Chapter 4
Farah
Waking up felt like I was dragging myself from the depths of darkness.
My entire body ached with a deep fatigue I had never felt before; I could not recall ever being this weak or exhausted.
Just opening my eyes took me three tries.
I really shouldn’t let my roommates convince me to go out drinking at the nearby Irish pub.
I couldn’t hold my liquor quite the same as I had in my twenties.
This was definitely the hangover from hell.
This was worse than my first night on the town during my freshman year at college.
At least I wasn’t nauseous; I counted that as a win.
The ceiling above my head was a smooth gray, a little gloomy with the shadows that flickered across the surface.
Had I gone home with a guy in an alcohol-induced lapse of judgment?
That wasn’t typically me, I tended to play it safe when it came to guys.
That’s why I was still single at age thirty-six, while most of my colleagues had married to share the burden of life, of earning money in our money-driven society.
I wasn’t a romantic, though I really did want a partner and many cute little chubby babies.
Twisting my head to the side took me a moment.
It took effort to strain my neck muscles to obey the command, and it ached like I hadn’t moved in ages; stiff and sore.
There wasn’t just a light, there was an actual fire with dancing shadows along the walls and ceiling.
Lights glowed around the room too, from many small alcoves and along the edges of several stuffed-to-the-brim shelves.
Whoever lived here, they were a bit of a hoarder.
I saw woven baskets that overflowed with what looked like stripped copper cables.
Dozens and dozens of bundles of drying herbs hung from a rack, and odd shapes and bits and bobs cluttered the rest of the shelves.
Things I couldn’t really make sense of; metal shrapnel maybe, and was that a stack of plates?
A chirping noise drew my attention away from the cluttered shelf and the fire burning in a fire pit not far from me.
I twisted to find the source of the sound and nearly screamed when a black and white snout was suddenly up close and personal with me.
I was too weak to scramble out of the way, an undignified squeak escaping me but that was it.
The snout pushed closer, rubbing with a cool wet nose along my cheek, and that was followed by soft lips, gently nibbling.
It didn’t hurt, and then that snout pulled back far enough for me to see the creature it belonged to.
Still black and white, in stripes that reminded me of a European badger.
Only this creature was about as big as a small dog, a chihuahua maybe, and had quills on its rump like a porcupine.
It sat back on its haunches and a plump, round belly was exposed while it raised its front paws and started rubbing its face. The washing motion was just like a bunny might do, and my heart instantly melted at how cute it looked.
Then reality hit me hard. That was not an Earth creature, I was pretty sure about that.
It might look a bit like a cross between a badger and a porcupine, but enough parts of it were just different.
Like the six sharp claws on each paw, or the bristly whiskers that were silver at the tips.
I wasn’t on Earth in some random hookup’s bizarre bedroom, which was oddly enough, kind of a relief.
Had I really been in a stasis pod? I had this vague recollection of a green face with glowing emerald eyes. When I tried hard, I recalled the intense cold that had filled me and even a few disjointed thoughts and memories; dreams maybe. What had happened to me?
I tried to sit up but my body failed me.
Everything ached, my stomach felt like a giant hollow, and now that I was aware of it, intense thirst assailed me.
With a herculean effort, I dragged myself into a half-upright position and evaluated my options.
Someone had found me and brought me into this room, it was warm, and I was lying on a thick stack of incredibly soft furs.
Then, movement drew my eye further down the room and I muffled a shocked gasp that wanted to escape.
There were cages, and then more rows of shelves beyond them, which led into a deep, unsettling darkness.
Inside those cages were several animals; each more alien than the next.
They weren’t all small like that badger thing either, who was still washing itself right next to me; completely at ease.
I saw something that resembled a gazelle but with a deep purple pelt, it was lying in a pen with bandages wrapped around a splinted leg.
A cage next to it held a whole nest of squirming pink things with hints of darker stripes like shadows along their wriggly bodies.
A purple dragon-like thing the size of a canary sat in another cage with a bandaged wing and a soft, mournful expression.
I was starting to think that whoever had brought me here, had done so because they just collected stray, injured animals.
They must have thought I was just another creature to nurture back to health.
I wasn’t offended by that, grateful rather, since I much preferred being alive over being dead.
I just wished they had left a bottle of water for me, or some food…
When I glanced around again to see if there was anything in reach like that, my eyes fell on the glint of something shiny at the edge of the furs.
There was a splash of color too, a beautiful bright yellow flower lying in such a way that it was clearly put there for me to look at.
The shiny thing looked like it might be a strand of twisted copper, artfully braided together to make a pretty, pleated bracelet.
Both those things were lovely, but I still would have rather had water.
Did those two items mean that my caretaker knew I was more than just another animal?
I was too tired to really think about it.
Just looking around and sitting upright had drained me of nearly all my energy, and helplessly, I was forced to sink back down against the soft furs.
As soon as I did, the badger creature next to me stopped its washing and scooted closer, sprawling shamelessly on his side against my hip.
Definitely a he, I could see that now; the position really was shameless.
It was also comforting to lay there with the soft warm, weight of the animal pressed against me.
I wasn’t alone, and whoever owned this pet, they’d be back.
As if my thoughts summoned him, I became aware of a shape hovering in the one doorway to the room.
I craned my head to try and see him, certain that like his pet, that shape was male.
The firelight danced over his green scales, that was the first thing I saw when I managed to turn my head enough to get a good look.
Green scales everywhere, covering endless loops of a huge, serpentine body.
It would have been entirely logical if I’d been struck with deep, atavistic fear at that moment.
That’s not what raced through my body at the sight of that huge snake-like shape.
My flesh broke out in a million goosebumps, my nipples perked, and a warmth fluttered through my chest.
He wasn’t all snake, his upper half was that of a man.
A man with huge shoulders and a narrow waist, like a swimmer.
His chest was ripped with muscle, from impressive pectorals to no less than eight distinct abdominal bumps.
His biceps were thick, his forearms veined, and his hands tipped with shiny razor-sharp claws.
It was his face that struck me though, that was the part of him that had me flushing with these strange sensations.
Inappropriate sensations for a thirty-six-year-old, firmly established bachelorette.
I’d given up on ever finding the right guy a while ago, too tired to bother with dating, but all those feelings were suddenly roaring to the forefront.
It was him, the face I’d seen when I was in the stasis pod.
Handsome, otherworldly, and alien. His eyes were glowing emeralds, his hair a deep blue-green that draped in long luscious locks around his wide shoulders.
His cheekbones were sharp and dusted with the faintest hint of yellow, while his brows were these bony, spiked ridges.
On his chin sat a bone white horn that jutted down and slightly forward.
He carried a satchel made of a woven net, a knife strapped to each forearm, and another in a sheath on his hip.
In one hand, he was holding a huge metal trident, from his other dangled several purple fish from a string.
My stomach gurgled hungrily at the sight of that food, even raw, foreign, and not yet filleted. “Hi,” I sighed at him.
He sprung into action at the noise I made, some kind of words tumbling from his lips in rapid succession.
Too bad it just sounded like hissing and growling to me, deep throaty sounds that I couldn’t possibly hope to mimic.
I tried hard to ignore the heavy feeling of disappointment that settled over me like a shroud.
So what if we couldn’t talk, there were other ways to communicate.
I did not even need to tell him that I was thirsty and hungry.
He raced for my side, his strange, serpentine body coiling around the fire.
His trident clattered carelessly to the floor along the way, completely forgotten.
He pressed a waterskin to my lips when he reached me, still talking rapidly, his eyes glowing eagerly.