Aisling of Lateo

  I saw cross-legged on the ground, plucking at the grass beneath my legs like an impatient kid instead of a supposedly responsible adult. The sky above was a big stretch of blue, one of those dull afternoons that made the whole world feel like it was just… waiting. Nara lay sprawled on her stomach nearby, chin propped on her palms, tail flicking back and forth like she was trying to swat away thoughts she didn’t want to deal with.

  Everything felt too quiet after Ramona and Samsara left. I knew that was supposed to be a good thing, but it just felt wrong staying here. We had just learned magic, and we weren’t allowed to use it.

  I tossed the piece of grass in my hand aside. “Do you think they are, okay? I’m getting a bit restless.”

  “Well, they are Kaijus,” Nara said, looking up at me with slitted eyes. “And a chimera too. They should be strong enough to fight whatever is out there.”

  “Yeah, guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” I sighed.

  But the weight in my chest didn’t ease. The soft breeze of the wind hit my shell and skin. I rubbed my arms and tried not to look nervous.

  Nara noticed anyway.

  “You’re worried about them,” she said.

  I stared down at the patch of dirt below me. “I’m worried about all of them. Ramona, Samsara, and Irene. What if it’s some kind of trap?” My voice cracked, and I clamped my mouth shut. Great. Here I was, breaking down because I missed my friends while being useless and sitting out in the open.

  “You know, I’m glad you were right about them,” Nara said, smiling. “I was so scared that they would just eat us too. But here they are saving people they don’t even know.”

  “Yeah, I can’t believe the elders kept saying all Kaiju were bad,” I snorted. “Kaiju girls can be both feral and non-feral, just like monster girls. And the non-feral ones are people.”

  “Definitely,” Nara nodded. “It’s kind of crazy how they don’t see how similar they are acting to the imperial humans.”

  Everyone knew we had to stay away from the Imperatrix’s Empire. Her government has spread lies and propaganda that all monster girls were feral, and that they weren’t people. But threats to be exterminated. It was ridiculous that anyone could believe that, especially since Lateo Village was home to both humans and monster girls living peacefully.

  “Hopefully, the elders change their rules about Kaijus,” Nara said. “Especially after they save Irene.”

  “Yep, and I’ll even argue for them!” I said enthusiastically.

  And then we sat in silence. A little breeze tugged at my turquoise hair, and I watched the individual pieces of grass below me sway in the wind. I wish Irene were here. She’d probably make fun of me for getting sentimental, right before threatening to snap a feral monster girl’s neck for attacking me. And then I’d point out that the feral monster girl couldn’t understand what she was saying. And we’d have a good laugh while eating our prey.

  Suddenly, the smoke came to an end.

  “Why did it stop?” I asked.

  “Maybe somebody lit a campfire?” Nara suggested. “And then Ramona and Samsara had them put it out?”

  “Hmm, seems too big to be a smoke from a campfire,” I said. “Unless it’s a Kaiju-sized campfire.”

  “I don’t know then,” Nara shrugged. “Ramona and Samsara were probably investigating it while they were invisible.”

  “I wish I knew what was there,” I said.

  That thought sat between us as we watched the black smoke continue.

  Eventually, Nara stretched, joints popping. “So what’s the plan while we wait? Or is that just the plan?”

  “We could try shouting at the sky, asking if they are okay,” I joked weakly.

  “Do not tempt me,” she said dryly. “I will absolutely start shouting at the sky.”

  We both laughed, and it felt good. Brief, but real.

  Then the good feeling died.

  A low, thunderous roar rolled across the air, so deep it vibrated in my teeth. I lurched to my feet, my heart beating faster.

  Nara bolted upright. “That wasn’t coming from the ground.”

  “Nope,” I whispered. “It’s from the sky. And sky noise is never good.”

  Another roar, like metal being scraped against a Demiurge’s ribcage, sliced through the clouds. I spun toward the sound.

  And I saw it.

  A massive, distant shape drifted quickly across the sky. It took a second for my eyes to focus on the object. Then the outline sharpened.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  A blimp.

  According to the elders, the Imperatrix’s Empire developed these massive airships to transport their new colossal mechs. These mechs were as big as Kaijus. Why was the blimp over here? Was it planning on deploying a mech to fight Ramona and Samsara?

  But the blimp simply continued on its way. It didn’t stop or descend. We stared as it disappeared into the distance.

  “Huh?” Nara asked. She tilted her head. “Why did it pass Ramona and Samsara?”

  “I was just thinking about that,” I said. “Wait a minute, they can turn invisible! So that’s why the blimp didn’t see them.”

  “Oh, right.” Nara looked down at the ground, as if embarrassed by what she just said.

  The sun continued to move as we waited and waited. By late afternoon, my nerves were shot, and I’d rebraided my turquoise hair seven times just to have something for my hands to do.

  “We’re sitting ducks out here,” I muttered. “Should’ve relocated, I swear.”

  “We’re not ducks, we’re reptiles,” Nara corrected me.

  “It’s an idiom I heard Eivor use,” I said. “She keeps worrying that if the Imperatrix finds Lateo, then we’ll be ‘sitting ducks’.”

  “Why did she use ducks?” Nara asked. “She isn’t a duck girl either.”

  “Hell if I know,” I said. “But if she is using it, then I’m free to use it too.”

  “I guess we are honorary duck girls,” Nara said. We both giggled.

  And then we froze. The roar came back. We looked to the right, where the blimp was rapidly approaching us. The roar came again. Long, metallic, and layered, like a chorus of Kaijus screaming kilometers away.

  Frozen by fear, all we could do was watch with our mouths agape at the monstrosity in the sky. My brain couldn’t believe what it was seeing. The airship rose over us, blocking out the sky. How could anything ever be that big?

  Dark metal glinted under the pale blue light, broken up by strips of plated armor and huge rib-like beams along its underside. Even at the insane distance, I could see the segmented framework that held the entire body together.

  “It’s like a continent is above us,” I said my thought out loud. “No, more like an entire ocean being carried up by a cage.”

  If I stacked every home in Lateo village, all the houses above and below ground… it still wouldn’t match the size of what was above us.

  The body of the airship was segmented into thick metallic rings, each one thicker than an entire town block, wrapped in enormous armor plates that overlapped like scales. Dark smokestack vents lined the sides, coughing out misty black trails. Big blocky symbols lined the underside: PROPERTY OF BEVOR VAMBRACE. Who was Bevor Vambrace? And how did they learn to make these sky monstrosities?

  Pipes thicker than tree trunks ran around the side, weaving together like exposed veins. I could see six large rods jutting out of the back in the far distance. I had to strain my head to see the blue flames coming out of them.

  “Umm… Aisling, why is it here?” Nara whispered. “Why is it over us—”

  She shut her mouth as a metallic groan cracked in the air.

  Straight above us was a flat, rectangular metallic surface. Deep grooves separated it from the rest of the blimp. The rectangular surface slid inwards, disappearing into the depths of the blimp.

  Two large metallic claws connected to long, jointed arms descended from the surface. But they held no mech. Instead, I could spot a small figure on the upper side of each arm.

  Nara grabbed my wrist. “Aisling, what do we do?!” She was panicking.

  “I don’t know!” I shouted. Ramona and Samsara told us to stay here. But if the imperial humans were coming for us, then I didn’t want to be here.

  As the blimp and claws descended, I could see the humans better. One was a man and one was a woman. Both of them wore white clothes that gave off a blue sheen, contrasting with their dark black hair. And both of them carried some kind of weapon with neon blue lights.

  They aimed their weapons at us.

  “Aisling?” Nara asked.

  “DODGE!” I screamed, shoving her sideways and ducking. Blue beams came from the humans’ weapons. They missed and hit the ground, leaving burn marks on the grass.

  “We have to get to Samsara and Ramona!” I called out, pointing ahead where the black smoke was coming from before it stopped.

  We tried running forward, but we jumped back as blue beams blocked the path. Fuck. We wouldn’t be able to make it out of here with them shooting at us. Was there anything we could do? Right! [Blood Spike] and [Blood Spike Launch].

  “Use [Blood Spike]!” I called out to Nara as I raised my hand toward the man. I [Focused] my mana on my palm into the [Blood Spike] [Incantation]. I winced as I felt my red blood leave my hand and coalesce into a hardened maroon spike. I stopped [Focusing] on that spell as the [Blood Spike] reached 1 meter. And then I [Focused] on making the [Blood Spike Launch] [Incantation].

  My [Blood Spike] launched towards the human as I rolled to the side to dodge one of their beams. I looked up and saw the human jump further down the metallic arm, dodging my [Blood Spike]. The spike embedded itself into the metallic arm.

  Dammit. They could also dodge. I saw another [Blood Spike] go towards the woman. She easily jumped further down the arm and re-aimed her weapon at us.

  This time, I aimed both palms toward the man, with one slightly lower. I fired a [Blood Spike] from each hand. And the man easily dodged my spikes.

  Ugh! Stay still! I rolled out of the way before another beam hit the ground.

  This time, I made [Blood Spikes] on each groove in my shell. I yelped in pain yet continued running as the spikes formed.

  I [Focused] on [Blood Spike Launch] for each spike as I swerved to the side to dodge another beam. And then as soon as the [Incantation] for the spell was complete, I turned around. My [Blood Spikes] all went flying. I saw the man’s eyes widen as all the dark red spikes came. He tried to jump downwards, but a few spikes hit him.

  One in the head, and two in the chest.

  “Yes!” I cheered.

  And then my heart dropped. Two blue blasts began shooting at the blood spikes embedded in the blimp’s metallic arms. They cracked and broke apart easily. The dead human who was pinned to the metallic arm fell to the ground. His body exploded as he splattered. Two more humans dropped down, both of them men, and both of them with the same weapon as the human I just killed.

  The two weapons aimed at me. I leaped out of the way as they fired.

  I checked up on Nara. She was also dodging the woman's blasts. And then, two blue beams hit her in the side, sending shocks all across her body.

  “Nara!” I called out and sprinted towards her. Her body collapsed to the ground. I picked her up as I heard two beams hit the ground behind me.

  “Wake up!” I said, tears forming in my eyes. She didn’t respond.

  “Nara!” I called out again as I ducked under three beams that were aiming to hit my head. I [Focused] on the [Blood Spike] [Incantation], making spikes all over my shell again. Tears fell from my eyes as Nara didn’t respond.

  As I was about to turn around, I felt three beams hit my shell, two from the left and one from the right. Sharp pain shot up everywhere. I couldn’t move!

  My consciousness began to fade.

  “Please save us,” I thought, thinking of Ramona and Samsara as I blacked out.