Page 124 of Citrine

I'm not sure, so I go investigate. I assume Wroahk would have mentioned it, but then I remember that he's let me stumble into Many Teeth nests before.

He's still transitioning from being a solo hunter.

My heart's pounding as I swim down, but after careful checking, it seems there is only a small opening. It must lead to the lakebecause the water is flowing, but there's no way a predator can come in.

When I report my findings, Kira relaxes a bit, then moves to sit cross-legged facing the cave opening. "You haven't seen any threats on the island?"

"No, but I haven't explored the whole thing. There are these giant alligator things in the lake Wroahk calls Many Teeth, though. They are pretty horrific, and I almost died to one of them my first day here."

"And Wroahk can't exterminate them?"

I hadn't considered that. "Well, probably, but they are also part of what will keep us safe, plus Wroahk, of course. Unless you dump a bunch of blood in the water, or one of them starts hunting you, I think they'll leave us alone. Just don't… well I was going to say don't go into the deep water, but I guess you can't. Nevermind."

Ree speaks up again. "We could always build something out in the water to make sure they can't come up into the cove, plus along the shore edges. The cliffs make this naturally defensible."

Rannek's fur ripples, I assume in excitement. "I can build that. I'll start right away."

He starts to move out of the cave, but Kira holds up a hand. "No. You should wait until Wroahk is back so he can protect you."

His purple fur spikes out, nearly doubling his already massive size.

I come up out of the water and place a hand on his arm, soaking his fur. "He won't hurt you, I promise, but I'll be there with you the whole time, so you aren't scared."

"Alright."

"You can tell me all about your home and I'll tell you about mine. It'll be fun."

His fur settles back down, and I move back into the soothing water.

"Good," I say. "Now, on to more important matters. Such as how you two got tails, and I didn't."

They both laugh.

"Jealous much?" needles Kira.

"Shush," Ree tells her, but there is a similar wicked look on her face. "I'm not going to lie, I wasn't a fan of my new tail and venom at first, but it… grew on me."

She looks at us with a silly look on her face, and I can't help but laugh at her attempt to further lighten the mood.

"I'm a marine, Eli," Kira says while she rolls her eyes at Ree. "Do you know how many genali I would kill for your gills? It's fucking cool. Not to mention I'm pretty sure you could strangle all kinds of things to death with those tentacles."

I pull them forward and up out of the water where they were floating, constantly sending me information about the water I'm in.

They've gotten progressively longer and thicker, and I realize she's right. The ones on the top of my head are smaller and shorter, but the ones near the base of my skull are as thick as my arms and reach even farther.

I haven't been thinking of them as a weapon. I tell one to pick up one of the scrap pieces of wood Rannek left lying near the pool of water.

It's thick, well beyond what I could break with my hands. With just a thought, one of my bright yellow tentacles wraps around it, easily splitting it in half.

"Fuck yes, Eli," barks out Kira, a manic grin on her face.

It's weird. All of this is weird, but that sort of excitement and acceptance feels really damn good.

54

Eli

They catch me up on the things they know about the aliens out there. My eyes get bigger and bigger the more they tell me. How they've been shot, stabbed, throats cut.

---