The Designs Of Change

~Chapter 17

Time skip, 7 years later...

my EYES flew open, and I jumped up In a quick motion.

"huh?" I asked audibly as my entire body jolted.

wh-OH. oh no... Aure! you haven't done this In a month! Leave me some peace to not move a body, will you? I thought grumpily. what was It this time? nightmares? I could sense her still living out her dreams In our head. probably a nightmare If It activated fight or flight.

I was just about to get this lazy pants to stand up and just sit there until she woke up herself, but... something was off. true that you usually wake up In a cold sweat from nightmares, but... the threat Aure's brain sensed may have been external, and It couldn't wake her up, so It went for me.

my hypothesis about why I fronted In control Instead of processing Information like usual, was helped by a strangely thick scent wafting from the entrance of Aure's den. It made my Instincts boil at just the scent, and I hadn't even seen the creature yet.

I knew this scent. I had processed It In the blood memories many times, over the last seven years.

this creature was not native to this planet, but It very much liked to hitchhike on Kymari and Votalk cargo ships.

I shut my eyes and sighed. the choice was simple: either I confront this Sicora, or let Aure wake up here, feeling alone and afraid, with a monster that could rip her limb from limb right outside, since she didn't have the proper Information to help her defend herself.

a loud unpleasant wild growl reverberated from the entrance, as I saw a pair of black talons trying to dig their way Inside.. curse Aure and her entrance stone... which makes It even more difficult to get out of here! could I dig a separate tunnel out of here? unlikely;

I stood on the sand covering the floor of Aure's den, and finally made a decision. I needed to face the Sicora outside, or else I had no hope to escape. Luckily for me though, the sicora was kind enough to start shoving the rock that covered the entrance Itself. at least that saved me the trouble of moving It slowly myself, which would have given the sicora time to shred me. when I could see Its face In view, It started snapping Its jaws at me as the giant black lizard tried to shove Its way Inside. I felt an oily bile well up In my throat, and when I had enough, I lit It with my spark teeth at the back of my mouth, and spat the fireball at the roaring black mass.

the thing shrieked and recoiled as the heat scorched Its skin and scales, but I was lucky enough to see the terrible burn that my fire also caused on the sicora's face.

It turned back and fled, and the fire vanished In the ashes of Its retreat.

I jumped to my feet, and glowered at the now-smoking den. the thing was gone, but there was no doubt that It would be back to finish what It started. I walked over to the entrance, and peered outside; the creature was nowhere to be seen.

sighing, I marched back Inside the Den, to survey what was left.

it was a mess.

half the floor was nothing but sand and kicked up dirt, and there was a black soot covering the walls of the burrow. I was deathly lucky that I didn't set the tree above me on fire.

Aure's consciousness was still asleep, and I had no Idea when she would possibly wake up again.

-

the next several hours were... Interesting, to say the least. Aure stayed asleep, and now I was the one who had to take on everyday tasks.

Aure was prone to her... strange quirks, and would often leave me to my own devices, while she leisurely went about her business. and I was always perfectly fine with that dynamic. leave the hard stuff like piloting a body to somebody who was born with one. just leave me to the blood memories, emersed In Information and processing. It was easy. and Aure was fun to bother whenever It got boring.