I still have no idea what I plan to do with Daris and the next king of the Dagerstanteens. However, I am sure it will come to me.
In the meantime, I have been playing around with a book that will introduce an alien called a vampshee. Here is a little part of a chapter. Keep in mind that this is a raw work. :) *** ALL VAMPSHEES HAD a superior sense of smell bestowed upon them from the heavens. His species had many physical gifts and bodily advantages, but Graff always felt that his nose was his best attribute. And now, a horrible stink assaulted him. So much for this being a gift. As he stood deep in the mine where he pulled ribbons of zinger from the rock, he paused before a reproductive pod. He didn’t recall this being here when he walked by two moons ago, and he glanced around the dark tunnels before his eyes scanned the pod again. The waist-high brown bumpy ball was the only way for his species to have a child, and the generative life cradles were somewhat rare. Finding a creation shell while digging was a present from the mighty Light Guardians. Now, all he had to do was slide his flesh rod into the hole and ejaculate. He set his basket of zinger ribbons on the ground and stared at the oozing black hole. Setting his hand gingerly on the shell, Graff paused. His lips curled in disgust. His nose wrinkled at the rancid smell, and he looked up and down the dark tunnels once more. This shell was his chance to reproduce. Graff was alone, and no other vampshees were fighting to use this pod. All he had to do was climax. Pulling his hand away, he stepped back. His eyes raked his only way of ever having a baby. He was starved for the touch of someone or something. A baby he could hold would be his to hug. He longed to love something that might love him in return— someone to talk to him. If the pod accepted his offering, a tiny baby vampshee would be squeezed out of the bottom of the round-shaped creation shell. All he had to do was get it up. The life cradle smelled like rotting, putrid flesh, and he ran a finger over the hard surface. He looked down at his naked body, caked with dirt and grime from working his whole life underground. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get dirty from the gross brown pod that he had to expel into— no, it wasn’t that. He couldn’t get hard. His seven-inch length slept on his ball sack like his sex organ had been knocked out in a fistfight. Graff couldn’t get excited to do this. As badly as he wanted offspring, he couldn’t rise to the occasion. How did the others climax into this black goo? Sure, when he was young, he’d walked around ready to explode with the idea of getting close to one of these, but that was very long ago. And, of course, back then, every pod had five or six vampshees fighting to spray inside of it. So, he wrote it off as a lost cause. He refused to fight to do this. But now… Now he was here, and he was alone. This moment was his chance, and he couldn’t do it. Perhaps his lack of enthusiasm was the price of being so old. Footsteps of other workers caught his attention, and he gathered his basket and started down a different passageway. He turned the corner and inhaled. The scent of zinger was strong in this area, and he started for the metal. As he strolled, he lengthened his nails on his right hand. Behind him, he could pick up the faint grunts of some young vampshee using the life cradle. He shoved that out of his mind and took another turn as he followed the metallic smell of the element. Maybe he would go back and try again one day. A band of zinger glinted golden and bright in the dark tunnel. Graff stopped and used his nails to carve the ribbon out of the stone. After he peeled the strip from the rock, he dropped the precious element into his carrier and surveyed his current work. His container was so full that he would almost consider the basket heavy. When he returned to the heart of the mine, he would get a decent amount of nourishment. Having this quantity of zinger, Graff would be given a sizeable ration of blood for his effort. Every weak cell in his body cheered with the idea that he would no longer be hungry—at least for a little while. Footsteps caught his attention again. Behind him, he noted a vampshee with a baby on his back. The little baby was sucking on its father’s neck. The baby’s black eyes fluttered closed as he drank hungrily, using his tiny fangs to pierce his father’s shoulders. The old vampshee kept gathering zinger, but the large male looked half asleep as he lumbered. His fellow vampshee was pale like normal, but with his blood loss, the worker became as white as his hair. That didn’t seem healthy. Graff’s eyes flipped to the other miner’s carrier. Only a handful of strips covered the bottom of the weaved basket. That was barely enough to get a ration of blood at all. Graff frowned and wandered over to the father and child. He placed his basket next to the stranger’s container and peeled three strips from the wall. They were small pieces, and he considered this area a lost cause. He could smell more and stronger down further in the caves. For a second, he wondered what would happen if he reached out and petted the vampshee next to him. He would probably get in trouble with the Light Guardians. Besides, all vampshees were solitary creatures that didn’t require love, touch, or companionship. There was something wrong with him. He was the one that wasn’t right in the head. He was the one who wanted a friend, and it had always been that way. Picking up the stranger’s holder, he left his full basket with the baby and parent. He walked away with the other empty container. The other vampshee made no sound to stop him, and he didn’t expect him to, nor did Graff expect the new father to correct what he just did. Besides the fact that the male needed the zinger more than Graff did, Graff also knew that vampshees weren’t that smart. They had gifts and strengths when it came to their bodies, but brains were not endowed on them by the Goddess in heaven. Graff figured this out at a young age. No one around here thought about anything. Thinking was all he ever did. The Goddess cursed him. Elongating his black nails again, he let the sharp tips scratch the stone walls as he moved deeper underground. He took a left and right and inhaled. He followed the scent of zinger as the smell got more potent. He sniffed and then stumbled. Graff stood on a rope. Strange. Where did this come from? Just as he glanced up, a net was tossed over him. A tall blue being stepped out of one of the caves. The creature had six tentacles, three on each side of its massive, muscled body. The blue creature used his tentacles to tighten the net until Graff was scooped up and tossed over the alien’s shoulders. It all happened in a flash. Graff’s white eyebrows rose in surprise, and he hissed. That was unexpected.
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Daris was not forthcoming. I couldn't seem to figure out what I wanted to write for the next king of the Dagerstanteen. I'm simmering.
But I wrote something... Here is a part of the novel I'm tapping on. Please read this keeping in mind that the work is raw. It has not been edited yet. *** THROUGH THE THICK foliage, Nigel watched. Silently and cautiously, all four of his tentacles twitched at the ready. The rest of his body was tranquil as he balanced on the balls of his feet. Waiting. Observing. Assessing. No ship had landed on his planet since— No. No ship had ever landed on his planet for as long as he could remember. He wasn’t even sure if a spacecraft had ever visited here while his creator and mum were alive. The giant cylindrical vessel powered down and went silent. Lights dimmed. Black smoke cleared. The back hatch at the rear of the craft began to lower. A soft hiss sounded on the wind. Nigel sniffed and stayed vigilant. He scanned for anything that might eat him. His eyes flickered over the trees for drop snakes and skin roaches. There was the scent of metal and fire and something that wasn’t his home. The new smells had him on alert. The back door continued to lower with a low hum and then the flat part dropped right into a patch of what his mom called mega sludge. Foul stuff that burned like the dickens. Nigel eyed the partially sinking access door. What a horrid place to land a spaceship. Not that any other place on this forsaken planet was any better. But still. Nasty spot of luck. Dropping into a crouch, Nigel slipped close to a clipper tree careful to dodge the spikes on the trunk. He inched toward the wet slime of the swamp making sure not to touch the glowing gunk. When he lifted his eyes, his breath caught. A Dagerstanteen. A tall, muscular, shiny Dagerstanteen. Crickey, he didn’t see that shade of blue often. The stranger’s scent floated lightly when a breeze ruffled Nigel’s short hair tubes. He smelled berries. Not good. If Nigel could smell the new bloke so could the herd of delinters twenty meters away from here. The blue skinned alien stood on the walkway that led down into the marsh. The outsider didn’t appear distraught over landing in the middle of a marsh on Umicore Prime. In fact, it was the opposite. The new arrival looked around and grinned like a bloody twit. His brown hair tubes were stick straight and fell around his second set of tentacles. Artistic black decorative beads hung off the strands and sparkled and clicked when he tossed his hair over his shoulder. The young Dagerstanteen looked well-off, well-fed, and healthy. As Nigel considered that this was probably not a criminal escaping his home, he glided noiselessly behind a poisonous coralline bush. This new alien had all his tentacles and not an injury, scar, or gash to mar his flawless sparkling skin. In the gray of the surrounding land, this newcomer was a shade of blue that was breathtaking. His brown hair tubes looked touchable, and his overall large muscular body was stunning and captivating. Nigel shook himself. What in the bloody hell? He shouldn’t be captivated. He should be weary. Who was this dingo and why was he here? Maybe the alien was sent here from his home planet by a hateful creator that wanted him gone. That’s what happened to Nigel’s father, Warrior Nightmen. His eyes narrowed as he watched. It didn’t matter who this bloke was or why the outsider was on his planet. None of this situation was Nigel’s problem. He should go home. The Dagerstanteen should go home as well. “I can feel you watching me,” the stranger announced. Bugs scurried under boulders. Small rodents ducked into holes. A set of big birds fluttered with the disruption and flew off making a nearby tree branch bounce. Nigel glanced around. Loud noises would bring a gaggle of weebills or worse, a pack of branchias. One thing he’d learned fresh out of the womb was that silence was best on Umicore Prime. “I am here for you to teach me, Grand Warrior Nightmensotom. I’m a royal from the Dagerstanteen palace. My name is Peltratria, and I have come to beg for your help. Please let me learn and study your fighting skills. I’ll offer you anything in my sphere for your assistance in this matter.” Could this silly sod get any louder? He might be pretty, but the alien had a few kangaroos loose in the paddock. Clearly the bloke had gotten zero information on the planet he was visiting. Oh yeah. Good-on-ya, mate. Go to an unknown planet and chatter. This action seemed spot-on for a dizzy royal dink. A minute ticked by as Nigel smoothed a tentacle over his shorts and then over the belt that held his eight knives. He shifted slightly as he considered his next move. His muscles bunched. His gut instinct told him the attack was coming. Then he heard it. The delinters were galloping this way. He’d guessed that they would. Peltratria smelled like sweet blackberries and sounded like a dying fogou fish. The ground began to vibrate as mighty hooves trampled everything in their path. His eyes flipped behind him. Trees crashed in the distance. His mom used to call them cranky horned hippos and his creator thought that was cute. Nothing about delinters were cute. The tops of the trees shook as the herd headed straight for the ship. The yelling Dagerstanteen would have called to them as much as the smell. Delinters were nailing the huge trunks with their horns as they stampeded. Now the new alien looked around like maybe he should do something. Nigel’s brow furrowed. On Umicore Prime if you were edible and had legs, the consensus was run. Royal Peltratria took a step backward but not toward the interior of the ship. Oi, where are you going, you cane-toad? Instead of hiding in the ship, the bloke inched until he was on the edge of the ramp. One more step backward and the royal would fall into the super sludge. Dizzy git. Slipping out of the trees, Nigel jumped the narrowest part of the bog. He landed on a solid rock and then tackled the terrified alien on the walkway. The move stopped the chap from falling into the slush. His opponent went down so easily he could be called a mole. Oi, the chap should be ashamed. Nigel pinned Peltratria. The Dagerstanteen didn’t push or fight or move even though the royal had all his tentacles and Nigel was missing his bottom two. “Oi, you need to go home, mate,” Nigel whispered. |
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