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Ryziel untied the side satchel from his waist and placed it by the canister bag. He checked his techband for any messages from Xilya and found none. She would be down again soon enough anyway. He would get some tools ready for her when the time came as she had reluctantly agreed to help with harvesting. The work would still be slow as hell, but at least he would have someone else to help him.

"Uh, Ryz..."

"I'm going to take a bath. Xilya will be down at some point, so look out for her when you—"

"It's a human."

Ryziel stopped, confused. "What is?"

"The signal just outside. The one running around. It's a human," Nar said. The urk looked back as Ryziel turned toward him and stared blankly. "You know, that race you were looking up the other day?"

It took Ryziel a moment to understand, and, when he did, a strange sort of feeling overtook him. Something closely resembling a sense of dread. He didn't move at first but his eyes immediately shot to the screen behind Nar.

"Which one?" Ryziel asked in a low whisper.

Nar stared at him oddly, as if noticing the stillness taking him so suddenly. Then he turned back to the screen. He entered into the techband's data and brought up the record linked to it. The screen popped up and showed them who it belonged to:

Aly Smith

Human

Age: 24

Physical: gold-red hair along head, blue-green eyes, pale, soft-skinned, small

Home planet: Earth

Job Skill: Mechanic

Background: Found by Xolis enforcers, led by Captain Marzin, on tradeship, being transported to [undisclosed]. Brought to Yilsand for rehabilitation and integration into Xolis system. Currently stationed on Lethe Maws.

Threat: low

All Vaccines given. No known illnesses.

Testing still underway

Before his brain even registered what the hell he was doing, Ryziel was out the door and blindly racing down the dark tunnel, with Nar's shouts echoing behind him.

He knew he could find her easily, but he didn't know if he would make it in time. His receptors began to vibrate, and he caught her scent in the air, but the sluths must have already found her, and she could be getting ripped apart even now. A low, violent rumble tore from his throat, and he forced his legs faster, his muscles tensing and burning with each step.

His vision—perfect in the dark—could see in the distance outside the tunnel from which he came, a dance of lights and the sluths circling them. As he bolted toward them, he noticed one sluth with a techband in it jaws, but thankfully, no hand to accompany it.

As soon as they sensed him, the sluths immediately started their terrible shrieking, their eyeless faces turning every direction, their white flesh turning gray. Ryziel didn't hesitate. He caught one by the neck, crushed its vocal cords, and flung it against a nearby boulder. The rest backed away, their wide mouths twisting away from their usual grins, going slack as they hissed and bent their backs at him, ready to flee or strike.

Ryziel made sure they fled.

Blood wet the rocks as claws and teeth collided in a fit of violent fury. Ryziel roared out as he chased them from the wide cavern, catching one after the other, crushing bone and slicing skin. The ones who got away shrieked with terror as they disappeared into the wide darkness. Ryziel watched them go with breathless, seething anger, his Drega wanting to rise up and finish them. He forced it back.

When he was finally able to calm himself, he went looking for Aly's body.

He could only think the worst, after all. He could smell the blood in the air before he had made his first strike and knew it must be hers. He ignored the numb dread that kept welling up in him and started searching. When he finally did find her, it was a shock at first to see that she actually wasn't dead.

But she was close.

He crouched down beside her and assessed the damage. She had been bitten in several places and sliced in a couple others. Her slipsuit was ripped open, her chest bare to him, and he had to shove his Drega back down in disgust at its lustful wanting even now before continuing on. Blood seeped down her shoulder from a deep bite and trickled down her arms. A large, nasty bruise was already beginning to form along her neck, with a few marks scattered across her face.

None of her limbs looked broken, which was good, but there was a lot of blood. And judging by how frail she was, he could lose her any moment.