“Watch out!” I scream in his ear but he ducks under the low branch and is long past it before I even finish my sentence. He’s so fast.
But not fast enough. I look over my shoulder at the spaceship following us. There’s no way he can lose that thing. We traveled five million light years in only a few days. There’s no outrunning it and it’s only a matter of time before he gets too tired to dodge the lasers. He’s showing no signs of slowing down but I’m sure he will sooner or later. I squeeze his huge muscular body a little tighter. Maybe not. He is pure muscle.
“Uh, sir,” I say with a gulp as the ship lowers, pointing the cannons right at my forehead. “If you have any brilliant plan you should probably do it now.”
The ship crawls forward and I swallow hard as I see the purple electricity swelling deep inside the barrel of the laser gun.
“Whoa!” I scream as my blue horse dives to the side, taking me with him. He slides the swords into his sheaths, narrowly missing my body and then grabs my ass with his powerful hand to hold me in place.
I gasp as I turn my head and see where we’re headed. It’s a huge dark hole that fits me easily but him not so much. We fly right into the center of the darkness and I let out a scream as we land hard on the dirt.
I roll over him, landing upside down on my head with my feet crammed into the ceiling made of damp dirt.
“Nice plan,” I say as I try to unpretzel myself.
Fuck, I could use a cigarette.
“The flying cave cannot follow us in here,” he says. No shit.
It’s pitch black in here and I can no longer see his big blue muscles. I can’t even see my hand in front of my face.
“How do you know English?” I finally ask. I’ve been wanting to ask him since I saw him turn the Captain into a shish kabob.
“Straykeer does not know who English is,” he answers in a deep sexy voice. “Is he a Drandroka?”
“Huh?” I ask, scrunching my nose up. I’m finally able to get on my hands and knees so I reach into my pocket and pull out my lighter.
I flick it on, lighting the tunnel up, and his blue face recoils in shock. “What magic is that?” he asks, his orange tinted eyes wide and full of wonder. “You control fire?”
“I do,” I say, flicking it off. I don’t know why I say that but maybe if he thinks I can control fire, he’ll think twice before trying any funny business.
“Do it again,” he says, his voice eager with excitement.
I light the tunnel up again and this time he leans forward on his hands and knees, staring at the flame like it’s the most amazing thing that he’s ever seen.
His face is calm and still, and I take a second to really look at it. He looks tough as shit with a striking nose and hard eyes. His chin reminds me of a football player’s with his sexy blue lips closed tight.
“Are you a Saku too?” he asks, never taking his eyes off the flame.
“No,” I answer slowly. “I’m a human.”
An explosion crashes outside of the tunnel and my finger releases the button as I jerk backward, plunging us back into darkness.
“We must keep moving,” he says as his hand reaches out and touches my arm causing warm shivers to erupt through my body.
“Good idea,” I say, quickly turning around and crawling forward on my hands and knees. The dirt under me is soft and damp but my skin still gets scratched with the occasional rock. “What is this? Some kind of tunnel?”
“Yes,” he grunts, his body close behind mine. “It is a burumae hole.” I wait for him to explain further but he doesn’t so I just keep crawling. I’m really hoping that a burumae is like a cute little chipmunk or something equally harmless.
I’m already exhausted after a few minutes of crawling and my breaths are coming harder and harder. I guess my diet of flower petals is not keeping me sustained for all of this physical activity. Maybe there is a Burger King or something at the end of this tunnel.
I really want to stop and rest but Mr. Impatient behind me is keeping a furious pace. He keeps bumping into my ass. I’m going to go ahead and pretend like it’s unintentional although I’m not so sure.
The tunnel comes to an abrupt end as my face crashes into something furry. I try to back up but my ass slams into my new friend’s face.
Oh no.
I guess I’m about to find out what a burumae is. I pull out my lighter and flick it on. A wall of gray fur is blocking the hole and I cringe as it turns around. Nine of the most terrifying black eyes are staring back at me, each reflecting the shaking flame coming out of my lighter. My hands are trembling as the monster opens its mouth, flashing its long white fangs that are dripping with sticky drool.
I’m frozen with fear as a long thin tongue slides out of its mouth and touches my cheek. It’s freezing cold and nearly makes my heart stop. My skin tightens and I close my eyes, praying that it doesn’t like the taste of my skin.
The ice cold tongue drags up my cheek and my hands are shaking so much that the lighter slips out of them, making the dreaded monster disappear.