by Maia Tanith
I drag my eyes open, hoping against hope to see the blank metallic frame of a spaceship around me.
Instead, my eyes meet a wall of solid rock above me. Have I been out that long? Am I home again already? Just in some other part of the world that I don’t know?
It might be tricky to find my way home again if I am stuck in the middle of nowhere, but if I can get to an American consulate, I will be okay. I’ll tell them I was kidnapped for the slave trade and don’t know where I was taken. It’s all true, even though it’s only half the story.
“You’re awake.” The voice is deep and low. Not Taark’s voice.
Turning my head sends waves of pain shooting through my shoulder. “Yeah,” I mutter. “Unfortunately.”
“How do you feel?”
I ignore the question. “Water.” My throat is so parched I can barely get my swollen tongue to form words.
A beaker of deliciously cool water is held to my lips and I gulp at it greedily.
After only a few mouthfuls, it is taken away again.
“More,” I demand. I could drink an entire river dry.
“Not just yet, or you will be sick.”
I make a face, but he doesn’t give me any more. “Where am I? Am I back on Earth?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know where Earth is. We’re on Xillian. In the Western Forest at the foot of the Tharlakite Mountain Range.”
I’m still here on this stupid planet? I never left? What happened to the lizard women’s promise to take me home on a spaceship? I want to go home, dammit. Why am I not home already?
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I close my eyes again. I am too disappointed to cope with anymore reality. And my shoulder hurts like a bitch.
Then my eyes snap open again. I look to one side and then the other, but there is no one else in the room with me. Just a claw-man I have never seen before. He must be the one who gave me water and then took it away again. “Where’s Taark?”
“On his way with the rest of the party. They were moving too slowly so I brought you on ahead. You needed medical attention.”
“Yeah, I think I was shot. Or something.” I reach my hand up to touch my shoulder. It’s wrapped in a heap of bandages.
“Laser volt,” he said. “Excruciatingly painful and you’ll scar up a bit, but you’ll live.”
No kidding. It hurts like a bitch. “Is Taark okay?” I ask, my still-parched mouth struggling to form the words. “He was really sick. He could hardly walk. One of the stinking lizard men got him with a poison spike.”
He steps backwards. “A Galgog?”
“Yeah, that’s what Taark called them. Stupid, stinking lizard men with scales and spikes.”
“They’re not exactly common on this planet.” He sounds like he doesn’t believe a word I said. “Where did you come across one of them?”
I make a sour face. I will be very happy if I live the rest of my life without ever coming across another of them. “Three of them. In the Games.”
“And Taark killed them all?” He whistles under his breath. “Impressive.”
“He didn’t kill any of them,” I correct him. “Two of them wounded the third because he was super sneaky and fast, so they jumped him right away, and when he was lying on the ground, the lizard woman stabbed him in the belly because he was so nasty to her. Then the horrible one spiked Taark, and then big mean one killed the horrible one, so the lizard women grabbed the big mean one and held him down and I killed him with the claw that Taark gave me. Then we were supposed to be let go because we won, but we were tossed back into a cell, so we escaped and I was going to hitch a ride on a spaceship with the lizard women but then someone shot me and somehow I ended up here.”
“You killed a Galgog?” He sounds incredulous.
I shrug. Whatever. I don’t care if he believes me or not. I don’t like thinking about it much. “They have a soft spot on their belly. A lizard woman showed me where to—to cut them open.”
He makes that whistling noise between his teeth again. “And here I was thinking you were a soft, under-grown human.”
What is it with the claw-men on this planet? Just because I’m short, it doesn’t mean that I’m inferior. Or that I’m not a grown-up. I growl at him, making the same noise that Taark makes at me when he is mad.
His eyebrows raise and he steps backward so quickly that he trips over his own feet.
Good. I’ve had enough of his company for one day.
I shut my eyes again. I don’t want to deal with this right now. I probably won’t when I wake up again either, but I can at least put it off for a few more hours.
Chapter Eight
Taark
I am taken to meet Zev. We walk through the long tunnel, heading uphill. The rocks get drier as we climb higher. We must be close to the surface now. There are more signs of life here—more lights along the stone passageways. A crate lying on its side. Footprints in the dirt floor. Muffled voices. Now some of the entranceways we pass have crude doors bolted to the stone walls. We finally stop in front of a large wooden board, bolted into the wall and covered in ornate carvings of trees.
Raeath knocks and enters. “We found something.”
I follow him inside. The room is brightly lit, and if it weren’t for the rock walls we could be in the headquarters of any colonel in the army.
Zev is older than I expected. Grey hair and a lined face that tugs at my memory. Well past his prime. I could take him on in a fight if I have to defend myself. If they decide I’m not useful—as Raeath mentioned. He sits in a high-backed chair behind a wide table, on which are stacks of papers and what appears to be a large map poking out from underneath. He motions me to sit in front of him, on one of the few chairs in the room.
Raeath stands guard at the door. My other captor stays outside in the hallway. I tense. The message is clear—I can’t leave until they agree I can.
Zev sees me clench my fists and gives a rusty laugh. “We do not waste our energy fighting each other here,” he says. “Me least of all.” His voice wheezes slightly and it looks like the effort of speaking is almost too much for him.
I do not like being mocked. My fists tighten until my knuckles turn white.
He shakes his head as if he is chastising a naughty child. “Tell me how you came to be here. With a human, no less.”
I raise my eyebrows and force my fists to unclench. Still, I sit on the edge of the seat, ready to jump up if I need. “I woke up in the forest with a gun pointed at my face. Your men brought me here.”
He waves his hand in the air. “No, no. I know Raeath brought you here. How did you end up in the forest, with a human on the brink of death?”
I explain my arrest, the Games, our escape. I don’t explain the reasons for my arrest, and I gloss over some of the more personal moments of humiliation in the cells.
He listens carefully as I talk. He strokes his chin and looks me up and down, taking in the dirt and blood, my thinness, unusual for our kind to be this lean, and obviously the effects of being semi-starved for a period of time. “You killed three Galgogs?”
“I killed none of them, though not for want of trying. Two were killed by their own kind. Hannah killed the third one.”
He stroked his grey beard. “So she told Daem. He did not believe her.”
Hannah has spoken to our new captors already? “Is she all right? Has she woken up? Can I see her?” I shuffle my feet in agitation. As much as I want to know who these people are, and what they are doing in a maze of secret underground tunnels, I want this interview to be over already so I can go to her. She will be upset, confused. I need to see for myself that she is healing. That she will recover.
“She is doing as well as can be expected. She woke for a while but is sleeping now.” He regards me with interest.
“When can I see her?”
“She needs sleep now more than anything.” He is still staring at me with thinly veiled curiosity.
�
�And when she wakes, she will need a friendly face.”
At this, he grins. “I can assure you, Daem’s is not the scariest face she could wake up to here.”
I am sick of his dancing around my questions. I narrow my eyes. “I demand to see her.”
“You are not in a position to make demands yet. I am in command here and I run a fair system. Once you’ve answered my questions to my satisfaction, you can see your little human.”
If he knew how tough she really was, he wouldn’t be calling her little with such veiled contempt.
He carries on, as though taking my silence for my agreement to cooperate. “My men patrol the forest and the borders of our territory every day. It’s not often we find strangers who have run here for refuge. It’s even less often we find a trained soldier who has escaped from the pits. As you have no doubt guessed, we like to keep a low profile.” At this he laughs to himself. “So I will tell you a little about us, and then you can tell me about you. And then we can go to see your human child.”
“She’s no child,” I blurt out, then stop at the unspoken thing I have insinuated. I can feel my face reddening. I don’t know these men; I don’t need to worry about what they think. She might be considered unworthy of a Kardan male, but I’ve seen her kill to protect me and I know she is worthy. No matter that she is small and looks weak. Her strength is on the inside.
Zev nods. “If she really did kill a Galgog, then no, she isn’t a child.” He strokes his chin again then continues. “We do not like the Emperor here, and he returns our disfavor. If you are to stay, you must know this. You will be hunted. An outlaw.”
I suddenly recall where I have seen his face before, and it all clicks into place. Zev. His name now makes sense. “You are the son of Tyszev?” I ask. “His story is told to us as cubs in training. We are told you are dead—all of your family was killed.” Tyszev’s name is used to scare us into behaving. His story is well known—the advisor who betrayed his Emperor and whose entire family was killed because of it.
Zev nods again. “The very same. I took his name in remembrance.”
If I hadn’t seen so many unbelievable things in the past few turns, I wouldn’t have believed him. “How did you end up here?”
“My father told me about these tunnels when I was a child; he had discovered them while hunting. After my parents were killed, I made my way here. Over the years, many others have joined me in my exile.”
It takes all my effort to not let my mouth hang open. “How many are here now?”
“A hundred and eighty or thereabouts, including the children. And we have many more in our network who are sympathetic to our cause. We have been actively recruiting sympathizers for some time. And we are close to our goal now. Which is why your arrival is so timely, and Raeath brought you here.”
I stare at him. This is the moment I knew was coming, perhaps as soon as Raeath pointed his gun in my face and told me to go with them. “You want me to join you.” In this damp underground cave that might as well be a prison cell of its own. With no time to feel the sun or the wind on my face. To fight for a cause I’d given up on long ago.
“Yes, I do. You have been a soldier in the army much more recently than anyone here. You are a source of information to us. A much safer source than relying on smuggled messages. And you are strong—or you will be, after some time to recover. We need soldiers like you on our side.”
I am not swayed by his words. “Look where serving as a soldier got me. I was framed for murder and sent to the pits to fight for my death. I don’t follow orders anymore.”
“We are not the Emperor. We want to overthrow him and build a better world. You can help us.”
No. I will not. “My only loyalty is to Hannah now. I promised I’d get her home. Beyond that, I have nothing left to care about. You lost your family? So did I. I’ve lost my whole life too - my best friend was murdered and my packmates believed I did it. I lost my career, I lost the respect of my pack. No one got me out of the cells—I had only myself to rely on. I’m fine on my own. I didn’t ask to be brought here and I don’t want to join your suicide mission.”
Zev looks behind me at Raeath.
I hear Raeath’s voice behind me, calm and mocking. “I could have left you to die there.”
He is right. He is right that I failed Hannah, and I couldn’t have saved her on my own. The thought doesn’t make me feel grateful. Only mad. I look to Zev. “I want to see her.”
Zev’s hands had been clasped in front of him. He opens them now. “Raeath will take you to her. I only ask that you think about what I have said. You can stay here until you decide.”
Hannah
When I wake up, the young claw-man is still in the room with me. I groan when I see him. “You’re still here? Don’t you have anything better to do?” My tongue is dry and swollen and my words come out with a lisp. It ruins the effect slightly, so he laughs instead of looking offended.
He picks up a cup of water and hands it to me. His claws are withdrawn, but still I eye his knuckles warily as I take the cup. I shuffle up in the bed so I can drink without choking. Even that small movement sends a wave of burning pain down my left arm and shoulder and I splash a few drops out of the cup onto the coverlet.
My arms are still weak and shaky as I bring the cup to my lips to drink. I take a gulp. Then a second. Then the foul taste hits my tongue and spit it out again. “Bleugh! What the hell is this? What’s the point in saving me if you try to kill me straight after?” I eye the liquid in mug. The mug is made of what looks like black obsidian. I can’t see the color of the liquid, but I suspect it will be brown and muddy looking. To match the sewage-like taste.
He is watching me from a few paces away. “It’s to help you heal. It has bacteria in it that fight infections.” He looks at the bedspread I am lying in. It too is brown, but now marked with a large wet patch. “Our kind quite like the taste,” he remarks.
“Your kind have terrible taste then.” I look at the mug again. “Will it really help me?”
“Yes. Now that you are awake, you need to drink a cup every few hours. Your shoulder is infected.”
“Don’t you have antibacterial cream or something?”
He looks at me blankly.
“I’ll take that as a no, then,” I mutter. I force myself to swallow the remaining liquid. It had better be good for me. If he’s put something else in it—I suddenly blush, thinking about the liquid I drank with Taark in the cells. Oh God, please no more of that stuff. No matter how good it felt at the time. I don’t think I’m strong enough to fight its’ effects again.
The cub looks at my cheeks. “Why is your face turning red?” He asks. “Do humans turn red when they drink medicine?”
My face reddens even more. Daem may be young, but he is still a huge, muscle bound claw-man like Taark. His skin is not so golden and looks like he’s not seen the sun much. He is no doubt handsome enough that every girl on Earth would be falling all over each other to have him tend to their bedside.
“No,” I reply. “It’s nothing.”
“We turn red when we are embarrassed,” he remarks. “Are you embarrassed about something?”
“No,” I snap back.
“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” he says. “I’ve never met a human before. I find you very interesting.”
“Well, why don’t you do what the others of your kind do, and go kidnap some of us,” I reply, still snappy.
He flinches back from me, looking offended. “I would not kidnap anyone. We are not slavers here.”
“Who are you? And what is this place? It certainly feels like I’ve been kidnapped again since you brought me here to a room with no windows and separate me from the only person I know. And now you’re standing over me and creeping me out.” I add this last bit with more venom in my voice. Staring up at him was giving me a crick in my neck and making me cranky.
“My apologies My name is Daem.” He sits down on the chair that’s against the wall, faci
ng towards me. “I’m sorry you don’t have windows. None of our rooms here do, being as we’re underground.”
I widen my eyes. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the forest. We stay underground so we can’t be found. We are the rebellion, against the Emperor.” He says the last line with pride and puffs his chest up. If he wasn’t such an intimidating figure, it would be kinda cute.
I square my shoulders to him, even though they hurt. “Let me get this straight. You’re rebelling against the guy who runs this shithole who kidnapped me and put me in the pits to fight the lizard men?”
“Yes we are.” He is practically beaming with pride. “And we saved you, and the other one, so that you can join us.”
“If it means the end of kidnapping innocent women and throwing them into a pit to die, consider me in.”
The words come out flippantly, but Daem looks at me seriously. “You mean that? You will pledge your allegiance to us?”
My stomach drops. What has my mouth just got me into. “Well—I uh, I’d have to know a bit more first. And I want to see Taark. And—well, I still want to go home.”
“You are from Earth, yes?”
“Yes.” Tears are welling up behind my eyes, and I close my lids tight to try and stop them. A tear manages to ease its way out and drip down my cheek. It seems so long ago that I was home. Thinking about it feels painful. I had been so close...
“And you miss your home.” His words aren’t a question, but I nod anyway. soon “You’ll meet Zev, and he can tell you more than I am allowed. If you join, and you help us, I will make sure he gets you home.”
“You’d do that?” I have no reason to trust him so much, yet there is a ring of truth in his words. I know with all my being that he will be true to his word.
“I know what’s it’s like to lose your home. I can’t go back to mine,” he shrugs. “Most of us here can’t.”
“Why are you here, then?”
“So we can build something new for ourselves. Make the world safer. I can’t bring back my home or my pack, but we can help others. It’s the right thing to do.”