A Nightmare's Point of View

By April Kuper Winterblade1980

Nightmares never go away…

You may chase them away. You can think you killed them… You may stop believing and forget them, but Nightmares never go away…

Nightmares don't die… They just wait…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781645319993

Book preview

Chapter 1

An extremely tall, dark figure stood within the depths of the shadows in the far corner of the room. Its bloodred irises piercing the darkness like a ravenous animal waiting for the right moment to strike. Across the room, a man sat at a cluttered desk organizing his paperwork. He was facing away from the shadows, oblivious to the danger of the hungry monster that lurked behind him.

The man at the desk was human and looked to be middle-aged. He had a thin, athletic build and looked about five foot seven. His hair was a dark dusty brown, and his skin was light brown in color. It was obvious that this man had seen sun from the surface of some planet, but it also seemed as though his exposure to sunlight had since faded into a dim memory. The human wore a dark-green, short-sleeved shirt, dark-brown pants with a pair of thick, dark-blue boots. They had an emblem on the side of them that was unknown to the hungry creature in the shadow of the room.

None of this interested the ravenous beast. He had no interest in how his food looked. He only cared how it would taste. He began slowly creeping from the shadows, silently stalking his prey. He considered where to begin…perhaps an arm or a leg. He didn’t want to kill his meal too quickly. He began salivating in anticipation, breathing in the scents that permeated the room. This Nightmare had never tasted human before. They were a species who were relatively new in their exploration of the surrounding known galaxies. That meant that they were considered a rare and exotic delicacy…especially to a hungry and bloodthirsty monster. This was going to be a magnificent treat. The creature crept closer, his red and black eyes burning into the back of the man’s head. He crouched into a pouncing position, with his scythelike claws at the ready, preparing himself for his violent and visceral feast.

The man at the desk suddenly and unexpectedly stopped working. A deadly stillness filled the room. It became as silent as a graveyard, the only sounds coming from the ship as it lumbered through space. The monster froze in place, listening for any change in the man’s heartbeat and waited for him to resume his work.

The deathly silence was shattered by the man’s soft chuckle.

Hello, Embrance. How are you doing? the man asked, looking up from his work. He turned to face the beast in his old-fashioned swivel chair, casually gazing at him crouching just a couple of feet behind him. He found Embrance’s attempts at frightening him to be amusing. He viewed it as if they were two friends trying to outdo the other in some bizarre competition.

Embrance’s eyes narrowed as he slowly stood, straightening his body to its full height. His irises began to slowly change color from the luminescent red to an illuminating purple. He leaned on the desk corner and wiped the hot saliva from his mouth and chin with his sleeve. He then crossed his arms over his chest and stared in aggressive annoyance at the man.

Embrance looked like any other Atheireyn with a pale shadowy shade of brownish gray skin and black semi-unkempt hair, his hair reaching down to his waist and unbound. Not the tallest or heaviest, he was about six feet and nine inches and weighed around 220 pounds depending on the gravity. Like all Atheireyn, Embrance had an aquiline like nose and wore a permanent scowl with piercing, daggerlike eyes that always looked hungry. He had a broad, smooth face, was humanoid-looking, with broad shoulders and muscular. Atheireyn have eyebrows but don’t have any other facial hair that grows and long fingers with clawlike nails, which was perfect for tearing anything that got in his way. He wore a plain, very-ragged-looking uniform; a gray shirt, long-sleeved jacket buttoned up halfway that was night-sky blue; and black dusty pants. He wore brownish boots with three straps on the sides and the boots coming up to his knees, something he must have found on a world or ship he had visited. The creature that previously had it wouldn’t miss it.

Still sitting in his chair, the human started organizing his papers again. Embrance studied the papers on the desk. Some of the papers had drawings and others filled with some writing in the human’s language. He couldn’t quite make out all of what the words said; he hadn’t finished his studies in the human language yet. He could speak it better than read it.

Without looking up at Embrance, the human very calmly but delightedly said, I have something for you.

In a deep smooth but gruff voice, Embrance asked, Humph, is it one of your arms? Grinning widely, his teeth in the light showed pleasingly sharp.

The man at the desk slowly turned his head to look up and meet Embrance’s eyes. Nope, he said amusingly, something better, I left it over there, in the cabinet. He pointed his face with a nod at a cabinet across the room next to the door that led to the rest of the human’s room. He smiled and went back to work.

Embrance unfolded his arms and lifted away from the desk. He quickly looked at the cabinet suspiciously and then back at the human. You got me more, Captain? Embrance asked with tendrils of joy and suspicion in his deep voice.

The captain, without looking up from his work, said, Yes, go on, I could hear your stomach in the next galaxy.

Embrance rolled his eyes, made a cough/throat noise at the comment, and walked slowly over to the cabinet. It was a large cabinet, bolted to the floor and ceiling, metal, with two doors that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, colored a faded dark metal green. It matched the room—which wasn’t covered with something such as posters, notes, or assorted pictures and shelves with clear doors on them. Embrance opened the door to the cabinet, and there, inside, was a rather large, thick oiled fabric sack of some kind, bound at the top with a knotted rope. Now he understood why he couldn’t smell the contents when he came into the room through the shadow; this sack, with what it was made with, had concealed its contents. He opened it, and inside was a large raw chunk, with bone, of meat from a Craiith. Something that he and the captain discovered that he could eat that would satisfy his appetite for other species.

Craiith are a large herbivore that are fifty to seventy feet long, fifteen to thirty feet tall, weighing about thirty to fifty tons. The creature was a mustard yellow with sporadically placed lavender spots and extremely furry. This piece that Embrance pulled out of the sack was about three feet wide and six feet tall, almost as big as him and still warm. Embrance sniffed the meat, partaking in the delicious aroma, licking his lips to try to clear the access saliva from him mouth. He usually preferred his food still alive but still warm was better than cold. He settled his back against the cabinet and crouched down to make himself more comfortable while he ate. He began to feast upon the meat, savoring each juicy mouth full. Little rivers of purplish red blood flowed down the sides of his mouth and hands as he vigorously pulled apart his food with his teeth. With an Atheireyn, they didn’t necessarily chew their food. The sides of their mouths stretched back to open their jaws wide to pull or tear off flesh and swallow it, their throats stretching and having three stomachs to contain large quantities of whatever they ate.

Embrance chomped down hard into the food, still vexed that the captain hadn’t been overwhelmed with fear, not the least—even when they had first met, not a flicker of it. It still bothered him. His curiosity flared how, out of the countless species he had encountered, this single human was not terrified of him and even confidently and boldly looked at him as a friend! Embrance had heard of the word friend in many languages as he listened in on his prey before their untimely demise. It wasn’t a word in his species language. He remembered certain images related to the word friend, of what it could be. Many others of his kind who had shown him the images that they had found and none other, because Atheireyn considered all other species as food, and why would you consider food as your friend? Even if Embrance were to approach someone to try to question them, they would most likely run in terror or pass out from fear. It was only natural for every species to be terrified of him—except for the captain for some odd reason.

Captain Jonathan Jack Bailey—or what he liked his friends and crew to call him, Jack—from the first time that he had met Embrance had treated him as an old friend, with great respect, showing him things from his home world: plants and animals, the languages, and Jack’s code of honor. His favorite images the captain showed him were of the sunsets, sunrises, and partly cloudy days. The captain’s fearless confidents had always confused Embrance and kept him feeling off-balance. The Atheireyn did not like this, but it also made him very curious as to the why of it. No one in the known galaxies had ever done such a thing, so he decided that day that Captain Jack was off menu.

Embrance finished the meat and cleaned his hands with his shirt, wiping his face with his sleeves, and started working on the bone. Looking over at Captain Jack, wondering what was so interesting on the desk that the captain was working on, he got up from the spot he was sitting in, still chewing pieces of the bone off. He calmly walked over to the desk to satiate his curiosity.

Jack looked up and asked, What do you think? In theory, it should work, just need to find the parts and, well, test it.

The Atheireyn looked at the drawings on the desk. The designs were of a device that wrapped around the neck and fastened securely on the nape, tapping into the spinal cord. The front of this collar reached down, stretching its mechanics, and fastening over were the Atheireyn’s heart would be, possibly tapping into it. He swallowed his food.

Hmmmm…interesting, and this would possibly help me? asked Embrance inquisitively.

Well, we can only hope this will help with the sun sickness. This should extend the strength of the chemicals, helping you from getting sick, but you would need to be careful with the direct sunlight. With the ten minutes you have, you still receive a nasty sunburn. But with an increase in the dose strength and along with this device, instead of only just minutes, it would be hours before symptoms would start. The problem that we are running into is, we would need to find the right people to help make the equipment, and then there is finding more ingredients. Right now, the crew and I are limited. We were very lucky to figure out what we could do in a short amount of time. Plus, we would need you and I to go before the great Galactic Council, to show them that you are not just like the rest of those Nightmare eating machines.

Captain Jack instructed, showing off the different schematics and theories, Besides the sun sickness, there is the matters of your Atheireyn nature we must address. That’s one of the few snags we have. The technology we have isn’t strong enough to help.

Nodding, Embrance curiously asked, How would going before this council help?

The captain, still sitting, folded his fingers together and answered, If we can get their approval, it would open up a lot of resources for us. Labs, people, knowledge, machines, and tech that we just don’t have available to us as of now.

They had been working for years to come up with the little they had. I know that we had to change the date for this to now and not in the five-year plan we had made. But it is for the best. If the council finds out from someone else, everything we have been working on will be lost. Just think of the amazing possibilities! This could change everything, it would stop the problems, show them there is change, and help your species control themselves.

Listening to what the captain was saying, and chewing the bone down to mere handfuls, Embrance swallowed his food and spoke angrily, You know, you should have let me just snap that nosy Claythia’s neck, and we wouldn’t be in this mess. It would have been easy. I would have made it painless too.

I know, Embrance, I know…but the easy way isn’t always the best way, and if you want to live in a space with others, you can’t go around killing people who get in your way. Sometimes you must compromise, Jack said kindly.

Captain, how is this a compromise? He saw me working with the crew! One of his people almost killed Toby, because I was there. If you hadn’t been there to stop that heavy container from coming down, Toby would be a splatter, growled Embrance. That Claythian is going to turn you in, Captain! Then they will come for you and the crew for associating with an Atheireyn.

The captain smiled and confidently responded, That is why we are moving our plans up. We go before the council with this information and tests before the Claythians have a chance to warn them, it will discredit them. It could even benefit us too.

Embrance stared down at the papers, finishing the rest of the bone at a frightening rate. He was agitated and conflicted by the thought of putting his life into the captain’s hands, going before this Great Council and breaking the Atheireyn commandments (speaking verbally or mentally to any species other than your own, or socializing of any sort with creatures that are food). He had already broken several. He had been lucky not to evoke the curiosity of others of his clan. Other than his brother, who was suspicious of him already, most thought him unusual and left it at that. But this would be pushing it far. He finished the last of his food.

Clearing his throat, he said, I guess if I must, it won’t be easy. Captain, you won’t be able to inject that liquid directly into my system until I am right in front of these council members. They will be terrified, and may not be willing to work with you, not to mention the creatures outside the building. They may not let us leave afterward. Embrance frowned. For you, I will trust, do my best to stay in control, and keep from being overcome by the effects of the sickness. Embrance took a deep breath, taking in the seriousness of the situation, weighing his options…When do you want to do this, Captain?

Jack thought about it, then replied, In three days. I set up the day to meet before the council a month ago, I was going to go before them and present this information, even if we weren’t able to bring you there.

Embrance walked back toward the shadow he came from, feeling concerned, his thoughts askew. He stopped, pondering the words that the captain had said. Will it be that easy!? Will they listen to a monster such as I? Will I be able to protect the crew if things go wrong? How long will I be able to stay in control of myself during the day? Do we even have a choice at this point? He narrowed his eyes, staring at the shadow, deep in thought. He had known the captain for about ten full turns of a cycle now and to give up now would look weak. He looked back at the captain, who sat there calmly studying him, waiting for the answer.

Turning toward the closed door that opened to the rest of the ship, Embrance straightened and folded his arms across his chest. He grinned, and the Atheireyn spoke loudly, breaking the silence, What do you think, Auwssya? Should we proceed with the plan?

Within a few seconds, the door swished open, and there stood an unusual-looking female, with her arms folded across her chest, holding a medium-size bag in one of her hands, and looking very annoyed. Embrance always thought she looked nicer when she was angry, annoyed, or upset. She was annoyed because Embrance had caught her trying to listen in on the captain’s and his conversation and upset because she didn’t agree.

Auwssya is an Laydiaquin, with light-pink hair pulled back up high, folded into two buns, and the rest pinned to her head, nice and neat, with sparkling and intelligent yellow eyes, fair skin color, dark pink feline ears, and tail. She was about five feet four inches, very short compared to Embrance, and was the ship’s medical officer. She wore a full-body ash-blue/gray uniform that conformed to her body with a long, pale -blue medical coat with the medical symbol on the side of the chest, a belt she kept a few supplies in, and dark-blue boots that came up to her knees. He watched, very pleased at her agitation, as she crossed the room toward the captain. As she approached the desk, she placed the bag on the desk heatedly.

No, I think this is a dangerous idea, Auwssya exclaimed frustrated and fearful, You two think you are going to just walk right through the city in broad daylight, in front of the very species who know what sort of creature an Atheireyn is, and think they will just except it? I am worried both of you won’t make it to the courtroom without something terrible happening!

Truth be told, the captain was hoping for this, that seeing an Atheireyn would scare them away and keep the streets cleared. More or less.

Embrance, looking down at the floor, closed his eyes and smiled, enjoying the new scent in the air. Every time he saw Auwssya, it hurt his heart, like a knife blade twisting slowly into his chest. The first time it happened, it rattled him greatly. He thought she had the power to attack him from within, killing him without even lifting a finger. It unhinged him, forcing him into the hunt where he was. Each time he came onboard the captain’s ship, he would actively seek her out and attempt to kill her; luckily Captain Jack had quickly put an end to it, before wounds got serious. After the third attempt, and the captain putting himself between them, the captain asked why he was trying so hard to murder Auwssya so desperately. Embrance explained the pain he had in the presence of her; it made the captain chuckle and then quickly gave him the best answer he could. Love.

The captain that day found out that the Atheireyn didn’t know the meaning of it, that the word love didn’t even exist in their language. So the captain came up with a solution that would ease Embrance’s pain and stop the attempts at hunting Auwssya down all together, in the end forming a bond and great friendship between them.

Embrance walked over to her, kneeling on one knee in front of her. Hello, my lady Auwssya. He grasped her hand as gently as he could, raising it to his face, and kissing the back of it.

As he looked up at her, she replied sweetly, My dear Embrance, it is good to see you again, and she kissed him on the forehead gently.

He felt the heat in his face as his irises changed to a brilliant blue and the pain in his heart subsided.

Jack sat at his desk rummaging through the sack, smiling, pretending not to notice. He picked out a sandwich and what looked like a cookie of some sort.

Embrance released her hand as he stood, his irises still blue. He looked at the captain. Very well, we’ll try it your way. If you think these creatures are willing to listen to us, to me and what I have to say, then we will try it your way. Dipping his head toward Auwssya, Embrance turned and walked across the room and into the shadows, disappearing from the spaceship.

Auwssya watched as the Atheireyn disappeared. She turned her head toward the captain, who was eating his dinner.

With worry, she spoke, I still think this is a bad idea, Captain. Someone could get hurt or worse, and I do not mean you or anybody accompanying you. What if someone tries to get brave, thinking that you are in control of the situation, and makes a comment or tries to get close? What will you do then, Captain?

Jack stopped eating, swallowed his food, and placed the sandwich down. He looked at her with kind and confident eyes and spoke, It will be okay, we will go over the plans a few more times and make sure there are no problems. Eevick has a backup plan if things go wrong, he will make sure, if there is a need, to provide a quick pick up and escape. Besides, it is only a matter of time we, this crew and him, would be discovered and would have to go before the Galactic Council anyway. It is better we do this now than if the council finds out through other means, which would make everything worse.

Auwssya’s feelings didn’t change, but she trusted the captain and his plan. Good night, Captain.

As she left the room, the captain responded back, Good night, Auwssya.

A picture containing light, dark, sitting Description generated with high confidence

Chapter 2

Embrance walked through to the other side of the shadow and ended up standing inside a crater on a small asteroid nearby. To him, shadow traveling was like moving through thick black air with images of the outside floating by; you just had to mentally will yourself to move, by flying or walking. Embrance stood just within the shadow. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, solid white with flecks of silver. He brought his left arm up and then made a quick slashing motion from top left to bottom right, cutting five feet across the same color as his eyes, silver white but with a small long image of where he was going. Blinking, Embrance’s eyes returned to the black and purple; he moved quickly and jumped into the doorway that he made and disappeared.

He reappeared through the cut in a in a dark cave, illuminated by strange flora and fauna that resembled a cross between a giant mushroom and a slimy purple fern. They rooted themselves anywhere decay was throughout the caverns. He breathed in the scents of the air and listened to see if anyone was near. He shifted his irises from purple to red. Good, no one has seen me come back, he smirked. For the longest time, he used this part of the cave outside the clan’s borders to sneak in and out of the space he and his species came from. The planet had no name other than Home—that was what all Atheireyn called it; whatever its name was long ago was lost with time.

Embrance made his way around the plants through dimly lit caves as swiftly and as quietly as possible, just to make sure not to disturb others who might be sleeping in the adjacent caverns. This area wasn’t part of any clan, so sometimes outcasts or random groups caught in storms would come here to sleep. Within minutes, he peered out of the jagged mouth of the cave and scanned the area. The surface of the planet was dark, dingy, craggy, and in many parts of the planet very plateau-like and mountainous. What little light there was came from openings such as vents or canyons from the planet’s surface. The light coming from unknown sources. Caverns peppered the surface, some small and some leading deep into unknown areas of the planet that still showed remnants of a species that once lived here. Numerous spaceship wreckages of all sorts of shapes and sizes in different stages of decay disfigured the surface. No vegetation grew there, except for the odd mushroom-like plants that Embrance had discovered in the cavern. It was the only plant—if you could call it that—that he found, and he wasn’t sure if it was native to Home or somehow came through a doorway on a Atheireyn; but it loved eating away anything decaying and dying, devouring the walls, leftovers, and an Atheireyn that slept too close.

Embrance had only seen one Atheireyn with them on her; she just lay there unaware of what was going on. He figured she was sick and an oddity and just gave up. Whatever they were, most of his species that came to the cavern stayed clear of them.

The only weather on the planet were dust storms that left a haze sometimes. You didn’t want to be out in a storm; the stronger ones had been known to strip the flesh clean off an Atheireyn’s bones, killing them if they lay out long enough. They slowly stripped down the wreckages, breaking and wearing the crashed ships until they no longer looked like ships. No Atheireyn lived in any of the wrecked ships; they provided no cover from the storms. No one knew why there were storms, but it was speculated that it had something to do with the rotation of the planet. The space that Home resided in only stretched out only a few hundred thousand miles in each direction from the planet. Sparse amount of gravity and thick, heavy air with a variety of broken boulders and brokenlike planet pieces strewn across the sky. No one knew where these broken planets and floating boulders came from. Embrance and others speculated that they used to be near the planet, part of its rotation at one point long ago. Higher up from the planet, the less gravity, which made it easier to fly or float. The pieces in the sky were a fix point in the sky and never moved, so they worked well in keeping time with the rotation and cycles of the planet. Some unusual Atheireyn chose to live there within in the broken pieces and came down when it was time to hunt.

Mentally searching, Embrance could sense many other Atheireyn nearby, probably outcasts roaming around, but none were interested in what he was doing, so he moved out of the cave and casually jumped effortlessly from one area to the next, making his way down and toward his own sleeping area off in the distance. He passed the ruins of a decaying large battle cruiser that once held a several vast numbers of creatures or so at one point, but now a shadow and remnant of its former self.

Embrance smiled, remembering that day. It was about fifteen full turns of a cycle; two disagreeing species decided to spill their disagreements out into the middle of space. While they tried fighting each other, the Atheireyn with doorway opening abilities, such as Embrance, decided to have a little fun. As the battle cruisers and small star ships on opposite sides were trying to fight each other, Embrance and the others would make good-size doorway cuts in front of the ships and watch them try to avoid them. Sometimes they ran into the cuts and damaged themselves, getting stuck at times. It was very amusing, watching them scramble to get out of their situation, sometimes shooting their cannons and guns at the Atheireyn, thinking that would help. Some of the small ones would get drawn into the larger doorways, never to return. Once a ship entered the Atheireyn space, there was nothing it could do. The trapped ship’s engines would shut down. Something to do with the giant pocket of space the Atheireyn lived in. The technology inside the ship would either shut down or malfunction. Depending on how fast they were going, some would smash into the planet, and the helpless creatures inside the ship would become a meal for the carnivorous and quenchless Atheireyn on the surface.

The Star Challenger, a midsize old-fashioned ship built by humans for long space travel and an unusually unique style of ship, happened to be there, trying to make their way to its destination, and came to close to the fight and the Atheireyn’s game.

While five Atheireyn helped each other make an extremely large doorway for a rather large battle cruiser, Embrance watched from afar as the battle cruiser in vain tried to stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rather small ship making a break for it and decided to pursue it with amusement. Chasing it, he made doorway cuts in front of the ship, trying to snag it. This was a difficult maneuver and took a great deal of strength to do, since the Atheireyn must focus while moving in a partially blind state. It took a great deal of control in both mind and body while moving, and most needed to stay still to focus before they make the cut. Embrance managed to make a large-enough cut as the ship made a quick coarse change, and instead of snagging the small battle cruiser, he caught the Star Challenger!

Instantly the Star Challenger’s engines shut down, drifting to a stop just within the doorway. Embrance moved quickly to claim his prize before the others of his kind got there. As the crew in the Star Challenger tried to restart its engines, Embrance soared through the doorway cut and landed on the haul of the ship, shrieking and growling, mentally calling and staking his claim to the ship. Nearby Atheireyn who thought he should share began moving toward the disabled ship. He jumped from one part of the ship to the next, swiping his claws and baring his teeth, biting, and kicking at those who came near.

Off in the distance, the large battle cruiser who couldn’t stop came through the large doorway and hit the planet with quite a bit of force to rattle the ship and shake the planet. The lights from the ship flickered, and the engines seized. The Atheireyn harassing Embrance stopped, turned, and quickly soared toward the large ship—with their joyously carnivorous, thirsty black and red glowing eyes and enthusiastic jaws. Embrance narrowed his eyes, watching them leave as anticipation swelled inside him. He looked around the outside of the ship a little while to make sure others would not interrupt him and his mouthwatering banquet.

While this was going on, unbeknownst to Embrance, the ship sensors had captured the whole fight between the horrifying Nightmares. The crew knew there was only one they would be facing, but it only took one to devastate the ship; their situation looked grim. The captain came to a decision and was implementing it. Against the crew’s complaints, the captain was going to face the monster himself.

Feeling presumptuous, Embrance slipped under one of the wings of the ship and into its shadow. He ended up on the midlevel deck of the ship. Low to the ground, shifting from being crouching to squatting, he listened and sniffed the air for a familiar scent: the delicious smell of fear. But there was nothing! He could smell that there were creatures here, but he could not locate them. As he searched the ship from one shadow to another and one image after another, wandering in and out from room to room, he caught a scent he could track, which led him to the bridge of the ship.

The doors opened with an old groaning swish, and there at the front of the bridge near the helm looking out at the front of the ship and standing confidently by a console was a human male. He was shorter than Embrance and was just standing there as though he had been expecting good company. Embrance—who had been moving stealthily low to the ground as he tracked the scent, hunting—rose slowly to his full menacing height, his eyes fiercely wide and his irises glowing a blood red…Then a bit confusion seeped into his mind.

Just one creature? This human was the only one on the ship? he pondered as he stared down the human. This couldn’t be. Where did they all go? They just couldn’t have abandoned the ship. He had watched the doorway cut to see if any pieces of the ship shot out to escape, and nothing came out, and none of the others had gotten to the ship before him, so how was this possible?

The human must have sensed his confusion and spoke politely with a pleasant tone as he turned around and faced Embrance, Welcome! I have been waiting for you, my friend.

Embrance sneered, and with a deep, throaty growl, he bared his sharp teeth threateningly at the human, who looked at him with kind eyes. Embrance lowered his head as he arched his back and moved slightly to the left of the door in an attack stance, readying for any frail attempt of a trap.

The human spoke again, his voice unwavering, You took your time looking at my ship, my good friend. I was beginning to think you didn’t want to come join me. Come, I want to show you something I know you will like. He gestured with his hand toward the left, still smiling as though he had just welcomed an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Shaking off his confusion, and baring his fangs in a wide feral snarl, Embrance barreled toward the human. Jaws open in anticipation, with his arms and claws at the ready, Embrance bore down on the male, and within seconds he loomed over the human, growling and ready to attack his prey…

He stopped! In that split second, he realized that something was wrong. The human’s scent never changed; there was no fear in the air! This creature didn’t act or move from his original position.

The human blinked. This monster was quick. Peering upward and directly into Embrance’s glowing red and black eyes, the human without wavering kept the same pleasant tone and said, Wow, that was incredible, my friend! You are amazing, I bet you have so many other amazing talents, but first, I have something to show you, my friend! Come, let us sit and talk, and I can show you what I want to show you. I know you will love it! As the human spoke, he moved off to the left slowly, motioning Embrance to come with him. Come on, it is all right, sitting down here will be more comfortable. The human walked down the stairs and turned the corner, disappearing from sight.

Embrance lowered his arms and stood there staring in astonishment. What? What just happened? He wants me to do what? This must be some ambush attempt, but that would be pointless, he contemplated. His curiosity was stronger than his need to eat, so he followed cautiously, watching for the inevitable. Not that it mattered. The Atheireyn body was extremely resilient and hard to cut or break but still was painful when eventually being cut or broken. Embrance wanted to avoid things like that; it was no fun sitting and waiting to heal when it could be easily avoidable. He rounded the corner ready for the expected brawl and was greatly perplexed to see the human male siting relaxed as though he was, again, expecting good company. The room was small; the ceiling came only to about eight feet high and dimly lit by a few lights on the walls. It held four small clean tables and a few chairs around them; some fabric tapestries, posters, and knickknacks hung on the walls. This human had chosen an area in the far corner of the room by a large window and was rifling through a small square container full of what look like it had these flat crystal-like square chips. Books and various things piled on each side of his chair.

Embrance stood in the doorway, offended. What does this human think he is doing? He isn’t even trying to fight back? Has he not realized that this is the end of his life and my food for the next ninety-two cycles? What in the wretchedness is he doing, calling me, what was it? Then he realized! Is he trying to distract me so the others of his ship could escape? His head snapped back toward the stairs, ears twitching and listening to any change in the ship’s sound.

There you are! he heard behind him.

Embrance turned his head back at the human, who had pulled out a few of the square crystal chips. He sat them down and looked up at Embrance, looking very pleased at what he had found.

He spoke with a warm smile again and in a calming and pleased voice, Come in, sit, my friend, I have something to show you. I bet you have never seen something like this before! They’re from my world. I haven’t shown them to anyone yet, you my friend will be the first to see them.

As the human spoke and against his better judgment, Embrance walked slowly forward, curious to see what this creature had that was so special. Why not? It isn’t like this human could leave. I have all the time I want, and anytime I want, I could stop this ridiculous game, Embrance reasoned with himself. He walked around the tables and chairs until he was only a foot from the table, glaring skeptically at the human.

This first one is very special to me. I want your honest opinion on what you think about it. I have to warn you, the image is a bit bright for down here. As the human spoke, he pressed a button on the table, which brought up a strange device in the middle of the table. He placed the square crystal in the slot on the side. Immediately a bright image displayed itself in the air above the table.

Embrance vaulted back, away from the table, almost hitting his head on the ceiling of the room and knocking over a table and some chairs, preparing himself for the trouble he knew had come…Nothing. He looked around the room and nothing! His eyes moved back to the human in the corner, and there it was, in the air—a vivid image of a planet spinning ever so slowly. Embrance forgot about the human, the thought of food, and intensely gazed at the image as though it was a real miniature planet that had popped into existence before his eyes. The planet was mostly blues with varieties of greens, browns, yellows, and white in some areas. Captivated by the many colors—and so much water!—he moved closer and closer until he was inches from the picture.

What do you think? Beautiful, isn’t she? the human said with sad admiration. We humans call this planet Earth. As you can see, she is made up of mostly water and holds a vast amount of variety of creatures, on the land and in the water.

Embrance blinked, remembering where he was. What am I doing? I’ve seen images before. What is so different with this one and this human? What is this creature trying to do? Before he could reorient himself, the image changed to several images of large, dark-bluish-gray creature swimming in the water. Fascinating, Embrance thought as he gazed intensely at the image. It is so large, what is it?

As though the human could read minds, he said, It’s what we call a blue whale, the largest animal on that planet as you can see. They can get up to about a hundred feet and weigh up to around two hundred tons, which as you can see are extremely large! They’re carnivorous, but they mostly eat these tiny creatures called krill.

As he said that, he pulled up a moving picture of a krill. It was an unusual creature, with big black eyes, almost-translucent, reddish body, and lots of legs. Embrance smirked; he had seen creatures similar to these but huge. You had to be fast to catch them too when they were on land.

The pictures shifted again to new creatures. It was tall. The body looked like it was all feathers with two very long legs and a very long neck with a small head. In some of the images, the creature’s feathered body was black with white, and some were brown and grayish. Some of the pictures started moving. Embrance moved to sit down on one of the chairs, his eyes never leaving the moving pictures he watched captively.

Crazy-looking aren’t they, they are called ostriches. The black and white ones are the males, and the brown ones are the females. They are the largest flightless birds, but just because they can’t fly doesn’t mean they can’t run fast, he told Embrance, who sat just sat there in amazement.

Again, the pictures changed, and Embrance sat glued staring as the human talked about them. This went on for an hour, Embrance watching and the human talking about them. Abruptly, the rhythm in the human’s information changed.

By the way, my name is Captain Jonathan Jack Bailey, but my friends call me Captain Jack. What is your name, friend? Wow! That is extraordinary my friend, your irises have changed to blue! They are so vibrant!

Embrance stood quickly, knocking over the chair he was sitting in. Shocked by what the human had said to him, staggering away from the table. Frowning, his eyes widened. He quickly glanced at the human, then he swiftly turned and started walking briskly for the stairs, scowling. What just happened? I was fooled! When did I lower my defenses? How was this possible, my eyes never changed for anybody, especially not in front of different species! Well, except the two—that was it—in the whole universe that have ever seen my eyes change like that, and one of them is dead! This was a mistake! he thought growling. He reached the top of the stairs with the human trying to catch up to him.

Wait! Wait, friend! the human called after him. Wait, stop, please! Wait, I can show you the sun! I can show it to you without it killing you!

Embrance froze near the shadow he was about to travel into. He turned with his eyes narrowed in disbelief at the human who stood at the top of the stairs.

Captain Jack took a deep breath, then confidently and coolly said, I could show you the sun, yes, friend, without killing you…Wow, your irises! They are purple now…Wait! Wait, please, my apologies, my friend. I see that mentioning it seems to bother you. My apologies, if I could show you the sun, would you help me with something?

Yes, he was disturbed by the fact that his eyes had changed in front of this human! And now this human, this…He must be lying! Wait. Embrance sniffed the air; nothing had changed. This human scent hadn’t changed; there was no fear in the air. He sighed. This creature, what did he call himself? Captain? Heh. He had him interested and curious to see how this captain could show him the sun. Okay…I’ll bite and see what he wants. Embrance turned to face Captain Jack and folded his arms across his chest, irises still purple, looking skeptical.

Captain Jack looked determined and smiled. He repeated his question, If I could show you the sun without it killing you, will you help me with something? Then he paused waiting for the Atheireyn to respond.

Embrance thought about it. What could this little human possibly want that I have? Maybe I should just end all this and eat it. I’ve heard that they taste good, and then I wouldn’t have this headache standing before me. I’m too damn curious for being part of the Atheireyn species! He made a coughing, growling throat noise and unfolded his arms, walking briskly over to the captain. Refolding his arms across his chest again, Embrance looked down at the human inquisitively, which probably looked more like he was disgusted. But Captain Jack understood somehow.

Fantastic! I greatly appreciate this. If I show you the sun, safely, will you let my crew and I leave unharmed without any repercussion or unwanted ramifications? he asked, looking directly in Embrance’s eyes.

Embrance was mystified by the captain’s bravery, and he had to admit to himself a little impressed too. With a half smile, he nodded in agreement.

The captain seemed pleased with this, and smiling, he added, Before we do this, you need to understand that this is a verbal contract. Entering in our words in this means we must honor them or become a word breaker, dishonor will follow us for the rest of our lives. He held out his hand, waiting for Embrance to respond to what he had said.

It didn’t take long for Embrance to respond; he knew what a code of honor was and how to up hold an agreement. He grabbed the captain’s arm, just beyond the wrist; and the captain did the same, locking his hand onto Embrance’s thick wrist, sealing the agreement. Embrance released the human’s arm.

With that, Captain Jack replied, Well now, my friend, let me go fulfill my part of the agreement. Let us go!

He beckoned Embrance to follow him back downstairs. Downstairs, the captain sat back down in his chair and began to rummage through the small box from before. Embrance had followed with great curiosity. He walked up to the table and crouched waiting to see what would happen. Captain Jack pulled out another square crystal and put it in the device on the table. A brilliant image of the sun came into view.

Instinctively Embrance panicked, throwing his arms up and scrambling back to find the nearest shadow. He tripped over a table, falling over and sliding and slamming his back against the farthest wall. Captain Jack immediately turned off the image and got up. He moved toward Embrance carefully and tried to show him that the image wouldn’t hurt him. It’s okay! Relax, friend, relax. Look, see, it was just a picture, it will not hurt you! I gave you my word, you are my friend, and friends don’t hurt each other. Not on purpose, not like this! As he talked to Embrance, concern grew in his voice.

Embrance sat up quickly and shook his head to clear it, furious that a picture had deceived him! He looked at the human, who seemed genuinely concerned for him. Very strange, Embrance thought.

The captain looked at Embrance and said, Please allow me to show you again, friend. I gave you my word, it will not kill you. He offered a hand up, which Embrance pushed aside while getting to his feet, feeling very humiliated. Captain Jack walked back to the table and turned on the picture again. Embrance walked up cautiously to the picture. He tried to put his hand on it, but it went right through. The captain smiled reluctantly.

My apologies. I should have warned you first before I turned it on. It is quite pretty, isn’t it? I have many more if you wish to see them. Pictures of different times of the day, cloudy days, sunrises and sunsets too. I brought so many so that I could remember and never forget. Would you like to see them? he offered.

Embrance felt still a bit mortified, but was filled with a sense of astonishment at what he was seeing in the picture. The sun. He, that he knew of, was the first one in his species to see the sun without it killing him! Even if it was a picture, it was the sun! Such beauty and wonderment…Embrance refocused his thoughts. Now the Atheireyn had to fill his part of the bargain. He looked down at the human standing across from him and bowed his head slightly with a smile and began to walk toward the stairs. At the top of the stairs, he made his way to the shadow. The human called after him, Wait! Wait, may I ask you something? Please, before you go? catching up to him at the top of the stairs. Embrance paused near the shadow and turned to look at the human and waited.

What do I call you, what is your name? He asked.

Embrance grinned, showing his fangs. With a very hoarse and scratchy, growling, dark voice, he uttered one word, Embrance.

The captain repeated, Embrance. He nodded then told Embrance, You have my gratitude, Embrance, and remember, you are my friend. If you would like to see more of the pictures or in need of a friend, do not hesitate to visit me. Take care.

Humph! Friend, huh, Embrance considered. He nodded once and turned walking into the shadow. His irises changed back to red. He ended up on the underside of the ship. Time to honor my side of the agreement, he said to himself as he floated back to get a running start at the ship, looking around to see if anyone was watching or noticed him. No one. Good. He moved swiftly and wham! He hit the side of the ship with enough force to start movement toward the doorway, pushing and angling it so as not to hit the sides of the cut and stimulate it to close in on the ship. One last huff and he pushed it all the way out. Embrance watched it for a while as it floated listlessly through space for a moment, and then its engines kicked on and moved more quickly away. Embrance closed the doorway, looking down at the planet. From the height he was in, Embrance could see how dark, rigidly disfigured, and gigantic the planet was. It was the biggest planet he had seen so far. He looked toward where the large disabled battleship was, remembering that he was still hungry…

Chapter 3

That day, the day he met the captain, changed something in his life. It gave him the sense that there was more to life than just sleeping, fighting, and seeking out creatures and eating them while they contemplate their death. Deep down, part of his nature, he had no problem with it; he had to eat something. The captain and he had decided to help him change his diet, maybe find out why his species’ nature was the way it is. If it was their true nature and why. Embrance in his vast, lonesome thoughts, thought about this and why things were, more so after he had met the captain. The meat from the Craiith was, so far, a great alternative, which kept him full and not needing to hunt. Did he miss the hunt? Part of him did, but it was worth it.

He slowed his pace to a walk. Making his way around some large pieces of debris and jumping down from a small cliff, he made his way into the clan’s borders. Passing a few boulders, he made it to the area where he lived in. Crouching near one of the cliffsides into the valley, he could see his cave in the distance. It sat just under some rocky ledges and inclines, partly concealing it. His cave sat on a plain at the far end of the valley. A few small caves and debris scattered the area. Hundreds of Atheireyn stood between him where he was going. It looked like the hunting groups had started coming back and were socializing among groups of anywhere from ten to fifty, some sitting and eating or standing as they were mentally speaking to each other. Their minds were open to anyone who was interested in joining in on their mental conversations. Younger adolescent Atheireyn were running between the groups. Adults were telling stories about their hunt or what they found, before they separated and headed off to where they resided, to sleep for a few cycles or to train for the next hunt.

He didn’t feel interested in being social and was hoping to get to his sleeping area before anyone questioned where he had been, especially since he stayed away often. This last time had been for about two full turns of a cycle at the captain’s hidden base and came back from time to time. If he could just make it to his cave, he could stay without food or water for those three cycles without being bothered by anyone. Interesting thing about Atheireyn was that they could go without food or water for fourteen cycles and anywhere up to ninety-three cycles, depending on how much they’d eaten and how long they had slept, which could be one cycle or up to twenty-one cycles.

One of the few rules of his species was that you were never to disturb those in their cave, unless for serious situations. Or unless you were a shadow traveler or doorway opener when a hunting party was being created. You couldn’t refuse those requests; once requested for one, you had to go. Plus, having these abilities gave you certain protection as well, such as not being murdered for being different at a very young age. Embrance was lucky on both accounts; being a shadow traveler and doorway opener, the clan’s leaders left him be and only bothered him when he was needed for hunts. But the clan’s leaders only put up with so much difference. If they ever found out about the broken rules, they wouldn’t kill him, but he wouldn’t be allowed to be left alone ever again; death would be a pleasant thought by then.

Embrance crouched at the edge of the last cliff before his ten-story jump down into the valley. He scanned the crowd as though looking for someone. He crouched there, becoming increasingly concerned. What he was looking for was a certain someone, his brother Ullgrent—the one person he would like to avoid as much as possible. The trouble was he blended in with the crowd so well and could easily mask his mind from anyone looking for him, namely Embrance. It became increasingly challenging for Embrance to find his brother after Ullgrent had made a journey away from the clan some time ago. So much had changed with Ullgrent when he had come back.

Embrance decided to chance it; he jumped down, landing on his feet hard. Straightening up and looking at the crowd, hearing them mentally chatting among themselves and barely glancing at him, Embrance started making his way around the various-size crowds of Atheireyn, keeping his head straight but looking side to side with his eyes for his brother and any of his lackeys. Embrance called them leeches or parasites; they were made up of mainly Atheireyn without abilities, some with very weak ones and others just mentally off. They still had a function—or that was what his brother said. Oddities that Embrance thought were the nastiest, filthiest adolescents, and some that had survived to adulthood in the area would follow his brother. He couldn’t fathom what his brother had promised them to get them to follow him, but whatever it was, they followed and obeyed him without question. Embrance shivered with disgust, keeping his brisk pace. Besides them, he often kept his company with many fighters that found ways to harass Embrance but had come to keep their distance—most of them. He blinked, abruptly sensing a familiar mind searching for him from the right. It was his brother, about fifty feet away from him, and as hard as Embrance tried, he couldn’t hide his presence from Ullgrent and his leeches. As soon as Ullgrent found him, he telepathically called out to Embrance with a pleasant tone, **Emmmbrranccce! Emmbrancce! Over here! This way, Embrance, walk this way. We’re over here! Hey, Embrance!**

Embrance kept walking his same brisk pace, ignoring Ullgrent has though he was oblivious.

Ullgrent frowned. He motioned to two of his lackeys, and they swiftly headed off gleefully. Ullgrent with the rest began to walk toward Embrance’s direction. **Ooohhh Embrance! What is the matter? Don’t you want to visit with us…? Wait up! It has been awhile since we have seen each other…Where you going? Come now, dear brother, don’t make us chase you. There is no need for this ridiculous game…I know you can hear me…Embrance! Did you really think you could hide from me? Hah, har, har! Embrance, did you forget we are twins!**

Embrance continued to ignore Ullgrent’s telepathic jeers. He accelerated his pace, weaving around the crowds and nearing his destination. Embrance rounded a large group and cleared the crowd and came to an abrupt stop. Three feet away on a large rock stopped one of Ullgrent’s lackeys—a male, scraggly-looking with only a pair of torn pants on that once might have been a green, but now terribly stained with blood. He was thin and had a bit of a tick. The tick was something he picked up from fights and challenges that he had lost. Guessing he found it so troubling from the losses, he developed this. The scraggly male smiled wildly at him. **Hello, dear Embrance! Where are you going? Let’s play, little Embrance. Big brother wants to play!** The male opened his mouth smiling wide, drooping his long tongue out while he twitched wildly.

Embrance glared at him, bared his fangs, and swiftly walked past him. **Not interested, leech!** Embrance was only a few feet from his cave entrance when another devotee jumped over the cleft above the cave entrance, intercepting Embrance and blocking his way in. He abruptly stopped. She was wearing stained mismatched shoes along with a long, terribly tattered frock. The dress looked like, at one point, was worn by a delicate creature, but now it was so torn and unrecognizable to which species it had come from. It was white, blue, had broken pieces of gems left on it, and extremely bloodstained. She devilishly smiled at Embrance.

Embrance narrowed his eyes at her, mentally shouting aggressively, **Move aside, parasite!** He began to walk toward her intimidatingly, his irises burning red.

She threw her hands up in the air as though surrendering, wiggling, and moving seductively in place, **Oh, my sweet Embrance, have you finally accepted me as your vessel? Hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm! Come, let us create a future together!**

Embrance abruptly stopped and threw an arm up in defense, looking very disgusted, nauseated by the thought of her touching him. He backed away several feet and turned to walk away. He looked up, and about fifteen feet away stood Ullgrent with his twenty or so followers slowly surrounding the two of them. Ullgrent focused his gaze pleasingly at his brother. Embrance looked away, feeling fenced in. Ullgrent walked casually over to Embrance. He stopped directly in front of him, practically stood toe-to-toe, and almost stood face-to-face looking very identical. The only few differences between the two some small subtle differences and the style of clothing. Ullgrent was scrawnier but muscular, seven feet and 165 pounds, wore a simple worn black shirt, dark-stained gray pants, and knee-high faded-black boots, with the tops of the toes torn off. Ullgrent’s hair was shorter, to his shoulder blades, and he wore an intricate piece of