Otherwhere: Chapter 2, Tribute

An unearthly screech preceded a blast of hot air and the sound of huge, beating wings. They protected their faces from the dust and into the light stooped a giant flying, well, no other word for it, dragon. It cried hungrily and landed on the edge of the platform. The kids edged backwards, in shock. It screeched again as they backed away.

A commanding contralto voice cut through the noise saying, “Come with me if you want to live!”

A statuesque ginger haired woman in blue holding a glowing staff beckoned them. They ran. The beast screeched behind them but cringed back from the light emitting from her staff. She motioned them down a corridor off to their left.

They turned a corner and she said, “You’re safe now. The corridor is too small for the Draco to follow.”

“What the hell is a Draco?” Asked Colin, “and where the hell are we?”

As they walked down the long hall, she explained. Her name was Leela and the world they were in was called Otherwhere, or at least that’s what the humans who lived there called it. Otherwhere was a nexus of different probability lines that occasionally connected to other worlds. Unfortunately for those who crossed to Otherwhere, that connection was one way. Leela was the leader of the human population of Otherwhere. The Draco were another race. Draco were shapeshifters. Their natural form was as they saw in the cavern, winged reptiles but they could assume a humanoid form when they wished. The Draco were the dominant race in Otherwhere. Possibly they were native to it. The humans remained in the caverns, to go to the surface uninvited risked attack by the Draco.

“Why did that one come after us?” Dee asked.

“We keep the Draco appeased by paying them tribute. It’s time again.” Leela told them.

“Tribute. Like money?” Rory asked.

“No,” Leela said. “The Draco enjoy humans. Two times a year, at the solstice the Draco take a human tribute to mate with.”

“Mate with? Do they, like make half Draco babies or something?” Astra said.

“No, not offspring have ever resulted from the mating of Draco and human. We’re not sure why the Draco choose to mate with humans or how they choose their tribute but they do.”

“Does the Draco kill the tribute?” Astra asked.

“No, no tribute has ever died. Sometimes it’s unpleasant, and sometimes it’s…” Leela trailed off.

“OK, but why was that Draco there?” Colin asked.

“Because it’s chosen one of you as tribute,” Leela said.

“Wait, what?” Rory asked. “One of us? Why? And what if we don’t want to do it?”

“We don’t know what drives the Draco to make their choices. We think it may be smell, or possibly something about the way the person thinks as the Draco communicate telepathically but, to answer your most important question, if the tribute refuses, we all will die.”