11-24-2018, 04:30 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-24-2018, 04:31 AM by Nika Raskov.)
Nika shivered which didn’t help matters any but it was uncontrollable. Her line of sight to the outside had blurred to tunnel vision. Or maybe her eyes weren’t even open at that point, she couldn’t really tell. The whole world had become a sensation of being ripped in half, dismembered by little malfunctioning nano tendrils with excruciating care...capillary by muscle fiber by blood cell. This couldn’t possibly be making things better; there was something wrong. She knew it. The mind was a terrible thing.
She was acutely aware of her heart rate slowing. The sound was loud in her head as though it was some sort of system wide announcement. Attention! Brace yourself, you’re about to experience brief discomfort and then, death. It was rather alarming. Nika fought it desperately. Like she’d always fought. Thump. Always would fight. Thump. She tried to coax her body onward. Thump. Like blowing gently on a smoking ember. Thump. Come on! Thump. Keep going. Thump. You can do it you fucking sissy! Thu… Lids, open after all, shuttered closed and her cheek settled a little further into the puddle.
A light breeze carried a thick metallic scent down the length of the pipe. A beast stirred in her lair, called forth by the promise of food. The creature’s upper lip peeled from her fangs as she scented the eddy. Blood of Life. Her children’s hunt successful, the gray she-thing dragged her bulk upward and onward. Long, blackened claws scraped along the floor sending shards of chipped cement, bone and other debris skittering away. She wheezed with the exertion.
The floor sloped downward. There was a little thing. A snack. The beast, too big to escape the pipe’s collapsed entrance and hunt for herself, hissed in anticipation. Her massive bulk melded down to regard her appetizer. Salivating in near ecstasy, she was too overcome to notice the corpse of her own kind hanging nearby.
Lights flashed angrily, suspended in midair. Something without life swooped at her, retreated and darted in again. The grandbeast swatted and connected, sending the small first aid drone crashing into the wall with an expensive clatter. The two unmangled props buzzed in attempts to regain the air. Futilely.
Beastie regarded her gift. It was curled up like a cat. Dead but still warm. She turned the little thing on its back with a gnarled hand, claws very long now from sedentary life. Long but impossibly sharp. Her claw moved the head to expose the neck. She salivated. Warm meal so sweet. She bent over and folded her great bulk next to her meal, draping herself like a blanket. It helped keep the meal warm; blood flowing. A tongue emerged. Sickeningly long. Thin. Alien. Her hand pressed a shallow breath from the chest. Grandbeast hissed in excitement. Alive! Still alive. Yes. Her palm felt the heartbeat now. Eyes glittered in the darkness. She’d keep it then, draw out the meal. Take it back to her lair. A magnificent gift! A taste! She could nearly taste it already from the life already pooled beneath them. But a taste!
The beast settled further atop her quarry. A cage of nails like a mask turned the little thing’s face delicately. The nasty tongue bore down, a hole opened at the end. It licked. Jawline. Traced upward and swirled over a soft cheek. Temple. There was the pulse. Yes. Brow. Treat’s cut leaked sweet metallic essence at the hairline. She suckled. Tasted. Beast’s saliva kept the nectar flowing. Just a little more…
"Hey! You in there? Dead yet?"
Intrusion! She hissed and broke free. Hers! The gift was hers! Grandbeast heaved herself upright, claws gathered a handful of Treat’s shirt and pulled it around. Dragged a little more. The pipe was now sloping upward. Grandbeast’s breath whistled from the effort. Treat was slight but dead weight.
“AMY!”
Another! Closer! Nearly inside! The Harpy dropped her prize with another hiss and it slid bonelessly, slowly down and away to fold facedown in the sweet puddle.
Still lightning-quick, the beast scrambled upward and deeper into her prison. She would wait and attack. Patient for her meal.
The intruder came after a time. Loudly. Making an awful, wretched noise. The grandbeast coiled to attack. The bulk of her stomach exploded. Gutshot. Terrible way to die. The screams. The Harpy tore at her own middle, gore and ichor flowed downward into the stink. Screams. Madness. Death. Justice.
She was acutely aware of her heart rate slowing. The sound was loud in her head as though it was some sort of system wide announcement. Attention! Brace yourself, you’re about to experience brief discomfort and then, death. It was rather alarming. Nika fought it desperately. Like she’d always fought. Thump. Always would fight. Thump. She tried to coax her body onward. Thump. Like blowing gently on a smoking ember. Thump. Come on! Thump. Keep going. Thump. You can do it you fucking sissy! Thu… Lids, open after all, shuttered closed and her cheek settled a little further into the puddle.
A light breeze carried a thick metallic scent down the length of the pipe. A beast stirred in her lair, called forth by the promise of food. The creature’s upper lip peeled from her fangs as she scented the eddy. Blood of Life. Her children’s hunt successful, the gray she-thing dragged her bulk upward and onward. Long, blackened claws scraped along the floor sending shards of chipped cement, bone and other debris skittering away. She wheezed with the exertion.
The floor sloped downward. There was a little thing. A snack. The beast, too big to escape the pipe’s collapsed entrance and hunt for herself, hissed in anticipation. Her massive bulk melded down to regard her appetizer. Salivating in near ecstasy, she was too overcome to notice the corpse of her own kind hanging nearby.
Lights flashed angrily, suspended in midair. Something without life swooped at her, retreated and darted in again. The grandbeast swatted and connected, sending the small first aid drone crashing into the wall with an expensive clatter. The two unmangled props buzzed in attempts to regain the air. Futilely.
Beastie regarded her gift. It was curled up like a cat. Dead but still warm. She turned the little thing on its back with a gnarled hand, claws very long now from sedentary life. Long but impossibly sharp. Her claw moved the head to expose the neck. She salivated. Warm meal so sweet. She bent over and folded her great bulk next to her meal, draping herself like a blanket. It helped keep the meal warm; blood flowing. A tongue emerged. Sickeningly long. Thin. Alien. Her hand pressed a shallow breath from the chest. Grandbeast hissed in excitement. Alive! Still alive. Yes. Her palm felt the heartbeat now. Eyes glittered in the darkness. She’d keep it then, draw out the meal. Take it back to her lair. A magnificent gift! A taste! She could nearly taste it already from the life already pooled beneath them. But a taste!
The beast settled further atop her quarry. A cage of nails like a mask turned the little thing’s face delicately. The nasty tongue bore down, a hole opened at the end. It licked. Jawline. Traced upward and swirled over a soft cheek. Temple. There was the pulse. Yes. Brow. Treat’s cut leaked sweet metallic essence at the hairline. She suckled. Tasted. Beast’s saliva kept the nectar flowing. Just a little more…
"Hey! You in there? Dead yet?"
Intrusion! She hissed and broke free. Hers! The gift was hers! Grandbeast heaved herself upright, claws gathered a handful of Treat’s shirt and pulled it around. Dragged a little more. The pipe was now sloping upward. Grandbeast’s breath whistled from the effort. Treat was slight but dead weight.
“AMY!”
Another! Closer! Nearly inside! The Harpy dropped her prize with another hiss and it slid bonelessly, slowly down and away to fold facedown in the sweet puddle.
Still lightning-quick, the beast scrambled upward and deeper into her prison. She would wait and attack. Patient for her meal.
The intruder came after a time. Loudly. Making an awful, wretched noise. The grandbeast coiled to attack. The bulk of her stomach exploded. Gutshot. Terrible way to die. The screams. The Harpy tore at her own middle, gore and ichor flowed downward into the stink. Screams. Madness. Death. Justice.