Page 42 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
I tightened my hold on Clare.“Jump on my signal.”
She didn’t argue this time.
We leapt.My coils coiled and released, propelling us toward the open ramp.We landed hard, sliding on the metal surface as the platform began retracting the moment we were aboard.
Inside was dim, sterile.Straps and sealed crates lined the interior bay.The pilot remained unseen behind a shielded cockpit.No one rushed to greet us.
Clare sat down slowly, her breath shaky.“You… know these people?”
I shook my head while I engaged the automated seatbelt system to secure her safely into the seat.“Only through messages.I’ve never met them.They offered assistance – I didn’t expect them to actually come.”
She gave a soft, bitter laugh.“And me?I’ve been here the whole time.Woke up in a cryopod and the first being I met was a monster who wanted to use me as his toy.Still haven’t spoken to a single human.”
I reached for her hand.She let me hold it.
The shuttle pulled away from the mountain.I turned toward the narrow viewport in the rear bulkhead – just in time to see the sky darken.
Tyvaron.
He hovered above the cliff like a deity born of ruin – wings extended, body outlined in firelight.He didn’t follow.Didn’t roar.Just hovered, watching the shuttle as we pulled away.
And for a moment… he looked like a person.Not in form, but in intent.In restraint.
His glowing red eyes met mine.
I held my breath.
Then his wings folded, and he turned away – disappearing into the clouds with a trembling roar.
Clare whispered, “He let us go.He could have attacked the shuttle, but he didn’t.”
I nodded.“I think he did.He gave us a chance.Now we have to take it.”
“We have to save the other women.Shut down the Trials.Punish those responsible.”
My chest tightened at the passion in her voice.She could have turned from Kalumbu, run to a safe place, enjoyed her life.Instead, she was thinking of others.And of revenge.
I squeezed her hand.“I promise.”
20
Clare
Space was vast and black and mysterious.Throughout the entire flight, I'd expected someone to stop us, for a giant alien dragon to rip apart the shuttle, for spaceships to appear and block our way.But nothing happened.I craned my neck to look through one of the small porthole-like windows.The planet looked so beautiful from up here.The pastel colours and smooth lines of the continents told nothing of the pain, fear and death that happened on its surface.
"We're about to dock," the pilot announced.He hadn't said anything during the flight, but I'd been fine with that.I needed this moment of peace to come to terms with everything that had just happened.
I hope the chii are okay,I said in my head to test our mental connection.I can't seem to reach them.
Neither can I.We're too far now.But once we're on the Bloodstar I will contact them via their consoles and see if they require our help.I hope the game makers will simply forget about them now that we're gone.And hopefully, the game makers won't be in charge of the planet for much longer.Once they're gone, along with the monsters they brought to Kalumbu, the chii can live in the open again.Reclaim their planet for themselves.
I nodded and relaxed a little, enjoying the view of space from the porthole opposite.But it was no longer completely black.A strange grey sphere pushed into my field of view.No, there were several spheres, all bunched together like a giant caterpillar.
"Is that the Bloodstar?"I asked hesitantly.It looked nothing like I had imagined a spaceship to look.It wasn't all sleek lines and sharp angles like this shuttle.Instead, it was curvy and bumbly and strangely cute.
"Yes," came the pilot's voice."That's my ship.Isn't she a beauty?"
With a metallic click, the ship shivered once, followed by a sharp hiss.The screen that had hid the cockpit slid open to our pilot.
