"What manner of creature is this?" asked Sku as the lumbering form emerged into the clearing. The figure stood on two legs like a squamata, but there was no other point of comparison- the being seemed featureless yet alien. No face, no eyes- just a cold black plate of glass. The being came to a skidding halt when it caught sight of the two Rebt Warriors with their clubs and spears at the ready. "Some Sky Demon I'll Warrant, Brood-felt! Hark at that infernal screeching it is making!" "ruindigneslifeformsinnit?" asked the creature. "Back Demon!" screamed the warriors. "We are of the Gwana Brood-felt and will not let thee pollute our lands!" "inare you forms digenous life ?" the creature repeated in a different tongue. "Great Mother Preserve us that ungodly screech!" cried Sku raising his spear to throwing height. The creature pulled back a little and adjusted something near its blackened face plate. "The Creature is hesitating!" hissed Tiki- "we should just destroy it now before it recovers its advantage!" "Wait!" screeched the creature and then "are you indigenous life forms?" "We are Warriors of the Rebt Nation!" declared Tiki. "Who are you? What are you?" The creature paused and held up two hands, each with an extra fifth digit, palms upward in what the creature evidently hoped was a placatory gesture; the two warriors instinctively relaxed their grip on their weapons. The creature's hands clasped either side of its squat featureless face. Again the screeching voice, much more explicable now. "BINGO! Well I'm sure you guys must be getting me loud and clear now! What a relief!" The two warriors tensed again as the creature's hands turned the squat head and with a hiss of escaping air pulled the helmet off it's head. "That's much better!" Story (C) 2016 Andrew Panero