by Ella Maven
“Run!” Fenix hollered after me, and I stumbled when I heard a meaty smack following his command.
Footsteps pounded behind me, but I kept running, pumping my arms as fast as I could as I sped through the cargo ship.
The Rogastix could have beat me in a flat foot race, but I was more agile, taking tight turns in the cargo hallways. As I neared the back of the cargo ship, I could just barely see a light and feel… air. Fresher air than what we had in the ship at least.
“She’s heading for the off-ramp!” Someone shouted behind me.
Maybe I could do this—get off this damn ship and then find someone, anyone who could help me save Fenix. I was his only hope.
Gasping at the wave of heated air, I tore down the ramp only to stop short at what lay before me. We were indeed docked on a new planet, but we were… underground. Before me lay a giant cave, lit by glowing orbs. Orderly rows of armored soldiers formed a square below, and standing on the metal grate of the dock, blocking my access to the cave below, was a line of at least a dozen helmeted guards, each dressed in thick chainmail that stretched over their massive chests and thick thighs.
I was trapped. If I went backward—I’d rejoin the ship with Hirtz and crew. But if I went forward… well, it didn’t look like I was going to get very far. I took another step forward just as voices shouted behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Hirtz, blade in hand, hurtling out of the ship, followed by his crew and a still-fighting Fenix.
When Hirtz saw the guards, he stopped so abruptly, he nearly fell over. So did the rest of the crew, and Fenix finally shook them off until he stood proudly despite the chains limiting his mobility. His body shook slightly, and his eyes were dull. He was in pain, and that made me want to grab Hirtz’s blade and shove it through his measly chest.
“Weapons stay on the ship.” The words came from a pair of feminine-sounding voices in perfect unison. The soldiers in front of me parted in the center and two creatures emerged. Tall and willowy, their skin glowed a light blue and their white hair sparkled as if covered in glitter.
A long skirt blew around their hooved feet, and they were topless—four large breasts swayed as they walked. They moved in perfect tandem with each other, and as they drew closer, I noticed their right and left hand were connected at the wrist and they shared that one three-fingered hand—like Siamese twins. Jewelry covered their bodies, from curling breast adornments to dozens of clinking bracelets. A massive glowing opal-like jewel hung from their necks.
“Sorry, Your Glazistries,” Hirtz muttered, tossing his blade behind him on the off-ramp of the ship. “I was forgetful.”
They ignored him and drew closer to me. I took a step back, eyeing them warily. Their eyes were very large and bulbous, so they stood out in their otherwise flat faces. They had no lips, just a mouth, and slits in their necks fluttered, which made me think those were for their breathing.
“Is she an ugly human or a pretty one?” They asked while surveying me like I was a piece of furniture.
“I am not sure,” Hirtz said with a small bow. “I would think she’s a little on the thin side.”
I wanted to snap at him that I’d been living on dried fruits in a spacecraft duct system for four days, but instead I ignored him.
“I expected more…” they waved their non-connected arms. “Just more.”
Seriously? What did they want me to do? I glared, but they didn’t seem phased. Their eyes drifted to Fenix, and suddenly they let out a shriek that sounded like a dog whistle. I grimaced and covered my ears. Clopping on hooves, they rushed past me to Fenix. As soon as they reached him, they began to caress his chest with their hands. He let out a wounded cry that pierced me. I swore I could feel the echo of his pain in my own body.
“This is who we want,” they cooed, fingering his hair and stroking his horns in a suggestive manor that made me nauseous.
While he sought to avoid their touch despite being hobbled by chains, I ignored Hirtz and the rest of the Rogastix and shoved myself between Fenix and the blue females. I bared my teeth, which wasn’t very effective as I didn’t have wicked fangs, but it was the only thing I could think of to show my displeasure.
Behind me, Fenix panted, bent double. His eye was cut, but healing fast, and his whole body shuddered, causing the chains to rattle ominously.
The women raised their joined hand as their eyes glowed a fierce red. “How dare you!” Bracing for the strike, I covered my face with my arms.
But the blow never came. I heard a smack and peeked through my arms to find Fenix’s fingers wrapped around their joined wrist.
“Don’t touch her,” he growled and shoved.
They stumbled back a step, mouth morphing into a black hole. Inhaling deeply, they leaned forward before emitting a scream like a million screeching birds. I covered my ears, head dizzy with the sound, as I collapsed to my knees. From their mouths wafted a gray smoke that began to form an image in front of me.
The image shifted, moving like a video, and it was a shot of me running. As the scream went on, I stared in horror as I was able to see who I was running toward—Fenix. He lay still and lifeless, and when I reached him, his eyes stared sightlessly at the sky. Throwing myself at his side, I picked up his head, crying and weeping, but he didn’t wake. He didn’t move. His heart was silent.
I opened my mouth to scream just as a hand passed through the smoke, breaking it into wisps of nothing just as the screams stopped. My ears rang, and I collapsed onto all fours as the image haunted me.
Fenix knelt at my side, rubbing the back of my neck. “Are you okay?”
I swallowed around my dry throat and gazed at him helplessly.
“They are glazers.” He rubbed at my sweat-damp forehead. “With their smoke, they show you your worst fear, but only you can see it.”
My worst fear was Fenix dying. I reached for him and he pulled me to his feet.
“You want me?” Fenix asked the glazers in a hoarse voice.
“Yes,” the women said, still glaring at me.
“Then don’t hurt her, and you can have me.” I squeezed him tightly as I shook my head, but he ignored me. “She remains alive and unharmed. And you can have me.”
The women turned their heads in unison and looked at each other before once again facing Fenix. “Done.”
“What about our payment?” Hirtz spoke up. The women turned assessing eyes on him. He managed a grin and ran a hand over his bald head.
“You brought a weapon onto our dock,” they said with a chin tilt.
Hirtz’s face drained of color. “Wait, but—”
They lifted their joined hand and inhaled deeply. I braced for another scream, but this time, no sound came out. They continued to inhale, way past the point of normal human lung capacity. Suddenly, orange cracks began to appear in fissures on Hirtz’s skin.
He held his hands in front of him, shaking his head as he began to gasp in a panicked, “No, no please!”
All around us, the soldiers rushed forward, slaying every Rogastix crew member with vicious stabs of their spears. But Hirtz… he seemed to burn in front of our eyes, and the glazers inhaled the smoke through the slits in their necks.
Hirtz’s hands went first, dissolving into smoky ash. His screams came next, screeches of pain and terror that horrified me to my core. I shivered against Fenix, who tucked my face against his chest. When the screams stopped, I finally lifted my head to find no trace of Hirtz. Not even a flake of ash.
The glazers fluttered their neck slits. “He was not fresh,” they said as they gazed around at the bodies of the fallen Rogastix. Then they pointed their joined hand at me. “Take her away.”
As the armored guards dragged me from Fenix, all I could hope was that the smoke image was only my imagination, and not a look into my future.
While Fenix and the Rogastix remained behind on the dock, I was led down a flight of deep stairs to the cave below. The ground was spongey beneath my feet and where I walked, little holes spouted sma
ll puffs of gray spores.
The air smelled musty, and I tried not to inhale too deeply, terrified the spores were poisonous or bad for my health. The armored soldiers didn’t touch me, but they formed a solid circle around me, preventing me from running away. Through a small crack in the bodies, I saw the large squad of soldiers part to reveal a path leading to a series of barred alcoves in the cave wall. I balked immediately, the bars reminding me of cramped days in a cage peeing in a bucket, but a hand shoved at my back, forcing me forward.
I swallowed, tears slipping down my cheeks. Glancing over my shoulder, I could only see a small blur of blue descending the steps. The faint rattle of chains reached my ears.
“Please unchain him,” I mouthed. I couldn’t stand to see my proud Fenix in chains. Already I missed him. His smile. His husky laugh. The reverent way he touched me with his bare, scarred hands. The warmth of his breath on my neck and the way he filled me.
I could still feel the echo of him inside my body. The press of his lips. I touched mine with shaking hands. How would I find him again? How long would they keep me alive but separated?
The glowing orbs lighting the cavern appeared to be some sort of flower, as the stamen shone through translucent petals. Other than the soldiers, there were no … people. Who lived here? How did they grow food? What was the planet surface like? Where the fuck were we?
A few soldiers fell away until only four walked with me—two at my front and two at my back. They led me up a set of narrow stairs carved into the stone wall. I couldn’t run back or forward, and if I ran off the side, I’d fall to my death.
Up and up, we traveled, occasionally passing a few barred alcoves where every once in a while, I caught the glimpse of glowing eyes or scuttling movement. Terrified of what was in the alcoves, I kept my hands clasped in front of me and my eyes downward to watch my step.
Finally, they stopped in front of an alcove. The soldiers in front opened the barred door and shoved me inside. I stumbled, managing to stay on my feet before whirling around. The doors were already closing. The click of the lock felt like a death knell. “Please,” I managed to whisper as I ran to the bars and wrapped my fingers around them.
“Two meals every sunrise,” the one said, before turning and walking away. And that was it. I could no longer see Fenix, or the glazers. The soldiers below marched to the side, and I watched as they entered some sort of lift in the side of the cavern. When the door closed, a mechanical sound filled the large space. The sound seemed to travel up and up until there remained only a dull vibration which eventually stopped. Had they traveled to the surface? Another level?
I tapped my forehead against the bars of my cell before turning around to take in my new living quarters for… well, maybe forever. For a cave cell, it could have been worse, I surmised. There was actually some sort of toilet which reminded me of a port-a-potty. I didn’t want to know where the waste was collected… Somewhere far below me, I hoped.
The walls and floor were covered with smooth tiles that were warm to the touch. A chest along one wall held what looked like clothes—I picked them out, horrified to find there were dresses, about my size, made in a sheer white material. Deciding to pretend they didn’t exist, I shoved them back into the chest. Along the back wall was the bed— a pad covered in decent furs.
I wondered why this cave seemed outfitted like this. I expected nothing… not even a bucket. But this provided a moderate amount of comfort. There was even a small bin full of a thick drink and a packet of something I assumed to be food. Despite my growling stomach, I didn’t eat, as I wasn’t sure what the jelly was. I didn’t want diarrhea in alien jail.
I collapsed on the bed, weary down to my bones. Covering myself with the fur, I closed my eyes and let fatigue take over. I’d figure out how to get out of this mess tomorrow. Today, I was going to sleep, and pretend Fenix and I were together.
Thirteen
Fenix
I knew very little about glazers, and the only reason I had heard of them was because I’d overheard some Pliken guards talking about them while I was waiting to steal their blades.
They were a secluded species who fiercely protected their planet. The surface of Viprix 2 was chaotic—frequent storms battered the land with wicked winds which could blow your hair off your scalp, lightning that could strike you dead on the spot, and massive waves that knocked over anything in their path. During a short time every year, the storms would abate so the inhabitants could visit the surface to collect whatever resources they could find.
So mostly, the glazers lived in large underground caverns. Their skin and eyes had adapted to the low light. The female glazers who currently walked ahead of me were the Glazestry, the title given to the ruling pair of the planet. Only a few connected twins were born every generation, and those competed in various tests until one pair remained standing.
I couldn’t understand why they’d requested to buy a human or why they were so interested in me. Right now, Jennie was locked behind bars—again—and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I hadn’t wanted to show my affection toward her, as I knew they’d use her against me, but I had been concerned they’d kill her on the spot. I had to make peace until I figured out a way to free her and get the fleck off this planet.
As the doors of the lift closed, I gazed across the cavern at the Pliken cargo ship, where Hirtz and his crew had met their end. I wondered what they planned to do with it, because as long as it stood there, I had hope it could take me away from here.
The doors closed and with a squad of soldiers and the Glazestry, we rose up. My skin itched and burned, the pain intensifying with every moment. Time felt like it was slipping away, and time was something I didn’t have. Without Kixx, or Jennie’s touch, it was only a matter of time before I lost myself to the fractured mind of my pain. And if that happened? There was no hope I’d get us out of here.
I let out a breath as the lift came to a stop. The doors opened, and the soldiers marched out with me in the midst.
We were still underground, but this level was like a whole other planet. My boots clomped on a hard flooring that coated the floor, sides, and ceiling, and contoured with the angles of the dug-out cavern. Most of the soldiers paired off to march down a hallway, while six remained behind, two in front of me, one at each side, and two behind me, while we followed the Glazistries.
Ornate carvings of nude glazers lined the hall, while colorful tapestries hung on the walls. Everything felt decadent in a way I hadn’t seen since I’d been in the home of an Uldani elite. Young glazers standing at attention along the walls came to life at the sight of their royalty, rushing forward with trays of food, which the Glazistries waved off.
And everywhere I looked, bulbous eyes stared at me. I might have been blue as well, but my tones were varied. I wore black gloves with my chest bare, and my orange hair was like a spotlight to the glazers. Many crept out from narrow hallways, wearing elaborate clothing, dyed in complicated patterns and bejeweled. Where did they get this wealth on this isolated planet with few resources?
Finally, the cavern narrowed into a hallway, and at the end were large doors, stretching high above me. They opened as we approached, and the Glazistries walked inside. The soldiers around me stopped, forcing me to do the same.
“Should we enter, your Glazistries?” said one of the soldiers.
“No, we’ll be fine alone with the Drixonian,” they said, accepting full glasses of red liquid from a servant. “He won’t do anything to harm the human, and if anything happens to us, you are ordered to kill her. Slowly.”
I bristled, and the Glazistries saw it. I had never been good with covering my emotions, a trait Mikko found amusing. Right now, I wished I’d been Zecri, who rarely let slip even one indication of his feelings.
“See?” The Glazistries laughed. I hated the sound, like the smashing of pottery.
The soldiers bowed and left, while the servants remained at the open door.
“Come,” said the Glazistries
. “We will talk.”
I stepped inside, and the doors closed behind me with a solid thunk. The ceiling of the room stretched high above me, and the contents were plush. A large platform piled high with furs and other soft accessories. Large glowing orbs simulated windows, and the fur of an euphontain, an animal now believed to be extinct, covered the floor below a wide sitting bench.
I knew they wanted me to be impressed. Their expressions seemed smug and hopeful. I didn’t give a fleck about their stupid rare furs. “Will you feed the female? I told you she must be unharmed.”
They sipped their spirits at the same time and smiled at me. “Your concern is touching. As long as you remain obedient, she will be fed and unharmed.”
“I’ll need proof. You’ll have to let me see her.”
The cocked their heads. “You have affection for the female?” I remained silent, choosing instead to glare. They rested on the sitting bench and crossed their legs before beckoning to a servant with their joined hand. “Unchain him.”
I waited patiently while a servant, a small female, cut through my chains with shaking hands. As soon as she was finished, the links fell to the floor and she gathered them up before skittering away, never once making eye contact with me. I rubbed my neck and shook out my legs. I had enough pain without those flecking chains rubbing my scales raw.
“We know about you,” the Glazistries said. “The Rogastix had planned to kill you before you arrived, but when he told us he had a Drix on board who could call fire… Well, we were very interested in acquiring you.”
I resisted tearing off my gloves and razing the place. “What do you want with me?”
“How do you think we pay for everything here?” Their hands fluttered around the space. A shining statue of only a muscular butt was on prominent display on the table in front of the bench, carved out of a red gem I’d never seen before.
“I have no idea, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”