Thyssa woke up to the feeling of her mother’s hair suddenly shifting. She opened her eyes and saw a waking nightmare – a Widow Mantis, mandibles out. Thyssa twisted her body and slid down her mother’s hair an instant before the mandibles clamped down.

The lock of hair Thyssa clung to fell to the ground, taking Thyssa with it. She cried out as she smashed against the ground, then quickly rolled to the side as the malform dropped down hooks-first. Thyssa dashed away, calling for help as loud as she could.

The Ogre Queen did not wake. The assassin must have poisoned her mother before moving to kill her. Thyssa would have been impressed with the cleanness of the plan, but she was too busy running for her life, narrowly dodging her attacker’s terrible hooks.

Thyssa kept screaming for help, but there was no one else in the chamber to save her. The Ogre Queen did not trust anyone but her daughter to sleep near her. (Have you ever been completely right about something in a way that was completely wrong?)

The Widow Mantis lashed out with a hook and tripped her. Thyssa fell to the ground as the terrible hook swooped down…

There was a wet drilling sound, a sickening crack and a terrible screech. Thyssa looked up to see the Widow Mantis impaled by Tsigon’s sharp nose.

“I owe you one,” said Thyssa, lifting herself up.

“You sure do,” said Tsigon, scraping the assassin’s corpse off his nose and tossing it aside. “The Benevolent Heart. Give it here.”

“I…I wish I could share it, but I cannot part with that.”

“You very nearly parted with that along with your head. I think my offer is pretty reasonable.”

“You don’t get it. I can’t go back to being a malform.”

“You’d rather be a dead human?”

Thyssa did not answer.

Tsigon sighed. “Come on, kid. You’re it. Every malform who dreams of being human – who doesn’t? – is going after you. You can’t fight them. Certainly not as a girl. I’m doing you a favour here.”

“What about yourself? They’d be after you next, and you’d be no stronger.”

Tsigon nodded. “Got me there, kid. I reckon I’m willing to risk it the same reasons you are. We’re probably not all that different.”

Tsigon shivered his sharp nose again.

“Except. Right now. You’re soft and harmless. And I’m made of blades.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“STEP AWAY FROM THYSSA!”

It was the guttural voice of Gardrek, the Creeping Death. Her pack had come to her aid!

“You can’t protect her,” said Tsigon, “No one can! Even if you kill me, there will be others after her.”

“YES, AND I AM ONE OF THEM!” said Gardrek, his long body gurgling as it prepared to charge. “IF YOU WANT IT, YOU’LL HAVE TO KILL ME!”

“Strange request,” said Tsigon. “But you do you.”

And, in a flash, Tsigon was upon Gardrek. Gardrek shrieked as Tsigon drilled a hole in his side, but Gardrek wrapped around him and tightened.

“YOU WILL DIE AS YOU LIVED,” said Gardrek. “VERY QUICKLY.”

“Not quickly enough,” said Tsigon, as he shivered his head free and stabbed Gardrek again. It was hard to tell exactly what he pierced, but it must have been pretty important, as Gardrek vomited up black blood and stopped moving.

Tsigon was filled with triumph and horror for the moment before a rock shattered his thorax, breaking him in half.

“We’re not all that different,” said Thyssa, grimly, as she dropped the now-chilled rock.

Tsigon coughed. “Good shot, kid. Always knew you were a heartbreaker.”

Thyssa didn’t laugh.

“No hard feelings?”

Thyssa shook her head.

“That’s good,” said Tsigon. “That’s real good.”

And with that, he died.

Thyssa ran to her mother. She put a hand to her enormous leg. Still a pulse. Thyssa sighed with relief. The poison had just knocked her out. The Ogre Queen was even harder to kill than Thyssa was. Already, the Ogre Queen started to twitch, and the room flooded with sickly yellow light as she opened her eyes. The light shone upon the gruesome scene. She quickly reached for the top of her head, then saw Thyssa and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No. You will not be fine. This is only the beginning. More and more blood will be shed as long as you cling to the Benevolent Heart.”

Thyssa looked down. “I…I never thought…”

“YOU NEVER THOUGHT!”

Her mother’s voice was suddenly as loud and violent as a storm. It hurt her head and hurt her heart. Thyssa buried her head in her arms. The Ogre Queen winced to see she’d accidentally yelled and hurt her daughter. She took a deep breath.

“You have brought a terrible evil into this land. I warned you of its danger, but you did not listen. The humans make you you everyone’s prey, and still you persist. Again and again, you ignore my warnings. You never thought of what you were doing to the pack.”

Thyssa felt ready to break apart.

“This is a place of second chances. Even now, it’s not too late. You can end the bloodshed here. You can cast off the Benevolent Heart that traps you and makes you prey. If the humans want their evil device so much, let them fight over it.”

Thyssa grit her teeth. She had a terrible choice to make.

And she had already made it a thousand times in her head.

“I can’t do that.”

The Ogre Queen pointed to what was left of Tsigon and Gardrek. “They couldn’t give it up either.”

“No. They couldn’t. They hated their lives so much they risked them for a chance at my life. So did I.”

The Ogre Queen’s face contorted with pain.

“Do you really hate our kind so much?”

“I love you and I love the pack.” Thyssa sighed. “I just…I can’t go back. I couldn’t stand it before, and it’d be even worse now that I’ve had a taste of being me.”

“Of all the machines the humans made to hurt us, this is the cruelest. If you cannot bear to part with it…then take it away. If you truly love us, take this poison as far away as you possibly can.”

“I...yes, mother.”

Thyssa wanted to cry out for help. To plead to stay. But as much as she knew she wanted to stay, she knew that couldn’t happen.

There was no place for a human in the Land of Monsters.