Darkness surrounded him.
Atlas whipped his arms around, terrified at what was happening.
As suddenly as he’d been caught up in…whatever that had been, Atlas landed hard on his feet. His knees buckled and Atlas ended up on his hands and knees in some large room.
Across from him, the monster stalked toward a black stone wall that slid open, allowing the monster to go through.
“Hey!” Atlas called out but the wall had already closed. His voice echoed around him.
What the fuck? What the fuck? Atlas shook his head then rose slowly. First, he did inventory on his body. As bad as that whirling falling thing had been, Atlas didn’t think he’d been injured. No, actually he felt the same as before. Okay. Second, Atlas needed to figure out where he was.
Looking around, Atlas was godsmacked at how massive the space was.
To his back was a large cold fireplace. Like, seriously large. It was three times Atlas’s height and wider than five of him. To the right was an entire wall of books. Thousands of books, all appearing to be old and fragile. Atlas wasn’t a big reader himself but someone must be an avid reader to have a collection like this.
Across from the fireplace and next to the books was the largest desk that Atlas had even seen.
He shuffled forward. Obviously, the desk belonged to the monster. There were stacks and stacks of papers. Did monsters have normal jobs like humans? It was amusing to think of a group of monsters having to fill out expense reports or something ridiculous like that.
Atlas climbed into the chair to peer at the papers that sat in the middle of the desk. The top sheet held a column of names, a short description listing all kinds of things, and a number.
Flipping to the next page, Atlas found the same. Then again and again. Twenty pages in and someone was keeping track of something. Huh, interesting. And yes, he knew this was perfectly stupid. Atlas should be freaking out and trying to get out of whatever this room was. Really it looked just like any other office. Just built for a monster.
Setting his elbow on the desk, Atlas rested his chin on his cupped hand as he looked around. Both the walls and floor were some kind of glossy black stone but for some reason, even without any visible lighting, Atlas had no trouble seeing at all.
Where was he exactly?
Well, other than trapped in some monster’s lair.
The same wall opened as before. It made no noise but the chair vibrated under Atlas. His mouth dropped open as the monster from earlier walked back in with a towel wrapped around his waist. Water dripped from the long black hair to land on thick shoulders.
No flickers here.
Atlas could see every inch of the monster. He was taller now. No longer trying to fit inside a human form. Nearly seven foot including the horns, if Atlas had to wager a guess.
Huge wings were fluttering as drops of water clung to them. The black flesh shone and the gold veins going up and down the monster’s body were nearly glowing. The long tail that Atlas spotted earlier was wrapped around the monster’s right leg. What. The. Hell?
And the towel.
The monster needed a longer towel.
Or maybe not.
Oh! Atlas didn’t know what the towel was hiding but he could imagine. At least by the big bulge against the damp material.
Atlas forced his mouth closed as drool pooled on the edges of his lips.
The monster’s head came up and his nostrils flared. He stumbled, then those dark eyes locked right onto him.
Lifting his hand, Atlas gave the monster a finger wave. He tried to silently show that he was just an innocent human who’d gotten lost. No reason to eat him or anything. Atlas really didn’t want to get eaten.
“You?” the monster choked out. “What? When? How?”
Those were very good questions. Atlas didn’t bother to climb out of the chair since he’d have to jump down. He really didn’t think it would be a good idea to remind the monster how small and vulnerable he was. “Hello.”
“Hello?” the monster repeated. “Hello?”
“I’m Atlas,” he introduced. “And I would really like to know where I am.”
