16 Jessa
My hands were clenchedso hard my nails were digging into my palms as I watched Tovis hurl himself at the percer.His horns dug into the animal’s side and I remembered the first time I’d seen him, how his horns and red skin had made me think ‘devil’.
In just a few days I’d gone from seeing him as a threat to seeing him as a friend.The parts of him that had scared me at first, I was now incredibly thankful for.When he’d first been shoved into the ring of posts, all I could think was that he was going toe to toe with a big, dangerous animal, unarmed.
But Tovis was a turoch, not a human.His body was made for violence and even as he dodged and circled the percer like a bull-fighter, he was closer to a bull than a man in that moment.It was still awful to watch, still scary to see his horns lock with the percer’s tusks.The monster so much bigger and stronger than him.
He wrenched his horns free and darted back, the percer staggering away, letting out pained bellows that made my skin prickle.Tovis was coated in its blood, and he hesitated as the percer retreated.
“Enough!”the Kwin yelled.
Tovis shot me a glance, before circling the ring, and keeping his attention on the threat until he was at the gate.The sytos pulled him out and his cuffs snapped together.
I sagged, energy drained as if I’d been the one fighting for my life.
“We can’t have you killing the beast in the first fight,” the Kwin chided, like this was all part of some harmless game.“We have to save some entertainment for tomorrow, don’t we?”
The thought of going through this again physically hurt me.We had to get out.I’d convinced myself things were improving when she let me feed Tovis, but they weren’t.The stakes kept rising faster than I could keep up and I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare, one where you were being chased by a shadowy threat but your feet kept sinking into the ground with every step.
The Kwin’s chair lifted, the sytos carrying it straining under the weight of their leader’s laziness and I was reluctantly tugged along by my leash.I kept my eyes on Tovis as long as I could before I was forced to squeeze through the doorway beside her litter.
That evening, I held the massive tray of food up for an arm-straining hour while she nibbled at her food and told me terrible stories.She bragged about fights she’d watched before her cruiser died, recounting gruesome deaths like she was reciting sports stats.
“Your planet is a terrible place,” she confided, picking at a bowl of canned peaches like it held all the flavor of plain spinach.“But I think with enough time, I could make a decent replacement for my cruiser.I’m only limited by my dwindling resources.”
She frowned at her own words.“I admit I’ve been careless with my guards.I had nearly fifty when we arrived, and the number has fallen far faster than I expected.”
She’d killed them, she meant, or gotten them killed.I shifted my grip on the tray and felt my biceps stiffen painfully.
The movement drew her attention and I cringed at the calculating look she gave me.
“Without my labs, I have no way of producing more clones.”Her tentacles swayed hypnotically around her face.I focused on the fleshy appendages, trying to tune out all the upsetting things she was saying.
I knew technically they weren’t tentacles.I had vague memories of being in a middle school argument about octopus arms and jellyfish.Whatever they were, they looked like octopus arms, just without the suction cups, and dry.But they were clearly more like a facial feature than limbs, so I wasn’t going to start calling them arms.
“Are there more of you nearby?’she asked, breaking through my wandering thoughts.“Females, specifically?”
The question made my heart drop.
“I haven’t seen anyone else since the invasion,” I said honestly, not liking the direction this was going at all.
“Did you know,” she said musingly, “that humans and sytos are compatible?”
“I doubt that,” I blurted out, unthinking.
“Don’t,” she snapped.“I am many human lifetimes older than you, pet, more intelligent than you can comprehend.I have overtaken hundreds of planets, enslaved dozens of species.I know far better than you, how the universe works.”
The tray rattled in my hands at the rage in her voice.
“I apologize,” I said stiffly.“You’re right.”
“Every syto you’ve ever laid eyes on was cloned in my labs, created specifically for their tasks and painstakingly curated for the best qualities of our species.Here, things are more primitive, but I am not without methods of replenishing my guards.”
She flicked half a peach at me, the fruit slapped against my chest, juice dripping down the front of my sparkling dress.
“It will simply take more time,” she said ominously.When I didn’t reply, she let out a disgruntled scoff and waved me away.
“Leave me.And consider your rebellious attitude before you greet me in the morning.”
