She did, then instinctively stepped a little closer to Ranek. A warm hand landed on her lower back, and she huddled in closer. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the slight glow coming from the walls.
“Oh! It’s glowing! I didn’t even notice because of the light.”
“Bioluminescent fungus lines the tunnel walls. It should be just enough for Commander Chaos to see.”
“But not for you?”
“My eyes are not great for a Tallean.”
“Well, they’re still ten times better than mine.” She turned her lantern back on, and the device blinked a few times. It hadn’t done that earlier.
They hadn’t had the time to charge the lanterns they’d found, but now she wondered how smart it had been to rely on a decade-old charge.
But the terrifying thought of being stranded in the dark in the middle of the abandoned mines was quickly forgotten when thefamiliaryip yip yipof a distressed Commander Chaos reached her ears.
“He’s in trouble!” Without thinking, she sprinted ahead until Ranek pulled her back and she landed against the front of his body with an, “Oof!”
“Stay behind me,” he said through gritted teeth. “You are no good to him if you are dead.”
Her initial reaction was to argue, but Ranek was heading toward the sound of distress, and he did have a point. So she bit her tongue and followed.
They hurried down the tunnel, with fresh impetus, turning the corner to find that about a dozen furry pom-poms with massive teeth had cornered a frightened Commander Chaos, who had climbed onto and was clinging to a ledge with his claws. Several of the creatures were showing off their impeccable climbing skills as they made their way up to him, but from the higher position, Commander Chaos swiped and snapped his jaws at them, keeping them at bay.
“Holy Tribbles, Batman!”
In the light of the lanterns, the creatures’ teeth gleamed. But other than the fact that they were actively trying to eat her baby, they looked adorable. Talk about an attack of the killer bunnies.
Ranek reacted immediately, knocking the creatures away from their prey without using lethal force. But the moment the creatures saw the large Tallean male, they forgot about the dragus pup completely, and instead crowded around him not with the intent to hunt, but with curiosity. While they saw Commander Chaos as food, they didn’t see the bipedal Tallean or the human the same way. Maybe they thought them too big toeat, or perhaps they just weren’t similar enough to their normal food source.
With the killer-bunny-Tribbles distracted, Maya snuck around and grabbed Commander Chaos, cuddling the dragus pup in her arms.
She was able to see the details better now that they were in the light of the lanterns. They had large disk-shaped ears and big, shiny eyes that reflected the light, reminding her of a video she’d seen once of something shining a flashlight into a Floridian swamp. The Talleans had that reflective sheen too, and so did the dragus.
The fur was purplish-gray, and now that the teeth were put away, she had to admit that they were pretty darn cute.
“We can’t let these nibbles follow us back to my ship,” Ranek said as they started back the way they came. “They have a penchant for chewing wires.”
“Nibbles?” she asked. “That’s definitely English.”
The creatures continued to follow them as they went back through the tunnel. She made sure to hold Commander Chaos up high and as far away from the “nibbles” as possible.
“Technically, they are called tunnel verlaks, but the people I told you about who were stranded here adopted one of these. Ckzarr’s mate is human. Roxy named him Nibbles, and Nibbles is slowly eating them out of hull and ship. They love to chew on wires. When grown, they are ferocious and known to attack grown Tallean males.”
She narrowed her eyes at the creatures. “Part of me wants to ask why they adopted one, but I also spend most of my days surrounded by dragus, so I’m not one to speak.”
She looked down at the creature still following her. How were they going to make sure the little ones didn’t follow them back? If Commander Chaos managed to get out of the infirmary, then surely these creatures could make it in. But her question was quickly answered as they passed the electric lizard creature. The moment it hissed and sparked, the nibbles immediately focused on it and the room full of legless younglings.
Maya hurried past, not wanting to know how nature took its course, but soon heard a series of yelps following some zaps. The little creatures could defend themselves after all.
They were in front of the door of the mining station again when Commander Chaos wiggled out of her arms, clearly not ready to go back.
“Hey! Come back here!” she exclaimed.
The pup bounded down the corridor in the opposite direction.
But instead of going straight down the tunnel, he quickly ducked into a doorway she hadn’t noticed before. She recognized the Tallean glyphs the moment she held her lantern high. The baths?
Chapter 11
