Page 3 of Alien Barbarian's Little Human

I try the universal greeting. Not likely they’ve heard it, but you never know.

“Ba weep, gra na weep, ninni bon.”

The things widen their eyes, and look shocked. They recognized the phrase! But just when i think I’m safe, their eyes become angry slits and their teeth gnash like rabid animals. My universal greeting has made them very angry for some reason.

The one in the middle, the one who initially cornered me, raises its spear up over its head. The tip is pointed right at my heart. I can’t watch my own impending death. I close my eyes, whispering an apology to my friends. She was right. I never should have joined the fleet.

One of the monsters bellows, but it doesn’t sound like rage. My eyes snap open and I see that the spear-wielding creature now has a piece of wood sticking out of its chest. Ir reaches up with a clawed hand as if to pull the stick out, its head suddenly snaps back.

The creature stumbles a few feet away while the other two look on in shock. Its head lolls up, and then lowers back down. My mouth flies open when I see a recognizable arrowhead sticking out of the gory red hole where its eye used to be.

The thing pitches over in the dirt, raising a cloud of dust. The other two howl and charge back the way they came. I hear more of their snarls and growls.

Then something roars, like a lion. I can feel it in my gut, it’s so loud, like a bass drum. It sounds like the monsters have run into something else. Something bigger than them.

I look down at the monster’s discarded spear, laying next to its still twitching hand. Crouching down, I pick up the spear, wondering if I’ll even be able to wield it. It’s damn heavy, but I hold it crosswise in front of me and then thrust the tip toward the deep shadows.

One of the monsters screams in agony. Something akin to a shout of triumph echoes through the canyons. I hear rapidly retreating footsteps, and then a low, thrumming hum followed by a scream and a heavy thud.

Then, silence.

Footsteps approach. I hold the spear out in front of me, shaking like a leaf in the wind. I can barely even keep the tip pointed upward. Something moves out of the shadows, something huge.

A seven-foot humanoid steps out into a shaft of golden sunlight. His dun-hued flesh covers a rippling musculature which would be the envy of any top tier athlete. I think he’s naked for a moment, but a leather loincloth covers him from waist to mid thigh. Ram like horns curl back on his massive head.

Then my gaze rises up to his eyes. Deep purple eyes, like the furthest reaches of space.

My gaze locks onto his. Everything falls away except for his eyes. It’s as if they swallow me. Images start flashing through my mind, strange alien faces, a tree bigger than a Novarian skyscraper, and many of the monsters who chased me down here, most of them dead.

I see gorgeous sunsets, feel the heat of desert winds, and taste the flesh of strange yet familiar prey. Overlaying it all, a pervading sadness which makes me want to weep.

Then it’s over, and I’m staring into the face of a seven foot humanoid alien. A very handsome alien. His square jaw and broad features are symmetrical and appealing. If he were a human, I would call him hyper masculine. I have no idea if this is just what his people look like, though.

An entire race of hunky alien men sounds too good to be true. I should be worried this stranger is going to hurt me, but there’s something in his eyes that tells me he’d never do any such thing.

Irrational and crazy. I force my skepticism back to the surface and hold the spear forth with more aggression.

He holds both his hands out in front of him, palms facing me.

“Ba weep, gra na weep, ninni bon.”

My mouth falls open. He knows the universal greeting. But then again, so did the other guys, and they wanted to stick me with pointy objects.

“Do you speak Galactic Standard?” I ask, speaking slowly.

He tilts his horned head to the side. Then his hand drops to his side, quite close to a sheathed knife the size of my forearm. I jump back against the wall, shoving the spear out in front of me.

The alien pauses. His violet gaze travels to the knife at his side. He pointedly moves the pouch on his belt to the other side, sliding it along the leather strap, before opening it.

The alien removes a pale crystal about the size of an arrowhead and holds it in his palm. It’s strange, yet familiar. I think I saw something similar during the weird hallucination I suffered when I first looked into his eyes.

He takes the crystal in thumb and forefinger, and thrusts it toward my face. I scream and attack with the spear. Without even breathing hard, he slaps the spear right out of my hands.It clatters on the hard packed dirt ten feet away, leaving me defenseless.

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

A look passes through his eyes, and then he reaches for me. I strike out with my fists with a flurry of wild, uncontrolled blows. It’s like hitting stone. He manhandles me into his grasp with little effort.

I scream as he pushes the crystal into my ear canal. Oh god, he’s trying to bore my brains out. He only saved me so he could kill me himself. That hallucination must have been some kind of telepathic attack to soften me up for the killing blow.

---