Page 22 of Sheltered in the Storm (The Fortusian Mates # 1)
CHAPTER 21
CALLA
The glimpses I’d caught of the swamp outside Vos’s garden wall and his warnings about its dangers had not prepared me for how breathtaking it was.
I wore a small pack on my back that contained drinking water, fruits, and other items Vos deemed necessary for our walk. My borrowed daggers rested in sheaths on my thighs. I’d slipped a third, smaller blade into a sheath in my right boot. Vos carried the Ganaian sword on his back. He’d told me he rarely went into the swamp armed with anything more than his tentacles. I suspected despite his clear confidence in my fighting ability, having me along increased his concern about possible dangers.
Every tree and branch drooped under the weight of thick, sweet-smelling pink and crimson moss. Tall grasses and reeds swayed in the wind and light rain. The competing odors of wet earth, plants, brackish water, and decay filled my nose. I had to stifle several sneezes.
Despite outweighing me significantly, Vos tread silently as we followed a trail worn through the grasses and over spongy marshes. This wasn’t just Vos’s path to the sea; I spotted a dozen footprints of varying sizes. Most had claws that dug deeply into the muck.
We relied primarily on hand signals on the rare occasions we needed to communicate. Vos had warned me most predators in the area were drawn to the sound of voices. In particular I didn’t want to meet a kaory today, given Vos’s description of their venomous spines and razor-sharp teeth. No doubt Vos and I could kill one, but I preferred a nice, quiet, uneventful walk.
Vos had said a kaory's venom was cytotoxic, just like the deno’lia on Fortusia that had very nearly killed me. Even now, almost two years later, the memories of excruciating pain and my rapidly rotting flesh haunted me. Only swift medical intervention had saved me from an utterly hellish death.
Still, kaory and all the other creatures lurking in the trees and water be damned. I didn’t fear crossing this swamp because I had weapons and training and Vos.
When we paused to rest and drink water about two-thirds of the way to Vos’s favorite inlet, I pointed wordlessly at some of the scarlet moss and raised my eyebrows, asking if it was safe to touch. Vos smiled, freed some of the moss from a branch, and handed it to me.
As he watched for potential threats, I drank water and sat on a rock to rest, listening to water lapping at the marshes around us and the calls of birds. The swamp really was lovely. Even the smell of decay wasn’t bad once I got used to it.
The curly, tangled moss was as soft and silky as it appeared. When I rubbed it between my fingers, it gave off a sweet scent and turned my fingertips pink.
With a quiet chuckle, Vos tugged me to my feet, kissed my forehead, and led me on toward the ocean.
Two kilometers on most terrains wasn’t very far, but two kilometers through a swamp where I had to be mindful of every step seemed to take an eternity and a half. My impatience to reach the ocean and the ache in my legs from slogging through muck added to my perception that the journey took half the day when it was probably closer to a little more than an hour.
And with every step, twinge of pain, and ragged breath, in the back of my mind I pictured Vos running the other direction up this path in the dark of night with my broken body cradled in his tentacles, racing to get me home for even a chance to keep me alive. And that was after he’d fought and killed a boat full of raiders to get to me, only for me to threaten to kill him if he didn’t let me go.
I’d known all of that, but it wasn’t until I’d made this trek myself—albeit in much better circumstances—that the enormity of what he’d done that night really sank in. He hadn’t been my Vos then, but he’d believed I was his Calla. That belief had given him the strength not only to make the journey but to save my life. I’d never been worth that much to anyone. Even my keepers on Ganai, who’d made a fortune on my success in the arena, wouldn’t have lifted a finger to get me away from a dozen raiders, much less swim and then run to get me home. As for giving me their own blood to save me…ha. Not in a million years.
For that matter, Squad Captain Proos wouldn’t spit on me if I were on fire. The feeling was mutual, though, so I supposed I couldn’t fault him too much for it. Why I’d wasted so much time thinking I wanted to go back to that, I didn’t know.
Just as the ache in my right calf reached the point that I considered asking Vos for a short break, I heard something that swept away all my pain and fatigue: the telltale sound of waves and wind. About fifty meters ahead, through the trees and swaying moss, I glimpsed a treeless lavender-gray sky and purple ocean.
With my attention on that sight instead of the path in front of me, my foot caught in something, and down I went. With one of those uncanny, lightning-fast moves, Vos caught me before I ended up in the muck.
My face heated and I scowled. Oh, well done. I’d shown him some of my skills with blades and then promptly fell on my face simply trying to walk.
A flash of movement to my right.
Instinctively, I pulled my dagger and drove it hilt-deep through the skull of an enormous crimson serpent, pinning it to the trunk of a tree covered with lichen almost exactly the same color as the snake.
The snake’s body thrashed wildly and fell from the branches where it had been concealed. The gods-damned thing had to be nearly six meters long.
I’d put a blade all the way through its brain, but the serpent hissed. Both of its long, triple-forked black tongues shot out toward my arm.
In a single fluid movement, Vos yanked me out of the path of those tongues, pulled his broadsword, and sliced through the snake’s thick body and the tree with the sizzling, plasma-edged blade.
As the tree fell, both parts of the snake’s body—the section pinned to the tree stump and the other, much longer part—thrashed wildly until Vos hacked them into small pieces. And even then, they continued to twitch.
“My Calla,” Vos rasped, returning his sword to its scabbard on his back. “You are not bitten?”
I shook my head no.
He pulled my dagger out of the snake’s head, cleaned the blade on the wet grass, and handed it to me. Then he wrapped me in his tentacles and bolted from the scene, up the path toward the ocean. The noise and blood would draw predators and scavengers alike.
So much for a quiet walk to the sea.
Before we reached the shore, Vos startled me by veering off the path onto a narrow trail that cut through thick marsh grasses.
He slowed to a walk, but didn’t stop until we reached a small, secluded, hook-shaped inlet with a steep, grassy bank out of sight of the open sea. This must be his place to enter the water and slip unnoticed into its depths.
My gaze swept the inlet. This part of the bank was grassy and muddy, while the rest was lined with craggy rocks worn sharp by eons of rising and falling tides. Only the slightest breeze stirred the trees. The only sound was water lapping at the shore. And unlike the swamp we’d crossed, the salty air here smelled fresh and clean.
I looked at Vos and found him staring at me, his eyes glowing softly.
“Vos?” I whispered. “Are you all right?”
“My Calla.” His voice was barely audible. He kissed my temple, then rested his forehead on mine, his eyes closed despite the dangers around us. Given I’d just narrowly avoided getting envenomated by a serpent, I couldn’t quite allow myself to do the same, but I relished the moment anyway.
If he trusted me to keep watch over us both, he trusted me with all his hearts, and that was truly an enormous gift.
Vos opened his eyes and pressed his lips to my ear. “When I climbed this bank with you in my arms that first night, I dreamed of returning here with you as my mate. I knew it was a dream, and as much as I willed it to be, I do not think I truly believed until this moment. Even now, I fear I am dreaming.”
“It’s not a dream, I promise.” I kissed his jaw. “My legs ache too much for this to be a dream.”
He chuckled softly. “May I ask you a favor, my mate?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yes?”
“If you are willing…” His voice became rough with emotion. “I would like to carry you naked into my ocean home as my people do with their mates on my homeworld. ”
I had never envisioned myself wanting to swim naked in the ocean—not even in the beautiful water on Jakora, where nude swimming was permitted and even encouraged. Even with a dagger on my thigh, I would have felt too vulnerable. But here, with Vos, all I wanted was to swim with him in the way he’d dreamed.
I swallowed hard around the sudden lump in my throat. “Of course you may.”
Vos set me on my feet and kept watch as I stripped off my uniform and boots, stacking them neatly on the grass with my daggers and small pack on top. Then we traded roles and I guarded us as he removed his own clothing and sword.
Gods, he was so gorgeous—even more so here, surrounded by the oranges and reds of the swamp and the lavender water. Suddenly I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more in the world than to see him in the ocean.
When we were both naked, he scooped me up in his tentacles, kissed my forehead once more, and carried me down the steep bank into the water. The ocean was lovely and cool but not cold, lavender, and crystal clear.
When the water reached my chin, Vos paused and adjusted how he carried me so I was wrapped in his human arms. Now freed, his tentacles swirled in the water around us, as if dancing for joy to be in the ocean once more.
“Beautiful,” I murmured. “You’re so beautiful. Maybe this is a dream.”
“If it is a dream, then let neither of us wake.” He kissed my lips gently, his gaze searching my face. “Swim in the deep with me, my mate?”
“Yes, please.” It was my turn to chuckle. “But don’t get so carried away that you go too deep. And don’t forget I need air.”
“I will not forget.” His tentacles danced again, this time in what might have been impatience. “ Deep breath, my Calla.”
My heart racing with anticipation, I took several deep breaths to stretch my lungs, and then drew in one big breath and nodded.
With a grin, Vos dove us headlong under the water, then propelled us with his tentacles through the inlet and out to the sea.