THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 369: 369: FAMILY

Sagiri’s consciousness returned in fragments. First came the sound of wind rushing past him.

Then the steady rhythm of enormous movements shaking the earth beneath him. Everything else felt distant, as though he were trapped beneath an endless sea, struggling toward a surface that refused to come closer.

His eyelids fluttered open, only to close again as the world spun violently.

His vision was nothing but shifting blurs of light and shadow. He tried to breathe, but even that felt heavy. His chest burned with every breath, and the poison still gnawed at him from within.

Slowly, painfully, his sight began to clear. Beneath him was not stone. It was warm and alive.

He could hear the strong heartbeat and another beneath it.

Black scales stretched in every direction beneath his body. He was lying across the broad head of Zaira.

The colossal beast was moving at tremendous speed, each stride carrying them farther across the northern wilderness while the wind tore through Sagiri’s crimson hair.

For several long moments, he simply stared, trying to understand. Then his lips parted.

”Zaira...” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

”...beauty... you came.” The beast’s massive ears twitched.

Without slowing, Zaira released a low rumble that rolled through its chest before gradually coming to a halt atop a lonely ridge overlooking an endless expanse of mountains. It lowered its enormous head with impossible gentleness, careful not to disturb its master.

A deep, mournful whimper escaped the creature, soft enough that only Sagiri could have heard it. It nudged him lightly with the side of its snout, golden eyes fixed upon him with unmistakable worry.

For all its terrifying size and monstrous strength, in that moment it looked less like a beast of war and more like a loyal companion terrified of losing the only person it had ever truly accepted.

Sagiri managed the faintest smile before another cough seized him, blood staining the black scales beneath him. He reached out with a trembling hand and rested it against Zaira’s face.

”I’m... not dead yet,” he murmured, stroking the beast weakly between the eyes. Zaira let out another quiet whimper, lowering its head even further as if refusing to leave his side until he could stand again.

Sagiri forced his heavy eyes open once more, the world still swimming before him.

It took several moments before he recognized the familiar rhythm beneath him and the direction of the stars overhead. They were heading south. A weary sigh escaped his lips.

He raised a trembling hand and rested it weakly against the warm scales beneath him.

”Zaira...” he whispered, his voice barely audible above the rushing wind. The great beast immediately slowed, one ear flicking backward to listen.

”We... can’t go home yet.” He swallowed painfully as another wave of poison surged through his veins. ”We have to go north... to the Endless Pool... beneath Galka War Academy.” His breathing became labored.

”I’ll... get better there.” Sagiri finished in a whisper.

Zaira released another low, mournful whimper, the sound carrying far more emotion than any roar she had ever unleashed in battle. She nudged her head slightly, as though protesting the decision, but Sagiri managed a faint smile.

”You know where it is...” he murmured. ”Take me there...” Before he could say another word, agony exploded through his body. It felt as though molten iron had been poured directly into his veins.

The poison clawed at the relics again, forcing blood from his mouth as his vision dissolved into darkness.

He lost consciousness before he even felt himself collapse against the beast’s scales. Time passed without meaning.

Then, suddenly, Sagiri jolted awake. Night had fallen. The stars stretched endlessly above them. A deafening roar shattered the silence, so violent that the surrounding mountains threw it back again and again in thunderous echoes.

Zaira.

The beast had stopped moving. Sagiri remained cradled securely between the enormous ridges of her scales, protected from being thrown even as every muscle in her colossal body tensed for battle.

Her head was lowered, her wing-like sides half-spread, black mist pouring from between her scales as another savage roar ripped through the darkness.

Yet Sagiri immediately understood something was wrong. This was not the roar of a beast eager to fight. It was a warning. A desperate attempt to keep something away.

Despite the fury in her voice, she refused to lunge forward, refused to charge, refused to leave him exposed. Whatever stood before them had forced even Zaira into a defensive stance. Sagiri struggled to lift his head, pain stabbing through his chest with every movement.

Through blurred vision, he could just make out shapes moving beyond the darkness ahead. Someone... or something... had stopped them.

A calm voice finally broke the standoff.

”Zaira... we leave for a few days, and you forget us already?” The words carried an amused warmth that Sagiri recognized instantly.

N’varu.

Even through the haze clouding his mind, Sagiri could sense the others now. Nine familiar presences stood behind the boy, each calm, steady, and dangerous in their own right.

The Sandshades from whom N’varu was chosen to serve Sagiri.

Off to one side stood Salka and his squad, weapons already drawn, every one of them in a defensive stance. None of them had ever laid eyes upon a creature like Zaira before, and their instincts had reacted exactly as seasoned warriors should.

Unfortunately, Zaira’s instincts had done the same.

The beast viewed every armed person before her as a potential threat to the poisoned master she carried between her scales.

Black mist seeped from her body as another guttural growl rolled from deep within her chest, her golden eyes never leaving Salka’s men. One wrong movement and she would tear through them without hesitation.

Sagiri tried to raise himself, but a violent cough seized him instead. Blood splattered across Zaira’s scales as pain ripped through his chest. The beast immediately answered with another earth-shaking roar, lowering her massive head protectively over him.

Even N’varu’s robes fluttered beneath the force of it, though the boy did not move an inch. Sagiri finally managed to catch his breath.

”Zaira...” he said weakly, reaching out to pat one of the enormous scales beneath him. The beast’s ear twitched, but she did not lower her guard. Sagiri sighed, exhausted. ”They’re my friends... you know this.” Another low growl vibrated through her body.

He closed his eyes for a moment before speaking again, this time with the same tone one would use to calm a stubborn child.

”Stop throwing a tantrum.” Silence followed. Then, almost reluctantly, Zaira let out a long, irritated huff. The black mist around her began to thin, and although she continued watching Salka’s squad with unmistakable suspicion, she slowly lowered her head a fraction.

Salka finally released the breath he had been holding. One of his men quietly muttered,

”That thing understands him...”

N’varu merely smiled beneath his hood.

”Of course she does,” he replied. ”She’s family.”