“I am,” she whispered.
“Not at me,” he said, nodding his head. “At that.”
It took all of her willpower to turn away and look. First, her eyes roved over the vast, bizarre landscape, and the green forest that vined out like weeds throughout it all. Around were plateaus and giant mountains that roiled outward for eternity, some so high they rose up far beyond, even at their altitude. The colors were the same as Earth, green foliage and blue skies. The only thing that was missing were the miles upon miles of metal cities and grey cement.
On one side there was an ocean, as blue as the oceans she had grown up next to, bluer even. The coastline held a ping-pong of waterfalls leading away from it, as inlets and rivers flowed from the watery expanse. Far, far in the distance, there was a purple and grey storm hovering above it. The water rose up in a tempest toward the threatening clouds.
“So beautiful,” she choked out, her eyes taking in the view, afraid that if she didn’t it would vanish.
“Not that.” A single finger tapped her chin, gently turning her head. “Home.”
That’s when she saw it. A dinosaur. One that had an unsettling amount of dirt in its wake. “Oh my god—”
“—Lusheenn.”Luchen.The name still had no translation.
“What is it?”
The creature was huge, beyond comprehension huge. It looked like a brontosaurus but far taller and wider, many miles in its expanse. It was as tall as the tallest mountains, and even at her height with Quist keeping them adrift, they were barely level with it.
After her initial shock, the only thought going through her head was what that beast ate.Whatand how much. She didn’t think there was enough forest to feed it, let alone if it was a carnivore. Her grip on Quist tightened, and she leveraged her body to straddle his waist.
“That’s... home? What’s on its back?”
You’re definitely not on Earth anymore, Hiro.
She continued, “It won’t eat us will it?” The beast stood unmoving in its position, its head lifted toward the sun.
“It absorbs the light. Like my brothers and I. My home is on its back. The City of Dawn isn’t following dawn, though, and I think I know why.”
“It eats light?”
“Absorbs it. Do you not absorb it?” He turned in the air until more of the sun’s rays hit her. They were intermittent as the sky slowly swayed with clouds from the ocean storm. “I feel your stomach against mine. It aches for nourishment.”
“I don’t eat light.”
He stiffened, bringing her gaze back to him. He was looking at her sharply.
“You... don’t? What do you need for nourishment?”
Her pulse thrummed. She became aware of how close they were, and how much she clung to him. The only barrier separating their skin was a little cloth and a lot of polyester.
“I eat meat, vegetables,” she tried to find the right words in his language as options flooded her head. “Flowers?”
“You eat Sonhadra?”
“Yes, maybe, what’s Sonhadra?”
His eyes sharpened further, narrowing. “This,” he flourished his arm, loosening his hold and making her screech before he re-banded it around her, “is Sonhadra. Did Lusheenn not tell you so?”
“I don’t know who or what Lusheenn is and I-I—” Yahiro squeaked as Quist pressed her flush against him and the hand that had tilted her chin now curved her ass. A thick erection sat between their plastered pelvises and she promptly forgot what she was going to say, choking on the words.
When she finally had the gall to face him again, he stared down at her, curious and horrified.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m a human.”
She gripped him tighter, not liking where this conversation was going, that they were having it so high up in the air, and that her only escape was death.
