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2022-02-21 01:03:58“I can’t help you hunt, but I can show you where the birds gather at night and some other spots you can trail some other animals,” Rylus said after their prayer ended. “But before that, I have another thing to show you, travelers.”
Shayla's eyes widened as she stared at Tejeda. He shrugged and followed the Spreah. With a sigh, she tagged along. From the dining cave, Rylus led them into another smaller one. It looked like a regular cavern until Tejeda observed its ceiling. A thick net held green foliage above their heads. Following the braided threads to the sidewalls, he spotted hooks pinning the contraption in place.
Rylus halted close to a dangling braided rope. "A visitor arrived in our community a few years ago. We greeted him like we always do, and in exchange, he revealed a wonderful secret to us. He knew Tejeda Hajar and gave us the means to determine whether or not a traveler is the supreme being."
His hand grasped the rope and yanked it. The hooks in the walls retracted, and the net, together with the greenery, fell loose. Purple sand slid through the leaves, small granules reflecting the sun as they made their way to the ground. The purple dust covered everything and everyone in a matter of seconds.
Tejeda frowned, his jaws clenched. “Nice little trap.”
"Why? What is it?" Shayla asked. His purple eyes stopped her from inquiring any further.
Under the sand, Tejeda's flesh melted. An agonizing scream echoed off the rocky walls. The mutation proceeded as his limbs morphed into tentacles, giving way to a fresh purple covering of glistening skin.
“I don’t have much control over myself when I turn,” he said between shallow breaths.
Shayla gasped as his hair dropped and his purple eyes grew larger and rounder.
“Don’t stay in my way!”
The deep voice felt as if it carved the words directly into Shayla’s brain. She stepped aside and ducked behind a rock, dragging Rylus after her.
Tejeda dashed out of the cave, hovering over his many tentacles. The same way his body could absorb any DNA, it also reacted in contact with sand from Nubilonia, triggering a shift to his natural organic state. He needed a good bath. Without thinking twice about his plan, Tejeda dived into the fast-flowing river near the caves.
The swift water stream dragged him along with it. He caught a fleeting sight of a fallen tree on its route. Snorting and sputtering, he tried to clean his nasal passages as he grabbed a branch to stay afloat. The minute he regained his breath, something sharp hooked fast onto one of his tentacles and pulled him deeper into the water.
The monster, twice the size of a grown human, coiled like a ball around Tejeda's tentacle. Its robust shell, thicker than a fist, protected the softer sections beneath. Unseen jaws engraved agony into his limb. He fought the clinging thing, despite the discomfort.
'I can play this game, too,' Tejeda reasoned as he wrapped the tip of a tentacle around one of the creature's massive fangs. Dark blood spilled within the monster's jaws and into Tejeda's wound. He tugged the jagged tooth.
The Nubilae grew in size, and a thick shell formed around him. As he became that thing, the original one sprinted away, oozing black blood, and vanished into the depths as quickly as it had appeared.
Tejeda felt better after submerging towards the river's bottom. This monster had to like the dark depths, yet it had to surface at some point to look for prey. As he got further, his eyesight cleared, and he realized he had something like night vision.
Although Tejeda was unfamiliar with this setting, he quickly got used to it. He scanned the river ford's black abyss until something caught his eye. A device of some type glowed in the dark as if appealing to him.
The apparatus had a button of some kind, but he couldn't use it because he didn't have hands or fingers. Tejeda snatched it with his teeth, slithered to the surface, and spat it on the riverbank. When he had two legs and two hands, he'd go after it. Hopefully, very soon.
Shayla studied the riverside for any indications of activity. Nothing. She walked along the stream all day, looking for any entity that seemed out of place. A titchy green lizard scurried into a gap in the rocks. 'No, he wouldn't have stooped so low,' she thought.
Nervous squawks fueled adrenaline surges in her legs, giving her jitters. She had to control her newfound fear for birds. A narrow band of indigo divided day and night at the horizon. Darkness would settle in shortly. The tension in her calves burned as much as the pain in her feet.
Shayla needed to take a break. She sat quietly, resting against a tree. The bark felt harsh on her back, but the ache in her calves and feet went away. A loud clunking sound from behind her cut short her one-minute slumber.
She sprung to her feet, her laser gun aimed towards the approximate direction of the noise.
“Ho-hold your fire. It’s me, Cato,” said the Ferali with her arms raised high in the air. She held a vial between her fingers. “E00 sent me here. Did something happen to Tejeda?”
“Yeah, something happened alright,” Shayla replied, holstering her gun. “Don’t ask what because I can’t say.”
“E00 said he would need this.” Cato gave the vial to Shayla. The red liquid inside glistened under the last rays of the sun.
“Blood,” Shayla concluded. “Good! He will need it. The problem is I don’t know where he is.”
“Isn’t he wearing his uniform?” Cato asked.
“No, he left it in the cave before he ran off.” Shayla shrugged. “Again, don’t ask. It’s hard to explain.”
The Ferali’s ears flickered. “Are you telling me he is running naked through these woods?”
"No." Shayla exhaled a sigh. "If you're truly curious, he's swimming as an octopus." She took a step closer to the water and opened the vial, spilling its contents into the river. "He once claimed that all he needed was to touch any DNA traces to cause the transformation. Let's hope this is enough."
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The Space Spoon 38. Blooming Friendship
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The Space Spoon 41. Rylus’ Story
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104. Meat Suit Part 2
The door closes after the last man leaves the pub. Tejeda resumes his previous position and finishes his drink. By now, we are both soaking wet, but neither of us seems to care. My reason is the seven beers. I wonder what his is."Apparently, you're not leaving, and we've run out of time," he says as he turns to face me. His purple eyes sparkle. A chill goes down my spine. "These guys aren't going down without a fight. I might have to die to quench their hunger for vengeance. But the crystal I took is far more significant. It must be safeguarded."Tejeda leans forward, his hand reaching over the bar for the knife the bartender uses for the lemons. He sits again in his chair, gripping the handle with both of his hands, the pointy tip toward his stomach. I have seen this stance before in movies when someone performs seppuku.Filling his lungs with air, his chest expands, and he thrusts the knife right into his belly. I cover my mouth with a hand but not my eyes. I need to see what happe
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103. Meat Suit Part 1
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102. Monster Within Part 2
Rayna followed him through dark alleys, avoiding the city's main thoroughfares and heading for the city's outskirts. There weren't many other people around since it was late and freezing. The two veiled shadows of the night were easy to miss. Illuminated figures appeared randomly through the windows of dimly lit houses.He stopped in front of a derelict house. The sculpted archway stood crooked above the entrance, but he went beneath it without a second thought.Rayna stared at the white structure enveloped in moss to make sure it wouldn’t fall on her head. When the Bralxoid disappeared inside, she swallowed hard and followed him.Doctor Iadfoc invited her into a small, dark room with a single goose-neck lamp illuminating the top of a large table filled with glass vials. He gestured toward a threadbare sofa against the wall. He grabbed a simple wooden chair and sat facing her. For once, someone wasn't looking at her with meaningless pity, for which she was grateful.Iadfoc had a scann
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101. Monster Within Part 1
A/N: Monster Within is a side story taking place about a thousand years or more before the action in the novel. Enjoy!***Rayna sat in front of the mirror, removing her makeup. Who would she discover underneath? Foundation applied in triple layers, contact lenses, even a wig to make certain no one would see her change.Skin patches of different complexions stretched across her face like puzzle pieces jammed together into a chaotic pattern. Some parts of the jigsaw had wrinkles, while others were as smooth as a baby’s skin.Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the mirror. Her heterochromatic eyes were both different colors than before she wore contact lenses. And her hair... Well, the hair looked more like a wig than the one she threw on the floor. Honey-blonde hair tumbled in waves over her right shoulder. Ruby-red hair, spikey like a hedgehog’s, pointed toward the ceiling from the top of her head. Black, curly strands went down to her chin from her left.She was a mo
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100. Sunsetrise Part 4
Time passes differently on Yacleemb. I can’t say it’s the 56 hours days, the peacefulness of the Spreahs, or Lyam’s company. What I do know is that I’ve lost track of time. Every day, he builds things for the village; he’s happy, full of smiles, and I’m drunk with his genuine blissfulness.Unfortunately, I still have memories and can’t help but feel guilty for not contacting our friends. Wanting to know how things are working out for our crew, I stroll through the forest to the shuttle. After it powers up, a small blinking red light appears on the console. A message from E00.“Shayla, I hope you’ve found Tejeda by now. More than two months have passed, and no news from you. In the time you've been gone, things got worse around here.“Since the day you left, Jackeye has been trapped inside his virtual reality. I can’t say if it’s a voluntary decision or not. He cut me off completely.“Cato took a shuttle and left the Space Spoon about a month ago. The Interplanetary Police files show t
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99. Sunsetrise Part 3
Shayla Bale's POVOnly Tejeda Hajar is capable of disappearing and leaving me with an ambassador’s corpse. Once again, I had to assume the role of acting captain and evade the Interplanetary Police. We are all renegades once more, as we were before Tejeda found us.The crew needs me to steer the ship in the right direction, but my thoughts are far away, following the faceless Nubilae who left us. I lean against the wall and stare at his empty chair, wishing he will appear there, smiling without giving me any explanation as he always does.“Thinking about him won’t bring him back,” E00’s voice echoes from the ceiling speakers. “If you want him here again, you must go after him.”“Don’t get me wrong, E00, I want to. But it was his choice. He left us. Even if I go after him, he may not come back.”“If there’s anyone who can shake him out of the state he’s in, you’re the one.”“Why must you torment me?” I slump in Tejeda’s chair, rubbing my eyes to forestall crying. The gesture is pointle
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98. Sunsetrise Part 2
Reaching out, Carmen’s hand brushes against mine. Even though I’m mad as hell, a rush of electrical discharges takes over my core. That happened every time she touched me since the moment we’d met. Every fiber of my body, carbon and silica alike, crave to have her again by my side.“I tested the spoon. All the results said the same thing: it’s Nubilae. Who was it?”“My sister, Celia.” For the first time, a vein throbs on Carmen’s forehead. But she regains the glazed look. “She died during Iadfoc’s experiment. Many did. The rest went insane. Only I, you, and Rahul remained true Nubilae. Well, now only you and I since you killed Rahul.”“He had multiple run-ins with me and my crew. If I let him continue, surely one of my men would have died. I had to do something.”“No,” Carmen shouts, showing the anger hidden behind her previous blank expression. “I sent him to see how you are and test you. Well, you failed. No Nubilae should value the life of a lesser being over one of his brethren.”
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97. Sunsetrise Part 1
A/N: Sunsetrise is a short story I've written before even starting the novel. It holds the ending of the first volume and is made up of 4 parts. The first 2 parts are from Tejeda's POV and the last 2 parts from Shayla's. Enjoy!***Tejeda Hajar's POV“Happy birthday, Shayla!” I invite her to sit on the blanket next to me with a pat.It took me about a week to create a perfect replica of Genoria Prime inside Jackeye's world.Once every two thousand years, Genoria Prime, a water planet with just a few stretches of land covered in sand, is perfectly aligned to get the ultimate romantic view. One of its suns sets while the other rises, a phenomenon called sunsetrise.To recreate it from my memories inside Jackeye's virtual world involved a few setbacks. But that isn't important anymore.Shayla takes one of the glasses of red wine and fixes her dark green eyes on me. “Whose body are you wearing now?”“You know bodies are just meat suits for me.” I give a sly smirk, looking her over. “Well,
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96. His Blade
Tejeda's lips moved as though they were not his own. “Who’s she?”Shayla placed a hand on his back, touching for the first time the sludgy skin he had in this form. “Tejeda, stop. He’s dead.”Tejeda lifted his head to look at the sky. He remained like that for a long while before murmuring, “Why did you kill him?”"Sorry! Next time," Shayla murmured, sheathing her scimitar, "I'll kill the other guy after he kills you."“How did you know which one was me?”“Really? Is there another idiot who would risk dying for a spoon?”She observed how he flinched but said nothing. There was something wrong with him. Nonetheless, Shayla didn't believe she had the authority to inquire. In any case, she didn't expect a fair answer from him."Did you bring any DNA for me?" Tejeda asked without turning around. "As you can see, I’m in bad shape."Shayla hurled a vial toward him, and he grabbed it with one of his two remaining tentacles.“This is the last one holding the blood of King Astin. Enjoy!”Tejed
