Chapter 45

 

Dommur’s point of view

 

“Three days and I still can’t find anything!” I groaned to the other in the ship’s cabin.

“This planet has been around for millions of years with a long history – don’t expect to find it straight away,” Flyer replied calmly.

I turned back to the computer, scowling, “This, erm… ‘Internet’ thing I hacked into isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!”

“Maybe one of us should go and look around now that it’s dark?” Monsoon suggested. “It might tell us where we are.”

“I’ll go!” I piped up, cutting off Flyer before he could agree. “I need to get out of here!”

Flyer grimaced: “You’ll be easier to spot on the ground. Monsoon and I can avoid the humans by staying up high.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not a child!”

“Well, OK. Be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah…” I muttered with irritation.

The air on Earth was not as clean as New Nosteran, but it was better than in the small cabin. We had landed on the outskirts of a large human city in a secluded wooded area, and had managed to stay hidden since our arrival. I snaked trough the trees and found my way into the back alleys. Large, cylindrical containers littered the cramped alley, and a foul, dank smell hung in the air, so I moved quickly onwards.

A few minutes later, unnerved by the occasional hum of some strange passing machine, I was startled by a short, furry creature hanging in the shadows with me. It had black and white patterned fur, and two triangular ears crowned its head. Staring at me, I saw it had two yellow eyes that looked a lot like Solin’s eyes.

“Are you the mortal version of the shadow race?” I whispered, intensely curious.

The creature shifted nervously, and opened its mouth.

“Meow.”

I pulled back, confused. That didn’t sound like any reply I knew. Maybe Solin’s original race had a totally different language to the reptilian ones?

I reached out to touch it tentatively, yet it stood up on all fours. It’s fur raised and tail rigid, it hissed at me, revealing sharp incisors. A paw shot out and previously hidden claws nipped at my scales. I yelped, pulling away and falling wildly into a group of the large metal containers. A thundering clatter of metal surrounded me, and I hurled myself upright. I darted away from the strange creature and face first into a large black shadow……

 

AJ’s point of view

 

“Mike, pull over, man. I don’t feel so good!” Brian moaned, his face pale.

Mike, a friend of mine, had agreed to drive both Brian and I home from a party we’d been to. Brian looked as if he’d had too much to drink, eat or both. Mike nodded and pulled up just a short distance away from a junction corner in a quieter part of Georgia. I followed my friend as he stumbled out onto the dark street and leant against the wall, his hand clutching his stomach.

“You OK?”

“Just give me a minute…” Brian groaned.

We were interrupted as a strangled yelp cut through the air, followed by a clatter of garbage cans. I frowned in curiosity, wondering what was happening just around the corner.

“Mike, wait for us, OK?”

Mike nodded, and I wandered further to the corner. Brian wordlessly walked after me, desperate for something to take his mind off his not-so-great stomach.

Around the corner, I spotted the entrance to an alley with a can lid lying nearby. As soon as I reached it, someone charged right into me. My jacket muffled their startled cry, but as they pulled back, I could see by the streetlights that it was a 5-foot tall lizard.

I screamed, reeling backwards into an equally shocked Brian. The lizard looked between the two of us nervously, covering its snout with its gecko-ey paws. In a tense silence, no-one spoke. Neither of us had ever expected this to be the cause of the chaotic clattering. I was about to inquire when a pair shrieking cries came from above. Before either of us could look, Brian was set up by two flying lizards. One grabbed at his head while the other clawed at his arm. Acting on instinct, I lashed out to protect Brian, but it only caused one of them to attack me too.

“MIKE, HELP!!”

Only after I had shouted in panic did I realise that the car radio had been on, the volume turned up – my friend probably couldn’t hear me at all. The lizard hassling Brian pulled away and disappeared from my view. While swatting at my own assailant, my eyes caught glimpse of the first lizard holding some kind of weapon, having found his courage. It was pointed at Brian. Brian cowered away, but the green bolt that shot from the lizard’s weapon wasn’t stopped. He fell to the ground limply, his strength drained.

“No!” I cried out.

I managed to grab the flying lizard hounding me, but its friend came swooping out of nowhere. It flew right into my face, filling my vision, before my world fell into darkness.

 

Solin’s point of view

 

With a thud and a gust of cool air, I landed roughly on the stone floor of Karnak. Through the pouring rain, I sensed and spied dozens of quivering and terrified Soul Creatures. They seemed to pay little attention to my arrival.

“Figaro!” I shouted to the nearest to me, the depressed insectoid. “What was so urgent you called me all the way back?”

He gave no reply, just stared blankly. Glancing at the others, they seemed to be in a similar frozen state. The only movement was their fearful shudders and the random blinking of their wide eyes.

“Where’s Fotuf?” I asked, making sure to emphasise my annoyance.

Nothing, just the howling of the wind and the spatter of droplets on stone.

“Will one of you tell me what has happened?” I appealed to the statues.

I was again greeted by silence, but by that point, my senses had explored the region and I became aware of a vaguely familiar and sickeningly powerful Aversion behind me. It was then that I realised that the others weren’t staring at me, but past me.

Slowly, gripped by icy fear, I turned… and was faced with something far more powerful and frightening than Kevin’s recently fledged might.

“No… not you…”

 

***

 

 

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