Deep scars covered the mandulu’s fat face. It scowled, pushing its broken horns up over its top lip. Two angry red tracks ran where its horns had cut into its thick skin again and again. He obviously frowned a lot.
After he’d laughed at the creature’s show of aggression, Seb said, “Okay, let me humour your sour mood a little, then, yeah?”
The mandulu didn’t reply, its frown deepening.
“I’m human. So, what, that makes me responsible for all the actions of my species? I belong to a greedy, paranoid, self-destructive, warmongering race, so I must be greedy, paranoid, self-destructive, and warmongering myself, right?”
Again, the mandulu said nothing.
“I’ve met some pretty vile mandulus in my time. Actually, all of them have been horrible.” To think of Gurt made Seb smile. If the brute could hear him now. “Even the ones I liked were nasty. So does that mean I should judge you because of my experience?”
Before the mandulu could respond, Seb said, “Actually, don’t answer that. I suppose it does and I suppose I already have.”
The mandulu getting to his feet stirred up the creatures in the cell. He stepped forward a pace, as did all the others.
Seb took in the crowd again. Some of them, like the brown, leathery beast, stood much taller than he did. Some were only half his height or less. All of them had the scars and bruises to show they’d probably earned their spot in that cell. Not that he had that much faith in the justice system on Aloo. One thing seemed certain; they all looked like they’d fight if they needed to.
Despite his cocksure approach, sweat lifted beneath Seb’s collar and his throat dried. He’d take on any one of the creatures on their own … but all of them at the same time … Little point in thinking about it. He could hardly back down now.
Although none of the creatures moved any closer than their first step, their reluctance appeared to have little to do with fear. They seemed to be waiting for the nod from the mandulu.
“What’s the key to your happiness?” Seb said to the large broken-horned beast. When he didn’t respond, he added, “I can see the joy you’re clearly living with and I’d like some for myself. Come on, big man, don’t hold out on me.”
The mandulu frowned harder still, almost hiding his features in a mass of wrinkles. Seb looked at some of the other creatures in the space—the one with the cat eyes, another three mandulus, a creature that looked like Bruke but hairy—and he saw they all leaned towards him. They all wore the same furious scowl, and they all looked like they were desperate to take a swing at him. They just needed the word from their leader.
“You need to learn when to shut up,” the mandulu finally said.
A frantic nod and Seb laughed. “You’ve got me. That’s exactly what I need to learn to do. I’m a nightmare. I’ve been like it since childhood. Whenever I get backed into a corner, I start mouthing off.” His own pulse ran so hard through him it damn near deafened him, but he kept going. “But you know what? I always win, so it’s hard to learn the lessons. I’ll tell you what”—he stepped towards the beast with his arms wide—“how about we hug it out? Bygones and all that.”
All the beings in the cell snapped into defensive stances. Seb’s movement must have startled them. It wound the atmosphere so tight he could almost feel the air crackle. It could go one of two ways. Maybe he could front it out. Maybe they’d beat him to death. Still, it had to be better than getting infected with one of those damn parasites.
The edges of Seb’s world blurred, his gift threatening to take him over. He drew deep breaths to ride it out for as long as possible. Regardless of what his dad had said, sometimes you had to fight. When you had just one path in front of you, you had to take it.
Two clenched fists, the cold spread of the steel running through the backs of his hands, and Seb snapped his head from side to side to loosen his neck up. He’d fight them and they needed to see that.
Although Seb stared at the mandulu on the other side of the cell, he’d have to get through the others first.
A tight jaw and Seb looked at the large brute with the cat eyes. Its chin stood out to him, daring him to punch it. One whack and it would go down. One whack would probably knock it clean off its face.
The snap of the lock on the cell door startled Seb. He spun around with his fists raised, expecting to see an attack from one of the other prisoners. When he saw the others look the same way, he lowered his guard before the door opened.
Although most of the inmates looked at the cell door, Seb saw the beast with the cat eyes and the mandulu in the corner hadn’t. They both continued to glare straight at him.
The creatures close to the door backed away as three guards entered. Different than the ones who’d led Seb over there, yet they all held electric prods.
One of the prisoners looked to be carrying a leg injury. It shuffled to get out of the way, but it moved much slower than the others. One of the guards helped its retreat by prodding it. A loud crackle and the beast got flung into the wall in front of it. It spasmed as it lay on the ground, and all the other beings moved away from the guards quicker than before.
Once they’d cleared a space, their electric poles facing outwards at the prisoners, a fourth guard came in. He walked into the area they’d cleared and placed a bucket of swill on the floor in the middle of the room. He then pulled a stack of plates from a pouch in his dirty apron and placed them down next to it.
No more than seven plates, Seb looked at the creatures gathered there. Something would have to give when they tried to eat. Another glance at the mandulu in the corner and Seb saw the beast continued to stare at him. Something would have to give.
Chapter 6
The first one to approach the food left by the guards, Seb felt the stares from every being in the cell. The only sounds were his footsteps as he walked towards it. He didn’t look at the others; he chose to focus on the slop in the pot instead. He picked up one of the limited plates available and moved towards the bucket of swill. Somewhere halfway between brown and green, the liquid looked like sick. But he had to eat first. An alpha display, it would keep the other prisoners off his back.
The room seemed to collectively hold its breath as Seb leaned down to spoon the swill onto his plate. Before he could grab the utensil, the mandulu broke the near silence.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Seb took his time, milking the attention as he stood up and stared at the creature on the bed. He finally said, “If you were me, you wouldn’t be bothering me at all. You’d realise the grave mistake you were about to make and you’d keep your fat mouth shut.”
Instead of replying, the mandulu got to his feet and Seb’s world slipped into slow motion. It had to happen sooner or later. Better to initiate it than get sucker-punched when he lowered his guard.
The mandulu’s actions sparked the large creature with the yellow cat eyes. It rushed at Seb first, coming at him in his left periphery.
Before it could get close, Seb threw his newly acquired plate at the beast. It spun through the air, and because he watched it in slow motion, he saw the brute’s nose sink from where the rotating projectile impacted it. Not a definitive blow by any stretch, but it did enough to stun the creature, who blinked several times and shook its head.
The creature wiped its face and checked for blood. Seb took his opportunity and backed into the corner of the room again, leaning against the walls so they could only come at him from the front.
The cat-eyed creature rushed forward for a second time, the hard cell floor vibrating with its heavy steps. It had both of its large fists clenched.
A bone china chin, Seb lunged forward to meet it. He threw a cross with his metal right fist and caught it square on its weak spot.
It had been the first time he’d punched living flesh with his new fists. The creature’s face buckled beneath his strike with a loud crack. In the short moment of contact, it felt like he’d turned the brute’s chin to powder. Had the beast not
fallen backwards, out cold, it would undoubtedly be screaming.
“Damn,” Seb muttered to himself as he looked at his next attacker, his hands tingling with the desire to heal the one he’d just dropped. He had to learn to use his punches with a little more restraint.
The next creature looked similar to Bruke, but instead of green scales, it had a body covered in brown fur. A broad chest and thick arms like his friend, the beast could clearly punch when it needed to.
At first, Seb didn’t see the creature’s weak spot. It swung for him and he ducked. When he dropped level with its knees, he saw where he needed to hit.
Seb drove both fists forward together. Each one cracked against a kneecap. A pop ran through the space and he felt the snaps in response to his blows. He had shattered both patellas.
The creature crumpled in front of Seb, screaming as it reached down for its knees before pulling itself into the foetal position. At least he hadn’t killed it. The buzzing desire to heal grew stronger in his palms.
Three mandulus rushed Seb next. They must have been the king of the cell’s personal guard. They came forward as one, their heavy steps running a vibration through the hard floor like the cat-eyed creature had.
Like every mandulu Seb had ever met, they had large and weak chins, and he could see their punches coming from a mile away. He’d never understood how they considered themselves a warrior race.
A three-step dance to avoid each of their blows and Seb dropped one after the other in quick succession. He punched hard enough to crack jaws, but not so hard he’d kill them. No one needed to die to learn a lesson; at least, he hoped they didn’t.
The pile of bodies mounted, yet seven more creatures rushed him. None of them seemed to learn from the lessons he’d already handed out. The seven looked to be some kind of crew, used to fighting together. Mismatched, they came at him at all heights. Two of them had wings and flew at him; three were so small they went for his shins.
Kicks to each of the little ones sent them all flying away. Seb ducked the fliers and knocked out the other two coming at him at his level. Again he showed restraint, punching one in the shoulder—clearly shattering its bones—and driving an open palm into the sternum of the other. Both fell down and didn’t look like they’d get back up again.
With five down and the two flying, bat-like creatures buzzing around his head, Seb grabbed both of their legs and launched them into the far wall of the cell. They both hit it and slid down it like wet sponges.
Half of the cell defeated, Seb panted for breath as he waited for the next attack. None came.
Seb stared at the mandulu and the mandulu stared back at him.
The mandulu then rushed forward.
Only wanting to teach it a lesson, Seb stepped into the middle of the cell to meet it. He hit it across the chin with an open-palmed slap. The crack of his blow rang through the space and stung his palm. Better to go backhanded next time, he had no feeling there.
The fat-chinned brute fell away from the blow and landed limp on the hard ground like the others had.
After he’d watched it for a few seconds, Seb spun on the spot to take in the rest of the beings in the cell. “Anyone else want a go?”
Every creature he stared at looked away. He’d made his point.
At least he thought he had.
When Seb looked at a small grey creature no taller than about three feet and with long black hair, he saw it stare back at him. Before he could ask what it was looking at, the small being nodded behind him.
Seb spun around to find the mandulu back on its feet. It had its fists clenched, and before he could react, the creature swung for him.
After ducking its blow, Seb came up behind it and grabbed the back of its collar. Although he could have shattered its chin with one punch—and maybe he should have, he pushed on the back of the mandulu’s fat head and forced it down towards the metal toilet in the middle of the cell.
A loud clang responded to the beast’s face hitting the chrome bowl. The smell of countless creatures’ shit wafted up from the dented toilet. Brown sludge exploded from it and coated the mandulu’s face. The large brute fell away from the impact and lay limp on the ground.
Seb stood over it for a second, shoving its face with his foot. Definitely unconscious this time.
Silence swept around the place as Seb leaned down, picked up a plate, and spooned some of the slop onto it. He looked at the creature with the long black hair and winked. Pretty sure no one saw it, he stayed away from it so it didn’t get into trouble with its peers. Snitches got stitches.
Seb walked over to the bed the mandulu had occupied and sat down on it. For a second, he watched the other beings, waiting for a challenge to him. When none came, he relaxed a little.
The rancid smell of curdled milk sat on Seb’s spoon when he raised it to his lips. That should have been enough to warn him off, but he still poked his tongue out and dipped it into the slop.
The bitter tang lit up his taste buds like battery acid, sending a spasm through his tongue and forcing the muscles in his face to twist at the sharp kick. He threw the plate away from him. It hit the unconscious mandulu, the brownish, greenish swill mixing with the fecal matter it currently had on its face. Hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
The silence in the cell remained as the creatures formed an orderly queue to get their food. Incarceration had clearly trained their stomachs to tolerate it.
Chapter 7
An hour had passed, maybe two. During that time, Seb remained on the soiled mattress of the mangy bed in the corner of the cell. Springs poked into him wherever he distributed his weight and he itched all over. The bedbugs could have been a figment of his imagination, but figment or not, he itched all the same.
In any other situation, Seb would have moved away from the rotten bed. But to do that could concede his dominance in the space. Most of the beings he’d knocked out still lay on the cell floor. One of the two bat-like things had recovered, but other than that, they all remained unconscious. But beings could forget their place quickly, and one of them might get brave after they’d recovered. If they sensed weakness, they’d be on it in a flash. It definitely ruled out healing any of the creatures too, his hands itching with the desire to help them now he’d knocked them out.
At present, all the other beings in the cell remained relatively quiet. Other than breathing, flatulence, and a whole host of alien sounds that signalled rest for the different species, they said nothing.
Seb looked across at the small grey creature with the long hair. Would he have come a cropper if it hadn’t given him a heads-up? Hard to tell, but it certainly helped to be warned about the mandulu behind him. Not that he could thank the creature more than he had already; he didn’t want to make it a target for the others.
The slap of thick, leathery wings cut through the restless quiet in the cell. A look over to the corner of the room and Seb saw the other bat creature struggling to pull itself upright. It twisted and turned as if intoxicated.
When it opened its eyes, groggy at first, a confused frown dominated its dark grey face. Then it saw Seb and its eyes flew wide. The creature shifted backwards. It hit the wall and continued to press into it, its little clawed feet scraping against the cell’s hard floor, sending a scratching sound around the space.
“Remember,” Seb said as he watched the beast panic, his words pulling the attention of every creature in the room onto him, “you attacked me. I have no beef with you. As long as you don’t come at me again, you won’t get hurt.”
The creature blinked several times. Its small chest rose and fell with its quick breaths. It finally settled down and nodded at him, although it still viewed him through narrowed and suspicious eyes.
Before Seb could say anything else, a sharp crack ripped through the room. When he turned to look at the cell’s door, he noticed everyone else do the same.
A beast of a creature, Moses filled the doorway and glared at Seb. Many of the beings c
lose to the leader of the Shadow Order shifted away from him.
For a second, Seb stared at Moses and said nothing.
“Don’t make me ask you to come over,” Moses said.
Seb still didn’t move. “I can hear you from here.”
The usual moment of silence followed in reaction to Seb saying something that displeased him. His jaw already wide, Moses clenched and unclenched it, the sides of his face thickening and relaxing with the action. It looked like he imagined chewing through Seb at that moment. Lustful hunger sat in his dark glare. Those jaws would probably make light work of a human body. Not that Seb would ever give him the chance.
A look down at the unconscious prisoners and Moses shook his head with a sigh. “Making yourself at home, then, I see?”
“Yep.” Seb grinned. “I’m quite enjoying it in here.” As he moved on the bed, a series of springs jabbed into him and he did his best to hide his discomfort.
“So you want to stay here permanently?”
Seb couldn’t help but smile to see some of the prisoners tense at Moses’ suggestion. They didn’t want him there; it meant they’d have to keep a lid on themselves and stop behaving like morons. “It seems like the best option available to me at the moment.”
A glance down at the mandulu Seb had knocked out against the toilet and Moses ruffled his large snout. “You like the smell in here? And the food?”
Now he’d spent a small amount of time in the cell, he couldn’t smell it anymore. The food, on the other hand … his stomach tensed to think of the rancid taste. “I know what you’re doing.”
A cocked eyebrow and nothing more. Moses continued to watch him.
“You’re trying to make it as bad as you can for me in here so I do what you want me to do. But you forget, I’ve seen that footage you showed us. Things would have to be a whole lot worse in here for me to go there.”
A shrug of his broad shoulders and Moses said, “Okay.”
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 63