Tainted Garden

Chapter One

Chapter 7

A sound awakened Dersi. She sat up, the cilia falling away
from her skin and writhing as they receded into the surface of
the bed. The usual momentary disorientation faded quickly
away as she focused, waiting for the sound to repeat itself. It
did not.

Dream fragments of soothing, warm liquid currents shattered
and fell away from her mind like broken chitin.
She leaned toward the mound alongside her bed, hand
outstretched to caress the light-tumor there.

“Don’t,” came a voice, low and whispery.

Her hand froze, and she jerked her head toward the voice.
In the darkness she could see nothing. She swallowed,
pulling her legs up toward her chest. Her hands clenched in
the spongy surface of the bed. Cilia squirmed away from the
aggressive touch.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“A friend,” came the response from the darkness.

Dersi focused on the sound of the voice. It seemed familiar,
but she could not identify the speaker. Her vision sharpened,
drinking in the ambient, residual light in the room. A dull
hump of deeper darkness stood near her, at th ... read full excerpt from Tainted Garden ebook