Seriously? I got caught in a fucking hunting snare?
Then another thought hit me—the Maeleons in the village didn’t hunt or trap, because they didn’t eat meat.
So, whose trap was I in?
My stomach lurched with actual fear. Were there other sapient creatures on Eukaria? Had I just sealed my own idiotic fate by getting trapped by a meat-eater?
I suddenly wished I’d taken Tau’run’s warning seriously.
After mere seconds of dangling, the blood rushed uncomfortably to my head. This wasn’t good. The longer I stayed in this compromising position, the more trouble I’d be in—especially if nobody was coming to save me.
A cold shiver ran up my spine. Then I promptly ejected that thought from my mind. Therehadto be someone nearby. I needed to call out and get their attention.
“Hello?” I yelled. “Is anybody there? What’s going on?”
I nearly had a heart attack when a huge shape rose from the grassy ledge overhead. Camouflage I didn’t even know was possible melted away, revealing a hulking, familiar shape.
A Maeleon.
Relief hit me like a truck. I knew there’d be a local around to help. A weak laugh bubbled out of me.
“Wow, you havenoidea how happy I am to see you,” I called as the Maeleon stalked closer.
I stopped spinning long enough to get a good look at my savior. Even upside-down, I could tell the Maeleon was freaking massive, easily bigger than Zat’tor. With the ripped muscles and imposing figure, I couldn’t help thinking of him as masculine. His scales were the deep red shade of an autumn leaf, and his horns jutted out like a bull’s. He looked cool as hell.
The Maeleon paused briefly at the sound of my voice, then let out a low chuckle. His deep voice was tinged with a throaty growl. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. I got stuck in this trap, and I’m already starting to get dizzy,” I complained.
The Maeleon watched me dangle helplessly from the rope. Was he frowning or grinning? Being upside-down made it difficult to tell.
Maybe he didn’t know what to do, since Maeleons didn’t use traps. It probably made no sense to him.
“If you cut the rope with your claws, I’ll be free,” I said.
The Maeleon’s mouth widened in a fanged display. He was definitely grinning.
“Why would I want to do that?” he asked.
I blinked, then realized it was just another cultural misunderstanding. I didn’t recognize him from the village, so I figured he’d never met a human.
“Humans can’t dangle upside-down like Maeleons do,” I explained. “It’s, uh, pretty uncomfortable for us.”
His eyes flashed. They were red, like the rest of him.
“Humans?” he said slowly.
I relaxed. Misunderstanding confirmed. “Yeah, I’m a human.”
Another low chuckle rumbled in his throat. “I’ve never eaten ahumanbefore.”
Uh.
What?
My jaw fell open as a wave of confusion hit me. What was he talking about? Maeleons didn’t eat meat.
Did they?
