Page 101 of Black Mamba

She seeks to utilize the plants and what they have to offer by making warm, flavored drinks she calls tea from them. But she does not know what is readily edible, what is tasty, and what is not. Luckily, the orb can help her with that.

Now, I often hear it before I hear her. A third to our company as it flies above our heads.

I tilt my chin. “Thissss way.”

Elena does not look up from the ground, which she scans thoroughly for foragables. Meanwhile, I carry a basket of berries and leaves she has collected. Tonight, we will have a warm, fruity drink after she practices her crushing and steeping. Luckily, she seems to have the basics of what she needs in her ship.

She is happy, smiling often.

I have not seen her tears since her sister left.

“Thissss way,” I say, changing her course with a squeeze of my tailtip. Instead of heading down the mountain towards the water, I take her up it.

Her eyes rise from the ground. “We have enough berries today if you are taking me to another berry patch.”

“I am not taking you to a berry patch. Come.”

We ascend the steeper cliffs and hills at the top of the mountain. I help her along when she pants, clearing another heavily wooded area to maneuver through.

“Where are we going?”

I tug her after me. “You will see.”

We end upon a cliff with an overview of all of Black Mamba’s territory, including Ixi’s and what was once Deiys’s. Elena is silent as she steps forward to stand beside me, her attention on the landscape.

“I can just see the shimmering veil.”

I follow her eyes to the dome where, in the distance, the blue shield covers the land. “Yessss. But that is not what I want you to see. This,” I wave my hand outward, “this is ourssss. This is the land I keep and protect. This is your home. All of it. There are no walls here, only freedom. I want to give you this. I want you to love it as much as I do.”

Her eyes are wide when she laughs. “Give it to me? I don’t need land, only you. There’s so much of it. I’m going to get lost.”

“You may get lost now, but I will teach you the trails and pathways I have made. You will walk them all until you are confident within your home. I want you to be happy…”

Her eyes hood. “I am happy. Very much so.”

I cup her cheek, recalling all the times I have seen her tears. “You have lost so much.”

“But I have gained a lot as well.” She leans into my hand before stepping into my embrace. I rest my chin on her head and hold her to me. “Stop worrying. Jenna and I exchange comms every day, which is more than we did when we were on The Dreadnaut. I’ve never been closer to my sister, strangely enough.” She pulls out of my arms and looks over the cliff. “Earth really is beautiful, so, so beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here. So much of space is dark and gloomy. Also, I’ve been looking up at this mountain for so long, it’s something else to look down from it and to see everything at once.”

“I come here when I have little else to do. It brings me peace.”

“I can see why,” she whispers, gazing at the mountains, water, forests, and hills before her.

“It is nice being here with you.”

She leans into my side. “It is nice being here with you too.”

“Come.” I squeeze her and shift us toward the trees, coiling my tail around her foot to tug her after me. “Let us return below to wash the berries for I would really like to get you naked and in the water. It is time we bathed.”

“I agree.”

Later that evening, we are inside her ship. The sun is cresting the horizon, falling swiftly below it.

Now, resting after the day’s exertion and a wild, frenetic mounting where I spilled my seed inside her sheath, fireflies appear to flutter through the plants and bushes outside the window. I lean back against one of the round chairs in her ship’s lounge and watch as she sorts her berries and leaves and places them in small plastic boxes with caps.

When she is done, she wipes her hands and faces me. “A little more and I’ll be ready to go back to the encampment. We just need to figure out a good method in allocating or bringing water.”

I nod. She wants to help the refugees—not the military—inside the encampment. I told her I would take her back but only if she does not leave my side again. She vowed she would not, and she has made that promise numerous times. Though I am uncertain about returning so soon, her newfound joy in her work makes her radiate. And I like the way she looks when she radiates.