(Amaia)

How he says that with a straight face annoys me even more.

I scowl at him but he appears so unfazed.

Alnitak’s arm comes around my shoulder as he pulls me into himself.

"Come, let’s go."

Saiph straightens himself and takes the bags from Alnitak.

"Stay behind me," he instructs in his crisp voice that reminds me of cool, wintery winds.

We leave the bazaar and arrive in the parking area where we have parked our bikes.

Mounting them again, Alnitak adjusts my helmet. My eyes wander around the parking lot, and I spot what appears to be a heavy bike. It’s not merely a bike, but appears like a beast assembled from the past and present worlds.

The frame is like a skeleton, a mismatched fusion of a pre-war heavy-gauge steel from an industrial farm tractor and welded iron. It’s not sleek; it’s brutal and top-heavy, sitting on two monstrous, deeply treaded tyres that seemed to have been scavenged from a military surplus truck.

The exhaust pipes are also mismatched and yet add to its rugged beauty.

Only one word leaves my mouth observing this steel-iron infused giant of a bike.

"Wow!"

Alnitak follows my line of sight and chuckles but before he can speak, Saiph comes wearing a black helmet. He raises his long lean leg and climbs over the bike. Turning the key he starts it. His half-gloved hands land on the handles and hit the throttle.

The bike roars to life sputtering some smoke in the process. What a rare sight in our world. Anything that runs on fuel is as rare as the aliens. Only the super-rich own any kind of cars and motorbikes. Planes and helicopters are just relics now.

"Roll out. Stay behind me," Saiph calls out to us and we follow him. Faeln remains behind us on his bicycle.

"Why does he get to have a motorbike?" I quietly ask Alnitak, my arms going around his athletic waist.

"He likes them. He has almost built this one, himself. Scavenging parts, creating a few of his own and our dear mama spoils him just like she does us."

Alnitak paddles, remaining right behind Saiph, Mintaka flanks us.

"You like the bike?" Mintaka asks from beside us.

"I have never seen anything like it, only seen them in books." My eyes refuse to waver from the bike and how effortlessly Saiph drove it.

"He would let us drive it if he were ever feeling generous," Alnitak excitedly says, slightly turning his head.

"Yeah! Once we stole it and took it for a ride and he had us punished when he caught us," Mintaka chuckles at a memory that seems nostalgic to him. His auburn hair flew backwards, held in a half ponytail. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

How gorgeous this man appears and I do wonder if he would ever let me ride behind him.

Suddenly, I hear a sound...

A strange sound like the loud rattling from a rattlesnake.

Something catches my attention, something colossal, in the shadows of the trees we are passing.

I freeze.

My eyes widen in horror as it emerges from the shadows. Standing almost three stories tall with no single, stable shape, its form is constantly seething and re-knitting itself from a mass of broken chitin and is oozing something black.

What in the hell is that monstrosity?

It lunges at Mintaka and my scream erupts from my throat. The world slows down as I watch in horror, Mintaka dodges its segmented, jagged legs like those of a giant spider.

His bicycle skids along the dirt path we have been driving on.

Screams erupt from behind us, Kacir and Rahria have seen it too.

"Fuck!" Alnitak angrily shouts. Our bicycle abruptly comes to a halt and Alnitak jumps from it, changing mid-air into Zevran.

A threatening growl pierces the night air as

he lunges towards the horrible creature, attacking its pulsating, semi-translucent abdomen that throbs like a sickly heart. Within it, I can see the swirling, shadowy essence.

I jump down from the bicycle, my hands instinctively curl around the pendant. My eyes take in the creature’s huge head with a nightmare of compound eyes.

And then my head spins as each one reflects a different, deeply personal nightmare of mine, from being rejected, to never having my mates recognise me, to the killing of my family.

A scream leaves me as fear seeps into my heart and my knees give way, making me hit the ground on my knees. The terror becomes alive and crawls on my skin.

"Don’t stare into its eyes. Close your eyes. It’s a Chittering, it will show you your worst nightmares," Saiph’s urgent voice comes.

I obey and feel him near me, passing like the silent wind.

"Zevran, pull back, don’t look into its eyes," Saiph shouts again, and I hear a woosh.

Slowly I open my eyes again, keeping them on the ground as I hear Zevran’s ferocious growls, Rahria and Kacir’s whimpers of fear and Mintaka’s curses.

Slowly I raise my head and watch. Mintaka is close to me, still on the ground, shaking badly. His face is raised and I know his eyes are locked onto the monster.

Raw pain radiates on his face as he doesn’t even blink and keeps staring, and then a bloodcurdling scream falls from his lips.

It pierces my heart, and without thinking, I lunge towards him. My hands go around his eyes, as I cover them so he won’t stare at this monstrosity and whatever nightmare it is showing him.

I shield him with my body wrapping my small one around his toned but shaking one. Like a wounded child, he clings to me, closing his eyes and burying his face in my chest.

A pained whisper escapes him, hitting me deep, charging the bond between us with nothing but his unfiltered torment.

"Zevran, stay back," Saiph barks this time and my head slowly lifts to watch what’s happening, ensuring I don’t make eye contact with the creature.

Zevran has his hackles raised as he stands just between us and the monster. Faeln is covering Kacir and Rahria with his spear lifted towards the creature but his eyes lowered to the ground.

And then my gaze finds Saiph and my heart almost jumps out of my chest seeing the sight in front of me.