Chapter 333: Babysitting for Beginners
The sky above the dark swamp exploded into a flurry of golden feathers and emerald scales.
Altair, in his magnificent Golden Eagle form, was a terror of the skies. He dove with the speed of a missile, his talons extending just as the gargantuan swamp serpent reared back to strike. The serpent let out a deafening hiss, its jaws unhinging to reveal fangs the size of broadswords.
But Altair was faster. He banked sharply, avoiding the bite by mere inches, and drove his talons into the thick scales at the back of the serpent’s neck. Blood the color of dark oil sprayed into the air. The snake thrashed wildly, its massive tail whipping through the water and sending geysers of muck into the sky, but Altair held on with an iron grip, tearing into the beast with his curved beak.
Down below, however, Ren was too preoccupied with her own impending doom to appreciate the epic clash of titans.
The mud bank beneath her knees was literally dissolving. The swarm of small, shimmering silver piranhas had completely surrounded her shrinking island. They were vibrating with ravenous hunger, clicking their razor-sharp teeth together like thousands of tiny castanets.
"Back off!" Ren yelled, kicking a chunk of mud into the water.
The piranhas devoured the mud instantly, completely unfazed. The water lapped maliciously at her toes. The island, now barely the size of a large pizza box, shuddered. The edges gave way.
"Altair!" Ren shrieked, clutching the fluffy, half-black, half-white tiger cub tightly to her chest.
The ground beneath her collapsed. Ren squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to be stripped to the bone in a matter of seconds.
A gust of wind hit her so hard it knocked the breath from her lungs. Strong hands wrapped around her waist. She was yanked upward, her feet lifting out of the mud just a fraction of a second before the silver swarm surged over the spot where she had been kneeling.
The wind roared in her ears. Within moments, the creepy sounds of the swamp faded, replaced by the cold rush of the high altitudes.
Altair carried her over the towering obsidian walls of the Snake King’s fortress, gracefully touching down on a stone balcony.
The moment Ren’s feet hit the solid rock, Altair released her.
Ren gasped for air, her adrenaline crashing hard. She looked up to thank him, but the words instantly died in her throat.
Altair was naked. His chiseled, muscular physique was fully on display under the moonlight. But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the dozen or so tiny, silver swamp piranhas that had clamped their jaws onto his skin during his dive.
The eagle beastman looked unbothered. With a blank expression, he began casually flicking the biting fish off his chiseled abs and muscular thighs, tossing them over the edge of the balcony like mildly annoying lint.
Ren immediately averted her eyes, her face flushing a brilliant red. She had seen Altair naked countless times, yes. She had touched every inch of him. But for some frustrating reason, she simply could not get rid of this ridiculous shyness. Every time she saw her husbands in their natural, unclothed glory, it felt exactly like she was seeing them for the very first time.
"Altair," Ren stammered, staring fixedly over his left shoulder. "Um. You have a... a stowaway."
Altair paused. He looked at her, his striking golden eyes blinking slowly.
Ren squeezed her eyes shut, gesturing vaguely toward his lower half. "A fish. There is a fish. On your... um. Your lower...area."
Altair looked down. Indeed, a particularly ambitious, silver piranha was firmly clamped onto the side of his impressive, endowed appendage. Without a flinch, Altair pinched the fish by its tail, popped its jaws open, and casually tossed it back into the swamp.
"It is gone," Altair stated, his voice a smooth, deep rumble.
Ren exhaled a breath of relief, refusing to look down just in case. She clutched the sleeping tiger cub closer to her chest. "Thank you. For saving me. And for saving... him."
Altair finally looked at the tiny bundle of fur in her arms. He tilted his head slightly.
"Okay, I know this is going to sound completely insane," Ren began, speaking a mile a minute. "But Vara had a baby. Carik is the father, but Vara thinks the baby is a monster, so she tried to drown him. I jumped in, saved him, and Vex got locked up, yes, he is here and is going to be executed TOMORROW, and I fell down a magic waterfall!"
Altair, being the only person in the Beast World who knew about...well, everything, simply listened in silence.
"And the weirdest part!" Ren continued, pacing the balcony frantically. "When the cub touched me, I had a vision! I saw the waterfall again, green trees, the sun, and the blue sky! I saw it when I was drowning, too! And then I woke up dry in the scullery! Altair, I feel like I am losing my mind!"
Altair said nothing in response. His eyes remained intently trained on the fluffy cub in her arms. He took a step closer, peering at the infant’s mismatched eyes.
"He is like that tiger," Altair finally spoke, his deep voice carrying a rare hint of curiosity.
Ren nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Carik! The Black Tiger King! He’s the father! I told you about him before, remember?"
But Altair slowly shook his head, his golden hair catching the moonlight. "No. Not the black tiger. The cub is like the white tiger."
Ren frowned, confused. "You mean Vara? Vara is a white tiger, so it makes sense. This cub is half and half."
"No not her," Altair clarified, struggling to find the right words to describe the beastman he was thinking of. "The other white tiger. He is Kael but not Kael, the other Kael."
Ren’s brain buffered violently. She tried to rack her brain, but she drew blank after blank. ’He is Kael but not Kael, the other Kael? So, is he talking about Kael? I’m so confused.’
"I have no idea who you are describing," Ren admitted, shaking her head. "And I, unfortunately, do not have the time to figure it out right now! I have a feast for two hundred carnivores to cook, and it’s already running extremely late!"
Ren stepped forward and gently shoved the cub into Altair’s hands.
"You have to hide him!" Ren ordered frantically, adjusting her dress. "There are guests arriving from all over for the feast tonight. If anyone sees him, they might tell Syris or try to hurt him. He needs to stay out of sight. And please, ensure that he eats something! I will come back for him as soon as the feast is over!"
Before Altair could even attempt to refuse, Ren spun on her heel and sprinted to the closest door.
Altair stood still on the stone ledge. The cold night wind ruffled his golden hair.
He held the tiny, fluffy tiger cub at full arm’s length. The cub blinked its mismatched gold and red eyes and stared right back at him.
He didn’t know how to hold it. He didn’t know what to do with it.
Altair looked around, his vision scanning the castle far and wide for a suitable hiding spot. Making a decision, two large, glorious golden wings erupted from his back. He took to the sky, soaring high above the fortress until he reached his favorite spot: the highest, most secluded spire of the roof.
He landed softly and set the little cub down on the cold stone tiles.
"Stay," Altair commanded, his voice deep and authoritative.
The tiny cub simply tilted its head, letting out a soft, confused squeak.
Altair nodded once and took off into the night sky again.
Left alone on the freezing, wind-swept roof, the little tiger cub let out a pathetic shiver. It curled its tiny, half-black, half-white body into a tight little ball, tucking its nose under its striped tail to keep warm.
Some time later, a rush of wind signaled Altair’s return.
He landed gracefully, shifting his wings away. He knelt down in front of the shivering cub and proudly dumped his gathered bounty onto the stone tiles.
There was a handful of crushed, hard tree nuts, a few bruised, milky-white swamp flowers, a very dead, very squished marsh-frog, and a freshly caught furry swamp rat.
Altair pointed a finger at the morbid pile of food. "Eat."
The little cub uncurled from its ball. It sniffed the crushed nuts, sneezed at the milky flowers, and stared at the dead rat with what could be considered disgust. The cub flattened its tiny ears, turned its head away, and tucked its nose back under its tail, rejecting the meal.
Altair frowned, his brow furrowing in genuine confusion. He stared at the dead frog, and then at the stubborn cub.
He slowly sat back on his heels, crossing his arms.
’What do baby tigers like?’ Altair wondered silently.