Obsidian Scales

Chapter 11

The village was impressive.

Lily had not see anything like it throughout all the years she had lived in the town of Elveton. Homes were built in the trees, connected by bridges and rope ladders. Naga of all sizes climbed up and down the trees, going about their daily lives. From what she could tell, residential homes were up in the trees, while shops and gathering places to go eat and drink were on the ground. Silas moved slowly, though Lily didn't mind, as that gave him time to show her everything.

As Silas guided her, Lily noticed the looks and stares of the other Naga's in the village. Some were curious, while others were tense or just plain murderous. Veraldi fell into step beside her. "Don't take it personally, you're a stranger here so most of them are wary of you." He said casually. Lily watched as some female Naga stared at her. Unlike some of the others, they were dressed in lovely colored shirts, designed in such a way that exposed their shoulders and mid-riffs. Their sleeves hung just below their shoulders, and either draped behind them or were connected at their wrists with a split revealing their arms. Around their necks they wore white necklaces, and on close inspection Lily noticed they were made out of bone, and along their black tails they had links of those bone decorations. They jingled a bit whenever they moved.

One of them was gorgeous, in a sort of cold way. While she had near alabaster skin, her hair was as black as night, and her yellow eyes had no warmth. She looked at Lily, a cruel smile forming with her dark red lips. She revealed her fangs and let out a terrifying and threatening hiss. Lily's blood ran cold at the sight. Another female beside her flicked out her tongue, tasting her scent, and then the two of them began to laugh cruelly.

It was then Lily realized that they were laughing at her fear. Shame crawled up her neck and she looked away from them. A startlingly loud hiss came from her other side, and she found Silas baring his own fangs in a threat to them. The girls immediately backed off, lowering their heads and quickly slithering away. With the threat of them gone, Silas looked down to Lily. "Pay them no mind, they're jealous." He said, continuing to show her around, his arm gently around her back. Though Lily didn't think he was doing so for support. Even so, she leaned into him just a bit more.

~/~

The two of them, after Silas giving Lily a slow tour of the village, rested at a small campfire, outside of hut where some of the Naga where eating and chatting about their day. Lily was talking with Silas, when she fell silent as a group of six Naga men slithered into camp. They wore leathers, similar to what Silas wore, and were just as muscular. That wasn't what made her quiet, but rather the creature they dragged behind them. Tied up around it's neck and legs, the body of the manticore was still fearsome even when it was dead. The beast was bigger than the horses she raised, and despite all that bulk she had no doubt it was faster too. It's mouth hung agape, revealing it's blood stained teeth, it's tongue dragging on the ground. The hunters dragged it to another hut with a stone forge in it. Lily didn't have to guess that it was the smithy. A much larger, yet older Naga came out, and gave them instructions where to set it, while he called for two other, smaller Naga's. They looked like young boys, so she assumed they were apprentices.

She looked to Silas. "What's going to happen to it?" she asked. Silas, who had been watching since he saw her gaze turn to the hunters, looked back towards her. "Skin it, and possibly make some armor and weapons from it." he said. She started a bit when his tail gently wrapped around her waist, though she relaxed as he moved over to sit closer to her. Lily snuggled against his chest as he did, careful of his wound, and he wrapped his arms around her. He continued to speak. "Nothing we hunt gets wasted here. We find a purpose for everything we hunt. Manticores are very valuable, and most who hunt them are well regarded." At the tilt of her head, he continued. "Everything, no matter how big or small, we use.