I pushed out with my legs launching myself away from the cliff face. The sudden movement caused the attack on my neck to miss, but a barbed talon tore into my shoulder. I felt the flesh sizzling around the wound in my shoulder as venom was driven into my veins. I immediately felt sluggish, but my poison resistance lessened the effects.

Two limbs wrapped themselves around my chest and I felt myself being drawn towards the mass of black flesh, limbs, and eyes. I struggled, but the segmented limbs constricted. I could feel ribs fracture and my left shoulder exploded in pain, most likely dislocated.

My right arm was still free, so I used it to do the only thing I could think of. I cast arcane missile thrice in quick succession aiming for the creature’s eyes. She shrieked, slightly loosening her hold. I activated arcane shield, which worked to push away her already loosened grip. Free of her grip I found myself falling before crashing into the spider’s face, gaining a close-up view of her thousands of segmented eyes. It would have filled my nightmares if there wasn’t already another, much larger and fierier eye filling that spot on a nightly basis.

I deactivated arcane shield to conserve mana, my hope was that I might be able to survive the fall by activating the shield immediately before impact. That turned out to be a mistake, a thin tendril of silk shot out and wrapped itself around my left ankle crushing the bones and dislocating my leg. I cried out in pain as my fall was immediately stopped.

The BMS was slowly drawing me closer to her waiting maw. I was being reeled in like a fish. The pain kept me from centering my thoughts or I might have tried to free myself. I already knew that my venom spray could dissolve her webbing. Had I not panicked perhaps I could have attempted to dissolve the silk that was slowly pulling me upwards. That “freedom” likely would have only bought me a long fall to a quick death.

Instead I found myself once more wrapped in webbing, but this time instead of dosing me with a spray of venom she speared me through the midsection with one of her barbed talons. As she ripped out her speared foreleg the barbs took with them chunks of my flesh. A warning screen appeared showing my health, highlighted red and in negative numbers and continuing to drop. I lost all control of my limbs, and I could feel the vitality slowly ebbing out of my body.

Warning! Health is critical, if the citizen is not stabilized immediately death is imminent.

My vision was limited and becoming blurry but just as I thought I was dead for good a powerful light cut through the darkness. It was a clean, white light that reminded me of a high-powered flood light, like the one I used to have on my truck. Even now, as I lay dying, I found myself reminiscing about my previous life.

It seemed like a lifetime ago, but what had it been? A couple of days? Three at the most. It had not been an interesting life, a very normal one by most accounts. I had a good childhood, had just graduated, and I had been accepted into one of my safety schools. I would graduate college, work the corporate line, maybe get married and have a few kids. It all seemed so ordinary, and yet then, when I knew it would never happen, I mourned for it. I cried out for what I would never have, not in pain or shock from my injuries but in loss and grief. I didn’t want to die.

I cried out into the night and tried to reach out, but my limbs did not respond to my calls. I slipped into darkness.

***

“You’re a man now,” my fathers voice spoke to me in his familiar baritone. I turned around and saw his face, clean-shaven and strong jawed in a way that I was always envious of. I had inherited my mother’s fair skin, oval face and softer features.

“I’m sixteen Dad,” I replied. “I’ve been a man in many cultures for years now.”

“Well, not in this one kiddo. Talk to me when you can vote, or drink.” He smirked with his trademark half smile. “Maybe, I’ll even buy you one when the time comes.”

“Maybe? I doubt mom would forgive you for corrupting her only son.”

He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “Some things, son, are best left between men.”

“Look,” he said. “I wanted to give you this.” He held a shiny pair of keys on a leather thong stamped with the letter “8.”

I immediately grabbed them, looking towards his old ’68 Chevy. “It’s mine?” I asked. I shook in anticipation. I could hardly contain my excitement. It took all I could to hold myself back from sprinting straight to the truck.

“I left something else for you in the back. Your grandfather’s old jacket from the war. He gave it to me, and now I’m giving it to you.”

We walked over the truck together, and my father ran a hand along the bed of the truck. He was no doubt reliving memories. He had loved that truck for longer than I had been alive.

“Well,” my father said. “Care to take the old man for a spin. See what this old beauty’s got?”

As I climbed into the driver’s seat. I slid the key into the ignition and admired the soft rumble of the engine as it started up. I ran my left hand around the steering wheel and reached down with my right to put it into gear.

I heard a soft gasp come from my father who was still standing outside the truck. Looking up I saw a small dribble of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. A mass of writhing black flesh erupted from his chest spraying blood through the open door into the cab of the truck.

The world immediately exploded into movement as the truck, pavement and even houses began to be drawn into the sky. A red, burning sky that now held more than clouds and birds. Flying abominations, creatures made from lumpy, tumorous flesh, filled the sky. Some clutched people in their spindly arms, dropping them from great heights or devouring them with twisted jaws.

Looking up I saw a massive, fiery eye staring back at me. It was watching me, waiting. I could feel a connection, like it was trying to tear away at my soul, it consumed my sanity leaving behind only madness.

***

I gasped as I awoke from the nightmare, the twisted perversion of my memories. I tried to sit up, but I found that my arms had been restrained.

I looked around and found that wherever I was, it definitely wasn’t anywhere near giant arachnids. Despite my captivity it was an obvious improvement. The clinical setting made me slightly warry, however. I might have been out of the proverbial spider’s nest and into the mad scientist’s laboratory.

The walls were clean white tile that appeared to be made of ceramic. They looked slightly textured, as if each square tile was made from thousands of tiny, interlocking hexagons. I was in a hospital bed, the IV drip and monitors around me looked normal enough, but the displays contained characters in some sort of hieroglyphic language that I had never seen before.

“You’re awake,” a synthetic voice called out. It sounded fake and artificial, like the voice of a digital personal assistant.

I looked to my right to see a man walking through a wooden door with a glass window reinforced with metal wire. He was roughly two meters in height and muscular. His uniform was obviously military, but not one I was familiar with. It was red and covered in black armored plates that seemed to be made from a similar material as the tiles on the wall. An insignia that looked much like an eagle was on his right shoulder with three gold chevrons under it. Probably a designation of rank.

He carried what looked like a massive rifle on his back, and a short sword on his belt. An odd combination that immediately drew my eye. Combat knives were common with special forces, but this was a sword, with a blade longer than my forearm.

The most striking feature, however, was his red skin. It was a deep crimson, and I noticed it matched the color of his uniform. Probably a coincidence, but he obviously wasn’t human, so I didn’t want to take anything for granted. His skin was not smooth, like a human, but neither was it scaled. Small raised bumps covered his skin giving it a thick and stony appearance. If these guys had invaded earth, then I didn’t think we had a chance. At least not if he was an accurate representation of his race.

“Forgive the translator,” he said. “I haven’t yet had the time to assimilate to the native language. I understand that this planet has many diverse languages. It is fascinating, but I won’t have the time until we finish with containment.”

He reached out his hand and undid the white cloth straps that were restricting my arms. “I’m sorry for the restraints, as well. Your doctors feared you might hurt yourself. I am told you were quite animated in your sleep until sedatives were given.”

“Who are you,” I asked. “What is this place?”

His answer was delayed for a moment, and I say his eyes look up and to the left before tracking right. He was obviously reading a translation on an invisible display.

“My full name is Sebbit’Task Orvilio Xern, Vanguard of the Hegemonic Peacekeepers. I have been tasked with containment of eldritch lifeforms and the assimilation of the native population into the Hegemony and its related systems.” He stopped and gave me a stern look, eyebrows lowered and making direct eye contact.

“My soldiers call me Captain Xern, or Sir,” He continued. “You may call Sebbit. May I know you as well?”

“Sure,” I replied. “My name is Augustus Finn, but please just call me Finn. And, uh, well I seem to be between galactic conquests at the moment.” He heard my reply and simply nodded, either ignoring my joke or not registering it at all. I've been told I tell jokes at inapropriate times, honestly it's a bit of a defense mechanism.

“A pleasure, to be sure, Mr. Finn.” Even through the artificial voice he came across as overly proper and by the book. My Dad would have loved this guy, I thought.

“Now, if I could address my reason for speaking with you today,” He said. He paused and looked at me making sure he had my attention before continuing.

“Wait,” I said. “Can you please just tell me what happened first? Where am I? I thought I was dead. Did you guys save me from that spider thing?” My questions ran together, but he answered them all in turn, unfazed.

“We saved you, Mr. Finn. My soldiers were tasked with containing creatures leaking from the recently created containment center, or dungeons as the adventurers like to call them. The reports I read indicate that one such creature, a high level one I might add, had captured you and that you were on the verge of bleeding out.”

“That’s right,” I added. “I was trying to escape, but she caught me. She impaled me. I thought I was dead, so please give my thanks to your men.”

“Women,” Sebbit said.

“What?”

“You said ‘men.’ Over seventy percent of my command is women, Mr. Finn. Men do not serve in combat roles in my species. We tend to be smaller, and more suited to administrative tasks. Like interrogating natives, for instance.”

“Well, sure,” I said, momentarily nonplussed. “Please give the ladies my thanks, then.”

He stared at me. “We will leave the subject of nobility open for now. It is best that we get back to the debriefing.”

We spent the next hour going over everything that had happened over the last few days, or a week as it turned out I had been unconscious for four days. Sebbit would occasionally ask questions to clarify some point, but he mostly just let me speak. He never took any notes, but I imagine it would have been easy for him to record the entire conversation if he needed to.

When the debriefing was done the Captain asked me one final question.

“Mr. Finn. I must know, did you make eye contact?”

“Wha..,” I said. “You mean with the spider? I mean sure, she had enough of them.”

“No, I don’t mean that. The Old One that attacked your world is known as Kyr’Teleth, the Crimson Hunter of the Void. He roams the cosmos and devours planets. He especially enjoys eating sentient species.

“He takes on many forms, but the most common is an all-consuming eye burning in the sky. Most importantly, strange things tend to happen to those that come into contact with him and survive. He infects minds. Consumes them. Those whom make eye contact are especially in danger.”

“Is Cthulhu out there, too?” I asked in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t joke about these things, Mr. Finn. There are many great evils and Old Ones roaming the universe. Universes. But please answer the question, Mr. Finn. Did you make eye contact?”

I met Sebbit’s eyes and lied to him. “No,” I said.