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“I may be strong,” Zoran admits with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, “but I’m not stupid.”

“Are you sure?” Melvall asks, not missing a beat.

Zoran glares at him. “One beast with many arms against one warrior with two? Not favorable odds.”

Melvall sighs, nodding in acquiescence. “So we thought... alternative acquisition methods might be prudent.”

I nod, understanding dawning. “You were stealing medicine for your people because the King made winning it nearly impossible.”

“Exactly,” Zoran says, his usual cheerfulness returning. “Much more dignified to get caught stealing than to get eaten, right? This way I get to live to fight another day.”

Before long we are walking past several cages filled with all manner of beasts. A large blue and purple pile of fur catches my eye, and as I walk past I withhold my gasp when a bear-like face lifts and watches me silently. A smaller cage hangs against a wall, inside filled with a dozen bats… no, their skin isn’t soft and tender but cracked and creviced like rocks.

“They are meant for the arena,” Melvall informs us, pausing to also inspect the rock-bats.

“The Sulthari capture them,” Zoran tells me from my other side. He leans forward to prod at the birdcage, sticking a finger inside. He snatches his hand, dragging it away from the bars, moments before the creatures inside throw themselves at the offending appendage. “My mother told me stories when I was a youngling, but I guess I never really believed them.”

“About the birds?” I ask, entranced. I tilt my head, studying the creviced body. Eerily, several of the birds copy my movement. “What did she tell you?”

“No, about the Sulthari,” Zoran corrects. “She told us that the Sulthari sneak from their caves under the light of the moon, and any that crosses their path will be captured. They drag their victims back into the caves, sometimes screaming, and they are never seen again.”

“That’s…!” I turn and gape at him. The thought of being dragged into the darkness, never to see the light again, is horrifying.

“I thought it was a youngling tale, one that she told us simply to stop my brother and me from wandering far from the village at night. We did that. A lot. Always exploring.”

Melvall shakes his head. “My sire taught me something similar.”

“Wow,” I mutter. “My people tell the same sorts of stories. Not about Sulthari, but just the general warnings to not wander far from home.”

I squeeze my arms around my waist. Volan is a Sulthari. Did he do this; sneak out and attack people at night, dragging them to their doom? Again I question him and his motives, wondering what is real.

Volan tricked me. He didn’t even need to drag me here, I just simply followed him like the fool that I am. I knew all along that aliens were quick to whisk away females, and for some stupid reason, I just didn’t think it would apply to me. After all, who would actually want me? I’m falling apart at the seams, scared to do anything unless desperation forces me.

But that’s not entirely true anymore, is it? The woman who cowered in fear from the scampers is now actively hunting for an escape route. Maybe I’m still afraid, but I’m not letting that fear control me anymore.

“These creatures…” I swallow the lump in my throat, trying desperately to redirect my thoughts from painful topics. “We can’t just leave them here.”

“What do you propose we do then? Release them and follow them down the hallway to freedom as if they are an army we command?” Melvall snorts.

“Would it work?”

“No!”

“I mean…” Zoran’s eyebrows are lowered, and his brow is pinched. We turn and stare at him as an expression of almost-pain crosses his face.

“You make thinking look painful,” Melvall comments. I can only nod. Indeed, his eyes are squished closed and his lips are pressed thin.

“That, or constipated,” I remark. “Are you alright, Zoran?”

“What? Yes, of course. I was just thinking…”

“So that’s what you call it,” Melvall mutters, shaking his head.

“I was just thinking…” Zoran says, glaring at his friend, “that perhaps we could indeed follow the beasts out. If at the very least, we can use them as a distraction.”

“No,” Melvall growls, stomping his foot.

“We can’t fight all those warriors,” Zoran admits. “I mean, I’d try…but a good warrior knows when to retreat for help. And we have the duty to protect the human female,” he finishes, attention fully on Melvall.