by Presley Hall
The thoughts roil around in my head like stinging hornets, buzzing inside my brain.
I want to get up and do something. But instead I grit my teeth, close my eyes, and force myself to get some rest like a good patient.
Several days pass after my fainting episode, and I make sure to stay hydrated and well-fed. As grateful as I am for their concern, I’m still embarrassed as hell about passing out in front of Charlotte and the Voxeran warriors. I’m in no hurry to repeat the incident.
Charlotte stays by my side pretty much anytime she’s not with Droth. I want to tell her it’s not necessary, but I know she won’t believe me. Even though I haven’t had any extreme bouts of nausea or dizziness again, I’m being treated as though I’m made of glass, which is frustrating as hell.
I’ve noticed Axen watching me too.
Nearly every time I’m outside, those amber eyes are on me, tracking and assessing me like some kind of predatory jungle cat. But he doesn’t look like he’s going to pounce on me or attack me. Instead, I see something like concern in his gaze.
It’s… nice, if unexpected. I don’t like the idea that he’s just hovering in case I collapse again, but the knowledge that he would be nearby to carry me to safety, to protect me if something happens, is weirdly comforting.
I don’t get dizzy again, and I don’t feel any more of that strange electricity under my skin that I did when Axen touched me. Sometimes I still feel a little wonky, but that’s usually cured by some water or food. Resting helps too, although I’m too impatient and stubborn to stay off my feet for long.
A few days after my collapse, I leave the meeting house with Gemma, Raina, Ivy, and Felicity, heading toward the open space where we usually all have dinner. The Voxerans are incredibly skilled hunters, and even though I have no idea what any of the creatures that inhabit this planet are called or what parts are safe to eat, the meat is surprisingly good. I enjoy the giant feasts they share around blazing campfires as we all sit and eat.
I collect my food and sit with the others. Gemma is laughing at a joke Raina just told, giggling into her hand.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, nudging her shoulder with mine.
She grins at me and gestures to Raina. “Tell it again! It’ll be much better than if I try to tell it. I know I’ll mangle the punchline.”
Raina rolls her eyes and straightens in her seat, a small smile tugging at her lips. She’s got a bit of a prickly demeanor sometimes, and she’s one of the women who seems most suspicious of the Voxerans, but she gets along well with Gemma. I think Gemma’s guileless sweetness puts her at ease.
“How do you throw a space party?” Raina cocks a brow at me, her hazel eyes glinting in the dim twilight. I shake my head, not knowing the answer, and she smirks as she says, “You planet.”
I groan as Gemma bursts into another fit of giggles. God, that was almost as bad as the joke Charlotte told me as we were launching out of Earth’s atmosphere, to distract me from my terror that something would go wrong and we’d all die.
“That was terrible,” I insist, although I can’t help but chuckle as I say it.
It makes me happy to see these women talking and joking together. Charlotte and I were the only ones who came on the Foreigner II by choice. The rest were kidnapped to be sold into sex slavery, so the knowledge that they’re all carving out their little corner of happiness on this Godforsaken planet makes me happy.
Gemma is still laughing, her dark eyes shining with amusement. On my other side, Ivy comments on the improving weather and how warm the days are getting. I have to agree—it must be another reason I passed out a few days ago. It’s getting warmer, and it will be important for all of us to stay hydrated if the days become truly hot.
Suddenly, a shout sounds in the distance, cutting through our conversation and stopping the laughter in its tracks.
I tense and look up. The other women mirror my action, as well as a few of the gathered Voxerans. The marks on the men’s skin flicker slightly, glowing in the waning light.
Another shout reaches us, and my stomach dips.
Then a war cry splits the air.
It makes the hair on my arms stand on end. I recognize the sound—it’s a roar I’ve heard these alien men make more than once. A second later, there’s a giant crash and the sound of splintering wood. The acrid scent of smoke drifts on the breeze.
“Oh, fuck. We’re under attack!” Raina whispers harshly, surging to her feet.
With a sinking feeling, I realize she’s right.
4
Axen
The war cry makes my head snap up instantly. Every muscle in my body goes tense.
It’s Droth, calling us all to battle.
I can smell something burning. The wall, I realize, narrowing my eyes. Smoke is already pluming from somewhere beyond my gaze, on the other side of the settlement. My fingers curl and my upper lip draws back in a snarl. Instinct, combined with my prince’s war cry, is already spurring me to action.
Several of my brothers and I have just returned from a hunt, supplementing what we’ve already caught with additional food. Jaro and Strome went ahead to prepare the additional kill, but Kzuri is by my side. His expression is grim, and his markings glow in anticipation of a fight.
I can feel battle fury rising in my own blood, narrowing my focus down to nothing but the identity of friend and foe, brother and threat.
“Come.” I grunt, jerking my head in the direction of Droth’s cry.
Without a word, Kzuri falls in beside me. We rush alongside Kaide, Zayre, and Rath toward the source of the sound, our spears clasped and ready to take deadly aim.
I can see smoke billowing up from the perimeter, and my nostrils flare at the familiar scent. Beside me, Kzuri snarls, confirming what I have already suspected.
Churbac.
He is a vicious, cunning criminal who has built up his own gang of like-minded thugs, and he and his band of raiders have been our enemies since we were all exiled to this planet. He must have returned to try to claim what he wants from us. We’ve had run-ins with him before, and most recently, he attacked while we were extracting the women from their ship along with any salvageable goods we could trade. He wants the women, and he wants to destroy our settlement. He wants to take advantage of the Voxerans’ strength to sell us as slaves, and steal everything valuable we have fought and bled to gather.
Well, if he’s come back for more, we are more than ready to deal with him.
My grip on my spear tightens, and I grab Rath’s wrist and pull him to a halt.
“Get the women to safety,” I tell him. We don’t have enough weapons to go around. Most of the blasters have run their charges down, and the Terrans are not as strong and quick and used to fighting as we are. “Be quick and return when you can.”
Rath frowns, his mouth opening as if to deny my request and insist that he stay to fight. But he clearly decides against it, giving me a sharp nod before hurrying away to obey my command. I watch him go, anger rising up in me at the thought of Churbac getting his hands on any of the women under our protection, or his mercenary band of raiders taking any of the supplies we have worked hard to amass.
I hear Droth roaring again, and anger makes my blood boil. There’s no slanching way I’m going to let him take a single blaster bolt. I will die before any of my brothers fall to Churbac and his band of thugs.
Kzuri draws my attention with a rumbling snarl, and we rush toward the sound of Droth’s roar. I know that Churbac was wounded during our last bout with him—it was Kzuri himself who put a spear through the man’s shoulder, wounding him badly and making him retreat to fight another day.
He will die today, if I have anything to say about it.
A snarl resonates in my chest as we reach the fight, and I see Droth locked in combat with one of Churbac’s men. Blood flows from a cut on his arm, and the sight of my prince bleeding for his people fills me with another surge of pride and deadly wrath.
There are more of t
he raiders this time than there were when they attacked the crashed ship. At least twenty are visible, and I’m certain there are more gathered beyond the border wall. Some may have already invaded the settlement. Churbac underestimated our force once, and he’s intelligent enough not to do so a second time. But he has attacked us in our own settlement, and we know the land and the layout better than he does.
We’re all brutal and skilled fighters, even the young ones. We have to be, on a planet like this. Softness means death on Nuthora.
My world narrows down to my spear and the knife at my belt, which I pull out, thrusting it into the throat of my nearest enemy. Green blood bubbles up as the alien’s tusked mouth twists in an agonized grimace. I snarl, yanking my blade out and kicking the corpse to the ground before lunging to the next one.
There is nothing but the need to fight, to control the tide of battle, to destroy these invaders. My heart races in my chest, pounding like a war drum.
Fighting as one, my brothers and I manage to gain the upper hand, beating the oncoming waves of intruders back. The stench of death is powerful, and while there is Voxeran blood in the air, I know that none of my brothers have fallen. Of course they haven’t—we are all deadly and brutal in our own right, and we will not be taken down by someone like Churbac.
The thought of the raiders’ leader makes my jaw clench.
I search the chaotic mass of enemies for Churbac himself. If he dies, the rest of his people will scatter like bugs exposed to light. They have no sense of honor, nothing but the selfish individual need to survive.
Churbac will die today.
I have decided it.
My eyes narrow as I finally spot him. Kaide is fighting him, and I run forward to help, slashing my way through every enemy that rises up to try to slow my advance.
Then I hear a scream.
It makes my blood go cold, because it is not the scream of a fallen brother, nor a feral war cry. It is one of the Terran women. My eyes widen when I see one of Churbac’s men, a gangly green monster with six appendages and mandibles dripping with black saliva, crawl through the rubble of a burning hut, holding one of the Terran women tight to his back.
It’s Gemma, I realize.
My heart leaps into my throat as I growl, yanking my spear out of the gut of another of Churbac’s men.
“Kzuri!” I yell, pointing with my spear when he looks at me.
His eyes widen with horror, and he nods, racing with me toward the Terran woman as she screams. I have to be impressed by her—she is fighting her captor admirably. But she is too small and doesn’t have enough limbs to get all six of his off her and escape.
Kzuri lets out a feral roar of anger, shoving his way through our foes as we advance. We are almost to her when a swarm of Churbac’s men attack us, separating me from Kzuri and forcing me to pay attention to the fight.
Most of these raiders are large creatures, with many arms and legs and thick hides that my spear has trouble penetrating. I snarl, one fist swinging for the first creature while my knife embeds itself into the shoulder of a second. I drop my spear since the fight is in such close quarters and duck another blow aimed for my head from yet another attacker.
“Gemma!” Kzuri shouts. “Gemma!”
Then another sound rises above the din. Churbac. He’s laughing, raucous and high. He sounds insane.
I finish my last foe and whirl to see that Kzuri has been completely overwhelmed. My blood freezes in terror as I watch him fall, knocked unconscious by a vicious blow to the head. A trickle of blue blood leaks from his temple. Before he even hits the ground, he’s being carried off by four large, hulking aliens with tusks and thick hides. I know from experience that my spear would have trouble piercing their skin.
I roar in rage as several raiders retreat with Kzuri and Gemma, but I can’t get to them before they board their hover bikes, which wait outside the walls of our village. The machines power on with a pulse of blue light and a high-pitched whir. I’m close enough to them that the force of them taking off sends me stumbling back. They bolt off into the trees, some of the other raiders whooping and hollering in victory.
No.
The word repeats itself over and over, growing louder in my head until a fierce war cry spills from my throat.
No. There’s no way I’ll let Churbac get away with this, no slanching way he’s getting away with taking two of my people.
I spot the raiders’ leader nearby, grinning smugly. He’s nearly as tall as I am, with broad shoulders and skin so pale it’s almost transparent. His hairless head is beaded with sweat, and his mandibles make a clacking sound as they spread wide. Two of his four hands hold weapons, and the sight of blue blood glinting on the metal of one fills me with fury.
With a harsh grunt, I lunge for him. He barely manages to parry my blow, eyes flashing with malice as he shifts into an attack stance and rounds on me. I grab my knife and lunge for him again, swinging down in a fierce arc that he dodges and parries again, sending me to one side.
I can feel the beast rising up in me. The thing that only knows bloodlust, dominance, and destruction.
The manic light in Churbac’s eyes reflects my own face back at me. I look wild, my teeth bared and my face covered in blood, ash, and dirt.
I throw a punch, something he was clearly not expecting, and my knuckles connect squarely with his cheek. His head snaps to one side as he stumbles back. He snarls at me, eyes flashing, and lifts his blaster. I know he and his men must be low on supplies to risk attacking our entire camp, but the threatening whir of the blaster tells me there’s still some power left in it.
I don’t think about it. There’s no room in my mind for the prospect of defeat. I shove the blaster away and grab Churbac by the back of his neck, bringing him close. He grunts and tries to angle his blaster up below my arm, and I hear it whirring again in preparation to shoot.
I sink my knife into one side of his throat and slash, vicious and deep, across the front of his neck. He blinks at me like he’s surprised, his mouth falling open on a grunt, hot blood welling up around the deep and wide cut. He gurgles, his body going limp, and I grit my teeth as I watch the light fade from his eyes.
I drop Churbac like the waste he is and look around.
My brothers have managed to beat back most of the raiders, and once they realize their leader is dead, the cowardly beasts will soon turn to flee. I’m still enraged that they took Gemma and Kzuri, and I’m more than willing to launch myself back into the fight until the rest of the raiders are repelled.
Another scream stills my heart in my chest. I know that voice, that scream. It makes every muscle in my body tense in readiness.
I turn to see Elizabeth getting a blaster knocked out of her hand, her eyes wide as another tusked monster grabs her, yanking her to the ground and trying to pull her toward another hover bike. I don’t think about it—I throw myself at the creature with a bloodthirsty roar, knocking him to one side so that Elizabeth can scramble to safety.
I look up to make sure she’s all right, then wince as a sudden pain rakes down my side. It feels like a thousand stinging vines have sunk their venom into my flank. I grunt but keep looking long enough to confirm that she’s safe before I turn my attention back to the raider pinned below me.
He squeals like an animal, beating my side with his spiked weapon. He drags his mace downward, opening up a deep gash in my side and sending hot blood gushing over both our bodies. He sputters but keeps hitting me, a fierce light in his eyes that I recognize as the determination to survive.
It’s a determination I know well.
Only one of us will survive this fight, and I will not be overcome a second time.
I bare my teeth and reach down, grabbing the back of his bald head with one hand and one of his mandibles in the other. With a roar, I wrench my hands sharply in a twisting motion until I hear something snap.
The raider lets out a scream that chokes off abruptly, and then his body goes limp.
I exhale sharply. Although the sounds of battle continue around me, they seem muffled and distant. A sudden quiet fills my ears, like the kind that falls after a severe storm. I look up to see Droth rallying my fellow Voxerans, intent on beating back the remaining foes.
There are still more enemies to fight. I must join my brothers. I must help them.
But first, I have to make sure that Elizabeth is safe.
Forcing my reluctant limbs to function, I turn around, seeking out her face in the chaos and smoke.
5
Elizabeth
My eyes go wide as I lock gazes with Axen. He’s covered in the blue blood of his species and the greener hues of other aliens, along with a brilliant red that looks almost like human blood, although I pray it’s from another alien and not one of our own.
When he looks at me, it’s like everything stops.
The sounds of war cries and clashing blades seems to fade away. I can only hear my own pounding heart and how loudly I’m breathing. I can only see the amber of his eyes, his pupils blown out wide like a predatory cat’s. He’s wild, primally alive with the fever of a hunt and slaughter.
I swallow and reach out for him, my hand trembling in front of me. I can’t explain the fierceness of my need to touch him, but he saved me, and I have to make sure he’s all right.
He looks down at my hand like he doesn’t understand the gesture, but when he looks back up, I see something dark and desperate in his eyes. He rises from the body of the alien that would have happily carried me away and takes a single step toward me.
I notice the blood spilling thickly from his side a half-second before he collapses with a defeated groan.
My jaw drops, horror gripping me so hard it nearly robs me of breath. I didn’t realize he was so badly hurt. He kept fighting as if he were invincible, but the gash in his side looks deep enough to kill him.
