Page 4 of Serpents of the Night

The holographic image suddenly violently twisted, startling the medic slightly as Lori’s belly jumped and shifted and their son’s tail promptly wrapped around him, concealing most of him from view. It drew a deep chuff of amusement from Daskh as the large male at her left leaned forward to peer at the hologram with interest.

“He is so tiny,” he observed, a note of awe in his voice.

“Yes. Due to human genetics playing a part, I imagine that he’s smaller than usual for your species at this developmental stage and will probably have a much smaller birth size. But from what I see, you should deliver a perfectly healthy little male,” Medic Jasper cheerfully agreed.

A look of dismay crossed her big mate’s face and quickly shifted to panic until Slengral’s wing slapped at him affectionately. “Do not worry. If he’s born small and defenseless, then we will simply take measures to keep him tucked under our wings and well protected. This is not the shinara.”

Lori tipped her head back and directed a surprised look over at her mates. “What happens in the shinara?”

Daskh’s gaze slid reluctantly to her before dropping away as his wings flittered and shrugged. “A small size would not be an issue for a female who would be tended and well cared for her by her mother, but males are treated differently even from birth. If we are not large enough or strong enough to cling to her moments after birth, there is a high risk of the female rejecting him and leaving him behind. It is a practice excused as a manner of culling males that might not survive into adulthood and prevent breeding weak males back into the shinara if they managed to capture a female.”

“Many weaker males fail to survive anyway,” Slengral added darkly, sharing a knowing look with the male at his side.

“I don’t understand.” Lori couldn’t wrap her head around abandoning weaker infants, though she knew it was a practice that had been done historically among human cultures, but a healthy infant failing to survive—she just didn’t get how.

Daskh blew out a long breath, his gavo rippling with obvious distress. “As I said, we are reared differently. From the moment that we manage to survive for one dozen revolutions around the big sun, we are raised communally in the haga with other young males to provide us with basic skills and education we will need—and to make us tougher. Fighting for scraps and what little was provided was encouraged to make us stronger and more resilient.” He winced as he added that, and Lori’s heart wept a little for him at that moment.

Despite his size, her Daskh was of a tender nature. He was slow to anger and preferred to keep to himself and entertain himself with some sort of quiet task or hobby. She could well imagine a soft-hearted male, bigger than some of the smaller, scrappier among them, being targeted and ganged up on. It wasn’t unusual to see it among human boys, and in an environment that encouraged fighting among the boys, she could see it being even more brutal. And that brutality had obviously scarred him.

Slengral hissed softly. “Daskh does not say it all. They would not just encourage us to fight but did not intercede even if someone was grievously injured. Those who were not strong enough inevitably had their bodies hauled away when they could not fight any longer. In the shinara, it is justified because higher numbers of males are birthed for every female. Too many and those who survive must be strong enough to survive alone in the upper caves when our territorial instincts take hold. Of my five nest brothers that went to the haga, only two of them survived to adulthood.”

Daskh inclined his head, his gavo snapping miserably.

Lori stared at them in shock, and a quick glance made her aware that even Medic Jasper appeared to have paled a little where he stood. It was no wonder that her mates panicked just a little at the idea of having an undersized and more vulnerable son. So much for this checkup bringing them a little reprieve. It made them stressed all over again about things related to the shinara, things that would have no direct impact on their son. Even if meeting with the hashara entered them into a new relationship with the shinara, Lori would refuse to allow any such customs to take hold in Raza colony!

“But we will protect him and raise him to be strong,” Slengral reiterated for Daskh’s and undoubtedly his own benefit. “This is not the shinara, and we will care for him as any female nestling is cared for.”

“It’s not Sparta either,” Lori grumbled, the ancient human society with such practices that she recalled reading about in her youth coming to mind. “And Seshana will freeze over and be nothing more than a ball of ice before I ever allow anything like that to happen to our son,” she added, angry on behalf of the pain her mates had to endure and the idea that anyone would even dare think to subject her son to that sort of treatment.

Daskh hummed his agreement, his dark red wings curling with protective heat around her.

Hand tightening on his datapad, Medic Jasper looked down at it and blew out a breath of relief. “Well, the good news is, with the way he’s following closer in size to human fetal development—and given what little our resident males have been able to share with me regarding typical development from their own memories and the anatomical examinations you’ve all submitted to—there is no reason to believe that he won’t grow very rapidly after birth. Being born smaller will actually be of greater benefit for Lori’s health. At this point, I wouldn’t be too concerned about it, and Lori is right,” he assured the males, “the practices you described are illegal in the coalition and would never be carried out in Raza. But I don’t think you have to worry about this little guy. He’s nice and active as you can see, and everything looks normal as far as I can tell. I was even able to locate the major and minor sant genital pouches this time, which confirms that reproductively, he will most likely to take after Seshanamitesh in that aspect as well. His face is a bit more humanoid, but everything else seems on track for one of your species compared to the limited data I have.”

“Any idea of a due date?” Although she would be happy to receive him whenever he decided to make an appearance, she would rather be prepared as much as possible beforehand.

“Hmm, you still have a ways to go, I think.” He glanced over at Slengral. “You mentioned that females of your species are generally pregnant for a full year and a half, correct?”

Slengral’s gavo flicked in confirmation. “That is my understanding and what little I recall from my youth before I left the shinara. Females usually go into breeding season during the wet months when the moisture gathers on the surface of Seshana and snow accumulates in the mountains, drawing them up from the cool recesses of the lower caverns. They bear young afterward in the second dry season.”

The medic nodded. “With human gestation being just under a year, I’m going to guess that you are looking at a full year if not a little longer. So, you have at least another five to seven months to go. We will keep meeting monthly to keep an eye on the progress.”

Lori nodded, her eyes going back to the tightly coiled image of their son. He was sleeping again—or at least that was what it looked like. It was so incredibly sweet, and her heart melted as she watched him. Her comm chimed, interrupting her recording but she ignored it even as it repeated a moment later, entirely transfixed by his little form.

“And it looks like that’s all he’s going to give us,” Medic Jasper chuckled as he turned off the holographic sub-scanner, the perfect little image winking out of existence completely. “Besides, it seems like someone is trying to get your attention.”

Lori sighed and glanced down at her comm. Eddie.

“Yes, Eddie, go ahead,” she said as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the med-bed.

“Sorry to interrupt but you might want to get down here. Seems that somehow our guest has suddenly become aware of the fact that Seshanamitesh are breeding compatible and is... upset by the news. She is demanding to meet with you at once, Lori. Confidentially, this is not looking good,” he murmured.

Lori’s skin prickled but she gave a quelling look to both of her mates before they could object. The last place she wanted to be was stuck in a room with an angry, very large Seshanamitesh female but she didn’t have any choice. If she didn’t show—well she didn’t want to see the sort of damage that another attack, this time from the shinara itself, could do to the colony.

“Inform her that I’m on my way, and make sure that she’s aware of the fact that I will be bringing my mates with me, just in case she thinks she is going to get away with throwing her weight around. This isn’t the shinara and my mates are free to protect me from her however they feel is necessary. So she would be better off keeping control of herself when we arrive.”

“Noted,” Eddie replied drily. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t murder the messenger.”

Lori’s lips quirked humorlessly. “You are still the head of the colony. She won’t kill you that quickly. She won’t, right?” she asked, glancing to her guys for confirmation.

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