Page 18 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
I could hear the chii moving ahead of me.He hadn't mentioned how much further I had to travel.For a chii, he was especially taciturn.The chii I'd met in the past had always been chatty, full of tales and stories they desired to share.They had a rich heritage that I had only heard glimpses of, yet it had been enough to convince me that they were an ancient civilisation with a history, culture and belief system.Their small size only meant that other species underestimated them, not that they were inferior.
The first moon was already travelling across the sky by the time the chii emerged from the thicket again.
"We are here," he announced.
I surveyed the area, both for a den and yet more camera drones.
"Where are we?"I asked when I couldn't find anything that remotely resembled an entrance or burrow.
"The portal.You will have to climb this tree.We don't want witnesses, so we brought the female to our most secret den.You will be the first outsider to be granted access.If you betray us, you will die."
I had to suppress a smirk.Join the queue.
"I will not betray you as long as you don't betray me.I promise on my ancestors."
The chii sniffed, its tiny nose wrinkling.It was utterly adorable, but I made sure not to show my feelings.He was clearly a proud male.
"Do you have a name?"I asked.
"Yes.And you have not yet proven worthy to hear it."
Ouch.
I shrugged and started wrapping myself around the tree he'd pointed out, climbing as fast as I could.It was a long time since I'd last climbed a tree.I pulled myself up as far as I could reach with my arms, then curled my tail around the tree as tightly as I could, before reaching up again.It was a slow process, made harder by the sticky sap clinging to the purple bark.
I resisted the urge to ask the chii how high in the tree the portal was located.I didn't want to hear him say that I'd spend another hour rubbing my scales sore and straining muscles that hadn't seen any actions in rotations.He'd climbed past me at the very start and was waiting somewhere high above me.
When I reached the first branch stretching away from the main trunk, the chii chirped disapprovingly.
"You took your time."
I bit back a grumpy reply and simply waited for him to continue.
"You are getting close to the portal.You might want to roll up that tail of yours.I don't know what will happen if only half of you is sent through the portal."
I didn't want to find out either.I carefully made my way along the thick branch that was almost broad enough to allow for three nagas side by side.Even after watching Kalumbu on the vidscreens for so many rotations, I was not prepared for the sheer scale of this planet.Everything was oversized.The trees, the monsters, the deadliness.The chii were the only exception.
A telltale shimmer above a bend in the branch signalled the portal's location.For some reason, the game makers' drones could neither sense nor navigate the chii portals.Considering I could hear at least two of them buzzing in the distance, I was glad that we'd be rid of them in just a moment.
The chii male didn't wait.He jumped through the portal, his feathered silhouette glittering in silver light for a moment before he disappeared in a cloud of sparks.I stopped at the edge of the shimmering air and followed the chii's advice, wrapping most of my coils closely around my upper body.Moving like this was slow and difficult, but I did not want to be cut in half by the portal.With one last deep breath, I pushed myself forward and through the gateway.I was about to meet my mate.
10
Unknown...not for much longer
The feathered monkey chittered happily as it led me out of the cave I'd woken in.Cave seemed too poor a word for the magnificent cavern with its diamond stalactites that were reflected by the perfectly smooth surface of an underground lake.I had regained consciousness floating in that lake, the water cool yet not uncomfortably so.I'd drank my fill, then washed my aching body, always watched by a group of alien monkeys.At the edge of the water, a woven basket filled with colourful fruit and berries had waited for me.I'd forced myself to eat slowly, not knowing when I'd last had a meal.Some time before I'd been put in that metal coffin – but when had that been?
Most of my pains and aches had magically disappeared after my soak in the lake, but my head still hurt a little.It felt too full, bursting at the seams with new memories, images from another time, all shuffled together without order or structure.I'd regained my memory, but not in the way I'd imagined.It was chaos in my mind, and I knew I'd need some time to relax, sort through the memories, make some sort of sense of them.For now, I clung to the one thing I never wanted to forget again: my name.
The alien monkey chirped again and I realised I'd stopped.This kept happening.I'd been in the middle of getting dressed by wrapping a series of silky scarves around my body – provided by the alien monkeys – when I suddenly noticed I was sitting on the cave floor, a scarf in my hand, my other hand pressed to my forehead.I hoped this wasn't a permanent thing.This planet was not the place to have mental blackouts.
"Sorry, I'm coming," I muttered and continued following my guide.It was not the alien who I had met in the forest.I kind of wondered where that one had gone.Not that I was sure I'd be able to recognise it among its peers.The little aliens differed in the number of tails, size and shade of their feathers, but many of them still looked completely alike to me.Hopefully they wouldn't be offended if I got them confused.
We walked through a narrow tunnel, just tall enough for me to walk without having to crouch.It got progressively steeper, leading us up towards the surface.Behind us, other aliens chittered to each other, but they kept a clear distance.Now that I'd had both food and water, I was no longer as exhausted, but I still wanted this tunnel to come to an end.I imagined my sofa back home, a purple monstrosity I'd found in a charity shop, but oh-so-soft.You could sink into it and feel like you were floating on a cloud.I smiled.It was nice being able to remember things.Even if it was just a silly old sofa.
The walls of the tunnel were illuminated by some kind of moss that glowed turquoise, giving off just enough light to see where I was going.But it seemed to be getting lighter.And was that a slight breeze?I resisted the temptation to ask the little alien if we were almost there like a child in the back of her parents' car.Besides, I wouldn't understand their reply anyway, even if they could somehow make sense of my words.
At first, I didn't recognise the bright splotches on the walls for what they were.Sunlight.It filtered through small gaps in the tunnel's ceiling, which had turned from stone into a twisted net of roots at some point during our ascent.I hurried my steps, desperate to be outside again.But when the tunnel finally spat us out, it wasn't into the outside world.I sucked in a sharp breath and came to a stop, staring at my surroundings in sheer amazement.It was another cave, but unlike the one I'd woken up in, this one was lit by sunlight shining through its facetted, semi-translucent walls.
