Page 22 of Kryxis

“I as well,” said Sheek.

“No, you don’t,” Myrell replied. “Trust me. It looked like…”

“Like what?”

“A devil or a demon.”

Tom frowned. “You did say it was spiny with horns across its head, right?”

“That’s right,” said Dani. “It had two red eyes and…a few blue ones.”

“Huh…” The gears seemed to be turning in his head. “Was it red?”

“Yes…except for its second arms. They were blue.”

Tom’s brow rose. “Well, that’s peculiar. Though I thought maybe…”

“What?”

He shrugged. “It sounded at first like it might be a vrisha.”

“Vrisha…that sounds familiar,” Lex said.

Phen gasped, the most expression Dani had seen her give. “Vrisha. I heard of them. They attacked one of the cities on my home world, so says my clan. But that was a long time ago when I was a childling.”

“They are a very rare species,” said Tom. “Don’t see the likes of them this far from the governing systems. They are very reclusive. Few others even know where their home world lies or have ever seen one.”

“Oh! I remember now,” Lex said. “We learned about them at the academy. But it was very brief.”

Suddenly Dani felt a little light-headed. She leaned back against a crate. So, that’s why it seemed oddly familiar. “Oh, my god, I…killed a vrisha?”

“Well, you don’t know for certain,” corrected Tom. “Double limbs and more than two eyes is definitely not a vrisha trait. But the rest…”

She stared off into the distance. “I remember they said it was unlikely we’d ever meet one.”

“Which is true.”

“How come you never heard of them, Myrell?” Lex asked.

“I grew up in a cult that colonized their own world far away,” she explained. “They didn’t teach us anything about the outside systems, and I didn’t go to academy.”

“Not everyone knows about those who come from the alliance,” Sheek pointed out. “I too don’t remember much about the vrisha. I was young as well when they had their rebellion.”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Dani asked Tom. “When I told you what I saw?”

“Honestly, I thought it was so completely far-fetched. I mean, why would a vrisha be here of all places? It seemed impossible.”

“A decommissioned outer world far from alliance territory, that kind of tracks,” Lex agreed. “And, like you said, Tom, vrisha don’t have four arms and double the eyes. And I remember they said they were distinctly red in color. Not blue. Maybe it just looked like one.”

Dani thought back to it standing by the doorway. Then she remembered the images she’d seen of one in the academy. She must have blocked it from her mind because it had scared her even then. But she remembered now. “I think…I think it was,” she said. “But somehow changed…”

“Surprised our good boys in armor didn’t mention it.” Myrell glared at Garret and Ryatt.

Ryatt’s face went red. “I got knocked out before I saw anything.”

“I didn’t see it either,” said Garret. “And we’ve encountered many things that are big and spiny with horns. Doesn’t mean it was one of them.”

“Guess it doesn’t matter anymore anyway,” Lex said. “Dani took care of it. And I think I agree—it couldn’t have been a vrisha because why would it stalk and threaten one of us?”

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