by Calista Skye
Now that she lets me decide it, I’m more than happy to indulge her. “Very well. Are there often Bigs in the city?”
Ashlynn takes my hand and smiles at me. “Hardly ever. Except for that Godzilla monster. But I think he prefers to raze Tokyo.”
I sense that she’s making some kind of alien joke. “I will watch out for him.”
She squeezes my hand in response, then cranes her neck to stare up. “Most of this is an illusion, I think. The actual buildings can’t be that tall. Maybe only thirty paces high. The rest is fake.”
She drags me along a wide, hard path that goes between the blocky structures. She walks up a wide, stony staircase to the root of one of them, then pushes and pulls at a door that appears to be made from glass.
She shakes it for a while, then goes up to the glass and peers inside. “Actually, these houses aren’t real houses. They’re just fronts, with nothing much behind them. It’s not as cool as I thought.”
“The Ex made them just to look at,” I conclude. “Part of their planet must have looked just like this, and after the dragons forced them off it, they wanted to relive walking in their city.”
Ashlynn squeezes my hand again. “I think that’s exactly right. That’s why they built this. It was probably a famous city on their planet.”
I take in the landscape around us. It is hard and square and regular, nothing at all like the jungle I know so well. But it does have a certain beauty. “It must have been hard to build their city. It must have taken a long time. Then the dragons chased them away from it. Are the city on Earth much like this?”
“They are. If I squint and don’t focus too much on the details, this could be a city on Earth. It actually feels really weird. I wish Delyah would have warned me about this place.”
I look down at her pale face, then reach over and gently wipe a tear off her cheek. “It reminds you of your home.”
Ashlynn sniffles. “A little bit. I mean, we have so many cities. They’re not that different from this one. And I’m thinking, what if the dragons find Earth?” She puts her hand into a pocket in her dress.
Then she stiffens. “Shit.”
“What?”
She pats herself down, rummages through her, bag and puts her hand into her pocket again. “I think I left something up by the pool. Did you see anything fall out of my pocket?”
“No.”
“You sure?” There’s distress in her voice.
“I would have told you if I saw it. Shall we ask the robot?”
“No! I mean, no, it’s okay. There’s no need. I’ll go and get it on the way up again. It’s not like anyone would take it.”
“Very well. What is that over there?” I point to a strange shape I’ve spotted.
Ashlynn finishes her search and takes my hand again. “Let’s go and check.”
There’s an open area between four of the large houses, and in the middle of it is a dark figure of some sort, standing on a stone platform.
“The likeness of a man,” I conclude.
“A statue,” Ashlynn says. “But yes. The likeness of a man. Or an alien. Must be a famous Ex.”
“A great warrior.”
“Or a great peacemaker. Or a great poet or a great artist of some kind. I’m not sure the Ex valued warriors that much. See those marks?”
There are squiggles and lines and angles that make the eyes struggle. But they look too regular to be anything but deliberately made. “They’re carved into the rock.”
“That is probably this person’s name in writing.”
“Ah,” I state with a confidence I don’t feel. This level is even more alien than the others. “For an alien, he’s not that different from us. He looks like…” I turn and spot the robot in the distance, with its thin arms, long legs, and slender torso. “He looks like that.”
Ashlynn glances where I point. “They must have made the robots to resemble themselves. Yeah, they’re not too different from us at all. It makes Phoebe’s Panspermia theory even more likely.”
It’s very silent while we both ponder our surroundings.
“They missed their home so much that they built all these levels to remind them of it. Walking around here.” Ashlynn says softly. “Trying to remember what is was really like. Just to capture a pale shadow of the real thing.”
My hand finds hers. “If you knew you could not go home to your planet, but you could build something like this. To remind you of your Earth. Would you do it?”
She turns to face me. “I miss my home. But this is too much, even for me. No, I would prefer to just have the memories. They would be real. All this is too... fake. It would just make me sad.”
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. It seems unwholesome to look back with such intensity.”
She squeezes my hand in agreement. “How about you? If your old tribe said that they wanted you to come home and they would give you a fine sword – would you?”
I reach up to touch the hilt of my sword. “That is something I often fantasized about for the first few years after I left. Back then, I think I would accept. I would have returned if they asked me. But after I made my own sword, the fantasy changed. Whenever I thought of that happening, I always imagined turning them down. I had proved I could make it on my own. But I would also invite anyone who wanted to join me in a new tribe. With me as the chief.”
“I think you would have made a wonderful chief.”
I look her right in the eyes. “It’s still a possibility.”
She just nods and smiles enigmatically.
I feel encouraged. “I don’t need them to invite me back. I can start my own tribe without anyone from my old one. Like your tribe. It has members of many stripes. I would only accept the best warriors. We could barter for Lifegivers from other tribes. We would build a new village. I would use the alien knowledge to build better houses. Perhaps like these.” I point to the structures around us. “We would have plenty of iron and food. I would pay special attention to the youngest in the tribe. I would always make them feel valued. No matter who their father was. And,” I finish, feeling generous, “we would help to fight the dragons.”
Ashlynn’s eyes shine as she looks up at me. “I think you would make it a fantastic tribe. And maybe you could have a woman there, too.”
11
- Ashlynn -
Juri’ex takes my other hand and pulls me closer. “That would be the most fantastic thing of all.”
Hm. I might have gone too far. But he was so enthusiastic when he talked about the new tribe he’s planning that I was kind of carried away. He has to know I’m not going to leave my own tribe. Even if it is to join his. He’s plainly competent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be a good leader of men. But me leaving the girls... hmm.
The fake Ex city that surrounds us suddenly makes me shudder. There’s no menace here, but there is a pitiful atmosphere of what the Ex were reduced to after the dragons chased them off their own home planet. I don’t want to absorb any more of it. “Let’s go one level deeper.”
We start walking back to the elevator beam, and the robot follows.
What would it be like to be his co-chief in the new tribe he wants to create? Or even his wife? Like Delyah and Brax’tan?
No, I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s not on the cards. Sure, I feel great in his company. He obviously knows how to get me off, and he enjoyed my clumsy attempt at a blowjob. Butterflies take off in my stomach whenever he looks at me. He’s huge and strong and confident and manly. I would love to introduce him to everyone back home as my husband. God, my mom would die of shock.
But I’m going home to Earth. And the complications of having a caveman alien in tow when I get there are just too serious.
If I ever get home. If I don’t, then...
Once more, Juri’ex walks into the beam first, and I follow a couple of seconds later so he has time to get out of the way.
“This could be a fun level,” I exclai
m when I see the landscape on level five.
“It looks dangerous,” Juri’ex grunts.
“That’s part of the point. It looks and even feels dangerous, but it is really completely safe. We have these things on Earth, too. We call them ‘amusement parks’. They’re all about having a good time and enjoying yourself.”
Because that’s clearly what this is. And all the rides are running. I can’t see any Ferris wheels, but I definitely see a rollercoaster with a couple of scary-looking loops. There are huge machines that spin, some that go up and down, and many I can’t identify at all. But the myriad of bright colors and the winding paths and ponds and colorful lights make it obvious that the Ex liked a good theme park just as much as any Earthling. There are even happy sounds that I can only guess is Ex music. But there are, of course, no people anywhere, and no smell of popcorn.
“I don’t like this darkness,” Juri’ex states and looks around him nervously.
Only now do I realize that it’s clearly darker here than on the upper levels. “The darkness is part of it. Amusement parks are always best about an hour after sunset so you can really see the lights. I bet this level is kept at eternal dusk. An amusement park in full daylight would just feel wrong.”
Juri’ex stares at the various rides with a skeptical frown on his face. “These things are enjoyable to you?”
I grin up at him. “And to you, I’ll bet. You’ll see. Juri’ex, is it okay if we don’t explore this level that much yet? I’m curious about what it is down here that Delyah wanted me to see.”
“Of course.”
The unexpected sight of the amusement park and the fun it promises makes me childishly giddy. “Of course,” I repeat, furrowing my brow and making my voice as deep as I can. “Very well. Certainly. You’re so eager to please, Juri’ex.”
He slowly shifts his gaze to me, and there’s icy coldness in his eyes as he takes one step closer until he towers over me like an angry god of war.
Yeah. I just teased an alien caveman, eight feet tall and with the strength of about six tigers. Too late, I realize how extraordinarily dangerous that is. My cheeks go cold.
“I’m sorry,” I squeak as sudden panic hits me. “I didn’t mean that oh!”
He quickly grabs hold of me under my arms and lifts me until he’s looking at me levelly. God, I never knew his eyes could shoot actual lightning.
“No warrior must be called ‘eager to please’,” he rumbles between clenched jaws. “It is the ultimate insult.”
“Sorry,” squeal, “I won’t do it aga—”
“Now I must have my revenge.”
Oh fuck. He’s going to kill me. “No, no, I’m sorry I’ll make it up to you— nooooaaaiiieeee!”
He lowers me almost to the ground. Then he tenses up and flings me into the air as if I was nothing more than a basketball. At the top of the curve, I catch a glimpse of the ground, and I know that I’ll break every bone in my body when I land.
I scream with real, genuine fear for my life as the ground comes closer very fast.
Then I land.
Right into Juri’ex’s strong arms. He somehow manages to break my fall perfectly softly, like a thick mattress might.
He grins, and his fangs glitter with the bright colors from the alien amusement park. “How do you like my revenge?”
“It’s okay, no more,” I plead quickly. “I get it, you don’t like when I say aaiiieeeee!”
He tosses me into the air again, but this time I’m spinning like a frisbee.
Once more, I scream on the way down. He can’t possibly catch me when I’m spinning this wildly.
But he does, again giving me the sensation of landing in a pile of down. He’s in total control of this.
He chuckles, and I prepare for another toss into the air.
Instead, he holds me out from him on straight arms, the way you’d hold a baby dripping with spilled milk. He’s still grinning. “Do you need more revenge?”
“I’m good. I mean, I’ll be good. I promise.” My voice is baby-like, too.
“Okay,” he says in a bright, silly voice that I think is supposed to be me. Then he puts me down, but helps keep me steady while I wait out the dizziness.
“See? I can be less eager to please, too.”
I slap his chest, not too hard. “You’re a brute.”
“A brute who is eager to please,” he corrects me, then leans in and places a sweet kiss on the top of my head.
“I’m not sure you’re that eager to please,” I state while I smooth down my hair. “But at least you are a decent amusement park all on your own.”
“Oh, did you enjoy it?”
“Yes,” I say bravely. “It was great fun to be tossed in the air. The view is wonderful up there.”
He reaches down and gently adjusts my dress around my shoulders. “I don’t believe you. I won’t do it again.”
I look up at his alien face. Now that I realize there was never any risk, the panic I felt is being transformed into something else that’s just as intense. “You can be very dangerous, can’t you?”
He frowns, because he’s a decent guy. “Not to you.”
I put my hand flat on his striped chest. “You can be a little dangerous to me.”
He visibly swallows and quickly looks me up and down. He just might catch my drift.
There’s a grassy mound just a few yards away. I sashay over to it and sit down. The ground here is just as soft as on the first level we saw.
Juri’ex takes his sword off, places it on the ground, and sits down next to me.
We look at each other, and I try my best to infuse my gaze with the lust I feel. I would really like for him to take the initiative here, but he’s never done this before, so I probably have to—
He half turns, calmly reaches over, cups one of my breasts over the dress, and kisses me insistently right on the mouth.
I respond to his kiss with open lips and a little moan that he can’t misunderstand.
Being tossed high into the air was maybe not too much fun, but now I really liked having felt his strength. Especially in a way I couldn’t control.
We kiss for a good while, and I run my hands all over his sensational torso before my fingers start pulling impatiently at the drawstring to his pants.
He helps me out and loosens it, and his hard cocks shoots up from the fabric like a coiled spring.
I grab onto it, and feeling the hard and exotic but still silky smooth manhood sends more tingles to my girly bits. And some fear to my mind. He could do some real damage with that size. He can also cause some serious pleasure.
His hand squeezes my breasts over the dress, but I want that thick, ugly garment off me. I tug at it with one hand, and Juri’ex helps me pull it over my head to reveal my naked body to him again.
He takes one second to admire me and whisper his “Holy Ancestors”, and then he pulls off his pants before he’s all over me once more.
My hands roam all over him, too. His stripes are tough, but the skin between them is as smooth and fine as satin, except for the many scars. Yeah, this is a body that has lived in a lethal jungle and come out blemished, but insanely powerful.
His exploration of me complete, Juri’ex straddles me, grips my wrists, and puts them on the grass above my head. His turquoise eyes penetrate me to my depths. “You said I can be dangerous to you.”
His words send a little lightning bolt to my crotch. “Just a little. Sometimes.”
He gives me a small, barely perceptible nod. But it speaks volumes, and I relax. He gets it.
Probably.
One of his hands goes between my thighs, and I open them just an inch as a signal he can’t misunderstand.
And he doesn’t. He repositions himself, pushes my knees apart, and then dives between my legs, face first.
I jerk at the first contact his tongue makes with my slit, at the very bottom edge of it. “Oooh!”
I’m really glad I took a thorough bath just a few hours ago. But
I hope he understands that I haven’t seen a razor for ages.
He circles and laps and licks, avoiding the clit. Because he’s just as must of a tease as I am.
Oh my. An alien caveman with stripes is eating me out. A huge man with bulging muscles. And he’s good at it. The pressure isn’t too hard, the moves are right and he even—
“Oooooh yeah!”
And he even knows how to blow on sensitive, moistened flesh to raise goosebumps all over a poor girl.
I’ve already come once today. But if he keeps this up, I can add another climax to the tally very soon.
The sounds from down there are wet and scandalous, but I don’t care. Heat is flowing to my center, and that’s good, because what I really want is…
“Fuck me,” I plead. “Fuck me with your huge cock.”
Of course, he can’t understand what I’m saying in English. But I don’t know that word in cavemanese. I can only hope that he wants it, too.
But it might be too late. If his tongue swipes by my clit just once now, I won’t be responsible for the consequences. There are already little spasms going on.
As if he can read my mind, Juri’ex stops moving down there. He slowly disengages, pushes my thighs further apart, and goes up on his knees between them. His cock strains skywards like some kind of alien moon rocket, trembling with barely contained energy.
He stops moving, and suddenly all there is in the world are his luminous eyes.
I know what that is. He’s checking that I really want it. God, how did I ever find such a great guy?
And I really want it. I want it like I’ve rarely wanted anything else. No, I need it. I need his cock in me.
“Yes,” I wheeze. “Now.”
He takes a split second to give me a confident little smirk, and I have to remind myself that this is supposedly a virgin. Could have fooled me.
I lay my head back as he positions his rod at my entrance. I should be more than wet enough after his expert ministrations down there. But that thing is enormous.
