“You will not be able to star hop, I’m afraid,” Uulvin casually said, as if theyweren’tproving to be the witchiest bitch on the block. “Not with what was used to construct these caves.”
“Where did this rock come from?” Ziggy demanded, baring his teeth like the bad bitchhewas, even as he pumped uncharacteristicpanicthrough our bond. “No natural material on any planet can stop a Stellarian?—”
“The rock is from deep within our planet’s core,” the Hydrassian interrupted with a wave of the clawed handnotholding the cube. “However, theshieldsincorporated into the design were created by those with the power to do so.”
This sounds familiar…
Apparently on the same witchy wavelength, Uulvin’s gaze—allsixof their gazes—focused on me before they continued. “It is similar to what yourcompanionhas for shields, although their version seems more advanced than ours. Fascinating.”
That’s my cue to bring the thunder!
Not wanting to escalate the situation, I held off on unleashing my mechanical tendrils, but I still wanted these fools to know I was kind of a bad bitch myself.
A little dark rain cloud at least…
“Yeah, well, I created my own shields—with mypowers,”I replied, keeping my voice as steady as possible, forcing myself to stay calm for Ziggy’s sake. “And if you attempt to hurt us, you will witness the full force of what I can do.”
I hope.
Mybad bitch card was still valid as the Hydrassian’s many eyes widened. The two oversized house plants responded by rustling their enormous leaves—almost making me turn my brown pants browner—but then I realized they were communicating with each other.
They better not be saying “feed me”…
Unfortunately, my language translator didn’t seem to speak Twoey. Luckily, Uulvin was ready to interpret.
“We mean you no harm!” the seer exclaimed. “These precautions are forourprotection. One can never be too careful, especially when dealing with a species as formidable as the Stellarians.”
“How could you tell we’re Stellarians?” Ziggy growled, so pissed off,Ialmost shrank from his bottomless rage.
“We can see your aura,” Uulvin addressed him coolly before turning their attention back to me. “And whileyoursmatches in tone, it is decidedly fainter… as if your Stellarian is simply coexisting within you, like the old times?—”
“You know about that?!” I excitedly cut in before attempting to back pedal. “I mean, of course you do—you’re the oldest Hydrassian here. Not that youlookold! You actually look fabulous for your age. Slay, queen.”
Sigh.
Bad bitch card revoked.
By some miracle, the Hydrassian didn’t immediately tell their attack plants to turn me into fertilizer. Instead, they laughed heartily with all six snake heads, immediately diffusing the tension in the room—at least for me.
Ziggy was still tense as fuck, but I sent my man the motherload of chill vibes, silently begging himnotto go full Alien Rambo so we could get the intel we came for.
And maybe some extra intel while we’re at it…
“We know about a Stellarian’s true purpose, yes,” the seer answered my original question, smiling toothily while gesturing at the two empty cushions across from them. “And if you hand over that iridium you are carrying, it would be my pleasure to share my knowledge with you.”
Ziggy made a disgruntled sound as I dragged him forward. “I bet you would. Shall I give you my entire purse now, or will you be teasing scraps of intel for more coin as we go?”
Here we go.
I sat with a sigh, careful to keep Pedro curled up and hidden in their sling while I got comfy on the cushion. To no one’s surprise, the True Stellarian in the room chose to stand, for maximum grumpy-guy-looming effect.
“The entire purse would suffice,” Uulvin sniffed—a true queen refreshingly uninterested in measuring dicks with anyone.
Slay.
Ziggy apparently knew a fellow bad bitch when he saw one, as he huffed begrudgingly before unhooking his coin purse and tossed it onto the floor next to the seer. Instead of dumping it out and counting likeIwould have done, Uulvin simply placed a hand on the pack and grew eerily still.
Are they…?
