The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Outer Regions)

(Planet Vrean)

"Does the tour usually take so long?" Sophie asked hesitantly as she leaned against Cleo's shoulder.

Quite a few hours had passed since she had taken her girlfriend out of the mysterious place where she sensed an impending danger.

Some of the tourists who had left with her had returned to the barrier and crossed into the valley while others decided to just relax in the sun.

Cleo powered on her wrist communicator and opened up a tab with a screenshot of the itinerary for the day.

"No… something is wrong… we should be walking back to the teleportation site by now…" Cleo replied in shock.

Her voice was not particularly quiet so the other tourists around them also heard the concern in her tone.

"Wait? What is going on?" someone asked in confusion.

"Well let's not overreact… the guide has probably lost track of time…" another chimed in.

"Lost track of time by three hours? I'm definitely going to leave a negative review on my blog!" a pretty brunette said with a huff of annoyance.

Sophie stared at the massive sand dune and her golden eyes darkened. Her vision was immediately enhanced and suddenly the scenery changed.

She could see what appeared to be a shimmering patch of air where the barrier should be but there was a dark black energy coating the exterior.

That black energy…

It did not activate her danger sense but looking at it gave Sophie a sense of unease that she had not felt in a long time.

"Look why don't I go in and see what is happening inside?" a brave Mendolesa man spoke up and walked towards the barrier.

"No! There's something strange covering it..." Sophie hurriedly yelled but it was too late.

The Mendolesa warrior confidently stepped into the barrier and was flung several feet away as his body bounced back.

He fell on the sand with a dazed look on his face. His greyish-black fur was now covered in dirt, and he looked quite haggard.

"What… what the hell?" the Mendolesa man got up and groaned as he felt as though all of his ribs had been bruised.

"I can see some kind of black energy covering the barrier…" Sophie explained in an uncertain tone as she continued to stare at the shimmering air.

A middle-aged woman stepped forward and muttered a few indecipherable words under her breath.

Blue runes appeared in front of her eyes, and she followed Sophie's gaze towards the place where the barrier was located.

"Yes… I can see an energy signal there as well…" the mage replied with furrowed brows.

"Is that normal?" someone asked curiously.

"I… I don't think so… I mean there was no mention of the barrier being blocked in any of the notes…" the mage responded as she casted another spell.

This time one of the snake-like creatures that were native to planet Vrean rose up from the ground and was suspended in mid air.

The mage waved her hand, and the creature was shot forward towards the barrier with a tremendous amount of force.

Instead of passing through the barrier, the poor animal was launched several feet away and landed on its head with a sickening crunch.

"Huh…" the mage muttered indifferently as she walked towards the animal's corpse and poked at it with her finger.

Sophie accessed the emergency number on her wrist communicator and sent a message to the starship's response team.

She accurately wrote down as many details about this strange incident that she could remember which included the order of events.

The response team was on twenty-four-hour alert, so Sophie received an immediate reply from the head operator.

"Okay everyone… I just contacted the response team, and they are going to send a team to pick us up in around fifteen minutes to take us back to the teleportation site," Sophie loudly spoke.

"Another team will arrive after we leave to investigate the situation on the other side of the barrier."

"The operator said that we should move towards a position a few hundred meters away just in case something unexpected happens…"

Sophie's calm and collected tone reassured the tourists who were getting a bit worried. The hybrid girl stood up and stretched out her hand to pull up her girlfriend.

Cleo smiled sweetly but her eyes would occasionally flick towards the barrier.

Sophie packed up the tent and the blankets on the ground in her storage bag.

She began walking in a northern direction with Cleo in hand and the other tourists decided to follow them.

Some used to doubt Sophie's initial warning but after seeing the strangeness that surrounded the barrier… they had nothing but respect for the hybrid girl.

No one knew what lay beyond the barrier so she may have saved their lives!

Sophie counted her steps and finally stopped when they arrived at the top of a medium sized sand dune that overlooked the desert.

They would be easily spotted by the rescue team here and just in case Sophie decided to turn on the location tracker in the wrist communicator.

BOOM!

An enormous cloud of sand flew out of the ground almost like a bomb had detonated. Sophie had to close her eyes as an enormous pile of dirt fell on her body.

She leaned over Cleo and shielded the princess with her much bulkier frame. A horrific series of shrieks came from the center of the explosion.

When the dust had finally settled, Sophie saw what could only be described as a scene straight out of a nightmare.

The massive sand dune that hid the barrier was now completely gone. The valley was now fully visible to the outside world and surrounded in a purplish energy field.

But that wasn't the scary part….

Hundreds of thousands if not millions of alien creatures were currently slamming their bodies against the dome and tiny cracks were beginning to form.

These monster were around eight feet tall with slender whip-like bodies. They were covered in heavy black scales that resembled armour.

And their hideous appearances were made complete with four arms each with a pointed needle at the end of their palms.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Tiny spider-like webs began to spread out from the point of contact as the monsters kept slamming their needles into the purplish energy field.

Danger!

Sophie grabbed Cleo without hesitation just as a certain section of the forcefield suddenly shattered like glass.

The hybrid girl's body moved automatically as she lifted Cleo up in her arms and carried her in a princess carry.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished from the spot just as a horde of the flying monsters erupted from the hole in the field.

They were so numerous that their slender whip-like bodies blackened the sky and shrouded the desert in shadows.

Screech!