by Zara Zenia
"What are you doing? You're going to get yourselves killed standing out here with the palace falling down around us," said Fera.
"Shh," said Marta, still wanting to remain silent.
Chera yanked her arm free from Marta's grip and headed back to the room of the princess. But the other two women got a hold of her. They weren't worried about being so gentle, now that they were sure their friend had lost her mind. They began to drag her back down the hall.
By the grace of fortune, the shocks that had rocked the palace had lessened while they were busy outside the princess' room. As they strong-armed Chera back toward the servant's quarters, another large shock made the floor beneath them shake. Broken hunks of stone and metal dropped around them as they navigated the debris-cluttered hallway.
"What were you thinking?" asked Marta once they were far enough away from that Terud warrior. "Do you really think you would have lasted more than a second against that warrior?"
"There was an intruder in the room?" asked Fera with shock. "What's gotten into your head, Chera? Do you have a death-wish? Is our life really that bad here?"
"No, it's not that. He had Pari! He injected her with something. I'm worried he might have killed her!" A rock was flung from the wall as another explosion hit the palace outside the hall and shook the building. It hit Chera in the shoulder and pain shot through her immediately. She cried out. Luckily that impact was enough to stop her from struggling. The fear and adrenaline rushing through her made her panic. Her response was to flee, so she simply ran along with her three fellow humans.
They made it back into the servant quarters just in time for another—much bigger than any that had happened yet—explosion to rock the palace. The whole place felt like it was about to crumble around them, killing everyone inside with it. All four of the human slaves in the quarters screamed and cowered.
The floor began to crumble beneath them. Chera noticed it happening first and shouted for everyone to get to the walls. There was a large cabinet installation made of metal. She scrambled on top of it, hoisting her lithe body with ease. Then she reached down and ushered the other three women to join her up there. "The floor's going to cave in! Quickly, get up here with me. This thing's solid metal and attached to the wall."
Her instincts were right, and the metal furniture did not go with the floor. The entire floor didn't collapse, but there was enough of it gone that it would have taken them all with it. If not for Chera's fast thinking and bravado. Her heart was pounding so heavily that it caused a thumping sound to ring out inside her head. It was almost hard to discern the sounds of destruction from around them with her own heart beating so heavily. Her breathing was intensely labored by this point and she wondered if it was really possible to faint from fear and anxiety. Hopefully she wasn't going to have to find out then and there.
Once that large shockwave had made its way through the area of the palace they were in, things seemed quiet for a time. Almost too quiet.
"What's happening out there now?" asked Nisa. She was prone to worrying but that came in handy sometimes when there was danger nearby. She had probably been right about not leaving the servant's quarters earlier. Even though they might have all been taken down and crushed by the heavy stone floor as they dropped through and it crashed down around them.
Marta was thinking, it was easy to tell from her worried expression. "We have to get out of this room," she said.
Fera remained quiet, slightly shaking and on the verge of panic most likely. Chera wasn't listening. She was busy looking down over the edge of the metal cabinet they all crouched on top of like a life raft.
Down below, she could now see the floor to the room below their level. It was crude with walls built from large stones. There was no light coming from down there, so it was a closed off area. "What's down there?" she asked the others.
"Below us? I believe it's the storage level," replied Marta.
"Well that's got to be a lot safer than going out into the hallways again. Let's go." She climbed down and helped the others to. They were able bodied too, but Chera was naturally more agile and brave. Once down there, they turned on a light to see where they were going. Chera led the others through the storage rooms. There were crates and boxes stacked up, full of food and other assorted items. She thought about whether there might be weapons there, but decided it was unlikely. And not worth stopping to look anyway, since the palace was still under attack.
The shocks from the attack weren't as bad down there, but the walls and ceiling still shook. Pieces of the rooms around them still broke away, and they had to move carefully while being quick. Eventually they came to a stairwell that none of them had seen before. They were sometimes ordered to retrieve things from storage, under the watch of a guard to stop them from stealing or hiding.
A section of wall had crumbled completely, and it was obvious that it hadn't been built as strongly as the rest of the area. "It's a fake wall!" shouted Chera. "Look, a stairwell." Her eyes lit up as she saw it and urged the others to follow her.
"That must lead to a forbidden area," said Marta. "Even if the palace is under attack, we will be punished severely for going down there."
Fera didn't stop to worry about that. Her flight or fight response was set firmly to flight. She followed Chera without a second thought. Nisa hesitated but also followed. "Come on," she said to Marta who still remained in the storage area. "They won't need to punish us if we stay out here. We'll be dead once the walls cave in around us!"
Marta sighed and relented, following the other three. Once they were below the main palace level, they had time to stop and assess their injuries. "Is anyone hurt badly?" she asked.
"You were hit by that rock," said Marta.
"I'm fine. It will just bruise, I think. Oh, but you've been cut," she said back to Marta. And the other woman did have a nasty gash on her head that was bleeding. No one else had noticed, let alone Marta herself with all the commotion. They realized that Fera and Nisa had also been injured. Fera had a twisted ankle, and Nisa felt like something inside her torso area was hurt from a falling piece of debris. Each of the four of them had extensive cuts and bruises too.
Chapter 3
Thras
Thras could not believe this was really happening. Who would have the nerve to launch a direct assault on his palace? His men were scattered, with many of them dead or injured no doubt. It was impossible to know for sure what was happening in every place in the palace. No one was prepared for the attack.
Once he got over the initial shock of the attack and ordered Vini and Oszul to go and take commands at other places throughout the palace, to lead the counter-attack if at all possible, his next though went to his younger sister, Pari.
He bolted toward her room with great strides. His thick, long legs powered him along at a greater speed than any other Hjott warrior could have managed. Through falling pieces of his very palace and the screams of fear and pain from those around him, he ran onward. She has to be alright. I must make sure that nothing's happened to my sister.
Once he got to her room, however, his worst fears seemed to be realized. The room was completely demolished, leaving large sections of wall gone. They led outside, and he could now see the attacking enemies doing their horrible deeds outside all around the palace. His own warriors were fighting proudly, but they had not been prepared for this at all.
He searched through the rubble but couldn't find Pari. That was good news at least. She must have gotten away, or perhaps a member of the guards or one of the servants had managed to rescue her before the room came down. There was also the possibility that she'd gone outside, or perhaps been taken.
Thras was a warrior king before anything else. Waiting for help was not in his blood. He jumped through the gaping opening in the wall and ran outside to find the culprits behind this heinous assault. He found Kenor, the star pilot commander, out there running away from the palace.
"Kenor, where are you going?"
"I
saw a Terud warrior run from here," he replied through heavy breaths. "I was coming out of the entrance up ahead and saw him run through the hole in this wall."
"From here? But that is Pari's room. Where did he go?"
"You will not like this, but he was carrying the unconscious princess, Pari. It's a kidnapping, I am sure of it."
"What! Those filthy cowards! Where did they go? Show me quickly," said Thras with anger rising. He was ready to cut off the heads of the ones who did this with his own sword.
"The Terud carried her away to the space port. I chased after him of course. But he was already a great distance from where I started chasing. Please forgive me."
"It is not your fault. I trust that you did everything you could," said Thras, trying to maintain his composure despite the chaos and heightened emotions flying around. "Did they escape to a ship?"
"A small one, yes. It took off immediately. I was just on my way to ready a ship to follow them," said Kenor.
"That is exactly what I was about to ask you to do. We must get her back. Ready the Vada Shadow for flight immediately. It looks like there is no one out here for me to deal with now. I'm going to go search for any other survivors who might be trapped inside."
"Good idea, Sire. I'll ready the Shadow!" shouted Kenor as he took off to do as commanded. Thras went back inside through the busted wall and raced through his sister's destroyed room once again. The sight of the poor child's things all smashed and broken pulled at his heartstrings. However, he refused to allow himself to become emotional. That would only cloud his judgement and distract him from doing what good he could through action. Futile emotions were never the answer to a problem. He knew that very well, and it had been drilled into him since he was a boy.
He went down the hall, which looked like it was the site of a battle instead of his beloved palace interior. At least the explosions and attack had stopped now. Their purpose must have been to kidnap the princess all along. Or perhaps that was just one of their goals. He remained vigilant, glad to have his great sword with him as he always did . It was neatly strung over his back from a leather harness and sheath. The weight of it was like a part of his own weight now. Moving with it there was natural to him, and he could remove it from his back within seconds if necessary.
Thras heard the sounds of females crying out. It had to be the Terran slaves. Their quarters were mostly destroyed by the blast. There were no survivors in there. Going back into the hallways, he could hear them screaming out for help. It was coming from the throne room, which was very odd. As he raced along and reached the large room, he came upon Morphi, the head of the guards, and Oszul with their swords drawn. They were standing off against four Aulius soldiers.
Without hesitation, Thras drew his great sword from its sheath on his back and swung it in a circular motion above his head. He ran directly at the nearest Aulius intruder and leaped forward just as he came near. He completed the arc with his sword, using both hands to bring it down from his upper right. He sliced down and to the left, almost separating the Aulius' shoulder from where it joined at his neck. The alien scum screamed in pain and plummeted to the floor from the impact of the blow.
"Thras!" shouted Vini from the other side of the room. He'd been over by the secret entrance to the lower levels. The door was open, and whatever he was doing there was a mystery. It would have to wait until they finished off the other three Aulius warriors.
With Thras and his three trusted men fighting, they made short work of the remaining Aulius. "I had thought they were only here to kidnap the princess," Thrash said.
"Apparently they weren't ready to leave without some pillaging first," said Morphi. "My men were scattered, the ones who weren't injured that is. They did their best to ensure the safety of the remaining occupants. I am sorry we failed to protect your sister." He bowed his head in shame.
"No one could have known they would blow a hole in the wall to get to her more easily," said Thras. Truthfully, he was looking for someone to pin the blame on. That would have at least given him somewhere to direct his boiling rage. It just wasn't right to let his emotions get the better of him though. And the guards did their duty just like they were trained to do. This kind of attack was unprecedented.
"Who would dare to attack the palace like this?" he asked Vini, his right hand man. He was hoping his wise and trusted consultant, and friend, would be able to shed some light on the situation. All Vini was able to do was shake his head and then also bow it in shame. All four of them stood in silence for a moment, sweat beading on their faces and running down their taught muscular bodies. Blood slowly dripped from the tips of their now lowered swords. Carnage was still audible around them from the distance.
Cleaning his blade on the clothing of one of their death foes, Thras made his way to the open door to the secret lower level. "Oszul, what were you doing here when I came into the throne room?"
"Ah, I had forgotten after the fight. I heard screams, of women. Before I could investigate, those four intruders came in. I assume they wanted to get their hands on some of the treasures in here."
"That makes sense. I'm going to investigate. You four remain here in case more looters come. Listen out for my call in case I come across more of them." Thras kept his sword at the ready as he paced over to the opening to the secret areas down below the throne room.
Chapter 4
Chera
"What is this place?" Chera walked around checking out the oddly luxurious underground space. There was more than one room, but a door blocked them from proceeding farther. She went over to see if it was locked but found that she was not able to open it.
The door wasn't closed for long, as it came crashing down. Chera only just barely managed to jump back and avoid being crushed by the heavy door. On the other side of where it had been were a group of alien warriors. They snarled and began to chuckle when they realized they'd found some helpless female Terrans.
"Get them," said one of the Aulius warrior.
There were Teruds with them. That confirmed that the two different species were working together on this assault. No wonder they had been able to cause such damage. Most slaves were not interested in much that went on outside of their daily duties. Chera prided herself on staying educated though, as much as possible without access to much direction information. The human women could understand what the alien said because of the translators they all wore.
She watched in horror as the Aulius and Terud warriors advanced on them with their deadly weapons raised. "You can take me when I'm dead!" she shouted back at the Aulius warrior. He looked shocked to be spoken back to by the woman. Apparently, he had expected the humans to just cower and beg for mercy. She put up her hands and made herself ready to protect herself and her friends.
Marta rushed in front of her, While Nisa and Fera held her back once again. "Stop it!" Marta shouted at Chera. "You're only going to get yourself killed."
"And the rest of us," added Nisa.
Chera ignored them and tried to push ahead so that she could be the leader here. She felt like she was the one responsible for their welfare. The other three women simply would not allow it though. While she was strong for her size and sex, there was no way for Chera to overpower both Nisa and Fera. They were servants who did the same chores as she did. They had similar muscular power.
Chera pushed forward using all her leftover strength. Her will to protect the others was enough to give her a rush of power. She managed to push through and get ahead of Marta and the other women. Just as she was about to run at the leading alien, a big ugly Terud, another group came in from behind them. At least five or so aliens must have followed their trail down through the hole in the servant quarters' floor.
Chera knew for sure that there was no hope for them. Fighting back might get them killed. She just wasn't willing to let her friends be captured by these brutes. There was no chance they would be treated well. Maybe death was a better fate, and at least they could go down with some dignity i
n a fight then.
"I don't know about you, ladies, but I've been pushed around and treated like an object for too long. How about we give these bastards something to remember Terran women by!"
The other three women weren't sure. They seemed like they wanted to shout out a war-cry and join Chera in her borderline suicidal idea to fight. They did not have to make up their minds though; a group of Hjotts came in behind the second group of aliens that had followed them down the secret stairwell.
One of the Hjott males was clearly royalty. Is that really the king? Chera wondered. She hadn't been allowed to get up close to him much. Her duties lay in serving the princess, after all. And only the most trusted of the Hjott were allowed to get to near the king. There were three other Hjott males with him. They were all high ranking males from the looks of them, judging from their scant attire and the swords they wielded.
"Die you treacherous scum!" shouted the king, who was leading the group of Hjotts. They had come through the wall, seemingly. There was a secret doorway that had been completely hidden until it burst open, revealing the four of them.
The first group of aliens, who had knocked down the door, rushed at the human women. Nisa, Marta, and Fera were grabbed quickly, but thankfully without being attacked. They were picked up easily by the larger aliens and carried away back through the doorway. That left a lot of the Terud and Aulius to stand against just four Hjott men. Chera had a feeling she was going to die soon, but she wasn't going to let her friends be kidnapped just like that.
She took off running after the screams of the three women. With her attention focused on the doorway as she moved quickly toward it, she couldn’t dodge the swinging sword. Pain erupted in her thigh and she heard a gut wrenching snapping sound rock through her body. She took another step, not willing to let herself go down and give up. But it was too late. Her vision went blurry, then faded from gray to black.
