Devour Vol 2 Ch 19: Fear From Above, The Coming Hunger!

Conrad had barely taken ten steps off the shimmering platform before he realized something was wrong. The planet Io had chosen was beautiful

Conrad had barely taken ten steps off the shimmering platform before he realized something was wrong.

The planet Io had chosen was beautiful—at least from above. Floating islands drifted slowly overhead like lazy clouds, connected by elegant arching bridges of stone and light. The sky was streaked in hues of violet and teal, and the air had a strange but pleasant spice to it. It was alien, sure—but peaceful.

At least, that's what it looked like.

On the ground, things were chaos.

People—if you could call them that—were running through the streets. Beings with smooth green skin, elongated arms, and eyes that shimmered like molten jade darted from building to building, some carrying bundles or children, others simply running for their lives. Sirens wailed in the distance, and overhead, large, humming vehicles zipped through the air like frightened insects.

Conrad adjusted the fabric of his tunic—some kind of native garb Io had embedded on him before he left—and stepped into the swirl of movement.

"Hey!" he called out, trying to stop one of the running figures. "Hey, wait—what's going on?!"

No one stopped. One man bumped into him without so much as a glance, muttering something in a language Conrad didn't recognize. Another woman pushed past him, clutching a glowing orb to her chest, her lips trembling with silent panic.

He grabbed the shoulder of a tall alien dressed in metallic blue robes. "Please, just tell me—why is everyone running?"

The alien turned, eyes wide with fear. "You shouldn't be here!" he hissed. "Get underground—hide!"

"Why? What's happening?"

But the man didn't wait for an answer. He shook himself free and vanished into the crowd.

Conrad exhaled sharply and moved forward, weaving through the crowd until he spotted someone who wasn't quite sprinting—just moving fast. A woman. Green skin like the others, though her features were sharper, her movements more deliberate. She wore a tight black suit with panels that pulsed faintly, like armor. Her eyes darted constantly as she moved.

Conrad stepped in front of her path. "Please, wait—I just need to know what's happening."

She froze for just a second, eyes narrowing. "Are you insane?" she snapped. "You shouldn't be out here."

"I'm new. Just arrived. I don't know—what's going on?"

Her gaze darted behind her, then locked onto his. "A Devourer's been spotted. One of them."

The air felt colder instantly, like the words carried a shadow.

Conrad hesitated. "Wait—what?"

"She landed not far from the outer sky-ring," the woman said, her voice hurried. "Massive. Golden hair. Skin like starlight. The military says she's still in orbit but scanning the surface. People are panicking. The whole sector's under evacuation alert."

Conrad blinked. Golden hair. Still in orbit.

Io.

He almost laughed. Almost.

"She's not going to hurt anyone," he said quickly. "I swear, she's not here to destroy anything. I was with her—I mean, I came with her. She just dropped me off for food."

The woman stared at him like he'd grown a second head.

"You what?"

"She's not dangerous," Conrad said, holding his hands up. "Well—okay, she could be dangerous, but she's not planning to be! Not right now. She's just waiting. That's all."

"Are you out of your mind?" the woman snapped. "A Devourer shows no mercy. Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"

"I—"

"They tear planets in half. They consume entire civilizations. You don't walk off a Devourer like she's some air-ferry, you run. You hide. Or you pray you don't get stepped on before she notices you're alive."

Conrad faltered.

The woman shook her head, stepping past him. "You're either lying or suicidal. Either way, I'm not sticking around to watch."

She disappeared into the crowd, her words still ringing in his ears.

Conrad stood there in the street as dozens of beings ran around him—terrified, desperate—and tried to reconcile the image they saw with the being he knew.

Io.

Patient. Distant. Quiet.

She hadn't stepped on anything. She'd floated. She asked if he was hungry.

So why were they so sure she was here to kill them?

He looked up at the sky, searching the violet clouds for the faint shimmer of her outline in orbit. She was out there. Watching.

And now... they were watching her back.

***

Far above the planet's trembling surface, Io drifted silently in the void of space.

She was motionless, yet she moved—her great form lazily twirling through the stars, her golden hair trailing behind her like comet-fire. From afar, she might've looked like some celestial sculpture, a divine being etched from starlight. But up close, she was very much alive. And very much... hungry.

Her long legs were folded beneath her, arms crossed, her body nearly curled into a loose float. She stared out at the stars without blinking, her eyes soft but distant, like someone trying not to think too hard. Below, the blue-green planet turned slowly on its axis—oblivious to just how close it was to the end.

Inside her mind, a tiny thread glowed.

Conrad.

She'd marked him the moment she placed him gently on the surface. Not physically—no mortal could survive even the faintest tap of her power—but with a connection, a flickering line of instinct that let her feel when he moved, when he panicked, when he breathed a little too fast. It wasn't exact, but it was enough. She'd know when he was done. When he was ready to be picked up.

Io closed her eyes for a moment, letting the stars blur behind her lids. She tried not to think about it. About the ache.

But it was there.

A dull pressure in the pit of her being. Not pain, exactly. Not yet. But the early pull. Like gravity stretching in reverse, demanding she consume again.

"I can't remember the last time I fed," she murmured aloud, her voice lost in the vacuum, vibrating through thought rather than air.

Normally, she was more careful with her cycles. Her sisters always said to keep track. Don't wait until the edge. It gets harder. More primal. Less... polite.

Her gaze dropped slowly to the planet below.

It looked like a toy from up here. Round, soft, colorful. Cloud systems danced across its curves like swirling cream. Lights dotted the night side—cities, maybe. Little clusters of life. She could feel the warmth radiating off it, the bustling activity, the civilizations all stacked on top of one another. So loud, even from this far.

And so edible.

"I guess I have no choice," she said, almost apologetically.

It wasn't an emotional thing. It never was, for their kind. Devourers weren't cruel, not intentionally. Hunger wasn't cruelty. It was function. It was design. They were made to take. To end.

She had hoped to avoid that this time. Maybe skip. Maybe wait until they got to the gathering, and there'd be a moon or asteroid left untouched by her sisters. Something simple. Cold. Clean.

But now, with the hunger growing—throbbing like a second heartbeat—she could feel her restraint slipping.

She'd wait for Conrad. Of course. She had made a promise, even if he didn't know it.

But once he was back?

"I hunger," she whispered to herself.

Her eyes glowed faintly gold. The planet below trembled beneath its atmosphere, as if it somehow heard her.

And knew.