Straykeer lowers his sad head, his soum breaking in his chest as the flying cave leaves.
“My Mandy,” he whispers, feeling the unfamiliar feeling of shame and sadness flowing through him. He failed to protect his mate, to guard the only reason he has for living.
His breath seizes in his chest as the flying cave dips and dives, flying as crazy as Matalu walks when he drinks too much wine.
It jerks in the sky and then drops to the ground as fast as a stone. Straykeer feels the impact of the crash even though he is far away.
The dominant Straykeer has been given a second chance to retrieve his mate. He sprints as fast as the river flows. This time he won’t fail his Mandy.
Just as he arrives at the fallen cave, the door slides open and his Mandy, breathing hard and covered in alien blood, jumps out, swinging her fists like a crazed warrior in battle.
“Who’s next?” she screams, punching and kicking the air like she’s fighting invisible demons. The bad spirits from the trabaca leaves are still inside of her, making her crazy.
Straykeer knows what to do. He sprints back to the forest to get the only thing that can help her.
***
“Get off of me!” I scream at the two-headed demon holding his huge fire hose cock. I punch his evil face and a burning pain shoots up my arm. It feels like I hit a rock. Demons are like that sometimes.
“Hold still, my mate,” the demon’s head says in a familiar voice. He sounds like Straykeer but he’s trying to fool me. Demons are always pulling that type of shit.
I kick and punch but he’s so strong. He holds me down as he thrusts a leaf at my face, squeezing some bitter gel inside of my mouth. My head thrashes around as I claw and scrape his skin trying to break free from his powerful grasp.
The gel slides down my throat and immediately the raging clouds in my head disappear. My heart is still pounding, my skin still coated in sweat but I’m back. The drugs, or hallucinations, or bad spirits, or whatever you want to call them are gone. My bad trip is over.
I’m happy to see Straykeer is here, his strong arms wrapped securely around me. He’s back to only having one head and his face is watching me with worry.
“I’m okay,” I say, swallowing hard as I rub the heaviness out of my eyes. “Sorry about that.”
“My Mandy,” he says, pulling me to his muscular chest. He gives me a loving kiss on the top of my head and my heart speeds up at the tenderness of it.
“What was that?” I ask, licking my dry lips. I could really use a gallon of water right now. And a real cigarette.
“I saw demons and cartoons and aliens and spaceships,” I say, closing my eyes as I think back at my wild ride. At one point I was riding a fucking dragon. “I was hallucinating that I was killing aliens.”
As I say the words, I realize what we’re sitting on.
“Oh no,” I say, stiffening up in Straykeer’s arms. I gasp and slowly rise to my feet as I look down at the spaceship under us. “That shit was real?”
I pull the lever to open the door, just like on the spaceship that I lived in for weeks. It slides open and I recoil back, closing my eyes and holding my breath.
Bodies. Dead bodies.
So many of them.
My pulse races as Straykeer steps forward and wraps his arms around me. He’s here for me. I don’t have to be afraid.
I step out from his embrace and approach the door slowly, gasping as I look inside. There are smashed praying mantis-like heads and dead bodies missing limbs and heads everywhere.
I did that.
I can barely believe it. I must have killed at least a dozen of them. I don’t remember how, but I did it.
My lips curl up into a smile as I look over the carnage that my bad trip created. I’m not the scared little helpless girl that I thought I was. I can kick some alien ass!
“Straykeer look,” I say, waving him over. “I did this!”
“My Mandy is a fierce warrior like her mate, Straykeer,” he says, holding me proudly.
I look down at my hands as I open and close my fingers, squeezing them into fists. I am a warrior. Adrenaline surges through my veins and I turn around, looking at Straykeer with new eyes.
I’m feeling pretty fucking invincible right now so I step on my toes, grab the back of his blue neck, and give him a fat delicious kiss on his sexy lips.
“Oh,” I say, recoiling back in shock. My lips are tingling in a strange and unexpected way.
I’m about to reach up and touch them when Straykeer slides a strong hand around my lower back, yanks me into his embrace, and presses his soft tingling lips to mine.
“Mmmmmm,” I moan as I slide a hand up the hard curves of his arm.
Maybe it’s the trabaca leaves still making me hallucinate but this feels pretty damn good and I don’t want it to end.