Thunde

by Arcadia Shield

  “I’ll never think about you.” Jessie tried to shake Tarliq’s talons off her, but he dug them in further.

  “Don’t get dressed just yet. I have to treat those injuries of yours.” He removed his hand and shoved her in the back with his lightning stick. “Wait outside the shower room.”

  Jessie ran out of the room and spotted the clothes. She grabbed hold of them and clutched them to her chest, shivers running up and down her spine.

  Tarliq snarled as he stalked past, returning a few seconds later with a handful of Medi-patches. “Treat your own wounds.”

  Jessie grabbed the Medi-patches, peeled the backing off, and applied one to the bite on her shoulder and another to her throbbing spine. The pain from Tarliq’s bite instantly lessened, and the blood stopped flowing. But she knew it would take days to heal, and she’d have a reminder of how close she’d been to being abused by a Fraken on her skin.

  “Enough,” said Tarliq. “Put your clothes on. It’s time for your game.”

  Jessie didn’t need telling twice. She pulled on a pair of black trousers and boots, shrugged into a black shirt and vest, and pulled on a light overcoat.

  “You will need this.” Tarliq shoved a provision pack into her hand. “Enough for a week if you’re careful. But I doubt you’ll survive the day.”

  Jessie threw the pack over her uninjured shoulder. She took a last look around the inside of the Fraken prison. She hoped she’d never see it again. Although she was now entering a new kind of hell, could it be any worse than this? Her gaze rested on Tarliq for a second; it probably couldn’t.

  “This way.” Tarliq strode along a grey corridor, and as Jessie followed him, she caught glimpses of other prisoners through small holes in the stone walls. They all looked as malnourished and terrified as she must.

  Tarliq stopped and passed a hand over an access panel by a door. It slid open to reveal a barren, mountainous environment. The air that floated in around her was mild, and the few trees she spotted looked sickly and devoid of leaves.

  “Welcome to your new home.” Tarliq sneered at her. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

  Jessie sidled past him and stepped into the game. She was glad to be getting away from this lecherous Fraken.

  “Have a glorious death.” Tarliq slid his hand over the access panel and gave her one last sneer as the door slid shut.

  Jessie let out a shaky breath and turned to face the game.

  ***

  Thunde growled at the Fraken as he invaded his personal space. “Do that again and I’ll break your neck.”

  The Fraken, who he called Stumpy because of the missing fingers on his left hand, snapped his teeth at Thunde, but wisely backed off. “We have new instructions for you about the game.”

  “Then tell them to me without your lizard breath touching me.”

  “You kill your prey publicly,” said Stumpy. “Make sure the audience gets a clear view of how you kill her.”

  “Isn’t that what warriors normally do?”

  “We have had a few... issues in recent games,” said Stumpy. “Our audience grows restless. They want to see a real-time kill.”

  Thunde’s hands curled into fists, and he took a step towards Stumpy. “Why don’t you enter the game and show me what you mean? Or maybe you’d like to be my prey? I would take great pleasure in killing a Fraken publicly.”

  “That's not the point of this game.” Stumpy took a step back and shifted his lightning stick in his hand.

  “The audience won’t mind who I kill,” said Thunde, “especially if I do it in a dramatic style as you want.”

  Stumpy’s tongue slid across his snout. “Vanis insists this next game is a success.”

  “Have previous games not been a success?” Thunde smirked. “Have the warriors been misbehaving?” A sense of satisfaction ran through him. This was Axen’s doing.

  “You don’t need to concern yourself with the details,” said Stumpy.

  “You should tell me,” said Thunde. “If I don’t know I’m making a mistake that will be a tragedy. I don’t want to disappoint the Fraken and their audience.”

  “Just make the kill good,” said Stumpy.

  “My fighting is always excellent,” said Thunde. “I can give you a demonstration now.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  Thunde swung his arms in an arc and focused his gaze on Stumpy, his temper barely in check as he saw the fear in the Fraken’s eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to spar? I feel the need to limber up before I enter the game.”

  “You will have plenty of opportunities to fight when your game begins.” Stumpy’s gaze moved to Thunde’s clenched fists. “Control your temper until you get in there.”

  “If you simply tell me what is going on in the games, it will help.”

  “That is not your business,” said Stumpy. “Obey me. All you need to know is—”

  Thunde grabbed Stumpy around the throat. “You do not order me around.”

  Stumpy gasped, and his lightning stick fell from his grip. Thunde raised the Fraken off the ground, his fingers tightening as he did so. “I will enter this game because my Elders tell me to. I obey them, nobody else.”

  “Then you are a fool,” hissed Stumpy. “We are your masters.”

  Thunde growled and slammed Stumpy into the wall. “Say that again. Who is my master?”

  “We are.” Stumpy’s gaze moved over Thunde’s shoulder and a sneer crossed his face. “And you truly are a fool. You let your temper get the better of you.”

  Thunde heard movement behind him and spun around, making sure to slam Stumpy’s head into the wall one last time as he did so. Five Fraken stood in front of him, their lightning sticks raised, the laser ends pointed at him.

  He heard a grating laugh from behind him as Stumpy climbed to his feet. “You are as much a slave as the human prey you are about to meet.”

  “I am no one’s slave,” growled Thunde, his gaze still on the five Fraken in front of him, assessing their weaknesses.

  Stumpy rested his talons on Thunde’s shoulders. “You are ours to do with as we wish. Now, will you enter this game obediently, or do we have to beat some sense into you?”

  Thunde roared and lashed out at Stumpy again. Stumpy went flying, and this time, he didn’t get up.

  A blast from a laser shot over Thunde’s head, and he ducked, wheeling to face the other Fraken. He grabbed the nearest and hauled him towards him, smashing the lightning stick against the wall as he did so.

  He backhanded the next Fraken who approached him before the rest attacked with their lightning sticks. One hit him in the shoulder with a blast from the laser end, and the others set about him with the cudgels, inflicting stinging blows that only enraged Thunde more.

  Thunde focused his fury on the closest Fraken, his fists flying, and Fraken blood spilling. But it wasn’t enough to stop their lightning sticks. And the Fraken kept coming, more entering the fight as they realized he wasn’t going to back down from their beating.

  Another laser blast knocked Thunde off his feet, and the smell of his own burning flesh drifted up his nose. But he didn’t care as fury overwhelmed him. All he wanted to do was kill his enemy, rip their lizard limbs off their bodies, and end this charade once and for all.

  A cudgel smashed him on the side of the head, followed by another. Black spots danced in front of Thunde’s eyes, but he still wouldn’t stop. He slashed out with a blade he’d pulled from his weapons harness, and felt the satisfying feel of sticky Fraken blood slide over his hand. He slashed again, but another cudgel hit him, and then another. This time, the lights went out.

  Chapter 3

  Jessie had been walking for an hour as she explored her new environment. As she looked at the way the two suns slowly lowered, she guessed it was already late afternoon. The air was cooling, and she would need to find shelter for the night.

  As far as she knew, she was still alone in the game. The bell to signal the start had not yet rung. The warrio
r who would hunt her down and kill her was not there yet, and that knowledge gave her a small degree of comfort. She had time to herself, and she was used to being alone, used to looking after herself.

  Ever since her mother had been killed, she’d lived alone. She hadn’t even had a roommate, and it had taken Jessie a while to get used to sharing the cell with the women who were taken from the starship at the same time as her. But she found she enjoyed their company and missed them all. Knowing Grace was now alone in the cell sent a chill of fear through her. Grace was sick, and she needed help. She wouldn’t get that from the Fraken.

  Jessie’s fingers went to the wound on her shoulder. Her stomach turned at the thought of how close she’d come to being violated by that Fraken. At least she’d survived that, and she could survive this. She would do what she could to get through this game for as long as possible. But when she finally came up against the warrior who would kill her, she’d ask him to do it swiftly.

  Jessie hoped she’d be able to reason with the warrior, make him do the decent thing by ending her life cleanly and quickly. She had no idea if it would work, but she was going to try. The Vorten weren’t a cruel race. They were warriors, bred to be killing machines, but she knew they had decency within them and helped others less fortunate.

  Jessie paused and examined a tree. On the surface, it appeared dead, but she kicked at the roots until she’d exposed them. This was a living tree, and she knew from her readings in the archive that the roots were edible. She dug a root out with the toe of her boot and then yanked it from the ground. She tested it on the tip of her tongue and her nose wrinkled. It was bitter and too much would upset her stomach, but it would be a good source of nutrition, extra protein she desperately needed.

  She opened her bag and stuffed several roots into it. She had a quick check through the bag and found five ration packs of food, a small bottle of water, and a basic medical kit.

  Jessie continued walking, scanning the surroundings as she did so, and listening for any signs of Fraken beasts approaching. She knew they’d be there. The Fraken loved nothing more than an entertaining kill, and their audience was right behind them in that.

  Jessie had had easy access to the comms channel as part of her work, which meant she’d gotten access to more information about the Fraken than most humans. And what she'd learned had not made her happy. When the Fraken had first introduced themselves to Earth, she had not trusted their offerings, and that lack of trust led her to do her own research on them. The assistance the Fraken offered came with heavy fines or taxes, valuable resources were taken, and many individuals vanished. Jessie now knew what happened to those individuals; they went into the games, just like she was now.

  Jessie had even discovered that parents had given away their children so they could get their hands on more of the drugs the Fraken pumped into Earth, drugs that helped with radiation poisoning, but came with an addictive side effect. The Fraken were clever and dangerous, but there was nothing Jessie could do, except watch from her archive desk, as they slowly spread poison across the planet.

  Jessie stopped to dig a few more roots and take a sip of water. She kicked at a sharp rock until it loosened and used it as a knife to slice through the roots. She stored the rock in her pocket. It would make a good weapon if she was faced with an enemy. She smiled to herself; as if a sharp piece of stone would take down a Vorten warrior. But she kept it. It gave her comfort to know it was there.

  Her hopes of finding decent shelter for the night were slowly fading as she kept walking. The landscape was barren, and she had yet to find any source of water. What Jessie had in her bag would only last a day at the most. She needed to find water and a refuge fast, or this game would end quickly. And she was hungry. Having given Grace her nutrition pill, she’d been without any source of food for more than a day, and her cramping stomach kept reminding her of that. Jessie would have to eat before long, but she wanted to find shelter before it got dark.

  “Or maybe I won’t need to,” she said to herself as she looked around the game. The predator could be tracking her already, and maybe they hadn’t rung the game bell, to make her think she was alone, when all the time, someone was watching her.

  She tugged on the handle of her bag and looked for any signs of the enemy approaching. But Jessie was no fighter. She would run if she had to, but it would only put off the inevitable. When the warrior came, she would face him.

  As Jessie continued to walk, the ground beneath her feet gave slightly. She slowed and stamped on it several times. She heard faint squelching noises and smiled. She had just found her source of water.

  Sliding the bag from her shoulder, she knelt and used the stone from her pocket to dig into the ground. After digging for a few moments, water pooled in front of her. It was a murky brown color, and she had no way of purifying it. She had to hope the Fraken weren’t twisted enough to fill the water with toxic bacteria and kill her that way. She doubted they would. That wouldn’t be much of a show for the audience, seeing her vomit before collapsing into unconsciousness because of some parasitic water infection.

  She dug down some more, and when the water filled the hole, she drank from her bottle before filling it. The sediment in the water settled, and after staring at it for a few seconds, Jessie replaced the bottle cap and returned it to her bag. Now she needed somewhere to rest.

  As Jessie stood, a loud, low bell rang overhead, and a shudder ran through her. The game had just started. The warrior was in the game arena, and she was officially prey.

  ***

  Thunde’s eyes flicked open, and he shot to his feet. The sound of a bell ringing had resonated through the game, signaling the start and rousing him from unconsciousness.

  He turned in a slow circle, ignoring the pounding in his head. The Fraken had beaten him senseless, and he expected them to be close by, waiting to see what he would do next. But, as he looked around, he realized the access door to the game had gone, and he was alone.

  Thunde glared at the sky, as the final tone of the bell faded away. It was tradition for the Fraken to signal the start of the game in this manner, but he found it ridiculous. The audience would be watching the live feed. They would be waiting to see some blood spilled. The thought made him snarl.

  Grunting as he shook his head, Thunde’s fingers checked over his wounds. The Fraken had beaten him badly, but they’d also applied Medi-patches before tossing him into the game. It wouldn’t do to have him unconscious for long. The audience would not find that amusing. His vision wavered, and he took a moment to regain his balance and study his surroundings.

  The landscape was barren and the trees sparse of leaves. There were mountains not far ahead, and the terrain was rocky. His human prey would be in here somewhere. What would she be like? Maybe he’d find her cowering in a cave or hiding up a tree. Wherever she was, she’d be easy enough to find. He’d heard humans were loud and clumsy, and this one was bound to be the same.

  Eloise Harper, Axen’s mate, appeared to be different, but he’d only seen her briefly when he’d spoken with Axen following his escape. Axen had been so sure of Eloise, though, and his admiration of her was clear. There must be something about these human women he was missing. Perhaps he’d discover it for himself when he met his prey. But Thunde expected to be disappointed. What Axen had discovered in his game must be a one-off. Occasionally, you get extraordinary individuals within races; they were the exception to the rule, though. And when it came to humans, the rule was that they were primitive and destructive and to be avoided at all costs or tolerated if that was not possible. He would tolerate the human when he discovered her and help her when she needed it, but that would be it. He had one purpose, and that was to obey Axen’s order to get the prey out of the game alive. After that, she could do what she wanted.

  Thunde stalked through the mountainous landscape of the game. He'd been in an environment like this many times before. There wouldn’t be many hiding places, but he knew there would be caves and en
ough shadows for him to make it hard for the Fraken to spot him. And he intended to keep out of public view as much as possible.

  Thunde yanked a blade from his weapons harness and slashed the air in front of him. His fingers clawed at the metallic collar fastened around his neck. He would love nothing more than to remove it. To him, it was a signal of everything he hated about the Fraken, their sick love of torture, of humiliating others, and causing pain whenever possible.

  And he loathed the Fraken for another reason. He was convinced they’d killed his brother, Thaddeus. Thunde had numerous siblings but didn’t keep in touch with all of them. But he’d always been close to Thaddeus. They had the same father, which was rare on Vorten. Most Vorten women chose different males to reproduce with to ensure a greater genetic diversity. But for some reason, his mother had stayed with his father for almost two cycles, and in that time, gave birth to Thunde and Thaddeus. They grew up together, often getting into the same scrapes and helping each other out if trouble was nearby. He was almost as close to his blood brother as he was his warrior brothers.

  Thunde gritted his teeth as the memories slammed into him. Thaddeus had gone out on his first solo warrior mission. It should have been straightforward; he was to investigate an area where a ship had last been spotted before vanishing off the radar. He’d gone out as planned but never made it home. The last message he transmitted had been to signal his vessel was under attack. And then his ship vanished. No body had been found, but everybody assumed the worst. Thunde was convinced the Fraken were behind it, though. Thaddeus had been in one of their favorite hunting grounds, where they often attacked smaller vessels for sport. And for that, he’d never forgive them. But his current orders were clear. The Vorten Elders expected their elite warrior squad to take part in Fraken games. And so that’s what Thunde had done. Until Axen decided to change the rules.