by Brian King
I swallowed hard, thankful for once I wasn’t dying of thirst. My heart pounded fiercely, and my profuse sweating wasn’t just because it was hot and muggy. I was about to reply when I finally looked behind her.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Trel had wings.
They were dark in color, and the dim light from the fire wasn't letting me see all their details, but it looked as if they folded behind her back like the wings of a succubus. Earlier she mentioned slaves and killing me, which sounded like something a demon from hell would say. At least those from my video games. No wonder she oozed sexuality.
“No words? That is a typical male response when I flaunt my perfection.” Trel’s voice was haughty, and I knew my face was red from embarrassment and a newfound fear.
She spread her wings wide apart to display what they really were, and I let out a gasp of shock. What I thought was a wing was actually three legs folded neatly behind her. My jaw dangled in awe and fear as it became clear she was some kind of spider-woman.
The black spider-legs were almost as thick as her human legs and now touched the ground behind her. The chitinous clicking sounds suddenly made sense, and I felt terror fill my stomach as her human body floated off the ground, suspended by the spider-legs that attached to her back.
“I’m waiting for your answer,” the spider woman said as she tapped one of her rear legs with impatience. She pointed at me with a shiny-black chitinous finger. Her hands looked pretty much human except they were darker than the rest of her arm and her long fingers ended in sharp points, like claws. My body was still numb with shock, and I didn’t know if I should run from her spider-legs, slap away those wicked fingers, or continue to stare at the beautiful human parts of her body.
“Trel, stop. Please,” the third woman said with a begging tone. I still couldn’t see girl number three, but if another spider came out of the shadows, I was sure to die.
Except that I couldn’t look away from Trel. My mind said run, but the rest of me pretended not to hear. Her body defied the laws of physics and reason as certainly as being teleported to a world of dinos. A sculptor couldn’t have made a model with as perfect of proportions as Trel’s human body.
“Are you done admiring my splendid sexual attributes, boy?” Trel's question reeked of arrogance, and her spider-legs relaxed to lower her back onto her human-looking feet. “Would you like to study the curves of my ass next? I assure you, there is none finer.”
I looked at her breasts once more, mostly so I didn’t have to gaze at her spider-legs, but also because they were absolutely amazing. God, how did they lift like that without a bra? They seemed even perkier than when I first saw her, and her pink nipples threatened to tear through the soft fabric of her see-through dress.
“I, uh. No. I won’t call you girls. S-sorry.” Scream in fear or fall in love? My mind was going to split in half if I looked at her another second. I realized I was gawking at her nipples still, so I forced myself to look at her eyes.
“I am Trel-Idil-Iria, Duchess of family Iria. You should know your place, male. You are unfit to even share this fire with me. Let alone stare at my perfect body. What do you have to say for yourself?” Her voice was filled with disgust, and my mind spun as I tried to figure out the correct way to apologize to her. I had been staring at her, but I didn’t know how to not stare at her.
Thankfully I was saved a response by the third woman. Her voice was cheery, bright, and I was finally able to turn my attention away from the spider-woman.
“Don’t be scared of her. We’re all friendly, I promise. What’s your name? Mine’s Galmine.” The woman who spoke was a little shorter than Trel and appeared to be completely naked. Her skin was grey and textured with rough stone tiles that seemed to be set on top of the smooth skin. The rocky texture was much rougher across her breasts and in the hot zone between her legs, as if her body created extra layers of the rock-like substance to form coverings and obscure what was beneath.
But the alien skin didn’t make her body any less sexy. Her figure reminded me of a voluptuous swimsuit model I remembered seeing in the tabloids after dating a popular football player. Like every damned curve of hers was chiseled by a master artist and stuffed with twice the femininity.
Fuck me. I hated always classifying girls by their physical features, but a lifetime of operating my man’s brain on the default settings and my current level of fatigue left me with little option. She was just as beautiful as the other two women that stood around the fire, and I was once again blushing as I tried to keep my eyes away from her almost nude body.
Galmine’s shiny silver hair was pulled into a bunch on the back of her head in simple braiding. Her eyes sparkled like green emeralds. I looked into them deeper, and I couldn't actually be certain that they weren't made out of a pair of perfectly cut stones. Her face was a pale grey-ish color, but the skin appeared much softer than the rest of her body. The wetness of her upturned lips made it easy to see how soft and inviting they’d be. The smiling woman bounced on her feet, and her head tilted slightly to one side in anticipation.
I vaguely remembered her asking me a question, but instead of getting her to repeat it, I blurted out the first thing on my mind that didn’t involve smoking hot babes. “This is all so crazy. First, the abduction. Then those men get killed. Then dinosaurs. Then--”
“There were more of you?” Sheela interrupted.
“Yes. There were two others when I arrived here. Um, actually three, I guess, but one got killed right away.” I turned my head away from her so I wouldn’t be distracted by her tight body. “The second guy died when some green feathery dinosaurs ganged up on him and brought him down. The last man was eaten in the jungle. He helped me escape so I could make my way to where you found me.” It was a dubious interpretation of Kelg’s final act, but I didn’t think it mattered.
“Three more would have helped,” Galmine sighed.
“Just three useless males,” Trel replied from behind the other two women.
“As Sheela said, more will help us survive,” Galmine countered. “I’m thankful for your friendship, Trel. I love meeting new people, don’t you? We should welcome our new friend into our home.”
“Pfft. Men serve my needs,” Trel said matter-of-factly.
“The loss of three is tragic. But we saved one warrior. Galmine did ask for your name.” Sheela turned to me and raised a perfect eyebrow.
“Oh, right. My manners are off today. My name is Victor,” I said with a nod.
Trel sniped from nearby. “Victor? No family name? Ewww. Not only is he a male, but he is of poor stature.” She shook her head at me, and her dark hair swirled around the flawless vanilla skin of her bare shoulders.
“Oh, sorry. My family name is Shelby. Victor Shelby. I'm a human. My world is called Earth, and the city I come from is called Los Angeles.”
“I like the shiny metal on your chest,” Galmine said as she pointed across the fire to my shirt.
“This is my badge. From the Los Angeles County Department for Animal Care and Control,” I replied.
“That sounds official.” Sheela's eyes glowed from the fire, and she reached a clawed finger out to touch the metal of my badge.
“It sounds stupid,” Trel huffed. “I bet he's a garbage collector.”
“No,” I said as I tried to keep my eyes off Trel’s nipples and her scary looking spider legs. “I help people with wild animals. It's a good job.”
“You control the animals?” Galmine asked.
“Nope,” I laughed. “I protect and care for the ones we rescue.”
“Humpf,” Trel mumbled while her legs tapped on the cave floor.
“Do you have any idea how to combat the flying orange ones?” Sheela asked.
“What do you mean?” I replied, immediately curious.
“I arrived fifty-one nights ago. I study everything here to help me survive. The last cave I was in was much like this one, but little feathered dinosaurs flew in and made nests. Alo
ne they are weak, but they are very powerful when in groups.”
I looked around. I didn’t see any in there with us.
Sheela seemed to know what I was thinking. “They aren’t in this cave. Yet,” she replied with an ominous ending.
“They’re on their way here?” I asked.
Sheela shrugged, and then added, “I believe they move down the coast. It was the behavior I observed with them earlier. First, it started with scouts. One or two showed up and poked around the outside of my cave. Over the next thirty sunrises or so more showed up until there were dozens of them trying to get into my cave. I fought where I could to keep them out, but there were too many.”
“Let me guess. You already saw one here?” I asked as if I already knew the answer.
Sheela nodded. “A few days ago. They are hard to miss. They are bright orange like this fire, and their wings have plumage of black like the night. They have sharp teeth, but they can also pierce with their razor sharp beaks. Very hard to fight more than one or two at a time.”
“Sheela’s crazy,” Trel said with a chitter of her claws. “These birds aren’t going to come to this cave. Why would they if they have their own cave? If they do come, we have all we need right here to fight dumb little birds. She can defend us at the entryway.”
I glanced at Sheela and saw frustration in her eyes. I didn’t know how many days she’d spent with Trel, but the beautiful spider-woman was already starting to annoy me, and it had only been five minutes.
“If that first one brings his friends, it will be just like your last cave,” I said.
Sheela seemed to brighten a little. “With enough warriors, it can be different than my last home. We could defend the entrance and also take care of the hunting, fishing, and gathering.”
“How many more would we need?” I asked as I shifted my focus to each of the women.
“We would need us, plus five. Maybe more,” Sheela said after a few seconds of thought.
“I’m not doing it.” Trel’s words were in sing-song form.
“Some of us want to do nothing,” Sheela suggested in an even voice.
“Some of us are waiting to be rescued,” Trel added with insistence, and the ebony haired spider-woman smiled. Her teeth looked like a vampire’s, with twin fangs where her canines should have been.
“Who is coming for you, Trel?” I asked with genuine interest.
Trel pushed between the two women, and her spider-legs carried her clicking across the floor toward me. The sight of her moving made the horror return to my nerves, but I calmed down when she stopped in front of me. She was elevated on her spider-legs with her silk dress dangling in mid air, and my eyes were level with her nipples. It was almost like she knew that she possessed perfect breasts and was pushing them into my face so I’d be hopelessly distracted.
Well, it was working, and I still didn't know if I should be attracted to, or terrified of her.
“Ahem,” Trel cleared her throat. “My eyes are up here, male.”
I forced my neck back so that I could look up at her face. Her eyes were the other alien part of her body. They had no white sclera part to them; they were just balls of black the same color as her hair.
Except the obsidian eyes now reflected the firelight, and the woman looked angry.
“A man will address me as Trel-Idil-Iria, Duchess of family Iria. Not just ‘Trel.’ I have hundreds of thousands of men wishing to breed with me on my planet. I am a treasure of significant importance. As for rescue, my sisters will cross the stars to find me.”
“I apologize, Trel Ill Areola, Du-- Oh I’m sor--” I began to say, but then I realized I’d Freudian slipped ‘areola,’ and I began to apologize.
“We might be rescued, but in the meantime, we need to survive,” Sheela interrupted my apology to Trel. “If the orange creatures come as I expect, we need to be ready to defend our home. We also need food and water daily. As I said, this is easier with more helpers such as Victor.”
Trel’s glare was withering for a moment, but Sheela used her arm to guide the black-haired woman away from me. Trel’s voice became less combative at the cat-woman’s touch. “Is your skill that of a hunter, male? I might overlook your natural ignorance if you could provide food for me.”
“I’m not a hunter in the sense you think, but I do pursue animals so I can, uh, r-rescue them.” I never stuttered in my life, but Trel broke some part of my speech center whenever I looked at her.
“Pursuing animals” was a glorious description of snaring cats and dogs when they escaped from their cages back at the animal control office. We hired interns who sometimes had bigger hearts than brains, and I’d have to round up the animals they let escape. But I often got to do actual fieldwork and capture animals like Ernie the snake out in the “wilds” of suburban Los Angeles. I guess that was hunting.
The three women looked at me, and they seemed puzzled by my answer.
“Uhh. Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
“What’s your skill, silly,” Galmine asked with a cute smile as she playfully tapped her temple next to her right eye.
“My skill?” I asked with confusion. I knew Trel already thought me an idiot, but I didn't want Sheela and Galmine to believe it as well.
Trel made like she was pulling her hair out, and her spider legs frantically tapped on the floor of the cave. “He doesn’t even know his skill! How are you still alive? Argg.”
“I will teach him, just as I taught you when we first met, Trel,” Sheela said as she stepped toward me.
“Whatever. I would have figured it out without your help,” the other woman huffed.
“Examine my eyes,” Sheela said to me as she rested her hands on my shoulders. Her touch caused my heart to start sprinting, and I looked into her cat-like orbs. For a moment, I felt as if I was swimming in a sea of gold, but then she winked at me twice with her right eye.
“Wink, as I did,” she instructed.
I blinked my eyes, but then I realized I needed to just wink the one. I chose the right, same as her.
A burst of text appeared in my field of vision.
“Oh shit, what is this?” I gasped.
My already-improved eyes allowed me to see better than I had back at home, even with my glasses on. Now they bestowed a new gift: a kind of dashboard appeared in front of me like a head’s up display in a fighter plane.
I reached out awkwardly like a blind man at the strip club. I knew the image was in my eye, but it shimmered when I moved my hand just so. I couldn’t help but giggle at how awesome it was.
“That is correct, Victor. You can move within the I-Q display by using gestures. In time you will also be able to control it with slight adjustments of the eye itself,” Sheela said while stepping out of my way.
“Come again? IQ?” I said while still flopping my hand around. I had to watch carefully, so I didn’t accidentally grope her as I grabbed at the shimmering letters.
“Is that not what you see at the top?” Sheela asked.
Sure enough, in the top right corner were the words Eye-Q written in fancy script, like it was a software company logo or something. My name was also on the very top line.
“Touch your name, and it calls up some computer jarble,” Galmine added helpfully.
I mimicked touching my name on the screen with an air-tap of my index finger. It was kind of like using my tablet back home, but it still felt silly tapping blank air.
Sure enough, the screen blinked and a new array of “jarble” appeared next to a picture of me standing with a dumb look on my face. I didn’t recognize the background, but I was wearing my uniform and aussie hat, so I figured it was very recent.
A few rows of data reported all sorts of things I already knew: eye color, height, and weight; although I thought it was reporting a bit high on that one. Lots of stuff similar to a driver’s license, but also my home planet along with some strange long rows of numbers.
At the bottom section were stats like in a video gam
e:
Strength: 3
Stamina: 2
Movement: 3
Special Skill: TAME - Level 2.
Is that what they wanted from me?
“It says Strength 3, Stamina 2, and Movement 3. My special skill is called ‘Tame level 2’. Does it mean anything to you?”
Trel laughed uproariously. “Tame! You can say that again! I told you, men are helpless.”
“I think Tame sounds like a wonderful skill,” Galmine purred.
Trel didn’t miss a beat but spoke with noticeably less hostility. “Well, come on. If he had said ‘Starship Builder’ it might have blown my skirt up. Neither of you can seriously think ‘Tame’ is going to do anything for us.”
“What are your special skills?” I said as politely as possible to redirect Trel from insulting me. I feared they were going to throw epic abilities in my face and make mine look ridiculous by comparison.
I was kind of facing Galmine, so she spoke first. “Mine says Grow, and I guess that’s because my people are very adept at growing plants. In my world, we have far less sun than here.” Galmine pointed outside of the cave and then brushed her silver hair back with the same finger. “It is also much cooler. We live off vegetables and grains. My Eye-Q says I am level 1. My strength, stamina, and movement all say 1, but I don’t really know what that means.”
“It means you are too nice,” Trel replied with a sigh.
“What do you mean?” Galmine asked Trel, and the gray skinned woman smiled sweetly at the spider-woman. “I like being nice to people. You are all my friends. I wish I were home, of course, but I am happy to be in your company.”
“Nevermind,” Trel grumbled, and it seemed to me that the haughty woman couldn’t bring herself to be mean to Galmine.
“What about you?” I asked Sheela.
“It says Critical Strike. I grew up training with weapons, so I suppose that is what they mean. I am also Level 1.”
