by Ella Maven
“What?”
The footsteps kept coming.
Panicking, I spotted a sharp pointy rock on the wall. With a deep breath, I slammed my forearm into it. Pain shot up my arm. Heera made a small gasping sound.
“Human?”
“Please, hurry now. I cut myself, and I’m bleeding. Please, go now.”
“Shet,” said a deep voice. “The Glazistries need you alive. Let me—”
“I know how to treat this. I just need some ointment and wraps. Go get it now, please!”
A curse followed by pounding footsteps gradually faded as the guard took off to help treat my self-inflicted injury.
Heera peered around the corner and exhaled as the sound of the lift rattled the cavern. With her paw on her chest, she bent over and panted. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Friends help friends.” I grinned at her. “Now get back to your cell before they catch you.”
Her eyes dipped to my wound. “Will you be okay?”
“It’s fine. Just a cut.” Actually, the thing was bleeding like crazy, but I’d live. “Now go!”
With a wave of her clawed paw, she took off out of sight.
I leaned my back against the wall with slowly exhaled breath and slid to the floor, cradling my arm in my lap. As I waited for the guard to return, I marveled that it had taken me being transported to a new galaxy to find love and friendship.
Sixteen
Fenix
I was home. The blue leaf in front of me rippled as a breeze blew past. I listened for the sound of briggers chirping and smiled when I heard a low murmur of chattering. I shifted my weight, and green dirt squeezed out from under the sole of my boots. I inhaled, eager to smell the fresh grass, but the smell was… noticeably absent. Maybe I had eaten something that caused my head to clog with mucus. It wouldn’t have been the first time.
A rock beside me had a perfect ledge for sitting. When I flexed my back, I detected a slight pain at the base of my spine. It was dulled though, but it felt… covered over. Maybe I’d taken a pain relief drink the healer had given me. Why couldn’t I remember anything? I sank down, my knees cracking, and I rubbed them. When I smacked my lips, a lingering sour taste lurked on my tongue and made me frown.
I poked at the blue grass, but it didn’t bend like normal. Where was I? I tried to reason back to how I got here, but it was all … blank. I rubbed my forehead. Why couldn’t I remember? Mikko was probably looking for me.
I sighed as I reached up to rub the leaf. When I pulled my hand away, my gloved fingers were stained a dark blue. The leaf’s surface where I rubbed was a dark gray. “What the fleck?” I muttered.
Suddenly the sounds in the forest changed. Briggers weren’t chirping… these were voices. I peered in the distance and saw a number of curious faces peering at me. “What?” I shouted, rising to my feet. My head swam. “What do you want?”
The voices continued, warping into one sound that echoed in my head like a chant, over and over again. “Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire.”
Then I saw one face, pressed through a clear film. Something about the eyes scratched at the back of my mind like an itch. The long dark hair hung over the being’s shoulders. Slowly, she lifted one hand on top of her head as her eyes leaked a clear liquid. I didn’t understand her language, so I turned away.
“Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire.”
I knew what to do now. I tore my gloves off, called my fire, and let the heat consume me.
Jennie
When the platform returned me to my room, I collapsed on the floor in a flood of despair. Tears flowed down my cheeks, soaking my shirt.
Fenix hadn’t recognized me, but that hadn’t been the worst part. It had been the utterly blank look in his eyes. That hadn’t been him, not at all. What had they done to him? Was he in pain or completely drugged out?
I sobbed and clutched my chest, heart breaking into a thousand pieces on the floor of my cell. I’d never felt this alone. Before, knowing Fenix was here somewhere looking out for me had been a comfort I relied on. But now… it was just me. I would still do everything I could to protect him, but what could I do when he didn’t recognize me? I hated the Glazistries. I hated those blue bitches so much. Using all of us to outfit themselves in jewels and entertain their shit of a kid.
I screamed and pounded my fists on the floor until my voice went hoarse, until I couldn’t manage more than a weak whisper. I wouldn’t talk again until I got my Fenix back. What did it matter anyway?
Eventually, I collapsed onto the floor, exhausting from crying and screaming. My stomach ached and I cradled it as I rocked back and forth, staring at the small orb in my cell. It was new, placed there by Heera that morning before we’d been taken to the exhibit level.
I hadn’t realized how badly it hurt to have hope ripped from your chest. My heart pumped sluggishly until I fell sleep alone in the middle of my cell, laying in a puddle of my own tears.
A clatter woke me up. I opened my eyes to find a guard walking away and a tray of food on the floor in front of me. Despite my queasy stomach, I crawled to the tray and picked at few pieces, forcing myself to swallow. I had time to feel sorry for myself, and now I had to snap out of my pity party and do something. If Fenix wasn’t able to come up with a plan, then it was up to me.
I was convinced I could get him to recognize me, but I had to get closer. I had to touch him, and in order to do that I had to get out of this damn cell. Heera had said the Glazistries were keeping him in their private room. I lifted my gaze to the ceiling. How did I get there?
Long moments later, the sound of guards calling out to Heera drew my attention. “The Prinze wants to see you.”
She replied to them quietly, and I realized she would be going to visit him. Was his room near the Glazistries? If only I could see Fenix…
“He said to bring another one,” a guard said.
“Who?” the other guard asked.
“He said surprise him.”
This was just the break I was looking for. I tried to yell out, but my voice failed me. I picked up the tray and rattled it down the bars, up and down until the guards stomped over, one holding Heera by her collar. She stared at me with massive eyes. I looked right at the guards and pointed at myself.
They assessed me. “You want to go with this one to see the Prinze?”
I nodded. Did I seem too eager? Finally, the guards shrugged. “Put on the clothes in the chest. Let us know when you’re ready.”
I balked at the idea of changing, but as they turned their backs, I sucked it up and raced over to the chest. I tore off my clothes and pulled the dress over my head. The material was way too thin for my liking, but it covered up the important bits. Kinda. When I was finished, I banged on the bars again. Just like that, I was out of my cell and riding a lift on the way to another level. Hopefully to see Fenix.
Fingers slipped into mine, and I glanced down to see Heera giving a reassuring smile as she squeezed my hand. This small hilbob, who hadn’t been given much kindness in her life, was comforting me. I patted her hand and gave her a nod that I was okay. “Brokas isn’t so bad,” she said.
That was the Prinze’s name, and I’d only seen him through the glass walls of my box. Despite never having met him, I didn’t have a good impression of him. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the idea that he called us to his room to entertain him. Sure, his mothers had likely trained him not to see us as people with feelings, but anyone could look at Heera and see she was a sentient being.
The lift finally slowed to a halt, and once the doors opened, the guards led us down a hallway. I studied my surroundings carefully, hoping for any sort of sign of Fenix, but this level was full of art, statues, and a vulgar display of wealth.
By the time we reached a large set of ornate doors, I was steaming mad. But hope lit my blood. This had to be the Glazistries chambers. Eager to get inside and catch a glimpse of Fenix, I surged ahead and placed my hand on the handle.
The guard grabbed me and r
oughly tugged me in another direction. I yanked myself out of his grip as he shoved me toward a small door to the right. “This is the Prinze’s chambers.”
“Come on,” Heera said gently.
As the door opened, I looked back longingly at where I suspected Fenix was being held. How could I get in there? Were these two rooms connected somehow?
We stepped inside of Brokas’s chambers and I nearly gasped at the spacious room. Numerous screens were hung on the wall, displaying all kinds of entertainment from something that looked like a nature show to another where two aliens were beating the crap out of each other in front of a cheering crowd, like MMA matches back on Earth. Trays of half-eaten food covered a large table, and I winced at the waste.
The Prinze lounged in the corner on a fluffy pile of furs and pillows. He wore a set of what looked like pajamas, but they were the fanciest pair I’d ever seen—threaded with silver and accented with jeweled buttons.
He sat up as we entered. The guard remained behind, standing at attention at the door. Wondering what was going to happen next, I stood next to Heera in the middle of the room.
“The human!” Brokas clapped his hands together and climbed off the bed. His hooved feet clicked on the floor as he approached us.
I resisted leaning back as he got close. Did he have the same ability as his mothers—could he make me see my worst fears and inhale my soul like smoke? I shuddered as his beady eyes perused me. He looked young because of his height, but his eyes held a lot of knowledge and a little bit of cruelty which led me to believe he was far from a child mentally.
Seemingly content with what he saw, he relaxed on a cushion on the floor near the food and began to pick through the trays. “Is it true you don’t speak?”
Heera frowned, but I quickly nodded.
“The Rogastix did tell us that when they offered you for sale. I still don’t get why my mothers purchased a damaged human. Couldn’t they have found one with all its abilities?”
I just barely held back my death glare.
“What else can you do?” he asked, chewing a juicy piece of fruit.
I can wring your neck. I can pull your hair, you little brat. I can find Fenix and watch him destroy this entire place. Glancing around, I looked for something I could do to entertain him. Large doors—not the ones we entered—beckoned to me as I heard the muffled sound of voices. That was where the Glazistries had to be.
I waited for the deep rumble of another voice, but nothing came.
“Well?” asked the Prinze.
Oh right, I was supposed to be entertaining. I sighed and began to feel a little desperate when the large doors opened, and the twins sauntered inside. I craned to get a glimpse inside their room before the doors closed, but I only caught slightly the hint of a barred cage before they swung shut. I huffed in frustration. This plan wasn’t working. How could I get in that room?
“A private viewing of the human?”
“She’s boring,” pouted Brokas.
The Glazistries drew closer, and Heera pressed closer to my side. Her body trembled.
“She is,” they said as they studied my face. “And now that the Drix has no memory of her, I’m not sure why we bother to feed her.”
“The visitors like her, though,” Brokas said.
The Glazistries sighed. “She is a draw for some weird reason. We’ve gotten a lot of offers for her too. We will most likely sell her.”
I gritted my teeth as Heera made a small noise.
“Ah, and your hilbob,” they said, sneering down at her.
“I like her,” Brokas said on a whine. “Do your dance. Let my mothers see.”
With an audible gulp and a wobbly smile, Heera separated herself from me and performed a little jig. With closed eyes her smile turned serene, almost reverent, as if she transported herself to another time as her legs moved in a blur while her arms waved and flourished.
When she finished, she took a deep bow, and Brokas clapped his hands wildly. Heera’s eyes opened, focused, and her smile immediately dropped.
“See?” Brokas said to me. “What can’t you do something like that?”
I wasn’t a dancer or an entertainer. I was a psychologist for fuck’s sake. The only dancing I’d done was a Zumba class once or twice. I tried to recall the moves and moved my legs stiffly to an imaginary beat. By the distaste evident on Brokas’s face, he wasn’t impressed. I didn’t blame him.
He took a cup and whipped it at me in anger. The metal chalice hit me in the arm, and I gasped as pain shot through my biceps. I glared at him, thinking my dancing hadn’t been that bad.
Heera let out a shriek and ran to my side. In her hurry her foot kicked the discard chalice, sending it spinning across the floor to slam into Brokas’s shin. “Ow!” he cried.
The Glazistries let out a terrific scream and lunged for Heera. Every instinct in my body fired and I threw myself between them and the small hilbob. I didn’t doubt for one minute they wouldn’t kill her.
Suddenly Heera let out a wounded cry and I turned to find Brokas with a long thin reed in his hand. With a vicious snap of his wrist, he whipped Heera on her back. The resounding crack echoed in the room. Heera cried out in anguish.
I didn’t think. Not about me or the consequences, but only on protecting my friend. She was in this mess because of me. I tore the reed out of Brokas’s hand and shoved him. He flew back, his small body colliding with the table of food. Trays went everywhere, the boy cried out in pain, and suddenly, time seemed to slow to a halt.
I stood holding the reed. Heera cowered at my feet, staring up at me in awe. Brokas lay on the table cradling his arm. And the Glazistries… I slowly turned to find them frozen with their bulbous eyes firing at me with retribution.
Oh shit, I thought to myself.
“You’re not worth another meal!” They shrieked. Their joined hand rose and swooped toward me in a vicious arc. Pain exploded in my cheek, blood filled my mouth, and the last sound I heard before I hit the floor was a mighty roar and rattle of chains.
Seventeen
Jennie
The Glazistries were pissed. And I learned very quickly that when they were pissed, they also got excited, like anger fueled their cruelty. Which meant… well it meant pretty shitty things for me.
I hadn’t been able to talk since screaming my heart out in my cell, but it hadn’t mattered anyway. There was no defense. I’d made my choice to defend Heera, and I didn’t regret it. I’d live with this choice no matter how it ended… and judging by my current situation, that might be sooner rather than later.
After the disaster in Brokas’s room, they’d immediately had a set of guards usher me down to the lift. I was now tied to a rock in the cavern with a rope around my waist. I’d tried to pick at it with my nails, but it was no use. The bands were as thick as my neck. Heera stood next to Brokas, nearly shaking out of her skin. Her big doe eyes stared at me helplessly, and I tried to offer her a reassuring smile. It didn’t help. She only collapsed onto her knees and shook.
Brokas ignored her, instead making a big show of the sling on his arm. The little shit. I didn’t hate kids, but I sure hated that asshole.
A dozen guards stood in front of me, and I wondered if this was some sort of firing squad. I should have been more fearful of my immediate future, but all I could think about was Fenix. Would he wonder where I was? Would he think I let him down? I wanted to tell Heera to keep an eye on him and help him if she could, but I couldn’t speak. Even a small gasp felt like razorblades in my throat.
The Glazistries, after fussing with Brokas, waltzed over to me. They went all out for this—jewels around their throats, on their wrists, and a long shining skirt. Their breasts swayed as they walked, the jewels around their nipples twinkling in the light.
They lifted their joined hand to touch my cheek, and I jerked away. But I couldn’t exactly go anywhere, so I had to tolerate as they brushed my skin with their cool fingers. “We treated you well, fed you, and you repay us by
hurting our only son!” The voices rose in intensity until I had to wince at the high-pitched shriek. Shaking themselves, they lowered their voice to a normal level. “You aren’t worth our time, and now that the Drix doesn’t remember you anymore… well…” They smiled, and their neck slits fluttered. “We’ll have him do the honors. His last memory of you will be killing you. What a way to fracture what is left of his mind, don’t you think?”
My stomach plummeted into my feet as the door to the lift opened. Fenix stood on the platform, flanked by two guards. His posture wasn’t right—he didn’t hold his head high—and when he walked, it was with unsure shuffled steps. Seeing him like that shredded the last of my heart and hope.
No, this couldn’t happen. I didn’t care about what happened to me anymore, but if Fenix ever came to his senses and knew he was responsible for my death… this was cruel. Even for the Glazistries.
I opened my mouth to talk, and the only sound was a gasping breath. Shaking, tears forming in my eyes, I tried to shout to Fenix, to curse the Glazistries, but he only continued toward me, chains around his wrists and ankles, as he stared ahead with deadened, dull eyes.
“Fenix,” I whispered with a sob, remembering the way he’d looked at me with those bright indigo eyes, when he’d shared the pain of his life, and how all he ever wanted was to just be free and work to rebuild his home planet. My vision blurred as the tears cascaded down my cheeks.
I shook my head, hair catching on my wet skin. I heaved against the ropes, muscles straining. Heera began to shout, but a guard pointed a spear at her neck until she fell silent. But her eyes spun wildly as she clicked her digger claws together in fear.
And still, Fenix came. Close, closer, until he stood about ten feet away. His gloves were off, and he rhythmically flexed his fists which caused the tight skin to pull and shift on his forearms. He’d hated being without his gloves, and they’d all but stripped him. He wore no shoes, only a pair of loose pants that hung low on his hips. His physique was as impressive as ever, so I knew they were feeding him.
