by Eden Ember
Then I saw it.
A wonderful, crimson red dress that reminded me of an outfit my Arenthian master’s daughter wore. They had beaten me sore when I’d looked at it in her chambers.
The silky fabric felt cool and soft as I ran my fingers over it, and I wondered whether this was what Elgan would like to see me wear. I draped it over my arm; the color complimented my dark skin.
Then I glanced at the price. Ah. I’d need to save for a while then. Two decades should do it.
It was unlikely, but I told myself that perhaps we’d come back this way after they delivered the weapons, and if we did, I’d have enough money saved to buy it then.
Money earned with hard, sweaty labor. Money I’d earned by helping with a cause greater than my own, given to me for a fair day’s work by people who saw me as an equal - not a slave, and not a whore.
I looked up again to see Allegra, except she was even further away now. I should have gone straight to her rather than day dreaming about clothes like these. If I was quick, I could still catch her up.
Then when I felt an iron-like grip cover my mouth.
It pulled me backwards and as a side of the tent opened, I squinted into the harsh light. I glimpsed a male with horns, long and pointed and dangerous, from the top of his head. A cacophony of noise drowned out my muffled yelling.
I thrashed against my attacker: kicking at his legs and trying to pull his hand from my mouth. When that didn’t work, I tried to bite the skin of the hand that gagged me… Except his hand felt more like scales that my teeth were unable to bite into than skin. I felt a sharp yank on my hair. I yelped in pain, but the grip only tightened.
Elgan…
He wouldn’t even know to look for me. He’d think I was still talking with Allegra.
Even as my eyes adjusted to the light, darkness haloed the corners of my vision. This tight grip would suffocate me if I didn’t do something.
An idea glimmered into my consciousness as I struggled for breath. I remembered my comms device I wore and tried to press it. But it was useless, I barely knew how to use it when I was looking at it. It was my only hope right now, I’d have to hope that I’d press something useful.
“Get rid of it!” I heard a raspy voice beside me hiss in Arenthian: the language of my homeland and that of the slave masters. I swallowed back fear. Anger gave me fresh resolve.
I wanted to yell I wasn’t an ‘it’ that I was a person - Elgan thought I was a person now.
“Get rid of it, now!” the voice insisted.
My death would be quick, at least, if they were in such a hurry. I doubted the insignificant amount of credits I’d had would be worth it though.
The painful snap almost broke my arm as they ripped my comms device was ripped from it, a mechanical sounding crunch followed.
“She’s perfect.” a second voice hissed as they covered my vision. “We’ll get plenty of coin for such an unusual one.”
I don’t know how long I was there. The incessant yet erratic dripping that splatted on my head and seeped into whatever they’d placed over me was torture. Each drip echoed in the cell they’d thrown me into. It was no use trying to move. Something tethered me in place and if I moved, an electric shock radiated from the harness.
Elgan…
I thought about his face, about how he’d think I’d ran off. By now I’m sure he’d have decided that I’d only pretended to enjoy our lunch together so I could charm him into letting me escape.
I hated that I knew he’d think that, but I couldn’t blame him. All I’d shown him was that I couldn’t be trusted; I hadn’t had time to prove otherwise.
They had forbidden me to have a mate on Arenthia as the master didn’t want anyone else to sully me, except for those of his choosing. I was his plaything - something for him and his friends’ amusement. I’d never looked for one on Gael, why would I?
But Elgan had made me feel like it was possible for me to consider it. That he’d want me to take him as my mate. That I was more than just a plaything.
The Aarans were so devoted to Decators, their god, that for the first time in my life, I prayed. It may have been to a god I didn’t know, about a male who I didn’t deserve, but I hoped it would help. If nothing else, it made me feel closer to Elgan.
I whispered, the sound little more than the noise of my lips moving. “Decators, I don’t know how to do this, but I need your help.”
Hot tears fell inside the already sodden mask, coalescing with the stale damp liquid that still splattered down onto my head.
“Please, please, send Elgan to look for me. Tell him I didn’t run away. I need his help.” I paused, I’d never admitted I needed help before. Now I had, it felt like a relief to confess it. “I guess I need your help, too. Please look after Elgan and help him find me.”
I paused, I’d no idea how to finish.
“Thanks. Um, thank you, Decators.” I whispered.
That would have to do.
I awoke to the sound of a heavy metal door being unlocked. Light filtered through the mask from beyond the door and the vague outlines of bodies were just about visible. Something clicked, and the harness emitted an inaudible hum of electricity, sending an uncomfortable buzz through me.
“You will do as you are told.” a raspy voice spoke, the words in common-tongue came with difficulty to the creature.
“Nod that you understand.” he said. Footsteps came closer, and with them, a nauseating smell permeated my mask.
I refused.
I would not behave.
I would kill this fucker with my own bare hands if I got the chance.
White hot pain thrashed through me, as soon as I was aware of it, it went.
“You understand now?” he’d moved closer. I felt the heat emitting from his body. If I could reach out, touch him, then maybe he’d electrocute me again and by grabbing him, the current would pass through him too. I’d endure his vile scent to watch him suffer.
But I still couldn’t move.
“Behave, or we will kill you. The Kwoubus will buy the meat.”
He lifted the covering from my face and I tried not to vomit. The stench from the horned creature grew stronger within the room and matched only with the horror of its contents.
He pointed a long, thin, scaled finger towards the wall. A window into darkness.
“You smile, you look nice… maybe they buy you to plow.” he shrugged, “You look sad or angry, maybe they buy you to hunt.”
He clicked a remote in his other hand. Stark lights hummed into life in the cell. He gave my face a quick wipe with the mask, pulling my hair back. It could have been a gesture of kindness, had he not finished by moving his hand lower and ripping open the green tunic I’d borrowed from Macy.
The action revealed my breasts without my consent. Laughter and applause crackled into the room from an intercom high in the room’s corner.
The scaled bastard beside me started speaking again, this time in Arenthian. “Who would like to make the first bid for this curvy virgin Terran?”
Chapter Six
Elgan
By the time Allegra’s message beeped on my comms, I had already circled the merchants’ tent twice, inside and out. Bitral, one of Kefiz’s subordinates, had already sent me the coordinates of the last place Diamond’s comms device had been active. I didn’t expect to find her sitting there, but I had hoped to find some clue to what had happened.
Allegra’s message confirmed that Diamond wasn’t at the rover, and the light of the first sun’s setting glinted off something metallic that was trodden into the dirt. I lifted it and recognized the dial as soon as I pulled it from the sand. The dusty wrist strap fell off as I inspected it.
They broke it. Smashed.
Whoever destroyed the comms, Diamond or someone else, they didn’t want her to be found. Bitral would be busy sifting through the data it had sent to the Torq Runner before it was destroyed.
His message beeped my urgent attention, alongside the oth
er incoming messages from Kefiz and Xyru. Both of which were scouring the full market. I accepted Bitral’s call, his face dark as he growled.
“The gyro-dynamics show that someone intercepted her.” He growled. “The movements show her arm being held behind her, elevation in her heart rate and other signs of stress which weren’t there at the moment prior. Her cortisol and adrenaline levels spiked higher than any records we have for her. Whatever happened, she was not expecting it.”
He grimaced, “The last interactions on her comms for when it was attached to her wrist were random, the data confirms the imprint was from her fingerprint. A second later, the dynamics show it being forcefully lifted to a height taller than Diamond could reach, the prints weren’t Terran and the pressure threshold levels being exceeded were the last data points. Too strong for a Terran.”
“She wasn’t expecting it, and a different species destroyed her comms.” I mused.
A glimmer of hope flickered within me, just as a streak of rage threatened to destroy the entire market. She hadn’t run away. Someone had taken her. I’d level the place to find her.
I looked around. No wonder they’d taken her here: between the market enclosure and the tall sides of the merchants’ tent, there was nothing of interest to bring anyone to this empty, noisy, confined space.
An Ohanga peered from an opening in the tent’s side, both his green left eyes appearing from the darkness. He’d been watching for a while, I’d already felt it. A second later, he found himself with my hand around his throat, lifting him to my eye level.
“Where is she?” I hissed.
“I don’t know!” He wheezed, his voice strained by my grip. Didn’t know? If he didn’t tell me, I’d rip his head clean off.
His hands flailed about in a futile attempt to release him from my grip. I squeezed, the action making his four eyes widen even further in fear.
Good.
He was right to be fucking scared. They had my mate and if so much as one of those chocolate brown curls was out of place when I got her back, I swore to Decators they would all pay.
“Elgan!” The Aaran voice was in the distance, looking for me, no doubt. I had a lead, they’d have to wait.
“Now…” I put my forehead to the Ohanga’s fur. “Tell me where she is or I’ll smash your head into this wall.”
“Elgan!” The voice was behind me now, pleading. “Let him go, we don’t need him.”
“He knows something.” I growled.
“So do I.” I flashed my teeth at the furry creature. “I know I will kill this fucker if he doesn’t start talking.”
“I know where she is and you will not like it. The others are on their way. We need to hurry.”
Kefiz’s words tore my attention away from the Ohanga, whose eyelids were drooping. He fell to the ground with a thud, his gasps for air only drowned out by our heavy thuds as I followed Xyru towards my mate.
We emerged from behind the far side of the merchants’ tent, where a dozen Aaran warriors stood.
“There’s an auction at the far side of the city that will be selling a special Terran. They’ve been touting it to all their black market customers.”
Several of the other Aarans joined my growl in response to Kefiz’s hushed words. Terrans were not play-things for the highest bidder.
We’d gathered into a large huddle.
“Highest bidder, no questions asked. I heard that some whoremongers have taken an interest, planning to buy her and sell her on for a big profit elsewhere.” Kefiz grimaced. “Terran’s are rare around here, but even more so in the outer quadrant. There are enough sick bastards with too many credits that would be want an unusual pet, or business venture.”
“Where is she?” That’s all I needed to know. Nothing else mattered. She was alive, at least.
Kefiz pointed to a tall chimney, an old refinery from when Coriogre first brought traders here. The tall chimney rose high over the city. Even from the distance dominated the skyline: a symbol of the wealth that had once been here. It was old, existing long before the traders that lived here now. Without the old refineries, this moon would have not come to be one of the largest trading posts in the quadrant.
Someone handed me a scope, allowing me a closer look.
“Yeah, that will be a problem.” Gandrox’s voice came from behind. He placed his hand on my shoulder. “There are two dozen sentinels watching and by the looks of it, they hold the auction in a room built high into the chimney itself.”
I scanned the length of the building, sure enough, about three quarters of the way up, I saw the landing area and could just about make but the shapes of the rovers and here elevator ships bring the auction goers.
“The auction is tonight and invitation-only.” Kefiz said. He pulled something from his pocket, placing it into my hands. “But that will not stop us. I have acquired something that will get us in… an invitation of sorts.”
I hadn’t expected him to place a severed finger with an intricately carved black ring into my hand, but that was what I’d found. When I looked back to Kefiz, he shrugged.
“I didn’t know if it was just the ring we needed, or if his DNA or maybe his fingerprint was important.” He paused, “I just hope it wasn’t the entire hand.”
“We’ve two options,” Gandrox spoke as he lifted the already withering finger and started examining it for himself. “We either surprise them and bring Diamond back home by force; or we be the highest bidder and bring her home in friendlier terms.”
Xyru spoke. “I suggest the latter, we can’t afford to get barred from Coriogre or raise our profile here any higher. We’ll need this refueling station again; plus, despite all this, the Coriogre are our allies against the Zeta Empire.”
Gandrox stroked his chin. “How many credits do you think-”
I cut him off short. He ignored the unintended insult.
“I have many credits stored up, but Diamond is worth a million times more.” Buying Diamond back would leave me without the credits I’d saved for decades, the credits that were always intended to provide for a mate and a family, should I ever have been blessed with one.
I’d trade them all, and my life, to get her back, but what did that leave Diamond with if something ever happened to me? They I intended them provide for her and any kits if I could not. I was an excellent warrior, but every warrior dies sometime. It was foolish to believe otherwise.
“We don’t have time to return to the ship.” Gandrox said, “And I would wager all of mine you don’t keep all your credits or access codes on you when you leave the ship.”
Three more vehicles made their way to the chimney in the distance. I nodded. He was right. “We don’t have time to go back to the ship now to retrieve them either.”
Without another word, the males all retrieved the credits they had on them and offered them to me. It was a gesture that made me swallow back the lump that had risen to my throat. My warrior brothers understood.
As we made our way towards the old factory, Allegra brought the shuttle to us. Kefiz had the foresight to send Leiz to bring a rover, so we met with him in the wildlands. Allegra insisted on joining us on the rover, despite how crowded it was. I instructed two of the younger warriors to stay with the shuttle, but to remain close by. We didn’t want to fight, but we may have needed them to escort Allegra away from any danger.
We watched from a far enough distance as each bidder arrived at the drop off point high on the chimney before they were scanned and their weapons seized.
Only Kefiz noticed that each bidder wore their ring on the smallest of their fingers on their left hand, before handing it to the auction room’s guard pilot who examined it and then returned it.
We all agreed that I would be the one to wear the ring, despite being outranked by Gandrox.
Gandrox was too well know to risk the distraction that would come if a Zeta Empire sympathizer attacked him. He was to remain on the rover. I would be in command.
Chapter Seven
I was born into servitude, not sold, so I’d never been to an auction before, but I’d heard about them, whispered between slaves in my homeland or in the boastful conversations of my master and his friends.
I hadn’t expected them to be as violent as what mine had ended up.
After initial interest from the most of the room, the bidding started with four main bidders, but competition soon turned into anger. A fist fight broke out between two rival Kwoubus, it quickly turned darker as a Tyrvual knife appeared from somewhere. Its green sheen was even visible through the window and into my cell. At that point, both were forcibly removed from the room, leaving the other two bidders in a contest.
I prayed to a deity I didn’t know that those two would start fighting too - in fact, if they all fought among themselves, it would be so much better. Maybe Elgan would realize I was missing, not run-away, and would come searching.
Please, let him find me. I pictured him bursting into the room and ripping the throats from each of the bastards here. None, including the vile creature beside me, the auctioneer, would survive him.
I felt myself smiling at the thought until the soft metallic “clink” of my restraints being loosed brought my attention back to the room.
The window into the bidder’s area went dark and two more guards rushed into my cell.
“A reasonable price.” The thing beside me hissed, “Not as much as I’d hoped, but the difference isn’t enough to justify cleaning you up, dressing you and feeding you.” He shrugged and barked a command in a language I didn’t recognize before turning his attention to the two subordinates.
The restraints still gripped around my wrists and the fresh ones attached to my ankles forced me to shuffle along between the two guards. If I was to escape, now would be the time. Except I felt the magnetic pull of the ankle restraints that only released a leg at a time to move forward. Any attempt at escape would be less than a step.
