“Don’t leave the forest!” I scream. “Are you crazy?”
Straykeer keeps moving forward, ignoring my words. “The village is just ahead,” he says. “My Mandy will be safe there.”
I hold my breath as the last of the trees disappears behind us. We’re out in an open field and the spaceship is barreling down on us. I cringe as the cannons sticking out of the spaceship turn, aiming right at my head.
My chest is burning as I close my eyes waiting for the purple electricity to turn me into a pile of frightened ash.
“Aim at the cannons!” a familiar voice hollers from beside me.
My eyes dart open and I whip my head around just in time to see Rolanda releasing an arrow from a long bow made out of sticks and string. It sails into the sky and harmlessly bounces off of the spaceship.
“Shit,” she curses, pulling another arrow from the quiver strapped to her back.
“Rolanda?” I whisper in disbelief.
I didn’t even notice that Straykeer has stopped. He puts me on my feet, wraps a strong protective arm around me and pulls me behind him before pulling out his two swords.
Another huge blue guy runs up beside Rolanda pointing his bow and arrow up at the spaceship. His long blue hair is draped over his muscular shoulders like he’s some kind of Greek God. His body goes very still as he aims, and with a flick of his finger, the arrow darts out of his bow and flies into the sky.
All four of us take in a collective gasp as it sails up and then lands perfectly into the barrel of the cannon. The laser fires and the plugged up cannon explodes in a burst of purple electricity that sends pieces of the spaceship flying off. It jerks to the side, hovers in the air for a second, and then plunges to the ground with a crash.
“Rolanda?” I whisper, swallowing hard as I stare at my friend. She’s wearing an animal skin skirt and belly top and has colorful feathers hanging from her dark black hair. She looks stunning.
“Hey, kid,” she says, giving me a quick wink before sprinting forward after Straykeer and the other blue dude who are racing toward the crashed spaceship.
I just stare with my mouth dropped open as the door slides up and a praying mantis alien pops its head out. He looks dazed and confused as he climbs out on wobbly legs.
Rolanda releases an arrow as she runs and it sinks into the alien’s forehead, killing him instantly. Another alien pops out behind him just as Straykeer arrives. My man swings his bone sword and the alien’s body falls back into the entrance of the spaceship while his severed head rolls down the spaceship and lands with a thunk on the dirt.
The three of them disappear into the spaceship to kill the rest of the alien crew.
“What is happening?” I mutter, turning around to see where we are. “Oh…”
A cute little village is sprawled across the rolling hills in the distance. The hills have doors on the sides of them and I’m wondering why until I realize that the hills must be hollowed out. It’s adorable and definitely not what I would expect from a village full of blue alien warriors.
“Ah, Straykeer,” I say nervously when I see a small army of blue aliens running towards me with their weapons out. “Rolanda!”
I cover my head with my hands and close my eyes as the aliens rush forward all around me like a blue wave on their way to the spaceship. They surround it, poking it with their spears and knives like they’re unsure of how to kill it.
“Mandy!” Rolanda says as she pops back out of the spaceship. The blue aliens part for her as she climbs down and makes her way over to me. “That was quite an entrance.”
“It was okay,” I say, gulping as she jogs over. “Not quite up to your level, though. Thanks for saving my ass.”
She crashes into me with a strong hug, squeezing her muscular arms around me until I whimper and have to tap her shoulder to get some air.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Rolanda says. “We’ve been worried sick.”
“We?” I ask, hoping the we is who I think it is.
Rolanda pulls away and nods with a warm smile on her face. “Avery is down in the village. I’ll bring you to see her.”
“You guys live here?” I ask, looking back at the village in the distance.
“We sure do,” Rolanda says, nodding proudly. “I know it seems a little bit weird but it definitely beats the grind of a nine to five job. It’s awesome out here.”
I narrow my eyes on the cute village trying to spot a nail salon but I come up empty.
Now that the threat of the aliens and their spaceship is over, the Drandroka males start taking a real interest to me. They’re all staring at me as they walk over, surrounding us.
“What’s happening?” I ask, stepping closer to Rolanda.
She just laughs. “You’re fresh meat,” she says, smiling. “Wait until you hook up with one of these guys. You’ll never want to go back to earth.”