# Chapter 2: Nauarchus Stranded

Nauarchus Stranded: chapter 2 Author: Islador copyright 2006

Nauarchus watched her bow before him and this brought his doubts about what he was contemplating to the forefront again. Did he really want to mate with this native? He knew that after several years of being stuck on this backwards world with these primitives, he wasn’t going to get to leave. He also knew that if he hadn’t crashed here, he would never have a submissive female to mate with.

That thought tipped the balance in favor of keeping her for himself. He was going to do it if she was going to be willing. He stepped forward and motioned for her to get up. She had been watching him. She feared that the more time went by with his eyes drilling into her that she was not going to be alive for very long. His waving hands brought her up and she moved back onto the mattress. He motioned for her to spread her legs. Trembling slightly, she complied.

He squatted down and brought the laser welder close to her skin, activating it. He slowly removed the hair from her skin around the mounded slit that served as her sexual organs. He sent calming waves to her to stop the trembling that developed while he was doing this. She calmed down immediately, but continued to watch what he was doing. The smell of burning hair filled the room. He closed off his nostrils and kept his tongue inside his mouth during the process.

When all the hair was gone, he sat back on his haunches examining the results. He cocked his head side-to-side looking for any stray hairs. Not finding any, he nodded with satisfaction and stood up. He stepped over to the control panel and purged the air system for the room. He stepped back over to his pet and ran a finger along her skin. She shivered from the touch and looked into those strange reptilian eyes.

“Do you want me, Master?”

Nauarchus thought about it for a moment and slithered his tongue out to taste the air. Her pheromone levels were high and the scent of her excitement was intriguing to him. Not really strong enough to compare to his own species output, but it was different enough to him to bring his own sexual arousal levels up. His coloration shifted and the reddish bands became more prominent. The pouch that held his shaft swelled and a seam split open to allow it to extend out. The shaft slithered out and waved in the air, as if looking for something.

Sirona’s eyes widened when she watched the slit open up and the dark red appendage slid out. It reminded her of over-ripe mulberries, both for color and texture. She looked into her master’s eyes but could not discern anything from his expression. She began to shiver with dread, thinking about what that thing would feel like when it entered her. The size wasn’t so scary but the fact that it was moving and bending scared her. No farm animal that she had seen looked anything close to this.

Nauarchus reached out with all four arms and slowly lifted Sirona off the bedding. He brought her up to his eye level and gazed at her.

You are willing to submit to me? To become my mate?

Sirona thought about those questions for a brief second and decided that her life with this god or creature would be much better than anything she could hope for under Roman rule.

“Yes, Master. I do. I will be your mate if you will have me.”

Nauarchus spent one more moment looking into her eyes, weighing the consequences of his actions if he did this. Without the means to fix his ship, there was no way for him to get home and his people had no way of knowing what dimension he was in. He was doomed to die here and the thought of dying alone was not a pleasant one.

Then it will be so. You are my mate.

His hold around her ribcage tightened slightly and his lower pair of hands slid along the inside of her thighs. He lowered her slightly and positioned his member at her opening. Her breath caught as she felt the heat from that contact. His finger pads were warm on her skin but this felt hot and wet.

Nauarchus pulled her down a little more and felt his organ begin to push into her. The tight ring of her flesh constricted around the spongy head as it tried to gain further entrance. He watched the concentration on her face and she began to sweat. His shaft wiggled around a bit to get a better angle and pushed into her some more. The head slipped past the tight ring and stopped, feeling the slight tearing of her flesh as it fully entered her. He could feel warm liquid seep down the length of his shaft as he held her still. A tiny, single tear slid down her cheek as she bit her lower lip.

Are you in pain, little one?

She nodded her head slightly and a small grin appeared.

“Yes, but it’s okay. It is supposed to hurt the first time. I am no longer a virgin.”

The word had no meaning to Nauarchus, but he deduced from the usage that it had something to do with their mating rituals. He slowly pushed himself inside of her, feeling the tight ring of flesh constricting around his shaft. He could feel her muscles gripping his shaft as it slithered inside of her. He continued to push in until he felt the raised nub of muscle preventing him from going in further. The head of his shaft conformed slightly against this structure and he watched her face for any further indications of discomfort.

Sirona felt full and complete with his shaft inside of her. The pressure against her cervix sent shivers of pleasure up her spine. She smiled and looked into those strange eyes of her master. Nauarchus flexed his shaft and felt the muscles surrounding his contract and expand to make room for his intrusion. He interpreted this to mean he could now complete the mating ritual. His shaft expanded slightly, stretching her open more. He began to ripple the outer layer of muscles to build up his excitement.

Sirona wasn’t sure if she could take the expansion of his shaft much more. She had felt full before but now her insides felt stretched to their limit. The rippling sensations were starting to feel good, but her master did not thrust in and out of her like she expected. Her excitement leveled off and she tried to pull off his shaft, but with his hands holding her still, all she could do was rotate her hips to try and get any friction.

Nauarchus was distracted by her movements and thought that she was trying to get away from him.

Is there something wrong, little one?

Sirona wasn’t sure what to say, but her frustration was building. She truly wanted to enjoy this with her master. This gave her the courage to speak to his concerns.

“Are you tormenting me?”

No. Why do you think I am tormenting you?

“You are flexing inside of me but you aren’t thrusting in and out.”

Thrusting? You require this to complete your mating rituals?

“I need that to get the most from our coupling. I want to feel your seed going into me while you do that. Please, Master?”

Yes, that is acceptable. I will do as you ask, little one.

Nauarchus lifted her up until the ridge around the top of his shaft caught on the ring of muscle at her entrance. He pulled her down and slid into her until he hit her cervix. She grunted when he bottomed out.

“Yes, like that, but faster. Please, Master.”

Nauarchus did as she asked and continued to lift and pull her along his shaft while he rippled the muscles to heighten his arousal. He tuned into her thoughts and began to get a sense of when she was feeling something particularly intense and pleasurable. He sped up his actions as this seemed to make her feel incredibly good. Her breathing was becoming ragged and her heart rate almost doubled. Her screams surprised him, but he continued to do as she had asked. He finally felt the urge to release his seed, so he convulsed the outer ridge of the head and pumped it into her with great force.

Sirona’s eyes shot open when she felt him expand inside of her. The hot fluid started to fill her. She felt it pulse against her cervix and flow out of her as there was no more room inside her full cavity. Her orgasm racked her body as she tried to grab onto his upper arms and wrapped her legs around the lower arms holding her up. She screamed with primal pleasure feeling her master’s seed pulsing against her sensitive insides.

Nauarchus watched her body spasm and felt her contract around his shaft. This was not like anything he had ever experienced when mating before. The sensation of her grabbing onto him while her body was wracked with pleasure was pleasant.

The following day, Nauarchus left her inside the ship while he went to the surface. She was sore from their coupling and her body temperature was up several points. She was lethargic but otherwise seemed healthy, so he left her in her room to recover. He walked the perimeter of his clearing while trying to grasp the feelings he had over what he had done with her.

In his society, once the first mating ritual was complete, he would be released from any bond to the female and would go about his life never having to see that female again. The only purpose for mating was to produce offspring and the females were the ones who took care of raising that offspring. Females formed informal groups to help each other with raising the offspring and excluded any male from interfering with that task.

Walking around the glade, Nauarchus used all of his senses to ensure that he was alone. He moved the horse to another location so it could continue to eat and stay healthy. It had become accustomed to his presence and no longer shied away from him when he led it to the pool to drink.

He was enjoying the sunlight on his back when the breeze shifted directions and brought with it the scent of many humans. The faint sounds of voices drifted to him and he knew that a search party had been formed for the one he had killed the day before. From the strength of the smells and sounds, he judged that the time would be short before they came upon his clearing. He didn’t have time to hide the horse or the signs that it had been kept in the glade on purpose.

He had been able to hide from the smaller search groups that had come through when he had taken the water gatherers, but there were too many this time. He contemplated going back to the ship and donning his power armor. This presented a problem with his orders. He was not supposed to use advanced technology while on primitive planets with hostile intelligent life. His personal feelings on this differed. These primitives did not have the infrastructure to duplicate weapons or armor. On top of all that, the possibility of his superiors finding him on this rock was nil.

His tactic up until now had been to use his natural abilities to take on these humans in battle, but against large numbers, he’d have to resort to using his power armor or the projectile rail. The problem with the latter was that the portability was poor due to the power source and magazine for the projectiles. The power armor was his only chance against this many opponents. He needed to make up his mind what he was going to do quickly. The searchers were almost to the glade.

He turned and went for the ship. Once inside, he rushed past Sirona’s room heading for the command bridge. He activated the ship’s combat systems and transferred a powercell to his armor. When the ready light came on, the pod door slid open. He backed into the pod and waited for the semi-liquid armor to form over his body. The blue-white nano-particle armor flowed over his skin. Upon total encasement, it activated the breathing mechanism. The tactical information display popped up in his optics.

He stepped out of the pod and checked his range of movement. He extended his claws, watching the armor flow over them as they came out. Good, he thought to himself. Now there was nothing on this planet shy of a volcanic eruption that could harm him. Next, he shifted his coloring, satisfied that the armor transferred the colors to the outside. It wasn’t a perfect match, since the armor was metallic.

Opening a drawer in the weapons locker, he took out four fighting blades. These were his favored weapons for combat. The cutting edge curved out of the handle and wrapped around the outside of his fist. The blade ended in a tri-lobed spike several inches long. The metal these blades were composed of was a special alloy that allowed them to slice and punch through power armor. Nothing the primitives had would stand up to them.

Stepping over to the sensor display console, he noted that the searchers had moved into the glade. There was a small group of a dozen individuals formed up in a diamond. The rest spread out in a single line to either side. There was one on a horse several paces behind the diamond formation. That would be the commander, he concluded. He waited until the lead person in the diamond reached the edge on the pool. He rushed for the airlock.

He pushed the motion assist function to its limit. When he breached the surface, the momentum carried him into the air well over the heads of the soldiers. His trajectory placed his landing directly in front of the commander. He aimed the blades in his lower hands for the neck of the horse. His upper hands aimed for the breastplate of the leader. With the combined weight of his body and the power armor, over one thousand pounds were behind those blades. The horse and commander never knew what hit them.

Blood spurted from the severed neck on the horse, momentarily blinding Nauarchus. The upper blades connected on either side of the commander’s head. Due to the size and length of his blades, the commander’s body was sliced into three separate sections. Nauarchus wiped the blood from the eyepieces. Leaping away from the bleeding disaster that had been pushing the search group, Nauarchus aimed his next attack inside the diamond formation.

The soldiers were frozen in shock and abject fear. The sight of a color-shifting, liquid metal monster leaping into their midst was totally beyond their comprehension. Seeing their commander and his horse sliced into pieces in the blink of an eye rooted them in place. This made it very easy for Nauarchus to wreak havoc among them.

Nauarchus landed in the center of the diamond formation. He reached out with all four blades positioned parallel to the ground. Twisting his torso, he beheaded the entire left rear flank in a sweeping arc. Before the rest of the formation could respond, he uncompressed his legs, vaulting away from them. He landed and immediately spun around to face the right flank. Pushing himself to his full height and opening his arms out wide, he roared a challenge at the soldiers. The dual sound chambers in his throat produced a high pitch screech combined with an ultra-low undulating trumpet.

Only a small handful of combat veterans managed to keep their bowels closed. More than half of the remaining soldiers dropped their weapons and ran pell-mell into the forest, screaming like little girls. Those that remained looked at each other and tried to reform into some semblance of order. Nauarchus didn’t give them a chance.

He leapt at the small group in front of him, leading his attack with all four blades whipping back and forth. They tried to dodge his blades, but Nauarchus’s ferocity and power overwhelmed their frail attempts at blocking his attack. Arms and heads were sliced off. One soldier planted the butt of his spear into the ground, aiming the tip towards Nauarchus’s chest. The soft iron pilum bent without Nauarchus feeling anything inside his armor. He punched the soldier in the face, the curved blade entering the skull just above the bridge of the nose.

The soldier gave one last spasm and fell away from the blade with a wet sucking sound. In less than a dozen heartbeats, eight more soldiers were dead. Seeing that their weapons didn’t leave a mark on the monster’s skin, the rest tried to escape. Nauarchus was in full blood lust now. He chased them down and cut them apart. Only the first to flee survived to tell anyone what happened.

Nauarchus stopped chasing the soldiers when he could no longer see their forms through the underbrush. He circled the clearing to ensure that no spies remained. Satisfied that the battle was over, he surveyed the carnage he had wrought. The green grass had turned black in the sun from all the blood. Vultures and crows were starting to circle overhead. The buzz from thousands of flies filled the air. Nauarchus tasted the air and shuddered. Too much iron and sodium; he did not feel the urge to eat any of his kills. He left the bodies for the carrion eaters.

He dove into the pool, washing off the blood and gore. He quickly swam down to the airlock. He was in the mood for something else besides food. Once inside the ship, he shed his weapons and armor. Sliding open the door to Sirona’s room, his mating colors standing out on his skin, he entered.

Sirona woke when she heard the door open and looked up at her master. The red bands were vividly displayed. His member slid out of its pouch and began to pulse. She could smell his powerful scent and her insides clenched. She rolled onto her back and opened her legs for him, her juices already dripping from her slit. Nauarchus rippled his display to her response. He lifted her off the bed and slid his pulsing member deep into her.

Sirona grunted, her head falling limp on her shoulders. Her hands grasped his arms as she rolled her hips to receive him. Their joining was rushed but very satisfying for them both.

Nauarchus finished cleaning off his blades and returned them to the storage locker. He contemplated the second mating ritual with Sirona. It was much better with his blood lust raging through his body. He had left her sleeping in her room. Her skin flushed and shuddering from their exertions. He was slightly concerned with the lethargy she exhibited after mating. He wondered if his fluids were affecting her somehow. There didn’t seem to be any other symptoms, so it probably wasn’t an allergic reaction.

He sat down in his command chair and accessed the ship’s computer. He entered the medical analysis from the exam he had given her. Then he brought up his own scans. He had the computer run a probability algorithm combining both of the physiological characteristics. He started the process and waited. He wished once again that his ship had been large enough to contain a simulacrum construct. At least then he would have been able to have a conversation over these issues. Instead, he had a simple artificial intelligence processor. It had no real personality.

While he was waiting for the computer, he went to check on Sirona. She was still sleeping. Her body was no longer twitching, but the elevated skin temperature remained. He squatted next to her and gently slid his tongue along her cheek. The metallic tang of her skin made him sit back. His pupils constricted in thought. There were traces of iridium and osmium in her blood. She had absorbed them from him. He left her sleeping form and went back to the computer.

He stopped the algorithm and entered the new data. Restarting the process, he leaned back in his chair. He had already searched the local area for these metals. He had found an iridium layer in the rock wall of the crater. He had failed so far to find any osmium. If he were shedding osmium through his fluids, he would have to find some soon. Either that, or stop mating with Sirona. Now that he had mated with her twice, he rather liked it. It was different than his species, but pleasant nonetheless.

Nauarchus decided that he would search the dead for food. Sirona would be hungry when she came out of her slumber. He also wanted to check to see if any of the soldiers had returned for their dead. He headed for the airlock but stopped half way there. He went back to the weapons locker and retrieved his four blades. He decided against the armor this time, he needed to conserve the powercells.

He slowed his progress just before reaching the surface. Tilting his head back, he pushed his mouth past the tension layer and extended his tongue. Nothing but the dead and the carrion eaters were close. He couldn’t sense anything intelligent within his clearing. He slowly exited the pool, startling several buzzards and crows into flight. They squawked at him angrily. He ignored their protests. Stepping out of the pool, he proceeded to pilfer the bodies of precious metal coins and food satchels. The carrion eaters had left the latter alone in preference to fresh meat.

Once he had collected all that he could carry, he dove back down to the ship. He placed all but one of the food satchels into his cold storage unit. He went through the coins, looking for the rarest of all--platinum laced gold. He had found a few coins over the years that contained platinum and palladium. No osmium yet, though. If he could collect enough of these heavy metals, his health would return to normal. None of the coins he had found today contained what he needed.

Picking up the food satchel, he went to Sirona. She smiled up at him when he entered her room. Her eyes were a little glassy and her movements slow. He squatted down next to her and offered her the food.

Here, little one, eat. You need to restore your health. How do you feel?

“Warm. My insides tingle. You wear me out, Master.”

She smiled to let him know she didn’t mind getting worn out. He rippled his jaw lines in response.

Yes, little one, it was enjoyable for me too.

He stood up and left her to eat her meal. He checked on the computer, it was still going over the data with no result as of yet. Frustrated with the situation, he sat in his chair and closed his eyes.

The incessant tones from the computer woke him up. He leaned forward to look at the screen. What the computer had postulated as the result could not be correct. He queried the computer to make sure it had not misstated the outcome. It assured him that its analysis of the data was correct. He sat back and closed his eyes. This was not supposed to be possible. He sent another query to the computer. The immediate response was that it didn’t know the answer to that question. If the computer was correct, then he was going to have to find more heavy metals. His priorities just shifted.

He got up and went to the surveyor equipment storage locker. He pulled out a miniature sensor array and a portable computer module. Placing them on the chair, he strapped his blades on once again. He went to Sirona to explain what he needed to do. Once he showed her where the food was stored and the purified water outlet location, he explained himself.

Little one, I need to find some materials. They are essential to our survival. I do not know where I will find them. I will be gone for some time. Use this time to rest and eat plenty of food.

Sirona meekly nodded.

“Yes, Master. I will do as you ask.”

Nauarchus ran a finger along her jaw.

I have grown quite fond of you, My Mate. I will be back.

He stroked her hair one last time. He went through the airlock and shot for the surface.

Nauarchus had been traveling at night for the past eight days. He was exhausted and getting hungry again. The last meal he had eaten on the shores of a huge inland sea had caused him some trouble. The natives were apparently very protective of their catches. He had to kill several of them before making his way out of the village. The nearly bloodless white flesh from the sea creatures had been very tasty. Very little iron and lots of calcium, just what he had needed at the time.

This night he was on the side of a steep mountain in a land called Bithynia by the Romans. He watched carefully as a man led some goats along a small trail down into the valley below. He pulled out the sensor array and computer. He swept the area again, getting a faint signal a short distance away. He looked over the valley again. Only the one male and his animals were visible.

Moving from his resting place, he made his way slowly down the mountainside. By the time he made it into the thicker brush cover of the valley, he could just barely smell the animals and the unwashed male. He continued across the floor of the valley until he reached the base of the next mountain. He made another sensor sweep. He reoriented on the weak signal and made his way up the side of the mountain. He found a small outcropping that had a band of gray running through the center. He checked it and his computer told him that it was a fairly rich deposit of osmium-laced platinum.

Taking off his backpack, he removed the tools he needed to extract the ore. He adjusted the settings on the plasma cutter and sliced off a section of the rock next to the vein of ore. He couldn’t help the bright flashes from the cutter and the molten rock as it fell away. He looked around to see if his activity had gathered unwanted attention. Not seeing anything, he continued his work. In short order, he had a backpack full of osmium rich ore. Now all he had to do was return to his ship and his mate.

He pushed himself hard traveling back. He took several lone herders and their animals to keep his energy up. The hardest part had been crossing the desert terrain. The lack of moisture was particularly hard on his body. The one thing that kept him pushing so hard was the thought of how long he had been gone. He was concerned for Sirona. If the computer had been correct, she would need the heavy metals as much as he did.

His return trek had taken 5 days. He was totally drained by the time he reached the pool. The bones from the soldiers still littered the field. The soldiers that had survived the battle had been too terrified to return for their fallen comrades. He dove into the pool, pushing himself one last time to get to his ship. Coming out of the airlock, he found Sirona asleep on the floor.

Wake up Little one, I have returned.

Sirona moaned and rolled onto her knees. She leaned forward and caressed Nauarchus’s feet, running her fingers along the claws that extended out. Her master had returned! Now her world was complete once again. Even in her groggy and weakened state she felt her slit begin to moisten in anticipation of their reunion.

“My Master! I am so happy to see you. I tried to eat and rest but I feel so weak. Please don’t be angry with me.”

I am not angry with you, Little one. I have returned with what you need to feel whole again.

Nauarchus lifted her from the floor and carried her to her bed. He ran a finger along her jaw. Looking into her eyes, he could detect the ill effects of metal depletion. It was strange seeing that in a native. Lowering his head to her face, he slowly extended his tongue and tasted her skin. Her taste was not pleasant. If he didn’t get the metals into her system soon, she would not survive.

Sleep, my pet. I will prepare a meal for you

Nauarchus went to the medical lab and began to process the heavy metals. He extracted every molecule from the ore and prepared an amalgam of the heavy metals with carbon and iron. This would allow Sirona’s system to absorb the metals at a faster rate without the risk of oxidation. He prepared a concentrated portion for himself and quickly swallowed it. He could feel his body dissolve the metals and felt the rush in his blood. He prepared some dried meats from the storage with the mixture and brought it to Sirona.

Eat this, Little one. It will help you feel better.

“Yes, Master. Thank you.”

Sirona grimaced at the taste but after swallowing several bites she could feel a renewed sense of energy coursing through her body. She quickly finished the remainder of the meal and smiled up at her master. Her belly full and feeling so much better after a long period of malaise, she felt like running around the room. She felt wonderful.

“Oh, Master, thank you! I feel so much better now!”

She knelt at his feet and looked up at him with love. She knew that she loved her master now. He cared about her and made her healthy again. She had been worried that he wouldn’t return after so many days had passed. She wanted to show her master how much love she felt for him. Rising up on her knees, she reached out with both hands and caressed the skin on either side of his pouch. She ran her fingertips along the seam, massaging the tightened muscles. She looked up into his eyes and licked her lips.

Nauarchus could sense some of her emotions. He got momentary flashes of thought pictures from her. Now that she had similar blood chemistry, her thoughts were getting stronger and easier for him to receive. One particular image stood out among the rest. It confused him. He saw what she wanted to do to him. Out of sheer curiosity, he relented and opened his pouch to her.

Sirona felt the muscles relax and she slid her fingers inside the flaps, searching for what she was salivating for. The wet heat from inside his body sent tremors up her arms and her skin tingled from the contact. She gently pulled his phallus out of its protective sheath. Her fingers danced over the surface as she lowered it towards her open mouth. She extended her tongue and licked the tip. The metallic tang sent shivers up her spine. Opening wide she worked the head into her mouth, careful not to graze it with her teeth. She worked her tongue into the flaps that sealed the fleshy tube.

Nauarchus watched her movements as she worshiped his organ. This was so far removed from anything he had ever experienced. How wonderfully strange, he thought. When her tongue wormed its way into the tip, his body shuddered in response. The sensations he was experiencing quickly escalated his excitement. He reached down with all four hands, running his finger pads along her skin. He got another mental image from her. He rotated his claws out and grazed her skin with them, leaving tiny red lines. He watched her body spasm in response and the suction she applied to his phallus increased.

His shaft rippled and pulsed from the stimulation. Her tongue swirled around the flaps at the tip. He couldn’t stop himself; his seed surged out and into her mouth.

YES MASTER! FEED ME YOUR SEED! I WANT IT ALL!

Her thoughts suddenly screamed inside his mind. His pupils dilated. His claws dug into her skin while his body shuddered in release. Sirona swallowed his seed as fast as she could. It filled her belly, forcing her to pull the head from her mouth. The remainder of his seed splashed over her face and chest. Feeling the sharp pain from his claws digging into her skin, she climaxed.

Nauarchus had never felt any release as powerful as this one. His new mate had strange ideas and pictures flashing through her mind. Overwhelmed by her thoughts he had to close off his mind. Sirona was more than he had ever hoped or imagined a mate could ever be. He retracted his claws from her skin, caressing and smearing the small drops of blood that oozed out. His gaze lowered to her and he watched, fascinated by her actions. She was rubbing his seed into her skin. She licked her fingers and hummed with contentment.

“Thank you, Master. Your seed is delicious.”

Was that something your people do to each other as a mating ritual?

“I watched my mother do that for my father once. It excited me and I had the urge to taste you. I wanted you in my mouth.”

Whatever your reasons were, I thoroughly enjoyed that. If you feel the urge to do that again, don’t hesitate to do so.

“Thank you, Master. I won’t.”

Sirona smiled and licked her lips. The flavor reminded her of mushrooms and almonds. It wasn’t as thick as she was expecting either. The combination of the food and her master’s seed was having a definite effect on her. She was hyper. She wanted to run around the glade and soak up the sunlight.

“Master, can you take me up to the glade?”

Yes. I would like to rest in the sunlight and you may run around all you want.

He picked her up and carried her to the airlock. He held her close and wrapped one of his hands over her mouth. He swam slowly to keep her from going into shock from the pressure drop. Just as they breached the surface she had started to squirm.

I am sorry, Little one. I have to go slow or it will harm you. Your body isn’t built to take the pressure changes. Over time you won’t feel the discomfort.

“Okay, Master.”

He set her down gently. He looked over the glade and decided that it was about time to clean up the bones along with the rest of the detritus. Sirona was struck speechless as she surveyed the carnage. She looked up at her master with a sense of pride. He was a true warrior if he could lay waste to this many Roman soldiers and not suffer any wounds. She helped him collect the bones.

“Master, may I ask you something?”

What is it, my pet?

“You don’t want anyone to disturb you here, right?”

Yes. Why do you ask?

“If you don’t want anyone to ever come here again, you should build an augury.”

What is this augury? Ah, I see it in your mind. Yes, my pet. Excellent idea.

They collected the skulls and placed them every fifty paces around the perimeter, hanging them from the lower branches. Sirona arranged the remainder of the bones and equipment where the trail entered the clearing. She explained to Nauarchus about hexes. He was amused by the symbology.

When they were finished, Nauarchus’s body temp had risen to a comfortable level. He noticed that Sirona’s bare form was glistening in the sunlight. She does have a certain appeal, he thought to himself. His empty stomach reminded him that he had not eaten in quite some time. He told Sirona to enjoy herself in the sun while he went to feed.

He found the trail that ‘his’ horse had left after running away during the fight. He followed it for a short distance and found it grazing in a small grove. He slowly walked towards it, not wanting to frighten it. When he was close enough, his venom laced tentacles shot out and connected. The horse’s legs folded. It twitched a few seconds then lay still. He bit into its neck, injecting the special enzymes into its bloodstream.

Once he had eaten his fill, he returned to the glade. He crept up to the edge and watched Sirona. She was dancing in the sunlight. He noted the fluid movements of her limbs and the sheen of sweat on her skin. She was very happy. He could feel her emotions emanating from her. He soaked them up. He felt a sense of contentment watching her. How odd that I am feeling this for her, he thought. I would never feel this from one of my own.

He stepped into the glade and Sirona spotted him. She ran giggling towards him. She knelt at his feet looking up at his face with adoration. She wrapped her arms around his leg and squeezed. Sirona was so happy that her master had returned. She was floating in a haze of euphoria from what they had done earlier combined with the warmth of the sun and the fresh air.

Nauarchus’s mouth flaps rippled in amusement. His tongue searched the air, tasting the pheromones that emanated from Sirona. He responded in kind. Her nostrils flared and she breathed in deep.

“Oh, Master, you smell wonderful. I love your scent.”

He nodded in agreement.

Yes, my pet, I am fond of your scent as well.