongue against her neck still made her skin crawl and she would feel better without the sensation of his saliva lingering in her skin. It was definitely a good thing her mother lay near the fire resting blissfully unaware of their worsening circumstances.

"He ate one of them, crushed another, and sent the last splattering into the sea for fish food. I think they got what they needed." Her brows were furrowed in anger at her own helplessness. Had Nadlak been a second later then that would have been it. She hated being useless and helpless in their situation. They were going to be hunted up and down the kingdom and all she could do was run.

"I don't see how your household poses a threat to the crown. Unless he's using you against your father." Baeron ran a hand down his face, red brows furrowing thoughtfully. He knew about Strelitzia's father, but Charlotte having a blood daughter didn't add up. One must have been a lie.

Baeron was only voicing the same thing she'd been thinking for the past few days. Her mother was a loyal wife who managed the household. Her father was a businessman but as far as she knew he was rather straight lace. The thought of him made her chest tighten painfully. "I don't understand it either. I think if they'd done something for this to happen then we would have been much more prepared." She nodded in James' direction. "How is he holding up?"

"But he's.... in a better place now. So I don't think your father was the goal. Maybe he can use you as more power to the crown since you are technically royalty." Baeron glimpsed at James while rubbing his bruised back from landing on the stone.

The sounds of wings beating against the air arose. Naldak came swooping down, claws opening to drop fifteen herbs on the ground. "Tell him to suspect nothing else out of me." The wind that arose from how growled he spoke sent dust flying. Baeron grabbed into the flowers before they went flying off as well.

Lowering until his belly touched the caves floor, Naldak pulled his wings back and closed his eyes.

Strelitzia stepped up to the madclaw and placed a hand on his neck, patting gently. "Thank you for the help. Again. You keep swooping to the rescue." She looked over at the mage apologetically. "He says not to expect anything else from him."

"You know what you have to give in return now?" Naldak asked slowly, cracking one menacing eye open. Those slitted pupils temporally flared and then shrunk once more.

"What is that?" He hadn't asked anything from her before despite the feeble offers she made when they first met. Although most probably found him terrifying as she had in the dark, Nadlak was much too beautiful and far too kind for her to hold any real trepidation.

"Your soul." He stretched his neck out so his face was closer.

She blinked up at him. Did creature's like him have a sense of humor? "Is that a joke?" Dark brows furrowed in concern.

"Yes, but you can rub my stomach and pick the thorns from my toes." That he meant. "There's a hot spring deeper down inside the mountain. It gets a little hot to walk so you'd have to ride on my back. Better leave a letter for that airhead so he doesn't think you got abducted."

Meanwhile, Baeron left to prepare the herbs. He needed to grind them up into a fine powder and feed it to James while changing a spell.

"I think he'll be happy enough that I'm keeping you occupied." She was careful not to step on his wings as she climbed up his back to sit. It was hard to believe she was taking care of a mythical beast like she would a house cat. "You're sure you won't want to come with us when we leave? I'll miss you."

"Where exactly would a creature like me hide? Though I've been here so long I doubt I fear death anymore. This state of quietness is the closest thing to passing on one could ever get. A damnantion while being alive." Once she settled he allowed his neck to arc at an angled curve so he could stare at her upon his back. "The difference would be putting others at risk. Unlike mortals I take responsibility for lives other than my own. But you aren't that bad yourself."

Naldak spread his wings and took off. He flew deep into the core of the mountain where hot steam floated up. It would've been hot enough to cause third degree burns, but his scales front side was immune and blocked Strelitzia from any damage to herself. Tilting further right, they soared around beautiful gleaming water that looked like true moonlight caught within its depths. It was much larger than his entire body. Naldak picked the girl up and threw her off when the steam was safe, causing her to splash into the water.

He followed, plunging inside and getting her even more soaked than when she fell the first time. By the time she'd surface, he'd be floating on his back, shadow shading the light blue of the water.

Strelitzia barely managed a scream when she plunged into the hot waters below. Her arms outstretched upwards as if that would be enough to help her back to the top. No matter how hard she tried to kick her legs and flail her arms, she couldn't manage to move beyond making herself sink faster. Air bubbles began surfacing when she couldn't hold her breath any longer.

Naldak noticed she hadn't come back up, just bubbles rising to the surface. "Oh scaledaggons," She didn't know how to swim. The beast remained on its back though sucked in a bunch of air before blowing towards the water where the bubble had come from; the force blasted her out the water and into the air, sending her blowing on Naldak's unscaled stomach. If she had liquid in her lungs, surely it came out from the impact. "How old are you and you can't swim! Think that's something you should have told me when I said hot springs."

The landing had been cushioned by his stomach though she still coughed and sputtered, clearing the last of the liquid out. She pushed back her dark locks to glare at the beast. The only pair of clothes she had were already becoming threadbare and he had the nerve to blame her after tossing her suddenly. Her hands flung up in exasperation. "How was I supposed to know you wanted to throw me?! I've never been to a hot spring." Another cough interrupted her before she continued. "My mother didn't like the idea of me out in open water."

With a huff, she stood while teetering to the nearest set of his claws. Strel began digging through muck and the plates joints of his scales where thorns and branches were lodged uncomfortably. "A little more warning next time."

"Your mother is a dragoon, dragonuts." Naldak pushed a claw against her arms gently and summoned sponge-like material that'd allow her to float. "Try now." He said, nose flaring.

A brow raised up at him skeptically. "You want me to get back in the water? You're old but you're not crazy. No way." She shook her head firmly. "I will enjoy the hot spring from up here."

If he had an eyebrow to raise, he would have. But instead he settled for a long stare. Inhaling and exhaling hard, she flew back into the water by Naldak's mere breath. "Yada. Yada. Bang."

The girl squeaked in surprise before landing with a loud splash. She expected to sink once more but to her surprise the strange rings he magicked around her arms held her up. She only needed to give a few kicks to really stay afloat. "You're lucky I didn't die or I would haunt you!" Every noise echoed in the cavern between the water and the stone way above them.

"And you'd be terrifying bored hunting me. Then you'd see how useless existing is in my world." Moving his tail, he floated around in a circle. From here one could see the stars from the opening of the mountain above. "Stars are just all my fallen brethren."

Even though she could float now, she latched onto his side, letting him propel them both around in lazy circles while gazing up at the sky. The stars glimmered, winking in and out of her line of sight as if to confirm what he'd said. There was something incredibly sad about thinking that the sky was nothing but a graveyard for souls slain from the greed of men. "At least they can watch over you. If they're there then you're never truly alone."