“Such disobedient meat,” he mocks, laughing as I gasp for air through winded lungs.
I collapse to my knees, clutching my stomach, my mind a whirl of outrage and pain. Never in my life have I been treated like this. It boils my blood with seething rage at the indignity of it. And I swear I’ll make it my life’s mission to pay this ugly bastard back for the pain he’s causing me. I force myself to straighten, despite struggling to breathe, locking eyes with the beast, summoning every ounce of dignity I possess.
“Come on,” he urges after a moment of meeting my steely gaze. His massive hand shoving me toward the cell exit.
“Void!” Jacyasi, the bug alien, exclaims in hurried annoyance. “One just escaped!” He turns to some nearby aliens. “Are you blind? Didn’t you see?” he hisses, his antennae twirling in frustration.
A flicker of hope pulses through me. Kazumi—the smart one, the quiet one—has managed to slip away.Maybe she can findhelp? But there’s little help to be found. We’ll be exchanging many perves for a giant red one.Still, the image of Dracoth beating this horrible snouted Caric to a bloody pulp fills me with twisted joy.
“Well, get after her!” The horned leader snaps, turning away from the partially undressed Sandra, annoyance twisting his horned face into more of a grotesque mask than I thought possible. “She’s worth thousands of credits!”
Jacyasi sighs, his exoskeleton rattling in annoyance as he signals to two nearby gang members. They march off in the direction Kazumi fled, their blue wrist lights flickering down the darkened abyss before disappearing completely, like any semblance of my hope.
“Don’t even think about it, meat,” Caric growls, prodding me in the back with a pointed finger.
I spin around to glare at him. His sneer widens before he grabs me, hauling me over his shoulder with terrifying ease. My screams of protest echo through the corridor as I pound uselessly against his back. The humiliation intensifies when he slaps my backside with a weighty hand, eliciting jeers and laughter from the others.
How is this happening? I’m about to be raped by these horrible aliens,and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. The sheer hopelessness of my situation crashes over me like a wave, making me wish I had jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge when I had the chance. Anything would be better than this. Just when I think I’ve hit rock bottom, the ground crumbles beneath me, revealing even deeper levels of horror and indignity.
Fuck my life.
It’s all too cruel and unfair. The universe conspires against me, like some sick cosmic joke, and I’m the punchline. The familiar void inside me yawns wider, pulling me into its dark depths. Racking sobs shake my body in rhythm with hateful Caric’splodding steps, his grip on me as unyielding as the despair clawing at my mind.
I don’t know where they’re taking me and Carmen, but I know it’s nowhere good. The truth is, I don’t care anymore. This existence is too harsh, too brutal for a delicate soul like me. I never really had a chance—always misunderstood, always the target, hated by everyone, even my own family. And now, here I am again, despised for different reasons but despised all the same. Well, fuck these aliens and everyone else. I won’t give them the satisfaction of breaking me. I’ll retreat inside, the way I always do when despair consumes me.
The pungent stench of Caric’s stale body odor invades my senses as the flicking blue lights cast eerie shadows across the abyssal corridors.
“Don’t cry before I’ve had my fun,” Caric taunts, his laughter mingling with that of the others. Their voices swirl around me like a foul-smelling fog, arguing about who’ll be first, who has the biggest cock, and which one of us will be the better fuck.Pathetic. Their words brush over me. I just want it to be over quickly—like my life.
Just as they grow tired of their excited boasting, a blood-curdling scream tears through the corridor, thick with pain before turning deathly silent. The aliens halt, exchanging frantic glances. I smirk, recognizing that deep voice—it’s the horned leader, and these creeps know it too.
A manic, bitter laugh bubbles up from within me, escaping before I can stop it.
Caric shrugs, shaking me. “What’s so voiding funny?” he demands, a tremor of fear in his gruff voice.
“You are,” I reply, still laughing, my voice laced with dark satisfaction. “He’s coming for you.”
Chapter 10
Dracoth
Berserker
Istandinmysparsequarters, a barren room with little more than a cot to rest my head. The final latch of my ashen armor clicks into place, sending a surge of my Rush-laden blood coursing through my veins like molten rivers of carnage. This coming fight—no, this slaughter—will be the perfect balm for my troubled mind. No more talk of Gods or troublesome females, just unbridled fury and death.
This is what I was born to do. This is my glorious destiny.
As I don my warvisor, awareness floods my senses. A gift from the Gods when I completed my Proving some years ago. A dark grin tugs at my lips as I turn my head, sensing the numerous gangs—my prey—streaming aboard their tomb.
More continue, hundreds even, docking at various entry points, driven by their disgusting greed to pilfer my ship, but they will only join the slaughter. Ignixis is probably quaking in his boots stowed away in some dark corner like a cowardly vipertail slithering away from the sun. But I feel no fear, only the intoxicating thrill of the coming bloodbath. If the other youths hold their positions until I unleash righteous fury upon these would-be space pirates, there is no risk.
My hand reaches for the leather pouch dangling from my belt, fingers brushing against the dried, twisted green plant—bloodroot. It’s strange to think something so small can be so potent.
Legends say when our favored deity, Arawnoth, was wounded in battle against the Machine God, his blood fell from the heavens in a torrential emerald storm. This storm was so fierce the arrohawks couldn’t fly, and the very Peaks of Scarn threatened to crash down. Each drop of his fury seeded into the inhospitable crags of Scarn, fueled by the molten rivers beneath the ground—like the boiling veins of us Magaxus warriors.
From his divine wrath grew the bloodroot, deep within the earth. To consume even the tiniest portion sends one into a murderous berserker rage, heightening our strength and powers to maddening levels—a reflection of the fury that Arawnoth carries within his molten heart. Though this rabble presents no challenge at all, some practice with its use seems wise.
And why not have a little fun?
