Her lungs burned. It’d been foolish to hold her breath. But just when she couldn’t manage it any longer, the panel was torn completely away.
Hands—fourhands tipped with long claws—reached in to grab her. Screaming, she tried to find purchase on anything, but to no avail. She was wrenched from her hiding space and hoisted high into the air. She kicked wildly but was unable to move her arms as the Kroid pinned them to her side. It was strong—struggling was useless.
“Exxo!” she screeched.
“Working on it,” he responded unhurriedly.
The creature made a series of deep clicks and scratchy trills, and Isobel finally looked into its face. There was nothing to compare it to. Its skin was a mixture of scaly dark greens and browns. Wide-set, black eyes ran over her hungrily. But it was the rows of sharp, pointed teeth set into its blockish face, beneath a nose made up of long slits, that terrified her. That terrible maw opened wide, a whiplike tongue slithering out to lash against her chin and cheek.
The Kroid brought her closer to its body, its rotten breath hot on her face. Isobel screamed as she attempted to knee it in the chest and push away, which only served to tighten its hold on her. Its claws tore into her dress and poked the flesh beneath. Any deeper and it would shred her skin.
“Exxo, I don’t know what to do!” she cried in a panic.
“Put your head down,” Exxo warned.
She ducked her head down and squeezed her eyes shut just as a hissing sound emitted from the panels of the ceiling. A wave of heatburst across her hair, but she wasn’t close enough to be burned by whatever defense Exxo had chosen.
The Kroid roared and tossed her away.
She scrambled back from the creature’s stomping feet lest she be trampled to death. It thrashed wildly, trying to escape the pressurized steam releasing from somewhere in the ceiling, but it slammed into the opposite wall.
“Run now, Isobel Nott.”
A bolt of lightning went through her as she found her footing. She obeyed, gathering up her skirts and dashing toward the control room, which looped back to the entrance she always used. She wiped the Kroid’s drool from her face, willing herself not to vomit.
“When you leave the ship, go to the left,” Exxo instructed, “I will not be able to see you once you get into the tree line. Find a tree to hide behind and stay put until Ved finds you. He will not be long.”
“Thank you, Exxo.”
As she stepped out of the ship, though, she heard distant fighting. Was that Ved? Could she really run and hide while he fought for his life? It didn’t seem right.
“You will only distract him,” Exxo said boredly. “The Kroid in the shadowdrifter is recovering, and I am serious when I say that Ved will be most displeased if I allow you to become a Kroid snack.”
It was going toeather? The thought alone made her stomach turn until she thought she would be sick, even as she ran as fast as she could manage toward the trees. When the woods engulfed her, it was a welcome feeling. Only looking back once at the ship, she didn’t see any ugly, human-eating creatures coming for her. Still, she didn’t slow down until she found a sturdy tree to crouch behind.
Ved’s world was violent and exacting, she’d known that, but something about this put it more into perspective. Did he everface a day when there wasn’t an enemy plotting his demise, or him theirs? Was there any softness or rest for him?
Would he even want such things?
Time passed in a way that made her uncertain whether she’d been there for minutes or longer. Listening intently, she couldn’t hear anything.
Even the wood’s constant chatter had stopped. It was so eerily quiet she could almost hear her heart beating.
Had it been that way the entire time?
Twigs snapped nearby.
She jumped. Dragging in a shaky breath, she tried to peer through the wiry bushes all around her. Ithadto be Ved. Exxo had said he wouldn’t be long. Yet it wasnoisyfootsteps that drew closer, heading right toward her.
Too noisy to be Ved.
She popped her head up, needing to see what was coming for her.
And regretted it immediately. The Kroid spotted her and let out a strange chitter.
Another responded, coming from behind her. She whirled around to not only a second Kroid, but a third, too. Backing up, she kept them in her line of sight.
They stood upright on thick legs, but their knees were bent as if constantly prepared to pounce. All three held big, rifle-like objects unlike she’d ever seen in two of their four hands. Though the color of their scales varied slightly around their black eyes, they were all similar in appearance. Meaning large, terrifying, and ready to eat her.
