Page 4 of Dark Prince's Mate

The village is visible from the top of the hill.I can make out the activity that, now that the threat of a “dragon” attack is over, is focused on preparing dinner.The blond woman is no longer kneeling on the ground but setting out wooden bowls on a flattened log.Another woman with red hair, whose face I recognize from the barge, is throwing logs on the fire.

How many human slaves do the Phaelix keep at the site?

I must get them out of here.Once I’ve freed them, I can force the Phaelix to take us back to Earth via the same way they brought us here.The question is, how?We’ve already established I’m no match for them in strength.I had a few cracked ribs and two missing teeth to show for my efforts, until Aruan’s brother healed me.But that was before my Alit superpower made itself known.

Glancing around, I look for signs of animal or insect life.When the Phaelix brought me to Zerra, there wasn’t a shortage of big, scary creepy crawlies in the jungle.True to my expectation, a line of giant ant-like insects with lobster-sized pinchers climbs up the trunk of a blue rubbery tree.They’re so big I can clearly make out their compound eyes, elbowed antennae, and powerful jaws.Their hairy, scissored back feet resemble those of crickets.With their bright orange bodies and brownish-red heads, they look like enormous Parktown prawns.

I skirt around a purple fern the size of a bus with leaves like octopus tentacles to get a better look.The prawn-like insects form a steady line to the top of the tree where some weird teardrop-shaped cocoons hang from the branches.They deftly cut one open with their pinchers, exposing a fat, ash-gray larva as long as my arm.

The larva starts to wiggle, sticking its black, horned head outside, but the prawn-ants are on it before it has a chance to escape.They strike from all sides, cutting their prey to pieces with their gigantic pinchers.The larva lets out a high, shrill sound—almost like the whistle of a kettle—as the insects quickly chop it up.

Before I can blink, the army of alien prawns has cut open all the cocoons and is making minced meat of the larvae.Poor larvae.I feel bad for them, but I don’t dare interfere in the cycle of nature or the natural food chain of this world.Who knows what disastrous ecological effects my meddling may have?As sorry as I am for the larvae, I have to admit that the prawns are impressive.They’d be lethal if they attacked in thousands.

A piercing cry comes from the Phaelix settlement.I swing around, just in time to see the group of Phaelix holding the redhead face-down on the ground.From the angry red forked dicks that slither from their groins toward her, there’s no question about their intentions.I have to act quickly.

A single thought from me sends the prawns back down the tree and across the jungle toward the clearing.One of the Phaelix cackle-laughs as he hooks what’s left of the woman’s torn dress in a claw and pulls it up over her waist.All the while, those snake-like, dripping dicks are moving closer to her naked butt while she screams murder.

‘Faster!’I command the prawns.

Their speed and agility are astounding.As they advance, their number grows.Hundreds of prawns pour from small craters in the ground to march with the rest in the direction I’m sending them.

By the time the prawns reach the village, they’re a sea of orange that quickly swallows up every other color.The only sound that gives warning of their approach is the rustling of the vegetation they traverse.

They catch the Phaelix with their dicks hanging out off-guard.By the time the lizards see the insects, they’re surrounded.The prawns are all over them in a second.The Phaelix jump up and down and grope for their pointed spear-like sticks that lie next to them on the ground, but in another beat, not a single green scale is visible beneath the crawling, pinching mountain of dirt-brown heads, bright orange bodies, and the pinkish red of the insects’ undersides.

The chilling shrieks attract the attention of others Phaelix who pour from the jungle with fishing nets in their claws.At the sight that greets them, they drop their nets and run yelling for their houses, but the prawns cut them off from every angle.Soon, they, too, are drowning in the orange sea.

The redhead has scurried to her feet and is clinging to the blonde next to the fire, both of them sobbing uncontrollably.I command the prawns to move around them.The patch of mud in which they stand barefoot is like an island in a squirming saffron-colored sea.

Green goo and glob cover the soil as the prawns make steak of the lizards.I try to block out the horrific screams of the Phaelix.It’s like an Alfred Hitchcock movie with prawns instead of birds.I still need some of the Phaelix alive if the humans and I are to make it out of here, so I command the prawns to back three of the Phaelix up against a tree before encircling them.One of the three is the guy who called the shots when Betty and I arrived on the scene, whom I presume to be their leader.

When all the lizards except for those three are dead, I clear out the prawns but leave the ones guarding my prisoners.The insects quickly disappear.I don’t waste time in getting to the clearing.

The women stare at me with terrified, pasty faces while the Phaelix shout something in their language that sounds like insults.

“You’re Elsie,” the blonde exclaims.“Elsie from Cleveland.I remember you!”

I grin.“Fancy running into you again.”

“What are you doing here?”she asks with a slack jaw.

“Looking for a way back to Earth.”

She continues in a daze as she looks around.“What happened?Where did these insects come from, and why didn’t they attack us?”

“There’ll be time for questions later.”I point at the Phaelix.“Do you speak their language?”

She rubs her dirty arms, shivering as she gazes at the treetops nervously.“A little.Be careful.There may be more of them.They live in treehouses.”

I glance over my shoulder at the makeshift bungalows on stilts.“Do you mean those aren’t their homes?”

“Those are the prisons,” the redhead says.“They’re for us.”

I take in her bony frame and the ribs protruding from underneath her threadbare dress.Bruises cover her arms and legs.Those lizards did a number on me too when I first arrived, so I have no doubt about who put those marks on her.They didn’t starve me, but maybe they were just fattening me up before they intended to sell me.Yeah, no.I don’t find any compassion in my heart for the dead lizards.

“How many humans are here?”I ask.

“Six, including us.”The redhead’s green eyes flash.“We were twelve, but Penny and Sabrina got sick and died.The other four guys were killed when they tried to overpower our captors.”

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