Page 4 of Phoenix Chosen

“Be my guest.”

I take the stick from him and push it into the hole. What the hell? This lock is truly unlike anything I’ve ever used. The key doesn’t even seem to fit in like a normal key.

I jab it with the stick in frustration with absolutely no luck.

“Incoming,” warns Alyx.

“Good luck,” Kalistratos says, and before I can say a word the two of them are gone.

I’m left there, staring blankly, all alone. The sound oflarge amphibian feet slapping through water echoes from outside, and I can hear the croaky, guttural rasps of the frogmen’s speech.

They’re coming for me.

The frogmen are all about five feet tall, walk on two legs, and wear brightly colored clothing made from a fabric that looks like burlap. Some of them have whiskers sticking out from their upper lip, kind of like a catfish. It makes them look like they have mustaches. A few have swords hanging from their belts. There’s something about seeing my reflection in their huge, black domed eyes that reinforces the reality of my situation. This isn’t a dream. You can’t see your reflection in dreams.

I blink blearily in the sunlight as I’m put into shackles and led along a marshy path out of their little settlement. I stealthily slip the key out from where I’d hidden it in my waistband. No way am I going to be turned into some frog’s sex slave.

What the hell was Kalistratos talking about, anyway? I hadn’t misheard him. He’d clearly said that I was going to be impregnated on a breeding line. I can’t get my head around it. Is that how these creatures work? Do they implant their young into other beings like some kind of parasite? God. It’s too horrible to think about.

Ihaveto get out of here.

“Faster,” the frog behind me croaks, jabbing me in the back with the hilt of his sword.

“Alright, calm down. It’s not easy to walk when your shoes are full of mud.” Right as I say this, the ground swallows my leg up to the shin. I fall forward and get a face full of swampy muck, and the stick key falls out of my grip as the frog guards haul me up to my armpits. I look down in a panic and watch as it gets trampled into the swamp as they pull me forward, and the thick, sticky mud sucks one of my shoes off my feet.

Oh god, I’m fucked! I’m not ready to be a frog’s baby daddy!

A frog hops quickly through the mud, splattering me as it passes, and the procession stops. It’s speaking urgently to the guard at the front.

“The other prisoner escaped,” I hear it say. “The cage was unlocked.”

“Secure the horde. Track him down. We promised delivery of an omegaandan alpha, we cannot turn up with just one.”

“Yes, sir.”

I’m shoved from behind as we start again down the trail. The panic is really starting to set in now.

“Look,” I say to the frog behind me. “There’s been a mistake. I don’t belong here. I’m not an, uh, omega, or whatever they just said. I’m an American. And I’m, like, late for work.” I feel like an idiot, but the words are kind of just tumbling out of my mouth.

“Shut it, omega,” the guard snaps.

“You know what? Fuck you, Kermit!”

Panic has turned to a flash of anger, and what do I have to lose by getting the hell out of here? I jump out of the line and lose my other shoe in the process, hopping through the mud like a deranged lunatic trying not to step on broken glass. It’s a dumb idea, of course, but I can’t just do nothing. The frogs are on me in seconds, unhindered by the mud. Something smacks my shoulder and sends me staggering forward, but before I fall, it yanks me by the shirt and nearly rips it from my body. I fall onto my ass and realize one of the guard frogs just nabbed me with his fucking tongue. There’s a patch of slime dripping down my back, and several stubby leaf-shaped blades are out and leveled at my face. I put up my palms.

“Easy now,” I say. “You need me, remember? You’ve already lost one prize.”

“The traders don’t require limbs, do they boys?” the lead guard says to a cacophony of croaking laughter. “Just a working womb.”

“You guysseriouslyneed some glasses, or anatomy lessons, or something,” I say. “I’m. A. Man. I’ve got a dickand balls, alright? And unless in this world a guy can get pregnant from his asshole, you’re making a big mistake and whoever is buying is gonna be really disappointed.”

The frogs stare. One of them croaks loudly and his throat inflates like a green balloon. It’s odd that I’m able to read the expressions on their faces, but I can. I see the smirks.

“This one forget he’s an omega?” the croaker says.

“He’s just talking nonsense thinking it’ll buy him time,” says another. “He’s trying to confuse us.”

“Or,” the lead guard says, “perhaps he’s not from this world.” A muted chatter goes out through the group. “He appeared in the forest the day after the great firefly crossed the sky, did he not? And look at his clothes! They’re not like any I’ve ever seen before.”

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