Jotaha’s arrival at the sky lift station with Sarah in his arms caused a symphony of startled shouts in an alien language followed by shocked gasps. Sarah saw only a blur of different lizard alien faces passing her at a rapid speed as Jotaha was clearly in a hurry. Given the tone of his voice when he snapped responses to the other aliens, he wasn’t in the mood to answer questions about his burden.
She felt like a burden too, as he bundled her into the sky lift. Other aliens that had apparently been in the lift abandoned it as soon as they saw the glowing behemoth bearing down on it with a human in his arms. They cast wide-eyed stares her way as they rushed away from Jotaha, shying back from what she suspected was his growing anger, based on the tension in the arms that cradled her against his chest.
This was not the way she wanted to meet his people. She also hadn’t expected the place, which looked to be the size of a large town or small city, to be made of giant bones, thinking she might see more geodes like the one where they’d met the other alien.
Jotaha settled her onto a padded seat next to him as the sky lift lurched into motion. Sarah slapped a hand over her mouth, begging whatever god might be listening that she wouldn’t humiliate herself by vomiting all over the fancy wooden and bone sky lift. At least it was only her and Jotaha in the vehicle, but it appeared to be a public transport. She didn’t want to taint it with human vomit, especially given the beauty of the crafted and carved seats and paneling. There were even mother of pearl accents around the folding door into the transport.
The journey seemed interminable, but Jotaha remained close to her, his strong body supporting her so she could remain sitting upright. She even dared the occasional peek out the window despite her nausea. His arm rested on the back of the seat, his hand on her shoulder to keep her pressed against him so she didn’t fall when the transport swayed with a strong breeze.
The city of bones had terraces surrounding it like the round petals of a flower, built into the hill over which the bones lay scattered. The terraces created many levels, with a central stone paved stairway rising all the way to the top, deep into the shadows cast by the outspread wings.
The city was so amazing—so otherworldly—that she wasn’t even surprised to see the massive dragon skull perched at the top of the city, though it was certainly awe-inspiring.
It looked like Jotaha’s people had made buildings even out of that, but these were even fancier, with walls from the same glowing stone as made up the river stones Jotaha used as campfires. Atop the huge skull stood another building, centered between two horns that had to be ten stories tall. The building had a sharp steeple like some gothic cathedral, built out of granite and glow stones. The top of the skull appeared to be paved with golden tiles leading up to the stairway that led to massive double doors.
There was no way a dragon that size could ever fly. It would be physically impossible, even with the gigantic wingspan. Yet, she couldn’t deny what she was seeing laid out before her. Jotaha’s people had built a city out of a dragon’s skeleton. In fact, she could now see that they’d made it a beautiful city that seemed to work with the sinuous form of the massive dragon curled up upon the hill. It was likely that the dragon had once been the size of the hill, and the dirt and stone perhaps filled in the skeleton after it died.
She could have studied the incredible view for hours if she was feeling better, but as it was, she was only able to catch quick peeks at it as the sky lift made its way to the top of the dragon skull, towards the gothic building in the center of the horns. Finally, the sky lift stopped and Jotaha gathered her up, despite her verbal protests. She was too weak to resist him, and a part of her didn’t want to. She was shaking, not only from the way her body felt ill and exhausted, but also from fear and awe.
She had no idea what awaited her in that beautiful and forbidding building. She’d pictured a village of huts, or hide dwellings, or natural cavities like the giant geodes when she’d thought of Jotaha’s home, not a wondrous city built of dragon bones, boasting buildings of such impressive architecture.
So much for the “barbarian” part of her alien male fantasy. She had no idea why Jotaha used only daggers and a blow gun. Surely, he could be using crossbows, at the very least, considering the technology that could create such beautiful buildings.
He carried her out of the sky lift. She had to bite her lip now, just to keep her mouth tightly closed as bile burned her throat. Soon, she would not be able to resist the demands of her rebelling stomach, which felt like it was on fire and had knives cutting into it.
The worst part was that her bowels were also shifting. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so constipated anymore. She was probably about to be carried to the king or some other leader of Jotaha’s people, and she felt like she was going to crap herself any minute now, and there was no way to get Jotaha to understand her need verbally.
She struggled against his hold but it had no effect. He was so strong that he could probably crush her with a mild squeeze of his arms. He seemed not to even be fatigued by his jogging trip with her as a burden. Realizing the futility of fighting his hold, she sagged in his arms, focusing all her effort on keeping her butt puckered and her lips sealed shut. If she wasn’t so sick to her stomach, she would probably be blushing with shame that her body had betrayed her, but right now, her skin was pale as a ghost. It also felt slick and clammy with sweat.
Finally, they entered a building. She’d been clenching her eyelids shut to focus on controlling her body, so she hadn’t seen what door they went into, but the scent of fragrant incense filled the air as more alien voices speaking rapidly surrounded her.
Jotaha laid her down on a soft, silky surface that gave like a mattress. She wanted to tell him that expensive fabric was the last thing she wanted to be near in that moment, but didn’t dare to open her mouth even to try.
As soon as he released her, she opened her eyes, seeing him standing beside two other aliens in long, elaborate robes that also looked to be made of embroidery covered silk. He was speaking quickly to them, and they kept casting glances her way. They had faded green scales, and were missing most of the spines on their heads, but their eyes still looked sharp and reptilian as they met her gaze.
If she felt better, she would have been unnerved by the aliens. Instead, she desperately searched the room, oblivious to the opulence surrounding her. When her gaze alit upon a low vase sitting on the stone floor beside a short table, she crawled off the bed, making her way towards it, her entire body trembling. As soon as she reached it, she yanked out the plant that filled it, dumping the soil on the tiled floor along with it.
All sound ceased except for her painful vomiting as she evacuated her stomach into the pot. Tears blinded her as she sat up, swiping at her mouth. Her desperate fingers clawed at the fly of her jeans, shivering as waves of pain surged through her bowels. There was no waiting now. She’d gotten away from the fine fabrics, but she couldn’t stop what was coming. All she could do was try to aim for a container that could be washed out.
She felt them all staring at her, doubtless shocked by her behavior, but she wasn’t going to look at them. This was a hell of a way to make a first impression, but her body didn’t give a damn. It was ready to go, and there was a point where she just couldn’t deny it anymore. Her legs trembled as she squatted over the pot. She screamed as the block of days’ worth of stool tore her anus, coming out of her in a massive, reeking ball. The blockage was followed by the explosive diarrhea she’d feared. It felt like long, thick, mucus strings came out with the foul, liquid waste.