Briarra was clearly disappointed in my lack of reaction."We found the female," she said with a smirk."I don't know if she was your accomplice or whatever, but we know you helped her escape from Jarra's room.She's on Kalumbu.And right now, she's running from a very angry prondu."
It took all my self-control not to show my emotions.A prondu.Fuck.My mate was as good as dead.
I wanted to demand that Briarra show me what was happening on Kalumbu, show me my mate, but that would give away just how much the female meant to me.Instead, I forced myself to smile at the Irridonian.
"I will miss you, Briarra.It's been a pleasure."
And I will destroy your life, I said in silence.Once my superiors acted on the data I sent them, this place would be shut down.It wasn't as much evidence as I would have liked, but hopefully it would be enough.Wait a click.I was going to be in the Trials.An employee of the Intergalactic Authority – even though Briarra and her goons weren't aware of that – forced to participate in the deadliest games of the universe...It was the last piece of evidence.With many of the other contestants, it wasn't easy to prove that they hadn't volunteered to take part.Nobody ever got the chance to interview them before they were sent to Kalumbu.But with me, it was different.
I smiled at Briarra once more before retreating to the back of my cell.I curled my coils into tight circles and closed my eyes as if resting, then used my communications implant to send a new message.
I did not agree to take part in the Trials of Kalumbu.I was forced against my will.I did not give consent for them to film me, make me a contestant, transport me to the planet's surface.I am not volunteering.I am being forced.
The sound of my cell door opening made me open my eyes.Six goons with blasters trained at me as if they expected me to resist.I knew it was pointless.Besides, they were taking me to the place I wanted to be.Kalumbu, where my mate was waiting for me.Even if she didn't know it yet.
They didn't bother tranquillising me like they did to most of the other contestants.I hadn't been given a weapon.Not that I needed one.My fangs held enough venom to kill some of the biggest monsters on the planet – if I could get close enough to bite.What worried me the most were the temperature changes on the planet's surface.If they sent me to the polar zones, I would be as good as dead.I needed warmth to survive.
But that wouldn't be good entertainment, would it?Watching a naga slowly freeze to death was no fun at all.Viewers wanted blood and violence, not drawn-out deaths by starvation and the environment.And the game makers loved introducing couples to the Trials, so there was a chance that I would be dropped close to mine.Sometimes they were existing lovers, sometimes fated mates who were yet to get to know each other.The game makers had stolen fancy tech from the Intergalactic Dating Agency that gave them the ability to test for compatibility among contestants.For some of the most promising candidates they had even commissioned space pirates to procure mates.It was disgusting.
The platform was approaching the surface quickly, heading for dense jungle.I was held in stasis, conscious but immobile, but I knew that would disappear as soon as we landed.I also knew that cameras were already trained on me.Viewers across the galaxy were watching me.If I was lucky, someone I knew back at the Authority would recognise me and send an alert to my superiors.Then they would check their communications systems to figure out why I was suddenly part of the Trials and then...
So many variables.For now, I was on my own.It fell to me to find and protect my female.
I'm coming, mate.I'm coming.
8
Unknown
The beast crashed through the jungle, the noise so loud it drowned out everything else, even the sound of my ragged breathing.I was in no state to be running, my feet bleeding and my body drained of energy, but I didn't have a choice.If I stopped, I was dead.I'd only got a glimpse of the monster before my paralysis had lifted and I'd started running, but it had not looked like it was prepared to stop and negotiate.It wanted to eat me.
My only advantage was my size.I was small enough to squeeze through the dense undergrowth; the monster wasn't.It was three times as tall as me, running on two huge legs like a T-rex, with leathery wings folded against its body.I was convinced I'd seen a sharp beak protruding from its scaled head.
The trees ahead seemed to be getting ever bigger, the gaps between them tightening.Maybe I could lose the monster there.I couldn't run much longer.Already my vision was darkening around the edges.I hadn't eaten or drunk anything since I awoke.It felt like an eternity ago.
Was there even a point to continuing to fight?
Yes, every part of me screamed.Giving up now made no sense.I'd fought so hard to survive on the space station.I could fight a little bit more.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I'd registered that I was on an alien planet, that the trees were the wrong colours, that the smells and sounds were unfamiliar, that I had no idea how far from home I was – but all that didn't matter while I was being pursued by a winged dinosaur who saw me as a delicious treat.
I reached one of the biggest trees yet, so tall I couldn't see the end of it.The lowest branches were too high above me to attempt to climb to safety.I didn't know if the monster could climb – or fly.That was a sobering thought.I needed to find a way to shake it off.Or shelter it couldn't reach.
But I had no idea how this planet worked.Were there caves?Were there areas this kind of monster avoided?Would it get tired or bored and simply abandon the hunt?Were there beasts even bigger than this one that could distract or attack it?And, most important of all, were there people?Friendly people – aliens or not – who could help me?
Because one thing was for certain: Even if I somehow survived this encounter – and that was a very bigif –I wouldn't last long without some kind of help.I had no idea what food was edible.I'd not found a stream or river yet that would give me access to water.If that water was drinkable.
I learned something new about myself.I could think and worry even in the most taxing of circumstances.Somehow, my brain was able to separate the physical effort, the pain, the fear, from the rational part of my mind.I didn't know what that said about me.Maybe I'd been in stressful situations like this before – not that anything could be as stressful as being chased by an alien monster.That trumped everything else.
Something caught around my ankle.I was too exhausted to react in time.I crashed onto the forest floor, hard roots digging into my sore muscles.I tasted mud and blood where my jaw had hit a rock.
For a moment, I was tempted to just lie here until the monster reached me.It would be so easy to give up.Sleep, rest, die.
My vision was cloudy with exhaustion and lack of oxygen.I could close my eyes.Could stop looking at the scary world around me and pretend I was somewhere else, somewhere safe.Home.
A golden ball fell onto the ground, right next to my head.Instinct took over and I scrambled to my feet, muscles screaming in protest.I swayed as everything went black for a second or two.I blinked, knowing my eyes were open, waiting for my blood pressure to return to normal.I needed fluids.
An angry roar shook the leaves around me.It came from a different direction than I'd expected.The alien dinosaur must have been circling me, trying to find a way through the dense jungle.My strategy of running towards these trees had worked, but for how long?
