Chapter 23

Corin

My body still felt like it was in fight mode, stuck in a battle in which I'd played no part. Asizza was dead; the Queen was dead. It was strange to suddenly be in a world that did not have her in it, when she'd been such a dark part of my history—and of my future—for so long. I owed Sazzie everything for doing what she did. It was unheard of for a female to interfere in that kind of situation, and to stab her mother in the back?

Yes, the Naga females fought one-on-one all the time. Everything turned into a dispute they solved with their claws, but it was always face-to-face. That's why Sazzie's scars were all along her front, but none marred her back. And to carry as many as she did meant she had been in a lot of fights between each molting. Sazzie hadn't seemed a likely ally, but I had caught her staring at Reid...

Twisting my tail against Min-Ji's belly was like trying to erase the blood that still stained her torn shirt. I didn't want to remember what it had looked like, Asizza's claws digging into her vulnerable flesh. She was all right, unhurt. Chen had healed her wounds, and if he hadn't, then I could have done the same.

My old mentor tapped the side of the ship, his eyes going from Min-Ji and the controls she was holding to the necklace around my neck. My stomach swooped for different reasons. This was the moment he'd ask me to take it off because I was no Shaman and too old to learn now. "Yes, hmm," he said, his eyes narrowing on the silver disk. He tapped the one he wore, the one all the Shamans wore. "I think an exception needs to be made. Agreed, brothers?"

He was still holding the side of the small skyship, preventing us from taking off, but it certainly felt like my stomach had catapulted into the sky. Min-Ji tilted her head and glanced over her shoulder at me with a soft smile, an encouraging look in her pretty brown eyes. She even splayed her fingers over the loop of my tail around her previously injured middle, gently stroking my scales.

I felt calmer when I looked back at Chen and noticed that he'd been joined by Erish and Fraesosh. Their three heads bent close together, each crowned with silver hair that indicated their advanced age. They muttered in low tones, and it would have been terribly impolite to eavesdrop, though it was very tempting. Their little meeting didn't last long, not long enough to tempt me to misbehave.

Erish was the one who spoke, his orange spots glowing against his yellow scales as he threw an expansive arm out at the clearing and the gathered people. Already, someone had dragged away Asizza's body, and now we were being watched by nearly everyone present at the Sacred Training Grounds. That included Avrish and her class of younglings, as well as a few more small clusters of young Naga and their teachers.

"Today, the council is appointing Corin of Haven to a special role. He will from now on be known as the Caretaker of Haven. Like all Shamans with appointed healing centers across our planet, Corin will report directly to us. However, his care will be of the ancestral relics, the town, and the machines, rather than one or more Clans. His job will be equally important to the continued safety of our planet."

When Erish finished speaking, both Chen and Fraesosh intoned their agreement. Their declaration was met with the slapping of fists to chests and the eager cheers of the younglings. What the elders had done didn't sink in until Chen winked at me with one blue eye, his nictitating membrane sliding over the orb. I might not be called a Shaman, but Erish's words as good as declared me of equal rank to one. I would be required to watch over Haven, which I already did, but I would not be required to be a healer to any Naga who sought it.

My thoughts spun as I thanked the elders and clutched the locator disk against my chest. I was still processing when Chen ordered Min-Ji clear for takeoff, and the canopy slid shut over our heads. Not a Shaman, but something similar, something even more suited to what I loved to do. How had so many of my dreams managed to manifest in reality in so short a time? I was the luckiest male in the world.

Then Min-Ji warned me with a wild, happy grin on her face, and the tiny skyship shot straight up into the air with a gentle hum of its engines. My wild thoughts made abrupt space for what was happening right now: my mate at the yoke of a skyship, controlling the small vessel with cool confidence. She gave her controls an experimental few turns and then, in a graceful arc, sent the small ship to circle the Sacred Training Grounds.

I could see the crowd of young and old gathered at the center, waving as they watched us loop around the collection of parked ships. Even from the sky, the medical ship and the Sacred Elder Ship looked huge, as did some of the cargo vessels, while the tiny shuttles that served as private homes seemed impossibly small.

"Okay, this way, according to Master Chen," Min-Ji said, pressing on the yoke. We shot forward silently, the ship making almost no sound as we cut through the air. This was like flying Zsekhet's dragon, and yet, not the same at all. My stomach felt as if we'd left it behind at the Training Grounds, but there was no whipping of air in my face.

I fell in love with my mate all over again as I watched her handle this hurtling machine with grace. She was right; she knew how to fly it. She handled the skyship as if she'd flown it a million times before. Her hands were confident as she guided the ship to where we needed to go. I gazed at the display with the red warning stripe and noted that she was keeping us well below that line. "Will you explain it to me?" I asked, yanking my eyes away from what she was doing to focus on Triff.

The little bot sat in my lap with silently blinking lights, not moving because the blow from Asizza had broken something in his cleaning disk. It couldn't spin freely right now, and though that shouldn't cause him any pain, he seemed dejected. Triff was under my care; he was one of the relics of Haven. I was the Caretaker now, and I'd take good care of him.

"I'm so happy for you, Corin. I know it's not the same as being a Shaman, but Caretaker of Haven? That sounds perfect for you." Min-Ji echoed my thoughts, one hand dropping from the yoke to pat my tail. It was very tempting to lean over and tempt her into a kiss, but I didn't know how much she needed to focus when flying. I didn't want to cause us to crash, so I flicked the tip of my tail to caress her fingers briefly but kept my focus on Triff.

My mate rattled off explanations of how the ship worked and how she controlled it. I would glance over her shoulder at the button she was talking about and realized that the same controls were lined up in front of my seat too. This ship had two spots for pilots. Why? But I managed to get Triff's cleaning disk spinning again just as that thought popped into my head. He beeped happily and twirled in my lap to demonstrate. "That's it, buddy," I said. "Good as new."

Then we were landing, our journey having passed in a blur of landscape until Ahoshaga rose like a giant in front of us. Min-Ji slowed our speed and carefully circled the open space outside the caves to find the right place to bring us down. I stared out the window to see the tents against the cliff wall and Sesethul lying protectively in front of them. The massive golden dragon took up a lot of space, but there was still enough room for Min-Ji to land our tiny skyship.

The canopy hissed as it opened, and a flood of fresh, cool mountain air rushed inside. When I assisted Min-Ji and Triff out of the skyship, a crowd converged around the small vessel. Zathar and Vera were in the lead, but they were closely followed by a very worried-looking Artek. "Oh! A flyer! How did you get your hands on that, Min-Ji?" Vera shouted, while the other humans lobbed similar questions our way.

While Min-Ji hugged her friends in greeting and started to explain, I locked eyes with Artek and turned to follow him into Ahoshaga. We'd flown here because there was no time to waste, and already so much had happened that had delayed us. I needed to see what was wrong with Haven right away. Vrash was going to pay if he'd messed up any of my careful repairs and restorations. This place was mine.

***

Min-Ji

"I'm so glad you're back! How is Reid?" Vera said as she hugged me tightly. Her protruding belly got stuck between us, making the hug a little awkward, but then Kalani flung her arms around both our necks, initiating a group huddle. Cosima and Charlie pelted me with more questions, and I had to silence them with a laugh to find the space to actually answer them.

"Yes," I said, "Corin's my mate. It's official!" They squealed and laughed, and that felt good. But Vera quickly sobered and brought us back to heavier topics. She flicked a hand from our huddle toward Ahoshaga, the two Naga statues holding lanterns aloft looking sad without their warm, glowing lights.

I met her blue eyes and gave a curt nod to let her know I'd hit the highlights. "Reid is going to be all right, but it will take time, so we'll have to return for him in a few weeks. The Thunder Rock Queen is dead, and Corin has been named the official Caretaker of Ahoshaga. He will fix this." I had full confidence that he would. There was no way my brave, clever mate would ever let anyone down, and he knew more about our home than anyone else; even his elders had recognized that.

I answered a few more questions and got the low-down about the situation here, but my eyes were searching for Corin. He wasn't by the ship or huddled with Zathar and Iave to talk to them. No, a row of Naga stood in front of the entrance, clearly guarding the way, but there was no sign of my silvery-blue mate.

It sounded scary when Vera explained how the water and power had gone out first, and then Aks had gotten trapped in his apartment. They had to break down the door to get the male out. Then Artek had been locked out of the med bay and the control hub, and not even Zeidon had been able to open the doors. That's when Zathar had ordered everyone out, and the camp of tents had sprung into existence against the cliff wall.

"Corin will fix this," I said again, but I was feeling worried when I still couldn't see him. Had he already gone in? Alone? I wrenched myself free from the safety of our little group and moved closer to the row of Naga warriors. Zathar was at the front, Iave flanking him, and several more were lined up with their spears or knives at the ready. Their watchful eyes were on the cave opening, watching for danger. But they were also there to keep anyone from going in; that much was obvious.

"I have to go in," I said to Zathar when I strode up to our leader and he moved to block my path. He shook his head, but I gave him my most determined look. "He needs me, Zathar. I won't come to harm, but I have to be there for him."

It was Iave who gave his friend a nudge with the tip of his tail, his large ax lowering in his hands. He jerked his chin in the direction of the entrance, his dark gray eyes meeting mine, and then he moved aside. Zathar hissed, but he did the same. "Corin is going to kill us," he said, but then he grinned, as if he looked forward to it.

I didn't give them a chance to change their minds, breaking into a run to pass them in a hurry. The tunnels were dark. I should have expected that, but it still caught me by surprise. There was no soft tinkling of water from the fountain down below, and my footsteps echoed loudly as I raced toward the one source of light I could see in the distance.

The door to the command hub sat open, and when I got closer, I could tell it had been wrenched in the frame—it had been opened by sheer force. The light came from the many lit viewscreens inside; those still had power, apparently. In front of them, Corin sat on one of the swivel chairs, his hands on the keys as his mercury eyes flicked through data after data on the screen.

"Careful," a voice said softly, a pale hand shooting out to block my path further into the room. I nearly screamed in surprise, managing to hold the sound back at the last moment. Artek. It was only the Shaman, nothing to fear. I couldn't help but compare the opalescent glimmer of his white scales to the sickly pale strips I'd seen on the robot's corpse. For a second, I thought it was Vrash's hand, reaching out to snatch me.

Artek was against the back wall, right next to the door, and he drew me to his side so I could watch Corin work. "He's gotten further than I did. The system turned on. Don't distract him." Right as those words left the Shaman's mouth, Triff beeped and bumped against Corin's coils, doing exactly that. Corin tilted his head down to glance at the cleaning bot with a nubbed eyebrow raised, then flicked his eyes unerringly my way and offered me a confident grin.

My stomach unclenched from the tight ball it had formed in my belly. If he looked that confident, it was going to be all right. It had to. What could a stupid disembodied head do anyway? Slamming doors and locking people out could be the entire extent of its abilities. Then he spoke, his voice issuing from the central computer inside the room, the one Corin was using.

"Ahoshaga is mine! You heathens cannot have it!" the voice growled. "I control everything, and now you are going to die!" With a screech of metal, the warped door slammed shut, locking us in. And vents hissed above my head as gas was pumped out of them. Triff squealed loudly and spun away, careening through the room and then into a tiny bot-tunnel. Oh, no, did Vrash have control of him too?