Thrice Doomed
Carina huddled between the bleached rocks amidst the vast stony field at the foot of a tall hill, though it was not the largest landmark in this... place.
She didn't know what this 'place' even was. It was otherworldly, unwelcoming, and inhospitable, least of all to someone without clothes.
Peeking over the hilltop was the peak of a towering mountain far in the distance, violent clouds twisting and spiralling over it in anger.
But beyond that, she could not make out much else of note amongst the field of rocks and boulders, all pale and grey as if bleached by fire and unrelenting sun. Except it was too chilly for the former, and there was none of the latter, only a diffuse orange light somehow filtering through the stormy, dirty-orange clouds overhead, the land occasionally lit by orange and red lightning, though eerily many of the savage bolts came with no noise.
Not that red lightning and gloomy skies were the olive-skinned woman's greatest concerns; as far as she could tell, there was no life anyway. No animals, no plants, no rivers... no food, no water.
And in nought but her skin, she didn't think she was going to survive for very long.
She let out a heavy sigh, and observed the small cut on her palm; the blood obscured the small wound, but it was enough to grow sickly if not kept clean. But Carina didn't think disease would take her before hunger or the elements did.
She wondered what she'd done to deserve such a fate, but attempts to recall any 'before' offered little recourse; there were vague flashes and feelings of another life, but they were vague and disjointed.
All she could remember clearly was a basket of oranges and a busy street.
Did she die? It didn't feel that memory evoked such.
Regardless, she didn't think death was going to avoid her much longer. She contemplated finding a sharp rock and doing more than just cut her palm; slicing her wrists seemed like a good idea. Even if it wasn't going to be quick.
Yet, as much as she considered it, she was... pushed away from it. She wasn't sure why.
She contemplated her decisions as she shivered, running her hands down her slender frame for warmth, smearing some blood onto her opposite arm. A bang of her long dark hair fell across her eyes, and she brushed it out of the way.
Wind howled over the hilltop and across the countless stones, Carina feeling like she was like a crab in amongst the stones of a rocky beach, another fleeting memory of a 'before' she couldn't grasp.
But this time, the wind carried other noises... scrapes, clacks, and quiet hisses that did not seem like the flow of air across dusty stones.
She perked up, wondering just what the hell was making those noises, something out of place in the featureless expanse she'd found herself in.
It was getting closer, and she slowly rose from her feet, her somewhat well endowed rump brushing against the stone behind her, making her jolt a little in surprise, making her bust, ample, but not oversized, bounce a little.
She winced at this, as the cold had made her nipples hard, only adding to her discomfort. But that was more distant in her mind now, concerned about whatever was making those noises, the source drawing nearer.
She moved to a nearby boulder, straining herself as she grasped the top edge and stretched to peer over the top.
At first, she saw nothing, just the flowing drifts of dust over the countless boulders... but then, it seemed like one of them moved, shifting behind several larger rocks.
Carina's blood chilled further, realising that something else was actually alive in this place... and close.
She had doubts of it being friendly.
She ducked back down, and pondered her next move, and huffed in despair; where would she go? Everything looked the same, and going towards the hilltop, or the mountain beyond, seemed no more ideal than hiding from whatever was prowling around within the rock field.
She looked about frantically, her heart starting to pound. Without much thought, she began weaving her way between the larger rocks for cover, careful not to trip on the rough, rocky ground, though it was terribly unstable, and dangerously jagged.
She couldn't be too fast, or too loud, but going slow didn't sit comfortably with her either.
She moved as fast as she was willing to go, choosing her steps carefully, but quickly.
But soon, she became undone when she stepped on a rocky surface that cracked almost like shale. She stumbled and caught herself before she came to any harm, but invariably let loud cracking echo throughout the area.
She went dead still and held her breath. The thing seemed to stop making noise. Even the wind seemed to go silent.
And then, an unearthly shriek rose up from among the rocks a short distance away. The scuttling clacking picked up in intensity, and now Carina felt like prey.
Her breathing quickened, and it felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She tried to pick her way across the rocky ground as quickly as she possibly could, but it was damned hard trying not to fall over and impale herself in multiple locations across her body.
Unless she got lucky and knocked herself unconscious or suffered a fatal blow outright, it would not spare her from whatever that... thing, would do to her.
Whatever it was.
She huffed, exhausting herself just from how careful she was having to be to traverse the ground at speed, controlling her muscles and her footfalls at every level.
Whatever was chasing her did not seem so concerned with the terrain, the sound of clacking getting nearer and louder.
In the end, Carina's efforts brought her to a space of soft sandy dust, like the rocks in the area had been crushed down to a fine powder by... something.
It was easier to move across than the endless rocks and pebbles between stones and boulders.
But it was free space where she had no cover... and crossing it cost her, as she felt something moist and sticky slam into the middle of her back, knocking her down into the dust, Carina quickly covering her eyes to avoid getting any in them.
She groaned, feeling winded, and attempted to get to her feet, but only mustering a hands and knees stance before seeing two sharp legs impale the sandy ground either side of her hands.
She shivered in fear, lower lip quavering as she froze.
She felt something thick and wet drip onto her upper back, trickling down. She was starting to whimper in fear, not daring to look at whatever it was that loomed above her.
In a moment of panic, she screamed, and attempted to flee, breaking into a scrambling run to get out from beneath whatever it was, but something stuck her in the small of her back, once again knocking the wind out of her lungs, but she found herself incapable of recovering this time. A small amount of blood trickled out of the shallow wound, but she felt her limbs grow heavy and a strange buzz fall upon her. She struggled to retain control, and then fell forward onto her hands and knees, attempting to stay mobile... but her limbs were refusing to listen to her commands, and soon, she fell into the sandy ground.
That was when she felt her limp body rolled over by a sharp, chitinous leg, and she was able to see her assailant clearly.
Carina still possessed control over her mouth and face, because her eyes widened and she went to scream, only nothing left her lips. Not because of paralysis, but shock and fear.
Standing above her was some sort of monstrous four-legged spider-like creature with a bony carapace and a long flexible tail curling over the top of its gnarled body like a scorpion's stinger, possessing the fearsome jabbing organ above another orifice that leaked a small string of sticky fluid.
Its body was odd to say the least, overall sleek but rounded, though on either side of a smooth, central ridge running along the entirety of its body save its face, were twisting, bumpy contours in the pale chitin, almost reminiscent of an animal's brain, another abstract memory she possessed.
Its face was fairly indistinct, several claw-like grabbers either side of a small mouth lined with teeth whenever it cracked open with every breath.
Blue eyes glowed with intelligence, narrow slit pupils fixated on Carina's face, making her want to look anywhere but at it.
However, perhaps the most disturbing feature was not its bony, insect-like traits... but the dirty, dark grey metal armour haphazardly tied to its limbs and to parts of its back, a few chains strapped across its back and twisted loosely around its stinger tail.
She didn't see how this creature could possibly have put those on itself... something else did.
However, what that 'else' was didn't matter to Carina in the moment... only the creature scrutinising her closely, eyes starting to roam over her body, the creature growling softly and drooling onto her body.
She couldn't help thinking about how it was going to kill her. And probably eat her in the process. Make it quick and have a clean meal? Devour her whilst she was alive and paralysed? Slowly consume her over who knew how long?
She wanted to cry, but it was getting harder and harder to be emotional... that buzz was growing stronger, and it was causing a heat to build inside her body.
And more, the paralysis had only left her limp; it had not robbed her of her sense of touch, and that seemed to be getting sharper, Carina starting to feel its hot, moist breaths over her body.
There was an odd quality to its breath... the smell was... sickly sweet. Offputting, but not revolting.
Then, it did something entirely insane and surreal... it unfurled a long, sinuous tongue, flexing about like a snake, and dragged it up from her belly and between her breasts, making her body flinch reflexively.
She eyed the tongue as it travelled further, the tip tickling her throat before it pressed to the bottom of her lower jaw, and then slid over her face, leaving behind a cool trail of saliva and a sickly sweet smell.
It made strange vocalisations, a quiet guttural clicking and cracking sound emanating from it as it withdrew its almost two feet of tongue, and Carina didn't think that was all of it.
