by Luna Hunter
Kazim turns to me. “Are you sure about this?”
I’m not, but the girl has a point. Trust goes both ways.
“Yes,” I say.
The blue Zoran warrior walks over to S’eu and hooks his fingers into the chain. “This might hurt a bit,” he says.
The alien woman nods. “Do it.”
Kazim pulls as hard as he can, but the metal does not give. His muscles bulge, the veins in his arms throbbing. He unleashes a mighty, primal roar, and with a rip the chain flies apart. Kazim stumbles backwards, the chain flying across the room so hard it dents the metal wall.
S’eu rubs her neck, laughing with joy. The skin around her neck is red and bruised. “Freedom,” she laughs. “Freedom!”
For an instant I feel a piercing headache, and my hands move to my ears as I groan in pain. Luckily, it only lasts a moment.
“Sorry,” S’eu says. “I got excited for a second.”
“That was… you?” I ask. “How?”
The alien woman shrugs. “It’s just a power we have.”
Kazim folds his arms, his purple eyes looking down at the Suuna.
“I upheld my end of the bargain,” he says. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Of course. What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” I say. “We’ve only seen a little of the Nezdek… and what we’ve seen ain’t pretty.”
“Trust me, you haven’t seen nothing yet. I could tell you all about how they’re ruthless killers, slavers, rapists and murderers… but it’s easier if I just show you.”
“Show me?”
“Yes,” she says. She reaches out and grabs my hand. “Hold on.”
All of a sudden, I feel like I’m transported across time and space. Sights blend together, and sound passes me by like a train thundering past.
And then I’m on a planet. A lush, green one. My hands are green, scaly. A metallic ship appears overhead, shaped liked a trident. I feel a sense of wonder, of joy at this wondrous machine.
And then the sky is blackened by thousands upon thousands of the ships arriving, and my joy turns to dread. The ships start firing indiscriminately at the villages, the houses, the women, the children — my sisters.
Houses are burning. The smell of death fills my nostrils. It sticks to my clothing. It suffocates me.
Dead bodies line the streets.
Tall, ghostly pale aliens descend from their flying machines, carrying weapons, swords, whips. They strike, beat, kill, rape my people.
I hide, but it’s useless. Strong hands pull me from my hiding place and strip my clothing away. Chains are fitted around my neck, my wrists, my ankles, while my body is squeezed, slapped, and assaulted.
“You’ll fetch a fine prize,” a white-eyed alien snarls as he presses a rod into my back.
I’m escorted into a ship with hundreds of my sisters. We’re forced together like cattle. All hope is gone. Our world is in ashes. The light has gone out.
I stumble back, sounds and sights assaulting my senses as I’m transported once more, the very fabric of space-time bending all around me. I find myself back on Archon, back with Kazim and S’eu, a prisoner of the same aliens who orchestrated that senseless, horrible massacre. Kazim is cradling me in his arms while he wipes the tears from my face.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “Sarah! Are you okay? What did you do to her?!”
“She’s fine,” S’eu says softly. “She’s seeing what I’ve seen.”
“You witch,” Kazim growls. “If you hurt her, I’ll swear I’ll make you pay.”
“I-I’m okay,” I stammer.
“Sarah!”
Kazim kisses my forehead. He has the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his chiseled face.
“I thought you were… you were crying, screaming… are you sure you’re okay? What happened?”
“Y-yes,” I say. My throat feel sore, and I notice my cheeks are soaked with tears, but physically I feel fine.
Mentally, I’m still rather disturbed by what I saw, and felt. I could feel every strike, every blow, every shot as if it happened to me personally. I have to glance down and touch my body to make sure that I am, in fact, unharmed.
“You see now?” S’eu asks. “Do you understand?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. I do more than understand. I felt it, in my very bones. I could feel the pain of an entire nation, an entire world, an entire species inside of me. Like a gaping wound.
And that kind of pain leaves a permanent mark.
“What just… happened?” I ask. “I was… you?”
“Yes,” S’eu says. “I showed you a glimpse of my thoughts, of my memories.”
“So all of that really happened?”
“Yes.”
Her lips are a thin line now, her yellow eyes looking directly at me.
“We Suuna have a special connection. Drua. It’s our word for our planet, but it’s more than that. It’s the connection we have with our world, and with each other. It’s our way of life. Do you understand?”
“Sort of,” I say. “It was like I could feel the pain of others.”
S’eu nods. “We are individuals, but we also part of a collective. Our feelings, and even our thoughts, are all shared… at least, they were. The Nezdek have ripped us from our world, and in doing so, severed our connection with the Drua. The link is fading. My thoughts are… clouded. Distorted. As if there’s static on the line. I’m afraid that if we don’t return to our homeworld soon, the link will be forever severed. We’ll be forced to live with nothing but our own thoughts, completely alone.”
She stares off into the distance, a grim look on her face.
“Sorry,” she says. “I know your kind lives like that, and I didn’t mean to… offend.”
“None taken,” I say. For a brief moment, I got a glimpse of what being part of a collective was like. Even though I only felt the bad parts — the pain, the fear, the terror — I can imagine that it can also be a wonderful thing. You’re never alone. With shared feelings comes a sense of solidarity, that I feel like humanity misses sometimes. Just look at the way we’ve treated the Zorans. If we could feel their pain, their sorrow, the loss of their homeworld, I think a lot of people would be a lot more understanding.
Though, at the same time, I’m grateful not everyone can hear all of my thoughts. Especially the ones about Kazim. No one has to know what dirty things I want to do to that chiseled, blue body of his…
“Why did the Nezdek attack you?” Kazim asks.
S’eu laughs bitterly. “Who knows? Ask them. They saw an opportunity and they took it. We’re not a warrior race. We were not prepared in the slightest. We welcomed them, and they repaid our kindness with slavery and death.”
“We’ll get you out of here,” I say decisively. “Right, Kazim?”
My Zoran mate doesn’t respond. He’s concerned with our current situation, and though it looks grim, I’m fully confident that we’ll make our way out of here alive and well.
After all, what other alternative do I have?”
“Please save my sisters as well,” S’eu says. She leans forward and grab my hands. “I beg of you. I’m at your mercy. Please. They are here, on Archon, but I do not know where… but I can feel them. I can feel their pain. Please.”
Watching this proud, alien woman beg makes my stomach hurt. No one should have to go through this. No one should have to feel this kind of pain.
“We have to do something, Kazim,” I say. “We have to help her.”
“I would like to,” my mate growls before looking around the apartment. “But as you can see, we’re not really in a position to free ourselves, let alone an entire enslaved species.”
“But we have to try.”
“We’ll do our best, but I’m looking out for you first and foremost,” he responds.
I throw my arms around his neck and thank him. I’d be lost without him.
“What do you mean by sisters?” Kazim asks. “Do you mean every Suuna on this
planet?”
S’eu smiles. “Allow me to explain. There are no men on our world. The Drua impregnates us, and we bear the world’s children. We are all linked, and we all call each other sister, but the connection with my direct, blood-related sisters is strongest. They are here, and they are in great pain.”
She shows us the underside of her wrist, where she has a red birthmark, shaped like a heart.
“You can recognize them by this mark. I know I’m asking a lot, but… I simply have to ask.”
“I understand,” I say. “We would both do the same thing. We can’t promise anything, but I can assure you we’ll do everything within our power to help you and your sisters.”
As the words leave my mouth, I can’t help but wonder how much they’re worth. What is within our power? Are we not as helpless as S’eu? We’re not in chains… yet.
Perhaps the Nezdek ‘gave us’ S’eu not as a sign of goodwill, but as a threat. To show us how ruthless and powerful they are. As a warning. I feel a dark pit of despair form in my stomach when that thought crosses my mind.
There’s a knock on the door, and a moment later it slides open. Erran, the tall, Nezdek lord stands in the doorway. He raises his bushy white eyebrows when he sees S’eu.
“You’ve unchained your Suuna. Unconventional, Zoran. You realize you’re responsible for her behavior, correct?”
“I have faith in her,” Kazim responds. “She’ll… behave.”
He grits the last words through his teeth. I can tell it’s hard for him to level with these alien slavers, but he’s doing a fine job. A hell of a lot better than I would do, in his shoes. If I had his strength, I would have punched Erran in his smug, pale face a long time ago.
“Very well. I need to speak with you for a moment. Alone.”
The alien’s ghostly eyes land on me for a second.
Kazim grabs my hand and squeezes it. “I’ll be right back.”
When the door closes behind him, I already miss him.
“You are lucky,” S’eu says to me, “with your faamu.”
“My what?!”
She laughs. “Your faamu,” she repeats. “Kazim. I can sense he cares deeply for you. It must be wonderful to share such a deep connection with someone.”
“Oh, uhh, we’re not…”
My voice trails off. What are Kazim and I actually? What label fits? I do care for him, more than I thought imaginable… and his touch, his kisses are amazing… and I haven’t even started on the mind-blowing sex.
But he’s also a warrior, a fighter, a brawler, a wounded man. Can I really give my heart to him?
Before my heart has given me an answer, the door slides open again. Kazim strides in, grabs my waist and kisses me promptly.
“I am to see the Czar,” he says. “Alone.”
“N-no,” I stammer. “Don’t go.”
“I must.”
“Okay, but… be careful. Please.”
I can’t lose you.
“I will. And I will return. I promise.”
15
Kazim
I stride through the long, dark, subterranean halls of Archon. The only light here comes from the glowing moss growing on the cave walls. Luckily, my eyes can adjust well to the darkness. Erran leads the way, his golden armor clunking with every step he takes.
“You will not speak until spoken to. You will address Czar Baros as ‘My Imperial Majesty’. You will not sit until he has given permission. You will not look him in the eyes until he has given permission.”
The Nezdek rattles on a list of commandments as we stride into what I can only describe as blacksmith workplace. A Nezdek is slaving over the fire, working a metal plate with a hammer. His hands are blackened, and there’s steaks of ash on his pale face.
“Kiri! Armor!”
The man looks up, drops his armor and walks over to a rack while muttering to himself. He hands a set of golden plated armor, similar to what Erran is wearing, to me.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“You can’t face his highness in those tattered rags,” Erran says, nodding at my robe. “The Zorans are proud warriors. Act like one.”
I slip into the plate of armor. It fits my frame well. I feel dirty for dressing myself in their garments, but I have no choice but to play along.
And, if it comes to blow, this armor will provide more protection than the thin robe would.
“Good. Now, follow me.”
Erran leads me down a winding staircase, and stops before an impressive, mahogany door.
“This is it,” he whispers. “I’m risking my own good name my granting you this audience with the Czar. Don’t fuck this up, or I’ll make you and that slave bitch of yours pay for it.”
I can’t wait for the moment until I can break that smug face of his.
“Understood,” I growl.
He points at the door. “Go ahead.”
“You’re not coming with?” I ask.
Erran laughs. “Not for all the spice on Asir”
I take a deep breath and push my shoulders back. So far the Nezdek have proved to me that they are deplorable, hateful, wicked beings. I can only imagine what kind of man leads them.
I knock on the door.
No reply.
I push the door open, the loud creak echoing down the hall. I stride confidently into the dimly lit, massive cavern. At the far end stands a great throne, upon which a Nezdek man sits.
He’s flanked on all sides by all-nude Suuna slaves, taking care of his every need. One is feeding him grapes, while another one massages his feet. To his left a Suuna woman is fanning him with a giant leaf, while his hand rests on her ass, absentmindedly fondling her.
I haven’t seen a single plant on all of Archon, besides the moss — another display of decadence.
His long, white hair reaches all the way down to the floor, and a purple robe hangs loosely around his frame. Underneath the robe, he is as naked as the Suuna women surrounding him.
I clear my throat, and his eyes, as white as the brightest light, finally turn to me.
“Ah, you must be the Zoran I have heard so much about.”
“I assume so,” I respond. “…my Imperial Lord,” I add after a moment’s hesitation.
My eyes quickly scan the surroundings. There’s a fireplace to his right, where hot coals smolder. There are no guards here. We are alone. No one to stop me from choking him with my bare hands. Hell, any of the Suuna could do it at any moment. Why haven’t they?
“Take a step closer and let me look at you.”
I walk right up to his throne, keeping my eyes straight ahead. The Suuna women have their eyes cast downward, avoiding mine or the Czars. The Nezdek rises from his throne, his robe falling open. I try not to look at his ghostly, flabby body.
“Oh, pardon me,” he laughs as he ties his robe shut. The old man walks up to me and feels my muscles, running his bony fingers across my biceps. My reflexes are urging me to grab his wrist and break it, but I suppress it.
For now.
“A fine specimen indeed,” Czar Baron muses. “Come, sit. We have much to discuss.”
The Suuna women pull up a chair for me next to his throne. My mind drifts to S’eu. Are these her sisters? They must hate me. Being served by them feels so wrong. I’ve never felt more helpless than in this moment. I could strike the Czar down, but Sarah would pay the price for my anger…
So I sit down in the chair, next to the alien royalty.
“I’m here to discuss a trade,” I start.
“Yes, yes, business will come later. Slave, grab us a bowl of chi,” he commands.
A moment later a silver drug bowl is placed in front of me, filled with tiny red grains. The scent coming from it is intoxicating. It makes my mouth water involuntarily. My eyes sting and my throat burn, and I jerk my head away.
“No, no, take it in,” Czar Baros insists. “There’s nothing more wondrous, more ingenious on all of the seven planets than chi.”
“A local
delicacy?” I ask.
“Hmpf, if only,” he snorts. “It only grows on Asir. Those lions have a monopoly on it. One I intend to break, with your help.”
The Czar stands up, grabs one of the hot coals from the fire and places it within the silver bowl. Instantly the red grains flare up, grow, expand, and release a thick, red cloud of smoke. I am enveloped within it, the smoke burning in my throat.
The last thing I see before everything goes dark is the Czar’s ghostly smile.
“Don’t fight it,” he smirks. “Enjoy the ride.”
My body feels like it’s sinking into the chair. I’m falling, slipping into a dreamlike state. I feel small, tiny, insignificant, like a speck of dust.
Kaleidoscopic images play in front of me. Shadows moving on the wall, doing their sinful dance. Beautiful, naked, glistening bodies, moving to a primal, rhythmic beat.
I am naked.
Thoughts of my human mate cross my mind, and I feel myself grow hard. The passion we share is out of this world. Her body was made for me, for my hands, my mouth, my cock.
Hands stroke my skin, oiling up my many muscles. More hands than I can count. The feeling is blissful.
Sarah.
I can see her clearly in front of me. Her blonde hair, her bright smile, the way her cheeks dimple when she laughs. I fucking love that woman. I’d die for her. Never before in my life have I felt such a clear goal, such focus than in this moment.
Her hands are cradling my face, the tips of her fingers running circles on my skin.
“Wake up,” she whispers, her soft voice barely audible. “Wake up.”
I open my eyes, but it’s not Sarah’s eyes I see. The ones I look into are yellow and cat-like.
A Suuna.
I sit up straight in an instant. My vision is still burry. Colors blend together, and I see strange patterns on every surface. I glance down and realize that yes, I am in fact completely naked, and fully hard. My body is covered in oil, glistening wet. The three Suuna women are kneeling besides me, their hands resting on my legs, my abs, my chest. I look down at their wrists — three red, heart shaped mark stare back at me.
Czar Baros sits on his throne, leering at my nude form, one hand underneath that purple robe of his.
“A perfect specimen,” he mutters. His eyes have a crazed look in them.
