[CHAPTER 15.2: THE SNAKE AND THE SNAKE]
Abnaki paced through the praying hall, followed by several priests. He pursed his lips as he watched all the villagers were still kneeling and bowing inside the Great Temple.
The folks from the tiger village were all praying for Bella's safe return.
"Please rise up, everyone," one of the priests in the hall spoke to the villagers, "the gods have given a sign to our high priest through his dream, that Lady Bella is safe and will return to us soon."
"Is it true...?"
"Then our lord will be glad."
"Let us pray some more. The gods will look after Lady Bella if we pray more."
"And we have to bring more offerings to the gods as well!"
"Yes, yes. Let us do that."
"Lady Bella was kind to us, this is the least we could do for her and our Lord Gaharu."
Abnaki held in his deep breath as he listened to the talk of the villagers. He gestured to the priests to get back into the temple.
"Have you found the beastman who called himself the apothecary?" Abnaki asked one of his young subordinates.
"Our people are still searching, your holiness." One young panther replied.
"But there is a rumor saying that he had died two years ago, your holiness." Another one stated.
Abnaki's jaw clenched as he sucked in a deep breath,
"Let me know as soon as there is news." Abnaki tapped on the young priest's shoulder.
Abnaki returned to his high priest chamber and let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the raised stone platform, resting his forearms on the short legged table where he was seated.
He had promised Gaharu that he would find the solution for Moro tribe's poisonous blades. However, he had not found any solution.
Abnaki too, was worried about Lady Bella. And he had tried to connect with the gods and asked for signs. But he could feel nothing. He had no choice but to lie about his dream, if that could make everyone feel less worried.
I cannot seem to hear the voices of the gods anymore... I cannot see the signs that I normally could. Why...? Why now when I desperately need to see and hear it, the gods did not answer to my prayers?
Abnaki thought about Lady Bella, a being from another world that was said to bring the fall of all beasts, as written in the prophecy. But after he had spent time with her, he realized she was nothing but a kindhearted, fearless, knowing, enlightened young female.
Lady Bella, hope you are safe and sound.

*****
Tayen squinted his eyes. It was probably because he had lost an amount of blood, his vision started to blurry.
He let out a low chuckle as he glanced around the forest that was filled with dead manoks. Some of his hunters were badly wounded. The color of blood was seen everywhere. He turned at Bella who was still standing beside him and stretched out his hand to touch the side of her face,
"Are you alright? Were you hurt?"
Bella let out a long sigh of relief, shaking her head slightly. He had asked her that same question twice. Tayen then turned to look at Mihaje who was still standing steadily after killing almost a thousand of those damn manoks. Panting, but still standing. His stamina was indeed extraordinary.
"Well done, brother of mine. Now, return to the castle."
"Yes, my lord." Mihaje bowed slightly before giving out the order to the hunting party.
"Wait, aren't we supposed to take these back?" Bella asked about the dead manoks.
"No, their meat are not edible. We hunt the smaller kind of manoks for their meat. But these, we kill them because they are a threat."
Bella's jaw dropped open after hearing Tayen's answer. So, everyone almost died for nothing...?
"Did you just endanger your own people for nothing? At least use these manoks' skin and fur to make coats or quilts! Make every effort worth it."
Bella's suggestion was very encouraging. Tayen pinched her chin gently,
"My, you are absolutely right, Bella." Tayen then turned to Mihaje and gave a single nod. Mihaje nodded back. He understood immediately that Tayen wants him to bring all the dead manoks back to the lizard villages to make coats and quilt out of the manok fur. Mihaje doesn't need to hear words from Tayen to know what he wants. They were twins, their minds were somehow connected. They understood each other well.
"I will bring a large team to carry out the task, my lord." Mihaje bowed. His eyes glanced over at Bella for a brief moment but he immediately averted his gaze.
*****
"Hmm..." Bella soaked herself into the tub, closing her eyes as she leaned on her back.
Today's incident made her realize how terrifyingly amazing Mihaje's stamina and fighting skills were. And how terrifyingly powerful Tayen's influence on Mihaje. It was no wonder they said the Moro tribe was fearsome. Tayen and Mihaje could not be without each other. Tayen is killable without Mihaje and Mihaje is lost without Tayen. Mihaje would be aimless without a master pointing him directions.
Bella opened her eyes when she felt like she was being watched. She gasped loudly when she saw Mihaje stood beside her tub.
"Look away, you pervert!" She splashed him water but he didn't budge.
Bella grunted as she turned to the side, covering her breasts with one hand while one hand reached for the clean cloth on the chair next to her tub.
"What are you, a fuckin' ninja? Sneaking in without a sound..." She mumbled.
Mihaje scoffed slightly. Or was he chuckling? He took off his mask and bent down towards her.
"What are you-"
She puzzled when he suddenly leaned in to kiss her. His kiss was overbearing and dominant, giving her no chance to react.
"Hm..." Bella tried to suck in a breath but he continued to kiss her hard, thrusting his long tongue into her mouth, dominating hers.
She let him conquer her mouth for a while and she eventually pushed him away when her nose caught a metallic smell of fresh blood.
"You're still bleeding," she gasped when she noticed his blood dripping into the water tub, contaminating her bath water.
"Do you want him? Or me?" His raspy voice sounded weak, as if whispering.
"We should get that treated first."  Bella wrapped herself in a clean cloth as she stood up, getting out of the tub. She pulled Mihaje and had him seated on her bed before she fumbled at the drawers to look for something she could use.
She couldn't find anything useful so she tore the dress that the servants had placed on her bed and went to sit beside him.
"Take your armor off," she said. Water was still dripping from her wet hair and her tiny hair stood on end.
"Are you cold?" Mihaje asked when he saw her shivering slightly. He had taken off his armor and threw it on the floor with a loud thud. He then took off the fabric shirt he was wearing under his armor.
"I'm good. Let me see your wound." Bella cleared her throat, trying not to stare at Mihaje's sexy body. Although he appeared slim, his muscles were firm and toned. His biceps and eight packs were undeniably sexy, seducing her eyes to keep on staring.
Mihaje quietly lifted his arm up and let Bella examine the severe bite mark on his forearm. He then watched as she went to wet the cloth to clean his wound. He silently stared as Bella wrapped his forearm with another piece of fabric she had torn from the dress. He gulped and averted his eyes when he realized her aroused nipples were visible under the thin fabric wrapping around her body.
When she was done, she kissed the bandage lightly like how her mother used to kiss her swollen knees every time she fell when she was a kid.
"There," she murmured with a gentle smile on her face.
For the first time ever, Mihaje felt the warmth he thought he would never have the chance to feel in this lifetime. He felt the care that he himself had forgotten how much he wanted to feel. He felt like something warm blooming in his chest, and something wet flowing down his cheek.
Bella widened her eyes when she saw a single tear leaked out from his watery eyes.
Snakes do not cry; they don't have the anatomy to do so. Snakes do not have tear ducts like humans and other mammals, and they also have transparent scales called spectacles over their eyes, both of which means they are unable to shed tears. But since this is not the human world, perhaps things are different? Just like how snakes don't have external ears or eardrums like humans do, snakes can't hear sounds in the same way that we can. But here in the beastmen world, it's probably not the same?

Correct, this is the beastmen world... A world where nothing makes sense.
Bella pursed her lips when Mihaje immediately brushed the single tear before it could even reach his cheek. Did he actually think she didn't see that? Bella glanced around the room, acting as if she did not see the tear that Mihaje had brushed away. Mihaje's lips formed a faint smile. She was being too obvious.
No one had ever shown concern about his wound before. All they knew was how to inflict wounds on him.
Those eyes again. Those blood red irises that were keeping years of unspeakable pain inside. Bella touched the side of his face as she came forward to peck a kiss on his cold forehead.
Whatever that he had gone through, he's never going to experience it again. She wanted him to know that. Mihaje wrapped his arms around her tiny waist as he buried his face into her chest. The fabric on her was slightly wet, yet her body was warm. Bella gasped slightly when his cold skin touched hers, before she too, embraced him back, caressing his head gently.
"Bella," Mihaje suddenly spoke after a while, "I want you. I want you with all my heart."
*****