I need to get out of here!

Sana raced through the corridors of the spaceship, frantically trying to race back to the room she had initially appeared in. Sure the device that had brought her here was missing, but surely there was some way for her to return home… right?!

However, just as Sana was only a few meters away from the door, she stopped herself from moving and stayed very still. She could hear a new voice within the room. As she watched, the doors opened, and out stepped a tall woman, covered head to toe in silver armor.

No that wasn’t right. It was the upper half of a woman with a large chest and blonde hair curled into ringlets, with her face covered by a faceplate, so Sana couldn’t see her face. She was holding a large broadsword stained with what Sana immediately recognized as blood.

However, her lower half was that of a tan horse with a tail the same color as her hair. Silver armor covered this half of her body too, though it didn’t look like it fit properly and it was actually broken in several places.

Though the centaur’s armor was the least of Sana’s concerns, the centaur woman immediately noticed her. She pointed her broadsword at Sana’s face, doing a complete turn into the corridor, the centaur’s body taking up most of the space. “Who are you?” the woman spat. Her voice had a regal and commanding tone to it. “Where am I?”

“I… uh…” Sana racked her brain trying to think of a good response but came up a little empty. “You’re… in… in space?” She gave the centaur a shaky grin.

It was hard for Sana to tell, but she felt as though the centaur was staring at her. “You jest,” she huffed. “Now tell me the truth!” She took a few steps closer to Sana, as Sana moved a few inches away.

Sana held up her arms. “I-I’m telling the truth!” she cried. “I barely know what’s going on either!”

The centaur lady lowered her sword a little, which led Sana to relax for a moment. At least she wasn’t alone now…

The centaur raised her sword again. “You’re lying,” she declared.

Sana blinked. “Wha-? Why would I lie?” She waved her hands frantically in front of her.

“Simple. You are a part of the enemy forces. A vile witch who’s trapped me and wishes to brainwash me, so that I’ll turn on my allies.” The grip on her weapon tightened. “I, Charlotte la Brienne, the princess of the Brienne family will not fall to treachery like yours, villain!”

Sana felt like screaming. What the fuck was this bitch on about?!

“Return me to the battlefield, wench!” Charlotte cried, swinging her sword wildly. Sana only managed to narrowly avoid it because she had maintained a decent distance away from the centaur.

“Hey-! What the hell!?” Sana shouted, indignantly. “Just calm down!”

“En garde!” yelled Charlotte in response.

At that point, Sana realized that there was no convincing this dunce. And given how she never was all that strong, she did the only thing she could do in that situation.

She ran.

Sana whirled around and began to sprint in the opposite direction of Charlotte. The centaur was stunned momentarily before she began to chase after her. “Come back here!” she shouted, losing her regal edge for a moment.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“No way! I’m running away!” Sana cried over her shoulder. “You want to murder me!”

“You’re a snake! You’re not running!”

Sana bit back a response full of venom. There was no reason to critique her word choice in a life and death situation! It only aggravated her even more!

Sana quickly turned a corner, away from the cockpit, where she already knew it was a dead end. As she made her escape, she could Charlotte hear stumbling and crashing into the walls behind her, cursing as she did so. If there was one advantage that Sana had here, it was that it was easier for her to maneuver around the tight corners and small hallways. Charlotte’s bulky centaur body was just slightly too big.

“Gah-!” Sana heard Charlotte slam into another wall. “Get back here!”

As if! Sana chose to keep her mouth shut for the moment, however, as she raced through the maze-like corridors. It continued like this for a little while, until Sana finally started to slow down, growing tired from all the moving. She turned another corner and froze.

“Shit!” she swore, wiping sweat off her forehead, as she realized that she had just run into a dead end. Only a single slightly ajar door lay at the end. Behind her, Sana could hear Charlotte galloping towards her. It wasn’t surprising that Charlotte had more endurance than here. It probably helped her that she had two hearts compared to Sana’s one.

Biting her lip, Sana saw she only had one option.

Sana slithered into the room, a small plaque on the door informing her that the room was called, “Weapons.” It was dark inside, though Sana was used to the dark, so she could slightly see her surroundings.

She fumbled around looking for something – anything – that would save her life. However, everything Sana found, she didn’t recognize. They were all strange devices similar to the box that had brought her here. Finally, she grabbed a small dark-colored… thing that piqued her interest. It was a small black-colored staff with a handle on one end that was thicker than the rest of it.

“Finally!” The door behind Sana slammed open and she whirled around to find Charlotte in the entryway, gasping for air. Her armor hung loosely on her body, from her sweat, and in the chase she had thrown off her helmet, revealing her sapphire eyes and round, rather cute face. “You labyrinth’s traps will never work on me, witch!”

“I’m not-!” Sana said indignantly, before sighing. “Fine, whatever. Just listen to me. This isn’t-!”

“Silence,” Charlotte ordered. “I will separate your head from your shoulders and bring it back to my commander as a prize.”

Sana stared at her. “Wait. If you kill me, how do you plan on getting out?” she asked. If Charlotte believed her to be a witch to have trapped her, what made her think that killing Sana would free her?

Charlotte flushed. “I-That’s none of your concern!” she snapped. “As a knight of the Brienne family, I am honor-bound to slay evil!”

Oh, gods, I’m dealing with some muscle-brained bimbo, Sana thought, the grip on the baton growing a little tighter.

Charlotte’s face only turned redder. “Y-You’re thinking dirty thoughts aren’t you?!” she screeched, using her left arm to hold her breastplate up so that it’d better cover her chest. “I’ll make you pay, filthy witch!” She raised her sword high into the air.

She brought it down on Sana’s head, but Sana baited her. Using her highly flexible body, Sana dodged the strike by twisting her way around it, before swinging the baton at Charlotte’s shoulder. At the same time, she accidentally tightened her grip on the handle and felt something click in her palm.

Electricity arced into the air, enveloping Charlotte’s body, as she let out a quick cry of pain. Sana immediately dropped the baton in panic, where it sparked violently on the ground. She moved away from the weapon and turned her attention back to Charlotte, only to find that the centaur had collapsed onto the ground.

“Please tell me…” she squeaked, checking Charlotte’s pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief. Charlotte was still alive.

She placed her hands together and lowered her head. “I’m really, really sorry,” she apologized. “Once I figure out what’s going on I’ll explain everything.” She hesitated. “Well, at least I’ll try too…”

She slithered back through the corridors, choosing to leave Charlotte in the weapons room, for now, having memorized the route she had taken when fleeing. However, when she managed to return to where she started, she froze.

Another person had appeared. It was a woman with pale skin and long straight lilac hair, wearing a black witch coat and pointy hat. However, she, also, wasn’t human. Her bottom half was that of a spider, covered in a dark violet carapace with six long legs connected to a large abdomen with pedipalps where her legs would’ve been. When she turned her attention towards Sana, her eight eyes, two large purple ones with two smaller pairs above and a pair below them, all focused on her.

A ghastly smile stretched across the spider woman’s face, as she tapped her cheek with one of her fingers. “Well, well,” she said in a sultry tone. “Do you mind explaining what’s going on, little snake?”