A male naga had captured me.
Not the one from before, another one with darker scales and angrier gaze.
Several blades flashed around us.
The male naga from before slashed its sword, aiming for my neck.
CLANG!!!
Before it could reach me, the one holding me lashed out with his tail, knocking the sword aside.
"Shssrak! Hraa kith!" he snarled at the attacker.
The others hissed back in protest.
"Rrassh! Kill! Kith human!"
"Kraa! Hisss! Shra toru!"
The female naga from before slithered closer still covering her chest with two of her hands.
The male from earlier was behind her, looking at me with a conflicted face.
The naga holding me glanced at her, then at him.
His eyes were filled with suspicion.
He said something in their language.
"Shssra… kith not… rraksha… we keep."
Some of them hissed in clear rejection, slamming their tails against the floor.
But he ignored them.
With four arms wrapped around my body, he lifted me up as if I were just a bag of rice and slung me across his front like luggage.
My legs dangled uselessly.
'I'm cooked….'
He dragged me away from the stream, deeper into the tunnels.
The air became warmer the farther we went, and the ground under his tail felt smoother.
After a while, the tunnel widened.
The ceiling rose higher.
Small crystals were embedded into the stone, giving off a soft blue light.
They were placed at regular distances, like street lamps.
Then the passage opened into a huge underground dome.
It was a settlement.
The dome was wide enough to fit a small town.
Stone pillars held up the ceiling, and between them were many doorways carved into the rock
Some doors were covered by thick cloth curtains. Others had wooden frames.
A few even had carved symbols, like family marks.
Naga moved everywhere.
Some carried baskets of mushrooms and roots.
Some were scraping hide on flat stones, shaping it into leather.
Others were weaving rope from long fibers, their extra arms moving like machines.
Near one side, I saw a shallow pool fed by underground water.
A few naga were scooping water into jars, while others washed tools and cloth.
There were also small farming patches.
Rows of mushrooms, and moss beds grown under crystal light.
A few naga tended them.
This is something I never seen or heard before.
A monster have their own civilization and community.
My brain struggled to accept it.
'So… they live like this.'
The naga carrying me moved through the dome.
The other naga followed behind, including the female from earlier, now fully dressed and looking stiff and annoyed.
The male from before was also there, still avoiding my eyes.
As we went deeper, I noticed something else.
A building carved into the rock that stood out from the rest.
It had a wide entrance, and two lines of small naga were standing in formation outside.
They looked younger, barely half the height of average naga.
A veteran naga stood in front of them, barking orders.
His posture was straight, and he wore darker armor than the rest.
Above his head, my eyes caught a floating label.
[Naga Knight]
My heart jumped.
This naga was stronger than a naga warrior.
My chance of escaping this place now became impossible.
The veteran naga punched his arms forward.
The small nagas copied him,.
It looked like a training ground.
The naga holding me passed them without stopping.
The veteran naga glanced at us, then looked away without care.
We moved past the training area and entered a quieter section of the dome.
The doorways here were larger.
Finally, we stopped in front of a smaller building.
The entrance had carved patterns on both sides.
The naga holding me hissed something.
"Shssra… kith human. Rraksha pit. Affair."
The others behind him, including the female and several naga who had chased me earlier, all lowered their heads.
"Shra…"
"Kraa…"
The door opened by itself.
A red-gold name flashed in my vision.
[Naga Priestess]
She was about average human height, smaller than all the naga I had seen so far.
Her upper body was human-shaped, blue-skinned, and she had four arms instead of six.
She wore a simple dress that exposed her shoulders and thighs.
Her silver eyes swept over the group, then landed on me.
Like she was judging an object.
I gulped.
Unlike the other naga, this priestess looked completely like a human.
Her lower body was not that of a serpent.
If her skin color was normal and you removed the scales on her forearms and shoulders, she could easily pass as a normal human.
Hell, people would go crazy over her beauty.
'If it's her…'
The thought stuck in my mind.
The naga holding me spoke again.
"Shssra… kith no. Rraksha… kith truth."
The priestess listened without interrupting.
Then she pointed to the side of her house.
"Kraa'thir. Sshra."
A moment later, another figure approached.
A tall naga in armor stopped in front of her and bowed.
[Naga Knight]
The priestess gave another short instruction.
"Shra'khal. Toru. Hisssha."
The knight bowed again and stepped aside, like he had been assigned a task.
Then the naga holding me finally loosened his grip.
He pulled me down and placed me on my feet in front of the priestess.
I almost fall down, but I force myself to stand.
The naga behind me backed away.
One by one, they left, following the naga knight with lowered heads.
I was left alone with the priestess.
The priestess grabbed my hand and pulled me inside her house.
The inside was simple.
Stone walls, a few shelves, a table covered with parchment, and jars filled with dried herbs and powders.
She shoved me into an empty cage made of metal bars.
It was just big enough for me to sit and stand, but not enough to lie down comfortably.
Then she locked it.
She sat down at the table.
Without even looking at me again, she picked up a pen and began writing.
Like I was not even there.
'Just what's going on? Why they kept me here?'