Page 55 of Ruby
If thismudazwas after me, I realize, then he may have chopped off Szhe’ka’s wings. If I am going to die, then he needs to die along with me.
The surge of cleansing fire I couldn’t access before comes surging through me.
When my lips start to curve into a smile, I don’t stop them. I can feel the deep grooves in my face as my mouth opens in a feral grin.
I let out the words I have been dying to tell the Witch for decades. “Poshol na khuy,”I spit out between my widened lips.
“The plan was to fuck you, but you ruined it,” he hisses back, revealing he understands Russian insults.
It makes my rage deepen, but also increases my glee. No matter how this ends, I took something from him with this transformation. He hates that I look like Szhe’ka, and suddenly it feels like another precious moment where I have wrested control back.
I’ve never been more pleased to see someone so upset before. Something is clearly wrong with my body, and he despises the change. It’s unexpected and perhaps frightening for him. His precious cargo he spent time and resources hunting has been ruined. Nothing could be more poetic.
Slime oozes from his body as he vibrates with more than just rage, but fear too, I realize, his bundles of fat jiggling in response.
In response to his jiggling, I laugh, making sure to scorn him in ways he can understand.
“You dare…?!”
One of his stubby legs swiftly kicks me in the side, knocking the wind out of me and punting me a few short feet. Pain radiates from my side to my whole body, keeping me a few breaths short. It’s a struggle to even gather strength but I have to get up.
I don’t want him knowing that he is actually causing me any real pain. If there’s one thing I can tell, it’s that these things enjoy inflicting pain. They revel in it, and the more you react to them, the worse you will have it.
Instead, I cackle like I’ve lost my mind.
I probably have.
There is no right answer because they will hurt you regardless, the bright rage tells me.Make them fucking pay.
I struggle to my feet, trying to put on a brave face, taking the moment to make my strike, lashing out with my new dark-blue talons and dragging them across his sickly wet body, the surge of blood following making my heart pound for a whole new reason. I move to swipe again, but I am immediately blindsided by another blow. This time, a large stick is shattered against the left side of my body. Once more, I find myself falling to my knees in an explosion of pain.
He’s really pissed. I taste copper in my mouth, spitting blood on the ground. However, the color of the blood I see is less red and more an amber color . Even my blood is changing. The odd sight distracts me, but I still manage to strike out with another slash, this time catching one of his three stubby legs.
He grabs a handful of hair and bellows at me, “You are dead!”
He pulls me up to look closer at him—about an inch from his face, close enough that I can see right in his slimy black eyes—and when I shut my own, writhing to try to get my claws back into action, a low growl and a knock against my cheek are what I feel next. He proceeds to knock me around some more using anything his stubby arms can get on. There is his pink goo and gray blood and my yellowish blood splattered around the entire clearing each time I get a bleary glance between blows.
He is getting the better of me and it’s only a matter of time.
Despite this, a strangled laugh is all that escapes my throat.
“How does it feel to lose?” I bark out.
I can barely get the words out without my throat feeling like it’s about to tear apart. The alien pants, taking a break.
My vision is swimming and my body hurts to a ridiculous degree; everything aches. I know I have at least a broken arm and a few shattered ribs. They hurt the more I try to breathe.
If I could rate this facility, I would give it one star for reception and would recommend nobody in the universe to interact with these creatures.
The stupid thought helps center my mind as the pain throbs through me. I try to pull up another, but the alien hits me again, only earning a small scratch in return because I am slow to react, then takes a moment to suck in enraged breaths.
From the corner of my eyes, I see another hunter parting the crowd to hurry to the front, weapons dangling from its back. It whispers something to the hunter hitting me like a sack of meat that makes him stop in his tracks. Something is definitely wrong, more than just my transformation. This could be the distraction I need to escape.
This collar won’t let me get far but I can sure as well try.
The second hunter sees my expression and he puts one of his feet on my torso, making sure to apply enough pressure that itpresses on my broken ribs. I scream out in pain, releasing the few breaths I had managed to steal.
“If you try anything stupid, you will not get another chance.”
