Page 6 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
Instead, I stood frozen, my bare feet rooted to the cold floor as the creature approached.My heart pounded so loudly I was sure it echoed through the chamber.I tried to breathe slowly, tried to think, but every survival instinct in me screamed: Run.Hide.Fight.Anything but stay still.
The monster didn’t attack.It moved closer with eerie grace, like it had all the time in the world.The fur that covered its long limbs shimmered in the artificial light, thick and dark like a wolf’s coat.Its many eyes blinked in waves, following me even as I tried not to flinch.
It stopped just short of touching distance and tilted its head.
"You’re awake," it said again, as if I hadn’t heard it the first time.Its voice was melodic, unnervingly smooth.Too calm.
I wrapped my arms around myself.“Where am I?”
It smiled.Its mouth was too wide, its teeth too white.“You’re in Kalumbu Station.The most exclusive broadcast node in the outer galaxies.”
I had no idea what that meant.I didn’t care.“Why am I here?”
“To participate.”
“In what?”
It didn’t answer.Instead, it circled me slowly, a predator assessing prey.I turned to keep it in my sight, refusing to show fear even as my stomach knotted.
“You are unique,” it said.“A mystery.No metadata, no tracking tags, no previous broadcasts.Our viewers love a wildcard.”
Viewers.
Broadcasts.
Something cold and slick twisted through my gut.
“You’re watching me?”I asked.“Someone’s watching me?”
“Oh, darling,” it said, pausing just behind me.“Everyone is.”
The chill in my blood wasn’t from the room anymore.
I turned.“I want answers.”
It blinked all five eyes in slow succession.“You’ll get them.In the Trials.”
Another smile.Another wave of nausea in my gut.
“But first, I will take a closer look at you.In my quarters.”
Two other monsters appeared behind it, tall and gooey and creeping-me-the-fuck-out.They bowed their heads in deference to the wolf-monster.It turned without another look, letting its lackeys deal with me.
I was along among monsters.
But there was someone else.
Someone who’d whispered to me in the dark.
And I wasn’t going down without a fight.
3
Venom
I couldn't let this progress any further.The first couple, Fay and Vruhag, had escaped the Trials with my help.Well, mostly the chii's help.I'd only done some gentle nudging, a few more sponsorships, and hacked into the Trial's security systems to allow a tractor beam to whisk them off the planet.
They were currently hiding on a spaceship, the Bloodstar, after abandoning their previous ship, the Artep, which had been crewed by a ragtag assortment of low-level criminals.For now, they were safe.
