All About Russakins
A closer look at a vicious alien animal from the planet Lathos
Ancient snakes had legs during the Cretaceous period about 150 million years ago before evolving into the limbless slithering creatures we’re familiar with today. I’ve always been fascinated by the visual concept of a snake with arms and legs. What would snakes look like moving around with functioning limbs?
I suppose they would resemble lizards more than snakes at that point.
The cool thing about writing science fiction is you can take readers to a planet filled with aliens of all shapes, sizes, and species — including snakes with limbs. I’ve created new alien animal species to populate many of my sci-fi tales. I love featuring alien animals in my stories. Their presence imbues a greater sense of realism into the alien worlds I've created. Animals are a catalyst for story development. They influence character, setting, and atmosphere. An animal can help create lighthearted humor or increase suspense within a scene.
Readers are introduced numerous alien animals throughout my Alien People Chronicles stories. Some only exist as background characters in world building. Others play key roles in moving plot threads forward. The russakin is numbered among animals who play a pivotal role in at least one of my stories.
(Warning: Minor spoilers follow for Dark Metamorphosis — the second book in the Alien People Chronicles’ main trilogy)
Russakin Origins
The russakin is a carnivorous reptile native to Lathos, a planet orbiting the star 61 Cygni A approximately 3.495 parsecs from Earth. (Lathos is also the homeworld of Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan.) A russakin resembles a snake with long arms and legs. Course hair covers the russakin from head to tail. These reptilian aliens have rounded heads, oval eyes, and small, rounded noses. Russakins have forked tongues similar to a snake, paired with rows of sharp teeth.
Russakins are wild animals and, with a few exceptions, are notoriously difficult to tame. They are jittery and will strike whenever they feel threatened. Many russakin species are venomous. Their venom functions as a potent neurotoxin. It is known to cause irreversible muscle and nerve damage in victims if they are not treated with anti-venom within 30 minutes of being bitten. Russakin venom has proven lethal in some cases.
Many geographic regions on Lathos are home to at least one russakin species. In ancient times, they ranged all over the northern and southern continents of the planet although their habitat has shrunk in modern times. Russakins are still abundant in coastal regions of Ra’ahm, Daraconiah, and the Confederation of Northern Tribes. They thrive in tropical climates but adapt to living in mountains and deserts as well.
Owing to their unique appearance and dangerous nature, russakins are frequently depicted in art and literature on Lathos. Describing someone being as “fierce as a russakin” is a common saying in the Daraconian language.
Russakin Appearances
Readers are first introduced to a russakin in Dark Metamorphosis at a market on Fengar — one of two moons orbiting Lathos.
Xttra travels to Fengar in search of Kevin Riley after his Earthian friend flees from Ra’ahm to escape the clutches of the chief sovereign. Xttra sets out with Bo’un and Talan, two officers in his scout ship crew, to meet with an informant who claims to know where Kevin fled and is hiding. They go to the designated meeting place at a market inside a domed colony on Fengar.
Their meeting is terminated before it happens when Talan foolishly sticks his fingers inside a russakin’s cage while trying to pet the creature. The grouchy russakin bites Talan’s hand, releasing venom with a paralyzing neurotoxin into the Stellar Guard officer’s bloodstream. Xttra and Bo’un are forced to take the junior officer back to the scout ship so he can be treated with an anti-venom. Along the way, they are ambushed by would-be assassins. The attack ends with Xttra’s abduction from Fengar by agents from the Confederation of Northern Tribes.
This is the fourth in an ongoing series of articles chronicling the alien animal species featured in my novels and short fiction. You can read past features on Odocos, Calas, and Treemas in the Behind the Pages archives.
Nice! I like the sound of this somewhat hazardous species!