Page 47 of Prison Moon
Some of these girls were rejects from other arenas. The ones no other alien wanted to die for were moved to another area to another arena and offered again for any willing to fight for them.
“But being a reject is a curse,” the girl with the pixie cut said. “If no one chooses you here, and none of the other arenas are able to gain a fight for you, then they let you go. They release you to the Chase and that is its own horror. Having to run and hide, to survive out there alone is its own sort of hell.”
“She’s right,” Sara told them what it was like when she’d been left here. What it was like outside the arena and the women filled the rest of the morning with stories of the different aliens they’d seen, other arenas. Of the girls who had been fought for and carried off screaming. There were only a few dry eyes by the time they tired of talking or were so lost in their own despair they wandered off to cry alone.
The sun was making its way across the horizon by the time someone came around with food. The others hadn’t been lying. It was barely edible. Sara choked it down, trying not to gag. It looked like thick oatmeal but sure as shit didn’t taste like it. She didn’t even want to think about what it was made from, she needed food too badly to throw it up when finding out.
She guzzled water when it was offered and walked to the cage bars, holding on to them as she peered out at the tall wooden walls and the other cells. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, but when the main gates at the end of the arena opened and those horrid aliens the others were talking about started to file in, the sun had lowered enough most of the arena was covered in shadows from the surrounding trees. It lowered the temperature a good twenty degrees.
“It’s almost showtime.” The girl with the pixie cut came to stand beside her. “Now things will get interesting for you.” She looked over at her. “My name is Krista, by the way.”
“I’m Sara.”
The aliens who walked into the arena headed straight for the cages. Krista grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She saw why a moment later. The aliens gathered around the cages, pressing close while looking inside at them. A few scented the air before their mouths spread into what she assumed were smiles and many of them made no secret to what they’d do to them. She wasn’t even sure how some of them would even do it, not that she wanted to think of their genitalia, but with some of the more horrid looking one’s it was hard not to.
They ranged in sizes and colors and she was reminded of the Cantina scene in an old Star Wars movie as they stood there gawking at them. All that was missing were the aliens playing a jaunty tune in the background.
All afternoon, aliens filled into the arena and wandered to the cages. They were ogled and told in graphic detail what would be done when they were won as a prize and Sara realized how lucky she’d had it. As terrified as she’d been in the beginning, compared to what these girls had gone through, she’d been treated like royalty here on Prison Moon One. Toren had gone out of his way to make her happy. He’d hunted for her, cared for her when wounded, and had treated her as if she were precious. Her heart hurt just thinking about it. What if they didn’t give her back to him? What if they made him fight and he—
She swallowed back the anguish trying to claw its way up her throat. She’d not think about an outcome other than him ripping this place apart to get to her and she had no doubt he would. He’d protect her, he’d—
Tears misted her eyes and she closed them to keep from crying. The noise the aliens were making, coupled with lack of food and comfort, Toren’s arms holding her and letting her know everything would be all right, caused the panic to set in. Anxiety unlike any she’d ever felt stole her breath, her eyes burning until she knew she was about to lose her shit.
She scrubbed at her face and walked to the far side of the cage, her head filled with thoughts of Toren. Every moment they’d spent together came back to her in flashes of moving pictures in her mind’s eye and the thought of no longer having him—
She loved him too much to lose him now. The moment the thought popped into her head, her heart ached. She loved him. Had no idea when it had happened but she knew why she was so crazy out of her mind with worry and despair, her heart aching at the mere thought of him. She loved him. And he loved her. She filled his heart. He’d said it so many times and deep down she knew what he’d meant. He loved her. It might not have been the same words, but his actions alone were enough to let her know. Toren loved her.
The noise inside the arena grew and Sara turned around to see what was going on. Wyvern by the dozens started filling the arena, all of them armed. The long shiny cylinders hanging from belts looped around their hips were the same as the weapon they’d shot Toren with.
They spread out around the parameter of the arena. The aliens who had been milling near the cages started climbing up onto a plank walkway that ran around the edges of the circle. It raised them off the ground enough to see over the heads of the wyvern.
The wyvern closest to the cage next to the one she was in opened the door and stepped inside. The girls scrambled toward the back wall, turning their faces away, some openly screaming or crying. The wyvern grabbed one and carried her out, another wyvern shutting and locking the door behind him.
The girl was screaming as she was taken to the platform and carried up those three steps, then made to stand in the center. She was wearing a dress much like the one the Big Heads had dressed them in but hers was not see through.
A booming voice filled the arena. The aliens were shifting on the platform, most of them looking at the girl. The disembodied voice said, “Lot one. Those who wish to claim her, step into the ring.”
Sara watched in horror as half a dozen aliens stepped off the platform and into the ring. The crying girl they were going to fight for was a sobbing mess, but she was still on her feet. Dozens of the small prism-shaped orbs filled the air overhead, recording, she assumed. A drumbeat loud enough to make her flinch sounded from somewhere and the aliens in the ring fighting for the girl all jumped at once.
She’d seen enough movies to know this was playing out a lot like the old gladiator movies did. The aliens fought amongst themselves, testing to see who was stronger, the weaker ones running back for the platform in disgrace while being laughed at for their failed attempt. The fighting aliens tore into each other with nothing but bare fists, claws, and pinchers, whatever that particular species had until blood flowed. Two aliens were on the ground unmoving, the others fighting around them. When only two remained, all activity stopped as the drum was once again hit.
The aliens that were too injured to move or dead were dragged out of the ring. The two remaining aliens were matched in size. They were bulky with insanely muscled limbs. One was a dark shade of royal blue. He was free of hair, lipless and had eyes so orange they seemed to glow. The other alien stood a few inches taller but was thinner. His skin a soft shade of green, hair black as night hanging half-way down his back. His hands were disproportionately massive. Small horns jutted from his forehead and curved around the back of his head and he showed a mouth full of teeth as he smiled. They faced off, the crowd cheering and chanting what she assumed were names until the drumbeat signaled for them to start.
The fight was brutal, blood flying as they slashed at each other with claws and teeth. The girl on the platform still cried, her shoulders so low she looked ready to melt into the floor. Sara stared in stunned silence as the aliens sliced, kicked and rolled across the arena. The green alien lowered his head and ran as if to ram the other with his horns but the dark blue alien grabbed them, staggering back from the impact but didn’t let go. Three sharp jerks on those horns and the green alien’s neck cracked, the bone popping so loud it sounded like a gunshot. The blue alien flung him to the ground as if he were nothing.
Shouts and cheers filled the air, the prism-shaped orbs darting around the arena in a frenzy. The blue alien turned to the platform, the girl finally falling to her knees. Her arm was jerked up an instant later when the wyvern standing behind her lifted her and practically dragged her to the edge of the makeshift stage before tossing her over the side. Long, lanky arms caught her, the blue alien picking her up to the cheers and laughter from the others. The girl screamed, her cries growing in volume as the alien tossed her over his shoulder and headed for the doors on the other side of the arena. When they were gone, Sara turned and went to the back wall, her knees so weak she sank to the ground uncaring what she may be sitting in.
The screams were still echoing in her head, the laughter of the aliens watching what was happening thunderously loud. This place was a nightmare. Would they barter her off before they made Toren fight? Those burning tears were back. She didn’t even try to hide them this time. There wasn’t a girl in any of these cages who wasn’t crying to some extent. As the drums banged again, the wyvern grabbed another girl, dragged her to the platform signaling the next fight to begin.
* * *
Toren paced the small cell he was in. He’d listened to the sounds filtering in from above for hours, the screams and yelling, the taunts and laughter and knew the arena fight he’d have to participate in to get Sarra back was drawing closer. He’d been told what to expect, had even seen a previous battle on the same hand-held image maker the female had shown him Sarra the day before. From what he’d seen, others would challenge him for her. The thought stretched every muscle tight, the collar still around his neck choking him as the dragon tried to claw its way free at the thought of someone else touching his mate.
Voices and the shuffle of feet echoed down the hall. Toren hurried to the door, peering out of the small opening to see two males walking his way. The scaled patches on their skin, and the stench of them told him they were wyvern. His claws started to lengthen. The wyvern were the reason the Draegon were near extinct. They were traitors. They betrayed the people who lived here for power and enslaved an entire planet in the process.
They approached the door, their faces blank of emotion. Toren’s claws lengthened more, the muscles in his neck straining against the collar.
The tallest of the two males approached the door, the flash of a metallic disk shining in one of his hands. “Your fight is about to begin.” He raised the card and moved it toward the door but stopped at the last moment. “I don’t suggest you do anything stupid when I open this door. The guards outside have been given permission to do as they like with your pretty little female should you try anything heroic.” He smiled, his yellow teeth dull inside his mouth. “And trust me when I say they’re all looking very forward to you doing something stupid.”