by Eve Langlais
So many of them.
Terror consumed her. What were these creatures? Where did they take her? This wouldn’t end well for her. What of the others? Had the entire crew been kidnapped by monsters?
As they reached the shore, she could crane more fully to see. The brilliant morning light illuminated the beach and the gangly two-legged, two-armed animals that slogged from the water quite well.
Other than those holding on to Shereen, the others were empty handed and tailed. She glanced back to the lake and the boat now so far away from her. Had these things killed the entire crew?
Tears pricked her eyes as she realized they must have either murdered or maimed Darius. He would have never let them take her.
She couldn’t have explained her certainty. But she knew, knew with all her heart, he would have fought for her.
The wiry tails remained wrapped around her limbs, holding her aloft. Water dripped from her clothes and skin, and yet she didn’t feel chilled. Already the air warmed in the sun. The things scurried into the forest with her, taking her from warm light to dappled shadows.
She shivered, and the terror kept her paralyzed as they took her farther and farther into the forest for who knew what.
Gulp.
Every so often they’d step from the jungle canopy into a more open area. It created a disconnect between the situation and the beautiful day. The sun shone bright, filtering through vivid fat leaves. Gorgeous flowers emitted the loveliest scent. Yet none of the lushness could take away from the direness. The things jogged with her, silent except for the rustle of their passing. Eventually it proved dizzying enough she closed her eyes.
When the creatures slowed to a walk, she finally looked again to see they’d arrived at a mountain. Not only a mountain but a structure of some kind built right into the rocky wall.
They went from the bright sunlight into a gloomy place. The warmth exchanged for dampness. Her terror heightened as she realized they took her underground, following a series of natural tunnels that bore through the rock, smooth in some places with visible flooring and actual doorways, jagged in other spots as if a new hall had been chiseled out of the stone.
Only the occasional pod of light showed the area around. Most of the traveling took place in the dark. After uselessly struggling against the hands and tails holding her, she kept her eyes shut mostly, silently praying in her head to wake up from what had to be a nightmare.
This couldn’t be happening.
When she sensed a light beyond her eyelids, she opened them and gazed upon strange round globes suspended from trees that glowed. It was then she realized they’d emerged from the tunnels somewhere outside and much of the day had passed.
Where had they taken her? She noted this forest looked nothing like the previous jungle. The trees didn’t appear very tall, and while the boughs on them proved sparse, they held quite a few pendulous globes of varying sizes.
Past the glowing grove they used a bridge of simple fallen logs to cross some kind of moat, the brackish liquid smelly in a way that wrinkled her nose and kept her lips clamped tight. It bubbled noxiously at times, burping gas. Not something to drink from or swim in for sure.
On the other side she was finally deposited, a soiled mess, on the ground at the foot of pitted stone steps. Gazing at them she noted the grime ground into the formed shape but also the fact the stairs rose up the whole side of a building, a pyramid-shaped structure that appeared maintained.
A well-kept building might mean not all was lost. Shereen pushed herself to her feet, aware of her sodden and torn shirt, the baggy pants still damp and clinging. Her hair straggled in a wet clump down her back.
A glance over her shoulder showed the creatures forming a solid wall at her back.
“What do you want from me?” she asked, not expecting a reply.
She got one, though, in the form of the hairy beasts raising their arms overhead and pointing. No need to look. She could easily guess what they indicated. Meaning she ignored their demand for a moment to glance left and right and saw no escape on either side. The things barricaded any escape behind, leaving only forward, up the steps.
She raised her gaze, noting the many, many steps. Where was an elevator when you needed one? Father had one installed in his tower, and she loved riding it when she was young.
A rustle from behind showed the line of beasts shuffling closer. She’d run out of time.
She began trudging, her thighs burning before she’d even gotten halfway. Every so often, she’d pause and let the muscles in her legs spasm. The rapid ticking of her flesh was almost painful. It took forever to make it to the very top where an open archway awaited. She didn’t enter. She took a moment to recover, trying to ease her panting breath. Doing a slow walk on the tiny platform to ease her burning thighs.
A peek down the stairs showed the creatures remained at the bottom, watching. She turned to face the open doorway. What lay inside? Was it worse than out here? Out here she could at least say they’d not harmed her yet.
As if thinking of them caused a chain reaction, one of the hairy beasts stepped from the crowd and put his foot on the first step. It raised its head and eyed her. Barked a noise.
Want to bet he said go inside?
Where else could she go? It occurred to her to run. Away from these beasts. Away from the building that surely didn’t hold anything good inside.
Run where, though? And how? There was an army between her and even the mere thought of freedom.
“Hold on, princess, I’m coming!”
“Darius?” She whispered his name as she whirled. It had to be her imagination. Maybe she was having another nightmare because, surely, he’d not come.
Yet that was who she saw. On the other side of the moat, Darius, looking dashing and dangerous with a weapon in each hand, was accompanied by Tanzie and Jorah.
They’d come for her.
A smile split her lips. She’d not expected any aid, and to see them, especially Darius, filled her with—
The happy thought was torn away as tails shot forth from the dark doorway and latched onto her body. Before she could scream, she was lifted and dragged inside.
Chapter 14
Darius cursed as Shereen was snatched and dragged into the archway at the top of the pyramid.
“Well, dat wasna good,” Jorah mumbled.
“Genius observation,” Tanzie muttered.
But they only spoke the truth. Time was running out. Darius had to get to Shereen, but first there was the matter of the beasts that had survived the raid on his ship and now stood in his way. They clustered at the base of the pyramid, baring their teeth. Ready to fight.
Darius was ready, too, gun freshly loaded. His aim proved impeccable with his cold rage focused. He advanced on the narrow log bridge, crossing the oily, bubbling sludge. He made each shot count, as did his crew. Soon only bodies, a few still twitching, stood between him and the stairs.
So many fucking stairs.
Before Darius could talk himself out of it—Who am I kidding? I’m no fucking hero—he was racing up those steps, taking them two at a time, while Jorah bounded them in threes. Showoff.
Pushing himself to the limit, Darius reached the apex only seconds behind his first mate. A smart man would pause and advance slowly to assess the situation.
Darius didn’t have time for smart. He rushed right in and found himself on a narrow walkway that spiraled down the pyramid because there was only one floor, the bottom one, where he was witness to the strangest sight.
The ramp was lined with chimpetis, their fur glistening in the light pods strung around. They ranged in color from light blond to the darkest of shades, some smoothly brushed, others patchy or ruffled. No matter their grooming, it should be noted they all had their hands around their dicks.
Not something Darius stared at for very long.
At the very bottom, there were more of the creatures, feminine in nature. He could see breasts, fur shaved in interesting ways, and ev
en shaded patches dyed pastel colors. The females knelt around a pedestal—the base well above their heads—and waved their arms and tails in the air while humming.
Atop the pillar perched an altar, and lying tied to it with arms and legs spread, not wearing a fucking thing, was Shereen. A target for every jacking chimpeti in the place. Too many of them.
She would suffocate if he didn’t do something. The poor princess had to be losing her mind. She didn’t make any sound he could hear, but her head turned side to side, and he spotted her straining.
“Dis is gonna get messy,” Jorah remarked.
“Messy for them,” Darius growled.
Because guess who had brought the automatic weapons? However, he wasn’t sure if he could mow them down quick enough to save the princess.
“We don’t have much time,” Tanzie noted. “The moons are moving into place.”
Darius took a moment to peek upward and noted the hole at the top of the pyramid. Visible through it, the edge of a moon.
He hefted his weapon. “Let’s go save a princess.”
Darius advanced on the first wave of masturbating creatures. Dick in hand, the thing turned and hissed at him. Then it leaped!
Darius fired without thinking, dropping the male, but that started a chain reaction. Uttering cries of rage, the chimpetis began running at them, ignoring the fact Darius kept picking them off and the bodies were piling up.
Tanzie chuckled as she brushed past, mask over half of her face. “Apparently they’re just as stupid as a human male when all the blood is in one place.”
“No one like ta be interrupted,” Jorah grumbled, taking the spot behind her.
Since the walkway proved narrow, Darius would just be lagging at the rear, taking too much time. He glanced below at Shereen, struggling more than ever, then up. The gap showed the three parts of the moon converging. Which meant the ceremony would reach a culminating point soon. The lower levels of chimpetis hadn’t been distracted by the fighting at the top.
The quickest way down wasn’t the ramp. He tore a disk from his belt. Aiming it overhead, he tapped three times. A sharp point emerged and unfolded, the hook made of hair-thin filaments, very strong. The design also meant it gripped as it hit the lip of the building and clamped tight. He clipped the disk to a bracer on his wrist and didn’t even take a deep breath before launching himself over the railing, giving the thing two taps.
The line lowered him slowly, the speed of descent controlled by him, meaning he got to see just how many creatures filled this place. A dozen times what they’d already fought. And angry. Kill them, and they didn’t care, but interrupt their spanking and they turned into rabid beasts who finally remembered they had teeth.
The ululation of hundreds filled the space, but Darius chose to ignore it because he was close enough to Shereen to see the hope shining in her eyes. He’d never known how much he wanted to be someone’s hero until that moment.
The noise in the room reached a crescendo as Darius hit the thin edge of the pedestal. He quickly slashed at the vines binding her to the altar. She scrambled to her feet and clung to him.
“You came.”
“Not yet, but I plan to,” was his smart reply as he glanced around.
There were no other exits. The only door was above. A good thing he glanced upwards or he’d have missed the fact a few of the creatures were balanced on the rail poised for flight.
“Fuck me!” he swore, whirling. Only there was nowhere for him to run that didn’t already have a writhing, angry body in it.
“Catch!” he heard Jorah yell.
A moment later he held the missile launcher that might prove to be their ticket out of there.
“Cover your face and close your eyes,” was the only warning he gave before he launched it.
The whistle of the fired rocket was followed by a concussion of sound and trembling. A flying furry body tackled him. In his surprise, Darius flailed just right and flung it off. The next attacker went tumbling, too, but he almost got dragged off by the fingers scrabbling at him from below. The females had formed a tower of bodies, sitting on each other’s shoulders, trying to pull him off.
Despite the hole he’d blasted, there would be no escape that way. Which left him one direction.
Straight up.
“Hold on tight,” he muttered, wrapping his free arm around Shereen. A single tap on the disk had it reeling them in, pulling them up rapidly, spinning slightly so he got to see the chaos all around.
The males fought with each other. The females screamed and pounded their chests at the males. As he and Shereen got to the higher levels, their ascent drew attention. The space narrowed, and the chimpetis leaned over the rail, reaching for them.
Darius could do little but kick until Tanzie yelled, “Over here, ya hairy wankers.” The sudden rise in temperature warned him Tanzie was playing with fire again.
On their next spin, he saw her aiming a nozzle, bright flames glinting off the lenses of her goggles. Tanzie loved a good flamethrower. It just wasn’t very practical at sea.
The distraction shot them past the last level and then through the hole at the top of the pyramid. They stood precariously perched on the lip. A glance down, illuminated by the converging beams of moonlight, showed Jorah running down the steps, Tanzie covering them with flames, barely holding at bay an army of peeved chimpetis behind them.
“What are we going to do?” Shereen clung to him shivering.
She was in shock. He knew they had to move, but he took a moment to strip off his vest and hand over his shirt. As she slid them on, he assessed their options. Inside wasn’t any good. Neither were the stairs, but they had to get off this pyramid.
“We are going down. Hold on tight, princess.” Darius grabbed her by the hands and swung her onto his back. He checked his rope remained firmly attached before stepping off the edge. “Don’t let go,” he shouted as they dropped.
The moment they were airborne, she hugged him hard enough to choke and screamed. He survived. Barely.
He kicked at the building, and they arced out, swinging in midair. Despite Shereen’s panic, Darius focused on his legs and body so that they hit the pyramid facing the right way. His boots thudded as they made contact, and he bent his knees to absorb the impact. He then pushed them into another descending bounce. Again and again, letting the rope out enough for him to rappel in sections. They were almost to the bottom when a chunk of stone bounced past them.
A glance overhead showed some of the beasts hammering at the top of the pyramid, loosening his hook rather than sawing at his virtually unbreakable rope. Smart of the beasts. Bad for him.
The hook was smashed free, and he and Shereen plummeted. He did his best to take the brunt of landing. He succeeded to the protesting of his bruised hip.
Grimacing, he shoved to his feet and, given the tangle of his rope, had to ditch the device. By his side, Shereen breathed hard, but she appeared cognizant. He grabbed her by the hand, and they raced around the pyramid, aiming for the bridge.
His friends were already on the other side of the sludge moat, picking off those coming down the pyramid, but the dark stream of furry bodies didn’t bode well. They wouldn’t get across the bridge with all those chimpetis in the way.
He pulled a small bulb from his waist.
“Cover your ears,” he advised as he tossed it then turned to cradle her body with his.
Boom!
The blast concussed everything in its radius, leaving them an open path. But not for long.
“Run!” he yelled, yanking Shereen with him.
They raced for the bridge while the chimpetis clung to their heads and tried to get to their feet. Those closest to the blast proved no problem, but those still coming down the structure were madder than ever.
As their feet thudded on the bridge, Darius yelled at Tanzie, “Now would be a good time to light it up!”
She stepped forward and grinned. “My pleasure, Captain.”
The flame
thrower slapped into her hands, the tip of the nozzle flickering with fire. Whoosh! The oil-infested water lit with only the lightest touch just as Darius and Shereen leapt onto solid ground. The bridge immediately heated up, and soon was on fire, keeping the creatures from following.
They’d bought some time, but he doubted it would keep the chimpetis away for long. He ran, Shereen stumbling by his side. They entered the globe-glowing forest all too aware of the ululating shrieks behind them.
What they didn’t expect was the little puddles of goo in the woods to suddenly explode with flame. They were apparently connected to the moat and burning merrily, a line of them hot enough to separate Darius from his crew, and the entrance to the tunnels.
“Get to the ship,” he yelled through a barrier of flame. “We’ll find another way around.”
If there was a path. Not going through the tunnels meant going overland, and he wasn’t quite sure where they were or how to find the lake from here. But not moving would kill them more assuredly than getting lost.
“This way,” he said.
“Did you see something?”
“Yeah, less fire.” Which seemed the smartest thing to avoid.
They made it through the burning forest intact, and the angry yells of the chimpetis faded. They didn’t slow down until the earth beneath their feet began to shake. The sudden tremor had him hitting the ground, dragging Shereen with him. He did his best to cover her body as branches swayed, some falling. Luckily only the smaller ones.
She squeaked under him. “What was that?”
“Earthquake,” he said, rising slowly and taking in the new landscape facing them.
The forest had been bisected, a crevice now running through it, the edges jagged as some of the larger trees, unbalanced, toppled into the new abyss, ripping the ground with it. Approaching the edge, he looked down to see the rising smoke. More of the sludge on fire. Just how far did it extend?
“Capn’!”
Darius heard the yell and looked across to see Tanzie and Jorah on the other side, just below the lip of the new crevice inside a tunnel. Just close enough that he might be able to jump, but Shereen certainly couldn’t.