Unfortunately, she had no intention of venturing closer to find out.
Something thrashed weakly at the bottom of the pool. A coil of its immense body appearing under the surface before it was gone.
"You're unusually restless today, my pet," a man crooned from out of sight.
He glided into view, stepping onto one of the walkways extending over the pool.
Elena ducked back, tucking herself into a tiny crevasse between two metal canisters to avoid detection.
"Struggling is unnecessary. You know you can't escape from this place."
The lilt in the man's voice made Elena tremble. It brought with it a sense of terror, making her second guess just why she'd thought it was a good idea to tempt fate and explore the heart of the enemy's territory. A foe even Auntie and Uncle Jin treated with caution.
What had she been thinking? She wasn't equipped to deal with the consequences of discovery.
Fear gripped her by the throat, holding her immobile. Her hands clenched and unclenched, her breath quickening.
This was her chance. An opportunity to gather important intel that might help Auntie and Uncle Jin later on. Was she really going to cower in a corner and let it pass her by?
She didn't think so. Someone had to stop these monsters. While that person probably wouldn't be her, she could at least do her part.
First step—observing the enemy.
With that pep talk in mind, Elena steeled herself and crawled forward to peer through the metal grates to the room below.
The man stared off to the side at something out of sight.
Elena shifted to try to get a glimpse of what had caught his attention, but couldn't see anything from her vantage point.
She settled back, forcing herself to study the Tsavitee instead.
Her aunties used to say that the more beautiful something was, the deadlier they were likely to be. This man reminded her of that warning. The Tsavitee version of a golden dart frog. A venomous amphibian native to a Haldeel colony planet. Its skin was a highly sought after prize on the black market, not only for its beauty but also its medicinal properties.
However, few were willing to take the chance of hunting them. One drop of the venom it secreted through its skin was enough to fell twenty people.
This person was like that. An alluring poison.
Strangely, he resembled a human. Or maybe a Tuann. At least a little.
There were discrepancies, however. His height for one. He would dwarf even the tallest Tuann. His limbs were longer than natural for either species. The length of his fingers was off too. Each one possessed an additional phalange. Or maybe it was a metacarpal. Elena never could remember which was which.
His eyes were different too. Creepy looking, for one thing.
They were larger than either a human's or a Tuann's. There was also no pupil. Just an unrelenting gold that made him look blind.
Except his head turned as he tracked another's approach, proving he was anything but.
Elena stifled her gasp. What was Elise doing here?
"You've put yourself back together quite admirably, my dear," the Tsavitee crooned.
Elise was in bad shape. Her powerful presence much fainter than it had been upon their arrival. Weak, as if she was hovering on the cusp of life and death.
There was a hitch to her walk. A slight limp she was trying to hide. She also held herself carefully. As if something still hurt somewhere deep inside.
Her skin was unnaturally pale. Bloodless, making the bruises under her eyes stand out in stark contrast.
"A little light torture," Elise drawled, her voice sounding far stronger than the state of her body suggested. "Nothing to get worked up about."
