Intrigued, Grazhash raised one edge of her grey-furred mantle, exposed her sharp millipede claw, and extruded her tendrils. They found their mark - latching onto the boy's exposed thigh and stabbing the hairy skin with dozens of tiny spines. The boy calmed down, head lolling down motionless. Grazhash approached, scientific curiosity overcoming rabid hunger. From her fearsome jaws stretched her probing tongue, shooting out microscopic tendrils from its tip. Her snout barely a foot from the back of his head, she let her unfurling tendrils pierce the skin just below the nape of his neck, now exposed by his short, dark hair. Penetrating the tender skin in a thousand places, they were fine enough to reach into his nervous system without drawing a single drop of blood. There was no pain, no sens
