by Lula Monk
“I’m Althea,” she said, her voice coming out as a rapid whisper.
Clea barely caught her name, the woman was speaking so fast. “I’m Clea.”
The woman nodded eagerly, sending her nipple tassels to shaking. “I know! We all know!”
Clea was taken aback. “How do you all know about me?”
“Samantha,” said Althea, lowering her voice even further, and somehow speaking even more quickly. “She’s been spreading the word, that there’s a new girl here who is going to teach us all how to fight!”
Althea’s eyes lit up so brightly at the prospect that it hurt Clea’s heart to have to tell her otherwise. “I think you heard wrong. I’m only supposed to teach you how to defend yourselves. Not fight.”
“Oh, who cares?” Althea said, her eyes glittering. “Something’s better than nothing. And all I’ve had up here for a year is a whole big heaping bunch of nothing.”
Clea blinked, certain she’d heard the girl incorrectly. “A year? You’ve been here for a year?”
Althea dimmed. “Yeah. Or at least I think it’s been that long. It’s definitely been longer than seven months.”
“But how do you...?”
Clea’s voice trailed away as the woman lifted her already short sequined skirt, revealing the dozens and dozens of tiny, bright scars carved into her upper thighs.
“I kept track,” she said proudly, lowering her skirt. Then her face fell. “For a while, at least. But when the overseers saw what I’d been doing – I guess some of the creatures reported it or something – they did this.”
The woman held up her hands for Clea’s inspection, and Clea couldn’t keep the gasp from escaping her mouth.
Those sons of a bitches.
“Does it hurt?” Clea asked as the woman lowered her nail-less hands.
“Not anymore,” Althea said self-consciously, clasping her hands together. “It hurt like a bitch after they ripped them out, and the pinky on my left hand was infected for a bit. But it’s all better now.” The oddly bubbly girl shrugged. “Mostly, they’re just ugly now,” she said. “Not that the freaks who come here would even know the difference.”
“You aren’t a freak,” Clea said, putting her hand on the woman’s shoulder. Ignis’s goodwill had rubbed off on her; she felt the need to comfort the woman.
Lord knows what all she’s gone through.
Althea’s eyes got misty, but she blinked the tears away. A strained smile stretched across her face, her expression automatically changing to bright and bubbly again. “So! What do you got to show me?”
And so they spent the rest of their trip around the Rim engaged in light hand-to-hand defense, pausing only when they were in sight of one of the entryways. Clea made sure to show Althea the most impactful moves that required the least amount of effort; some of the women on the Hub were weak beyond imagining and wouldn’t be able to do much. They needed moves that mattered. Moves that would they could actually execute when the time came.
By the time they arrived back at the Breeding Sector entryway, both girls were sweating. It was a hard thing to do, train a newbie while you were chained to one another’s wrists. Not to mention doing so stealthily, without being seen by any guards and without making a lot of noise or unnecessary movements. But by God, Clea had done it.
They were still five pairs of women away from the entryway when she smiled to herself, pleased at the progress Althea had made in such a short time. The woman was eager to learn, and she was a good pupil.
Maybe I’ll start my own dojo…
Clea cut that thought off at the knees. Wasting brain power thinking about the future was useless. She had to think about the now. Had to think about getting them all of the Hub.
That’s what mattered.
She turned her head slightly to Althea, careful to keep her voice low and movements slow. They were close enough to the entryway that one of the sentinel guards would see all of their movements. “Be sure to teach the others exactly like I taught you. Don’t embellish. Don’t try to adapt any of the moves. Do them precisely how I told you.”
“Oh, I will!” aid Althea brightly, though her face, too, was a plain mask for the sake of the guards.
“This was great,” she whispered, reaching out to clutch Clea’s hand briefly, letting it fall after a few quick squeezes. “And thanks a million. I know I won’t ever be as good as you, but I feel better knowing I have some kind of weapon at my disposal.”
Clea nodded her head in acceptance of the sentiment, but Althea’s words sparked something in her mind. Well, two somethings, but the first was more important.
“Trip me,” Clea whispered to the woman with nipple tassels.
Althea gave her a panicked glance from the corner of her eye. “What?”
They were only three pairs of women away now, and one of the guards heard her speak.
“No talking!” its sick and sticky voice bellowed.
Althea began to shake all over, her sequins catching the light and making her look like a disco ball.
Whoa…
Clea marveled at the automatic change in the bubbly woman. It was as if the Ceph’s voice had thrust Althea right back onto the entertainment stage.
Or a private room.
Clea shook the horrible thought from her head, overcome by sorrow for the life Althea was about to step back into.
But she needed to look under the Hub, and she could only do that from her belly.
“Do it,” she mouthed at the woman.
Althea ignored her, her bottom lip quivering.
They were only one two pairs away now. It was now or never.
Taking a deep breath, Clea tripped herself.
As she fell, she made sure to arc her arm back, keeping Althea from falling with her. She didn’t want to hurt the other woman; besides, having another body laying in the way would keep Clea from seeing what she wanted to see.
Her body hit the metal walkway with a loud and ominous banging. It was quickly followed by the banging steps of Ceph guards stepping out onto the walkway, approaching the spot where Clea and Althea were chained tougher.
Clea forced herself to focus. There were extensions under the Hub. She could see them clearly now, despite the vibrating and rattling metal of the walkway under her cheek.
Squinting, she surveyed the structures. Each one seemed to correlate to an entryway.
But that doesn’t make any sense…
She tried to adjust herself to get a better look, but suddenly, the suction cups of a Ceph’s tentacles latched onto her body. Her neck. The backs of her arms.
The creature yanked her back to her feet.
Its giant black orb of a head towered over hers, its tentacle now snaking around her waist and squeezing. “Do not falter!” it bellowed into her face, its strangled breath coming from beneath the black orb.
She archived that little biological fact for later.
“Sorry,” she said, her eyes cast demurely down. “I tripped.”
“Do not falter!” it screamed again, yanking Clea down the walkway. Poor Althea followed along, drug forward by the chain that still bound her to Clea.
Clea turned back to stare at the shaking woman.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
Althea averted her gaze, refusing to look at Clea.
Clea’s heart dropped when the Ceph unlocked the shackle on her wrist, disconnecting her from Althea. Samantha had said no two women were ever permitted to walk together more than once. As she watched a guard push Althea down the Breeding Sector corridor, she wondered if she would ever see the bubbly, scared woman again.
I will. She rubbed at the raw flesh of her wrist.
In fact, I’ll do better than that, she thought as another Ceph tugged her down the corridor to return her to the Ardan king.
I’ll do all that I can to free her.
Chapter 18
Ignis
While Clea had been with the other breeders and entertainers, Ignis had gone out
and gotten a crew to come and clean their room, restocking it with new furniture and fresh linens. He’d also gone through the trouble of searching the room’s closet and retrieving clothes he thought would fit the Earth woman. In the search, he’d pulled out distasteful, flashy, revealing garments and thrown them all back in, disgusted. Finally, he’d found a suitable pair of pants made from flexible material and a plain shirt. It wasn’t extravagant, but he knew his Earth woman would appreciate the chance to be clean.
My Earth woman?
His mind struggled with the concept. Sure, he’d purchased Clea and by all rights did own her physical body. But in his mind, when he thought of Clea as his Earth woman, he meant it in a way of possession that went much deeper than their physical selves.
He’d never shared his feelings of sorrow over Gylenda’s death with another living creature, and it was obvious that Clea had never borne her soul so fully to another person. They’d shared something beyond words in sharing their grief.
They’d shared parts of their souls. Their hearts.
And now Ignis felt a keen interest in caring for the Earth woman in whatever way he could. And as he entered their room and sealed the portal behind him, looking around at the extent of his destruction and the Earth woman’s pained efforts to remove every trace of it, he’d known what the first step in looking after Clea would be.
He now stood in the chamber, the fresh clothes in his hands. The room was clean. Food was on the new table, and he was prepared to great Clea with a smile when she returned from the Rim.
But that is not what happened.
The knock sounded on the portal wall, and Ignis eagerly pressed his palm to the metal. He wanted to be around Clea more. Part of it, he knew, was his desire to keep the woman safe.
As if she needs protecting, he thought proudly.
But another part of him wanted the chance to know her better. Welcomed the opportunity to grow closer to her. To finally woo himself between her legs, a union which would result in a mighty, fearsome warrior when the dark woman gave birth.
Ignis was already smiling as the portal opened. But seeing the look on Clea’s face, his smile faded.
The Earth woman stormed in, her eyes set and determined. Brushing past Ignis, she began pacing the room, her finger frantically twisting and untwisting one of her braids.
The Ceph tried to speak to Ignis, but the Ardan did not hear his words. His eyes still transfixed on Clea, he reached up his palm and sealed the portal, shutting up the Ceph and shutting out the world of the Hub.
Hearing the portal seal, the woman stopped her mad pacing. She turned on Ignis, her eyes narrowed and full of rage. Full of her own type of fire.
He’d been holding his arms out, in his hand the fresh change of clothes, but seeing that look, he lowered it.
“What’s the matter?”
Her nostrils flared. “I want to fight.”
Ignis’s cock hardened at the word, but he thought of less arousing things than his flesh crashing into the Earth woman’s. It was obvious she did not mean the type of fighting that ended in lovemaking.
In fucking.
He struggled for words, and he quickly found them. His smile returned, his canines sharp and pressing against his lower lip. “We had a visitor while you were gone. A messenger.”
“Yeah?” Clea asked, disinterestedly.
Ignis took a step toward her. He towered over her, so large was he and so small was she. He reveled in feeling mighty before the face of one so fierce, but he enjoyed more the dark and stormy look with which Clea gazed up at him. His blood roared through his body.
“Well?” she asked, impatient. “What did the messenger want?”
“It would seem,” Ignis said, his eyes locked on Clea’s, “that some mighty little bird set word about that I and the warriors from the Adrasta Galaxy need some place to spar. To get out our energy.”
Clea blushed. “Wonder where that could have come from?”
Ignis barked a laugh. She was cute when she was coy.
“Slep acquiesced. We have a spot. To spar. And I think you’ll like it.”
That caught the Earth woman’s attention. Her head snapped up to Ignis’s. “I can come?”
The words sent a thrill through Ignis’s mind. Oh, he wanted the Earth woman to come. And hard, her firm lips parted wide and moaning his name…
Gods, control yourself.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t see why not. You’re my property, to do with as I will. If I want to drag you below the Hub to…”
Clea had scowled when he’d said the word ‘property’, but her entire body came alive at the last part. “Where we are going is under the Hub? Like beneath it?”
Ignis nodded. “Well, it’s difficult to give direction in space…. It is all relative. But considering the orientation of the Hub and the direction of its gravitation engines, I can safely say that yes, the spar pits are below.”
Clea smiled brightly, her perfect teeth glittering in the light from the newly replaced fixtures above. “When can we go?”
Ignis walked back to the portal wall, smiling at the powerful Earth woman.
“Right now.”
Chapter 19
Clea
Holy shit.
It felt like everything was coming together so quickly. In the span of hours, she had somehow grown closer to Ignis. A lot closer. When he’d been standing close to her in their room just moments before, his eyes transfixed on hers’, she’d longed for him to take her. To engulf her body with his. To rage her. Rule her. Devour her.
When he hadn’t, she’d been somewhat disappointed. But disappointment was quickly replaced by absolute fucking joy at learning about the nature of the structures beneath the Hub.
And they were going there now.
They walked down the Breeding Sector corridor, hands laced together. It was something new and different for both of them, and Clea could feel the awkwardness radiating off Ignis like ripples of heat. But he kept his hand in hers, and she loved the way his warm skin felt beneath her palm.
Ignis was still covered in scars both old and new – his body still hadn’t fully healed form the torture the insectoid had inflicted on him. But the older scars... she didn’t know why they weren’t healing.
She rang her finger over one on his hand, a jagged thing that stretched from his wrist and extended up the full length of his thumb. “Why are some of your scars healing, but others aren’t?”
Ignis looked down at the spot she was still running her fingertip over. The large Ardan shivered at her touch, making Clea smile.
“Wounds inflicted by soul weapons leave scars. They’re the only things that can kill us.”
“What is a soul weapon?”
“Do you mind if I show you?” he asked. “It is easier to understand if you behold it.”
Clea nodded.
“It will involve releasing my flames. A bit.” Ignis looked down at her, the concern clear on his face.
Clea steeled herself, then nodded again, giving the Ardan permission to bring fire before her once more.
Sissy.
Clea pushed Kyesha’s voice away. This wasn’t about her dead sister. Clea knew the Ardan would never hurt her with his flames.
Ignis stretched his hand out, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. Fire shot out of his shoulder, spreading down his arm and engulfing it.
Clea’s heartbeat sped up at the sight, but she kept her panic in check, clutching Ignis’s hand more tightly.
The Ardan squeezed her palm back. Without opening his yes, he whispered, “They will not hurt you.
Even though he couldn’t see the gesture, Clea nodded.
Ignis flexed his hand, and the flames spread out, ushered forth by a plume of smoke that solidified into a great broadsword.
Clea gasped. “It that thing made out of your flames?”
Ignis beamed down at her proudly, like a child showing off a cherished toy. But the warrior was fierce, and the weapon he held in
his hand was not child’s plaything. Its edges glittered sinisterly, and Clea shuddered to think of all the lives the weapon had taken.
“But where does it come from?” she asked.
“From me,” he said. “It is part of my soul, coming from my body as my flames do.”
“Whoa…” Clea was entranced by the sight, by the sheer and imposing might of the weapon in the warrior’s outstretched hand. But his flames were burning more brightly in his joy and pride, and they were beginning to draw the attention of the creatures around them.
Remembering the agony he’d been in for days after his interaction with Cyndar, Clea said, “Why don’t you put it away. For now.”
As if suddenly aware of the multitude of eyes on them, Ignis did as she suggested, calling his flames and the great flaming broadsword back into his body by way of his back.
When all the fire was safely secured inside the alien, Clea smiled up at him. “That was pretty impressive.”
Ignis looked down at her sheepishly. “It’s just who I am. I have no control over who I am.”
Clea thought about the way he had raged, using his flames and his fury to destroy their bedroom. She shivered. The idea of Ignis not being in control still frightened her a little. Could she love someone who felt things as strongly as he did?
She was willing to try.
As they crossed the core of the Hub, she realized the room had looked different when she came back from the Rim. She’d been so upset over knowing what Althea was going back to that she’d not even given the renovated room a second thought.
“Thank you for having the room fixed.”
“You are welcome,” said Ignis. Then, “I am truly sorry for subjecting you to such a thing… if I had known how you felt about fire… about me…”
Clea squeezed the alien’s hand. “I don’t feel that way anymore.”
Ignis gave her a puzzled look
She explained. “I’m still afraid of fire; I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. But I’m not scared of you.”