Page 12 of Nixx
“These creatures are related to the object we saw crossing the sky the other night and crashing into this bay. They survived the fall and took refuge on the shore. We were flying nearby and looking for the tracks of the crashed object when we saw them. So, we approached to see what we were dealing with. Then Kryll suddenly decided that these creatures deserved an immediate kill. He knocked out the two you see over there and knocked out the little female you see over there and was attacked by this little female, the one with the sunny mane, who jumped on him screaming unknown words. He was about to gut her too just before you arrived. Jaxx and Kurr have disarmed the two creatures you see further down the creek and are holding them at gunpoint with their swords.
“Did these creatures attack you or have an aggressive attitude?” I ask Udoo.
“Not at all,” begins Udoo.
“We have no use for these abominations from another world!” Kryll cuts him off, stiff with anger. “They have no wings and are foreign to Eris. And this one, in particular, deserves my blade more than the others, she disrespected me. And look at the abominable color of her mane! And her eyes are even worse! And she's bawling incomprehensible sounds. Look at these filthy things. We can't tolerate this on our land, that's obvious.”
I turn to the female, who by now silent, has also turned to me and looks at me warily. And as I meet her gaze of a lighter green than the purest creeks of the eastern lands, a violent shiver is born along my spine, spreads quickly through all my epidermis, and goes up to the tip of my wings.
While all my instincts are awakening to make me understand that this female is special, my reason reminds me that this creature is alien to my world and its lack of wings is a definite handicap for survival in our environment.
“What do you decide? Shall we finish the job?” Kryll urges me, certain of my decision to delete them all.
“You had no reason to attack these harmless creatures. You have shown unnecessary cruelty that is contrary to our values. These people may not be Erians, but they are in our world Eris and they need assistance, not malice, especially if they have done nothing to deserve it. Return to the Bastion immediately!” I ordered. I accompanied my verbal order with another, mental one, one charged with authority and anger. Udoo, go with him, don't let him get lost on the way.
Hatred briefly appears on his face as he is about to protest. But he finally decides to obey, convinced of the inefficiency of a possible protest. He flies away brutally in a furious gesture and leaves toward the Bastion, followed by Udoo.
I then turn back to the creature that generates in my head and my body the most total confusion.
“Who are you? What do you call yourself? What are you and your friends doing in my world?”
She shakes her head and answers me in an unknown language. Although I don't understand a word of it, her voice sends a new wave of shivers through my body.
My fascination does not weaken as I detail her from head to toe. She wears a garment covering almost her entire body, very tight, in the same style as her companions. She has a chest more developed than that of our women. Her curves are also more marked. Her face is thinner and her jaw is square. She also stares at me and curiously, her face is covered with redness, and she has small folds of expression at the level of the mouth and the eyebrows.
Curious, I turn to the other female, who has regained consciousness and is sitting up carefully. Following my gaze, my female turns to her friend and rushes toward her, shouting Eva. A flurry of unfamiliar words follows as she inspects her friend.
On my side, I look precisely at this other female to find a similar reaction in my body that would allow me to attribute these disturbing sensations to their state of foreign creatures. But nothing! This Eva, as it seems to be her name, although smaller than our women, has black hair, more common in my people. I file my disturbing thoughts in a corner of my mind and leave the two females to go and join my two other men; still watching the two foreign males.
One of the two males advances cautiously toward me, hands raised, in a non-bellicose attitude. His skin is almost as dark as my plumage, something as strange as the color of the hair of the beautiful . . .
“My name is Marc,” he says. I don't understand his language, but he repeats “Marc” several times, pointing at himself.
I nod my head to the side and name myself as well.
“Nixx.”
“Nixx?” He repeats, pointing at me. “Marc!” pointing to himself again. “David,” he adds, pointing to his foreign companion.
“Jaxx, Kurr.” I indicated to him, then by pointing successively at the two Erians who remained with me.
I mentally ask them to put their blades back in their scabbards and to look more welcoming. I then turn back to the beautiful fire-haired female, beckoning them all to follow me.
She is completely focused on her companion, who still seems dazed by the blow she received from Kryll. She palms her and talks to her gently, also checking her joints. Does she have a maternal attitude towards this other female, or is it sisterly? I am lost in suppositions.
“This is Eva,” says Marc, pointing to the black-haired female. “And this is Sarah,” he adds, pointing to the orange-haired beauty.
That's interesting . . . her name is Sarah. At this point, her companion is looking at me warily, even though she seems to have realized that my men and I will not assault them as Kryll did.
“I am Nixx, the leader of the Western Bastion. You have come to our world Eris, for a reason I do not know. We are Erians, I say, pointing to myself and my men. If you respect our customs, no further harm will come to you. Please accept my apologies on behalf of my people.” I pointed to the two disemboweled bodies beyond.
“Yohan, Yannis,” Marc indicates to me who, if he did not understand the content of my speech, understood well that I spoke about his two companions dead under the blade of Kryll and perceived, I hope, my regrets in the tone which I employed. “Ferdinand,” he says, showing me a third body that was sticking out behind a grove and that I had not seen.
He nods and says a few words to his companions in their language. He seems to be the leader of their group. Sarah gets up and goes to this third body, this Ferdinand, who is pierced with several crossbow arrows. Arrows that belong to Kryll. She inspects him and suddenly becomes agitated, talking to them at full speed. I understand that this one is not dead yet. Her companions join her immediately.
After a discussion between them, Marc turns to me and with slow gestures, indicates that they will move the body. I nod my head in agreement. My men and I discuss the situation among ourselves, watching them from the corner of our eyes. The tension between us has eased considerably, but you never know. Besides, it can still get out of hand with their companion who is in a bad way. Whatever they plan to do with this Ferdinand, it's bound to fail. If he's not dead yet, he will be soon; three arrows are sticking out of his chest.
I finally spot a large, long box, made of some unknown material, which they are heading toward. This strange box looks like a large elongated egg, with a smooth rather reflective surface. As I get closer, I see a small round illuminated orange circle, on one side of the box. Sarah places her hand on this small circle and the box opens in two, without a sound, revealing the body of a new stranger. Marc turns to me again and points to the body in a calm voice, Gregory.
