Prompt

You have been sent to Fex, the purple moon of Sha Qarot, after an advance team goes out of contact. Upon arrival, it is immediately apparent where the name originated as the unusual landscape ranges from pale lavenders to deep violets. Crystal structures cover the surface and the many creatures found there are herbivores, feeding on the mineral rich plants to develop crystalline spikes around their heads and backs.

Your task is a simple one, really — find any rare minerals that may be residing in crystal caves of Fex. With no common predators on the purple moon, it should be an easy task as far as you know. However, the Fexian Skullborers exist, known or not, and they are a threat like few others. The danger wouldn't be known to you, but what you don't know can certainly kill you.

What story will unfold in the search for the rare minerals, if there are any to begin with? Will you find what you seek, or will you return with something... more?

About the Fexian Skullborer

• small and extremely light, very strong skeleton
• six spindly limbs with clawed fingers
• a central body with a neck forming a large skull
• eight eyes evenly spaced around its head
• large snout/feeding tube
• crystal covered bone ring on snout that can spin like diamond to cut through just about anything
• rigid, toxic spines on their back
• active full body camouflage making them invisible
• when dead/not camouflaged, skin radiates color when touched
• they eat brains

How to submit

Write a fiction at least 500 words in length. No maximum. Preferred submission format is pdf. Anything in a Google Doc must be exported as a pdf for submission.

How it will be graded

Grading will be based on the Voice Fiction Rubric.