Rise of the Lacertilians

The creature came into consciousness while it moved, darting past trees and leaping over streams. Instinct had led it from the second it arrived in this world and now the only thing driving it was hunger and fear. It sensed others of its kind stalking in the trees around it. The creature acknowledged them but did not attack them or try to communicate with them. Its amber eyes darted back and forth, searching for prey. It used its thick claws to push itself through the trees faster, embedding its claws deep into the wood and wrenching them back. Its eyes dilated in excitement as it saw a building appear behind the trees. It charged faster, slamming its thick leather feet against the forest floor. When it pushed through the last row of trees, the creature found itself in the middle of a suburban neighborhood filled with screams and fire. It turned and charged into the wood fence of one of the properties, cutting it down with sharp claws. It wedged its claws into the side of the house and climbed into the broken window. The glass scraped against its thick hide but could not cut into it. The creature stalked over the hardwood floor, clacking its claws against it. It could smell meat. It hunted throughout the house, tearing down doors and tossing beds onto their sides. It followed the smell until it heard the sound of something falling in the kitchen below. The creature charged down the stairs to the front door where random furniture was piled to make a barricade. It stalked closer to the ground listening. Breathing. It heard a volley of short, panicked breaths. The fear hung like a vapor in the kitchen. The creature crawled up to the kitchen’s island, where the breathing was louder. The human leaped up from behind it and the creature briefly sensed a shotgun being aimed at its face before an instinct took over, forcing it to open its jaw and spray liquid from a gland in its mouth. The spray covered the human in a thick cloud before igniting and engulfing it in flames. The creature feasted on its charred flesh as it burned, instinctively knowing that its skin would be unfazed by the flames.

The creature dragged the corpse out of the burning house and continued eating. The flesh was delicious. The creature felt energy wash over it and strength fill its muscles and clarity came to its mind. The meat was addicting, but the creature left a portion of the corpse untouched. It didn’t know why, but it felt it was necessary, vital even. The creature took the corpse to a shed deeper in the neighborhood, where hordes of its kind swarmed. The creature felt instinctively drawn to the shed and it was filled with meat like the corpse it carried. It tossed the body in and closed the door.

With the creature’s newfound clarity, it looked around at the chaos surrounding it. It saw a group of humans with guns gathering together and barricading a group of houses. A couple of its kind tried to attack them but got shot down immediately. The creature remembered the taste and power of meat and desperately wanted in the barricade. It called out to the creatures around it and they turned their attention to it, instinctively drawn to the sound. The creature gestured to the barricade and charged forward. It heard the others of its kind swarm behind it. The creature felt power in the crowd and became excited. The humans fired down on them from behind a makeshift wall made from an overturned flatbed trailer. The creatures thundered against it, climbing it before getting shot at the top. They tried to move around it but it was wedged tightly between two buildings. The creature grew angry and sprayed more of the flammable liquid onto the wall. The flames climbed up quickly and the wood became blackened. The wood became weak enough that they were able to break through. The humans backed away quickly and continued to shoot, but the creatures were too numerous. At this point, more creatures were starting to break through all around the barricaded area.

The rest of the battle was short-lived, the humans were quickly outnumbered and killed. However, many of the creatures had been killed as well. As the fires were contained, the creatures ate and dragged off the remains to the shed. Even the bodies of the fallen creatures were eaten and stored.

Afterward, the others gathered around the creature who led the attack and looked at it expectantly. It understood that this was important and accepted it. It decided to see what the humans were guarding and found a large library. The creature thought it was a peculiar building but understood its importance as it looked at the small letters printed in each book. It did not know what they were but understood that they contained information, and that was vital.

The creature went back out to the expectant crowd. It picked up a bent signpost and wedged it into the handle of the library doors and clicked at them. The creature didn’t have any language, but the click was an indicator that communication was being attempted. The others understood and began to barricade and guard the library. The creature went back to the shed. It could see that many humans made it out of the area the creatures controlled and were making a new wall. The creature thought that was okay, they didn’t have enough numbers to take all of them and after the recent victory, the humans wouldn’t be making any attacks anytime soon. The creature opened the shed, where piles of meat lay, and began to eat. It understood that the food was for it now.

It ate all that was in the shed, gnawing down even the bones. The meat gave it more energy than ever. Now, it was stronger, faster, tougher, and smarter than it ever had been. It even felt taller, too. When It left the shed, the creatures looked at it with strong respect. The creatures would do whatever it could ask now.

The creature ordered that the meat would now be put in a small brick building near the library and the area around it would be barricaded again. The creature knew there could be more threats other than the humans, so being prepared was vital. It looked at the library with purpose. It was knowledge that allowed them to win the battle, so it would be knowledge that would make them stronger. From then on, the creature would stay in the library, deciphering the humans’ texts and gaining strength. One day, they would conquer the humans with newfound strength.

Eventually, they grew into a small kingdom, expanding the border closer to the human’s village. The humans retaliated sooner than the King expected, so the border did not advance much further. He began sending out hunting parties into the forest where they brought back deer carcasses that were fat and sweet. However, some parties were attacked by strange monsters and some came under unusual illnesses. Some never came back at all.

Eventually, they were able to find an entrance into the human camp where they could go undetected. He remembered when a hunting party came back with some human tools. This was a golden opportunity, but the King chose not to attack them yet because he was envious of the humans’ language. It made them far more efficient than the creatures. So, the king ordered a select group that was smaller and swifter than the rest and trained them to be stealthy and intelligent. He sent them out to observe the humans in hopes of understanding their language. They studied their mannerisms and extracted meaning from them. Eventually, they learned the meaning of certain words. Gun was the word they used for their weapons. They learned Guard was the verb for when something is protected. Eventually, some of the words were used in the creature’s village.

The King was proud of the progress, but he thought it was far too slow. So he made a risky decision. He ordered the group in charge of learning to kidnap one of them. It was a dangerous operation since the area they had access to was heavily guarded. But in their time of observing them, they had a good understanding of the humans’ routines. So it was easy to get one of them on their own.

All of the creatures came out of their dens when the human was dragged through the gates, kicking and screaming.

“Let go of me you damn Lacertilians,” He yelled, twisting in their grip as he was handed off to a couple of larger ones. “I’ll kill every last one of you.”

They didn’t react but watched him get dragged off into the King’s tent, which was draped onto the entrance of the library.

The man fell onto the concrete steps of the library. The iron grip of the Lacertilians was released and he was free, as long as he didn’t leave through the front. He looked up at the entrance of the library, he remembered going there after school with his friends to study, sometimes he would sneak into the fantasy section to get the next book of his favorite series. Now the entire entrance is torn down, making it into a pile of mangled aluminum and broken glass. Quietly, he walked up the steps and into the library, pulling out his knife and stalking down an aisle.

Many of the books were torn from the shelves and piled by the edge, whoever’s here is a very heavy reader. In the middle of the computer lab sat a pile of crude maps. The man carefully snuck up to one. He recognized much of the country, the Lacertilians seemed to have drawn rivers and mountains, even the human camp was marked in red. The man could tell it wasn’t ink or paint. There was a small dotted line going into the side of the camp.

So that’s how the bastards got in. He thought. Then why haven’t they attacked?

He heard footsteps. They were large, heavy footsteps, like a giant wearing slippers. The man disappeared into the aisle and quickly snuck toward the back of the building. He caught sight of the exit and moved faster. He would return to camp and tell them everything about the other entrance. Finally, he would feel useful. With what sounded like a bark, the creature that he heard earlier charged toward him. He sprinted without so much as a glance back. He was almost at the exit when he was sideswiped by a thick tail. He hit the bookcase so hard that he saw spots. He felt his body get lifted and moved and the next time he could think clearly, he was back at the tent, staring at the largest Lacertilian he had ever seen.

The King was upset that he had been disturbed while he was studying. Without a spoken language, it’s hard to tell his hunters to notify him when the human was kidnapped. He had been eating for a while now and he was nearly ten feet tall. Any taller it would be hard for him to fit in the library. He kept his claws short so he could properly study. Most of his nutrients went toward his mind and his fire glands.

He did not grow any horns, many of his subjects loved making them as long as possible, but he thought the advantage was minimal. The only issue was that he was given less respect than if he had. Now he was staring at a small and frail human as it spoke.

“Why am I here?” The man yelled, “Why haven’t you killed me yet?”

He looked up at the silent creature as it crouched on the glass shards. With a growl, it walked to a corner of the tent and tossed a fridge at him. It clattered at his feet and the doors fell open and a pile of candy bars, leftover pizza, and other food items. Some were spoiled.

“Food?” It said in a deep voice. The man could barely make out the word, but he understood. He didn’t want to trust it, but he hadn’t eaten his rations that day. Slowly, he picked a cup of dry ramen and began to eat. The Lacertilian nodded and pulled a deer leg from the same corner and chewed on it, studying the man with amber eyes.

“So now that I know you can speak, can you tell me why I’m here?” The man said.

It extended the leg, flinging chunks of flesh everywhere. “This?”

“Uh, no thank you.” He said.

It shook its head. “This?”

“Oh, that’s meat.” He said.

“Meat?” It said.

“Yes, meat.”

The creature nodded and continued to eat. The man understood then, he was taken to teach them English. No one knew if the Lacertilians had a spoken language and no one had seen them speak. But now it was clear that was the case. And now he’s in charge of teaching them how to communicate.

The man was pulled from his thoughts by the crunch of bone as the Lacertilian bit through the bone of the leg. That explains why no bodies had been recovered. He started on one of the snack bars. He needed to figure out if he wanted to escape or help teach them. If he escaped and told everyone about the other entrance, then they could seal it and keep the Lacertilians out. If he taught them, they would become stronger, but that could allow the humans to communicate with them too and potentially make a truce.

Either option was risky, but he decided that it would be better to teach them, because if they can speak, then they’ll be less like animals, they could be reasoned with. Even if he did manage to escape alive, closing the other entrance wouldn’t stop them and the humans wouldn’t be able to wipe them out completely. He nodded, satisfied by his decision, and stood up.

The King ate contemplatively, considering this human. It could teach them, but to learn requires a visual reference. He had already tested this hypothesis and learned the word meat. This is good for learning nouns, but it would be harder to form sentences and words that are harder to show visually, like verbs.

Still, just knowing nouns is immensely powerful in communication. Now the human was standing, looking braver than usual. The King looked at it with curiosity.

“Fridge.” The man said, slapping it.

“Food?” The Lacertilian said.

The man shook his head and tapped it again. “Fridge.”

The Lacertilian walked closer and picked it up, dumping the contents out and setting it to the side. It pointed at it “Fridge?”

“Yes, fridge.” the man said, nodding for clarity, then pointed at the pile of food. “Food.”

“Meat?” The Lacertilian said.

“No, food.”

The Lacertilian walked over to the corner and, to the man’s disgust, pulled out a human arm, “Food?”

The man thought, how would he tell it that it’s both food and meat? He decided that he would tell them when they can understand more than one-syllable words. “No, meat.”

The king nodded, satisfied by the answer. He realized then that the human chose to teach him that time. Its cooperation was entirely unexpected but welcome. He grew suspicious, it seemed highly unlikely that a human would choose to help them gain power unless they had ulterior motives. He would watch it closely, but for now, he’d accept the cooperation.

The human pointed at itself. “Alex.”

The King narrowed his eyes in confusion and pointed at the man. “Human?”

“Human, yes, Alex, yes.” The human said, and the King thought for a moment and nodded. He understood that the man was both a human and Alex. Alex must have been a title. The King reached into a pile of books and pulled out a children’s book, holding it gently in his massive hands, and opened to a specific page. On it, a cartoon showed a king with a glittering crown standing above all his subjects, small arms outstretched.

“This?” The King asked, pointing at the page.

“King.” The man said.

He nodded and pointed at himself. “King.”

The King had difficulties accommodating the human called Alex. It seemed that the man was unable to eat raw meat like the rest of his subjects. The food he gave the man at first was mostly edible but much harder to find. He was almost about to give up when Alex tried to speak to him.

“Give.” He said, gesturing to the pile of meat in the corner. “Meat.”

“Meat, yes?” The King said pointing to one of the deer legs.

Alex nodded. “Yes.”

The King tossed it over to him, curious.

He fumbled with the leg, tearing whatever skin he could off. He used to hunt, but since the forest became filled with far more dangers than just bears and mountain lions, he preferred to just stick close to camp. But much of the skill remained, such as cleaning a carcass. He arranged a couple of sticks in a pile. He assumed they were remains from building the tent. He pulled out a flint striker from his pocket and began to spay sparks down at the wood.

The King stepped closer, intrigued. Humans didn’t have any kind of fire glands, so it seemed that they had to use rocks instead. He picked up a small branch and faced away from Alex, sprayed a small stream of fire at it, and tossed it in the small pile of wood.

“Thanks,” Alex said, leaning back as the flames lept up unexpectedly.

The King continued to watch as the human started to burn the meat. Causing it to drip in the fire. He thought about stopping him, but he thought it was unlikely that he would try to destroy their food supply in front of him.

Alex sat for a while until he was sure it was good to eat. He looked up at the King and took a bite out of it.

The King immediately understood. The man’s digestive system is too simple to process raw meat, so it had to be slightly burned. He made a mental note to set up his rations.

For the first week, Alex had to sleep on the ground in the tent, where it stank of raw meat. He tried to go into the library, but that made the King angry. It was clear that the library was sacred to them in some way.

Maybe they were more intelligent than the Watch, the group set up by the deputy to protect the town, was willing to admit. And in teaching them English, he would be opening pandora’s box. But still, he knew it was the only way to stop them from killing more people.

Eventually, they gave him a house with crudely boarded-up windows and a bloodstain on the floor. It was the house that was the most intact and close to the library, so he could tell that they valued him greatly, but trusted him very little.

Sleeping there was just as difficult as sleeping in the tent, if not more. In the bedroom he slept in, there was a row of photographs lined up on the dresser. Photos of a happy family vacationing at various places across the world. Two parents and a little girl with a big smile stood on a beach. The same girl wrestled a fluffy dog on the green grass of their yard. A yard that was now covered in scorch marks. Their smiles haunted him and fed the shame he had in helping monsters.

He made the right choice, he told himself. He owed them to make a final decision. The only decision that could stop the killing. Still, the image of a happy, oblivious family coming to a violent and unexpected end kept his eyes wide open at night.

Instead of sleeping, he found the office in the house and started working on a method of teaching. It seemed that showing them objects and defining them worked the best, similar to how children would learn using flashcards. He wrote up a list of words he wanted to teach, specifically choosing ones that would increase communication without giving tactical advantages. Words like sun, dirt, house, and water were some of the only ones he could think of that couldn’t be used in some way.

Alex worked hard, forming lesson plans on paper lit by the light of a flashlight. Eventually, he seamlessly drifted to sleep, continuing to think of how he could teach from the ground up. Those dreams turned into nightmares of torture and oppression. He saw hundreds of humans being ruthlessly enslaved by supersized reptiles in a dark future. He saw them spread like wildfire across all of civilization.

He woke to the sound of heavy slamming at the front door. A million thoughts went through his head at once. Had they come to kill me? Was it the Watch here to save me? He quickly grabbed his notes and ran for the door and opened it. A large Lacertilian with horns glared down at him. Alex noticed that it held a rake in its hands. They were starting to learn how to use weapons.

The Lacertilian silently led him to the library. In the yard of one of the houses, a group of smaller ones chased a rabbit, caught it, and released it again. They would occasionally break out into a violently playful wrestling match. Alex’s amazement nearly stopped him in his tracks. They were playing. He could even tell that their game had some complexity by the fact that they would space themselves out from where the rabbit is released in an organized way. It seemed that their placement somewhat depended on which caught the rabbit last.

Eventually, they noticed him and stopped the game, watching with curious eyes. Alex saw all of this as a good sign. If they were curious about humans, that means they want to learn more, and when they learn more, it’ll be easier for them to sympathize. However, the horrific warning from his dreams still hung in his mind.

The Lacertilian with the rake led him into the library, where the King kneeled by a table with several other horned Lacertilians. It growled a greeting and kneeled at an empty spot at the table as the King stood up.

“Alex.” He said, leading him away from the table. He shivered before following. It was terrifying to see such an inhuman creature call him by name. He briefly caught a glimpse of the table, which was piled with maps.

The King led him to a small table in a secluded area and crouched. On the table sat piles of children’s books. With large, leathery hands, he opened the one on top and showed it to him.

He pointed to the short line of large text at the bottom. “This?” He said.

“Those are words,” Alex said.

The King paused. “Teach words?”

Alex nodded, teaching them how to read would help them be able to empathize. He walked away from the table, turning back to see if the King would allow him to explore the library. His hulking form slowly stood up and followed him.

Alex looked through the rows of bookshelves, trying to remember how the Dewey decimal system worked. Thankfully, he was able to find what he was looking for. Down one aisle by the floor, he found a thick textbook based on phonics.

He looked through it briefly before closing it and taking it back to the kids’ section as the King looked down on him with curiosity. That book would be his lesson plan, he thought. Teaching would be a breeze with it.

Teaching the King was hard at first. Especially since he was having difficulties understanding that Alex needed him to repeat sounds for each letter. Eventually, he was able to sound out whole sentences after he read them to him.

The King sat with him for most of the day, patiently listening to the sounds of each letter and connecting each word with an image on the page. Alex found it strangely funny, reading children’s stories to a ten-foot-tall lizard monster.

Over the next few weeks, he spent most of his time teaching the King in the library. The others woke him up earlier and earlier each day. He started seeing them with more makeshift weapons and armor. He saw one wearing football pads and a helmet with the facemask torn out so its head could fit. The games the younger ones played got more sophisticated, and far more brutal. Luckily, they seemed to have become more comfortable around him. The one in charge of waking him up would slouch and lumber toward the library instead of escorting him. The younger ones wouldn’t so much as look up from their game as he passed as if he was just another one of them or the hunt of the day being brought into camp.

The King could almost carry a conversation by then, and his excitement was apparent.

“We hunt today.” He said, gesturing to a large pile of fresh meat. Alex was sure that he didn’t need to know that, It was clear the King said that just because he could.

Because he was the only other one who could speak, the King grew closer to him. He found it strange, being able to relate to a monster. That’s when he knew his plan was starting to work. Even as the photos in his room continue to haunt him.

Eventually, Alex started to see the King teach the other horned Lacertilians that frequented the map table much in the same way he had. He saw the words spread across the camp and soon even the younger ones were using some as they played. It was strange to see them speak and it made them seem oddly human. It also made him worried that his usefulness was going to expire.

He thought of plans to escape. It wouldn’t be hard to sneak out a window of his house, since it’s on the edge of the camp by the border wall, but it’s also on the side opposite from the rest of town. He would have to travel around the entire border to get back. He could go into the woods, but he couldn’t imagine the horrors that could lie there. Even if he somehow made it into the forest without being killed horribly by some bizarre entity, it wouldn’t take long for the Lacertilians to track him down.

No, there was only one way out. He would have to stick to his original plan and negotiate. On his walk to the library, he couldn’t help the thought of everything going horribly wrong.

When he opened the flap in the tent, the King stood in the entrance to the library, looking down at the book in his hands.

“Uh, King? Could I speak with you?” Alex said.

“You may call me Basileus now.” He said without looking up. “Basileus is my name.”

Alex was a little surprised by the sudden name change. “Why did you choose that name?”

Basileus closed the book and he could see that it was a Latin dictionary. “Humans use this old language to name creatures. Basileus means king. I will be the first of many kings.”

“Oh,” Alex said, thinking about how he was already learning other languages.

He walked deeper into the library and Alex followed.

“You wanted to speak with me?” Basileus said, stopping behind a bookshelf away from the other horned Lacertilians.

“I want to make an offer.” He said. Thinking about how Basileus said that he would be the first of many. How he sounded like he would be the start of a long dynasty. He looked up at his large amber eyes, full of curiosity. “I would like to initiate a treaty between you and the humans.”

Basileus stood up straighter, looking larger than ever.

“A treaty?” He said, tilting his head slightly.

“It’s an agreement where both sides choose to be peaceful under certain conditions.” He said, seeing a hint of anger in Basileus’s face as he blinked with his inner eyelids.

“I’ve had many hunting parties shot down by your humans. They use their guns on us whenever we get close to their walls.” It was clear he was trying to hold his anger back, “Our hunting parties are fewer. There isn’t enough meat to go around.” He stepped closer to Alex, glaring down at him “I have been forced to cannibalize the weaker ones many times.” He calmed himself slightly. “Humans deserve no peace.”

Alex was shocked, somehow he did not realize how much the humans have retaliated. He couldn’t think of what to say to that, he even felt himself sympathizing with them. He was suddenly reminded of the owners of the house he stayed in, how they were an ordinary family before everything happened. He had to make this work.

“But if we make a treaty, we could stop them from shooting you,” Alex said softly. “We could even share food with you.”

“They won’t keep their word.” He spat. “They only shoot.”

“They shoot because they’re scared,” Alex said. “Trust me, I know how they work. Once they see that you’re just as intelligent as they are, they’ll see you as a potential ally, not a threat.”

Basileus closed his eyes for a long moment, fighting back his anger.

“I have been planning this fight for a long time.” He said. “Even if I agree to this, my soldiers will want blood.”

“Then direct their anger somewhere else,” Alex said, thinking about everything the Watch has to deal with. “There are many things in the forest that are even more threatening than you or the humans.”

“And why,” He said. “Do the humans deserve peace more than them?”

“Because we only kill if we have to,” Alex said. “I’ve seen things in the forest that kill as if it’s as normal as breathing. The humans think you’re one of those creatures, but since I’ve been here, I can see that you’re anything but. I’ve even seen your children play just like ours do.”

The king sighed and stood silent for a moment, “Fine, I’ll try to convince my people to do it, but it will be hard to keep the peace.” He started to walk down the aisle. “And if your people go back on their word, there will be no peace.”

“That’s the nature of a treaty,” Alex said, trying to contain his relief.

Over the next few days, the war planning continued, and Basileus started to gradually introduce the idea of a treaty to the rest of the horned Lacertilians. Alex noticed how strategic he was about it, how he would tell a trusted member to spread rumors to the others and keep the conversations about it in private until enough were curious about it. Some pushed back from the beginning with a burning hatred of humans. He told Alex that this group would likely keep resisting until the end, they’d just have to change enough of their minds so they wouldn’t have enough influence to affect the decision.

“When I became king.” He said. “My people chose me to be king because I was smarter than the rest. But some others thought they should be king, so they gained their own followers.” He said spitefully. “They’ll always cave to the majority. They are not brave enough to make their own kingdom.”

A few days later, they had a trial to decide whether or not to attack the humans. They set up several chairs in an open area of the library in the shape of a semicircle, all facing a large, torn-up loveseat, where Basileus sat. Alex sat in a small kid’s chair next to him with his knees almost touching his chin.

Once all were seated, Basileus nodded. “It’s time to decide, will we conquer the humans or make peace with them?”

“King Basileus, we’re wasting our time.” One of the horned lacertilians said, wearing crude armor made of animal bones and wood. “The entrance to the human camp won’t be open forever. If they find out where it is, they won’t want a treaty.”

“Agree, King.” A large one next to him said quickly. “Must strike now.”

“But we don’t know what the humans are capable of if we provoke them.” Another on a different table said. “It’ll be safer if we make a treaty.”

The armored one cackled. “We know exactly what they’re capable of, Robert, their weak bones and squealing won’t stop us. If they could kill us they would’ve already.”

“Let’s look at this strategically,” A scarred one said. “They have guns. We have a secret entrance. What if they’ve known about the entrance for months? Maybe they wait for us.”

“Maybe we should ask the human over there.” The armored one said, looking right at Alex. “he’s taught us a lot so far. King Basileus, have you considered squeezing the truth out of him? He could tell us everything we need to know if we make him fear.”

The rest of the group looked at him differently, with less curiosity and more opportunity.

“If we torture him, we lose the possibility of a treaty,” Basileus said.

The armored one shrugged. “That’s a risk we’ll be willing to make right? How dangerous could they be? Do you remember how we slaughtered them on the first night?”

“They were more vulnerable then.” The scarred one said. “Humans are known to adapt quickly.”

“They are quite dangerous when they hit our hunting parties.” The one called Robert said. “Especially with their guns.”

“Which is why we should attack soon.” The armored one said. “If we hit fast enough and hard enough, we can cripple them before they can organize themselves.”

“We should let the human speak.” The scarred one said, nodding to Alex. “I want to hear his perspective.”

“Very well,” Basileus said and gestured to Alex. “You may speak now.”

“As many of you know,” Alex said, standing up. “I’ve been with you a long time now, and I’ve learned just as much from you as you learned from me. I can tell you that the other humans don’t know about you as much as I do. To them, you’re the same as any other monster from the forest. I think they’ve been trying to ignore you as much as possible.” He saw some of them exchange surprised looks, “But instead of gauging how dangerous they are, you should look at how helpful they could be as allies. They attack you because they’re like any other creature, they adapt to things they’re scared of. But if you show them how you can be peaceful, they’ll respect you, and see you as a potential ally and not a threat. Humans are normally a peaceful race, but they turn distrustful when they’re threatened.”

Alex sat down and the court remained silent for a moment.

“That’s a very compelling point,” The scarred one said, “And it got me thinking, on the first night, we slaughtered the humans because we didn’t know anything and we were scared.” He looked at the armored one. “And we’ve been blaming the humans for all the problems we have, but can you imagine the fear and pain the humans must feel from that massacre? At this point, I think we’ve killed far more of them compared to what they’ve done.”

“But Maps? So many maps!” The big one blurted out.

“What he means to say.” The armored one said after seeing the looks of confusion from the court, “We’ve been planning this raid for months. Do we want to throw it away?”

“We could still use them,” Robert said. “If the humans refuse our treaty.”

The armored one sank lower into his chair.

“Any objections?” Basileus said and let the silence hang for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll let Alex speak with the humans to set up a meeting.”

“911 what’s your emergency?” It was the first time he heard the voice of another human being in almost three months.

After taking it in a moment, he responded. “Who is this?”

“This is deputy Cain.” The voice said. “Are you in a safe position?”

“Yes sir,” Alex said. “You aren’t gonna believe where I’ve been.”

“What are you talking about?” He could imagine him leaning closer to the phone on his desk.

“You know those lizard creatures that attacked the south part of town?”

“Yes, we call them the Lacertilians.” Deputy Cain said. “Have you been taken by them?”

“I have.” He said. “I’ve been with them for several months now and I’ve taught them English.” He looked up at Basileus, who nodded. “And they would like to make a treaty.”

The line went silent for a while. Alex wondered for a moment if he had hung up.

“Well shit, that changes my plans for today.”