“I will be taking this way.” As the scaly naga points the direction to where she is supposed to be guarding the area.
“Sure.” I answer, where I am walking straight ahead.
“Where are you going, Ash (Æ).” the naga questions point of assignment. Wondering if we are sticking together or covering the division of the captain’s designation.
“What did Captain Leonis tell you about this mission?” I then ask Habaraef about her involvement in this assignment.
She doesn’t answer my question. I stand here, contemplating. I don’t know what did the captain command this naga and early on, Habaraef accepted the mission imposed on her by Captain Leonis without knowing the information about this assignment - God knows if she is just playing antics on me or she is definitely a thick skulled being. We are wasting time here. The sun is now setting… seconds by seconds, we are draining our moments.
“So, what is it?” I ask once again, where she is just staring at me blankly and she doesn’t speak.
“Speak up!” I raise my voice.
As the slimy slick reptilian freezes when I shout at her, she looks aggressive. Habaraef’s gills protract conveying hostility upon my action. I nearly brandish my blade on my buckle sheath for that sole reason. Albeit, I am on my defensive stance of my position preparing to react to her assault, if the episode persists. I just feel she will act it not upon my behavior. As slicky she is, I barely know how Habaraef would act against my established position. However, she is an animal, therefore, she would behave like an animal as well. She maybe speak like a human but I digress, my race is a primate while she is not. She is part of a reptilian, her race tends to prompt mischiefs and betrayal.
Right after I am arguing with this imbecile inbred reptilian who can understand not what I am attempting to say. Then someone shoots an arrow at me - directly at my face, fortunately, I fend it off. Habaraef slithers through the mud to locate the aggressor who assaults me from behind. And at the situated place, in the deep forest, Habaraef pounces the foes relentlessly with no escape from her hands. She kills five of them while she is incapacitated one scoundrel. I move at a quick pace, approaching.
“This rascal has some balls!” I stomp the head of the ruffian, when Habaraef holds him. And out of ire, I kill the lad.
Another one is trying to hit my head with quivers. During the scuffle, Habaraef defends me at the cost of her limb. She breathes: “You are welcome.” and I utter right after: “Likewise, thanks for the save”. Hereafter finding a cover to a nearby huge pile of lumber. Of course, to manage a breakthrough, this scaly naga is only capable of doing this tall feat. She is agile and nimble compared to me.
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“Fifteen…” she urges to calculate the number of ambushers.
“Fifteen, you say? Where are they at?” I reply. Habaraef shrugs her shoulders.
We should perhaps wait until their munitions run low. I don’t know what is running through Habaraef's mind, but I should definitely confide in her abilities to pacify these buffoons! In every angle, actually, in front of us, they are bombarding us like there is no tomorrow. And still, this scaly inbred didn’t respond to me at all. That’s a breath of air. Like I always said, is this my reinforcement? Calling this a teamwork? Too bad, I should have never put some faith in Captain Leonis’s words. Discreet is the word, if I am describing how I should approach such certain scenarios.
“Lord Æ…” the naga heeds me. Then this naga, Habaraef, shields her entire body unto me pressing her scaly and slimy surface unto mine whereas she attempts to tank all of the arrows.
“Watch out!” and the first thing that comes from her mouth after the series of barrages: “Are you alright?” those of her words afterwards.
It flabbergasts me to the point that I am feeling guilty about what occurred upon this episode. I put some words on my own in a soft-spoken tone, saying: “Thanks…” and it was all about when I was spacing out earlier.
I push her off of my body when she is still pressing atop of me. The slimy sensation, it went all over me. This is disgusting. First thing that I do is to break off the arrows stem - not yanking the arrows entirely. That way, I somehow help clearing any unnecessary weight off of her shoulders. Jeez, I feel bad about it. I should be ungrateful to them, let alone asking for their forgiveness. They belong outside of our society. And I mean it that way. God, I am reek like fish! The liquid is still all around me. The true definition of fishy.
I sigh: “Damn, this slimy-...” when I am brushing off Habaraef’s bodily fluids on me, I notice. “Those slimeballs. They are going to pay for this!” I rectify myself, as to offend not this naga who is the captain’s paramore.
“What is the plan, Lord Æ?”
“How many?”
“I think their numbers are inflated, I suppose based on what I can detect there are six, no… seven of them. If I am not mistaken.” Habaraef responds, where she pops her head out to where those ruffians might be.
“I guess, eight. Lord Æ…” the naga adds, where she is uncertain about their definite numbers.
“And why is that, if I might ask?” in a respectful tone, I question where I meet Habaraef’s gaze eye-to-eye.
“I hear fifteen distinct steps yet I smell eight unique scents.” what? Is this reptilian a pervert? At least, we have got something to narrow it down.
“Thus, one of those buffoons is one-legged?” without much of a thought, I respond in a subjunctive mood.
“Negative, Lord Æ. I am not so sure about that either…” the naga then gives me an honest assessment. I nod in acceptance to what our predicament is.
“I can’t think of any, Habaraef. Why will not you give me your uptake?” I suggest.
The naga is trying to process what I have said. Whereas as we approach these difficulties, I am going to either add some opportunities of success, or counter her proposition and even question how optimistic it is, or if it is perfect then I am not in contrast to her at all. I get it this is an easy feat not at all. I work as an intelligence for the Kingdom of Kehina but Fort Quogsagihaxee’e is my uncharted territory. I have yet to learn the deeper forest within it. Shortcuts hidden. Traps laid. The women and men living in this island fortress. And even, the non-humans I am going to kill in the future.