“Then get me out of here,” I rasped through a dry, cracked throat. “Please... I want to go home.”
Raxon’s eyes narrowed faintly, as if weighing the truth of my words against whatever monstrous assumptions he’d made about me and my kind. Then, with a slight dip of his head, he turned and grasped the twisted bars of the ruined cell, thick muscles cording as he simply ripped the entire cage door free with a bone-jarring screech of protesting metal.
I gasped, scrambling back as the beast tossed the mangled obstruction aside like so much scrap. He moved with such casual, overwhelming power, like the laws of physics themselves were merely suggestions to be obeyed or discarded on a whim.
Raxon rumbled something, the sound reverberating through my very bones. I blinked, forcing myself back to the present as the translation matrix embedded in my skull kicked in once more.
“Come with me.” His tone held a gentle note to it. “The Coalition will sort out the captives.” The beast looked around, his snout grimacing at the other cages.
I swallowed hard, numb fingers grasping the edge of the ruined cell as I hauled myself to my feet. My knees shook, whether from exhaustion or sheer terror. I couldn’t say.
But I knew I couldn’t stay here, waiting for death to claim me amid the twisted wreckage. If this was my one shot at salvation, as crazy as it seemed, I had to take it.
So, with a trembling nod, I stepped out of the cage and into the smoke-choked cargo hold.
Raxon watched me impassively for a moment, those alien features unreadable. Then, with a flick of one pointed ear, he turned and started moving deeper into the bowels of the ravaged ship.
“This way,” he growled over his shoulder. “And stay close—I’m not losing you in this mess.”
I blinked, momentarily stunned by the commanding edge in his tone. Rude. But the distant groaning of stressed bulkheads snapped me back to reality. With one last glance at the ruined cage that had been my personal hell for so long, I hurried after the hulking alien warrior.
We moved through a maze of scorched corridors and smoke-filled compartments. Everywhere I looked, evidence of the battle that had torn this ship asunder surrounded us—scorch marks, twisted wreckage, the occasional body lying broken and contorted in impossible angles.
I tried not to look too closely at those, focusing instead on keeping pace with Raxon’s long, loping strides. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, leading us unerringly through the devastated labyrinth.
At last, we emerged into a massive hangar space, the curved belly of some kind of sleek alien craft dominating thecenter of the cavernous chamber. Armored figures similar to Raxon moved with military precision, securing the area with raised weapons.
Raxon barked out a series of harsh syllables, and the warriors snapped to attention, their alien features fixing on me with undisguised curiosity and... was that wariness I saw in their eyes? Fear, even?
I shrank back despite myself, pressing closer to Raxon’s hulking form. For all his brusque assurances, I was surrounded by these strange new beings, with no way to judge their intentions or predict their next moves.
Raxon rumbled something else, the words utterly incomprehensible to me this time. But the tone was unmistakable, an order issued with the weight of one who was accustomed to being obeyed without question.
The warriors tensed for a heartbeat longer, shooting me furtive looks. Then, as one, they turned and moved towards the waiting craft with crisp, military efficiency.
“This way,” Raxon growled at me, gesturing with one massive paw. “We’re leaving this place.”
I blinked up at him, searching that impassive alien visage for any hint of deception or malice. But there was nothing, just that same piercing intensity that seemed to stare straight through to my very soul.
With nowhere else to go, no other options presenting themselves, I could only nod and follow him up the ramp and into the sleek craft’s interior.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer... alienness of it all. Technology that defied any frame of reference I possessed, strange angles and geometries that seemed to flow in ways that shouldn’t be possible. I ran my fingers along the closest bulkhead, marveling at the strange texture, the faint thrum of power that seemed to course through the entire structure.
“You’ve never seen anything like this before, have you?” Raxon’s deep rumble made me jump, and I whirled to find him studying me with those unsettling amber eyes.
I swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the thundering of my heart. “N-no. Nothing like it.”
He cocked his head slightly, whiskers twitching. “I don’t recognize your species. Where are you from, little one?”
The endearment, as gentle as it was, still made something inside me bristle. I was hardly some helpless child to be coddled and condescended to, no matter how fierce and imposing this alien appeared.
So I lifted my chin and met that piercing gaze head-on. “Earth. I’m human.”
Raxon’s brows drew together slightly, the first hint of confusion I’d seen on those alien features. “Human,” he repeated, the word rolling strangely off that rumbling baritone. “I’m not familiar with your kind. You’re... new to me.”
“Yeah, well, you’re pretty new to me too,” I shot back before I could stop myself. “My name is Sutton. Just in case you wanted to know.”
There was a beat of tense silence, and for a moment I was sure I’d overstepped, pushed this fierce warrior’s patience past the breaking point. But then Raxon huffed a low chuckle, lips pulling back to expose a hint of razored fangs.
