“Why are you in these games?”
“We were ordered to join many cycles ago,” said Bladen. “Our Elders decided upon it. I had my doubts, but Axen is our squad leader, and he decided we needed to follow orders. Therefore, I entered the games alongside him.”
“You’ve mentioned Axen before,” said Grace. “You work together?”
“In a way,” said Bladen. “Axen formed the squad I’m a part of. But prior to that, I served alongside him as a guardian of your Earth’s vortex, the wormhole spaceships used to travel from this galaxy to the next and farther afield. We have known each other for a long time and trained together.”
Grace found herself relaxing more as the steady, calm tone of Bladen’s voice shifted away her fears. “It must be nice having someone you can rely on.”
“It is how Vorten warriors operate,” said Bladen. “We trust those we fight with. We need to; some of the battles we go into are complicated and our enemies strong.”
“I thought Vortens were indestructible.”
“Nobody is indestructible.” Bladen smiled at Grace. “We are hardy and we fight well, but every warrior must know his limitations. If you become too confident of your abilities, that is when you fail. You always have to be aware of weakness. It is why being part of the squad is so important; someone will make up for your weakness, and as a squad, you are stronger together.”
“It must be strange coming into a game on your own.”
“I know my warrior brothers are watching,” said Bladen. “That helps. And the Fraken usually select prey that is not particularly challenging, selecting prey that can easily be killed.”
“Have you ever hunted a human before?”
“You are my first,” said Bladen.
“Am I what you expected me to be?”
Bladen’s eyes ran over Grace. “You are... different. I have met Eloise, and she appeared calm and confident.”
“And I don’t?” Grace’s gaze hardened. She was sure of herself and her abilities, always had been, until the Fraken had ripped her away from everything that was familiar to her.
Bladen touched Grace’s arm, and she flinched away. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You don't know anything about me.” Grace felt her cheeks burning, and this time, it was not with fever.
“Of course.” Bladen’s fingers grazed along Grace’s arm. “But being in the Fraken prison cell for so long must have been difficult. I know the Fraken ways well and am aware they are not kind to their prisoners. I imagine they treated you cruelly.”
Grace swallowed the lump in her throat as memories of her time in the cell flooded over her. She’d never felt so fearful and out of control. It wasn’t how she liked things. She liked to know that when she woke each morning she had a purpose, a place to go and things to do. Being trapped in that tiny space alongside other terrified, injured women had pushed her to the edge. She wasn’t even certain if she hadn’t tipped over.
“I was captured on a mission once,” said Bladen. “I was on the planet Juno Ten. The ship I was on ran into technical difficulties and crash landed. Several of my crew members died, but I managed to get out. When I did, I was greeted by some hostile residents. They took me captive and held me for ransom.”
“I take it the ransom was paid.”
“In a way.” A small smile traced across Bladen’s lips. “Axen, Lazet, and Thunde came to the planet, destroyed the base I was being held in, and killed everyone involved in taking me.”
“That’s some ransom.” Grace’s gaze ran over Bladen’s muscles. “I guess you are a prize worth keeping.”
Bladen gave a low laugh. “Every warrior is worth keeping around.”
“Even the ones sent to kill you?”
Bladen grabbed Grace’s hand and held on tightly. She pulled back, but then stopped, seeing the seriousness in his expression.
“I cannot do this without you,” said Bladen. “I know this is strange and scary, and I understand you don’t want to trust me. And that’s good because it shows you're smart. If you’d simply taken my hand and agreed with everything I told you, I would think there was something wrong with you.”
“Humans aren’t known for being smart.” Grace felt the calluses on Bladen's palm as he continued to hold her hand. This was a warrior who trained hard to be good at what he did. “But some would say you giving me this weapon was pretty stupid.”
“Let them call me stupid,” said Bladen. “You need to know you’re safe with me. And if it takes you having your own weapon for that to happen, then so be it. I need you by my side. We have to work together. I cannot battle against you and watch out for the Fraken.”
“What will they try to do?” Grace tightened her grip on Bladen’s hand and felt him respond, yanking her closer.
“You know of the Fraken beasts?”
“Mutant animals, aren’t they?”
“Something like that,” said Bladen. “Some of the creatures have been modified, given adaptations and improvements to make them better fighting weapons. Some have been driven mad and thrown into the game in the hope they will do more damage to their prey.”
Grace shuddered and realized how tightly she was gripping Bladen’s hand. “And will we meet some of those?”
“You can be sure of it,” said Bladen.
“Any way we can avoid them?”
“If you can find a ship and get us out of here, we can leave right away.”
“I wish I could,” said Grace. “Although, I didn’t love my last journey on a spaceship.”
Bladen shook his head. “The Fraken are becoming increasingly bold with taking prey. The attack on your starship is not the first I’ve heard of. And humans are their favorite prey. It’s something the audience has demanded.”
Grace gritted her teeth. “The audience are as bad as the Fraken. Maybe even worse. If there was no desire to watch this kind of cruelty, the games would fade away.”
“Cruelty is almost everywhere,” said Bladen, “but not here. We can work as a team, and I’ll show you there is something better out there for both of us.”
Grace stared at Bladen in silence. She reached up and touched his face before trailing her fingers up to the streak of white in his hair. “How did you get this? You don’t look old enough to be going grey.”
“It’s not grey; it’s white, and it’s a family trait,” said Bladen. “Every male in the family has the same white streak of hair.”
“Does the family trait of being a killer also run in your family?”
Bladen jerked back, and a frown settled on his face. “None of us are killers. But many of us are warriors.”
Grace lowered her hand, a rumble of regret running through her for annoying Bladen. “Your family all participate in the games?”
“I am not close to my blood family,” said Bladen. “My brothers are the ones in the squad I am a part of.”
Grace chewed on her bottom lip, confusion running through her. She found she wanted to know more about Bladen but was fighting with herself to make sense of it. She still didn’t trust him, still wasn’t certain he wouldn’t attack her, but everything he’d done so far suggested he was sincere. Could this really be an opportunity to get out?
“What of your family?” asked Bladen. “You have siblings?”
Grace shook her head. “Everyone’s dead.”
“There’s no one on Earth for you?”
“I had a husband, but he died.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” said Bladen.
“So was I,” said Grace. “He’d been dead several months before I got word.”
“What work did he do?” asked Bladen.
“He was a recruiting officer, getting signups to go into battle.”
“That can be a hard job.”
“He didn’t always use the most scrupulous methods to do it,” said Grace. “He was given targets to hit, and if he didn’t make them, he had his e-credits docked. We argued over the age of some of his recruits, but
he insisted he was doing it for the both of us, so we had food and a place to stay. I didn’t sleep well at night, wondering about the poor kids he sent into battle.”
“War does strange things to people,” said Bladen.
“It did to my husband,” said Grace. “He was a good man and tried to remain good, but he struggled. He felt like he had to provide for us, but in doing so, his morals got twisted. I wasn’t always proud of what he did.”
“You still want him alive, though,” said Bladen.
“Of course,” said Grace, “but I want the old version of him, the one I met when I was training as a medic and he was coming up through the ranks. He was so full of passion back then, excited about everything. That excitement faded, and I wondered if it would ever come back. Now, I won’t ever know.”
“You must miss him.”
Grace inspected the dirt under her fingernails. She wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Part of her did miss her husband, but it felt like such a long time ago. He’d been dead over a year, and memories of their time together were already fragmenting. They’d grown apart before he died, and Grace had thought on several occasions that it was time for them to part.
“I understand if it’s too difficult to talk about,” said Bladen. “We don’t have partners like you do, but I understand emotional attachment.”
Grace shook her head, not even certain why she was talking about her dead husband to Bladen. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago, and things have moved on since then. I miss the man I once knew, but not the one I lost.”
“There will be time for you to find another husband,” said Bladen. “You are young and attractive. Once we get free from here, you’ll need to set yourself up with a new identity, find a new home, but after that, you will be free to love again.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Grace couldn't mask the bitterness in her voice. Like any of that was going to happen.
“What about children?” asked Bladen.
“No kids,” said Grace. “I doubt I’m fertile.”
“You never know.” Bladen raised his hand to Grace’s cheek and brushed his thumb along it. As he moved it away from her face, she was surprised to see it was wet with her tears.
She scrubbed the back of her hand across her cheeks.
“There’s plenty of time for children,” said Bladen.
“Not if I don’t want any.” Grace glared at Bladen. “And it’s none of your business, anyway.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean to pry.” A look of concern crossed Bladen’s face, enraging Grace further.
“You know nothing about me,” said Grace, realizing tears were still falling from her eyes and hating herself for showing weakness.
“I feel like I’m learning,” said Bladen.
Grace shook her head. “This is a mistake. All of this is a mistake. What am I even doing here with you?”
“Grace, you need to relax.” Bladen raised his hands. “I know this is a lot to take in. Get some sleep. In the morning, things might look better.”
Grace struggled to her feet, confusion making her dizzy as she tried to figure out what she needed to do. Her lungs were sore, and her throat ached.
“Grace.” Bladen touched her arm, and she spun around and stabbed the blade she held into his stomach.
Bladen staggered backwards, his hand over the wound.
Grace let out a strangled cry, turned and fled into the night.
***
Bladen hissed out air as he watched Grace flee from him. He should have known it was going too well, should have kept a watch out for the signs she was panicking and it was all too much for her. He’d seen how fragile Grace’s mind was the first time they’d met, and he'd been a fool to think she would come around so easily.
He lifted his hand from the wound on his stomach. It wasn’t deep, barely a flesh wound, and his skin was tough enough to survive a poorly aimed stab from a throwing blade, despite how sharp he kept them.
Bladen bent down and picked up the blade Grace had dropped. A trickle of sadness ran through him. Not because he’d failed to win her around, but he was sad for her loss. She’d experienced so much tragedy in such a short time. Losing her entire family, losing her husband, and having to spend her days patching up the wounded, who were forced into fighting a war they didn’t understand. He wanted to help Grace but wasn’t sure how he’d be able to. She was too broken, too world weary.
Her beauty and bravery played on his mind. How could anyone survive so much pain? Bladen's hands went to the weapons around his chest, and he grimaced. He’d experienced plenty of blood soaked encounters when fighting and even woke at night, sure his hands were dripping with the blood of his enemies. Change was overdue, and he wanted to make sure he was successful in this game.
A rare feeling of uncertainty washed over Bladen. He wished there was a way he could speak with Axen, get advice on what to do next. Grace was damaged, possibly too damaged to be saved. Perhaps he should abandon her. If he could find a comms link and activate it, he could send a message to Axen. It would be dangerous to take someone so messed up out of the game. Grace could ruin the bigger plans Axen had if she was allowed to join them.
Bladen shook his head as he washed the blood from the wound on his stomach and then ran a Healing Stick over it several times. Should he abandon her? Would it be better for the squad if he did so?
Bladen stared into the dark, his thoughts muddled. It was not a feeling he was used to, and he didn’t like it. Axen wanted the human kept alive, but would it be kinder to end her suffering now? How could anyone who’d been so damaged by the Fraken ever recover?
There had been a moment, when he’d thought he’d seen something shift in Grace’s gaze. He’d been sure he’d seen understanding on her face and thought he’d been getting through. But that had passed, and Bladen realized this fragile female could not be saved.
If Bladen left Grace in this game, he’d be going against Axen’s orders. But better to leave her here and not risk Axen’s entire mission than get her out only to discover she was truly mad and might destroy Axen’s plans.
Bladen took several strides into the darkness and halted. There was the faint sound of fast movement, many legs moving in a coordinated approach. It was too fast to be Grace, and the skittering sound was similar to that of a fast-moving insect.
Bladen pulled a long thin blade from his weapons belt and inhaled deeply, trying to get a scent of whatever was moving. It wasn’t close, and it was only due to his enhanced hearing that he’d been able to detect any sound.
He continued forward, his senses on high alert as he looked out for a possible attack. He was surprised the Fraken had left him alone in the game with Grace for this long. They were already suspicious of his motives and loyalty, and he’d been deliberately eluding them. He’d expected to be shocked by the collar, by now, at the very least.
A high-pitched, terrified scream slashed through the darkness, and Bladen sprang into action, sprinting towards the sound. It was Grace, and she was in trouble.
Chapter 8
Grace scrambled backwards, scrubbing a hand over her eyes in disbelief at what she saw. In front of her was a giant salivating spider, standing over eight feet tall, with legs twice as long as Grace’s and thick wiry hair on its body. A huge set of serrated fangs ran freely with stringy saliva.
Her heart pounded so fast it made her head ache. She took several steps back, and the spider matched her movements.
Grace was torn between freezing and running. The spider’s enormous, shiny black eyes lasered onto her. One of the eyes was smaller and duller and, as Grace studied the beast, she saw the dull eye rotate in its head. It must be some sort of camera and was monitoring not only her but also her surroundings.
The thought of the Fraken discovering her whereabouts made her feel sick, especially since she’d dropped the blade she’d stabbed Bladen with. She had nothing to defend herself with. But even if she did, she wouldn’t stand a chance against such a monstrous
beast.
The creature scuttled forward on its enormous legs, and terror throbbed through Grace’s veins. She turned and fled into the darkness.
She could hear the spider sliding across the sand towards her, but she kept going, trying to increase the distance between them and get away.
Sticky string latched onto Grace’s face and she yanked it off with a yelp of disgust. She took a few more steps and realized she was surrounded by this string. Horror gripped her stomach as she realized it wasn’t string; it was the spider’s web, and she’d run straight into it. The spider had herded her straight into a trap.
Grace twisted and bucked, trying to break through the web, but only found herself encased in sticky fibrous webbing. It burned her skin and felt as if acid were dripping onto her flesh every time a new piece of webbing attached itself to her in her frantic struggles.
She turned her head as she heard the spider approaching and saw it only a few feet away. It snapped its giant jaws at her several times and scuttled closer, the electronic eye in its head continuing to survey the scene and show the audience what was about to happen.
Grace gave a frustrated scream and kicked out, but her legs were too tightly bound in the webbing, and she could barely move any of her limbs. Her flesh was on fire, and her breathing became labored.
She strained her muscles and managed to twist around to see how close the spider was, look it in the eye as it prepared to bite.
Just as she did so, Bladen emerged from the darkness, a flash of metal in one hand as he struck the back legs of the spider.
The spider reared up, jumping around with surprising agility, and launched itself at Bladen, who slashed repeatedly at the beast’s legs, driving it away from Grace.
Grace felt a hot splash of spider’s blood land on her face, and instantly, the burning intensified. The whole thing was full of poison.
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