Page 26 of Alien Barbarian's Little Human

But it does move. The shiny metal armature throws itself at one of the last remaining guards. He raises his warhammer crosswise in front of his body, to try and fend off the monster. The brave Drokan manages to block the blade-like hands.

The gray wind grows two new arms, under the first, and they spear right into the Drokan’s innards. We run harder, faster, but I know we won’t make it in time. Blood spills from the Drokan’s mouth.

Then the gray wind eviscerates him, spreading its arms out almost casually and cutting him nearly in two. The sight makes the rest of us warriors grind to a halt. This is not a foe we can overwhelm. We must fight intelligently.

“I need archers on that wall,” cries Chief Ral. “It has to have a limit.”

The gray wind takes note of us for the first time. Its face, if you can call it that, resembles a metal skull with two sinister yellow eyes.

“The Star Woman,” it says in a strangely flat voice. Whatever it is, it speaks our tongue. “Give me the Star Woman or perish.”

“Who are you?” Chief Ral demands. “What do you want with Micah?”

It turns to him and its eyes glow brighter.

“Your headdress marks you as the leader of these people. I assume you would prefer them alive. Give me the Star Woman, now.”

“What’s your name?” I ask, trying a different tactic. Maybe this thing is acting on some kind of misguided desire to protect my mate? If we can open a dialogue with it, we might be able to find out.

“Name? My designation is 0111000111000. You may call me Svarz. Take me to the Star Woman.”

“Why?” I ask.

“So that I may terminate her, and stop her progeny from destroying my race.”

Progeny? Is Micah pregnant? My mind reels. Terminate can only mean he wants to kill her.

“Never!” I shout and make for the monster.

“Stop him,” Chief Ral says.

Two men grab my arms. I still move forward, so four more join them. Chief Ral addresses the thing.

“You, there, Svarz, was it?”

The sound of its name seems to confuse the automaton. It stares at our chief for a long moment before it responds.

“That is my designation.”

“If you want the Star Woman, you’re out of luck. You see, we already sacrificed her to our God Tree.”

Chief Ral gestures toward the Life Tree in the background as I look on dumbfounded.

“So you see, Svarz, we can’t give you the Star Woman because she is dead.”

Svarz stared for another long time. A low clicking was the only sound other than our breathing and the thudding of my heart.

“I want to see the body.”

“Alas, we burned it, and ground her bones to powder and scattered them on the wind. Such are the demands of our cruel and capricious Tree God.”

Chief Ral bows his head. Svarz stares for a another pregnant pause, then speaks.

“An encephalogram of your brain indicates you are are fabricating your story. The Star Woman is not dead. You are trying to protect her.”

“Now!” Bellows Chief Ral. The archers on the ramparts let loose with volleys of deadly rain. I duck back under a hut’s awning, lest I be struck by accident.

The arrows hit Svarz’s shiny metal skin and reflect away, doing no discernible damage. However, the sheer weight of the impacts has him toppling about, in the verge of falling over.

---