Chapter 467
Vefir
“You aren’t invincible. The Zaaktif isn’t either, so you certainly shouldn’t think you don’t need to report to one of the healers after a battle. There is so much we don’t understand about our enemies that it serves the Empire to let us see what exactly happens when one is struck by an attack. Do you understand me, Wisterl?”
The Khatif that sat on a stone bench in front of him flared her frills in acknowledgment. It was obvious that she hated being there, that she didn’t want to be injured, but it was also blatantly obvious that she was an idiot and needed to have this lesson beaten into her through shame, pain, and any other method that was allowed him.
Several seconds passed and she said nothing more, so Vefir growled at her, “You’re a Hak’Tal. Your place is to fight and bleed on the front lines of the Empire. It isn’t to die for no reason because you’re embarrassed that you’re not infallible. If you can’t learn your lesson, I will ensure that you are relegated to the back lines until your teeth fall out from old age. Are you understanding?”
At that, the female perked up and clacked her teeth in denial of the possibility. “I will exercise greater caution in all that I do! I must live up to the name given to me and become a Keel!”
“And a corpse can’t do that, so do what you need to to stay alive.”
With those as his last words, Vefir waved off the foolhardy youngling and scratched at several of the scales across his ribs. When he’d evolved to become a Keel, the scales across his chest, neck, and sides had grown four or five times larger, becoming even more armor-like than ever. He didn’t usually fight these days, but he frequently found that dead skin from his constant, slow growth got caught under those scales specifically. Every so often he was able to enter the bath with the Zaaktif, and those were a rare treat. His versatile magic could make the sands scrub so much better than mere hands could, but there was a war beginning outside. There was no time to indulge in a bath like that.
While he scratched, he felt a sudden comfort settle over him, and he stretched in anticipation of what was coming. Shemira walked out from behind him and scratched exactly where he needed without him needing to say anything about it. With a small chuckle, he leaned back into her, the warmth of her larger frame cutting through the chill of the night. She leaned her neck over his shoulder until her head draped over his chest.
Unable to stop himself, he twisted quickly and tried to catch the back of her neck in his jaws, but was unsurprised when she reacted too quickly and escaped his clutches. Unlike some of the other Keel and Khatif, they didn’t ever fight for dominance. Many of Percral’s mates enjoyed him proving his strength over them, but there were no illusions between Vefir and Shemira as to which of them would win a fight. Shamira was larger, her caste ostensibly the same as his, but having been an Alpha, however briefly, as a hatchling had shaped her growth. Though she couldn’t compare to the true giants among the Empire's citizens, she was ten feet tall and covered in lean, powerful muscle.