Aziz snapped awake. Something was wrong. The roof was creaking in a way it never had. As if something very heavy was on it. And moving.

  The front door was creaking now. Something was trying to push it in. He ran up and threw the deadbolt on it.

  Marianne came running out. “It’s another one of the beasts. It’s come for us.” It was the first time Aziz had ever heard fear in her voice.

  Aziz looked over, as the dim light of the minor star was blocked from coming in the window behind the sink. Something huge slid across the window.

  The door creaked again, more loudly this time. “Push the table against the door. Now!” Marianne shouted, her instincts coming back to her.

  Aziz did not hesitate. He grabbed a corner of the table and pushed it against the door. They had its entire weight against the door. That seemed to be enough to stop the door from buckling for now.

  “Go get the kids. I’ll send a message to the council,” Marianne barked out.

  Aziz went into Genevieve’s room first, picking her up from her crib without even trying to wake her. He held her against his side as he went to Pierre’s room and gently shook him awake.

  “Why are you waking me - ,“ Pierre started to say. He froze mid-word as he saw a tentacle slide across his window. Then he screamed.

  “It’s okay, Pierre. Momma is calling for help. She’ll protect us until help arrives. But we’re all going to wait together out in the other room.”

  Aziz took the shaken boy’s hand and led him out to the common room.

  Marianne had her plasma rifle out. “I can’t really shoot it through the wall, but it’s in for a nasty surprise if it manages to break in. I messaged the council. I tagged it as an emergency. I think this qualifies.”

  The minutes go by with no response. The roof timbers creaked louder as the beast shifted back and forth above their heads

  Marianne looked at Aziz and just shook her head. They both knew the roof joists weren’t going to hold up to this stress forever. “I’m asking Eleanor for help. I’m losing faith that the council will send help. In time, at least. I have a plan.”

  Aziz looked at her with concern as she typed on her device.

  “Pierre, I need you to show Genevieve how to hide under the sink,” she said to her son. “And don’t come out until one of us comes to get you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Momma. But I’m scared.”

  “Momma is too, mon caneton. But Momma and Aunt Eleanor are going to get us all out of here safely. But I need you to hide now.”

  Pierre climbed under the sink. Aziz set Genevieve in with him. “You need to keep her safe in there,” Aziz told him, then closed the door on the cabinet.

  “When Eleanor gets here, she’s going to try to distract the creature. I need you to pretend to be opening the door. It’s smart enough to know we’ll try to create a diversion to escape. But do not actually open the door. It’ll be setting a trap for you. I’m counting on it focusing its attention on the front door. I’m going to try to slip out the back.”

  “There’s a back door?”

  “There is a crawl space under us right now. It’s storage. There is a loading hatch in the back. I never showed you because it just hadn’t come up. I’m hoping it doesn’t realize it’s there either. I’m counting on that.”

  Aziz looked at Marianne with concern, but nodded.

  “I’m going into the crawlspace now. When you hear El arrive, stomp on the floor three times, so I know she’s here. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to hear when I’m down there. Wait until the creature moves its tentacles away from the door and then start shifting the table. Maybe remove and rethrow the deadbolt. Make it think you are working on opening the door. But do not actually leave the door unsecured. I really expect it to attack the door again once it thinks you’ve relaxed. That’s when I will slip out. Grab the knife in case it starts to get in. Stab it with every ounce of strength you have. Over and over again.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  She opened a trap door in the middle of the room and slid down out of sight, closing the door behind her. Aziz grabbed the biggest knife in the kitchen and stood by the door waiting.

  Almost ten minutes later, he heard horse hoofs galloping, getting closer. Then he heard Eleanor’s voice screaming, yelling at the beast. He stomped on the floor three times. He shifted his focus to the window. Sure enough, the tentacle started to shift and the window was clear. He could see Eleanor out front throwing rocks at it.

  The beams in the roof shifted as the creature moved more towards the front. He could see a tentacle slashing out at Eleanor, but she was wary and it never got particularly close to her. If Marianne was right, it wasn’t really trying to get her. He waited a moment longer, then started on his part of the plan. He shifted the table first to the right, then to the left, but never actually removed it from leaning against the door. He released the dead bolt loudly, then tried to gently lock it again.

  He released his breath the moment he had the deadbolt locked again. BAM! Something heavy slammed against the door, causing him to jump. The door buckled part way, but held. He was concerned how many attacks the door could handle before the hinges failed.

  Before he could seriously wonder, the creature shrieked with a sound he had heard only once before. The roof beams shifted again and he could hear the creature moving backwards overhead.

  He heard the scream of a plasma rifle and the creature shrieked, much more loudly now. At least the whole colony would know something was happening. He shifted to the back window. At first, he couldn’t see much. The back of the house was shaded from the dim light of the second star. Then he saw the blinding flash of the plasma rifle firing. He heard the scream of the rifle a split second later. And another loud shriek from the creature. A three meter length of tentacle fell to the ground in front of the window, still wiggling but detached from the rest of its body.

  Marianne had made it some ten meters from the house. The house creaked loudly as the creature shifted further towards her. He heard a beam above him snap. He waited for it all to come crashing down, but the beam seemed to not give way completely and none of its brethren joined it.

  Aziz took a deep breath. Marianne fired again and the creature shrieked. He could no longer see out the back, the bulk of the creature now covered the back of the house. The house itself seemed to relax a bit as much of the weight of the creature shifted to the ground.

  He heard the rifle fire time after time, but then it went quiet. He was terrified that the creature had gotten Marianne. The creature seemed to have stopped moving as well.

  ++++++

  Marianne looked at the gauge on her rifle. She had two, maybe three shots left. She had done real damage to the creature, but she did not have enough fire power left to kill it. She was saving her last few shots for emergency usage.

  She trusted that Aziz knew enough to stay put. The creature might even be mortally wounded now, but it could still kill anyone foolish enough to come within reach. Even if he started to open the door, she trusted Eleanor to warn him.

  She needed a second plan, something to do the damage her rifle couldn’t. She looked around for anything that she could use. Maybe fire? But she would not risk burning down the house with Aziz and her children in it.

  Her mind was still racing when she heard the hoofbeats. At least two horses, still a distance off, galloping at full speed towards them. She circled around to the front of the house to the road. Eleanor waved to her and she scrambled towards her, staying well out of the reach of the tentacles.

  She recognized Renee’s two guards as they rode up. She stood in the road and waved them over.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Antoine, the first guard, asked.

  “It is one of the creatures from the cliff. It’s the first time I’ve seen more than the end of a tentacle. We woke up to it on top of the house, trying to break in the front door.”

  “Is anyone still in there?” the second guard asked.

  “Yes, Aziz and my children. My weapon is almost drained. I assume your rifles are full?”

  They both nod.

  “Follow me. I think the best approach is to attack its body, which is mostly behind the house.”

  Without any questions, they instinctively followed her orders. Soon, a continuous series of plasma shots rang out into the night. The creature let out one last plaintiff shriek and fell the rest of the way to the ground.

  “Well done. Can one of you stay guard here to watch the beast. I’m going to go check on my family.”

  “We’ll both stay here. I’m going to make a quick report to the council about this,” said Patrice, the second guard.

  Marianne ran back to the front of the house. Eleanor was already at the front door as she approached. Before she’d even said anything, Aziz opened the door, Genevieve on his hip and Pierre holding his hand.

  He handed Genevieve to Eleanor as she crouched down to give Pierre a hug. Aziz then ran over to Marianne and they gave each other a hug, clinging tightly and affectionately to each other. After a few minutes, Marianne said, “I need to hold my children.”

  She crouched down as Eleanor handed her Genevieve and Pierre ran over to her. He immediately gave her a tight squeeze. After she had held them for a minute, she told Pierre, “Momma told you she would keep you safe. I’ll always keep you safe.”

  Eleanor turned to Aziz with a smile on her face. “I guess I do owe you and Rania a big apology.”

  Aziz had too many emotions running through him to even acknowledge her comment. He wasn’t sure whether the danger, their rescue, or the hug was more surprising to him. And now he wanted to laugh with Eleanor.