Crystal

If I thought seeing the two Gryn warriors back at the hotel had prepared me for seeing five of them, I was wrong. Not only are they fearsome, but the air in the room changes as they enter and troop onto a low stage which is, incongruously, roped off from the audience, as if a bit of twisted fabric could stop the huge scarred and tattooed hulks who stand and glower at the crowd.

I suppose it's better than having everyone look at us for a change. I was starting to feel itchy under all their attention.

I tear my gaze away from the Gryn because I feel bad for them and notice a small humanoid figure waving what looks suspiciously like a hand at me. Its hair, which is a weird shade of black, stands on end like it's been sticking its finger in an electric shock and the relatively human looking face is plastered with a smile of pretty epic proportions.

There are too many sharp teeth for me to be very keen on it.

I nudge Drelix.

"Is that the Uhatx?" I say with a nod in the creature's direction.

He fires out a short flame, not even bothering with the smoke.

"Yes, it is." He scans the room. "We should take this outside, I'm not keen on the atmosphere or being in such close proximity to the Gryn," he says.

"They look like they're ready to explode," I say with a quick glance over at the stage.

At least one of the Gryn has a sword in his hand and has his sharp teeth bared, Threading through the crowd is a gaggle of black clad security guards with heads like rhinos.

It is absolutely going to kick off, and I get the feeling somehow the Uhatx is behind it, although I don't know why. My stomach squirms unpleasantly as Drelix and I move towards him.

We get about halfway through the crowd when there's a roar down the far end of the room and a crackle of pulsar bolts. Drelix drags me against him and propels my body ahead, so I just have time to catch a further glimpse of the Uhatx before we make it into an ante room, where the drink-making robots are hanging out.

Drelix growls under his breath, something about the Gryn being trouble personified, and then the thing slides into the room.

The Uhatx has no legs to speak of. Instead he floats on a black fog, resolving and dissolving into thin tendrils. This makes him about my height and considerably smaller than Drelix, only it doesn't look like he cares, at all.

In fact, he looks like he owns this place, and my skin crawls as he looks me over proprietorially before turning the same gaze on Drelix.

"You wanted to speak with me, Sarkarnii," he says with a high metallic voice.

"You are Phxt?"

"I am one of him."

Yep, Uhatx are one of the species which clone themselves, something which always sets alarm bells off for me. You only clone yourself if you don't care about anyone else.

"I was informed you might have information about the Sarkarnii," Drelix says. "About the destruction of Kaeh-Leks."

The Uhatx laughs, a horrible choking sound, and he settles back on his bundle of smoke tentacles.

"And who might have told you this?" he replies, his metallic, nasally tone already grating on me.

That and the fact he hasn't taken his yellow eyes off me since Drelix started speaking. My big dragon pushes me slowly behind him.

"Does it matter?" Drelix growls, thankfully not prepared to play whatever games this unpleasant creature wants to play. "Do you know or don't you?"

"I know a lot of things. I know your leader left the Ragad behind to run the Kirakos when you took it over and escaped." He leans to one side to look at me again. "I know you've discovered Sarkarnii are compatible with at least one other species."

"Do not look at my mate," Drelix says through gritted teeth as the noises in the other room grow louder, although I note with some concern, no one is exactly panicking at the thought of the Gryn being loose…and armed. Certainly the level of crazy I glimpsed in them has me concerned.

The Uhatx laughs his unpleasant laugh again. "I am looking at your mate and wondering exactly what you would do for her…and for the information you seek?"

The atmosphere within this room drops a couple of notches.

"My mate has nothing to do with what I seek, nor do you need to involve her."

"Oh, she became involved the minute she crossed the Habosu." The Uhatx chuckles. "Oh, did you not know they were hunting her as well?" he asks.

"They are not hunting me." I step out from behind Drelix because I've decided I truly hate the Uhatx. "They were hunting what I stole from them and they're not getting it back."

Drelix is staring at me and I try to ignore his gaze.

"I have an offer for you…for both of you. I can get you the information you want, Sarkarnii, and I can get the Habosu to leave you alone, female, if you're prepared to fight in the dome."

"Okay," I say at exactly the same time as Drelix growls, "No chance."

I find myself up against the wall, caged against a thick, scaly, muscular chest.

"What are you doing?" he growls.

"It's called ‘calling his bluff'?" I reply. "He doesn't want us to die. We're too valuable to him."

"This is a Uhatx. Nothing is valuable to him," Drelix growls back, the lights under his scales chasing each other in agitation.

"The Gryn like you. They're not going to fight you…much. They're certainly not going to fight me, so what are we afraid of?"

"That it won't be a Gryn we're expected to fight," Drelix says as outside our room the sound of pulsar fire increases, along with a cacophony of roars.

"You turn into a bloody dragon. What could possibly go wrong?" I retort.

Because he does, and it seems highly unlikely he could be beaten in dragon form.

"Do you want this or don't you?" I ask, sliding my arms around his waist.

This could be a very bad idea or the best I've ever had.

"Do you want this or don't you?" the Uhatx repeats. "What do you want, Sarkarnii?"