Page 60 of An Alien for the Farm

I jump back, alarmed, my heart thumping in my throat now for several reasons.

The little snarl comes again and something darts in my peripheral vision, too fast to see. A little black ball?

“What the—” I spin, one hand over my brow in an effort to see better. “What the hell was that?”

There’s the snarl again and the ooga stomps, spinning in a circle as the little black ball appears again. I catch sight of it. I don’t even know what I’m looking at. When it stops to snarl at the ooga, I see that it’s a little fur ball with small, round eyes. It looks like a pompom on legs, but with wicked little teeth showing beneath its fur.

Before I can even understand what’s going on, the little tyrant charges at the ooga. I’m standing right by the large animal and as it spins to get away from the little fur demon, it collides right into me. I feel the pain before I feel myself hitting the ground. Heat erupts in my skull, a strange sensation with the cool rain falling down.

I blink, vaguely aware that the ooga is running around the field, baying and trying to get away from the fur demon. Everything feels like it moves slowly in my sight, even though I can hear that it’s not.

“Zynar,” I grunt. I should have never come out here to help this silly beast. I need to get back to the house. Need to find out how to help Zynar. But as I try to lift my head, as I try to rise, I realize I can’t. My head feels too heavy. That warmth in my skull increasing.

Thunder rolls. My eyes flutter open. It must be the thunder that woke me up, but it’s not the sky that’s in front of me. Purple iridescent scales are. Zynar?

“Kahlesta?” A worried face hovers over mine. But that’s not Zynar’s voice.

“Who—” Oh goodness, my head hurts. I wince as I try to rise. I don’t manage it, but the face before me gets less blurry. It isn’t Zynar. It’s his brother. “Varek?” I croak.

My head throbs and I lift a hand to my cranium.

There’s a sound as if he curses. My eyes flutter open some more, the cool rain falling into my face as I stare at the heavy clouds that look like a thick sheet above me.

What…happened?

There’s movement and Varek’s face appears again. He’s looking at me as if I’m a patient in need of urgent care. For a moment, I wonder if this is all a dream. My thoughts are hazy and time doesn’t feel like it’s on the same linear path or moving at the same speed.

I blink at him, my lids moving slowly. “What…?”

“Stay still.” His voice is gentle even though his tone hardens with the order. “You’ve had a fall.”

I grunt, lifting a hand to the side of my head. When I bring it before my eyes, I can see there’s only a little blood, but there’s no telling how much the rain washed away.

I groan. “How long have I been lying here?”

“From the looks of it, about an hor. I came as fast as I could.” There is some regret in his voice, but that’s not why my eyes widen.

“An hour? Oh my god…Zynar!” When I reach for Varek’s arm, it’s out of habit. Just reaching for something firm I can use to pull myself up. But the moment I do, Varek suddenly jerks back, putting himself out of the reach of my grasp. I’m momentarily stunned, but he recovers quickly, giving me a slight dip of his head in apology.

“Touching me would not be wise, kahlesta. Any male scent on you will send my siblingkin feral.”

That…doesn’t make sense. Why would touching me have any effect on his brother? But my head is pounding and it’s taking all of my focus. I grunt, pushing myself up on my elbows when I slip and almost go down. Varek reaches for me, claws coming inches away from my skin before he freezes again. He seems caught between wanting to help me and being unable to. He grimaces.

“I’m sorry, kahlesta.” He’s still looking at me as if I’ve been through something terrible. “I cannot help you like this. Please, wait here. I will return.”

“Hmm?” But he’s already gone, dashing across the field, his purple scales blending into the sheet of gray as he disappears.

I grunt, pressing my palm to the side of my head as my gaze shifts around the field. The troublesome ooga is now sitting on the ground, legs and head tucked in as it protects itself from the rain. From what it looks like, everything is peaceful again. There’s no sign of the little fur demon thing.

When Varek suddenly appears again, running across the field toward me, I wonder if I’m hallucinating. He’s covered in some sort of protective plastic-looking suit. Is he wearing a raincoat? I frown as he crouches and his gaze meets mine through the transparent visor of the suit’s head covering.

Everything feels out of place. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought and this is all in my imagination.

“We have to get to Zynar.”

“Not before we get you help first, kahlesta.”

“Eleanor,” I groan. Each word feels like an effort. “Funny way to properly introduce myself, but my name is Eleanor.”

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