by Emma Vance
I inhaled and raised my chin. I would die trying to protect my mate today. I could wish for no other honourable death. I turned my head to Beatrice, and she met my eyes.
“I’m glad I met you, Mekvar,” she said, surprising me.
“I am responsible for your death, Beatrice.” I shook my head sadly. “You cannot be glad to know me. I have led you here.”
She cupped my face in her hands, “Don’t you see? I’d rather live my life trying to escape, than live the rest of my existence with someone else having ownership over my own body.”
She said it loud enough for the other females to hear. A smaller, dark female fell to the ground and clutched her knees, wailing. But some of the other females nodded.
“I’m with you, Bea. I’m glad we tried to escape,” the angry female with hair like golden metal springs said. Pippa, the female who had come with us to the discount house to search for Boran. Pippa had spent some time with Mal while we were here, and I saw him staring at her. He looked at her so intensely I wondered if anyone else from my crew would also mate with one of the human females. If only the rest of the Dragorian people had learned our males could mate with human females. It might have changed our fate, along with Boran’s help.
Other females murmured words of agreement.
I turned to Beatrice, wanting to tell her the words in my heart, wanting to hold her one final time and wishing I hadn’t condemned her to this end.
But I didn’t get the chance.
Another door opened, the sound echoing off the walls of the arena. The crowd jeered louder, shaking the stands.
The battle had begun.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Beatrice
I knew I was going to die. I knew it would also likely be painful. I knew it, and yet I wasn’t as devastated with fear as I thought I’d be.
Because I had Mekvar with me now, and for some reason, that made me feel safe. I know it was stupid to think that, considering he didn’t have any weapons and probably not a chance in hell of winning against a fully armed gladiator, but having him comforted me all the same. He gripped my hand hard before releasing it. He turned to face whatever was going to come rushing out from behind the drawbridge at the far end of the pit.
There was a beat of silence, and then screams.
Screams of different types of creatures melding together into a roar. High-pitched screeches like banshees, and low, violent growls.
And then, they came rushing out.
Aliens of all types, some so alarming I immediately shrank back. Some with swirling dark tusks, and fangs bigger than Mekvar. Others were smaller, with tiny, child-like faces. Like little elves, cutting through the air with their narrow statures, equipped with long swords at their side.
They were all rushing towards us, the space between us and them closing quickly. And they all had one thing we didn’t—they held weapons. Swords, mace-type things, and gnarled spears with wicked spikes coming out of the top.
And they all had the pointy ends aimed at us.
The women shrank into the centre of the circle, holding one another. Most were weeping, but I was dry-eyed and did not take my gaze away from Mekvar.
He was crouched low, muttering directions to the other males, and they all looked to him, following his lead. I didn’t want to distract him, not when fifty or so screeching aliens were rushing towards us with weapons drawn, but I wanted to show him support somehow. That he wasn’t alone. I placed my palm on his upper arm, and he turned his head slightly at my touch. Then, with his other hand he placed it atop mine and squeezed hard. I shut my eyes, which were not dry anymore, and then his touch was gone.
Roars sounded from the Dragorians and the screams of the gladiators grew closer. I could taste the tang of fear in the air. I forced my eyes open. I expected a bloodbath of Dragorians and gladiators upon the women.
Instead, it was the gladiators who were shouting, and Dragorians who managed to maneuver their weapons away from them, and turn their swords, spears and hammers on them.
Mekvar had stolen a sword from a creature that looked half lion, half shark, with small arms and a bushy mane. He expertly twisted the sword away from the tiny-armed lion and impaled him with it, not even pausing to take a breath.
Priya screamed beside me. One of the elven creatures broke through the line of Dragorians and advanced on her, a dagger in his hand.
“Oh, fuck this,” said Pippa, and she jumped on the elf thing, squashing it with her body weight. He was pinned to the ground. “Grab his knife!” She grunted as he writhed underneath her, and Hazel wrenched the dagger from his spindly blue fingers.
“I’ve got it!” Hazel cried. Pippa jumped off him and the blue elf rolled to his feet. He hissed at Hazel and lunged for the dagger in her hands. Instead of shrinking back as I expected, Hazel dove forward, screaming as she stuck the knife into the elf alien’s torso. The elf fell to the ground, his indigo body twitching.
“Holy shit, Hazel. I didn’t know you had it in you.” Pippa looked impressed.
“I do what needs to be done,” Hazel said, gripping the black stained dagger so hard her fingers turned white.
We turned our gazes back to the fray, and surprisingly, the Dragorians seemed to have the upper hand. Mekvar had slain multiple gladiators. I watched him fight now—spinning, ducking and lunging like a dancer, his large frame manipulating the space around him deftly, all the while not allowing anyone near the women behind him.
The other Dragorians fought well too, but Boran and Raitek clearly had more experience in the ring. Raitek had obviously fought in the pits before, and it showed. He laughed as he fought, looking a little insane as he drove a sword into the belly of a bearded alien with three horns on his head. Raitek didn’t even pause, just turned to kill the next gladiator, a red-skinned boar of some kind, who had lunged towards Kat. Raitek snatched the spear from the hooved alien, and twisted it into him with a roar.
Boran, in contrast, was silent, concentrated, and deadly; wielding a long spear and executing his targets with precision. His dagger flew at one of the little elf aliens, impaling it through the eye. Boran bent down to rip the spear out, to then thrust it upwards into the jaw of an alien entirely comprised of teeth and rotting flesh.
It was a bloodbath, but thankfully, we weren’t on the receiving end.
Yet.
We were winning now, but how long could that last?
The crowd was booing as gladiator after gladiator fell at the hands of the Dragorians. Finally, only one gladiator stood against us, an enormous humanoid warrior, with dark brown skin mottled and raised from scars healing and reopening. His mouth was misshapen, like it had been torn from him and he had two enormous red horns growing out of the top of his head.
Mekvar stepped forward and they fought, looking like two ancient demons from a tapestry, one about good versus evil, fierce battles, and triumphant heroes. The other gladiator was clearly a good fighter, and Mekvar lunged with his sword repeatedly while the other alien slashed it down. Their weapons clashed, and blood sprayed from their blades. Mekvar landed a hit to his face with the butt of his sword, and the gladiator’s head snapped back. The demon alien lifted his head and smiled, blue blood smeared across his lips and teeth. He let out a roar and lunged towards Mekvar, his sword aimed for Mekvar’s stomach.
I cried out. Mekvar removed the gladiator’s weapon with a smash of his sword and whipped his own blade over his head. At Mekvar’s strike, the gladiator demon’s head was severed neatly from his body and landed in the dirt.
Mekvar collapsed to his knees.
I ran to him, and threw my arms around him, burying my face into his neck. He made a soothing sound in the back of his throat, and pet my hair. He stunk, and was covered in blood and God knew what else, but I didn’t care. He was alive.
We were both still alive.
The crowd jeered and booed, throwing things into the arena. I looked out over the litter of bodies surrounding us. Amazingly, we hadn’t lost anyo
ne, though Tsanel was injured. Hazel was taking care of him, trying to bandage his leg with ripped strips of her dress.
At least we had weapons now. Mekvar was holding his thick sword in his hand so tight I could see the bulging veins along his wrist. I knew that Mekvar was in the Dragorian military, but I didn’t know he could fight like that. That he could crush an alien’s skull with his bare hands and then a few seconds later slam a giant mace into a vicious cyclops creature. He had been magnificent.
As if he knew my thoughts, he lifted a hand up to cup my face. But our relief did not last long.
Another door opened, the sound echoing off the walls of the arena.
It was the biggest door in the pit.
One so large a container ship could have fit through it. The crowd let out a cheer that shook the floor of the pit.
Then, it was silent. Even the noise of the crowd died. But nothing came rushing out.
Until there was a rumble. The sandy ground beneath us shifted. It reminded me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the water rippled as the T-rex was coming.
Another boom, and the air around us filled with dust.
“Shit,” I said to Pippa, and the girls and I moved back into a tight circle. “What the hell is coming at us now?”
More booms, and the ground vibrated so hard, dust swirled in the air, creating a cloud that obscured the entrance of the giant door. I gripped Pippa’s hand hard, and knew that whatever was waiting for us on the other side of that door would be our end. We’d survived the gladiators with skill. But something that was so big it shook the dust from the stands and caused the roaring crowd to hush in reverence—we’d never make it out alive.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Beatrice
When the dust cleared, there was something standing in the doorway. I squinted my eyes to see past all the dirt still in the air. It was a humungous, furry beast that looked weirdly like . . .
“Is that a fucking bunny?” shouted Pippa, over the sudden roar of the crowd.
It was.
A furry, white and brown spotted bunny that also happened to be the size of a Mack truck.
Pippa let out a startled laugh. “That cannot kill us, can it?”
Several other women let out sighs of relief. I stared longer at the giant bunny. It was surprisingly cute.
“Don’t they only eat lettuce?” I wondered aloud.
“What is it going to do? Sniff us to death?” Pippa gripped her stomach and doubled over, laughter overtaking her. “All this, for a bunny.” She gasped between laughs.
But the Dragorians were not amused. In fact, their faces were even grimmer than before.
“I never thought I’d see a wyndlax demon in real life,” said Mal. The Dragorian beside him shuddered and responded, “I didn’t know they truly existed. I thought it was just stories, told in the darkness, to scare young.”
Mekvar turned back to me, his face so devoid of hope I almost giggled hysterically. This could not be happening.
My fierce alien warrior was afraid of a bunny?
“I’m sorry, Beatrice. I did not know Bardoa had a wyndlax demon in his pits.” He put his hands around my shoulders. “You have my heart, my mate.”
The bunny took another shuddering step, still looking relatively harmless to me, despite its size.
I was about to say something to Mekvar, but whatever it was got stuck in my throat when the bunny emitted a wild scream.
When it opened its mouth, rows of sharp fangs appeared like serrated shark teeth.
“Okay. That’s not good.”
Mekvar frowned at me, “None of this is ‘good,’ Beatrice. Did they drug you?” He put his hands on my shoulders again, his eyes narrowed in concern. “Did Bardoa give you mind altering medication?”
“I, er, no, nothing like that. I’m sorry, but right now this creature looks like the giant version of a very harmless creature we have on Earth—minus the teeth.”
“This is no harmless creature,” he said, looking back at the bunny. “The wyndlax is the fiercest in the galaxy.”
As the bunny moved closer, I saw that instead of a fluffy bunny tail, there was a leathery rat tail with a spike on the end—sort of like a ball and chain with giant spikes.
“Okay, that’s really not good,” Pippa said behind me.
So, we had a bunny the size of a small sky-scraper, with shark teeth and a spikey ball and chain tail. Maybe I shouldn’t have felt relief at seeing it.
Hazel gripped her dagger tighter.
“Girl, you are going to accomplish fuck all with that,” said Pippa, gesturing towards the small knife.
The bunny stepped forward again. It stood on its hind legs, the paws the size of a house. It emitted another scream so piercing I had to cover my ears. Then, it lifted its furry bunny paws and popped ten of the sharpest looking claws I had ever seen.
Now we had a giant bunny with jagged fangs, a spiked tail like a wrecking ball, and claws like ten house-sized butcher’s knives.
“Okay, we are so doomed,” I said, backing up into Pippa behind me.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Pippa shouted. “We are going to get fucking slaughtered by a bunny!”
The wyndlax took another shuddering step, then another. We raced backwards with each one.
“Here!” Mekvar shouted, and ran to the other side of the arena.
“What are you doing?” I yelled, but it was already too late.
Mekvar drew its attention and the beast turned towards him, changing the course of its stride.
Tears pricked my eyes.
It was heroic, but stupid. If that thing was going to kill us all anyway it might as well do it at the same time.
Raitek picked up a spear from the dirt. While Mekvar was distracting the creature, Raitek and Boran ran around the other side of it. Mal and Tsanel joined in, running to where Mekvar was and goading the creature to run towards them.
The wyndlax looked confused at who to go for, so it stood in a circle and blinked at them all.
“Looks just as stupid as the bunnies back home,” muttered Pippa.
“Leave the poor bunnies out of this,” I responded, my eyes still pinned on Mekvar. The beast suddenly lurched towards him and Mekvar danced out of reach of its swiping claws.
That was when Raitek decided to strike. He ran forward from its left side and threw the spear directly at the creature’s heart.
And the blade struck true. It lodged itself in the bunny’s chest with such force that the wyndlax staggered back.
A cheer went up from the women.
“Take that bunny!” shouted Pippa.
The beast teetered for a moment looking as if it were going to fall over. Then it looked down, gripped the spear with its bunny claws and pulled it out.
Blood stained its dirty fur and pooled around the wound.
But it didn’t fall over. It was still very much alive. And now it was very, very angry.
It snarled, serrated teeth bared.
“Come on. Come on,” I muttered. “Die.”
The wyndlax regained its footing, and turned its whole body towards us—the group of women at the other end of the pit. The ones who had cheered so loud when it had been struck. Its red eyes were focused and merciless.
“Well, that plan didn’t work,” Pippa said, right before the mutant bunny demon emitted another shriek.
“Thanks for that insightful comment, Pippa!”
The beast stomped towards us. Mekvar, Boran, Raitek and the other Dragorians tried to stop it, distract it, deter it, but it was no use. It was singularly focused on the women.
A hand brushed my arm, and I looked down to find Hazel’s hand open and offered to me. I gripped it and met her eyes.
“I’m glad I met you, Bea,” she said so softly I could have cried. “Thank you for trying to save us.”
I nodded, tears in my eyes, then felt another hand on my other side. It was Pippa, and her strong grip enveloped mine.
“Well, of all the ways I
ever imagine dying it was not ‘being murdered by a giant bunny in a gladiator pit’ so there’s that, I guess. Always surprising, life.”
I laughed, the sound tearing out of me.
Then I tried to find Mekvar’s eyes.
He was on the other end of the pit, running towards me, still trying to change the focus of the wyndlax’s wrath, even though it was no use. I could see his eyes searching, looking for me. Our gazes met, and it was if the breath was stolen from my body. Those gold cat-like eyes. I’d never imagined I’d fall in love with someone with eyes like that.
Love. I couldn’t believe it, but it was.
I loved Mekvar.
He tried to save me, sacrifice himself for me, cared for me. No one ever had, but he did. And I didn’t even get the chance to tell him. I didn’t get the chance to have a life with him, children, anything.
Tears spilled down my face as the fanged bunny plodded towards us, claws outstretched, ready to snatch us up, tear us apart. The girls huddled closer. I wanted to close my eyes but couldn’t tear my gaze away from Mekvar. I wouldn’t. It would be the last time I ever saw him and I wanted every second.
The beast was on us now. It emitted another high-pitched scream that shook the stands. In the background the crowd cheered so raucously it almost drowned out the screams of the beast.
We gripped our hands tightly, and I stared at Mekvar one last time, mouthing the words I wanted so badly to say to him in person, but never got the chance to.
I love you.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
I don’t think he would really understand what it meant, but I didn’t care. At least he knew.
That’s when I closed my eyes.
I waited for the pain of death, the feeling of the razor-sharp claws tearing through my body. But it didn’t come.
Instead, a loud whooshing noise filled the arena. The cheering grew to near silence.
I opened my eyes.